Chapter 71: Settling Down (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
“There aren’t that many people who can survive the ambush of a Black-Mask Assassin. I can also sense a mysterious power around here,” the other man spoke in a low voice. He took off his helmet, showing a blue face. The man had fin-like ears, blue skin, and white pupils — clearly not a human being.
“You Merfolk are so sensitive to mysterious powers. Since you mentioned it, the Snake of Sand Dust must be dealing with a...” The other man didn’t finish his sentence, but his reaction was etched with fear.
“You’re right. The first time I encountered such mysterious power was around 13 years ago. I can still recall it.” The merman nodded with a serious face.
“I suggest we leave this master alone...” he continued.
“I will report the situation to the Senior Officer,” the other man said.
“It’s been so long since I last discovered this mysterious power,” the merman stood up, and he said.
“Let’s move. We still have work to do. Take several guards with you and report our findings to the senior officer,” he said.
*****************************
Angele had been hiding in the shadows behind the building all along. After a few moments, he heard the guards leaving.
“Merfolk could be a problem...” Angele murmured as he scrunched his eyebrows.
‘But they didn’t seem to care about the guys I killed. What’s more, it looks they fear the power of wizards,’ Angele thought. He lowered his footsteps and walked out of the alley.
He followed the way he came from, quickly reaching his newly-bought shop. No one else was around, but he could still see the leftover footprints of the thugs. Someone had stolen his horses. However, Angele took everything important before leaving, so he didn’t care about it anymore.
Angele walked into the shop, put down the bows and quivers, and his bag. Before leaving, he locked the door. Angele had taken a decent amount of coins from the thugs. His dried food rations were gone, so he had to buy something to eat.
He found a pie store by the street, which had a sign outside that had ‘Darling’s Pie House’ written on it. Angele carried his sword on his back as he walked into the store. The store had white counters, and there were about 7 to 8 tables arranged in a neat manner, showing a clean and well-organized store. Several workers were handing packed pies purchased by customers on the line.
Angele could smell the delectable scent of a freshly baked meat pie, making him salivate from hunger. He inhaled once, relishing the smell before sitting at an empty table. Albeit busy, the place wasn’t crowded; several waiters and waitresses were entertaining the customers.
“Hello, what would you like to order?” A waitress saw Angele sitting down, so she came over to take his order. She wiped her hands on her white apron.
“What do you have?” Angele asked.
“Our signature dish is the Scallion Meat Pie. We also have the Sesame Sweet Bread, Deep Fried Doughs, and the Vegetable Pies,” the waitress said, her voice crisp.
“Can I have a Scallion Meat pie, please? How much is that?” Angele asked.
“Two silver coins,” the waitress replied. Angele took out two silver coins from his leather pouch and handed it to the waitress as payment. It took about 10 minutes for the dish to arrive. The meat pie had a golden crispy exterior; the minced meat and scallion were mixed up inside its filling. Angele sliced it into pieces and put some into his mouth with a fork. The texture was great, the pastry layer was crispy, and the fillings were savory: not greasy and not too salty. The wholesome and succulent taste instantly turned Angele into a fan of the meat pie.
He ordered another portion after he finished eating it and even quickly finished the second serving. Angele stood up and walked toward the counter. Lunchtime had already passed, so there weren’t that many customers at present.
“How can I help you, Sir?” a clerk asked.
"Do you deliver? Can I have meat pies delivered to me every day? I’ll give you the time and location," Angele asked.
“Sure, we can do that,” the clerk replied.
“Also, bring a glass of milk and some juice, too,” Angele added.
Twenty minutes later.
Angele didn’t need to worry about purchasing food every day after placing orders at the pie store. He returned to his newly-bought shop again, and then he decided to start meditating after closing the door. His shop was still empty, without any merchandise to sell. Angele didn’t bother with it for now. He just sat on the floor with his legs crossed and began to meditate. Angele was a knight-level warrior, and as long as the environment wasn’t too bad, he would be able to meditate.
The infection which inflicted him along the way was most likely due to the black needle. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be infected so easily. However, there was no data about the black needle found in the chip’s database, so he had no way to test it. He needed several types of equipment for him to obtain data on the black needle, but he was out in the wild with no ways of having access to a full set of equipment.
