I can evolve everything

The streets of Tiemu Town are clearly divided according to their functions.

After leaving the market and walking two streets east, the surrounding scenery and atmosphere underwent some subtle changes.

The buildings on both sides of the street are mostly taverns. Most of the pedestrians on the street are also wearing heavy cloaks and look like adventurers.

This is the mercenary area.

"The Adventurers' Guild is just ahead."

Ella pointed to a wooden and stone building in front of her.

"Raine, don't say anything out of line when we go inside." Ella lowered her voice, her smile fading slightly.

"Even though we are knights, in places like this, that badge can sometimes be a problem."

"Because we're like sheriffs?" Ryan quickly understood what she meant.

"Pretty much. For these guys who walk the line between the law and reality, a knight usually means trouble."

Pushing open the door, the space inside was quite spacious.

The hall was dimly lit, and dozens of round tables were filled with all sorts of people.

As the two crossed the threshold, their light armor, without any cloaks to conceal them, and the apprentice knight badges on their chests seemed somewhat out of place in this environment.

A brief silence fell over the previously noisy hall.

Countless gazes were cast over, scrutinizing the two uninvited guests who had arrived at the door.

No one was foolish enough to come up and provoke them.

In this world, the knightly class, though rigid, wields absolute force and power.

Knights are the reserve force of the ruling class, representing order and law. Adventurers, on the other hand, are mostly mercenaries who operate in the gray area for money. Although the two often cooperate, a natural class divide exists between them.

Unless an adventurer has been kicked in the head by an ogre, no one would provoke this group.

Raine kept his eyes straight ahead, preparing to walk towards the counter that looked like a window.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't go to the counter." Ella took a step closer and whispered in Renn's ear, "Baron is a wanted criminal and an extremely dangerous wild knight. If you directly ask the receptionist 'Have you seen Baron?', within half an hour, the news will have spread throughout the adventurer community in this town, and may even reach Baron's ears."

"Then how do we find it?" Ryan stopped and asked in a low voice.

"Look over there."

Ella subtly raised her chin, pointing to a corner of the hall.

There were no tables set up there, only a few stacked barrels of wine.

Several children who looked to be only ten years old were squatting there. They were wearing ill-fitting, tattered coats and seemed to be playing some kind of dice game made of bones.

Although these children were dressed in rags, their eyes were more alert than most adults, constantly scanning every corner of the hall.

"A rat in the guild," Ella explained to Raine.

"They are the children of the local residents, making a living here by running errands, shining shoes, and selling information. They are the real eyes and ears here."

"Find a place to sit down, don't stand like a wooden stake in the middle of the road."

Ella patted Ryan's arm and then adjusted her expression.

Instead of walking directly over, she went around to the wine barrel next to her, and seemingly casually took out a silver coin from her pocket, twirling it deftly between her fingers.

The silver coin shone even brighter in the dim light.

The children's eyes were instantly drawn to it.

Ella crouched down and waved to one of the dark-haired boys who looked like the leader of the group.

The boy glanced around warily, and after confirming that no one was paying attention, he quickly darted in front of Ella.

"Pretty lady, would you like your shoes shined? Or would you like to buy some special medicine?" the boy asked in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the silver coin.

"I don't smoke, and my boots are clean." Ella pressed the silver coin onto her knee. "I'm looking for a strange person."

"We get strange guests here every day," the boy shrugged. "One-eyed, one-armed, and even one with a half-orc wife."

"This one is different." Ella's voice was soft as she described Baron's general appearance as she had heard from the village chief:

"It was probably three or four days ago, or recently. A very tall man, wearing old-fashioned plate armor, without a sword, with a thick hemp rope wrapped around his waist. And he didn't seem to be in a very stable mental state."

The boy's eyes darted around, as if he were trying to recall something.

Ella loosened her grip, and the silver coin rolled to the boy's hand.

"Do you remember now?"

The boy quickly covered the silver coin with his dirty hands, his movements incredibly fast. He glanced left and right, then leaned close to Ella's ear:

"That person... I remember him. He didn't chat in the guild hall, he didn't even sit down. He stood in front of the bulletin board at the entrance for a long time, staring at the commissions for the Northern Swamp."

Did he speak?

"He did. He grabbed old Tom—the old adventurer who'd recently been clearing the outskirts of the swamp—and asked him a lot of questions about whether the dead had come back to life in the 'Misty Swamp.'" The boy licked his lips.

"That man's eyes were terrifying, like he was looking at a dead person. Old Tom was terrified and told him everything he knew."

"When did he leave?"

"After asking the questions, he left. As he went out, he was muttering strange things like 'judgment' and 'law.' He headed towards the north gate."

Ella nodded, then took two copper coins out of her pocket and put them into the boy's hand.

"Clever brat. If anyone asks who I'm looking for..."

"I don't know anything." The boy grinned, revealing a set of chipped teeth. "I just helped this kind knight lady wipe the dust off her boots."

Ella stood up, clapped her hands in satisfaction, and walked back to Rein's side.

"It's all set." She winked at Ryan. "Let's go, the air's too bad here, let's talk outside."

The two left the guild hall. Only after walking some distance to a relatively quiet street corner did Ella finally put on her usual smile.

"Baron did come, and it seems he had some kind of goal." Ella looked at the northern sky, where dark clouds filled the sky. "He went to the Misty Swamp, apparently for those resurrected undead."

"Misty Swamp..." Renn repeated the name, but the original owner's memories of this place were quite vague. "Is it far from here?"

"Far?" Ella scoffed. "You don't even need to ride a horse. You can see it faintly from the north wall of Ironwood Town."

She pointed in the direction north of the town, where a low, dark cloud hung in the sky.

"It's only a dozen kilometers from the north gate of the town; you can get there on horseback in less than half a day."

Although Ella is young, she is quite familiar with this dangerous area:

"That place used to be an ancient battlefield. Hundreds of years ago, the northern barbarians and the kingdom's army fought there. Later, the river overflowed, mixing the bones and mud together, and that's how it looks now. A layer of poisonous gray fog hangs there all year round. It not only obscures your vision, but if you inhale too much, it can also cause hallucinations, making you see your long-dead grandmother waving at you."

"It sounds like a natural playground for necromancers," Renn commented. "No wonder Baron would go there."

“It’s not just necromancers.” Ella kicked away a pebble by the roadside. “Because it’s so close to town, it’s the place where Ironwood Town adventurers go most often, and also the place with the highest death rate. If Baron really went there, and it was for some kind of ‘trial,’ then it’s bound to cause quite a stir.”

"For the sake of 'trial'." Ella shrugged. "That brat said Baron kept chanting the law. I guess in his head, the resurrection of the dead is a serious crime against the territory's laws, punishable by hanging."

"What a madman." Renn shook his head.

"Let's go back to the inn." Ryan packed his bags. "Sir Karen should be back from the sheriff's office by now. If the information matches, we might be heading into the swamp in a few days."