Chapter 188: The Person Who Came Riding a Walking Bird, Late-Night Visitors, and the Sixth-Rank Defense Badge

Therefore, after Jier and his group fled overnight, the members of the Bostafa Family, who met the next day to discuss matters, after severely criticizing Mr. Bogete, immediately arranged for a young family Knight to carry as many money bags as possible and ride a battle walking bird with astonishing endurance to quickly chase after Jier's team. In addition to carrying the sum of money that should have been included in the key confidentiality agreement, they also provided two extra letters written by Mr. Bogete and Mr. Kasi respectively.

The former was, of course, a letter of apology, while the latter was a letter of guarantee written by Mr. Kasi on behalf of the Bostafa Family, stating that Jier and the others could go to Suishi Cheng at any time to collect a large reward for opening the Dwarf Secret Vault.

That was a very large reward, accumulated from the Bostafa Baron two generations before the previous one, all the way up to the current Bostafa Baron. Even if Jier and the others had only opened half of the Dwarf Secret Vault, their share would still be a full chest of Saint Hors Kingdom Gold Coin, as well as at least a small bag of high-quality Gems.

In terms of value, it could even equal two years of total revenue for Suishi Cheng.

However, when this young Knight riding a giant walking bird caught up with Jier's caravan on the afternoon of the next day and handed the money and letters to Jier and the others, Jier scoffed at the contents of the letters.

Of course, he did not express it to the person's face; he merely handed the two letters to the old Dwarf to look over, and curled his lip in disdain behind the back of the young Bostafa Family Knight.

After reading the letters, the old Dwarf also did not believe that such a good thing could really happen; after all, it was unlikely for anyone to so easily hand over a massive fortune worth two years of a territory's taxes.

Especially to a stranger who had once held the family's high-ranking members hostage.

To the person's face, the old Dwarf did not say much, merely shaking his head. Once Jier understood the Dwarf's meaning, he also feigned politeness and sent the Bostafa Family Knight away.

"Hmm? You don't want that money?" The family Knight, in his twenties, looked surprised. When he had attended the meeting early that morning to discuss this matter, he had opposed giving so much family wealth to these outsiders, as these people had once held the family's high-ranking members who were left behind hostage. But when he was forced to take on the heavy responsibility and chase them all the way here, the other party's refusal also caught him off guard.

Jier smiled, restraining himself from letting his smile be full of sarcasm, and tried his best to maintain his facial expression: "Yes, after all, to be honest, we only did some inconspicuous and effortless little things last night. To suddenly receive such a large sum of money because of this really makes us feel uneasy. And as you can see, the caravan needs to meet up with the Kendall Army that passed by earlier as soon as possible and return to Suishi Cheng. It is also inconvenient to carry a large, heavy amount of coins."

"If there is a chance, next time, when my companions and I come to Suishi Cheng again, we will go and collect that money, how about that? After all, I came to the Southern Province this time to assist the Southern Province Allied Forces in resisting the southern neighboring country. In terms of marching, it is inconvenient to carry such a large sum of money on the road."

Although he said that, Jier actually did not think at all that the Bostafa Family would give them this money. After all, this was a large sum of money; according to the Bostafa Family themselves, it was about as much as the entire city's two years of taxes. Who would be so generous and easily give the money away?

In any case, if it were him, he would absolutely not give it away easily.

Or rather, this was more like a trap. They had finally managed to run away quickly after offending people overnight yesterday, and now returning to Suishi Cheng—were they afraid that the others wouldn't have enough time to gather sufficient military force to encircle and annihilate them?

Although Bostafa Baron had taken away his Knight Lord and army to fight, Jier did not believe that among those left behind in Suishi Cheng, there were no personnel with sufficient Knight-level skills.

After all, that Mr. Kasi and Mr. Bogete had been said to have undergone Knight Training, and of the two young family Knights he had seen yesterday, one was right in front of him.

Seeing Jier refuse repeatedly, this young Knight who had chased them down had no choice but to hand over the confidential coins and return empty-handed.

