You are all my wings...

Lyon smiled.

Chapter Two: There aren't many people as innocent as me anymore.

Seeing Lyon's enigmatic smile, Iris quickly calmed down.

She was indeed drawn to the attractive amount of money.

But upon closer reflection, even for someone as long-lived as myself, my total assets are still no more than 150 gold coins.

Although this was also because she had spent a lot of time and effort searching for her mother who had been missing for many years, she was a Tier 3 Elf, and a pureblood elf at that!

She raised her long, slender eyebrows:

"How can you prove that a first-tier court mage like you can come up with such a large sum of money? As far as I know, a first-tier court mage only earns 50 silver coins a month, right? Or is it that your baron's elders were able to accumulate so much money?"

In the economic system of the Kingdom of Horsha, the lowest denomination of currency is copper coins, followed by silver coins, gold coins, and platinum coins.

The exchange rate fluctuates roughly between 1:100 for each level.

Two copper coins can buy a commoner's meal, black bread, in the capital.

In other words, one gold coin is roughly equivalent to five thousand loaves of black bread!

One hundred gold coins is a considerable sum of money. For a nobleman from the countryside to claim to have this amount is just as suspicious as someone who claims to have sex more than ten times a night.

Faced with Iris's questioning, Leon remained unmoved, maintaining his usual smile.

"So, Miss Iris, if I can produce this proof, are you willing to take the gamble?"

"can."

Elizabeth brushed a strand of light blue hair from her forehead, looking completely at ease. She was curious to see what tricks a mere first-level expert could pull off.

Lyon reached out his hand, spun it in front of Iris, and suddenly, as if by magic, produced a check with an eagle's head emblem and held it up in front of Iris.

As you can see, the palm-sized check has a very special texture and distinctive features.

"Please check it out, Miss Iris."

Iris stared intently, then exclaimed in surprise, "One hundred gold coins from the Second Bank of the Royal Capital can be instantly exchanged for checks? And the magic mark is real?"

Lyon: "So, have you finished your examination, Miss Iris?"

"You can take back the check now. Since you've proven your bet, I'll take this bet with you."

As Elizabeth spoke, a hint of doubt and wariness crept into the depths of her eyes.

Now that things have come to this, Leon does seem to have come prepared, making her wonder if she has inadvertently stepped into some kind of trap.

Could it be that from the moment I was drawn to Leon, I was under some kind of curse or hypnosis, causing my behavior to be controlled?

But I am a pureblood elf with high resistance to all kinds of special things. Even if someone wants to deal with me, I should be able to detect it directly.

So, is it just a coincidence?

Or is the other person really a magician who has mastered divination? A special person with two extraordinary professions?

Thinking of this, Iris asked:

"Given your background and position, how did you acquire these one hundred gold coins?"

Lyon smiled, without explaining the source of the checks.

"I trust Miss Iris's character. You can keep this check for now. After midnight, once I win, please return the check to me and also prepare 100 gold coins. How does that sound?"

The check was handed to Elizabeth.

She stared at the check and took it.

"Giving away one hundred gold coins to a stranger so generously, I'm starting to believe you're an astrologer. But I'm sure I'll win the bet, because divination isn't absolute."

"Then I won't bother you any longer, Miss Iris. Please make yourself at home."

Lyon leaned against the wall again, closing his eyes to rest.

Iris squinted at Lyon, rubbed the check between her fingers for a moment, then turned and left the ballroom.

I don't know if the other person is really stupid or pretending. She has such a mysterious aura, but she insists on acting like a big shot. You know, as long as she can get home before midnight, the check will be hers.

……

"You're really generous, kid. You just give me a check for a hundred gold coins like that."

"What, are you jealous?"

"No, it's not that. I'm just curious, where did you get a hundred gold coins? Last time we explored the dungeon, our total profit didn't even exceed five gold coins, right?"

Speaking beside Lyon was a curvaceous young woman with a ghostly appearance, Bisquie.

She is Lyon's contracted familiar, and her original identity was a fifth-order priestess of the Cult of Astalia.

After death, she was demoted to a third-tier wandering soul, and her personality changed from a serious and mature woman to a lewd and sassy one.

Due to the contract, only Lyon could see Bisquie.

"The answer is simple: the check is fake."

"Fake? Even if you can forge a magical mark, this trick won't fool her for long, will it?"

"Don't worry, Elise won't have time to carefully check the authenticity of the checks later."

Upon hearing this, Bisji muttered, "He already has me, yet he still wants to get rid of an ignorant girl for nothing!"

“That’s going too far, Bisci. You can’t always look at me with prejudice because of my usual behavior.”

"if not?"

“Okay, my goal this time is indeed to recruit Iris into the team.”

"Although she is a pureblood elf, she has only just entered the third tier, which is far inferior to mine. What is so special about her?"

Bisqui was furious and circled around Leon, rubbing against him.

"You'll find out later. Compared to her, you're utterly useless except for your investigative abilities."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, he's your number one familiar, how can you be so disrespectful?"

"Don't you know that the customs of the Shang Dynasty are like sodium burning?"

"Hehe, I wonder who just forged a check for 100 gold coins."

“This thing is different. As long as you haven’t used it to make a payment, it’s real.”

