Chapter 66

Suddenly, a tall and muscular man rushed in. Although his armor was somewhat worn, it was well-maintained, and it was clear that its owner was a powerful and genuine warrior.

Owen was very surprised and said, "Captain Locke? Have you gathered the money?"

"Yes, here are ninety-five gold coins, ten healing potions in total, right?"

The man named Locke, with a pained expression, threw the money bag onto the table.

Owen began to count the gold coins.

Locke curiously examined Tang En beside him. He couldn't tell much from Tang En, who was dressed in a slightly outdated and unsuitable manner, without any weapons, not a Chosen One, and not wearing a mage's robe, so he couldn't be a mage. Could he be an alchemist? Ordinary people wouldn't come to such a shop.

Being scrutinized by Locke, Tang En felt a strange sense of discomfort, as if he was being looked down upon again.

"Hello, I'm Locke, the captain of the Cross Rose Mercenary Group."

Locke thought Tang En might be an alchemy apprentice, so he decided to get to know him.

Roses again, more roses. The Golden Rose Family, the Cross Rose Mercenary Group, why do the Plandar people have such a grudge against roses? Isn't the Gun and Rose Mercenary Group a better name? Or the Thorny Crown, which sounds even cooler?

Tang En was already despairing at the naming art of the Plandar people.

"Tang En."

"What brings Mr. Tang En here? You don't look like an adventurer."

"Buying some materials."

Locke's eyes lit up; indeed, he was an alchemy apprentice!

So he became even more enthusiastic: "Mr. Tang En, are you studying alchemy? Our Cross Rose group welcomes alchemists. Do you have any interest in joining? Become an adventurer, explore ruins, find treasures, and earn enough money to become a noble in no time!"

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

Tang En shook his head; in fact, he was already planning to leave.

"Is that so? What a pity. But if you change your mind, the doors of the Cross Rose Mercenary Group will always be open to you."

Locke wasn't discouraged; rather, he would be surprised if he could easily recruit an alchemist.

"Counted, ninety-five gold coins, correct."

Owen put away the money bag and handed the box of healing potions to Locke: "Take good care of them. Master Howard only gave me ten this month... But speaking of which, you were reluctant to use healing potions before. Why did you suddenly decide to buy them this time?"

"Of course, because of this mission."

Locke's face lit up: "You must have heard about it, right? Recently, many young girls have been disappearing in Caspami Castle. The nearby villagers are afraid to let their children go out, and even the nobles are a bit scared. So they jointly funded a mission to investigate the culprit. If anyone can solve this, they will receive two thousand gold coins as a reward!"

Tang En, who was about to leave, stopped and perked up his ears.

Young girls disappearing?

It wasn't that he was too paranoid, but he almost instinctively thought of the greedy look Ogre had given Elia.

But Elia hasn't shown any signs yet.

"Two thousand gold coins!"

Owen was shocked: "Such a big mission, the Mercenary Guild hasn't seen one like this in a long time."

"Indeed, and it's not just this one. There's another mission with a high reward, to hunt down a necromancer. The bounty is five thousand gold coins, but it's a bit far, to the south. We'll go there after completing this mission."

Locke laughed: "With these healing potions, our chances of completing the mission are much higher."

Tang En turned around and asked: "Captain Locke, can you tell me more about the missing young girls?"

"Mr. Tang En is interested in this?"

Captain Locke smiled: "Actually, there's not much to it. In the past six months, over a hundred young girls have disappeared in Caspami Castle, almost every day. At first, it was thought that they were attacked by monsters, but as time went on, no traces of monsters were found. Instead, some unusual clues suggested that this was a human act."

Tang En pondered: "Kidnapping?"

"Not kidnapping."

Locke shook his head: "If it were kidnapping, someone would have been asked for ransom by now. But in fact, there hasn't been a single ransom demand."

"You mentioned that the missing girls include not only commoners but also the children of nobles?"

Owen suddenly interjected: "Yes, even Mr. Vincent's beloved daughter has disappeared."

Owen and Locke sighed, clearly surprised that even the high and mighty nobles would encounter such a situation.

Locke added: "If Mr. Tang En knows any families with young girls, it would be best to warn them to be careful."

"I understand..."

Tang En suddenly paused, a strange smile on his face: "Mr. Locke, Mr. Owen, I have something to do, I'll leave first."

"Um, okay, Mr. Tang En."

Locke and Owen watched Tang En leave quickly, puzzled as to why he suddenly stopped asking questions.

