The Discarded Son's Skill Market

People frowned at the lack of respect shown toward Khan. We were talking about Khan, after all—one of the most powerful mercenaries.

Have they lost their minds?

In the entire Kingdom of Toluria, the mercenary guild has only 20 Diamond-Ranked members, and he was one of them!

"How disrespectful," Alice whispered, almost annoyed by that and by the way that flashy guy spoke.

Zaid nodded. "I’d heard that all the believers in the Church of the Seventh Night were like that. It doesn’t surprise me."

The only time he saw someone from that church behave properly was in front of Roger Zachary, his father. However, he did so only because his father had him completely under control; at first, he had acted the same way.

They were people who didn’t learn good manners.

"Listen up. We’re leaving in 30 minutes," said the Guard Commander after a few minutes of silence. "You’ve all been assigned based on your strength and will be under my command. I don’t care who your mercenary superiors are—I’m in charge here!"

His gaze swept coldly over all the mercenaries and other hired groups. He didn’t even give Khan the slightest bit of respect or a greeting beyond a nod, even though the two of them were almost equally strong.

"Strangers aren’t allowed near my master’s car, so please, I’m asking you to drive slowly—I don’t want to have to go out there and hit you." He snorted coldly, but didn’t wait long before speaking again.

"It’s a one-day journey from here to the Ancient Temple. Behave yourselves. I’m no executioner, but I won’t tolerate any misbehavior from Strangers." With that, he gave Khan an indifferent nod and left.

’This bastard is even worse than his master.’ Zaid shook his head.

Beside him, Martin laughed and looked at Finn, who was furious, practically steaming from the head.

"Why don’t you go punch him in the face? I think they deserve it," Martin joked.

Finn snorted. "I’m not suicidal, either. Why don’t you do it? You’re stronger."

"Hey, it doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers you," Martin said, raising his hands and shrugging.

Finn rolled his eyes at him, but didn’t say anything.

And so 30 minutes passed. Khan spoke to all the groups, reached an agreement with them, and then they got into the cars and buses that would take them on their journey. They carefully set up their defenses, but avoided, as much as possible, working with guards of that sort.

They were all so stressful!

Apparently, this trip was going to be a hassle...

Zaid couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to stay in that city, where everyone is a believer. "Part of the job, I suppose." He chuckled to himself.

Soon the journey began, and the capital’s massive walls began to recede from the huge group.

It was Zaid’s first time leaving the capital, so he enjoyed it immensely. But once the city walls were no longer visible on the horizon, a sense of tension settled over the cars in the motorcade.

Once the city walls were out of sight, it meant the city’s protection had ended. In fact, there was a solitary checkpoint right at that spot to warn them of the danger that might lie ahead.

They all summoned their weapons before they had any need to use them and prepared to break the glass if necessary.

However, an hour went by and nothing happened. The tension began to ease. Two hours later, everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing: nothing.

They started playing a board game or something like that...

Alice and Zaid talked about the time, in whispers.

"It’s a day’s journey, isn’t it?" Alice asked. "It’s so far away, and going this way... Wouldn’t we be reaching the Dragon’s Tail Mountains in a day?"

She frowned... Were they really going to such a dangerous place?

"Almost, but no. The Three Villages are 100 kilometers from the Dragon’s Tail Mountains," Zaid replied. "It’ll take a day to get there, and if everything goes well, we should be back in three days."

Alice nodded, noticeably relieved that they weren’t going to that mountain range. "Three days..." Still, she found herself intrigued by the idea.

In exactly three days, the famous Seventh Night would take place... What exactly was it?

Not knowing the answer, she asked Zaid. But he didn’t know either. Zaid passed the question on to Martin and Finn, who were playing a tabletop role-playing game, but they couldn’t answer either.

All they could say was that it was a ritual of the Church of the Seventh Night.

"Do you think they’ll make us stay to watch it?" Alice asked curiously.

Martin laughed. "No, that’s impossible. They don’t allow Strangers to stay inside the cities when it happens."

’What a high level of secrecy,’ Zaid thought, though it came as no surprise. The Holy Loyalty also has highly secret rituals.

That confirmed they would be returning from the mission on Sunday morning.

Zaid and Alice talked about a few more things—trivial matters—until Alice calmed down enough to fall asleep... she hadn’t slept well the night before.

Zaid took advantage of the moment to catch up on so many things... starting with Valia.

’I haven’t heard from you in days—are you okay?’ Zaid asked in his mind, trying to convey his question to her.

Ever since the battle in the Forest, she had remained silent—for reasons unknown—to the point that Zaid wasn’t even sure if she was sleeping or not. At least he could sense that she was alive.

Was she hurt, perhaps? He couldn’t quite remember the state she had been in when she decided to return to her body... It was strange, since he had a good memory. Or so he thought.

His voice echoed inside, but there was no answer.

’Hey, Valia?’ He called out again, and then a third time...

When he received no reply, he sighed heavily and shook his head. Maybe she was asleep...

He thought about taking a closer look at her system, but suddenly he felt a slight chill run up his spine... it wasn’t a physical sensation, though.

He felt the chill in his spirit.

’I... I feel really weak, my love. Have I been sleeping a lot lately?’ Valia’s sleepy and strangely aching voice reached him.

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