Charlie had contacted over a dozen people, and basically confirmed that the portrait drawn based on his teammate's impressions was indeed Shadow Dagger himself, then he turned down the subsequent visit requests, and the crowd gradually dispersed under the persuasion of the tavern's guards.
The identity of the killer had been basically confirmed, but Charlie couldn't breathe a sigh of relief. Given Shadow Dagger's unpredictable temperament and elusive whereabouts, Charlie couldn't do anything about him in the short term.
Moreover, with the enemy in the open and himself in the dark, the reality was very unfavorable for Charlie.
Charlie had just caused a stir in Twilight Town, and was currently in the public eye, in this situation, rashly launching a punitive action would not only be ineffective, but could also put him in a passive position.
Therefore, the most important thing for Charlie now was to fade out of the public eye and hide.
Charlie still remembered Shadow Dagger's words, proving that he had also targeted Charlie as his own prey, this was a dangerous hunting game, the identities of the hunter and the prey might be reversed, and who would have the last laugh depended on their respective abilities and wisdom.
The rune engraver profession indeed has a bright future, with just a few promises, he was able to maximize his social efforts in a completely unfamiliar environment, and clarify a case that had no clues.
Knock knock knock!
Just as Charlie was pondering, there was a knock on the door.
Charlie asked through the door, "Didn't I turn down the subsequent visits?"
"Apologies for the disturbance, master, I am the tavern owner, attracted by today's scene, and only now learned of the master's visit to our humble establishment, so I've come to pay my respects." A gentle female voice came from outside, simple and crisp, yet with a hint of softness, sounding very pleasant to the ear.
A beautiful woman possessing both beauty and wisdom is indeed rare, Charlie couldn't help but feel a bit interested in the person outside.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A woman in a smoky gray dress walked in, she had a delicate, snow-white, egg-shaped face, a voluptuous yet proportionate figure, a long swan-like neck extending from the oily, silk-like smoky gray fabric, appearing extremely elegant, the ample, soft breasts seemed ready to spill out from the V-neck, gently swaying with each step, dazzling one's senses.
Charlie's gaze moved upwards, inadvertently meeting her deep, smoky eyes, a mysterious feeling sweeping through his entire body, his whole mind, spirit, and soul seemingly drawn into and captivated by those eyes, immersed in the ultimate perfection of her appearance.
In that instant of infatuation, the chip roused Charlie.
Charlie then realized that in the past second, his main consciousness had actually fallen into a brief state of loss of control, making him feel a sense of alert.
Charlie couldn't help but praise, "I didn't expect the owner of the Blood Raven Tavern to be such a stunningly beautiful woman."
Seeing Charlie's reaction, the beauty was slightly surprised, then smiled wryly, almost causing Charlie's reason to lose its high ground again, "I'm Elisa, nice to meet you."
"Char... les Richard, please have a seat." Charlie unconsciously responded, almost revealing his own name.
"Judging by the voice, the master is quite young! Not only young, but also likely handsome in appearance, if the voice and appearance match, why don't you take the face cloth off? Don't worry, I won't reveal it, as the owner of the Blood Raven, I do have some credibility."
Charlie smiled in response, "It's a brand new environment in Twilight Town, without any sense of security, the face cloth can give me a sense of security, so..."
"Liar! A crystal badge apprentice would still have no sense of security?" Elisa gave him a coy look, in an instant exuding endless charm, conversing with her was both wonderful and painful, wonderful because she was a feast for the eyes, painful because any fantasies could only be buried in the heart, even if dredged up in the mind, it was a kind of shameful sacrilege.
"The boss has come over, it's not just out of curiosity about my appearance, is it? If so, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, I'm quite different in voice and appearance, if you get captivated by my voice and want to see my face, you'll probably get scared instead, better not be that villain."
"You're quite interesting!" Elisa giggled and said, "Actually, I'm here to discuss some business with you."
"Please elaborate." Charlie sat up straight, listening attentively.
"Master, besides mastering the enchantments of Holy Flame, Blade of Lightness, Split Arrow and Smoke Arrow, what other types of runes are you familiar with?"
Charlie could tell this was actually questioning his identity as a junior rune engraver.
Although these four enchantments are enough to earn him that title, who can guarantee his words are true? And the abilities of different junior rune engravers vary greatly.
"I don't dare to call myself a master." Charlie modestly replied, pondering, "As for which specific runes I'm proficient in, I'd rather not disclose that to you, but I can tell you that runes up to B-tier pose no difficulty for me, mastering a particular composite rune is just a matter of time."
