“William Callis.”
Upon hearing Tyr call out his name, the youth's face first lit up with joy, but as soon as he heard the surname that followed, his expression instantly became complicated.
“I am no longer a Callis now.”
William's face was full of bitterness, his tone carrying an indescribable emotion.
As part of the first batch of reserves to be eliminated, his family had been directly punished with a demotion of their noble rank.
He was originally the son of a Baron, but after the noble rank was demoted, he completely fell to commoner status, and his surname was also revoked by the family.
William quickly composed his downcast emotions, wanting to find something to change the subject.
“In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, and you are still as beautiful as ever.”
Tyr: “...”
“Are you looking for a fight?”
“Ah, no, of course not.”
Seeing Tyr's face gradually darkening, William quickly corrected himself.
Coincidentally, he saw that the caravan's goods had been packed up, and immediately thought of a direction to steer the conversation.
“The caravan is about to set off. Come, let's get in the carriage first.”
Without even caring if Tyr was a mercenary who had accepted the mission, William grabbed Tyr's arm and pulled him toward a somewhat luxurious carriage.
“Tyr, this is my mother, Laurena.”
“Mother, this is the Tyr I told you about.”
Ever since she arrived, Laurena had been directing the caravan to organize their belongings. Having finished her work, she now came over to the carriage.
“Hello, Lady Laurena.”
Tyr's attitude was flat, but he did not lose his manners.
“Good, good. You're Tyr, right? Quick, get in.”
Laurena pulled open the carriage door, letting Tyr and William board first.
When the surrounding mercenaries saw Tyr actually board the employer's carriage, their feelings could easily be imagined.
However, since Tyr had already flexed his muscles earlier, no matter how uncomfortable they felt inside, none of them dared to say a word.
With everything prepared, the caravan officially set off, traveling toward Valenhill.
Inside the carriage.
“Tyr, why are you here? And you've even become a mercenary. Don't tell me you also...”
Thinking of that possibility, a strange surge of excitement welled up in William's heart.
He was nudged by Lady Laurena's elbow from the side, which stopped him from finishing his sentence.
Humans were always like this—when they failed, they would subconsciously hope that everyone else failed as well.
“The assessment to promote to candidate.”
With his Innate Sword Heart, it was naturally not difficult for Tyr to see through William's thoughts, but he didn't expose him.
“So, how did it go?”
William said with a sheepish tone, only just remembering that this period was indeed the time when the reserves would be leaving the Sword Prison.
“It's been resolved.”
Resolved meant that Tyr was about to become a true candidate.
“Then congratulations.”
William offered his congratulations. It was hard to tell if his tone was sincere or fake; in any case, it was quite complicated.
Following that, a long silence fell over the carriage.
“How have you been lately?”
Perhaps feeling that the silence was too awkward, Tyr took the initiative to ask.
“Me? I'm doing alright, I guess.”
A very strained smile appeared on William's face. To say he was doing “alright” was an overstatement. In truth, ever since they lost their noble rank, their family's days had become very difficult.
Back when he was in the Sword Prison, all he thought about was escaping that living hell as quickly as possible.
To return to the Baron's mansion and continue being his young master.
Whether it was the pain of the medicinal baths or the agony of the sword qi body tempering, he couldn't endure any of it. He had never experienced such pain in his entire life.
Later, his wish finally came true. The instructor notified him that he could pack his things and go back.
That night, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep at all. He had already begun to fantasize that once he returned home, he would first enjoy a comfortable full-body massage, attend his friends' tea parties, ride his little pony...
He was completely overwhelmed by the joy of being able to leave that hell, so much so that he didn't even notice his father's despairing expression upon returning to the Baron's mansion.
The family's orders were issued very quickly. The next morning, their family received a notice stripping them of their noble rank and revoking their surname.
After that day, he found that his life had undergone earth-shattering changes.
He wanted to get a full-body massage, but the high-end massage parlor he usually frequented refused to serve him, a commoner.
He wanted to attend his friends' tea parties, but all of his requests were rejected without exception. Even when he wrote invitation letters to invite others, they all vanished like stones dropped into the ocean once sent out.
He wanted to ride his little pony, but the stables had also been reclaimed by the family on the very day their surname was revoked.
The uncles and aunts who usually treated him very well were no longer as warm as before when they saw his family, and they no longer gave him snacks.
Those with a bit of a conscience merely distanced themselves silently, while those with harsher personalities subjected his family to cold mockery and sarcasm.
Not only that, but their family business was also completely snatched away by other families.
After losing the Callis surname, the suppliers they used to do business with wouldn't even let their family's servants step through their doors.
In just a short half-month, their family went from owning an entire barony to having nothing left but a single villa.
But before long, they despairingly discovered that their family's funds couldn't even cover the daily maintenance of the villa.
This was completely different from what William had imagined while in the Sword Prison.
He thought he had only lost the qualification to compete for the position of Grand Duke, but in reality, he had lost his status as a young master of a Baron, lost his family's social connections, lost his family's source of income—he had lost everything.
He used to look down on commoners, but now he had become one.
After experiencing a succession of blows and various struggles, not long ago, William's father fell ill.
Fortunately, William's father still had this one caravan left in his hands, so they weren't handed an absolute death sentence.
But in truth, running a caravan wasn't easy either. Without the halo of nobility, they were simply no match for those cunning and deceitful merchants.
The stumbling blocks over the past few years had caused William to mature a lot. He regretted his decision back then more than once, but it was already too late.
...
More than ten days later, the caravan was already very close to Valenhill.
Tyr estimated that in another two or three days, they would reach the main city of Valenhill.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, accompanied by a sharp piercing sound, an arrow flew from the distance, striking a caravan member directly in the chest and killing him in a single shot.
“Enemy attack! On guard!”
The caravan member's body fell straight off his horse, and the mercenaries accompanying the caravan immediately went on high alert.
Rapid footsteps resounded as a group of masked men rushed out of the woods on one side of the caravan.
Without a word, they raised their swords and began slashing at the caravan members.
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