"So, after forcing him to sign a Blood Oath, Lucius promised to be a role model for all merchants in the Kingdom of Gweliven," Lux said. "I would appreciate it if the Kingdom no longer looked for ways to trouble him. Both of us now share the same interest."
An awkward silence descended upon the room as Nevreal, Robin, Princess Anastasia, and Millie looked at the Half-Elf who was clearly bullsh*tting them.
However, this silence was broken by Princess Anastasia's cheerful voice that almost made Nevreal and Millie choke on their saliva.
"As expected of Sir Lux, you handled things perfectly," Princess Anastasia commented. "You are truly the savior of this Kingdom."
Lux, who received Princess Anastasia's praises, only smiled and kept his calm demeanor.
"Well, if you are certain that Lucius will no longer harm this Kingdom's interest, then I will accept your bullsh*— I mean, I will accept your explanation," Nevreal replied. "We will treat this matter as an unfortunate incident, and Lucius was just the victim of an assassination attempt by those he wronged in the past. Will that be fine with you?"
Lux nodded. "That's fine. Also, do not make contact with Lucius whatsoever. This is especially true for you, Sir Nevreal. I'm sure that Ferron is suspecting you right now."
"Got it." Nevreal sighed. "I hope this is the last time we are doing something like this. Fortunately, I managed to contact some people to help with the cleanup operation. If not, His Majesty would certainly be livid after hearing about this incident."
Princess Anastasia, who felt that the right opportunity had arrived, immediately voiced her opinion.
"Don't worry, I will take care of Father," Princess Anastasia patted her chest. "I'll tell him that Sir Lux acted on the behalf of the Kingdom and that he handled the incident to the best of his abilities. I'll make sure that no fault will fall upon your shoulders, Sir Lux!"
"Thank you, Your Highness," Lux gave the Princess a grateful bow, which made Princess Anastasia extremely happy.
Robin and Millie, who could see the Princess' lovestruck, gaze only averted their gaze and pretended to not see anything.
"Please take this, Sir Lux," Princess Anastasia offered Lux a Mithril Bracelet that had a very intricate design. "This is a protective artifact, which also has the ability to send me messages. Just activate it and speak to it directly. The message will then be sent to me, and vice versa."
The Princess then pointed at the blue jewel embedded in the center of the bracelet.
"If this jewel turns red, it will vibrate lightly, which will inform you that a message was sent," Princess Anastasia explained. "You will need to activate it in order to hear the message. Simple, right?"
"Understood," Lux accepted the bracelet and used his appraisal skill on it. "Thank you again, Your Highness."
"Don't mention it." Princess Anastasia's face slightly reddened after seeing Lux put on the mithril bracelet that she gave him.
This was the first time she had given something very precious to someone else, which showed just how much she cared about the safety of the red-headed teenager who regularly visited her dreams every night.
Just like Princess Anastasia had claimed, the bracelet was a protective charm that created a barrier around the one wearing the bracelet that could block any attacks from a Low-Ranker.
This protection could be activated once every ten minutes, making it a life-saving artifact that could be used in dangerous situations.
Lux already had the Corpse God to protect him, which served a similar purpose. However, the protective charm was also a good thing because there might be some kind of attacks that even his Corpse God couldn't block.
"So, what are your plans after this?" Nevreal asked. "I heard from Thoram that you're quite busy with your Guild at the moment."
Nevreal didn't know that the money he gave Lux was used to build the Guild Headquarters of the only Mythical Guild in the world.
If he knew, he would certainly drop all grudges and give the Half-Elf a thumbs up for putting half of his life savings to good use.
"I will be leaving the Kingdom of Gweliven in a week because I need to go somewhere far away," Lux explained. "It might be a few months before I am able to return."
Princess Anastasia's happiness plummeted drastically after hearing that Lux would disappear for a few months.
She even planned to invite him back to the Capital City of Aeronwen to spend some time relaxing in her villa. But now that she heard Lux's decision, she decided to put this plan on hold for the time being.
"Where will you be going, Sir Lux?" Princess Anastasia asked. Although she had already set aside her plan on inviting the Half-Elf to spend a few days in her villa, she still wanted to know where he was going.
"Actually, I don't know either," Lux answered. "My Master plans to take me to the Ancestral Grounds of Necromancers to receive the world's blessings. I don't know wher—."
"Wait!" Millie who had remained silent all this time interjected. "Receive the world's blessings? You mean, you are already about to become a Ranker?!"
"Yes," Lux replied. "I will go to the Necromancer's Ancestral Grounds to become a Ranker."
Robin and Nevreal couldn't help but look at the Half-Elf as if they were seeing a miracle come to life.
Both of them had met Lux when he was just starting out in Leaf Village, and they never imagined that the Half-Elf would become so strong in such a short period of time.
"Unbelievable," Nevreal muttered. "You're now going to be a Ranker. Have you been consuming Beast Cores without a care in the world? This is not the right way of doing things, Lux. You're just going to become a Half-Baked Ranker if you continue this path."
"That's right, Lux!" Millie's expression became serious. "If you just consumed Beast Cores to raise your rank without working hard for it, the World will count that as cheating. You will also receive very few blessings during your breakthrough, and any Ranker of the same Rank would be able to beat you with ease."
"A solid and strong foundation is the true way of becoming a Ranker," Nevreal stated. "The World's Blessing is not a joke. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The next time you receive such blessings is when you become a Saint, which will take decades to happen."
Even Princess Anastasia, who had full faith in Lux, felt anxious after hearing Millie's and Nevreal's explanation. She wanted Lux to become the strongest Ranker in the Kingdom and didn't want him to become a Half-Baked Ranker, just like the two adults were talking about.
"Don't worry," Lux replied. "Believe me when I say that I've worked very hard to reach my current rank. It will be fine."
Lux didn't want to tell them that he had fought in several large-scale battles and faced many strong opponents during the time that they hadn't seen each other.
The Half-Elf firmly believed that he of all people didn't have to worry about becoming a Half-Baked Ranker because that was only for spoiled second-generation kids who had a strong backing.
An hour later, Lux went to the guest room that Nevreal had assigned to him to rest. Eiko had already peacefully fallen asleep on top of his head, so he gently placed her down on the pillow.
Lux was also very exhausted, so almost upon laying down on the bed, he fall asleep.
While the Half-Elf was resting, news of what happened in Whitebridge City spread across the entire Kingdom of Gweliven overnight.
All the Information Guilds were hard at work to gather all the information they could, so that they could sell it for a high price.
There were always people who wanted to buy the latest information about important things that happened in the Kingdom, like the High-Ranking Nobles and their counterparts.
Twilight Rain was also one of the organizations that were paying close attention to what happened to Whitebridge City because it involved one of their Honorary Elders.
They also received a report that another of their Honorary Elders had died in another city.
According to the initial investigation, the Merchant was killed with a single stab in the chest, giving him no chance to even scream for help.
This prompted the Dark Guild to send out its own people to investigate what happened as well as find Lucius' whereabouts, whom they assumed was still on the run from the organization that tried to kill him in Whitebridge City.