"How long would it take you to master a new B-tier composite rune?"
"Two days."
Elisa seemed quite astonished, "Two days!!"
Charlie nodded silently.
She looked him up and down and said, "If what the master says is true, I'd like to invite the master to be the resident rune engraver of the tavern, using the reputation of the Blood Raven Tavern to vouch for you, resolving the credibility issue as quickly as possible, and the tavern can also provide the master with long-term free food and accommodation, as well as a venue for rune engraving."
Sounds good, quite tempting.
"What do I need to pay?" Charlie was a calm person, before reaping the rewards, he would always consider what he had to exchange.
"The exclusive agency rights for rune engraving services, we will screen the clients for you, as for the remuneration between you two, the tavern will not interfere, of course the tavern may use you for some commercial promotion, and may also get a small portion of the profits, but you can't interfere with that!"
It doesn't sound like an unreasonable demand.
"The proposal sounds good."
Elisa said proudly, "This is how I do business, unlike others, they may propose some harsh conditions, then fight over the bottom line, finally reaching a compromise solution when both sides are exhausted.
My thinking is different, the starting point is a win-win, so my conditions are usually relatively comprehensive, as long as you think it's good, then the rest is to verify the master's true level."
"How do you want to prove it?"
Elisa smiled, her gaze falling on a quiver of arrows on the table, containing several precision steel arrows for enchantment, "If convenient, the master can just work on two enchanted arrows."
She is indeed a cautious person, Charlie smiled back, taking out star light ink and a magic brush from his backpack.
The process of arrow enchantment is relatively simple, and as Charlie picked up the brush, his mental state changed, under the chip's adjustment, his mind became blank yet sensitive.
Seeing the emotional enchantment process, Elisa secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The expression on Charlie's face could be described as bitter hatred, quite fitting, the inclusion of emotions will increase the success rate of rune drawing, but it also makes the enchantment a probabilistic event, Charlie always felt there were some rules that had not been sorted out, he just hadn't encountered the right trigger yet.
Watching the beautiful pale gold runes on the arrowhead gradually fade, Charlie turned to ask, "No more doubts now, right?"
Elisa smiled, "Okay, if the master has no objections to the cooperation mode, we can sign a magic contract."
"No problem, now?"
"Of course, if the master is willing to trust me, you can share more information with me, so that I can introduce more suitable clients for you."
...
Thus, after an in-depth conversation, Charlie became the resident rune engraver of the tavern, with a formal magic contract as a guarantee, receiving the recognition and protection of the Arcane Circle.
The tavern provides Charlie with a suite that he can live in long-term, and free food and accommodation, in exchange, Charlie hands over the agency rights for his rune engraving services to the tavern, letting them screen the clients for him, do the initial contact, and complete the rune engraving service within the tavern.
This is a win-win transaction, Charlie's living conditions have been greatly improved, he can avoid wasting unnecessary energy, and can leave the town at any time to do tasks without worrying about missing any transactions.
For the tavern, not only can it expand its own reputation and influence, but it can also use the rune engraver to bring additional added value to the tavern, maintaining good relations with some mid-to-high-end teams in Twilight Town, and even teachers from the Necromancy Division, and also profit from the agency rights.
For some clients with needs, they are willing to pay a certain price to get one-on-one service from a rune engraver.
Elisa's efficiency is high, and on the same day she prepared a small suite for Charlie, located on the top floor of the Blood Raven Tavern, with a bedroom, a small reception hall, and a bathroom, this living condition is vastly superior to the apprentices who have to live in tents outside.
Charlie soon moved in, in fact he didn't have much luggage, many things can be stored in the spatial ring, the room was permeated with a faint fragrance, making Charlie speculate that this might have been Elisa's own suite, only now used to win over a rune engraver.
Lying on the bed, the name "Shadow Dagger" kept circling in Charlie's mind, refusing to go away, he had a premonition that this guy was destined to be his opponent.
The commotion today was quite big, Charlie didn't know if it would reach Shadow Dagger's ears, after all, with so many people around, he might need to be prepared for the fastest reaction, if Shadow Dagger knew he was looking for him, how would he react?
After pondering for a while, he couldn't find an answer.
Charlie simply got up and shut himself in the room, beginning to fulfill his promise, finished products of various scrolls appearing on the large desk, and the special materials for weapon enchantments were also prepared.
Charlie activated the tavern's communication rune, sending a message, "Help me contact the Wind Speed Team, I'm ready for the enchantments."