Rein was first delighted when he heard that he could exchange for ferocious beast meat similar to “Giant Bear Meat”, but after hearing the latter part of Lord Hamilton’s statement, he was stunned and looked at him with a puzzled face.
Lord Hamilton did not beat around the bush and directly said, “Although ferocious beast meat is rare, if the amount you need is not too large, you can completely buy it with gold coins in the county town.”
“Many monster hunters specifically do this business. Moreover, if you don’t mind spending more gold coins, you can always buy fresh, high-quality ferocious beast meat at the auction house in the county town.”
“So, regarding merit points, my advice to you is to spend them in more valuable places.”
“For example, to use them to improve your strength with secret potions or to choose to save up your merit points to exchange for the advanced magic potions necessary for the subsequent promotion to a formal knight.”
“If you want to buy high-quality advanced magic potions from the auction house, not only are they outrageously expensive, but the main problem is that they are hard to come by.”
“Your teacher must have told you this. Different knight breathing techniques require the ingestion of specific advanced magic potions to successfully promote. The better the quality of the same type of potion, the better the effect of the promotion.”
Lord Hamilton talked at length, but Rein listened very carefully, hardly missing a word.
Cleya did not mention anything about how to be promoted to a formal knight before she left.
Come to think of it, it made sense.
“After all, starting from scratch, in Cleya’s view, it was impossible for him to encounter the promotion stage within a year.”
Rein keenly caught several key points in Lord Hamilton’s words, such as ‘buying meat with gold coins,’ ‘advanced magic potions,’ and ‘the better the quality, the better the effect.’
At the same time, Rein recalled the last time Cleya talked about ‘advanced magic potions.’
That time, Cleya had mentioned ‘advanced magic potions’ once and then avoided the topic, simply telling him to focus on building a solid foundation first.
“She must be worried that knowing too much might not be good for me.”
“After all, practicing combat skills requires full focus to achieve the best effects.”
“However, some time will pass before the merit points are finally assessed, and regarding the exchange, I have ample time to consider this issue.”
Thus, Rein nodded and said, “Thank you for the advice, Lord Hamilton. I will consider it carefully.”
“Alright! You should set out as soon as possible then, Weilun and the others should already be waiting for you at the door.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Although Rein was a bit surprised to be departing immediately, he had a premonition that Lord Hamilton had sought him out for a reason, so it wasn’t completely out of the blue.
When Rein reached the administrative hall’s entrance, he realized that the elite Night Watchmen accompanying him each had a nag.
Although the nags did not compare to the impressive steeds in the manor’s stables, they were still adequate for traveling.
Night Watchman Captain Weilun had also prepared a nag for Rein.
“Rein, we are now going to ride to Glimmer Lake, which will take about two hours to reach our destination, spend a few more hours to complete the mission, and we should be able to return to Flashgold Town before nightfall.”
“As for other matters, we can discuss them on the way.”
Weilun briefly explained the arrangements.
Rein immediately nodded his head.
No wonder Weilun and the others had prepared nags.
The distance from Flashgold Town to Glimmer Lake was a bit further than to the County Town, and walking there would probably take half a day.
In that case, they might not be able to complete the mission before darkness fell.
The forest at night was a place even knights preferred to avoid.
For the Night Watchmen, surely the best choice was to complete the mission quickly and then return to Flashgold Town to rest.
“Alright, Captain Weilun, let’s set out then.”
Before leaving, Rein also had someone send a message back home.
However, it was awkward because Rein had never learned to ride horses, so after mounting, he was wobbly and unsteady; it took a long time for him to adapt before it got marginally better.
“Haha, Rein, once you join the Night Watchman, horseback riding is an essential skill; you need to learn it promptly,” Weilun said with a laugh, patting Rein on the shoulder.
“On the southern side of Flashgold Town, John Moyle of John’s Ranch not only sells horses but also specifically teaches riding. The tuition seems to be two gold coins. Rein, you should find some free time to learn.”
“Having a horse will make completing many long-distance tasks much easier.”
“John’s Ranch, huh?” Rein pondered.
At the same time, he recalled when he had just learned the Giant Bear Breathing Technique. The requirements for his job change to ‘Knight Attendant’ included mastering horsemanship.
But Rein wasn’t sure if he could still change his job to Knight Attendant now that he had already changed from a militiaman to a Night Watchman.
After a brief thought, Rein decided he still needed to find time to go to John’s Ranch to learn horsemanship.
After all, a man with many skills is never oppressed!
Two hours later.
Rein, carrying a Dual-Handed Greatsword, stood with a group of Night Watchman on a slope, gazing at the nearby Glimmer Lake, shimmering in the distance.
The morning mist had not yet completely dispersed; the sunlight shone on the lake’s surface, casting a thin golden glow, surrounded by dark green forests. Such a beautiful painting dazzled Rein.
Rein murmured to himself, “This should be called ‘Golden Light Lake’; why is it called ‘Glimmer Lake’?”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Weilun, noting Rein’s enchanted demeanor, couldn’t help but ask with a smile.
“More than beautiful!” Rein confidently said.
“Then you probably haven’t been here at night during summer. As for why it’s called Glimmer Lake, it’s because during summer nights, there are swathes of fireflies dancing on the lake’s surface, and that’s when Glimmer Lake is at its most beautiful!” Weilun explained.
‘Summer nights, huh? I’ll definitely have to come and see it next time,” Rein couldn’t help but feel a hint of longing.
“Hey! Is that a merman?” While admiring the beautiful view, Rein sharply noticed something, immediately pointed towards the furthest end of Glimmer Lake, and said.
Weilun and other elite Night Watchman immediately looked in the direction Rein was pointing.
In the gradually dispersing mist, they could see several creatures about one and a half meters tall, with fish heads on human bodies, wandering around the lake shore. It seemed as if they had happily discovered a new habitat, or perhaps they were merely searching for food.
‘They really are mermen…’
“Didn’t we say that we still need to walk upstream along Glimmer Lake for a while?”
“These mermen have spread to the Glimmer Lake area so quickly?”
“Lucky we came in time!”
Upon seeing the scene before them, the Night Watchman of Weilun’s squad couldn’t help but burst into animated discussion.
Although, this mission required either driving away or killing the group of mermen.
But Rein knew that the first choice was, of course, to kill them; that way, they wouldn’t have to trouble Lord Hamilton to come back after his recovery.
“Captain Weilun, how shall we eliminate these mermen?”
Although Rein ranked first in combat ability, the other Night Watchman were more experienced in other areas, especially Captain Weilun, who was not someone a novice like Rein could compare with.
So, Rein didn’t intend to offer any suggestions on tactical arrangements.
To this, Weilun clearly had a plan already and smiled, “These few can just be shot down with bows and arrows. When we find the mermen camp, I plan to have Matteo here to lure the mermen.”
Rein turned his head to look, seeing the Night Watchman named Matteo, who was only slightly taller than Rein and shorter than most Night Watchman. He looked quite slender, but his whole demeanor was spirited, with a clever gleam in his eyes.