The story of the black silk female knight

“I know where to find someone who meets your hiring requirements, but the situation is a bit special.”

"Tell me your conditions."

Valensa's expression remained unchanged:

"I'm sure you've noticed these past few days that I don't like to beat around the bush when I speak."

"Ok, I know."

The man nodded, then gritted his teeth and said:

“I didn’t want to do this... but I had no choice. I went to a casino a while ago and accidentally incurred a debt that I can’t pay back now... The creditors have their eyes on my wife and want me to use her to pay off the debt.”

I don't want to betray my wife, so I have to betray the guild.

Valensa raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and gestured for the man to continue.

The man didn't mince words; after a brief pause, he directly stated his conditions:

"First, I need money to pay off my debts. Second, if I tell you two about that, it will violate the guild's rules... This can't be kept secret, and I will definitely be expelled from the guild. So I also want a stable job, just enough to support my family."

"That's it..."

Valensa didn't answer immediately; after a few seconds of contemplation, she asked in return:

"Exactly how much gambling debt do you owe?"

"If I can pay it off before sunset tomorrow, I'll get 341 gold coins."

The man was clearly prepared for this question and answered immediately.

"emmm..."

Valensa thought for a moment before suggesting:

“I can give you 400 gold coins first. You can introduce me to the people I want. If they can really meet my requirements, I will write a letter of recommendation for the Morgan family for you after I return from the Ice Plains. How about that?”

I saved the life of the head of the Morgan family some time ago, so with my letter of recommendation, finding a job in their family business to support my family shouldn't be a problem.

"This……"

The man hesitated for about half a minute. He had roughly understood Valensa's personality and knew that there was no bargaining when doing business with Valensa, only yes or no.

"Alright, then so be it."

So although the man really wanted Valencia to help him find a new job, he was more worried about missing this opportunity and watching his wife be taken away to pay off debts, so he finally agreed.

Valensa immediately counted out 400 gold coins from the storage space of the artifact cloak, put them in another small cloth bag, and looked at the man:

"Where is the person I want?"

"here."

The man was well-prepared, readily handing over a document and briefly introducing himself:

"The Winston family has two sons. The brothers lost their mother early and went into the ice plains with their father when they were very young. They used to be the guild's ace hunters. Their combat ability was not outstanding, but they were particularly good at finding the hibernation hideouts of the Netherworld Clan. They could find one every 5 to 7 days."

"Yes, this certainly meets my requirements."

Valensa raised an eyebrow, exchanged money with the man, and casually asked:

"Since you said they used to be the guild's top hunters, then they aren't anymore? What happened to them?"

"Yeah, they're not even hunters anymore."

The man nodded, somewhat regretfully saying:

"Two years ago, during a mission, only the father and his two sons returned, abandoning their employer on the ice plains... The employer later returned, but several of his loyal guards had died, which angered the employer, who then protested to the guild."

The guild immediately launched an investigation into the father and son. The three of them did not deny it and admitted to abandoning their employer.

Abandoning an employer on the ice plains is the most egregious breach of trust for an ice hunter… From that moment on, the father and his two sons were disqualified as ice hunters, and even their descendants are barred from becoming ice hunters.”

"A top hunter abandoned his employer on the icy plains?"

Valensa frowned:

"This sounds obviously strange... How could someone who becomes an ace hunter make such a basic mistake? And considering that the employer only lost a few guards in the end, the danger they encountered on the ice plains shouldn't have been insurmountable... Didn't your guild conduct a thorough investigation?"

"The guild wanted to investigate at the time, but..."

The man shrugged helplessly.

"The father and his two sons immediately confessed to their mistakes, and the guest kept urging the guild to give a result as soon as possible... so the investigation was hastily concluded."

The guests, having received the result, did not cause any further trouble, and the father and his two sons had no objections to the outcome. Therefore, the guild archived the matter and didn't pursue it further.

Seeing that Valensa was still frowning and silent, the man thought for a moment and added:

"The guild forbids us from referring clients to former hunters who have had their hunter qualifications revoked for making mistakes. If discovered, they will be immediately expelled, so..."

"I understand."

Valensa waved her hand, interrupting the man.

That's easy to understand. When a client hires someone through the Hunter Guild, the guild will definitely profit from both sides, earning a substantial commission.

However, if guild staff privately connect clients and hunters, they can save on this exorbitant intermediary fee. In this case, all three parties benefit, while only the guild suffers a loss.

Therefore, it is quite normal for the Hunters' Guild to strictly prohibit such behavior.

The transaction was thus preliminarily completed. After receiving the money from Valensa, the man quickly turned and left.

Valensa handed the documents the man had given her to Tia. The two quickly glanced at them while standing on the street, then smiled at each other and said in unison:

"Shall we go to the slums now and ask them what's going on?" x2

The answer was definitely yes. The two of them organized and put away the information they had read, and then headed towards the slums together.

Although the man from before was the receptionist supervisor of the Hunter's Guild, he didn't dare to steal the documents that the guild had already archived and sealed.

The documents he gave to Valencia were all handwritten by him, and the information about the father and his two sons in the documents came from his own investigation and memory.

The father and his two sons, who were once ace Icefield Hunters, all shared the surname Winston. Few in the guild remembered their specific names anymore; they were generally referred to as Old Winston, Big Winston, and Little Winston.

These three were publicly punished by the Hunters' Guild, and their serious breach of trust in abandoning their employer on the ice plains was widely known.

So despite their considerable skills, no one was willing to hire the father and his two sons anymore.

