19: Chapter 19 The Barton Family

To Nie Ning, although this matter seemed suspicious in every aspect, perhaps it was just the Barton Family being generous?

Just like Lilith, who spent double the market price to buy a crippled Three-Colored Fox cub; Nie Ning still felt heartache over that extra money spent.

Moreover, his current strength was quite high; even if he couldn't defeat an Intermediate Knight, escaping would be no problem.

Seeing Nie Ning agree, a smile appeared on Borton's face, and he immediately took out a heavy package and placed it on the table.

"This is the armor and mask prepared for you."

Nie Ning looked at his own clothes and was just about to refuse when he heard Borton continue.

"You're almost at the level of an Intermediate Knight; don't spend all day wearing those rags and that broken mask, it's embarrassing!"

It wasn't that Borton insisted on Nie Ning changing his clothes, but what kind of knight wears patched-up clothing?

People rely on clothes and horses on saddles; first impressions are very important. If he didn't know Nie Ning, he would have probably mistaken him for a Beggar looking for food.

After all, he was working for those families, so it was better to avoid being nitpicked by them.

Nie Ning shrugged, tacitly accepting Borton's point.

Because he had always stayed in the Hervis Family, he usually had a special uniform to wear, and he hadn't thought about going to any formal occasions.

As for the clothes he was wearing, they were sewn together from old garments, which made it harder for people to discover his identity.

However...

Nie Ning looked at the package on the table; were normal clothes really this big?

"This contains a set of knight's armor. Don't break it; you have to return it to me."

Borton noticed what Nie Ning was thinking and hurriedly explained.

Nie Ning opened the package to find a set of silver armor inside, looking brand new and clearly well-maintained.

Seeing this, Nie Ning curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "Even if you gave it to me, I wouldn't want it!"

However, he already had plans to keep it for himself.

Of course, he just didn't have enough money; he would return it to Borton once he had money in the future.

Borton rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to Nie Ning.

After all, this set of knight's armor was not cheap, and not every knight had the ability to purchase one. He certainly wouldn't be willing to give such a precious item to Nie Ning.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a while longer, and then Nie Ning got up and left the tavern.

...

Two days later.

At the gates of Ska City.

Passersby pointed and whispered, their gazes all concentrated on the silver-armored knight leaning against the wall.

Even the city guards at the gate looked at Nie Ning with envious expressions.

Because even official personnel couldn't have a suit of armor for everyone; at the very least, one needed to be at the late-stage of an Apprentice Knight to have that qualification.

Clearly, not everyone could become a knight.

Nie Ning, seeing this, felt quite troubled by it.

Wearing armor was indeed quite cool, but this armor was too new and looked out of place with the surrounding environment.

After all, everyone else was in work clothes or suits, and here he was wearing a full set of armor; he always had the illusion that he was an antique.

...

Not long after, several carriages slowly arrived at the city gate.

Sitting on the carriages were two knights wearing knight's armor, and they were followed by more than ten guards carrying swords.

Looking at the patterns printed on the carriages, Nie Ning knew this was the Barton Family's convoy.

And the people from the Barton Family were also looking at Nie Ning with curiosity.

Nie Ning didn't think much of it and walked straight toward the Barton Family's convoy.

The Barton Family's knight saw this and jumped off the carriage, eyes revealing a hint of warning and wariness.

"Fox."

Nie Ning said indifferently.

This was the code word Nie Ning had agreed upon with Borton.

After all, he was wearing a mask precisely because he didn't want others to know his appearance and identity.

But just at this moment, the knight in front of Nie Ning suddenly attacked without warning, throwing a punch toward Nie Ning's face.

Nie Ning frowned slightly when he saw this and raised his hand to catch the opponent's fist.

Following that, he twisted his arm with force, and his powerful strength directly twisted the Barton Family knight to the ground.

"Wait."

The knight who had fallen to the ground hurriedly shouted.

"Apologies for the offense just now; we were just afraid that Borton had found just anyone to make up the numbers."

At this moment, another knight stepped forward. Under the helmet was the face of a woman in her thirties, who spoke with a hint of apology.

"It's fine. After all, Borton has cheated plenty of people, so I don't blame you for having this reaction."

Nie Ning nodded, not minding the other party's test.

"Let's talk on the carriage."

The female knight said to Nie Ning while pulling up the male knight who had fallen.

After they all boarded the carriages, the convoy began to drive out of the city in an orderly fashion.

...

On the carriage, Nie Ning learned the names of the two knights.

The female knight was named Becky, and the male knight was named Lawton; both were knights at the Elementary Stage, late-phase.

Besides Nie Ning, there was another knight in the convoy.

However, the person was in the carriage at the very back, and Nie Ning only knew the person was called Raimond.

What Nie Ning didn't expect was that this escort mission was not led by the Barton Family, but was initiated by the City Lord's Mansion; Raimond was the person sent by the City Lord's Mansion.

As for what they were escorting, Becky didn't say much; they just needed to safely escort the items to Poyi Town, and there were no other special requirements.

After some simple small talk, Nie Ning sat at the front of the carriage and, looking at the guards carrying swords on both sides, discovered something unusual.

There were a total of eighteen guards, but surprisingly, 16 of them were Apprentice Knights!

You have to know, a normal caravan wouldn't have this kind of configuration.

Lilith's parents had been doing business abroad for many years, and the Hervis Family had at most about ten apprentices.

Even if the Barton Family was more powerful than the Hervis Family, it was impossible for them to bring so many Knight Apprentices out at once.

If one had to get to the bottom of it, it was because they were afraid of encountering danger while abroad, to avoid being wiped out in one go, and to prevent the family from collapsing because of it.

In other words, apart from the Barton Family's apprentices, most of the Knight Apprentices were likely brought by Raimond.

It was conceivable that the items they were escorting this time were likely of high value.

However, Nie Ning felt a bit strange.

Since it was a valuable item, why didn't the official personnel escort it themselves? Why did they need to invite him, an outsider, to join in?

At the same time, there were many powerful family knights in the city; any one of them would likely be stronger than him.

"I'm afraid this trip won't be peaceful."

Nie Ning withdrew his gaze and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

If it wasn't necessary, he really didn't want to make a move in front of outsiders.

Besides hiding his identity, another point was the combat skills he had learned.

Because the Hervis Family had a long history in Ska City, their fighting techniques, if not world-renowned, were certainly not obscure.

And as for himself, apart from the Single Stroke Slash which he had obtained from some bandits, the rest were all Hervis Family techniques; once used, it would be easy for outsiders to recognize them.

For a family, having their secret techniques stolen and learned by others was a very serious issue.

Now Nie Ning only hoped that the opponents he encountered this time wouldn't be too outrageous; it would be best if just a few petty thieves showed up to make it a token effort.