Jier watched as the other party rode away on the giant walking bird, which had astonishing endurance and a very fast running speed. Only then did he divide the money bag given by the other party into four parts; he took one part for himself, and gave the other three parts to the old Dwarf.

After all, this so-called confidentiality fee for the Dwarf Secret Vault was divided by head. Yesterday, the four of them went to attend the Bostafa Family's banquet. Jier kept one part for himself, and the other three parts were for the old "Iron Fist", "Shishou", and the Wild Power God Ben.

This money was really not a small amount; one person got at least thirty Gold Coin. Jier getting thirty Gold Coin for nothing was naturally delightful, and the Dwarves getting ninety Gold Coin in one go was a true unexpected joy.

With this money, although it was only a little over two Gold Coin per Dwarf, this was already good news for the Dwarves. If they spent it sparingly, this money was completely enough for their long journey, so they wouldn't need to sell some of their personal belongings or some Dwarf products they made along the way.

However, when Jier and the others stayed overnight at a trade inn outside Kagali Town, east of Suishi Cheng, that same evening, people who had chased them from Suishi Cheng found them.

The people who came were a Priest of the Church of the God of Wealth riding four horses and a Caravan Steward familiar with the road conditions. They chased them all the way here, and when they inquired at the inn outside Kagali Town, Jier did not understand what this was for.

Thus, Jier did not immediately show himself, but instead let Xueya Site and Weier entangle and question the two, while he pretended that his interest in hunting had been piqued and went to the Shulin outside the town to hunt in the middle of the night.

In reality, Jier hid outside the inn, using his keen hearing to eavesdrop on the purpose of the visitors.

It is worth mentioning that Jier had taken the time during the day to visit the Spirit's dream and had taken a short nap on those healing Mushrooms, healing the injuries caused by the shock and vibration from "Shishou"'s powerful strike at the Dwarf Secret Vault yesterday.

Jier had been active and relaxed all day, whereas the old Dwarf had spent the whole day curled up in the carriage, having taken off his armor to barely rest and alleviate the pain from his injuries. The Wild Priest of the Dwarf God of Strength, Ben, also had shocking bruises from the impact, and had been covered in a medicinal liquid with healing effects temporarily prepared by Mr. Zuojigela on the injured parts of his body.

As for the injury to the old Dwarf's head caused by the impact, Mr. Zuojigela was not very good at treating it, and could only recommend that after the old Dwarf reached a town, he should have a Priest from the Human God Church use a healing Prayer to cure the impact injury on old "Iron Fist"'s head.

For this reason, "Shishou" had been pointed at and scolded by the other Dwarves in their team all day long for his reckless and heavy-handed attack, which had injured their old leader.

"Shishou" was scolded all day long. When they arrived at this place called Kagali Town in the evening, he immediately disregarded the surprised and wary looks of the townspeople upon seeing an alien race, and found the local Agricultural God Church, hoping to let a Priest of the Agricultural God Church go and treat old "Iron Fist".

But the Agricultural God Church in Kagali Town refused. For one, "Shishou" and the others were not Human, belonging to an alien race, and it was unlikely they would receive help from a Priest of the Human Agriculture God Church. If they wanted treatment, they should find their own Dwarf God Church.

Secondly, many of the young main-force Priests of the Agricultural God Church in Kagali Town had already been called away by the town's Knight Lord earlier to participate in the war, supporting the battle as military Priests. The Priests remaining at the Kagali Town Agricultural God Church were already too busy dealing with the Nongshen Believer in the town and surrounding areas, and their Divine Power was not enough to go around. How could they possibly use their precious Divine Power on a group of alien mercenaries for some money?

In short, "Shishou" returned from the town crestfallen. After hearing about it, Jier had originally wanted to rely on his status as a Warrior of the Agriculture God to go to the town and invite an Agricultural God Priest. After all, with a different status, the result of the request would likely be different.

But it was just at this time that the two people and four horses, dusty and tired, came knocking.

