Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 517 - 514: Timber Merchant

"Halloys, do you know the maid in my house?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m

After saying goodbye to Alya and continuing his return to Springs, Ronald remembered the scene when he first met Halloys, hence the question.

Halloys, however, simply flashed a smile:

"Don’t ask, you’ll die."

"This is the advice given by my dear old boss."

"It’s precisely because the enigmatic maid in your household is extremely dangerous, that I so decisively invited you to join my caravan that night when I saw you."

"..."

Ronald raised an eyebrow:

"So you’re completely in the dark?"

Halloys responded directly:

"Anyway, it’s your family’s maid, she couldn’t possibly harm you."

"..."

That’s not necessarily true...

Recalling the scene he encountered at White Shore Castle that night, Ronald had no doubt that there were many in this world who could recognize his identity, or at least sense something was amiss.

If the Adler family’s maid were among them...

Then the day the two truly met must have been absolutely splendid, right?

As the two chatted and moved forward, the eastern walls of Springs also emerged in the darkness.

Springs is in a special period right now, and all the rules for entering the city are different from usual, having entered a semi-lockdown state.

During the day, entering and leaving the city is still normal, but not deep at night.

Aside from those granted permission, some non-Springs residents who plan to enter the city must first wait outside and queue up for very strict inspections and interrogations.

Therefore, many who were delayed prepared to spend the night near the city gates, among which merchants made up the majority, and some even took this opportunity to start doing business with others.

Noticing the situation here, Ronald couldn’t help but say to Halloys:

"Nassos, look at the merchants over here, they seem to be doing well."

Halloys tacitly revealed a smile:

"If I had my goods with me, I could make a week of your salary in one night, it’s a pity I didn’t bring the cart."

Ronald also smiled:

"No worries, we’ll come together next time."

"I guarantee we’ll make quite a bit!"

Approaching the city gate bit by bit, Ronald was still recalling in his mind the circumstances of his first meeting with Halloys.

Originally meeting in the woods at night, her wagon actually carried several bags of crops not yet ripe for that season. Judging by the weight of the cart, there were even some metal weapons hidden onboard.

From any angle, it wasn’t exactly a good choice to accompany on a journey.

But having been nervous during the beginning of his travels and then suddenly relaxing after leaving the Adler residence, he ended up absurdly joining Halloys’ caravan, all the way to Black Mountain before the subsequent events unfolded.

If you really think about it.

The whole story he had experienced had started from that rainy night in the woods.

Suddenly, Ronald’s steps towards returning to Springs halted:

"Wait a second..."

"Halloys, let me see that booklet again."

"Sure," Halloys immediately passed the booklet over, also hearing the emotion in Ronald’s voice, "Did you find something?"

Ronald nodded and replied, "Yes, I remembered something I’m concerned about."

Flipping through the manual, Ronald didn’t pay attention to Lumiere’s descriptions of spell effects, but instead focused on tallying the wood consumed as experimental material.

Scanning the list, the results were quite evident.

Apart from some very rare and scarce types of wood, the records concerning the age of the timber were almost exclusively of the birch variety.

Acquiring large quantities of the same kind of wood.

Either Lumiere had a stable wood procurement channel, or she was chopping down birch trees at a convenient location for her research.

Actions could be deliberately forged.

The ones sent out to fight could be puppet substitutes.

But these thoroughly consumed pieces of timber could not be faked.

If he wanted to quickly find Lumiere’s whereabouts, starting with the birch wood was definitely the most direct and accurate investigation method.

On further reflection, Ronald had actually seen some birch forests outside Springs. On the night he chased after "Nine Commandments" outside the city, he had already spotted these trees from the air.

"Alya, have you looked into the merchants who sell timber in the city?"

Without needing Ronald to explain in detail, the girl immediately grasped his thoughts. Lowering her gaze, Alya blurted out the information about the Springs timber merchants:

"The timber merchants in Springs are monopolized by a joint operation of three families. They are the Oakwood family, a new aristocratic group, and the Huiye Timber Trade Association."

"Ronald, if you want to gather information, it’s more convenient to start with the trade association. Ginkgo leaves are in business dealings with them."

"..."

A reassuring partner.

Watching Alya reel off the main timber merchants in Springs, the first thought that crossed Ronald’s mind was this.

Having such a person to help him was far more important to him than having a partner with strong military might.

But that alone was not enough.

Ronald had seen many a problem arise from slow action or laziness. To avoid such issues in this matter and to be as thorough as possible,

Ronald thought it over and decided to take the puppet off his back and hand it to Alya: "Alya, you take this puppet back first, then get in touch with the Ginkgo leaves side."

Alya caught the implication in Ronald’s words: "You want me to take the puppet back alone? What about you?"

Hearing the question, Ronald revealed a slight smile.

He checked the spells he used for physical enhancement and then stretched his body with ease.

"I’m planning to do some overtime tonight."

Alya blinked.

Ronald made no attempt to conceal the magic fluctuations in his body, so Alya naturally noticed the active spells on him. Looking at Ronald’s serious face and then at the darkened sky in the outskirts,

Alya finally said with a wry smile:

"Alright... just make sure you come back early. I’ll prepare your breakfast."

"Thanks, I’ll be counting on it."

He nodded toward Alya, signaling the end of his brief warm-up.

It was too close to the other camps here to take off directly, so he turned toward the direction of the outskirts. With a bend of his knees, he shot off like an arrow.

"Twenty meters? Thirty meters?"

"This is too much... forget it, I’m not watching."

Alya stood still, gauging Ronald’s speed.

But after only a couple of glances, she turned and left with a subtle expression.

He was too fast.

With Ronald’s current physical capabilities...

Even if Alya could master her family’s original techniques, it was unlikely she’d have much of an advantage.

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