Chapter 20: 20 The Skeleton Society

Chapter 20: The Skull Society

"Master, these were found on him."

Under the twilight sky, Maken held some items in his hands and respectfully presented them.

Roning nodded slightly, taking each item one by one to examine.

His attention first focused on a small black pouch and four sheets of parchment.

The small black pouch was obviously for holding money—it rattled as soon as he took it, not knowing how many gold coins were inside.

And the four sheets of parchment...

Once Roning clearly saw their contents, he couldn’t help but reveal a look of delight.

Three of the parchment sheets clearly recorded three wind-attribute spells: the first-level magic Gale Technique, the second-level magic Light Body Technique, and Wind Blade Technique.

"This truly is heaven helping me!"

Roning was ecstatic in his heart. Earlier, he had been thinking about having no way to learn spells, and now unexpectedly, he had obtained three at once.

"What is this?"

Roning looked puzzled as he examined the fourth sheet of parchment, which was etched with red patterns resembling those on the parchment recording the Gale Technique.

"Is it possibly an attempt to replicate a copy of the Gale Technique’s magic introduction for sale?" Roning guessed.

He glanced at the three small bottles and a goose feather quill held by the guard, but he wasn’t interested in those.

He put the money pouch and parchment into his pocket, then waved his hand, "The remaining items will be handed to Chahar later for safekeeping."

Roning looked toward the trapped magician, "Maken, find a rope to tie him securely. Later, I’ll have questions for him."

He planned to thoroughly interrogate this person later to extract more magical knowledge.

Magicians were rare indeed.

After dealing with the magician, Roning dismounted. Now, it was time to go and communicate with the Green family.

Seeing Roning approach, the three members of the Green family quickly bowed in greeting.

Chahar timely introduced, "Master, this is the Green family’s Malik young master, Marianna young lady, and their knight Kane."

Roning placed his left hand over his chest, maintaining noble etiquette, "Apologies for our late arrival. How are your injuries?"

The boy Malik forced a smile, "Lord Roning, I represent the Green family in expressing our sincerest gratitude to you. If you hadn’t arrived promptly today, our lives would likely have been lost."

The girl added, "You truly are the most outstanding bloodline of the Wushan family! The recent battle was extremely impressive!"

Roning smiled slightly. Impressive it was, but being the most outstanding bloodline of the Wushan family was a bit exaggerated.

The reputation of his former self was likely known among nobles of Wushan territory, mostly saying that with Roning as such an heir, the family had no future.

As he spoke, he also observed the two Green family members.

The girl’s voice was relatively soft, with a pleasant tone, but her appearance was extremely ordinary.

She was about 1.56 meters tall. Though wearing a loose long skirt, it was still noticeable that her weight was somewhat excessive, and her face seemed to have many freckles.

As for the boy Malik beside her, he should be younger. Perhaps due to losing much blood, his face was pale.

Though he tried hard to maintain noble etiquette without impropriety, it was clear he was extremely exhausted.

Roning didn’t engage much more, allowing them to rest and recover.

"Chahar, bring my carriage here. Let the brave young master and beautiful young lady rest inside for a while."

"Yes, master!"

Chahar hurried back to bring the carriage over.

Malik and Marianna didn’t persist. They expressed gratitude to Roning once more, then entered the carriage under Kane’s assistance to rest.

"Kane, what exactly happened with you?" Roning then inquired about their ordeal.

It turned out that in the campaign launched by Count Wiggin against the Black Gold Brotherhood, Baron Germain of the Green family was unfortunately injured.

Lady Frawvia sent Knight Norr and his knight squad to Wushan Academy of Supernatural Studies to pick up Malik and Marianna, but unexpectedly, such an incident occurred on the way.

"The magician hid in the shadows, launching two wind blades instantly. Knight Norr barely managed to block one but was cut by the second on his throat!"

Kane was still immersed in grief over losing his captain, "The carriage of the young master and young lady was also cut by the residual force of that wind blade, causing their injuries."

Roning then understood why the convoy escorting the Green family heirs was led by a junior knight—the captain had been killed instantly.

Through their description, Roning became wary of magic.

The scene where the magician used wind blades was vividly remembered, and it was thanks to Maken’s quick reaction that they safely avoided it.

"The Skull Society?"

Roning looked at the fallen assassin bodies; indeed, their chest clothing had white skull patterns, "Is it an assassin organization?"

Kane sniffed, wiping away tears, "I don’t know much about it. It’s said the Skull Society, Black Gold Brotherhood, and Polant Thieves Gang appeared around the same time."

"Only the latter two have bases; the Skull Society doesn’t. Their members are scattered, appearing in many assassination missions."

Roning noted this name. These organizations active in Wushan territory might someday trouble him.

He hoped the remoteness of Mountain Forest Town would make him less noticeable.

"I’m sorry to hear of your perilous ordeal. I’ll have my guards help you prepare the remains, burying them roadside."

"Thank you, Lord Roning!" Kane bowed in gratitude.

Seeing Kane bury his comrades under the guards’ assistance, Roning couldn’t help but feel touched.

This pair of siblings, having offended someone to incur such fatal danger, truly suffered an unwarranted calamity.

"The Green family..."

Roning recalled information about this family.

The Green family’s territory was Lake Town, aptly named, containing many large and small lakes. Thus, the family’s aquatic products were abundant, their freshwater fish and shrimp being highly favored in Wushan territory.

Roning remembered the most delicious horned fish came from Lake Town.

"Could this assassination be due to economic disputes?"

After pondering briefly, Roning stopped dwelling on it. Noble affairs were intricate, beyond an outsider’s comprehension.

Anyway, he had rescued the Green family heir and their daughter, so Baron Germain should express gratitude.

Asking for something from them was the proper matter Roning should consider.

"Right, slaying the junior knight earlier completed an achievement."

Roning led his horse back to the guard convoy, summoning the system interface.

Currently, his attribute points and energy essence reached 30 and 140 respectively, sufficient not only to max his knight level progress but also to elevate his upcoming light-attribute magician level progress to junior late stage.

Soon, he would possess a mid-level magician.

Having witnessed the prowess of the mid-level wind-attribute magician, Roning also eagerly anticipated the light-attribute magician.

"Indeed, reserving energy essence rather than blindly allocating points to Maken was correct."

However, once the light-attribute magician reached mid-level with significantly enhanced strength, Roning still planned to let Maken break through to senior knight first.

After all, within a team, there must always be a benchmark of strength; consistently enhancing everyone equally is not the optimal choice.

Ronin expended all thirty attribute points, and as his physical strength improved, he noticed his mental energy rapidly flourishing as well.

[Level]: 1-Novice Knight (100/100); 1-Novice Mage (25/150)

With the growth of his mental energy, Ronin felt his mana space expand slightly, allowing him to refine more magical power.

Thinking of the three spells he had just acquired, Ronin decided to try them out later.

He shifted his gaze to the Achievement Master interface, speculating that the [King of Slaughter] achievement should have progressed.

Upon checking, it was indeed so, with new content:

[King of Slaughter]: Slay any second-tier transcendent unit. Reward: Attribute Points +50, Energy Essence +100

Ronin's eyes gleamed—he happened to have a second-tier transcendent unit in his grasp.

(End of Chapter)