The Herb King

After celebrating with his students, Aethelwolf headed to Chris' room. The man was still unconscious, but his body was now recovering to normal.

After entering the room, his nose was assaulted by the smell of medicinal herbs and medicinal candles. He put this in this room to speed up Chris' recovery.

Aethelwolf checked the man's pulse with his eyes shut tight. He then sent a stream of his world essence into Chris' body to know the state of his internal organs. 'His heart is beating normally now and the affected internal organs from the severe beating have already healed.' He thought to himself.

Suddenly, Chris' eyes sprang open and Aethelwolf quickly went to his side.

"Hey, buddy! It's me, Aethelwolf."

Chris weakly turned his head as he mumbled incoherently. "S-Sir A-Aethelwolf..."

"Yes, it's me. You were locked up in the underground prison of the Maynard Household's estate. I sent my men to pick you up. Luckily, we weren't too late." Aethelwolf muttered as he grabbed a stool for himself.

"T-Thank you, S-Sir Aethelwolf..." Chris mumbled in a whispering tone.

Aethelwolf shook his head and sighed. "I have to apologize for taking so long to save you. I only belatedly discovered Enrique's death as well."

Hearing his cousin's name being mentioned, tears welled up in Chris' eyes.

Seeing this, Aethelwolf released a heavy sigh.

Enrique was too trusting of his brothers and it cost him his life. The moment that they poisoned him, he should have retaliated to show everyone that he wasn't a pushover. Unfortunately, he died before he could do that.

"My cousin already has the evidence of his poisoning back then, but we were too late. We fell into Joseph's trap and they even killed him. I was captured and taken to the underground prison. The family head knows about this matter, but he turned a blind eye to it." Chris muttered in a cold voice.

Aethelwolf nodded his head upon hearing this. "Lucas Maynard knows about your predicament, but he never intended to save you since the evidence in your hand could potentially expose the dark secrets of the Maynard Household. The moment this news would leak, their enemies would surround them and it would damage the Maynard Household's reputation." He got this information from Julie Irish.

"I want to avenge him! I want to kill Joseph and Dave! They are involved in his murder!" Chris muttered in rage.

"I can help you with your revenge, but you should recuperate first." Aethelwolf patted his shoulder.

Chris nodded his head gratefully. "Thank you, Sir Aethelwolf."

"I'll send some servants here. They will help you with your daily needs. Just inform them if you need anything. Stay here for now and avoid going outside. The Maynard Household is frantically looking for you it's best to avoid trouble." Aethelwolf warned him before he left the room. He then sent some servants to help Chris recuperate.

Aethelwolf went to his room and took out his Communicated Rune. "He is awake." He said.

"He woke up? That's quick." Julie's voice could be heard from the Communication Rune.

"He seems to be hell-bent on getting his revenge, but I told him to recuperate first. By the time he recovers, I will send an army to help him." Aethelwolf said with a smile.

"Are you insane?! Do you really plan on becoming enemies with the Maynard Household?! They might be a family of Blacksmiths, but they still have a lot of experts working for them! The Leone Imperial Family might also intervene if there is a fight between you two. You should think this through, Aethelwolf." Julie warned him in a solemn tone.

"Well, if they give us a good explanation, I might give them some face and just leave after getting some compensation." Aethelwolf chuckled.

"Some compensation my ass. I already know that you are planning to extort them!" Julie snorted at his words.

"How could you say it like that? Anyway, I just called to inform you that he is awake. I still have some things to do so I'll drop the call now. Bye." Aethelwolf dropped the call and he didn't even wait for Julie's reply.

Meanwhile, in the Urgel Household's estate, Julie angrily kept the Communication Rune inside her storage ring. 'He actually dropped the call without waiting for my reply! Dammit!' She cursed in her heart.

***

The next day, Aethelwolf went to inspect the progress of Rendell's group. They were responsible for the construction of his secret fortress.

When he arrived, he saw a large group of men building the framework of the fortress. They should be the workers hired by Rendell's group. Most of them were civilians, but there were some who came from the Lassiter Household. These workers signed a confidentiality agreement, but Rendell was still worried that they would leak the matter so he decided to build temporary housing for them in the vicinity. He also sent a team of soldiers to monitor the movement of the workers.

"Greetings, Sir Aethelwolf!" Rendell and the others greeted him enthusiastically as soon as they saw him.

Aethelwolf waved his hand and asked. "How's the construction going?"

Rendell handed him the detailed plan of their construction. "We are still building the framework as of now, but with the number of our workers, we should be able to complete this step in just a few days. The Blacksmiths in the estate are also working with the mountable weapons. It might take them some time to complete the designs in the blueprint since there isn't a high-level Blacksmith among them. The best one we have is only a Level 3 Blacksmith and he could no longer do a lot of heavy lifting because of his age."

Aethelwolf nodded his head in understanding. "Good. I'll help you guys in setting up some runes here. Our secrets shouldn't be known by anyone. I'll stay here for the time being while I'm inscribing the Concealment Runes and Illusory Runes. Don't mind me and just continue doing your job."

"Yes, Sir Aethelwolf!"