Chapter 333 – Unhappy Nobleman.

“My Lord.”

“I told you that I didn’t want to be disturbed, Reginald. I hope for your sake that you have a good reason for this…”

“My sincere apologies but the black ravens have sent an emergency report.”

“An emergency? Could Julius be planning something? It can’t be Ivan so it should be, Tybalt?”

“It’s from the Fauland region, My Lord.”

“From that bastard? Did something happen to Emmerson? … Just give me the report.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

The butler strutted in while holding a letter with a raven seal on it. This time around it was a tad different as instead of it being black, it was slightly crimson in coloring. Theodore Valerian the master of this place started going through the writing. His eyes traced the letters with haste as he couldn’t believe what the letter was saying. Soon enough the whole piece of paper was a crumbled-up mess which he threw into the nearby fireplace.

“How did he manage to fail? Was he this incompetent… Was there a variable? No, this doesn’t make sense… Who is this unknown Knight? Could that bastard be working with one of them…”

The man leaned back in his chair while thinking. A lot of things didn’t make sense to him, the main thing being that Arthur had acquired a Head Knight that was above Emmerson in strength. Even though he had failed his defeat should have not come that easy, a regular platinum adventurer would have not been able to achieve this task.

“Have the Ravens gathered more information, did that bastard say anything?”

“Not yet My Lord, we are waiting for their demands, many of our knights have been detained but no price has been presented to us.”

“It would be unsightly to contact them first, so wait…”

“Should I contact the accountant?”

“Do so.”

The man leaned back in his chair while continuously trying to figure out who was really behind all of this. It made no sense that his younger brother would be able to achieve something like this. There had to be someone backing him and his brothers were the obvious source of that.

His image of an honorable leader had to be kept. Even though he wanted to let every one of those knights rot, it would be a blemish on his name. After reading the report it seemed that the duel was justified but he could always attempt to deny those claims. Before he reached a decision he needed more information, Theodore was not someone hasty, now that a variable appeared it was time to take a step back.

“Have the Ravens monitor Albrook, I want to know if any of my brothers came in contact with that Bastard, I don’t care if you have to search the main house for some proof, they could have been working together since the start!”

“Yes, My Lord.”

The butler nodded while hearing out the orders. His eyes glanced at the man before him that continued to throw out slow orders. Each time he took a little bit of time to think over his spoken words and remained calm. His build wasn’t too big nor too small and his facial features were considered quite handsome just like all of his brothers.

His nature of acting only within his means and if the information he gathered allowed him to, had brought him this far. Already the Butler could see him trying to predict a few moves ahead of the unknown opponent to figure out the puzzle that was presented to him. While the caution he displayed was the safest approach it sometimes prevented him from achieving a breakthrough.

Soon the man left with a list of orders to carry out. With a B-rank dungeon escaping their grasp this issue was becoming larger than any of them anticipated. Now with the threat of one of the other brothers getting involved, there was not much time to be wasted. However before a full report could be made, he did not see his master making an aggressive comeback.

…

‘That clears up things with Arthur but what now?’

Roland was on his way home after eviscerating Emmerson in the sanctioned duel. His talk with Arthur also ended and the only thing that he wanted to do now was to get back home. Even though the platinum adventurers were said to be coming soon, this wasn’t his concern anymore. He had left in a rush so now the only thing on his mind was the people at home. His old armor had been trashed in the fight not by his opponent but by his own runes.

Only now after the live battle test did he have enough data for his Rapid Machine Reassembly skill. It was now clear to him that it wasn’t limitless and the more it was used the more of the creation was lost. Each and every time he recreated his armor some of the materials were lost. At the end, there was nothing left to restore as the connections between the molecules holding the structures together were fully destroyed.

‘At least it leveled up a lot…’

Rapid Machine Reassembly had been the last skill he received from his Runic Engineer class. At this time it had reached level eight and was close to reaching the maximum. It was still a tier 2 skill that had been used multiple times on high-grade equipment such as the golems and his armor. Restoring so many complicated runic components while engaged in combat boosted the skill’s leveling potential.

‘I wonder if it’s going to upgrade into a new skill after level nine.’

He was not sure if this was possible but if his Overlord class was prestigious enough, there was a possibility. It was a given that all of the skills he gained as a Runesmith Lord could be turned into higher tier 3 versions of them as the class was a direct upgrade of the old one.

Considering that the Overlord class was a prestige class above the likes of Master Runesmith, there was a possibility of it also being one above a tier 3 Master Rune Engineer. It would have been a blessing if this was the case as he could see himself using this skill in the future a lot.

“Awoo!”

“Huh?”

While he was immersed in his thoughts he heard a familiar howl. His home was still out of view and covered by trees. This didn’t stop his fateful companion from running out to greet him. The sight of the ruby wolf that had a brush with death brought a smile to his face.

“Agni, are you feeling better?”

“Woof!”

The ruby hound was quick to jump into his master’s arms. Any regular person would have their body fly back in the opposite direction due to the weight and momentum. Roland with his current stats was like a brick wall but to make things easier on his injured wolf, he decided to roll with it and landed on his back.

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“Hey, stop licking my face…”

“Worf!”

Roland responded to the barrage of licks coming his way. The helmet that he usually wore had become bent out of shape to the point of him removing it. This gave Agni the perfect opportunity to slobber all over his face. Normally he would have pushed him off by now but after seeing Agni almost die had softened him up.

“Okay… that’s actually enough now…”

Yet after giving his wolf a bit of leeway his face had become drenched in slobber. Soon enough he found himself pushing the overzealous wolf away while also noticing that he didn’t come alone. Right behind him was a person with elongated ears that was quick to give him a shout.

“Wayland is that you?”

“Lobelia? What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean? I heard what happened and rushed over! Now that I see your face, It does fit a Knight.”

“So, you know…”

“Of course!”

Lobelia smiled while giving Roland a thumbs up. She was part of the thieves guild so it wasn’t strange that she already knew the news. Something like a Head Knight appearing out of nowhere would have spread quite fast. All the underground companies that sold information would be quick to inform their patrons of this event.

The name of Wayland the Runesmith would now be changed to Wayland the Head Knight. For a moment he considered giving himself a second secret identity. During the debacle, his face was covered by his helmet. It might have been possible to still be a craftsman at day and Knight at night as long as he didn’t show his face.

He had to throw that idea out of the window fast though. First of all, there would be a problem in justifying the duel. The deed to the land was still in his original name. It was possible to falsify the records with Arthur’s name but it was dangerous. If any spy managed to find out, Theodore would have an excuse to retaliate.