Chapter 10 – Traveling Together

“The wheat bread is indeed rich and delicious.” Punk sat at an ancient long dining table, carefully cutting the wheat bread on his plate into nearly identical cubes with a small knife.

“I’m glad it suits your palate, Your Excellency.”

The Baron gently set down his fork, the iron utensil making no sound as it touched the plate.

Kane, sitting nearby, was visibly impatient with this formal exchange between the two. Though restrained by his father’s authority from gesturing wildly or speaking out of turn, his hand movements clearly betrayed his inner restlessness.

From the corner of his eye, Punk noticed Kane chopping the bread on his plate into crumbs at such speed that his hands almost blurred. He couldn’t help but mentally remark about the Baron:

“Are you really biological father and son? Your personalities are so different!”

However, Punk also keenly observed that despite Kane’s swift and forceful bread-chopping motions, he remarkably avoided scratching the plate, maintaining near silence throughout the process.

“I’ll wait and see what kind of act these two are putting on.”

After secretly casting a minor toxicity detection spell, Punk finally placed the cubed hard bread into his mouth. Only cautious mages live long, and Punk had always been prudent. He noticed Kane’s slight pause in his crumb-making frenzy – clearly, the young man had detected his “little trick.”

Punk calmly chewed the bread, allowing the wheat aroma mixed with earthy notes to spread through his mouth. Though the bread remained somewhat hard, the fine particles massaged his tongue like tiny grains, complemented by the glutinous wheat paste melting in his mouth… Punk had to admit that much of his praise for this bread was genuine, not merely polite.

Since the bread was so delicious, Punk decided to ignore both Kane (who had stopped making crumbs) and the still ramrod-straight Baron. He cut another piece of bread and focused entirely on savoring the flavor.

Time passed slowly in the strangely quiet dining room. Punk leisurely finished his portion of bread using standard noble dining etiquette, while Kane had grown so bored that he carved the remaining half of his bread into a lifelike squirrel.

The Baron waited meticulously until Punk had finished every last crumb before speaking unhurriedly:

“Are you heading to Konola City, Mage? It’s the nearest city from here, though you’ll need to cross a vast wasteland to reach it.”

“Indeed. I’ve heard much about its renowned cuisine and have long wished to sample it. I didn’t expect to already enjoy such delicious bread here – my anticipation for Konola City has only grown.”

Punk replied with a faint smile.

“Certainly, Konola City’s food is both delicious and unique. I visited once in my childhood and still remember it fondly.”

The Baron wore a nostalgic expression as he gently rubbed the corner of the table.

“Oh please~ That damn place is famous for its Sandalo pig leather, okay…………” Kane finally couldn’t resist interjecting.

“Stare…………”

“Stare…………”

Under the intense gazes of both the Baron and Punk, Kane seemed to want to say more, but ultimately decided to silently lower his head and continue adding details to his carved squirrel.”…………”

“…………”

The atmosphere became extremely awkward…………

“…………My eldest son is also heading to Konola City soon. Perhaps he could accompany you”?

After a moment of silence, the Baron spoke rather abruptly!

Upon hearing this, Punk couldn’t help but frown. The Baron’s suggestion was quite presumptuous. Currently, he and Kane knew nothing about each other – Punk still maintained three parts hostility and seven parts wariness toward this seemingly unreliable knight. Yet the Baron seemed completely unaware as he proposed this cooperation, which seemed entirely unreasonable no matter how one looked at it.

Kane, who had been sitting nearby, stopped carving his squirrel at this point. He showed a helpless expression as he looked at his father, crossing his arms over his chest and pursing his lips in clear dissatisfaction, his armguard and chestplate clinking sharply as they made contact.

“Perhaps the Baron doesn’t fully understand… the power of professionals, but for just a small… stretch of wasteland… Apprentice Rank strength should be… quite sufficient.”

Punk spoke to the Baron in the most tactful tone he could muster.

“Perhaps the mage doesn’t fully understand… the recent situation in the Mord Wasteland, but having heard some news about… the undead… this humble man believes… it would be better to have more protection.”

The Baron responded in an equally tactful tone.

“And according to my merchant friend, an entire jungle has been corrupted by death energy, with skeletons wandering everywhere among the trees. This humble man believes that a mage who understands professional power should consider this carefully.”

“…The undead?” Punk ignored the slightly mocking tone in the Baron’s voice, instead recalling information about the undead from his knowledge.

There were many types of undead, most of whom hated all living beings. Their strength varied greatly, and they originated from only three sources:

The first were those “created” by professionals through summoning, synthesis, and other methods. The strength of such undead was directly linked to their creator.

The second were those born in the Nether Plane. However, unless under special circumstances, such undead rarely appeared in other planes, especially positive energy planes which strongly repelled all negative energy creatures.

The third were those “naturally” generated through the accumulation and catalysis of soul energy carrying strong negative emotions. Representative examples were commonly called ghosts and wraiths, though such undead were generally weak, only capable of frightening ordinary people.

“But… even if the Baron’s merchant friend exaggerated, and only a small grove was actually corrupted, this would still require at least Apprentice-Level power to accomplish!”

Punk thought silently.

“In m～y opinion, who gives a damn about some undead! If we can’t handle ’em, we can just avoid ’em! Be～sides, I practice light Battle Aura – it absolutely counters those bone piles to the extreme!”

As he spoke, Kane gathered a bit of Battle Aura on his fingernail and effortlessly carved a little sword-wielding figure into the wooden table.

Punk ignored Kane’s bragging and continued questioning the Baron: “May I ask when your friend told you this information?”

“A few days ago… Based on the timing, my friend should have returned to Konola City by now. But he’s not very popular and lacks wealth or influence – just a small merchant. Even if he reported to the Church, those arrogant Divinity officials probably wouldn’t believe him.”The Baron could tell Punk wanted to ask whether those fanatics from the Church who shouted “purify everything” would be involved, so he somewhat helplessly dashed Punk’s hopes of taking advantage.

“Speaking of which, the villages in this area are quite remote. Usually, it’s just my old friend who occasionally brings a small trade caravan through a few times. This time, we actually encountered the undead, and my old friend has this chronic habit of being overly curious… There’s a real chance he might land himself in danger…”

The Baron wore a deeply pained expression, though this time it didn’t seem feigned.

Punk pretended not to hear the Baron’s hint about “hoping for help to rescue his friend.” In his view, such a flawed individual’s life or death was none of his concern. Kane merely muttered a perfunctory “Got it, got it,” clearly unwilling to bother with that reckless merchant either.

Punk pondered seriously—he was no overconfident mage. If they truly encountered an Apprentice-Level powerhouse, it would be extremely perilous. Having a warrior cooperate with him, a spellcaster, would at least increase their chances of escape if any “accidents” occurred. At the very least, there would be another target to divert the pursuers’ attention.

When he looked up, he found Kane also gazing at him with a profound expression.

“Seems we’re on the same page,” Punk thought!

“Then let’s cooperate happily.” Finally, Punk said to the Baron, who had resumed his impassive expression, while Smile merely shrugged to indicate no objection.

(End of Chapter)