In the lobby of this temporary inn, Weier invited this young Priest of the Church of the God of Wealth to sit down, while Xueya Site also familiarly exchanged greetings with the Caravan Steward who was leading the way.

The main inquiry was what these two, especially this Priest Hadli who claimed to be a Church Pastor of the Church of the God of Wealth in Suishi Cheng, wanted with the leader of this team—Knight Jier?

"Before I say what I am looking for him for, where is Knight Qiao Jier? Has he gone to the town for entertainment? If so, please call him back. I have an important matter here that requires his personal presence."

Priest Hadli was covered in dust. After sitting down, he did not directly answer Weier's question, but instead took off his hooded Cloak that shielded him from the sun and the dust of the road, handed it to the Caravan Steward beside him, and then loudly asked the innkeeper to send over a cup of iced mint water to moisten his throat.

"Priest, I am truly sorry. My small inn cannot get ice in this hot summer. Would mint water chilled in cold well water be acceptable?" The innkeeper, in his forties, bowed and responded to Priest Hadli with a fawning and apologetic tone.

"What a small place..." Muttering a sentence, Priest Hadli nodded and let the innkeeper go get it.

After this interlude, Weier, who had exchanged a look with Xueya Site, said: "Priest, Knight Jier was just here. He suddenly said he saw an animal running in the nearby woods, so he took a bow and arrow and chased after it to hunt. Our Lord is very good at archery and also likes hunting. It was very boring escorting the caravan during the day, so he probably figured it was fine for the team to stay overnight at the inn, and went out on his own to hunt for entertainment."

"Is that so? When will he be back?" Just after Priest Hadli finished asking, he seemed to feel uncomfortable in his throat. He took out a high-end handkerchief, turned his head to blow his nose, and after glancing at the handkerchief, muttered with dissatisfaction: "That is why I hate riding horses on the Shanglu."

It turned out that the handkerchief was full of black, ashy snot blown from Priest Hadli's nose, all of which was the road dust and dirt inhaled into his nasal cavity while chasing them on horseback all the way. He had a hooded Cloak for protection, but there was no good way to protect his nose.

Because the two of them and four horses were in a hurry, they had set off from Suishi Cheng in the morning and had been chasing them all day, changing horses but not people.

This was only because Jier's caravan had only set off for one day, making it easy to track. As long as one followed the Shanglu east from Suishi Cheng to Kagali Town, Jier's team would likely be staying there overnight. But if more time passed, once they continued from Kagali Town, there were many different routes to take, and it would be difficult to judge which road Jier and the others were taking to the eastern neighboring county.

"That is unclear. It depends on what prey Knight Jier catches, and how high his interest in hunting is! If his interest is high, he might not come back to meet up with everyone until tomorrow morning. He is a powerful Knight; not sleeping for a day or two doesn't seem to affect his daily work and life." Weier spouted nonsense, while Xueya Site beside him kept nodding, trying to hold back his laughter.

In the inn's restaurant, the noise of Warriors and Dwarves eating rose and fell, and there were also sounds of Caravan Shop Assistant from the accompanying caravans fawning over the Human Warriors and inviting them to drink.

Priest Hadli was a bit unhappy, but at this moment, the innkeeper personally brought over the mint water chilled in well water. Priest Hadli took it, and then ordered the innkeeper to open two high-end rooms for the night.

Regardless, there was no need for the two of them and four horses to rush through the night. No matter when Jier returned, they would have to wait until tomorrow morning to return to Suishi Cheng.

"Priest, why don't you say what you are looking for Knight Jier for? If it is really something very important and urgent, this is the person who manages everyone when the Knight is away. He can arrange for people to go to the woods outside the town where people pick up firewood to look for Knight Jier."

Weier pointed to Xueya Site. Although Xueya Site was wearing Metal Armor Plate and carrying a common crossbow on his back, with a Soldier Changjian at his waist, Priest Hadli saw at a glance from Xueya Site's gaze and posture that Xueya Site was an old caravan guard who had often dealt with the Church of the God of Wealth.

