Chapter 146: Bizarre Incident

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Bizarre Incident

"Baron Vili, you want me to hold a position in White Bear Town?"

Mibu’s voice instantly pitched up, the pleasant surprise in his eyes almost tangible.

He had originally just wanted to keep his life; he never expected to far exceed that and earn Baron Vili’s favor. Words could hardly describe how Mibu felt in this moment.

"I’ll appoint you as..." Vili pondered for a moment. "...my Record Officer."

In truth, he only wanted to hire Mibu to tell him stories. However, directly appointing him as a Storyteller seemed a bit absurd, so it was better to use a title similar to a Deputy Secretary as a front. Since Vili had no intention of giving Mibu any actual power anyway, the position of Record Officer was perfectly fitting.

"Record Officer..."

Mibu’s face instantly broke into a wide smile. In reality, he didn’t care about the title at all. Just having a place to live out his days in peace was already perfect. He was an astute man and knew full well that the reason Vili was employing him was likely due to his extensive travel experience.

Thinking of this, Mibu felt extremely remorseful.

If he had known this earlier, he would have just come clean about his identity from the start. Why did he have to pretend to be a scholar and embarrass himself so thoroughly?

"I’ll have someone arrange accommodation for you shortly. While you’re at it, tidy up your appearance."

Although Vili wasn’t someone who placed too much importance on looks, having a scruffy middle-aged man loitering in front of him still made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes, Lord Baron!"

Mibu quickly slipped into his new role.

Mibu was an easygoing man who took things as they came; otherwise, he wouldn’t have become a wandering bard in the first place.

Over the next few days, he was settled into a residence in White Bear Town and received three months’ salary in advance from the Town Hall. This made Mibu extremely satisfied. His heart, which had wandered for decades, slowly began to find peace.

The only thing that left him feeling slightly fatigued was Baron Vili’s intense thirst for knowledge. Almost whenever the Baron had free time, he would seek him out to hear stories of his travels. From the grand political conflicts and local customs within national territories down to the farming and animal husbandry practices of small villages—as long as it was something Baron Vili didn’t know, he would always inquire about it in great detail.

This made Mibu feel that Vili was entirely different from other minor nobles. Most minor nobles focused their energy on figuring out how to further raise taxes, expand their treasuries, or busy themselves with clearing land and finding other ways to amass wealth. There seemed to be very few like him who were willing to open their eyes and look at the world.

This made Mibu realize that this young Lord was likely far more formidable than he had imagined. Despite his peasant origins, his way of considering things was always on a higher dimension, somewhat akin to the heirs of those Great Nobles.

Therefore, Mibu developed a trace of inexplicable expectation toward Vili. He had a strong feeling that White Bear Town would not be the end point for this young Baron.

Half a month later, as the sky was just beginning to brighten inside the Baron’s Manor, Vili was diligently practicing the Frost Knight Breathing Technique in the open space behind the estate.

At this current stage, Vili no longer needed to practice according to specific Combined Techniques. What he needed to do was find the resonance between the Fighting Spirit inside his body and the natural elements of the outside world.

This was an extremely complicated process. Unlike before, there were no fixed routines to follow; instead, it was an open-ended exploration. Even the Frost Knight Breathing Technique in his memory only provided a general method for advancement, without any description of the finer details.

It was precisely because of this that the difficulty of advancing to a Senior Knight was immensely high. So high, in fact, that there wasn’t a single Senior Knight in the original three towns of Blue Whale Town, Diamond Town, and Storm Town.

"PHEW..."

After practicing for an hour, Vili slowly drew in his stance. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. Even with his immense stamina, he felt fatigued after such prolonged practice.

Seeing Vili stop his movements, a young maid nearby soaked a soft towel in hot water, walked up to him, and gently wiped his face.

At first, Vili hadn’t been accustomed to such intimate servitude. But as time passed, he found himself corrupted by this pampered life of luxury.

After a simple wipe-down, Vili prepared to head to the bathroom to wash off his sweat. However, before he could even step inside the house, he saw Dane rushing into the manor, looking travel-worn and hurried.

"Lord Baron," Dane said, his complexion looking terrible, a thick layer of worry clouding his brow.

"You may leave," Vili said, waving his hand to signal the other servants to withdraw upon seeing this.

"Lord Baron, something very strange happened at the seaside last night," Dane said, frowning and lowering his voice.

"What is it?" Vili originally thought Dane’s solemnity meant the Pirates were attacking, but that didn’t seem to be the case right now.

Dane organized his words before speaking. "Just this morning, two members of the Sea Defense Team were found dead."

"Oh?" A sharp gleam flashed through Vili’s eyes. If this involved the death of Sea Defense Team Guards, then it was no small matter. "What’s the exact situation? How did they die?" Vili pressed Dane for answers.

Dane hesitated for a moment before saying with some uncertainty, "It seems they were bitten to death by some sort of creature."

"Bitten to death by a creature?"

Vili was very surprised. To his knowledge, there shouldn’t be any ferocious beasts roaming the beach. Moreover, the Sea Defense Team Guards were all veterans who had survived bloody battles against Pirates. Their combat abilities were quite formidable. How could they simply be bitten to death just like that? And two of them, no less.

"Yes." Dane nodded grimly. "The location where they died is rather remote. Only the two of them were stationed there to guard it, and the closest distance to any other Guards is over three hundred meters."

"Over three hundred meters? Even if it’s over three hundred meters, if a struggle occurred, shouldn’t the other Guards have noticed it?" Vili voiced the doubt in his mind.

Dane nodded. "I thought the same thing at first. I questioned a few of the Guards stationed closest to them, but they all stated that they didn’t hear a single sound last night.

"Actually, these suspicious points are nothing. What truly baffles me is the state of their corpses." Dane seemed to recall a disturbing image, his eyebrows nearly knitting together.

"The condition of their bodies was incredibly bizarre. Aside from a row of puncture wounds on their necks from some kind of sharp teeth, there were no other injuries on them," Dane continued explaining to Vili. "Furthermore, there was no expression of panic on their faces prior to their deaths. Instead, their eyes were closed, and they were smiling very peacefully... as if they were having a wonderful dream."

"Smiling when they died?"

Combining the state of their corpses with the seaside environment, Vili thought of a certain legendary creature from his past life.

Man-eating Sirens.