After about an hour of meditation, Angele stored the Stun Spell in the chip and decided to go shopping. He wanted to buy a bed, some basic furniture, and some daily supplies. Also, Angele wanted some new clothes and boots.
It seemed he needed to be a noble at this place for him to purchase and wear colorful clothes. Angele could prove he was a noble, so this wasn’t a problem to him.
************************************
In the next half-month, Angele lived in his shop, and the only thing he did besides sleeping and eating was meditating. The only times he’d go out was for shopping, which was merely for several instances. At present, Angele finally had the time to study the information stored on the chip. He had also tried to learn the secret skill of the Snake of Sand Forest. Angele thought it was worth it considering how it helped the assassin stay undetected within the radius of the chip.
Angele already learned the basics of the Hand of Exhaustion, and he needed a huge amount of mentality for the chip to improve the spell. He had no way of increasing his mentality at this point, so he decided to take it slow.
*Tap tap tap*
Someone knocked on the door while Angele was training his sword skills. Only after wiping the sweat off his face did he open the door. A 10-year-old girl with a ponytail and was wearing a polka dot apron and a white headband was standing by the door with a black metal box in her hands.
"Mr. Angele, here’s your pie," the girl politely said.
"You can leave it on the table." Angele turned back and walked to the backyard since he wanted to train in the basic sword skill set. The backyard had plenty of space for him to work around, and there was a well in the middle if he became thirsty.
Angele held his crossguard sword, training his front slash, vertical slash, and horizontal slash. He kept training in these three basic slashes with a speed so fast there was barely any noise generated in the moving sword. It was as though a silver triangle’s conception was made possible because of the sword moves.
"You’re not leaving?" Angele suddenly sheathed his sword, turned around and looked at the door. The girl was peeking through the gap with a face filled with interest in sword skills. The girl’s face turned pale after noticing Angele’s gaze.
"I am very sorry." She stepped forward and bowed to Angele.
“Mr. Angele, I was just wondering what you were doing...” she said in a wobbly voice. Angele looked at the girl. Her height was average for her age, and she was a bit too thin as though she was malnourished. The girl was the one who had been delivering food for Angele every day. She was very polite, never late, and always showed respect to Angele. Angele liked her attitude — he thought people must be humble and hardworking in becoming successful in life.
“It’s fine. I’m not mad. Do you like swords?” He walked toward the girl slowly, and he asked in a manner that wouldn’t scare her.
“Yes, Sir. I am just... curious. Please forgive me for walking into your backyard without permission!” The girl bowed again, apologizing nervously.
“You are lucky, girl. I’m in a good mood today. What’s your name?” Angele asked. His understanding of the secret skill of the Snake of the Sand Forest was close to perfection, so he was currently feeling enraptured.
“Tia. My name is Tia,” the girl answered right away.
“Next time you deliver the food, you can stay here and watch me train.” Angele knew Tia wasn’t merely curious; she also had the desire to learn. Angele had seen her expression and realized that for a long time, she must’ve wanted to learn the sword. Angele didn’t care if others were to attempt to copy his sword skill set as he wasn’t a phony noble like others. Instead, he would love it if he could give others the chance to control their destinies. Tia looked extremely excited upon hearing Angele’s words. She was so happy that she forgot to thank Angele. She merely stood there, not knowing what she should say.
“Okay, watch my movements carefully,” Angele said. He walked back to the backyard and started to teach Tia the fundamentals. Angele had always thought that fundamental was important. Although fundamentals were easy to understand, mastering it was too difficult.
For generations, humans had dedicated their whole lives just to improve the fundamentals. One had to master the basics first before one could learn anything else. If one didn’t pay too much attention to the basics, one’s bones could break, and one’s joints would suffer, resulting in a lifetime impairment.
This world was completely different to Earth. The weapons Angele saw were all far superior to Earth’s counterparts. The swords, bows, and crossbows were too heavy, and their damage output was nearing the extremity. If he could wield a 50-pound sword in the same speed and agility as he could with a 20-pound sword, he would be far stronger. The only problem Angele had was that he needed to spend more time training.