After a short while.
Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh!
The four members of the "Mithril" ranked adventurer party, barely clinging to life, were tossed in front of the carriage by the Verdant Witch and Kuro.
"Ah... cough..."
"N-no..."
"Save... save me..."
"...!"
The four convulsed, emitting groans of despair.
Minori shook his head with some disappointment: "For a 'Mithril' ranked team, their coordination is surprisingly poor."
"Did you think you had victory in your grasp? Your intelligence gathering is truly lacking."
The red-haired captain had a large corrosive hole in his chest, the intense pain having long since been numbed by the cold weather, yet his body still twitched uncontrollably.
His dim gaze trembled.
With what little strength he had left, the red-haired captain looked in Minori's direction, his eyes somewhat vacant: "In... intelligence... false..."
Hm?
Minori pondered slightly, then chuckled knowingly.
As expected, the information coming from the Baharuth Empire had clearly been partially censored, even deliberately concealed.
Everyone suspected that Martial King Gojin's departure was related to him, but they were completely unaware of the reason, apart from the Empire's deliberate cover-up.
Most people were also completely drawn in by the 50,000 gold coin reward, ignoring some details.
The departure of Martial King Gojin was actually quite simple: the Empire's arena could no longer allow the Martial King's strength to grow.
This itself was also part of Martial King Gojin's own will, but the Empire would not reveal such things, especially given the impact this matter had on the front lines during the war between the Kingdom and the Empire.
With the Bloody Emperor's wisdom, he could guess that the Martial King's departure was likely related to him.
Hence, the bounty appeared!
And the most crucial piece of information was that there were obvious signs of battle in the noble courtyard where Minori and Martial King Gojin had conversed.
This key piece of information was completely hidden by the Empire.
"Don't make excuses for your failure, esteemed Mithril-ranked adventurers."
Minori shrugged, saying plainly, "Even with the intelligence issue, you weren't able to force me to act, were you?"
"Enri."
"C-Captain!" Enri straightened her back, gripping the short sword in her hand, and spoke nervously.
The Mithril-ranked adventurers were taken care of by Miss Verdant Witch just like that?
Enri's lips trembled, still somewhat dazed; she knew that Miss Verdant Witch was a powerful magic caster.
However, she had no real idea of how strong she was.
But Enri was clear about what kind of big shots "Mithril-ranked" adventurers were.
"It might be a little early for you, but it's something you'll have to face sooner or later. Kill them with the short sword in your hand," Minori said.
"Ah!" The short sword in Enri's hand nearly fell to the ground.
"What, can't you do it?"
"It's not that, Captain, but, but..."
"Then forget it." Minori didn't seem surprised by Enri's conflicted and frightened state, and waved his hand.
"Magic Arrow!"
Four semi-transparent magic arrows materialized and shot out, killing the four who were already barely clinging to life.
"Kuro, let's go."
Minori didn't look at Enri, who was frozen in place, but instead leaned back against the carriage railing, closing his eyes to rest.
In reality, he summoned the attribute panel to view the skill information used by the four Mithril-ranked adventurers during the battle.
As for Enri's problem?
He recruited Enri not to be her babysitter.
Although the future Enri joined the Ainz Ooal Gown's camp somewhat muddle-headedly, it was indeed the right choice for her.
Just like now.
Enri chose to accept his invitation and unhesitatingly became his subordinate because it was a rare, even unique, opportunity for both Carne Village and Enri herself.
From the beginning, Enri herself was the only one who needed to seize this opportunity tightly.
Whoosh!
Kuro shook its neck, and the bone chains on its body flew out, pulling the carriage up again and continuing along the road.
Verdant Witch's bright yellow eyes carefully glanced at Minori, who was resting with his eyes closed, then turned to Enri, whose body was stiff and face pale.
"You look a little scared, girl."
Verdant Witch crossed her arms, raised her chin, and spoke to Enri for the first time in a cold tone:
"Actually, whether you act or choose not to act, Master doesn't care."
Enri raised her head blankly, meeting Verdant Witch's emotionless gaze: "Miss Verdant."
"Don't think too much."
Verdant Witch sneered, raised her finger, first pointing at herself, then at Enri:
"Although I don't want to be compared to someone as insignificant as you, neither I nor you have the qualifications to be noticed by Master."
"In your words, it's like a grain of rice in a field of wheat, one more or one less doesn't matter at all."
Minori could naturally hear the conversation between the two; after all, the carriage was only so big, and even if they deliberately lowered their voices, it wouldn't make much difference.
What surprised him a little wasn't Verdant Witch's subtle flattery, but the fact that Verdant Witch hadn't wasted the few months she spent in the border human village.
"Lower Tier · Strength Enhancement."
"Lower Tier · Agility Enhancement."
Minori's focus was on the two enhancement spells displayed on the attribute panel; both of these were second-tier spells.
Among the skills used by the four Mithril-ranked adventurers, the only ones that interested him were these two enhancement spells.
Minori had encountered magic casters using this series of spells before, but he hadn't wasted skill points learning them.
