“These are dogs!”
“Respected Adventurer, I know...”
“I was just asking for your identification.”
Outside Dawn City, the city guard had barely stopped Li Xiuman before Li Xiuman blurted out his explanation.
“Oh... is that so?”
These are obviously wolves, though!
Is this the service of a major metropolis? As expected of Dawn City, which was on the same scale as White Crystal City.
Li Xiuman pulled out his adventurer's license.
“Respected Mid-Tier Adventurer Skeleton, welcome to Dawn City.”
“These dogs... wait, aren't these—”
“No, these are dogs!” Li Xiuman hurriedly interrupted the guard. “They're a rare breed.”
“I see. Please enjoy your stay, sir.”
And so, he successfully entered Dawn City along with his pack of wolves.
As expected of Dawn City, even the air here smelled sweet and pleasant.
Li Xiuman took a deep breath of the cold air.
“Slow down a bit.”
“Woof!”
Under Li Xiuman's training, this wolf pack was becoming more and more like dogs.
Li Xiuman called it interfered evolution.
The eight wolves pulled Li Xiuman's sled forward at a slow pace, turning quite a few heads along the street.
Even though this was Dawn City.
However, the first thing Li Xiuman did upon entering the city remained unchanged: heading straight to the Adventurer's Association to post his notice.
Then, right next to the Adventurer's Association, he spotted a familiar building currently under construction.
“What a grand building.”
Li Xiuman couldn't help taking a few extra looks.
“Wait a second...”
“White Feather Merchant Association?!”
“What bad luck!”
Li Xiuman hadn't expected that even after traveling this far, he would still run into this damn merchant association.
“Scatter salt! Scatter salt!”
After hurriedly posting his notice at the Adventurer's Association, Li Xiuman took off in the exact opposite direction of the White Feather Merchant Association.
After all, he didn't want to get infected by their bad luck.
Some things were just too bizarre; you had to believe in jinxes.
Next up was finding a place to stay.
While the sewers were great, there was no way to stuff his entire wolf pack down there.
He found an inn.
It offered stabling and feeding services for mounts.
Though when Li Xiuman dragged eight wolves into the inn, the owner's expression didn't look very pleasant.
He pretended not to notice.
After paying the room fee, Li Xiuman spread out the newly bought map of Dawn City on the table.
Then he took out a quill and drew out tomorrow's search route on the map.
Unlike the previous cities, Dawn City was huge, so he needed to conduct a thorough search.
For all he knew, the Crystal Hero's grave might be buried under some house, and he might end up missing it.
After planning his route, Li Xiuman looked at the sky outside.
“It's already evening.”
“Time to borrow a few books.”
As a major metropolis on par with White Crystal City, Li Xiuman had high expectations for Dawn City's book collection.
After borrowing some books, Li Xiuman returned to the inn and spent another night reading.
Early the next morning.
Li Xiuman went downstairs, gathered his wolves, sat on his sled, and began patrolling according to the route drawn on his map.
Then, he stopped before a massive square.
“Dawn Square?”
“The Resting Place of Heroes?”
Many statues of heroes stood in the square.
Their faces were currently covered in snow, but their basic class attire could still be made out.
Among them, one particularly prominent statue was none other than the Crystal Hero.
Below the statue was a brief biography of the Crystal Hero's life.
Li Xiuman locked his eyes onto the very last sentence.
“In the Year 658 of the Lantes Kingdom calendar, he retired in seclusion to Dawn City, after which nothing was heard of him again.”
“That's the sentence I was looking for!”
Li Xiuman felt he had found it.
The Crystal Hero's seductive skeletal frame was practically waving to him from inside the coffin.
That tempting bone structure was playing with fire.
Leaving Dawn Square, Li Xiuman was drawn to an even more eye-catching sight.
A giant boulder surrounded by a crowd of adventurers.
“What's that?”
Li Xiuman's interest was piqued.
Only upon getting closer did he see a hulking man trying to pull out a sword stuck inside the stone.
The muscular man's muscles bulged in giant chunks, trembling from exertion.
It was clear he was using all his strength, yet the longsword remained completely motionless.
“The Sword in the Stone?”
Li Xiuman looked around in surprise.
He half-feared King Arthur might suddenly pop out.
Soon, Li Xiuman found the inscription concerning this blade.
“Sword of Heroic Resolve.”
“A sword that only a true hero with a pure heart can pull out.”
That's practically describing me!
Li Xiuman was stunned reading the description.
He hadn't expected such a coincidence to exist in this world.
Rib Sword, Crystal Orchid... you guys shouldn't mind having a Third Prince join the squad, right?
Li Xiuman suppressed the urge to go up and pull the sword.
What was meant to be his couldn't be taken by anyone else.
Right now, the top priority was finding the Crystal Hero's grave.
“Third Prince, you won't have to wait long. I'll come back for you.”
“I'm sure you've already felt my noble character and can't wait.”
“Don't worry, it won't be long.”
“Wolves, let's go!”
Sitting on his sled, Li Xiuman kicked up a cloud of snow behind him and departed under the astonished gazes of the crowd.
A bunch of country bumpkins. Have you never seen sled dogs before?
From sunrise all the way to sunset.
Li Xiuman scoured the entire city of Dawn City, yet he still failed to find the Crystal Hero's grave.
This put Li Xiuman in an even worse mood.
“How can it not be here?”
“Is it really not in this city?”
Holding his head, Li Xiuman constantly checked the map for any missed spots.
Finally, his eyes locked onto a lousy place he had been avoiding all along.
The White Feather Merchant Association.
Standing outside the White Feather Merchant Association, Li Xiuman took a deep breath and tossed out the water drop crystal.
The water drop crystal spun a few times in the air before landing on the ground.
It pointed dead straight toward the location of the White Feather Merchant Association.
It was right inside the White Feather Merchant Association!
“Is this what they call 'what's meant to be will come'?”
Li Xiuman took a deep breath.
He could feel the tangles of fate.
Wherever he went, this White Feather Merchant Association opened a branch.
This was way too uncanny.
Anyone who didn't know better would think this lousy merchant association was owned by him.
“Tonight, I'll rob the grave, and while I'm at it, make a tidy profit off this White Feather Merchant Association.”
“White Feather Merchant Association, today I'm going to teach you a lesson.”
“I'll show you how treacherous the world truly is.”
“Tonight, not a single copper coin will be left in that merchant association!”
Li Xiuman rubbed his hands together, deciding to pick a good time tonight to break into the White Feather Merchant Association and make a killing.
Everything was within his calculations.
Night fell.
Utilizing the effect of the Deep Black Cloak, Li Xiuman transformed into a patch of darkness, moving as if aided by divine power.
He easily snuck into the White Feather Merchant Association building that was still under construction.
And then...
“Master! You've arrived!”
“I'm 103! Do you still remember me, Master?!”
Li Xiuman was utterly shocked at that moment.
He had severely underestimated Rorona's capabilities!
He had only ordered Rorona to investigate the White Feather Merchant Association back in White Crystal City, yet that fellow had actually managed to plant a vampire spy into this newly opened branch far in the south!
This... this... this was truly his right-hand general!
With top generals like Jetis and Rorona under his command, his heart was deeply at ease!
Rate on N.U.
