Chapter 233: The Foreigner’s Back, Rein Stunned

Chapter 233: Chapter 233: The Foreigner’s Back, Rein Stunned

Campfire Traveler was a publication with an enormous circulation across the continent, consistently ranking in the top three among all periodicals managed by the Minstrels.

The periodical had a special section dedicated to chronicling influential figures, and every active person featured had a dedicated Minstrel assigned to their exclusive, ongoing coverage.

These reporting rights were an exclusive buyout.

From start to finish, the chronicler who first discovered the individual and established their profile was given full responsibility for all coverage.

For a Minstrel, spreading stories and creating Legends were the most important means of gaining direct experience and raising their Tier.

’If... that young man, Lance, really does manage to rise to prominence in the future...’

’And if he, Bazzer, becomes the exclusive biographer chronicling Lance’s life...’

’Then his status within the entire Minstrel organization would absolutely skyrocket along with Lance’s rise!’

But a gamble like that required incredible nerve.

Because the price of failure was just as steep.

There had been cautionary tales within the Minstrel organization.

A number of highly experienced seniors had once spent two full years pouring all their resources into covering a newcomer they believed had immense potential.

But in the end, that person died unexpectedly in an Underground City without ever accomplishing a single noteworthy deed.

This led to the Minstrel’s utter ruin. Their status in the organization plummeted, and they were ultimately reduced to fabricating stories just to make a living.

If this were a typical Summer Crown, he would have gritted his teeth and taken the gamble.

But this time, there were simply too many other huge, breaking stories.

If he wasted a month on this boy and missed out on reporting the high-profile rivalries that could guarantee him a Tier promotion...

That was the true source of his dilemma.

He suddenly recalled the scene on the deck from just a moment ago—the young man holding his daughter’s hand.

"Lilia, be honest with Papa."

Bazzer stopped walking.

"That young man from before... what kind of person do you think he is?"

"He’s going to be a true Hero."

The little girl answered without a hint of hesitation, her tone firmer than he had ever heard it.

Looking into his daughter’s bright eyes,

Bazzer took a deep breath and grit his teeth hard.

"Alright. Papa will trust your Intuition this time."

"I’ll take that bet!"

Minstrels and the Adventurers who forged Legends had always existed in a symbiotic relationship, each helping the other achieve greatness.

If this gamble paid off, both he and the young man stood to gain immense rewards on this continent.

But what Bazzer didn’t know...

...was that Lilia had dared to utter the word "Hero" with such certainty only because, beyond the image she had described, she had seen something else.

In her Spiritual Vision just moments ago,

she had looked past the phantom wearing a crown.

There, she had clearly seen the back of a figure—a solitary traveler carrying a simple pack.

And before this traveler, the once-rugged path had, in an instant, become paved with thorny brambles, vibrant flowers, and endless praise.

It was as if the traveler’s life was destined to be a grand stage play.

Lilia had never seen such a double-layered vision on anyone else before.

What she found even more astonishing was that...

...as she stared at the figure’s back, it seemed to sense her gaze.

The figure turned its head and made a "shushing" gesture at Lilia.

It was the first time since gaining her Spiritual Vision that Lilia had seen the image behind a person be alive, let alone actively interact with the observer!

It was because of that very image...

...that she had been so startled while running happily that she had tripped and fallen right there on the deck.

By the time she was helped to her feet and looked again, the mysterious traveler’s silhouette had vanished completely.

The strangest part was...

...when she tried to tell Bazzer about the experience, she found her throat sealed, as if by some invisible Power.

She couldn’t form the words to describe the traveler’s silhouette at all.

That was why she had used a vague word like "Hero" to subtly convey the man’s extraordinary nature to her father.

...

「One day later, at dusk.」

Carrying a specially made, heavy leather case, Lance finally returned to Gray Rock Town.

The moment he entered town, he found it bustling on a completely different level than before.

The main thoroughfare was packed with weapon-bearing Adventurers from all over, and even the inns lining the streets had "No Vacancy" signs hanging out front.

It was only then that Lance connected a memory from his predecessor’s mind—the strange policy of Gray Rock Town implementing a month-long tax exemption every summer—with the ongoing Summer Crown.

The mandatory start of the Summer Crown must have caused a massive influx of outside Adventurers, causing local trade taxes to skyrocket.

To quell the local residents’ resentment over rising prices, the administrative office had likely implemented the tax exemption policy for this period as a means of appeasement and giving back to the townsfolk.

Lance made his way through the bustling crowd and returned to Rein’s house.

He carried the case up the stairs to the second floor. The moment he pushed open the wooden door to the attic,

he saw Ella. Her hands were bound with rope, and she was hanging upside down from a rafter.

A rag was stuffed in her mouth, and she was twisting and struggling painfully in midair. He had no idea what she could have done to deserve this.

Lance took one look, then decisively backed out and silently closed the door.

’Not my problem.’

As soon as he reached the living room on the first floor, he ran into Rein, who was just coming back from walking his dog.

The two of them sat down at the dining table.

Lance took a sip of water, then recounted his experience traveling to White River City for the Heroic Spirit Baptism, telling the respected elder every last detail.

Of course, he left out all the parts regarding his personal secrets.

He only spoke of the publicly known events that occurred during the trial in the Star Realm.

When Rein heard that Lance had managed to pull out the Holy Sword during the trial,

the old veteran’s expression began to look a little strange.

And when he went on to hear that Lance and Elvira had dueled in the canyon,

especially when he heard Lance describe how, at the critical moment, they had both activated [Dragon Form]...

...Lance saw Uncle Rein’s eyes slowly lose focus, his entire body freezing in a stunned stupor.

Because the moment he heard the words "Dragon Form,"

Rein suddenly recalled something outrageous Ella had sworn to him when she was first captured and brought back.

She had said that Lance had the pure scent of a dragon on him.

At the time, Rein hadn’t taken her ravings seriously at all.

Later, when Lance came to him asking all sorts of questions about Dragon Descendants, Rein just assumed Ella had been feeding the boy some nonsense behind his back, sparking his curiosity. He hadn’t paid it any mind.

But now, looking at the young man sitting before him,

Rein felt like his brain was about to shut down.

A Dragon Descendant and True Dragon Species Essence were two completely different concepts.

’Lance is actually an extremely rare Dragon Descendant...’

’What that wolf cub said back then... it was all fucking true?’

’Able to pull the Holy Sword... a Dragon Descendant... a Red Dragon...’