Chapter 75: Chapter 75

Upon arriving at the square, Ron found that he was relatively early. He first escorted Aunt Mary and Liya to the base of the Bell Tower before he began searching for the apprentices’ assembly point.

Just then, the bell atop the Bell Tower suddenly rang out, chiming four or five times in succession. The rhythm was one Ron had never heard before, but its meaning was all too familiar to him:

A summoning order for the territorial subjects to assemble at the square before the Bell Tower!

This was an official order, issued only during emergencies. In the past, the Sis Territory generally only issued such an order during the annual midsummer Aberrant Beast invasions.

But right now, it was still winter!

Ron’s heart tightened. He looked uneasily toward the south of the territory. He had heard during the day that Aberrant Beasts and cultists were discovered in the south. Could it be that they had already broken through the defense line and were about to attack the territory?

Upon reaching the assembly point, Ron noticed that over a hundred Apprentices had practically all arrived. However, he also realized that these Apprentices were now clearly divided into two groups: one consisting of those who had ventured outside the territory during the day, and the other being those who hadn’t yet had the chance to go.

“Ron, you’re here.”

Seeing Ron approach, not only Justin and his other squadmates, but also the members of other squads who had participated in the trial together during the day, greeted him one after another.

Ron nodded calmly, scanned his surroundings, and asked, “Have the instructors not arrived yet?”

“Not yet, they might have been delayed by something!”

“Who else hasn’t arrived?” Ron asked again.

“Only Lupp isn’t here. He’s still unconscious and has been temporarily placed inside the Bell Tower. I ran into Lupp’s father earlier when I was escorting my family to the Bell Tower.”

An Apprentice quickly answered Ron’s question. Realizing that everyone was present, Ron immediately proposed, “Since the instructors haven’t arrived yet, let’s maintain order in the square first and try to gather everyone near the base of the Bell Tower.”

Although the territorial subjects of Sis were very familiar with the current protocols and had experience with emergency assemblies, it was, after all, an emergency gathering during a crisis, so some panic was inevitable.

The territory had also assigned personnel to maintain order at this time, but their coverage was limited to the small area directly around the Bell Tower; for the most part, they still relied on the subjects to comply voluntarily.

Everyone wanted to get closer to the Bell Tower, or more accurately, closer to the path beside it that led to the Lord’s castle. This way, if they needed to seek further shelter, they could head straight for the Lord’s castle without delay.

This was currently the biggest conflict among the territorial subjects in the square. The tension hadn’t erupted yet, but what if an Aberrant Beast charged into the square?

Ron wasn’t sure if the subjects would still be able to remain as composed as they were now if that happened.

Soon, his proposal was met with everyone’s approval. The subjects’ assembly was currently quite scattered. From time to time, someone would squeeze their way north, occasionally jostling others, inevitably adding a touch of tension to the already fraught atmosphere.

“Let’s divide the responsibilities by sectors based on our respective squads. Try to keep the crowd compact, form queues, and coordinate our commands. This way, if another sudden situation arises, it will be easier to direct everyone.”

“Yeah, relax, everyone knows what to do.”

“That’s good.”

With that, Ron didn’t say anything more. He just exchanged a glance with Justin and the others, then led his group to a designated sector.

…

Less than five minutes after Ron and the other squads sprang into action, they received another Bone Whistle transmission, ordering them to assist in maintaining order in the square.

“Is this a premonition?”

However, there was one thing Ron hadn’t anticipated: the Bone Whistle transmission also delivered a piece of news, which was that the instructors would soon arrive to rendezvous with them.

The “soon” in the order was, in fact, incredibly fast.

The territorial subjects had flocked to the square after hearing the assembly bell, but a significant number of them had lagged behind. The instructors’ arrival even preceded those last few subjects.

Five riders in total galloped in from the direction of the training ground, the sound of hooves tearing through the wind. The rider at the forefront pushed back his visor, revealing Morris’s pale face. He swept a glance across the square, precisely locked onto Ron’s figure, and called out:

“Ron! Come here!”

Hearing this familiar voice, Ron briefly instructed his teammates and immediately jogged over to Morris’s position.

But Morris didn’t seem to want to talk here. Instead, he flicked the reins, turning his horse in another direction, and said to Ron:

“Follow me!”

“Yes.”

Ron didn’t hesitate. He continued to jog, following Morris until they stopped by a stone pillar at the edge of the square. By then, Morris had already dismounted and was looking at him with considerable gratification:

“You all did very well. You didn’t waste this past month of training.”

“Does the Instructor have any orders?”

“No orders. I just have some things I want to give you!”

Saying so, Morris flipped up a piece of armor at his waist, untied a small cloth pouch, and tossed it casually to Ron. Ron hurriedly caught it. The moment the item was in his hands, he realized what Morris had given him.

It was actually a small pouch of Ignition Potions!

By a rough estimate, there were at least seven or eight vials!

“This…”

Ron looked at Morris in confusion. He truly couldn’t fathom why the other man would suddenly give him so many Ignition Potions. Regarding this, Morris explained:

“I just exchanged for these potions at the camp. There are ten vials in total. There might be combat later, and it’s not very convenient for me to carry them on my person, so I’m giving them to you first. Besides, these were originally exchanged for you anyway.”

“For me?” Ron couldn’t help but feel somewhat overwhelmed.

This feeling was partly due to a secret delight at being specially treated by Morris, but it was also intertwined with the burden of owing a favor, as well as the slight yet lingering worry about a potential hidden agenda.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do, only feeling that the Ignition Potions in his hands were almost too hot to hold.

“Do you remember what I said before? Your talent is excellent, and I think very highly of you. This is just a normal investment. When you achieve something in the future, just don’t blame me for using the title of your instructor!”

“Instructor!” Ron was somewhat moved, yet he still hesitated.

After all, this was ten vials of potion. A Formal Knight only received five vials a month; this was equivalent to two months’ salary for a Formal Knight.

Seeing Ron still hesitating, Morris thought for a moment and decided to reveal a bit more truth to him. He said, “Do you remember what Young Master Waynes said during the day?”

“During the day? Young Master Waynes?”

Ron immediately nodded. How could he forget! Waynes had chatted with him for a while at the time, and afterward, none of his companions nearby had heard a thing, which truly astonished him.

As for the content of their conversation, Ron remembered it vividly. He had used intuition as an excuse to explain his performance during the Domain of Chaos trial.

Back then, Waynes had told Morris that the reason he struggled to achieve the Senior rank was simply because he wasn’t confident enough in his own intuition.

Now, for Morris to suddenly bring this up, could it mean…

Ron’s heart couldn’t help but jolt, and he stared somewhat excitedly into Morris’s eyes. “Instructor, could it be that you’ve already…”

Ron didn’t say the rest of his sentence aloud, because he felt it was simply too incredible. Not a single person in the territory had managed to succeed in the past, so how had Morris suddenly done it?

Furthermore, he harbored a faint trace of resistance to this possibility in his heart. Because if Morris achieved the Senior Knight rank first, the territory’s cultivation of others with Senior Knight potential might be discounted.

Additionally, he had to consider Morris’s own attitude toward potential Senior Knights.