“I understand, it’s like winning chips in a casino that you can’t take with you, right? But how exactly did you fake it? To be honest, I still can’t believe that you’re just someone from a country baron’s family, yet you’re so cunning, so shrewd, so capable.”

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Hmph, I'm not flattering you. In my opinion, this pureblood elf is already wary of you. You won't get your way this time! Sigh, there aren't many people in this world as naive and easily fooled as me. You should be secretly happy."

"What, you want to gamble with me too?"

"Forget it, I always lose when I bet with you. It's really baffling. You're just a handsome country nobleman with nothing to show for it."

Lyon laughed. "Your stereotypes are indeed correct."

If it were the original Lyon, he'd probably still be hustling in the southern countryside, and wouldn't be able to do the things that Bisciel does.

But at this moment, his inner essence is that of Li Ang, an Earthling.

Five years ago, as the fourth son of a baronial family in the southern countryside, he awakened his past life memories and, combining them with various clues in the current world, deduced that he had traveled to the world of the "Swords, Magic and the Holy Land" series of games.

This game is known for its realism, immersion, grandeur, and epic feel. It is hailed as the most realistic sword and magic game of the new era, with an extremely high difficulty level that will leave players feeling like they're dying.

It includes elements of fantasy, magic, fighting, exploration, adventure, puzzle-solving, politics, war, romance, and revenge.

Each installment features a super event as its core storyline, with several popular characters driving the plot forward.

Moreover, the game designers have thoughtfully included a scenario of total annihilation in each installment. Once you get stuck in the game or go down the wrong path, it will trigger some kind of ancient magical weapon, causing the arrival of the God of the End, fast-forwarding to the ending of continental collapse and world destruction.

If it's just a game, you can always save and start over.

But Leon is facing an abnormally real world, where he only has one life.

At first, he wanted to lie down and experience a fantastical other world.

But as he became more familiar with this world, he knew that more than thirty years later, the God of the End would inevitably descend, causing the continent to collapse and the weak to perish! In addition, the enormous disasters caused by each boss also resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, and the weaker one was, the less likely one was to escape!

Then there is only one path ahead: to quickly accumulate a first-mover advantage and continuously become stronger by leveraging familiarity with the game's storyline and mastery of future information gaps!

If you become strong enough to surpass the strength of every final boss, everything will naturally fall into place.

But this is not easy.

The real world is much more complex than playing games.

Lyon's numerous informational advantages, when actually put into use, reveal various problems.

For example, improving proficiency to enhance professional skills, even if he knows which skill has a higher priority, will be more useful in the future, and which playstyle is more suitable.

But Leon himself actually needs to expend real physical strength and magic power, as well as calculate the specific recovery time, and conduct daily training based on magic power recovery efficiency, which is extremely troublesome.

On a computer, this only requires continuous clicking or leaving the computer running in the background.

In addition, he also knew how to obtain various hidden supernatural items, but he always encountered one problem or another when he tried to do so.

For example, the treasure chest is rusted and cannot be opened with the key; other monsters have recently appeared in the dungeon, causing obstacles; as the fourth son of a baron from the countryside, he still needs to work in the fields and his time is not free; the old noblewoman who covets his handsomeness and wants to marry him puts him under various pressures; training alone requires overcoming many difficulties; and his progress in improving his strength is far behind the progress of future major events, etc.

It's a long story.

During the five years of awakening his memories, Leon, who only started training seriously at the age of 12, endured a great deal of hardship.

Having reached the age required by the baronial family to leave home, he recently traveled alone to the capital.

Next, if he can trick the protagonist, Iris, into becoming an adventurer's teammate, many problems will be solved!

Leon looked at the panel in his mind. Here it comes!

The panel update we've been waiting for for five years is finally here!

[The female protagonist's event has been triggered, unlocking the Iris character panel]

Chapter Three: How Did You Earn So Much?

Leon opened the female protagonist's panel.

[Character: Elizabeth C. Foullen]

Age/Lifespan: 36/1039

[Plot Weighting: A+]

[Potential Rating: S+]

【Class: Light Elementalist】

Current level: Tier 3

【主要屬性：生命力55/魔力量61/體力33/力量38/敏捷43】

[Current Title: Wyvern (Young) Slayer, Radiant Elf (Unactivated), Successor of the Pureblood Oath]

Current character affinity: 20%

Basic contact has been established, and the personal side quest "The Fallen Dark Elf" by Iris has been unlocked.

[Quest Details: Prevent Hamra, the mother of Iris, from falling into darkness and becoming an elf on Easter]

[Quest Reward: Increase maximum mana by 10; Unlock basic light elemental magic, Light Healing Spell]

[Friendly reminder upon first unlock: When affinity exceeds 90%, you can copy the corresponding character's talent through intimate actions and optimize it into various enhancement modes to improve yourself. Different characters have different talents and enhancement types; this reminder will not be repeated in the future.]

This panel was available when Leon awakened his memories.

Previously, aside from seeing one's own attributes, there was only a blank main character panel.

It has no other functions.

The full panel information was only officially unlocked after I made contact with Iris C. Foullen, a main character in the Sword, Sorcerer and the Holy Land series.

Even after subduing Bisji, the former priestess now a wandering spirit with a plot weight of C and potential of B-, the character's stats were still not unlocked.