Unknown Knight

After reading Velen's notes, James' back was soaked with sweat. Although he didn't know what the so-called bearing was, and he couldn't figure it out even after reading Velen's notes, this unclear and powerful situation made him feel terrified from the bottom of his heart.

What he hadn't imagined was that he was thought so highly of in Velen's eyes. Thinking about the time he had wasted over the years, James couldn't help feeling ashamed and regretful.

However, he didn't know whether this Velen was dead or alive. As for the so-called dark artifact or nano core machine, Velen did not leave any specific clues in his notes.

The only known clues about Velen at present, apart from the City Lord's Mansion in Aaron City that he could not enter, were Granmel, which was often mentioned in Velen's notes, and the Island of If, which was located in an unknown direction near the coast of Aaron.

After some thought, James decided to go to Granmel, the easiest one, first, hoping he would get something.

It was already bright in the sky. James, who was tired but not sleepy at all, woke up Aisu and Ran Ying who were still sleepy and told them his idea. After obtaining their consent, the five of them set out for Granmel early in the morning.

Not long after leaving the city, James, who could not hold on any longer, fell asleep unknowingly. Fortunately, Bestul on horseback was quick-witted and jumped off the horse, grabbed the reins and stopped James' dangerous driving. Otherwise, if they encountered a winding mountain road, they would have to cross the ravine.

Seeing him like that, Bestul couldn't bear it, so he had to let James go into the car to rest and he took over driving.

It's funny to talk about Bestur. Under Aix's chicken leg offensive these days, his attitude has softened unconsciously. Although he still often says cruel words like life-and-death duel and life-and-death struggle, most of the time it seems like self-comfort and self-cover-up.

Moreover, although his words were harsh, they did not contain any murderous intent. The two innocent girls could not help but cover their mouths and laugh when they heard him say such harsh words.

It took the five of them a day and a half to finally arrive at Granmel Village at noon the next day, but to be precise, it should be called Granmel Town.

At the entrance of the village, there was a queue of more than a hundred people waiting to trade. James asked and found out that they were people from nearby villages who came here to attend the market. Everyone entering the market had to be checked and pay an entrance fee of a copper coin.

However, the village guards were obviously particularly unfriendly to the five people who were not nearby villagers. Not only did they charge each of them five copper coins as an entrance fee, they also confiscated their weapons.

James was about to argue with the two guards, but Bestul became unhappy and kicked away the guard who came to snatch the scimitar from his hand.

This stirred up a hornet's nest. Another guard shouted, and suddenly more than a dozen men with weapons rushed out from the wall.

James immediately broke out in a cold sweat, as he saw more than a dozen weapons of various lengths stuck outside the village wall. These weapons were covered in blood and had seven or eight human heads stuck in them. It was obvious that the people here were ruthless when it came to killing people.

However, the five men, all of whom had killed people before, were not hesitant either. They bent their bows and drew their arrows, held shields and wielded hammers, and were ready for battle. Just as the fight was about to begin, someone in the town suddenly shouted:

"Stop it! It's not too late to find out what's going on before you take action."

The person who came was an old man with a white beard. He was in good health and walked steadily and quickly to the gate of the village.

When James saw this man, his anxiety was reduced by half, because this man looked 80% like Velen.

The old man walked closer and looked at James and the other four carefully, then asked one of the guards:

"They don't look like robbers or thieves, so why did they start fighting?"

"They were armed and attacked people."

The guard who was kicked and in so much pain that he needed someone to support him said aggrievedly.

"Even if your lord comes, my weapons will not be confiscated by you for nothing."

Bestul said bluntly.

The old man knew there was a misunderstanding when he heard it, so he laughed and said:

"Haha, misunderstanding, misunderstanding. We have been attacked by pirates and bandits recently, so we have set a rule that you must hand over your weapons to us for safekeeping when you enter the town. We will return them to you when you leave."

"Humph, safekeeping? I didn't hear your people say safekeeping. Not only did they charge each of us five copper coins as an entrance fee, they also came up and robbed our weapons without saying a word. I haven't encountered such rules in Aaron City."

Bestur was used to being arrogant and was not afraid of these villagers holding weapons. In his eyes, these people were no different from chickens and dogs.

James saw that Bestul's words might make the situation more tense, so he stepped forward and changed the subject:

"We are friends of Mr. Velen."

When the mayor heard that James and the others were friends of Velen, his embarrassed expression suddenly changed from gloomy to bright, and he said excitedly:

"Oh, so you are Mr. Velen's friend. You should have told me earlier."

As he spoke, he walked forward and started chatting with the mayor, Alan Meier, telling him the lies he had thought of along the way, saying that he was seriously ill that year and was cured by Mr. Velen, and that he came here specifically to thank him.

After hearing James' words, the atmosphere immediately eased and the villagers put down their weapons. The old mayor, Alan Meier, was also very polite and led the group into the town to chat.

A group of people followed the old mayor to the watchtower in the center of the town. Under the tower was the largest house in the town, which was the home of Mayor Alan Meier and also the town hall.

The five people then saw that the town was not big. There were three villagers holding crossbows and standing guard on the watchtower more than ten meters high. Their shooting range was enough to cover the entire town. The basic outline of the entire town was already in place, and a circle of solid walls played a very good defensive role.

After entering Alan Meier's house and exchanging some pleasantries, James became very curious. According to the information he had read, this so-called Granmel town was only a remote village in the records. How come it is so prosperous now and has even grown to the size of a town? He asked the old mayor the reason.

When the old mayor heard James' question, he chuckled and told him that it was actually Mr. Velen's credit.

It turned out that more than ten years ago, when Velen was staying at Alan Meier's house, bandits looted the village. After the disaster, the village became almost impoverished. The villagers sighed and some were ready to move out of the village to make a living elsewhere.

Seeing that Alanmel was at a loss, Velen suggested that he organize everyone to build the village wall. However, Alanmel, who had no idea about this, was deeply skeptical and believed that it was an impossible task.

However, Velen told him the story of an old man who led his family to move mountains, and told him that anything can only be achieved if you work hard. If you don't do it because it is difficult, nothing will be possible.