Lyle and Adam talked with the caravans that were looking for adventurers to join them as guards and managed to find only one that was leaving soon.
The caravan was a small-sized caravan that was transporting some low-level monster cores, mana crystals, and monster parts.
They were going to depart in two days, which was a bit late for Lyle who wanted to go tomorrow, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
"Seems like we'll be able to go to more than just 1 dungeon while we are here," Lyle told Adam after they had finished signing up for the guard mission.
Using the adventurers guild badge was easy, they would be given completely empty, and it was only after the user poured in mana that they would become bound to them.
There was no way to erase the bond, and the badge would only be usable by the adventurer that bound it to himself. One simply needed to use mana to make the badge shine a bit and show his information.
It was an incredibly simple way of identification that made it almost impossible for people to steal it since it would be worthless to them.
Of course, the bond wasn't as unbreakable as it seemed as there existed ways to overwrite the bond, but that was a story for another time.
Lyle and Adam walked toward the city gate, not the one they had used to come inside the city, but a different one.
Upon reaching the city square, they suddenly stopped as they stared at the body of a giant monster.
"Wha-what is that?!" Adam shouted out in surprise as a couple of people around him glanced at him before snickering a bit.
It was normal for newbies that just entered the city to be shocked by the display that the lord of the city, Lord Song showed.
"A minotaur, that's the monster that slaughtered the caravan," Lyle said in a low voice as he stared at the monster.
'That's not good, minotaurs didn't exist in this area, they can only be found in one of the two strongest dungeons here, for one to be outside, that's seriously bad news.' Lyle thought to himself as he started second-guessing his idea of going into a dungeon with Adam.
"Wow, I heard of tales of the minotaurs, they're supposed to have higher physical strength than even Golden Knights, right, sir?"
"Correct, their physical prowess and healing ability are almost on par with Titled Knights, but their speed is lower compared to others at their level, not to mention that their large size makes them into big and easy targets to hit."
"Still, nobody would dare underestimate a minotaur as it stood at the peak amongst Golden Core monsters."
( Author: I know I have stated that the 2 powerful dungeons near Linston are for Silver Knights, but a minotaur would sometimes spawn and act as the final boss, I have further explained it in chapter 60 )
"For one to defeat it like this, it was probably the city lord."
"Good guess, young man!" A voice was suddenly heard from behind.
A tall man that had violet hair that was put up in a ponytail came to Lyle.
He wore a white and purple robe that had floral patterns, while a thin sword was hanging from his waist.
The man came to Adam and Lyle before suddenly wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
"As you said, that there is the work of lord Song, isn't he amazing, look at those cuts, look at the number of wounds, he managed to kill a minotaur and preserved almost the whole body, isn't he amazing, right, amazing?!" The young man said multiple times as Lyle looked at him in slight annoyance while Adam was staring at the minotaur in amazement.
Suddenly Lyle noticed something weird.
All the people in the area were staring at them with shock written all over their faces.
Before Lyle could even guess why all of the people suddenly bowed down.
"Lord Song, wonderfully done!"
Both Adam and Lyle froze while the young man, who turned out to be the city lord himself, scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, busted, it seems I have made myself look like a fool in the eyes of two newcomers, oh well…" Song said as he smiled at Lyle and Adam who were staring at him.
"You mentioned something about the monster slaughtering a caravan, would you care to elaborate further?" Song asked with a smile as Lyle stared at him without changing his expression.
"Yes, lord Song," Lyle said as he bowed slightly before narrating his story, and pretty much telling Song the same thing he told the guards at the city gate.
Song simply nodded at Lyle after the latter had finished before patting him on the shoulder.
"You were lucky you survived, go and rest up, you have deserved it, young adventurers." Song then promptly turned around and left.
Lyle stared at his back before turning around and leaving the area together with Adam.
As for Song, he had joined back with some of his personal guards and captains.
"Find out everything about these two." Song suddenly said in a serious tone as his lieutenant, another Golden Knight, looked at him.
"Hmm, sir, you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"The young man that you spoke with, he is the one that showed the flaming cross at the adventurers guild."
"A bearer of the flaming cross?!"
"I thought you went to them because you already knew about it."
"No, I went, no matter, forget about my previous order, do nothing to them."
"Yes, sir." The Golden Knight bowed before leaving the area with the others as Song slowly disappeared.
'I'm certain that he isn't human, but since he has the flaming cross, then it's enough.' Song said to himself as he glanced one final time at where Lyle and Adam were before disappearing from the area.
As for Lyle, he was walking alongside Adam in haste.
'Song, damn it, why did he have to be the city lord here?!' Lyle shouted in his head as Adam glanced at him a couple of times, visibly confused by Lyle's demeanor.
"Sir, what's wrong?"
"We might be in danger, I don't know if he has found out about the flaming cross yet, if he hasn't, then we need to find a place to lay low for a bit before being able to freely move."
"W-why, what do you mean?!"
"That was Iodel Song, the man that is believed to be the strongest Golden Knight not only in the empire but in the surrounding region, his strength is unfathomable, not to mention his keen senses, he might have sensed that we are not truly human, we can't take any risks right now."
Adam shut his mouth after hearing Lyle's words, he was shocked to the core.
He knew that although vampires didn't have a very good reputation, they were still not categorized as monsters thanks to their intellect and willingness to cooperate with other races.
Still, that didn't mean that everybody would think well of them.
If the city lord thought they were spies or enemies, then they would be done for, no tricks would help them survive this situation.
As for Lyle, his mind was spinning, working its best to come up with a plan to keep the two of them safe for the time being.
Suddenly a blur passed between the two and the city lord appeared before them.
"L-Lord Song!" Adam stuttered a bit as he stared at the man in front of them.
"Ah, sorry for startling you, I just wanted to give our distinguished guests a small gift, please do take it, and have a nice stay in Linston." Song said before disappearing from the spot.
Lyle stared at the small bag that Song had given him before opening it up.
"This!" Lyle suddenly opened his eyes wide before a small smile appeared on his face.
"Good, it seems he has found out about the flaming cross, we're safe."
"Sir, what is that?" Adam asked Lyle as the latter stared at the small stone that was in his hands.
"This … is the crest of the Song family, this signifies that the person holding it is a friend of the Songs and allows for safe passage anywhere where the family has any influence," Lyle said as Adam stared at the stone that had an engraving of a flower in it.
"It seems like a normal stone, right?" Lyle asked Adam who simply nodded at him.
"Well, that's because I'm not using any mana, that's when it changes, but I won't be doing that here," Lyle said before putting the small stone in his spatial ring and continuing his way.
'Iodel Song, the most talented person in the empire after prince Sied, was an average person until he reached the Golden Knight realm, and then he suddenly changed, he managed to overtake many senior Golden Knights and claim the mantle of the strongest one, he is an enigma, a person that keeps many secrets underneath that calm and happy-go-lucky demeanor.'
'Why did you give me this crest, Iodel?' Lyle thought as he clenched his hands into fists.
'I need power, more power, then such things will no longer matter.'