Tang En, of course, wasn't interested in continuing the questioning because Elia was finally showing signs of movement.

The magic node he had placed on Elia was moving rapidly, clearly not Elia's usual way of moving. He could also feel her rapid heartbeat, indicating she was a bit nervous and scared.

"Elia, don't worry, I'm watching over you."

Tang En transmitted a message to calm Elia's emotions.

"Big brother, I'm so scared, it's so dark here. Just now, several people jumped in through the window and put me in a bag. They are bad people!"

"I know, don't worry, everything will be fine."

Tang En's face showed a cold smile as he followed the magic node on the street. If he had only suspected before, now he was almost certain.

The disappearance of the young girls was definitely related to Ogre, or rather, to Baron Duve.

He stopped, and in front of him was the lord's mansion, which he had just left not long ago.

And Elia was already inside the lord's mansion.

Very good...

Tang En smiled. He had originally been worried about not having a legitimate reason to cause a commotion, but now the opportunity was right there.

"How is it you again!?"

Two guards walked over impatiently: "Didn't I tell you to come back tomorrow!?"

"Tomorrow?"

Tang En looked at them calmly and walked forward slowly: "I'm afraid my sword can't wait until tomorrow."

"Your sword? What sword do you have?"

The guards looked at Tang En as if he were a fool. As soon as he spoke, a fine steel sword appeared in Tang En's hand.

"How is this possible!?"

The guards were shocked and were about to warn Tang En, but he had already passed by them.

"Find a more reliable master in your next life."

Tang En's voice reached the guards' ears, but... why did it sound so distant? And why was the world upside down?

With a thud, the guards' bodies fell to the ground.

Until the darkness descended, they never understood when they had been struck.

"Murder! Murder!"

"Someone is committing murder in the lord's mansion! Where is the guard!?"

"The murderer has entered the lord's mansion!"

After witnessing Tang En's murder, the outside of the lord's mansion instantly fell into chaos. Everyone was shouting and looking for the guard.

Tang En calmly kicked open the door of the lord's mansion and glanced at the maids cleaning inside: "Where is Duve?"

Seeing Tang En with a sword, the maids were terrified and pointed upstairs, trembling: "Third... third floor..."

"Thank you."

Tang En politely said and walked upstairs.

"Who dares to cause trouble in the lord's mansion!?"

A group of people rushed down the stairs. Seeing Tang En, they charged at him without a word.

"Are you... daring to stop me?"

Tang En's lips curled, and he casually swung his sword. The overwhelming force easily knocked the soldiers who blocked him away. Even their shiny armor couldn't stop his ordinary steel sword, which tore through it effortlessly.

The chaos downstairs caught Duve's attention. He angrily abandoned the pursuit of the terrified girls and roared: "Ogre! Where are you, Ogre!"

"My lord!"

Ogre entered: "I just returned."

"What's happening outside? Someone is causing trouble?"

"My lord, Tang En has entered with a sword. The guards are now fighting him."

"Oh!?"

Duve frowned: "He was supposed to surrender, but he dares to kill in my territory!?"

"From what it looks like... he probably isn't here to surrender."

Ogre's face remained calm: "Please rest assured, my lord. I will guard you and ensure he doesn't disturb our entertainment."

"What's in the bag you're holding?"

"My lord, the one I told you about before."

Duve's eyes lit up: "Let me see?"

"As you wish."

Ogre opened the bag, and Elia, seeing the light again, instinctively covered her eyes.

"Excellent! Truly excellent!"

Baron Duve was delighted: "This little girl is worth at least a hundred of the previous ones!"

Ogre chuckled: "I'm glad you like her, my lord."

"Why are you kidnapping me, you bad people!?"

Elia was terrified, crouching into a ball, but Duve and the others didn't notice the cunning in her eyes.

"Hehe..."

Duve laughed: "Little girl, what's your name?"

"I won't tell you! You pervert, not even wearing clothes!"

Elia shook her head vigorously, her face full of fear.

"Interesting..."

Baron Duve smiled: "Ogre, lock her up."

"No need to trouble you."

A calm voice suddenly came from the doorway. Ogre's expression changed, and he instantly appeared in front of Baron Duve, on guard.

"Big brother!"

Elia cheered and rushed into Tang En's arms: "How was my performance?"

Tang En gave her a thumbs up: "Excellent!"

==== PS: New year, new look. Wishing everyone good health and prosperity! Also—votes and red packets, please (reaching out).

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