After all, Suishi Cheng was considered an important trade distribution center, and Priest Hadli had seen many caravan guards from various places. These people were different from those Merchant Guild personnel who fawned over them completely. Caravan guards lived off the Merchant Guild and the caravan. Although they would usually find the Church of the God of Wealth for things like injuries, writing letters, saving money, or transferring funds, and even find work near the Church,

but being a caravan guard was still a profession with a high degree of transience and temporariness. Because they were not like the Merchant Guild, which always operated in one place and had a very good and close relationship with the Church, these caravan guards traveled all over the world and had seen many Priests from various places. Therefore, although they occasionally sought help from Church Priests, it was not fixed to which Church or which Priest.

Familiar yet distant, close yet somewhat strange.

"Then you send someone to look for Knight Jier. I cannot just wait here." Priest Hadli took a sip of mint water and waved his hand, letting Xueya Site send someone to look for Jier.

Jier was squatting outside the inn lobby eavesdropping, so naturally, there was no need to really send anyone. But Xueya Site had no choice but to pretend to go to the restaurant and whisper something to a few Warriors. In fact, he just told them to go to the backyard to watch over everyone's carriages and monitor the blacksmiths who were shoeing the newly arrived horses in the backyard, so that those blacksmiths and apprentices wouldn't steal anything from everyone's carriages.

"My Lord, everything is arranged. It shouldn't be long before Knight Jier returns. What exactly are you looking for the Knight for?"

Weier saw Xueya Site return and continued to ask Priest Hadli in a low voice what the purpose of his trip was.

"It is a good thing, look at this!"

Taking a satisfied sip of mint water, Priest Hadli, who felt instantly cooled down, took a flat Wooden box from the satchel at his waist; he did not open it, but tapped it lightly with his hand.

This Wooden box was exquisitely decorated; on the expensive, somber wood, decorative lines made of melted real gold depicted the divine emblem of the God of Wealth. Priest Hadli stroked it with his hand, and it shimmered, then with a click, it opened automatically from the middle.

Weier had thought this thing was strange just a moment ago; there was no place for a Lock on any of the four sides of the Wooden box, and he had even assumed it was a solid piece, but it really was just a box after all.

Priest Hadli did not reveal the contents inside, but instead tapped it a few times with his finger and said: "This is a reward from the Church of the God of Wealth in Suishi Cheng for Knight Jier leading the team to wipe out the Bandit Group that was disrupting the Shanglu. It is a Sixth-Rank Defend Badge issued by the church. However, do not look down on this badge for its low rank; I know that wiping out hundreds of Bandits should merit a higher achievement, but the matter was sudden, and something like a Fifth-Rank badge would require more time to be custom-made for the warriors who performed the meritorious service."

He shook his head: "The time was so urgent; it seemed you all left suddenly in the middle of last night. In fact, we were also surprised, and thought Knight Jier would linger in Suishi Cheng for a day or two with you all. Who told you to leave in such a hurry? After we received the news early this morning and discussed it, I could only be sent here urgently with a Sixth-Rank Defend Badge that was in stock."

Upon hearing this, Jier understood; it turned out to be a church badge issued to him by the Church of the God of Wealth in Suishi Cheng to show their gratitude for him wiping out the Bandits who were disrupting the Shanglu.

He had received something similar in Kendall City before, but that time it was quite a blunder; because he had wiped out a large pile of slime monsters alone, he was caught by the Agricultural God Church, which needed an opportunity for a gathering, and they pinned the title of Agricultural God Warrior on him, and publicly issued him a Sixth-Rank Protection Badge.

Although the whole thing did not have much to do with him and was mainly orchestrated by the Agricultural God Church, that badge issued by the Agricultural God Church helped him a lot in the period that followed.

It was a pity it was destroyed by that damned werewolf!

Although he later heard that one could spend money to find the church and get a new one, Jier did not have much money at the time, so how could he bear to spend it? As for now, the slight healing effect brought by the Sixth-Rank badge issued by the Agricultural God Church was already useless to him.

It is just that he does not know what kind of novel and effective ability this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge of the God of Wealth might have?

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