That night, the arrival of the heavily injured Shadow Assassin had directly caused Aldric's first aid basic skill to level up into "Medicine."
Originally, the skill level had been so low that it didn't even appear on the character attributes unless he manually opened the details page under Intelligence-based basic skills.
Now, however, the Medicine skill stood proudly at the top of his Intelligence list:
"Intelligence: Medicine 42, Knowledge (Monsters 29, Arcane 16, Geography 5, History 7), Spell Identification 11"
The Shadow Assassin, who had been lying motionless on the table like a salted fish since yesterday, turned his pale eyes toward Aldric as he came in and weakly said,
"Brother, can you give me some water? Even if we had grudges before, you don't have to torture me like this…"
Judging from his voice, the assassin sounded even weaker than before. Aldric sighed, poured a cup of warm water, and carefully fed him half of it.
Frowning slightly as he saw the assassin's condition improve somewhat, Aldric asked,
"I told my companion to keep an eye on you while I was gone. Why are you alone now?"
"You mean that woman who's more manly than most men?" The assassin cautiously shifted to a more comfortable position. "Not long after I woke up, she went out. Honestly, I felt even more in danger when she was here. She seemed very interested in the medicine I took earlier—she even rummaged through my things and took my last vial of coagulant."
Aldric examined the assassin's wounds carefully. Thanks to the physique of transcendent beings in this world, combined with the use of high-tier healing potions, most of his less severe injuries had already healed significantly. The puncture wound in his calf had stopped bleeding, and the surgical stitches were beginning to scab over.
Overall, except for his twisted right arm still hanging limply at his side, the Shadow Assassin had clearly escaped the brink of death. No wonder Vittoria had felt comfortable leaving—his condition perfectly restricted his movements but wasn't life-threatening.
Aldric was beginning to understand the female warrior's lifestyle. Although her base Charm attribute was only 5 points, she had a unique talent that compensated for that shortcoming:
[Hero of the Cup]:In specific situations or when interacting with certain individuals, you may substitute your Constitution attribute for your Charm attribute in checks.
Aldric could easily imagine it—wherever problems could be solved with alcohol, or wherever there were NPCs who appreciated a good drink, Vittoria could breeze through with her impressive 15 points in Constitution. It was just like a celebrity in the real world—able to get by anywhere simply through face value alone.
He pulled a chair close and sat down in front of the assassin. Aldric watched him in silence until the assassin began to avert his gaze. Only then did Aldric speak:
"Talk. Tell me what happened. You should already understand that every word you say now will determine whether you live or die."
"I understand." The Shadow Assassin let out a long breath. It was obvious that this witcher apprentice intended to decide whether to protect him and perhaps share in Antoine's treasure based on how dangerous his enemies were. That meant honesty was the only viable strategy for survival.
Colin, reasoned that lying to this sharp and experienced witcher apprentice was useless anyway. Worse, if he hid the truth and caused Aldric to misjudge the situation, they could both end up dead—and he was certain he'd be the one to die first.
"The main enemies were two people," he began weakly. "Both of them work for Antoine. Have you heard of the Inspection Squad?"
Aldric shook his head but didn't interrupt, gesturing for him to continue.
"The Inspection Team was formed two years ago when Antoine absorbed a band of pirates. They've since been 'legitimized,' and now they patrol the outer waters of the port collecting toll fees." Colin paused to sip some water, recalling the intelligence he'd gathered while under Antoine's command.
"Since they're under Antoine's protection, they don't charge excessive fees. And since they've crushed most of the scattered pirate bands nearby to monopolize the trade routes, merchants have gotten used to treating the toll as just another kind of entry tax."
Aldric topped off the assassin's cup and listened in silence, carefully absorbing information about this emerging power.
"In recent years, as Port Anthony became increasingly important and maritime traffic increased, this Inspection Squad recruited quite a few real experts. The ones who ambushed me were from that group," Colin said, his hand trembling slightly as it brushed over his chest wound.
"This one—" He tapped the spot where seven ribs had been shattered. "—was a gift from a Cerysian warrior who used a shield."
His tone carried genuine frustration. After years of surviving in the underworld, being bested twice in a row by warriors from Cerys had left Colin with an almost instinctive fear of people from that ancient nation.
"When I tried to retreat, a paladin of Luminor cast Enhanced Light to drive away the shadows, nullifying my stealth technique. But even before that, I'm certain that the Cerysian warrior had already noticed me." His tone was filled with bitterness—his proud stealth skill had failed again, and always against those from Ceres.
"After I escaped the castle, I was ambushed by a goblin on the rooftops. You'll want to be careful of that one." Colin gestured to the puncture wound in his leg. "It's got a lot of nasty little gadgets. Nearly killed me. Especially watch out for its crossbow—it fires bolts without a sound."
Aldric nodded slightly. Another Cerysian? Interesting. Whether the man was a native NPC or another player from the Loess Zone, Aldric was intrigued.
"Luckily, none of them were good trackers, or I'd be dead for sure. Those paladins are thick-headed—no real threat. The Cerysian warrior was clearly a novice." He cast a sidelong glance at Aldric and couldn't help but think: Why do I keep running into these monsters lately?
"The only real threat was that goblin. It must've been one of the earliest pirates Antoine recruited. There aren't many extraordinary goblins, but the few that exist are nasty to deal with. The only reason it follows Antoine is because he lets it run wild." Colin laid out everything he knew, waiting nervously for Aldric's response.
Aldric studied him for a while, then realized this might be the perfect opportunity to blackmail him for that [Leomund's Secret Treasure Chamber] artifact.
"Your injuries will take at least a month before you can move again," Aldric said. Colin nodded, agreeing with the assessment.
"You planned to wait until you could defend yourself again before telling me the activation phrase for that spatial item, so that we could split the treasure evenly and then escape by sea, right?"
The assassin didn't even flinch at being seen through. He simply nodded calmly, utterly unashamed.
"But here's your problem," Aldric continued, leaning back slightly. "Within two weeks, a full company of paladins will arrive here. They may not enter the city itself, but the entire port district will be swarming with holy warriors looking to 'relax' after their long journey."
The color drained from Colin's face. Clearly, his confident attitude evaporated—no longer able to maintain that smug I've got you cornered expression.
(End of Chapter)