Chapter Thirty-Five: Temptation

When the strange green liquid was poured over the fog at the prison gate, the mist began to expand rapidly, swelling several times its original size and completely obscuring the bars that separated Anderson from the three hunters. It was as though two worlds, unable to see each other, had been separated.

Inside the cell, the three hunter brothers stared in shock at the bizarre events unfolding outside, their mouths agape, unable to conceal the fear on their faces.

Meanwhile, Carlos turned to Anderson and said, “Expansion potion. I need more of that stuff.”

Anderson dug at his ear. “You’re not expecting me to rob some alchemist, are you?”

“Of course not. In fact, I am an alchemist—well, an apprentice. I need more alchemical materials. So, I hope you can make a trip to the Rodney Mountains for me.”

Anderson sneered. “That place is crawling with aberrant beasts. Do you have a death wish?”

“There’s been a beast tide in the Deroni Mountains lately. A great number of bounty hunters have flocked to the outer regions to try their luck. That sort of chaos is their specialty,” Carlos said softly.

Anderson was silent for a moment, then hesitated. “A beast tide, huh? Even so, going alone into those dangerous mountains is far beyond your capabilities.”

Carlos chuckled. “Of course, you won’t be alone. You’ll form a hunter squad.”

“We?” Anderson asked.

Carlos pointed a finger toward the fog that blocked Anderson's view. “Yes, aren’t they still here?”

When Carlos finished speaking, silence fell like death.

The fat hunter panted heavily. He had clearly heard the words “you” and “hunter squad,” and the noble youth’s finger had unmistakably pointed at him.

After another long silence, Solly’s mouth worked in disbelief as he struggled to suppress his fear and anger. “You want us to team up with a Black Hat?”

Perhaps out of sheer tension, his clenched fist pressed against his companion Murray’s wounded stomach.

A howl burst from the short hunter, a pain in his abdomen so acute it made the time wolves tore at his calf in the wild seem mild by comparison. It was agony that shook his soul, and he cursed his companion for always treating him this way.

Anderson heard the small hunter’s cry and realized one of them was badly hurt. “You’re really going to have me team up with these three idiots?” he said to Carlos.

The fat hunter, Conrad, heard the anguished cries beside him, his eyes reddening as he gripped the straw on the floor. The eerie mist outside the cell filled him with dread. That damned little serpent of a noble turned to look at Conrad’s flushed face, and those clear eyes actually smiled. Conrad felt a chill down his spine. Why, oh why, had he agreed to steal an alchemical stone for someone like this?

Solly, the big one, was thoroughly annoyed at Anderson’s repeated insults. He shouted into the darkness beyond the fog, “Hey, who are you calling an idiot? For the record, none of us want to team up with you!”

Both sides objected, leaving Carlos in a dilemma. He rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a while.

The thick fog before him had reached its limit and slowly began to recede. As the air returned to its usual murkiness, both cells’ occupants could see each other again.

The tense standoff did not seem to affect Carlos, who was lost in thought outside. Beside him, Grant watched the four prisoners with great interest. Gradually, his confusion about his young master’s plan turned into complete admiration.

Perhaps such a disparate group could never become an elite hunting squad, capable of slaying aberrant beasts or demons, but for the purpose of running errands in the Deroni Mountains to gather alchemical materials for the young master, it was not so difficult.

With a five-star swordsman like Anderson, there was no need to worry about combat strength. The three hunters, meanwhile, could serve as capable laborers.

More importantly, with all members of the Stevenson family currently forced to maintain order in Saltwell Town or conduct surveys in Xilin City, and unable to spare anyone for a mountain expedition, this arrangement was not entirely unacceptable.

Carlos emerged from his reverie and fixed his gaze on Anderson. “I’ll investigate the reason for your dismissal, and I guarantee you won’t be arrested by any Sword Hall followers while you’re in Saltwell Town.”

Anderson Morey did not refuse at once. He simply stared at the three idiots in the neighboring cell, weighing whether the offer was worth the risk. If before he had only worried about carrying the young master’s alchemical materials alone through the Deroni Mountains, now he had to worry about being killed thanks to his foolish companions—an essential difference.

While Anderson weighed the pros and cons, Carlos turned to the three hunters with a smile. “I need you to make this trip for me. Complete the mission, and my father will grant one of you the title of apprentice knight, along with a fair reward.”

The eyes of the three hunters burned with desire, but as expected, none of them accepted immediately.

They were not fools. Their careers as hunters had been nothing short of disastrous, and after being tricked several times, they understood how harsh the world could be.

Thus, even though they were eager for the promise of recognition as apprentice knights, they had to consider whether the offer was too hot to handle.

Of course, none of them doubted whether Carlos could actually bestow the title.

The Stevenson family had once been a powerful house in the central province of the Radiant Empire. Although the current head, Morley, had been demoted from duke to baron, the hereditary title still carried great weight—there were scarcely more than a handful of hereditary nobles in the entire empire.

Even the somewhat awkward status of a hereditary baron could not change the fact that such a noble was entitled by imperial law to appoint a hundred knights.

What did it mean to be a knight? The upper classes might not care, but for bounty hunters struggling at the bottom, it was a tremendous honor.

It was said that ever since the Stevenson family had been expelled from the central province, they had not recruited a single new knight. To become the first qualified knight of a new order would be a rare honor—one even Black Hat Anderson might covet.

They couldn’t allow themselves to think further.

The three hunters swallowed hard and shook their heads vigorously, silently urging themselves to stay calm.

Carlos, unaware of their inner turmoil, merely maintained his aristocratic patience and waited quietly.

In fact, the hunter squad he intended to assemble would number six, for the elf Vivian and the half-orc Cook would also join as temporary members for the mountain expedition.