Chapter 24: Sunny Lan

Now that I had this unexpected lead, the next course of action became clear.

However, it was already quite late, and having just caused trouble for Uncle Lester and the others this evening, it wouldn’t be good to bother them again, so Miss Vilyric decided to visit the Black Knight Mercenary Corps’ headquarters tomorrow instead.

Having shared most of the intel, Lan prepared to leave. The place she arranged for Vilyric and the others to stay was not far from her own private residence; just a short walk would get them there. It was said to be a place she had bought for out-of-town friends to stay temporarily, and it was currently vacant.

The fact that it was located right next to the residence of the city lord’s daughter, the leader of the Third Special Detachment, also allowed Lan to ensure they wouldn’t be discovered by the Demon Town army.

“Oh, right, hold on a second.”

“Huh?”

As she called out to the twin-tailed girl who was about to leave, Vilyric pondered briefly before casually pulling something from the Void and tossing it to her.

“Xiao Guang broke your knife. Now that we’re partners, consider this a token of compensation. See if it feels right for you?”

Lan instinctively caught it and smoothly drew out the slender blade, lightly tapping it a few times with her fingers. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

“Huh?! What a good knife! It’s so thin, yet it has such resilience from the sound! This metal for forging… I’ve never come across anything like it! To possess such extraordinary magical affinity and hardness? Could it be mixed with some high-grade magic crystal powder? And the shape of this blade… it nearly seems tailor-made for the techniques in the [True Explanation of Famous Blades]. It’s not inferior in size to my demon-slaying sword, yet it’s lighter and sharper—this…”

The girl looked up in surprise, as if something peculiar was glimmering in her eyes.

“Vilyric, you actually have such a treasure of a blade? I was only half-convinced that you could help me further grasp the [True Explanation of Famous Blades], but now I’m certain! You truly excel in this art. If there’s a chance, could you teach me a few moves?”

“Eh? …Ahem, let’s discuss that later.”

Professionals are indeed different. The first thing Lan noticed about the new weapon wasn’t its grade, but its compatibility with her swordsmanship and how it felt in hand. The things she just spouted came out so rapidly that even Vilyric could only partially comprehend them.

Because Lan practiced sword techniques from the [Fantasy World], the commonly found swords in this world were unsuitable for her use; that’s why she had to customize her own weapon. However, this posed no issue for Vilyric.

“This sword is called [Sunny Lan], which is quite close to your name. Perhaps you two are quite fated. Just borrow it for now. Consider it the first phase of our collaboration. You can use it freely until I leave Demon Town. Of course, if your performance is good later, I might even consider giving it to you. Also, [Sunny Lan] is a spirit weapon… ahem, a spirit treasure.”

“[Sunny Lan], [Sunny Lan]… what a nice name, what a great sword! This is simply… well, I won’t hold back! Don’t worry, good sister! If you need anything, feel free to find me anytime! Hahaha!”

It seemed like she was instantly smitten by every aspect of [Sunny Lan]. Without much thought about the weapon’s grade, she happily cradled it in her arms, leaving with a beaming smile on her face.

As she watched Lan walk out, Vilyric opened her mouth, showing a look of helplessness.

“This girl’s attitude change is really quick…”

She even directly called her sister! Just a little while ago, they nearly got into a fight. It was hard to comprehend what these sword-wielding folks were thinking all day long…

As she said, [Sunny Lan] was a gold-grade spirit weapon, a super weapon known as a spirit treasure in this world. Vilyric’s decision to temporarily lend this sword to Lan was certainly well-considered.

The most important reason was that she didn’t have much stock of anything below gold-grade in her bag, and the native swords of this world were not suitable for Lan’s use.

Besides how Xiao Guang had broken Lan’s beloved weapon (which had truly touched Vilyric’s heart seeing Lan’s despairing expression), there was another reason: they couldn’t expect the other party to constantly work for them based on just a mere IOU.

Collaboration had to be based on win-win principles. If enhancing swordsmanship was a long-term process, then [Sunny Lan] was the initial down payment Vilyric was providing. However, spirit weapons held too much value in the eyes of ordinary people in this world, so giving it outright might lead to troublesome assumptions. Thus, she had to phrase it as a temporary loan.

Unlike the situation with Lester, Vilyric had indeed thought carefully before presenting [Sunny Lan]. It was like a mix of stick and carrot; coaxing and controlling with balance would win someone’s heart.

As for the city lord, Taylor, let Lan have a go at probing. It would be best to achieve results; if she didn’t, it wasn’t a big deal. After all, Vilyric planned to visit the Black Knight Mercenary Corps again tomorrow to try and find a way to connect with the so-called Ghost Thieves through Bangs.

Once this trip was complete, the time to reveal everything would come soon.

Though the bounty outside meant little to Vilyric and the others, the comings and goings still posed some trouble, especially for Tilysha, who wasn’t very powerful. If she wasn’t careful, she could indeed find herself in danger.

It was still best to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

…

The next day, Vilyric and the Little Dragon Daughter headed over to Lester’s place bright and early, while Leila and Renée stayed behind to watch the house and await contact. After all, gathering intel didn’t require too many people, and having a larger goal could be quite troublesome.

Wearing the Cognitive Impairment Mask and walking through the streets with the Little Dragon Daughter, the town felt much more desolate than it had a day prior due to yesterday’s large-scale hunt and subsequent events. Many shops were tightly shuttered, and the entire city was shrouded in an ominous tension.

But Vilyric knew that the full-blown conflict between both sides, or the monster war, wouldn’t erupt just yet. At the very least, the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons had sent elite demons and that strange butterfly called Tiyelu into the city, indicating they too wanted to avoid facing the United Kingdom head-on.

However, if this rescue team returned empty-handed, or even worse, fell in Demon Town, that would be another matter altogether.

The Cognitive Impairment Mask remained reliable. Even while walking ostentatiously through the streets, they saw wanted posters and images on the bulletin board, yet the surrounding civilians and soldiers acted blind, completely ignoring Vilyric and her companion.

Smoothly, they reached their destination.

The Black Knight Mercenary Corps’ base looked just as it always had, seemingly unaffected by last night’s events.

It appeared incredible, but this was actually the norm.

After all, this is a world that values the strong.

How could an enormous mercenary and adventurer group, comprising over a hundred members and reaching sky-level, be treated any differently when they were only sheltering fugitives and hadn’t directly clashed with the army?

After all, with the current tense situation, if a war with the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons really broke out, adventurers were an indispensable force.

That said, today’s guard was not Bangs.

Feeling that it would be troublesome, Vilyric simply disguised herself with the Chameleon Cloak and directly walked past the guards with the Little Dragon Daughter.

As she stepped through the gate of the headquarters, for some reason… the term “Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage” suddenly popped into her mind.

   

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