"Don't worry — you're still my employee, after all. I wouldn't just send you off to die for nothing..."
Leilin waved his hand, saying words that did nothing to reassure Vellin whatsoever.
"I've already received word that Jenny's group is trapped in a small canyon by a pack of Explosive Flame Wolves. There's no immediate danger..."
"Furthermore, I've prepared this for you!" Leilin handed a packet of powder to Vellin.
Vellin sniffed it curiously and immediately started coughing violently, sticking his tongue out repeatedly. "What is this stuff?"
"An irritant powder! It masks the scent of living humans so the Explosive Flame Wolves won't be able to detect you..."
Leilin's brief explanation was enough to make Vellin's eyes light up completely. He stared at the packet of powder in his hands as though it were a pile of gold coins.
"Think about it — just sprinkle this powder on yourself, walk into that canyon, and you'll effortlessly rescue the princess. Fame, status, wealth, and beautiful women — they'll all be yours..." Leilin's voice carried a hint of temptation.
"But..." Vellin still wavered, though his tone had already lost much of its resolve.
"No buts!" Leilin's face turned stern. "This is my order. Moreover, Baron Joseph has given me full authority — when it comes to rescuing Jenny, I can conscript any commoner in Bott Town!"
Leilin eyed Vellin with ill intent. "If I recall correctly, you're still a free man under Bott Town's jurisdiction, aren't you? Would you rather go now — or go after I've had you demoted to slave?"
Faced with Leilin's carrot-and-stick approach, Vellin could only throw his hands up in surrender. "Fine! I'll go!"
"That's more like it!" Leilin nodded with satisfaction.
That afternoon, wearing an expression of someone marching off to his death, Vellin stepped into the Crow-Cry Wasteland under the watchful eyes of the townspeople.
Leilin, meanwhile, lounged leisurely in a reclining chair with his eyes half-closed, basking in the warmth radiating from a Sun Stone. A pot of hot tea and several pastries sat beside him.
"What a leisurely afternoon! I love it!"
Leilin contentedly poured himself another cup of black tea, blowing away the steam rising from the cup.
"The Explosive Flame Wolves in the Crow-Cry Wasteland should have migrated by now, right? And yet they actually ran into them? This just gets more and more interesting..."
He was completely confident about Vellin. Setting aside the fact that Vellin's own strength had already reached the peak level — just a hair's breadth from Great Knight — Leilin's powder alone was more than enough to ensure Vellin returned unscathed and rescued Jenny's group.
"Still, I'm afraid this is only the beginning..."
Leilin had a premonition that around Jenny, the power struggles within noble circles had already formed a massive vortex of trouble, continuously pulling everyone nearby into its grasp.
But this level of trouble was nothing more than children playing house to him. Had he not been conveniently idle and in need of a legitimate pretext to infiltrate the Eastern Domain's capital, he couldn't have been bothered to play along with them.
Things unfolded exactly as Leilin had anticipated.
Two days later, Vellin burst through the door in a whirlwind of excitement, a wide grin plastered across his face.
"My lord! My lord! I did it — I successfully rescued Miss Jenny and her group! Haha... I'm a hero!"
"If you could still get stuck in there with my powder leading the way, then you'd truly be an idiot!" Leilin rolled his eyes, then glanced toward the doorway. "More guests?"
Soon after, Jenny and her steward entered in a disheveled state. Of the two guards who had originally accompanied her, only one remained, his right arm in a sling.
It was obvious that this group had endured a rough time in the Crow-Cry Wasteland, yet they had come straight here the moment they returned without even pausing to clean themselves up.
Though Jenny still had some dust on her clothes, her face was clean. She lifted her hem and gave Leilin a curtsy. "Vellin told me that I owe my rescue entirely to you, sir. Jenny has come specifically to express her gratitude! Your powder is truly marvelous — even Jemos couldn't identify its ingredients..."
"It's nothing — just the accumulation of my past adventuring days!" Leilin waved his hand, brushing it off entirely.
He knew exactly what this noble young lady was after. Expressing gratitude for the rescue was one thing, but the most important thing was likely her desire to recruit him to help obtain the Dragon Blood Bud.
With that thought, Leilin shot a glance at young Vellin.
Under Leilin's gaze, the young man lowered his head in shame.
This inexperienced youth had been easily manipulated by Jenny and her group into betraying Leilin's secret — revealing that Leilin was once a powerful adventurer.
"Sir..." The smile on Jenny's face grew strained. Then, gritting her teeth, she dropped to her knees on the ground. "Sir! The truth is, I came here to find the Dragon Blood Bud not for my mother, but for my father. He..."
What followed from the young lady's lips was a story of noble power struggles — entirely unsurprising.
In essence, her two uncles coveted her father's position as Marquis and had poisoned him with a peculiar toxin. To save her father, the young lady had been forced to venture out with her steward and guards in search of a cure.
"Mr. Leilin! My father is a kind and wise lord! If the territory and title fall into my two uncles' hands, the people of the domain will surely suffer a catastrophe. Please, you must help them..."