10

"When the young apprentice makes such a loud noise, it seems he's treating this place like what? A retirement home? Most people must have been woken up by him," the butler chuckled.

The young boy could easily guess that the butler was definitely not a real butler, and the servants here were not genuine servants either. With his head hung low, the young boy followed the butler into the house.

Back in the room, the middle-aged man walked to the bed and casually tapped the four solid wooden bedposts, producing a dull sound. Slowly returning to the desk, he pulled out three quill pens from the penholder. Suddenly, in a swift motion, the three quill pens shot like lightning towards one of the bed's posts.

With a crisp sound of "thud, thud, thud," the quill pens neatly embedded deep into the hard wood. The young boy, who had been using these quill pens all day, knew that their tips were not very sharp and quite soft, making them comfortable to use. The large bed was entirely made of hard sourwood, extremely sturdy.

The fact that these soft quill pen tips could pierce the hard sourwood, which even a sharp knife might struggle to cut through, indicated that the unfamiliar middle-aged man before him was an extremely dangerous individual.

As the young boy nervously watched the two expressionless middle-aged men, he silently speculated about his possible fate. In South Harbor, he had heard that thieves would tie a large stone to the feet of betrayers and throw them into the river to drown alive. Perhaps he was about to become fish food. The thought made the young boy tremble in fear.

Audrey remained silent, while the middle-aged man took out a necklace from his pocket. It was a cheap necklace commonly found in South Harbor.

"Do you recognize this?" the middle-aged man asked.

Terrified, the young boy took two steps back and nodded.

"I took this from your Aunt Jenny's neck during my visit to South Harbor. It was quite easy for me. I could just as easily take something else from your Aunt Jenny's neck, not just this necklace. Do you understand?" the middle-aged man said.

Seeing the young boy wide-eyed with fear, nodding vigorously with a pale face and trembling nostrils, Audrey was quite satisfied. She said, "Alright, I think you know what to do now. You can rest, but before that, I need to give you one final lesson."

Understanding Audrey's words, the young boy realized that the so-called final lesson was a punishment for his actions. However, this brought him some relief, knowing that at least his life was spared. The young boy obediently lay on the bed, but he never expected the punishment to be so painful. Each strike made him let out a hoarse cry, attempting to struggle to get up, but Audrey firmly held him down, and he had to endure the excruciating lashes until he passed out without feeling anything.

When the young boy regained consciousness, it was already noon on the third day. He had been unconscious for two full days, and his injuries left him extremely weak. Audrey graciously exempted him from the physically demanding courses like horsemanship and swordsmanship, as well as the final punishment lesson, which was a rare relief for the young boy.

A significant amount of time was now dedicated to studying book knowledge, especially languages. Throughout the day, Audrey conversed with him in different languages.

Since the young boy now knew this was a den of thieves, Audrey no longer concealed anything. The mechanical lessons naturally transformed into courses on lockpicking and using thief-specific tools.

Moreover, a new course was added for the young boy - heraldry. For him, this course was essentially about memorizing family pedigrees. Francia had over three hundred ancient noble families, with more than half tracing their history back to the reign of Emperor Leoduc, three hundred years before the founding of the Francian Kingdom.

During the days of reciting family pedigrees, the young boy gradually accepted his new identity. He was Ivan Baindite, a direct descendant of an unknown noble lineage. However, judging by the surname Baindite, it seemed to be from an ancient noble family lineage from West Bay. No wonder Audrey insisted on him learning the West Bay language.

In his thoughts, Ivan was relieved that he only needed to understand the noble lineages of Francia and not West Bay. On this continent, Francia was considered a relatively new country, while historical nations like West Bay had active families during the era of the ancient Loroleta Empire, making their family lineages as intricate as a silkworm cocoon.

After a month of recovery, Ivan had finally regained his strength. However, since that disastrous day, he had not seen the unfamiliar middle-aged man again. The man never appeared at the dining table, leading Ivan to believe he, like Pam, did not reside in this place.

It might be better if he never encountered that extremely dangerous stranger again. However, that was impossible. Ivan had to retrieve the necklace from him because it was the only heirloom left by his parents.

When his father succumbed to the plague, the house was set on fire by the sheriff's men, and whatever little property they had was taken away by the authorities. Among the few things that couldn't be burned, the slightly valuable items were confiscated, leaving behind this worthless necklace.

However, this necklace held great significance for Ivan. He had gifted the necklace to Aunt Jenny, who was closest to him, as a token of gratitude. Aunt Jenny understood his intentions and had never taken off this unassuming necklace.

Though the necklace held no monetary value, it symbolized the love and care of his parents and Aunt Jenny towards him. It was the most important, valuable, and meaningful possession in his life.

Ivan was determined to retrieve the necklace, even if it had fallen into the hands of a killer more dangerous than a devil, more terrifying than the Grim Reaper.