When Reiger and Liz stepped out of the Sunset Tavern and onto the street outside, the sky had already grown dark.
Stars were beginning to appear, and the round moon too was slowly rising; the temperature in Sinclair was dropping at an alarming rate, to the point where even now it had fallen to a bone-chilling level.
This was a characteristic of the desert terrain.
Many people assume that the desert is hot all the time, but in reality, itās not the case.
In the desert, the temperature during the day is indeed very high, but once night falls, the temperature plummets, with a huge difference between day and night temperatures.
In severe cases, the temperature difference between day and night in the desert can exceed 50Ā°C: blisteringly hot during the day like the height of summer, and cold at night like the depths of winter, which is astonishing.
Because Sinclair is located on an oasis, the diurnal temperature range isnāt as extreme as in the desert, but itās still much greater than in other places.
Therefore, almost all the residents of Sinclair wrap themselves in coats, to protect against sand during the day and against cold at night, making everyone look like suspicious figures with their heads covered and tails exposed, hurrying along the streets.
Reiger and Liz quickly blended into the crowd and began their conversation.
"What should we do next, Master?"
Liz asked cautiously.
"What else can we do?" Reiger said while walking, without turning his head, "Try to pry out information about that ruin."
"Is that possible?" Liz said, not without worry, "It seems like the people here arenāt very willing to talk about it."
Even Liz, a naive princess like her, had noticed this, which shows just how obvious the attitude of the people in the Sunset Tavern had been regarding this matter.
But Reiger was not bewildered.
"Thereās always someone willing to touch upon taboo matters." Reiger said indifferently, "Sinclair is a rather chaotic city to begin with, with plenty of underworld forces. As long as we dare to venture, thereās no worry that some desperadoes wonāt deliver the information to our doorstep."
Reiger was planning to stir up some trouble with those underworld forces.
"If all else fails, weāll just go directly to the City Lord."
Hearing this, Liz was startled again.
"Go directly to the City Lord of Sinclair?"
Isnāt that too rash?
"Thereās nothing to worry about." Reiger patted the worried Liz on the head and said, "Just a Sword Saint, weāve encountered them before."
With Reigerās current strength, he had the right to speak so confidently.
Therefore, he really intended that if all else failed, he would simply storm the mansion of the City Lord and have the Sinclairās City Lord cooperate and spill any necessary information.
Otherwise, Reiger did not mind using some extraordinary measures, such as magic like "Memory Manipulation".
"Okay." Liz, not knowing how dangerous Reigerās thoughts were, saw that he had made up his mind and could only nod, saying, "Iāll listen to you, Master."
The two continued their conversation while walking forward until they both stopped at a certain moment.
"Master..."
Liz, sensing something, spoke softly to Reiger.
Reiger did not respond immediately but stood still for a while before finally speaking up.
"Stop following us; your tracking skills are really terrible. Canāt you even properly hide the sound of your footsteps?"
Reigerās words made Liz quietly grip the hilt of the Moslo sword hidden beneath her coat.
"Donāt! Iām coming out!"
The other party also seemed to sense the dangerous air and quickly spoke up, surrendering with raised hands, and walked out from a small alley behind Reiger and Liz.
"The sister from the tavern?"
Liz, seeing the personās appearance, asked with a puzzled tilt of her head.
"Thatās me." The person grinned and said, "Let me introduce myself; my name is Lipum, from one of Sinclairās most famous three mercenary groups, the āPlay Magicianā."
"āPlay Magicianā?"
Lizās head tilted even more, and a question mark seemed to form above her.
Liz, who had only arrived today, naturally would not recognize the local mercenary forces, and even though this woman who claimed to be Lipum proudly said her mercenary group was one of the most famous in Sinclair, Liz had no concrete concept of what that meant
Reiger was the same; he had no idea what the āPlay Magicianā was.
And he had no intention of finding out.
"So, Miss Mercenary, what do you intend by following us?" Reiger turned around, gave the person a once-over, and said, "Youāre not here to see if we have some extra cash from ordering Snake Blood Wine, are you?"
His implication was clear, are you here to rob us?
"I have no such idea." Lipum shook her head without hesitation and said, "Offending a Swordsman whose background is unknown just for a bit of money is a losing proposition only someone desperate for cash or someone whose brain is filled with nothing but lust would make."
Lipumās blunt critique made the color of the faces of others who had also quietly followed out of the tavern and were tailing Reiger and Liz change slightly.
However, Reiger and Lipum continued talking as if they had not noticed their arrival at all.
"If you didnāt come for that, what are you here for?" Reiger asked with a half-smile, "Surely youāre not really planning to invite me to book a room and have some fun?"