Translator: CinderTL
Upon hearing these words, Roland raised an eyebrow.
Confirming that the Merchant Guild leader wasn't joking, he gave a slight bow.
"Thank you, Mr. Derek."
"No need for formalities, Mr. Roland," Derek replied. "This is merely fulfilling Colin's promise from earlier."
Seeing that Roland showed no excessive joy upon receiving the news, Derek's opinion of him quietly rose a few notches.
"Then... please continue enjoying the banquet."
Derek nodded slightly and turned to leave.
Watching his figure disappear into the crowd, Roland narrowed his eyes.
Before meeting him, Roland had imagined Derek, given his power and status in the River Domain Nations, as a stern and ruthless figure. He hadn't expected him to be so approachable.
"In any case, I can finally put the Wolf King subjugation matter to rest... The Knight's Breathing Technique..."
Thinking of the secret art containing extraordinary power that he was about to obtain, Roland took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the excitement churning in his chest.
"Hey, Roland!"
Just then, a hand clapped him on the shoulder.
Roland turned to see Galvis leaning in.
The bard's gaze followed Derek's retreating figure, and he asked in a low voice, his tone curious, "What did that important figure say to you just now?"
He immediately lowered his voice further, his tone cautionary. "Be careful. He's not someone to be trifled with. What did the people of the River Domain Nations call him? A cunning old fox! No one can truly know what he hides beneath that amiable facade..."
"Nothing important," Roland replied, nodding slightly to acknowledge Galvis's warning. "Let's go. We should leave now."
"Leave?" Galvis looked surprised, glancing at the lavishly dressed guests. "Don't you want me to introduce you to some noble lords to gather information?"
"That won't be necessary."
Now that he had obtained the Knight's Breathing Technique, there was no need to waste time among these nobles who cared only for balls and idle chatter.
"Ah? This..." Galvis's gaze drifted involuntarily toward the long table in the center of the banquet hall, laden with delicacies.
Noticing his expression, Roland's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Don't worry, there's no fish for dinner tonight."
"Really?"
Galvis's eyes lit up instantly, his face breaking into a wide grin.
It wasn't that he disliked Roland's cooking. On the contrary, he greatly admired Roland's culinary skills. At most of the banquets the bard had attended, the chefs' skills couldn't compare to Roland's. He was simply tired of eating fish.
"Then... how about we pick up a few bottles of wine on the way?" Galvis suggested enthusiastically.
"No problem," Roland replied. With the matter of the Knight's Breathing Technique settled, a weight had lifted from his heart, leaving him with no reason to refuse.
"I want chicken and beef too!" Galvis's eyes sparkled. "We elves have some unique cooking methods. I'll teach you..."
The two laughed and chatted as their figures gradually disappeared through the banquet hall's entrance.
Watching Roland leave, Nielsen, who had accompanied Derek, frowned deeply. He leaned closer to Derek and whispered, his tone now lacking the cordiality he had shown Roland earlier. His shrewd eyes glinted with the calculating suspicion characteristic of a merchant.
"Mr. Derek..."
"To grant the breathing technique so easily... to such an unfamiliar young man... is that truly wise?"
He paused, then cautiously added, "Of course, I'm not questioning your judgment, but..."
Nielsen tilted his head slightly, lowering his voice further. "He hasn't undergone any assessment, and Mr. Colin's judgment..."
He trailed off, but the doubt in his eyes clearly conveyed his distrust of Colin's judgment.
"Nielsen..."
Derek, while fending off the obsequious flattery of the surrounding merchants, quietly replied to his longtime associate.
"You don't distrust Colin's judgment."
Derek turned his head, his sharp gaze catching the barely perceptible arrogance in Nielsen's eyes.
"You simply can't believe that a young man could possess the strength Colin described at such a young age, isn't that right?"
Nielsen remained silent.
The leader of the Merchant Faction took a sip of the pale golden liquid in his glass and sighed softly.
"Regardless of whether Colin's description was exaggerated... didn't you witness his capabilities firsthand at the Knight Academy that day?"
"Someone who had never practiced the Knight's Breathing Technique actually withstood Graham's strike..."
Though Derek hadn't witnessed the event firsthand, recalling Nielsen's report still filled the seasoned merchant with a hint of astonishment.
"Even if Graham wasn't using his full strength, it's enough to prove this young man's worth..."
"I apologize, Mr. Derek..." Nielsen's voice carried genuine remorse.
"I'm not blaming you, Nielsen..." Derek set down his wine glass, nodded to the surrounding merchants, and led Nielsen to a corner of the banquet hall.
His gaze swept over Masdon, who was forcing a smile amidst the crowd, then lingered on Graham, who sat silently at a table, drowning his sorrows in wine.
The merchant leader sighed softly, a fleeting trace of nostalgia flickering in his eyes.
"I simply want to remind you to reflect carefully on how far we've come..." Derek's voice was low and clear.
"When this land was still mired in the chaos of war, I was merely a fisherman, Graham a mercenary who licked blood from his blade, and Masdon... well, he was nothing at all."
Derek chuckled softly, his usually stiff smile softening as he recalled the past.
"Just a down-on-his-luck noble brat," he said.
"But who could have imagined..." Derek's voice carried a strange note of wistfulness.
"That three such insignificant nobodies would ultimately join forces to establish the River Domain Nations? So..."
He clapped Nielsen on the shoulder, his gaze sharpening.
"Don't pick up Masdon's bad habit. Weakness or ignorance isn't a barrier to survival—arrogance is..."
"When fortune turns, even ordinary people like us can found a nation. How much more so a young man who has already displayed extraordinary talent far beyond his peers?"
"Even if he never becomes a subject of the River Domain Nations..."
Derek turned to leave, but his words rang clearly in Nielsen's ears.
"He won't forget that when he was just an unknown nobody, we showed him kindness. Compared to that..."
Derek's steps didn't falter, his final words cutting through the clamor of the banquet like a blade.
"A mere Knight's Breathing Technique? This deal... is an absolute steal."
(End of the Chapter)
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