Chapter 1 This Isn't My First Visit

This wasn't Hao Ren's first visit to Becky's manor—but it had indeed been a long time since the last one. Compared to when he left last time, the manor hadn't changed much. Its furnishings and layout were still the same as the beginning, which seemed to indicate that even as a member of the nobility, Becky still had little interest in acquiring luxury goods or decorating the manor. The only change here was the large wine cellar in the basement: the communication equipment and emergency teleportation devices that Hao Ren had left in the basement were still there. Becky had isolated them into a darkroom and expanded the space outside the darkroom (she probably dug a whole circle around her basement), turning it into a huge wine storage, filled with a dazzling array of fine wines from all over the continent. The cellar was filled with the aroma of wine, and even the mice that came out of it weighed at least half a catty…

From this alone, Hao Ren could be sure that Becky was a born mercenary. It was hard to believe how a girl like her could be so addicted to alcohol… Could it be that she planned to first train her alcohol tolerance to be invincible, and then use the opportunity of drinking to get Ofra drunk?

Hao Ren and his party had dinner in the manor's living room, and the butler instructed the servants to prepare comfortable guest rooms for them. During a casual chat after dinner, Hao Ren asked the butler about Becky's current official mission: "What is the Dark Mountains? What's going on there?"

Perhaps Becky's mission itself was a public operation, so the butler didn't hide anything: "The Dark Mountains are located southeast of the royal capital. It is a natural barrier that separates the Black Forest from the fertile plains. The east side of the mountains is the famous Black Forest—once the territory of the elven empire in the ancient magic empire. There are many powerful ancient creatures in that mountain range, as well as some mysterious relics and magical energy nodes, so it is very dangerous for ordinary people, and few people go there on weekdays. It is said that a powerful energy burst suddenly appeared in the Dark Mountains, and even the Mage Association in the distant royal capital clearly observed its fluctuations, so His Majesty the King sent a group of mages to investigate the matter to determine whether a dangerous ancient creature or relic had suddenly awakened. The mistress is working with the Knights to serve as a guard. She will return after sending the scholars and mages to their destination."

"The ruins of the ancient magic empire?" Hao Ren showed an interested expression. "Does this phenomenon happen often?"

Although the remaining First Born organization on this planet had been cleaned up, and theoretically there were no other ancient dangerous creatures left, Hao Ren was still very interested in any possible changes here: after all, this was one of the only ecological planets remaining after the "Doomsday Disaster" of the Dream Plane. Unimaginable ancient legacies were left on this land, and perhaps some small event that suddenly popped up hid some amazing clues.

"This… I'm just a butler, and I don't know much about this kind of thing," the butler showed an embarrassed look. "I just heard that in places like the Dark Mountains where many ancient magic empire legacies remain, mysterious and strange events often occur. But then again, many of these events are just rumors made up by the ignorant mountain people nearby. They live in seclusion, are superstitious and ignorant, and always like to talk about this kind of topic to scare outsiders."

"Oh…" Hao Ren nodded with a drawn-out tone, noncommittal to the butler's words.

It seemed that he would have to wait for Becky to come back before he could ask about the specific situation.

The night passed without incident. The next day, the east gate of the royal city opened wide, and a team of brightly dressed royal knights returned to the royal capital. Becky was among them. After seeing the servant from home who came to deliver the message, she immediately handed over everything to her subordinates and rushed home quickly.

Hao Ren, who was waiting in the manor, saw a heroic female knight appearing on the avenue. She was riding a tall and strong Kelzen warhorse, and the warhorse was covered with shining horse armor. The emblem of the Holletta royal family hung down on the side of the horse armor. The female knight herself was wearing a light half-body armor, and a sky-blue battle robe was draped over the armor. A golden dragon eagle and a short sword were embroidered on the robe, which should be the mark of the Knights. Behind the female knight, two squire cavalrymen each held a long spear, and a long, narrow flag with a blue background and a white border hung on the tip of the spear. The flag fluttered in the wind, revealing the family crest on it: a circle of surrounding thorn roses, with a wolf's head in the middle.

That was probably Becky's family crest.

Lily saw Becky riding heroically from afar, and a happy expression appeared on her face, but she still reached out and poked Hao Ren's arm: "Landlord, landlord, look at how smug she is! She's really become a great noble now!"

"Yeah, she's much more imposing than before," Hao Ren said with a smile, hugging his arms. "But I can't see any aristocratic temperament in her. She looks more like a female bandit who just came down from the mountain, well, wearing a royal uniform."