Even short-term and casual jobs are only given to them when there is absolutely no other choice, and employers often keep the wages very low.

Under these circumstances, it was naturally difficult for Winston and his two sons to maintain their previous lifestyle. Six months after leaving the Hunters Guild, they were forced to sell their house in the city and move into the slums.

Today, the Winston family still lives in the slums. Old Winston runs a small shop repairing tools, while Big Winston and Little Winston often work odd jobs and short-term jobs.

They did not accept the Church of the Sun's aid, presumably because they still had ambition and dreamed of one day turning their lives around and returning to their previous middle-class standard of living.

Following the information provided by the supervisor, Valensa and Tia quickly found the small shop run by old Winston in the slums.

Currently, only Old Winston is dozing off in the store; Big Winston and Little Winston are probably out doing odd jobs.

As Valensa and Tia approached, old Winston immediately opened his eyes, but quickly closed them again.

The two women, dressed like noble ladies, didn't look like customers who would repair ordinary tools, and old Winston didn't think they were there to see him.

But unexpectedly, the beautiful paladin lady in silver armor, a short skirt, and black stockings actually stopped in front of the shop, reached out and knocked on the wooden table lying across the entrance. The sound was pleasant and crisp.

"boss."

Old Winston was quite puzzled, but adhering to the principle that guests are always welcome, he stood up from the worn but still relatively clean cushion and greeted him with a smile:

"How can I help you, esteemed lady? If you're looking for information, you can try looking on the street to the west..."

Inquiring about information was the only possibility old Winston could think of... While there weren't many wealthy young ladies who would personally come to the slums to inquire about information, it wasn't unheard of.

However, slums have their own rules. When encountering such clients, ordinary people in the slums cannot sell information to them casually; they must introduce the clients to specific people.

"I'm not here to ask for information."

Valensa waved her hand to interrupt old Winston, saying directly:

"I heard that you and your two sons used to be top hunters in the Hunter's Guild? How much of your skill do you have left now? Can you find at least one hiding place of the Netherworld Clan every 10 days?"

"Of course!"

Unlike the hunters in the Hunters' Guild who frowned at the mere mention of the request, old Winston nodded confidently without the slightest hesitation:

"That's our livelihood! We haven't been to the ice plains for two years now, so our skills might not be as sharp as before, but our search techniques haven't gotten rusty at all, absolutely no problem!"

"very good."

Valensa's eyes lit up.

She could sense that old Winston's confidence wasn't feigned, but rather a confidence stemming from the fact that the requirement was far beyond his capabilities.

It's like if someone led ten cows and asked Valencia if she could eat them all in one go, even if everyone else thought it was incredible, Valencia would confidently answer without hesitation that she could.

This is a kind of full confidence that comes from having a thorough understanding of one's own abilities and goals.

"Call your two sons back."

Valensa was also confident in her feelings and made a decision immediately:

"You've been hired to take us to the ice plains."

"Miss, please wait a moment!"

Old Winston was taken aback; it was the first time he had ever seen someone so decisive.

Seeing Valensa looking at him with a puzzled expression, old Winston gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice:

"I don't know where you learned about my father and sons from, miss. You two seem to be from France, right? Are you aware of the grave mistake we made?"

In this situation, would someone still voluntarily reveal their dark past?

Valensa raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and also felt a greater liking for old Winston's honesty.

The voice softened again:

“I know…you abandoned your employer on the ice field, didn’t you? I don’t care…it’s human nature to choose survival when faced with danger. Compared to breaking a promise, it’s obviously more important to live.”

"Actually, no... Oh well, never mind."

For a moment, old Winston seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he didn't. Instead, he looked very seriously into Valensa's eyes:

"What if we abandon you in this operation as well? You should know that we have already broken our promise as Icefield Hunters, so breaking our promise again will not matter to us."

"It's alright. If you feel any danger, you can always abandon us and run away."

Valensa was still smiling easily, her eyes sincere.

"Since we dare to hire you, we are naturally confident in our abilities... Although the environment of the Ice Plains is extremely harsh, we can still protect ourselves. We just need someone to help us find as many places as possible where the Netherworld Clan is hiding."

As for your credibility issue, it's actually easy to resolve; just change the employment method.

"Change the employment method?"

Old Winston asked curiously:

"What would you like to do, Miss?"

"Very simple."

Valensa smiled gently:

"Normal ice hunter hiring is based on payment for the duration of the employment. But as you know, you have already broken your promise, so this method of hiring is not applicable to you."

I plan to settle the commission with you based on the amount of work completed. For every hidden hideout of the Netherworld Clan that you help us find in the Ice Plains, I will give you a sum of money... It can be settled on the spot.

In other words, the faster you find the hiding places of the Netherworld Ghost Clan, the more you will earn. The total time is about one month, and there is no upper limit to the commission.

If you feel you're in danger, you can run away at any time... but if you run away before you've achieved your goal, you won't make any money.

Of course, to prevent you from taking the money and running away, the first commission payment will only be made after you find the three hiding places of the Netherworld Clan... What do you think?"

Chapters 163-165 You're the Wife Who Makes Mistakes

Old Winston's eyes lit up immediately, clearly showing he was very interested.

Unlike other ace hunters who are good at both searching and fighting, the Winston family's combat ability is actually quite average. They became ace hunters entirely because of their exceptional searching skills.

Even the previous male supervisor's claim of finding a ghost every 5-7 days was a conservative estimate; the Winston father and sons' search efficiency could be even faster, and old Winston was very confident about it.

So now, there's only one question left.