The Giant Axe Adventure Group was clearly not a wealthy one; they seldom had spare money to spend on drinks. So when Charles offered to buy them drinks, not just the three male team members, but also the blonde Hannah and the light brown-haired Homonsa were delighted.

Old John even brought over a well-roasted wild pig's knuckle as a complimentary gift for Charles's purchase of drinks. Everyone carved out thin slices with their small knives to accompany their wine, quickly warming up the atmosphere.

More than two hours after Charles entered the village, a seven-person team also arrived in this small village. They were all wearing the same black coats as Wells and Edison, which were the signature attire of the Liemar Detective Agency. These black coats were highly waterproof and windproof, and could even resist some slashes from swords. Moreover, the coats had many hidden pockets, which made them very convenient for long journeys.

Winterburn said, "It's too late to keep going; let's stay in this village for the night."

"Edison, can you ask around to see who can accommodate us in the village?"

Winterburn was the leader of this team, forty-eight years old, a Fourth Order Transcendent, and a middle-level executive of the Liemar Detective Agency. He had a significant reputation among his peers and a considerable influence within the agency.

Edison hurried off and soon returned, saying, "Old John's place at the head of the village can accommodate us."

The team quickly got moving. When they knocked on Old John's door, Charles, who had already gone to bed, was awakened by the noise. He immediately activated his Insight, covering Old John's entire house.

"The Liemar Detective Agency? How did they catch up?"

Charles was stunned. Hesitating for a moment, he decided not to flee immediately as any movement on his part would be tantamount to turning himself in.

The team from the Liemar Detective Agency, seemingly unaware they were so close to their target. Winterburn, learning that an adventure group had stayed the night before, didn't inquire further. After requesting some food and hastily eating with the detectives, they were arranged by Old John to sleep in other rooms.

Charles dared not sleep anymore. He closed his eyes and slowly operated the Bloody Glory. It was extremely difficult, but he made it through until dawn.

The people from the Liemar Detective Agency set off as soon as it was light.

Which greatly relieved Charles.

After a while, the members of the Giant Axe Adventure Group gradually woke up. As adventurers, they still had a basic level of vigilance and were aware that another group had arrived last night; however, since the newcomers didn't do anything, they had no reaction.

Charles joined the others for a simple breakfast and then set off for York Town.

Charles felt somewhat uncomfortable, as he rarely walked in Strasbourg and was accustomed to taking public carriages. This time, however, he had to walk all the way to York Town, because the entire route was through mountain roads where carriages couldn't travel. Even if they could travel, the Giant Axe Adventure Group wouldn't hire a carriage for such a long trek outside the city as it was too expensive.

Although he had been promoted to a Third Order Transcendent, Charles still found it arduous and thought to himself, "I need to train harder, condense the Bloody Vortex in my right leg, and quickly inscribe the Runes for Quickness Technique and Spirit Spider Technique."

"Or perhaps buy a carriage and drive it myself..."

The team led by Winterburn had reached the estate Charles had specified the day before. They stayed for more than an hour, asking around thoroughly and, upon confirming that Charles was not there, they continued on their way along a certain road.

Although the Liemar Detective Agency had numerous detectives, they only had one Transcendent like Wells, who was a fortune-teller. Before setting out, they had a wizard try to track Charles. The wizard only provided a direction without much detail.

Charles was unaware that he had temporarily escaped a calamity. Amid his internal complaints, he finally reached York Town.

This was a rather large town with a population of nearly a thousand. The famous demon hunter White Wolf had built a gigantic log cabin in the center of the town. In front of the cabin, there were already forty or fifty people divided into more than ten small teams chatting and whispering among themselves.

The arrival of the Giant Axe Adventure Group was met with unanimous "hostility," as yet another group of competitors had appeared.

On the way here, Charles had already gotten quite familiar with his five teammates. He knew that it was their leader, Mason, who aspired to become a demon hunter, and the other four teammates had accompanied him for that purpose.

As a lower-tier adventure group, they had all learned some breathing techniques, but only Mason and Homonsa had managed to condense their power seeds. Homonsa was younger and still had a chance to break through, but Mason was already over forty, and the opportunity to break out and become a knight endowed with fighting spirit was slim.

Hannah was very interested in Charles, and on the way, it was this blonde girl who chatted with him the most.

Charles knew why—he had revealed that he possessed transcendent cultivation and was a "knight" endowed with fighting spirit, making him a suitable partner for Hannah.

Of course, a higher priority was the fact that Charles was quite handsome.

Otherwise, he would not have won the affection of Anne Brittany.

After all, the outcome of a heroic rescue sometimes resulted in a pledge of commitment—or, at other times, in lifelong regret...

The Giant Axe Adventure Group took up a spot in front of the large log cabin, and after Mason talked to an acquaintance to gather some information, he returned and said to the group, "White Wolf won't appear tonight. He's still a day's journey away and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Most people have found accommodations in the town. Those who are here couldn't find a place and have to stay overnight. It looks like we'll have to camp out here tonight as well."

Apart from Charles, the other five members all had experience with outdoor living. Moreover, the open space in town was much safer than the real wilderness. In no time, they managed to start a small fire and sat or lay down to rest, easing the fatigue from a day's travel.

Charles had no interest in becoming a demon hunter, and Hannah didn't think she stood a chance either. So when Hannah suggested they find a place to have a drink, Charles readily agreed. What he didn't expect was that Homonsa wanted to join them too.

Charles informed the team leader Mason and took the two girls away with him, which caused the other two male teammates to grumble a bit.

Although Charles had traveled for a whole day, after all, he was a Third Order Transcendent. With a little circulation of Bloody Glory, he managed to relieve most of his fatigue.

The two ladies clearly didn't have his abilities, and their fatigue was evident on their faces.

Charles visited two inns in the town of York, both of which were fully booked due to the influx of adventure teams these past few days. Instead of looking for a third inn, he simply purchased a bunch of food and a large barrel of ale from the second inn and took the two girls back to the large log cabin.

When Charles shared the food and ale with his teammates, the slight displeasure of the two men earlier vanished into thin air.

After returning, Hannah ate a little and then, using her backpack as a pillow, fell soundly asleep.

Homonsa held up a bit better, staying up to chat for a while, but she too looked like she couldn't last much longer. Mason and the other two male teammates didn't fare much better, so Charles simply suggested he would take the first half of the night watch, and they could take shifts for the second half.

Even in town, it was necessary to keep watch at night.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com