The question of whether to travel by land or sea was never seriously discussed—it was merely a joke. After all, in the short term, Caius had no intention of leaving Ocean City.

  Caius was the epitome of cherishing the present. The future could be pondered briefly, but who knew what tomorrow would bring?

  As night fell, the temperature began to drop. However, when Caius had visited the market earlier, he had bought two blankets.

  One for Kiki, one for Holan.

  Taking the blanket, Holan smiled. "Didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful."

  "Of course, I’m a gentleman," Caius replied.

  "A gentleman? Aren’t you a mercenary?" Holan’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

  "Can’t a mercenary be a gentleman? I call it a merc-gent."

  "A servant-gentleman?" Holan teased.

  "No, a mercenary-gentleman!"

  Holan burst into laughter.

  Just then, a distant howl echoed through the vast fields, lingering in the night air.

  Caius turned toward the sound. A few eerie green eyes, like ghostly flames, flickered in the darkness of the distant forest.

  "A wolf pack," Caius remarked.

  "Are they dangerous?" Holan asked, though she didn’t seem particularly concerned.

  "No, just an ordinary small pack. They know the power of humans and won’t venture too close to the trade route," Caius explained before something crossed his mind. "By the way, Instructor Holan, I’ve had a question for a while."

  "Go ahead," Holan nodded slightly.

  "The appearance of a Wolf Demon near Ocean City—what do you think it means?" Caius asked, his gaze fixed ahead.

  A chill crept into the air at the mention of the Wolf Demon, as if the very name carried an aura of dread.

  And rightly so.

  "Are you suggesting that a Blood Soil has formed nearby?" Holan asked.

  "I considered that possibility," Caius nodded. "That’s why I asked you about the Bloody Lands before."

  "A Wolf Demon appearing here is likely just a wandering one," Holan said. "Unlike Bloodfish and Bloodeyes, which cannot stray far from a Blood Soil due to their reliance on its blood energy for sustenance and reproduction, Wolf Demons are of a higher tier."

  "They can travel far from a Blood Soil, hunting across great distances."

  "This area falls under the jurisdiction of the Empire’s patrols. They conduct regular sweeps, and if a Blood Soil had formed, nearby cities would have been alerted immediately. Since there has been no news, I suspect this Wolf Demon simply wandered here from a distant Blood Soil."

  "Does this happen often?" Caius asked.

  "Not really. Bloody Creatures don’t belong to this world, and their numbers are scarce," Holan explained. "However, the Bloody Lands are encroaching on our world. Blood Soils will only become more common in the future, and so will Bloody Creatures. Only by cutting off the source of the corruption can we stop the invasion."

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  Caius nodded, falling silent for a moment before asking, "If a Blood Soil really did appear nearby, what would happen?"

  "It would be a catastrophe," Holan said gravely. "The emergence of a Blood Soil always heralds terror and death."

  "There have been several large-scale Bloody Waves in history, each bringing unimaginable devastation to the continent."

  "If a Blood Soil forms near us, we would need to unite all the surrounding cities to purge it. Otherwise, if it is allowed to grow, even a powerful city like Grilla City would be swallowed by the blood corruption."

  "What’s the level of Grilla City’s strongest combatant?" Caius suddenly asked.

  "The City Lord of Grilla City, the Windchanter—Mel Astraea," Holan replied.

  Caius nodded.

  Having an exclusive Title such as Windchanter meant that Lord Mel was a Title-tier powerhouse.

  The ranking system was as follows:

  Lower Five Tiers: Brass, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril. Upper Five Tiers: Ballad, Title, Epic, Legendary, Divine.

  A Title-tier warrior was already a formidable existence.

  "What about you?" Caius asked next.

  "Me?" Holan chuckled. "I’m just a humble Platinum-tier mage."

  "Platinum-tier? That’s impressive. I’m only Silver Five-Star," Caius said enviously.

  Though, what he truly envied wasn’t the Platinum tier—it was being a mage.

  "Silver?" Holan was visibly stunned.

  "You’re only Silver?" She looked at him in disbelief.

  She had previously requested Caius’s registration details from the guild’s mage at the gate. The record only listed him as a Brass-tier mercenary, without specifying his exact combat rank.

  A Brass-tier mercenary title didn’t reflect one’s true strength. Even a Platinum-tier powerhouse would still be registered as Brass upon joining the Mercenary Guild.

  Given that Caius had slain a Wolf Demon, Holan had assumed he was at least a high-tier Gold-ranked warrior. But to find out he was only Silver?

  "Mhm, Silver Five-Star." As he spoke, Caius activated his veins of vital energy. Five silver-glowing marks shimmered along his body, leaving Holan speechless for a long time.

  Finally, she asked, "How old are you?"

  Caius glanced at Kiki before replying, "Eighteen."

  In truth, he was sixteen, but since Kiki was seventeen, he had lied about being eighteen—otherwise, he wouldn’t feel justified calling her "little kitten."

  "You’re only eighteen?!" Holan’s eyes widened even further. "I thought you were at least twenty-five!"

  Caius: "..."

  "Do I look that old?" He pointed at his face, questioning.

  "Uh... not exactly, it’s just..." Holan hesitated, unsure how to explain.

  Caius didn’t look old—his face was that of an honest, straightforward young man not yet twenty. But his physique? Could an eighteen-year-old truly build such a body?

  It wasn’t just his muscular frame—it was the way he carried himself. His speech, his composure, his interactions with people, and his wealth of experience all exuded an air of maturity. It was easy to overlook his youthful appearance and assume he was much older.

  "Not everyone is like you, looking forever like an eighteen-year-old girl," Caius shrugged helplessly.

  Holan, who had just been astonished, suddenly burst into laughter. "I won’t always be eighteen."

  She said that, but it was clear she was pleased by the compliment.

  No woman disliked being told she looked young.

  Unless she was already younger than the compliment implied.

  "Eighteen years old, Silver Five-Star. That’s about the same as my students—but none of them could take down a Wolf Demon alone," Holan mused.

  That statement made Caius feel quite pleased. He grinned smugly. "Of course, I’m the best!"

  "Now you’re just bragging," Holan laughed, covering her mouth. Then she asked, "With your talent, getting into Hydis Magic Academy wouldn’t be a problem. So why did you choose to be a mercenary?"

  This was the second time she had asked this question. The first time, Caius had brushed it off with a playful remark, but Holan was still curious.

  The more time she spent with him, the more intrigued she became.

  "Because I love this profession—just like you love magical research," Caius replied with a gentle smile.

  "To outsiders, mercenaries may seem like desperate souls forced into a life of bloodshed. But some of us are different."

  "Like me."

  "Money, fame, even becoming a Legend—those aren’t the real reasons I became a mercenary."

  "Then what is?" Holan asked, her curiosity deepening.

  Caius looked at her, then pulled out a cigarette, gesturing. "Mind if I smoke?"

  "Go ahead," Holan nodded.

  Caius lit the cigarette, leaning against the carriage, one hand on the reins, the other holding the cigarette. Smoke drifted away into the cold night air.

  "What I love is freedom."

  "Not the carefree kind."

  "That’s the freedom sought by caged canaries in castles."

  "What I want... is the freedom beyond the rules."