After releasing enhancement-type spells, only the highest-level enhancement spell would take effect.
Now.
Having mastered the "Magic Amplification" skill, he could completely upgrade low-tier enhancement spells to high-tier ones, but...
Minori remembered that among the enhancement-type spells mastered by the Ainz Ooal Gown, the most top-tier ones should be the seventh-tier "Upper Tier · All Ability Enhancement" and "Upper Tier · Resistance Enhancement."
These two enhancement-type skills completely covered low-level series enhancement methods.
If he were to learn these two lower-tier enhancement spells and upgrade them to upper-tier ones, it would take at least four skill points.
"'Lower Tier' level corresponds to the second-tier magic, and generally, those with the prefix 'Upper Tier' are basically for the seventh-tier magic."
This thought flashed through Minori's mind, and he was thoughtful.
For example, "Upper Tier Item Appraisal,""Upper Tier Item Destruction,""Upper Tier Magic Seal,""Upper Tier Magic Shield,""Upper Tier Item Creation,""Upper Tier Teleportation,""Upper Tier Luck," and other levels of magic all belonged to the seventh tier.
"Then, the three levels of magic, Lower Tier, Middle Tier, and Upper Tier, are not the case of only upgrading one tier as originally expected."
"No wonder there are many magic casters in the other world who use 'Lower Tier' enhancement magic, but I have never seen anyone use 'Middle Tier' level enhancement magic."
"'Middle Tier' magic is at least at the fourth-tier level."
"Um... 'Upper Tier' magic may also have level differences; 'Upper Tier Strength Enhancement' and 'Upper Tier All Attribute Enhancement' should not be at the same level."
"Just like the first-tier 'Minor Healing' and the second-tier 'Mass · Minor Healing'."
Minori analyzed and speculated internally that ordinary upper-tier enhancement magic should be at the sixth-tier level.
Skills like "All Attribute Enhancement" must be one tier higher than a single attribute enhancement.
After a brief period of thought.
Minori gave up the idea of learning these two low-tier enhancement spells again; he wouldn't need these two enhancement spells to deal with ordinary enemies.
And to deal with the Ainz Ooal Gown and his group, he would need at least seventh-tier enhancement magic.
Whoosh!
The cold wind swept up the sparse snowflakes on both sides of the street, and the figures of Minori and his party gradually disappeared at the end of the road.
About half an hour later.
Figures dressed in black bodysuits, cloaked in camouflage-style capes, appeared like cats without a sound in front of the corpses of the four dead Mithril-ranked adventurers.
The black figures were not only completely covered from head to toe, but even wore a black cloth over their faces, revealing only a pair of dull eyes.
It was a pure indifference and apathy.
Whoosh!
These figures suddenly dispersed, revealing a passage, and there was still no sound throughout the entire process.
Kacha—
A person who was completely different from the surrounding black figures slowly walked over and stood in front of the corpses of the four adventurers, simply scanning them a few times.
This figure was dressed in a rather unconventional manner, especially compared to the others around, as they were wearing a maid outfit.
"Well, I slightly miscalculated the strength of the prey; that's right, to be able to fight with the 'Martial King,' they must be at least 'Orichalcum' level adventurers."
"You died at the hands of your prey."
"You are a pathetic hunter."
"...!"
In the next few days.
Minori and his party did not encounter any more attacks; the death of a "Mithril-ranked" adventurer team clearly deterred many adventurers and mercenaries who wanted the 50,000 gold coin reward.
Whenever they passed through a village, Minori would actively stay for a night, allowing Enri and Verdant Witch to sell "Regeneration Potions."
In addition to these villages, Minori also passed through two ordinary cities, also selling alchemical potions.
In poor villages, they sold some diluted ordinary "Regeneration Potions," while in wealthy villages and cities, they sold high-grade "Regeneration Potions" worth ten gold coins.
Refining these "Regeneration Potions" was very simple for Minori, and the raw materials could be obtained at any time by using teleportation magic to go to the Tob Forest.
The Troll Guu and the group of ordinary Troll were always entrusted to the Naga to take care of, and ogre blood could be taken at any time.
During this process.
The excellent healing effect of "Regeneration Potions" gradually spread, and Minori's title of "Black-Haired Genius Alchemist" also spread within the kingdom, no longer limited to the knowledge of some nobles.
Along the way, they naturally encountered many caravans and travelers, and these people, in addition to buying alchemical potions, also became a link in the chain of dissemination.
Night.
The black curtain-like night sky was adorned with a large number of stars, and there were rarely any clouds.
Apart from being somewhat dry and cold, the wind had also stopped.
"Tomorrow should be a good day."
A blue-haired man with messy, disheveled hair glanced at the crowd of figures swaying around him, and lay bored on the cold slope, using both hands as a pillow.
Under the moonlight.
The man wore a chainmail shirt, his figure slender but very sturdy, and even with the cover of clothing, one could feel the bulging muscles.
A terrifying and powerful aura faintly emanated around him.