Edward White looked the woman over again, feeling more and more that she was unfathomable. He couldn’t figure out how she had recognized him as a baron at a glance—he hadn’t revealed the baron’s insignia on his forehead.

“I was only just promoted to baron not long ago, so I don’t have that many life scales yet.” Edward White tried to keep his voice calm.

The woman smiled softly. Even with the black veil covering her face, she still made Edward White's eyes light up, as if he were seeing a scene of a hundred flowers in bloom.

“Do you know why this armory is called ‘Knight’?” the woman asked gently.

Edward White shook his head and said nothing.

“If you’re willing to become my knight, you won’t have to pay a single life scale, and you’ll receive a full set of baron-level arms—not just a sword.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think I need those. Please just show me the regular armed swords.” After hearing this, Edward White calmed down completely. He had never considered becoming anyone’s knight.

The woman glanced at Edward White. “You have plenty of time to think about it. There’s no need to refuse me so quickly. If one day you change your mind, you can come here and find me.”

With that, the woman didn’t wait for Edward White's reply. She simply took out more than a dozen swords of various styles from behind the counter. Judging by their markings, these were all standard arms.

Edward White bought a saber worth over a thousand life scales and left the armory straight away. He couldn’t shake the feeling that both the shop and the woman were rather sinister, and he didn’t want to linger there any longer.

“Viscountess, why do you suddenly want to take that kid as your knight? He’s just a newly promoted baron—hardly worthy of the honor you’d bestow.”

After Edward White left the armory, a tall woman, almost entirely clad in armor, appeared beside the veiled woman.

“It’s nothing. I just haven’t been out in a while and wanted to do something interesting. I didn’t expect to meet such an amusing fellow—he actually turned me down.” The woman addressed as Viscountess smiled with a strange glint in her eyes.

“That’s only because you didn’t reveal your name. If he knew you were Viscountess Rose, he’d be on his knees begging to become your knight,” the tall woman said excitedly.

“Is that so? Then next time I see him, I’ll try telling him my name.” Viscountess Rose stepped out of the armory, every step exuding charm—she was truly a woman of enchantress caliber.

The tall woman followed closely behind Viscountess Rose as they left. Only after the two had gone far did the real owners of the armory, trembling with fear, emerge from the back room.

“I don’t know why Viscountess suddenly came to our armory. Luckily, she was in a good mood today, or we’d be in big trouble,” one of them said.

“Shh, keep your voice down! Don’t let the lady hear you. She’s got great powers—those things aren’t to be spoken of lightly. I think that kid who just refused her personal invitation is definitely in for a world of trouble,” the other said, a little schadenfreude in his tone.

“That’s for sure. To dare refuse Viscountess Rose's invitation in Daolun City—he’s definitely going to have a rough time.”

“Heh, serves him right for offending Daolun City’s infamous Poison Widow, Rose!”

Edward White returned home and tried practicing the Pain Blade technique with his newly bought saber. The saber was much lighter than a knight’s greatsword, but heavier than a Lingluo sword, making it quite handy to use. Thanks to the blade’s own qualities, it was especially swift and powerful when slashing.

Early the next morning, Edward White heard a knock at the door. When he opened it, he found men from the Earl of Daolun coming to collect this month’s protection fee.

“This month’s protection fee: one thousand scales.” The man glanced at Edward White, speaking coldly.

“It was just raised to five hundred scales last month. Why is it a thousand this month?” Edward White frowned.

“Tomorrow is Miss Xiangfei’s coming-of-age ceremony. Shouldn’t you all contribute some life scales to celebrate?” the man said impatiently. “Poor wretch, stop with the nonsense. Hand over a thousand scales, or get out of Daolun City—your choice.”

“Is there a third option?” Edward White said calmly.

“A third option? Sounds like you’re itching for trouble.” The man’s fleshy face twitched, and he swung a punch at Edward White's face.

“Stop.” Before Edward White could react, someone rushed over and grabbed the man’s fist mid-swing.

“Red-haired Baron!” The man saw that it was Stephen Brooks who had caught his fist, and his expression instantly turned to shock. He immediately tried to ingratiate himself: “My lord, I didn’t know you were here. If I’ve offended you in any way, please forgive me.”

“Hmph. Why are you hitting people at random?” Stephen Brooks shot him a cold look.

“This guy refused to pay the protection fee and talked back to me. I was just giving him a little lesson.” The man paused, then added, “If he’s connected to you, my lord, then we’ll waive his protection fee for this month.”

“I think you’d better kneel down and apologize to him right now,” Stephen Brooks said.