If an outsider casually commented on a royal countess like this, it would at least be a conflict that would lead to bloodshed within five steps, but Hao Ren and Becky didn't care about that. They were not only friends who brought each other to familiarize themselves with the alien world, but also comrades who had gone through life and death together. In addition, Becky had a carefree mercenary personality, and the amount of sarcasm in their usual emails was like entering the Sahara Desert. Joking around was the main form of communication between the two…

As they were talking, Becky had already ridden her horse to the gate of the manor. She slightly reined in her horse, skillfully slowed down the Kelzen warhorse to a trot and circled it in front of Hao Ren, then turned over and dismounted beautifully, jumped to her three old friends in two steps, raised her hand and high-fived them one by one: "Yo! I thought you were going to forget about me in this little place!"

Vivian wasn't used to such a warm way of greeting, because it always reminded her of that neurotic little bat spirit (in fact, Becky should really have a common language with Hesperide), but she still high-fived Becky, with a smile on her face: "How could we—we're just busy running around the universe, don't we usually send you photos and short films?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're busy with big things," Becky waved her arms carelessly. "I really envy you, you live like you're in a Hollywood blockbuster every day. What was that thing you sent last time… Collo, right? I was so excited when I watched it, it was so epic!"

The two squire cavalrymen behind Becky listened blankly, carrying flagpoles and spears, not knowing what their lord was talking about, but they still felt that they should be in awe—this was a newly promoted legendary hero, and what she said was probably some epic adventure…

Hao Ren found it amusing to see Becky's eager look, and couldn't help but tease her: "Then why don't you quit your job and come work for me? Continue to save the world with my team?"

"Forget it, forget it, I'm just saying," Becky waved her hands repeatedly. "The danger factor of your job is too high. If I really die in there, it would be a pity for this manor and property. I still like my life in front of me. And then again, I'm not a free person now. I'm the deputy commander of the Royal Knights, with thousands of knights under my command, and I'm also responsible for guiding the martial arts of two noble children. I'm so busy."

As they talked, they walked towards the manor. They had already arrived in front of the main house. Becky's warhorse and weapons were handed over to the two squires to settle, and she personally pushed open the gate: "Ah, I haven't been back for a few days, it's still good to be home."

Hao Ren looked at Becky curiously: "I heard that you joined the Knights because you couldn't stand the aristocratic life?"

"That's one of the reasons," Becky shrugged. "The aristocratic life is very boring, especially for a female noble like me who only has a title, property, and annuity, but no fief. There's even less to do. Usually, I can only hang out with a bunch of noble ladies and brag, but I can't understand what they're bragging about, and they don't understand what I'm saying. Communicating is like a third kind of contact, so it's better to find something to do. At the same time, there's another important reason why I joined the Knights—"

She paused deliberately, and Lily cooperated and asked, "What reason?"

"Fief, no fief," Becky spread her hands. "I'm a titled noble, but not a real noble inherited from the land. Without military merit, there's no fief. Joining the Knights can solve the problem. The Holletta Kingdom is very serious about this. It's not like you can have thousands of acres of fertile land just because you have a noble title. You have to earn it yourself. My goal is very far-reaching!"

"You're thinking quite far ahead," Hao Ren immediately looked at Becky with admiration. He didn't expect that this female mercenary would actually be quite ambitious after becoming a noble, but then he teased her again, "But there should be another reason besides this—do you often meet Marshal Ofra after joining the Knights?"

Becky coughed twice, but immediately used her thick skin to take Hao Ren's attack, proudly sticking out her chest: "That's—don't you think I'm very heroic now? Don't I look a bit like Marshal Ofra!"

Hao Ren knew what was going on with Becky's change of style. She was still moving closer to Ofra…

But he wasn't interested in discussing her sexual orientation with this lesbian, but instead went straight to the point: "We're here to discuss something, and we need your and Marshal Ofra's help."

When it came to business, Becky could still be serious immediately—and it seemed that her experience in the Knights had changed her personality to some extent, making her seem more mature and stable than before. She removed her armor with the help of two attendants, and then sat down in front of Hao Ren: "I've seen the message you sent before. You want to organize a group of Dream Plane survivors to cross the Wall of Reality? Has the matter progressed to this point?"

"That's right," Hao Ren nodded. "This matter requires the cooperation of the Holletta nation at the national level."