Chapter 53: Military Supplies, Bloody Bay

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Military Supplies, Bloody Bay

’I’m already a Great Knight, and a Bronze Great Knight at that!’

’The prospect of becoming a Great Knight holds no allure for me anymore!’

Roy grumbled inwardly.

Though that was what he was thinking, he kept the words to himself. Instead, he put his well-honed acting skills to use, perfectly feigning the surprise of someone hearing about the Second Son Brotherhood for the first time. He quickly asked,

"Joining the Second Son Brotherhood gets you an Exemplary Breathing Technique?"

Neither Allen nor Miria saw through his masterful performance, and they exchanged a look.

Then, Allen continued, "Of course, it’s not that simple."

"To obtain a Universal Breathing Technique of the Excellent Level, you need to exchange it with Contribution Points."

"Miria and I have already teamed up for several missions and have saved up some Contribution Points."

"If you join the Second Son Brotherhood too, the three of us can team up, and we’ll accumulate Contribution Points much faster."

Roy didn’t answer Allen immediately, his mind quickly weighing the options.

’He was already a member of the Second Son Brotherhood, but he had joined under the identity of the Dark Night Knight.’

’If he wanted to, he could absolutely join again as Roy Wesley.’

’The problem was, the war was about to start.’

’Even if he joined the Second Son Brotherhood again as Roy Wesley, it wouldn’t be of much use.’

’He highly doubted they would have the spare time to continue taking on missions during a war.’

’Unless, of course, the Second Son Brotherhood happened to post missions to assassinate nobles and Knights from the Kalin Kingdom.’

Seeing him fall silent, Allen quickly asked, "Are you worried about there being restrictions after you join?"

"There are some, but not many—just a few very basic requirements."

After a moment of thought, Roy came to a decision.

’Joining a second time isn’t a big deal.’

’Besides, it’s about time for the Dark Night Knight to disappear for a while!’

’What’s more, if they really could get missions to assassinate nobles and Knights from the Kalin Kingdom during the war, having Allen and Miria to provide cover would make things much more convenient.’

’As for having to share some of his Contribution Points with Allen for his first ten missions, that was a trivial matter not worth a second thought.’

Under Allen and Miria’s watchful gaze, Roy said slowly, "If the Second Son Brotherhood is really as good as you say, then joining sounds like a good thing."

"Don’t worry, you definitely won’t regret this decision!"

Allen said with a confident expression.

With that, he stood up, ready to take Roy to meet the head of the Second Son Brotherhood in Ice Wind City.

Roy said nothing more, following Allen and Miria out of the inn.

After winding through the Inner City for over ten minutes, they arrived at a tavern called "Bloody Bay."

The process that followed was no different from the first time Catherine had brought him to meet Sandru.

First, they went to the tavern’s bar.

Allen took out a Copper Coin to prove his identity to the bartender, then asked if the person in charge was in.

After receiving a definitive answer from the bartender, they followed him to an office on the second floor.

In the office, they met the head of the Second Son Brotherhood in Ice Wind City.

He was a pot-bellied man in his early forties, clad in magnificent attire.

The man’s name was André.

He didn’t mention his family name.

Although his appearance didn’t resemble a Great Knight in the slightest, Roy and the others knew that André was undoubtedly a Great Knight.

To become a regional head for the Second Son Brotherhood, the rank of Great Knight was the most basic requirement.

It would be difficult to keep things under control without at least that much power.

After all, without exception, everyone who joined the Second Son Brotherhood was a prodigy who had advanced to High Tier Knight before the age of twenty-two.

After some simple pleasantries, André wasted no time and immediately began processing Roy’s entry into the Second Son Brotherhood.

After signing the membership contract once again, Roy received four Copper Coins from André, each stamped with a Seven-Pointed Star and Crossed Swords.

André knew they would be leaving Ice Wind City for the Royal Capital the next day, so he didn’t ask if they wanted to accept any missions and simply handed the Exchange Scroll directly to Roy.

Without hesitation, Roy quickly unrolled the Scroll and began to browse its contents.

Breathing Techniques, Secret Medicines, Weapons and Equipment...

Most of the items available for exchange on the Scroll were about the same as what Roy had seen before.

However, at the end of the Scroll, he saw a few things that hadn’t been there before.

Military supplies!

Standard Armor, Cross Swords, long spears, Arrows, Warhorses, Grain and Grass, Siege Machinery...

And... Slaves!

What?

Upon seeing these military supplies, all three of them—Roy, Allen, and Miria—showed expressions of astonishment.

It was obvious these military supplies were meant for members who came from nobility and were preparing to build up their own forces.

A lone wolf would have no use for such things.

Although they were surprised, Roy and the others didn’t ask André why the Second Son Brotherhood had put military supplies on the exchange list.

After returning the Exchange Scroll to André, they quickly left the "Bloody Bay" tavern and returned to the "Elf Night" inn.

In the main hall of the inn’s first floor.

Roy and the others ordered a lavish dinner and began to eat at a leisurely pace.

During the meal, Roy played the part of the clueless newcomer perfectly, listening attentively as Allen explained the ins and outs of the Second Son Brotherhood.

Time trickled by.

After finishing their meal, they returned to their respective rooms.

「The next morning.」

They left Ice Wind City, traveling together toward the Royal Capital.

Like Roy, Miria was also alone and had not brought anyone else with her to the Royal Capital.

Although she had inherited the title of Baron Snow Fox six years ago, she had been unable to lead the Elvin Clan out of its decline and restore its former strength.

Today, the Elvin Clan still consisted of only her and her younger sister, Elena.

Not only that, but because the family’s previously accumulated wealth had been completely plundered, Snow Fox Castle was now extraordinarily poor.

Count Frost Bear had indeed sent some Gold Coins, but that amount was far from enough to even repair Snow Fox Castle, let alone recruit new soldiers and form an army.

Currently, Snow Fox Castle had fewer than fifty soldiers.

As for Official Knights, there were only her and Elena.

After the Snow Fox Tragedy, she and Elena began to cultivate their family’s Snow Fox Breathing Technique.

Despite being full-blooded sisters, Elena’s Cultivation Talent was far inferior to Miria’s.

Miria was already on the verge of advancing to Peak Knight.

Meanwhile, Elena was still an Initial Tier Knight.

Unlike Roy and Miria, who were traveling to the Royal Capital alone to represent their families in the war, Baron Giant Monster had brought a much larger retinue. He not only brought Allen—a High Tier Knight masquerading as a Middle Tier Knight—but also the Captain of his Personal Guard, a High Tier Knight named Bandi, as well as four Middle Tier Knights handpicked from the Personal Guard.

For a Baron Clan, dispatching two High Tier Knights and four Middle Tier Knights to war was already a very powerful force.

By comparison, the Wesley Clan and the Elvin Clan, both of which were also Baron Clans, didn’t even have seven Official Knights between them.

After leaving Ice Wind City, Roy and his party traveled south along the Ice and Snow Avenue, which connected the Royal Capital and the Northern Territory, heading straight for the capital.

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