This time, Han Dong had somewhat misjudged the incident at the Security Branch.
Scaring the lawbreakers in the underground detention room was actually Han Dong's intentional way of doing so... The purpose, of course, was to confirm the point that he was a 'Returnee' from the side.
But he didn't expect that he would happen to run into the Black Knight who escorted him yesterday.
This was a high-ranking person.
Successfully having graduated from the [National Royal Knights Academy] and being selected as one of the 'Twelve Knights', the Black Rose Knights were far superior to Han Dong, the trainee knight, and the local magistrate in terms of strength and status.
Under Fergus's questioning.
There was a chance that the information about the 'Faceless Head' might be leaked, depending on Han Dong's resilience .
The follow-up conversation didn't take place in the rat-infested, sewage-ridden streets.
Got on the mechanical black horse again.
Followed Barton Rider to the neighboring "Ghanaian Civilian District".
It's one of the four commoner districts, but the security, environment, and architectural layout here is far better than in Samet... it's the first among the four commoner districts.
[Hammer and Flame Tavern]
The black horse is parked in front of the unique pub.
The black iron structure of the tavern's exterior, the complex metal pipes embedded in the surface of the exterior wall, and a large cylindrical chimney in the back kitchen.
If it weren't for the couple of big, drunken bearded men exiting through the front door, Han Dong would have mistaken this for a blacksmith shop.
The metal trunks of the horses, shielded by a cover, were parked in the stables at the back end of the tavern, under the care of a man.
Barton Emerged from the stables. The black iron armor that looked heavy was replaced by a plain shirt and a leather waistcoat.
The noble majesty of the original knight disappeared.
At this time, Barton completely blended into the commoner's area, and strangers were unable to recognize his true identity.
"Just call me Barton here, there's no need for ceremonial honorifics."
"Come sit with me in the tavern."
Pushing open the door of the Black Iron Tavern, most of those sitting inside were plainly dressed, bald-headed, fat-chested drunks with large bellies while holding large mugs of malt liquor.
As one walks towards the bar, a voice with a thick drawl comes out.
"Barton old chap, long time no see!
I thought you had gone 'up there' and didn't even remember me here... Afraid your name would scare away my customers, there's a private room in the back reserved just for you."
The man who spoke was the owner of a tavern with a thick goatee.
"Old John, business is still so good."
Old John leaned close and whispered.
"Can it be bad? I've had a noble and powerful Knight of the Black Rose in this tavern! Look around with your portrait plastered all around, and a metal model of you on the bar.
Haha, don't mind if I use you for advertising in private."
"Feel free to use it... I don't have much time to go out this time, take us to a private room."
Old John was warm and bold, and in the process of heading to the private room, he asked the skinny Han Dongkai, "What does this weak friend do, he's not your sidekick, is he?"
"He is a trainee knight who has just become a 'Returner', of the same civilian origin as me, but from the Samai District."
"The Samai District?"
Han Dong smiled and responded, "Well... my name is Nicholas Valen."
Old John looked Han Dong up and down and suddenly laughed while stroking his beard.
"Haha, I can't see much with my old eyes, but it's really nice of you to crawl out of the lowest Samai district!
Young man...you must try my signature here today-Hammer Spirits. As long as this body of yours can stand it, you are a friend of mine, Old John!
If you come to my place for future drinks...
All sixty percent off."
Han Dong really didn't think what this body could do, but it would be troublesome later if he drank too much and caused liver failure.
The enclosed black iron private room was considered a luxury private room.
The animal fur carpet, the antler decoration, Kerosene Lamp.
Two extra-large glasses of Hammer Spirits were served by Old John himself.
The highly concentrated ale served in a huge hammered container...Han Dong's body didn't feel too comfortable just staring at it.
It was also accompanied by the place's special peppered pork sausages, fried cod strips, and other tasty offshoots.
"Old John, I have a personal matter to discuss with this friend."
"Understood...just call me by my name if you need anything."
After a simple meal and drink, the conversation returned to the topic at hand.
"It's rare for 'returnees' to appear in civilian areas, and I'm personally curious as to how you did it... I was planning to learn about your past through the local archives.
Since I happen to run into you, I'll ask in person.
Is there anything you can tell me privately about your abilities? After all, there will be people asking questions when you arrive inside the academy as well, so I can help you do a bit of 'covert work' in advance."
This statement expressed Barton's attitude and seemed to be on one side with Han Dong... However, Han Dong still had reservations.
"Well, I actually taught myself a little bit about the mysticism in advance before I entered the Destiny Space."
"Self-taught?" Barton wasn't quite convinced, "You're uneducated, aren't you?"
"Literacy was taught to me by my mother... I was born with poor health, unable to go out to work, and being idle at home every day with nothing to do... so I thought of reading books to pass the time.
I happened to find that a junkyard not too far from home had a lot of scrap books flowing down from it, and they were very cheap.
Books like "An Introduction to the Development of Modern Mysticism", "An Overview of the Mysteries", "Astrological Theory" and so on can be found.
I also tried to top-print secret texts and drew formations on rough paper... About a year ago, I had a very strange dream after reading until late at night that day and putting down my books to sleep.
I can't remember the exact content of the dream, just vaguely remember the dream was very messy, similar to all kinds of pieces put together.
When I woke up, my own brain was more than a cloud of 'energy'."
After this statement, Barton went from total disbelief, to a little more belief.
Han Dong continued, "Through the touch of the palm of the hand, one is able to initiate a conscious level of instruction to the target that is not too influential and cannot change one's perceptions, but can only implant a subconscious mind.
This technique allows me to contact the event character smoothly during the Destiny Event and establish relationships quickly.
Subsequently, the distribution of Destiny Points allowed me to become more familiar with this technique.
Previously, at the Security Branch, the 'Seed of Fear' was quickly planted in the minds of those people through touch, and they looked at me as if they had seen a demon and were scared shitless.
That was probably the case."
Samai District, Han Dong's home.
A stalker dressed in a dark shadow robe was conducting a secret inspection of his room.
During the search, a large number of old books involving [Mysticism] were found, books that were also filled with notes, and a few crude self-painted formations were also found in the drawers.
Two days ago, Nicholas' room didn't even have these books in it.
This was what Han Dong had instructed his sister Nina to do, and such old scrapbooks were easy to find in some recycling yards and could be bought for small expenses.
Han Dong had been considering how to conceal the Faceless Man's head.
Since it was related to the mysticism, then disguising as being 'self-taught'... Now that Han Dong was already an apprentice mystic, as long as the rhetoric could correspond to the situation in the room, it would be difficult to find out the real problem even if the people above wanted to investigate.