A day had passed since Caelum’s commotion at the ball, and an absurd rumor about a five-year-old expert swordsman had already spread across the empire.

The child in question was currently sitting in his room, chatting with Anastasia using his Private Badge.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Young master, its milk time."

"Old Ben, you don’t have to knock every time, you know," Caelum replied.

The door opened, and Old Ben, a middle-aged man with a slight belly, stepped inside carrying Caelum’s daily milk.

"Are you still not going to tell me where you get this milk from?" Caelum asked suspiciously.

"Your father entrusted me with this task, so you would be putting me in a difficult position, young master," Old Ben replied calmly.

"Fine. I have free time anyway so, you may go for now," Caelum said dismissively.

Old Ben left with a weary smile.

Caelum lifted the cup and drank the milk in one go, something that would normally be impossible for a child his age.

"Finally I can launch Operation Home-Wanderer..." he muttered.

Caelum already had a faint understanding of where the milk might be coming from, and his curiosity had only grown stronger.

The milk was extremely nutrient-rich and contained a strange energy that felt very beneficial for his body, especially for his bones.

After finishing his study session for the day with his father, who had surprisingly been quite free lately, Caelum spent the remaining time training as night slowly approached.

After dinner, he went to sleep.

But when everything finally grew quiet, he stood up from his bed.

His eyes gleamed with determination.

Operation Home-Wanderer had officially begun.

***

Caelum quietly opened the door of his room and stepped outside.

He carefully controlled his Qi and Aura, merging his presence with the surroundings thanks to the cultivation technique [Myriad Heavenly Ascension], which was essentially an all-in-one cultivation method.

Caelum knew that assassins possessed very different breathing patterns and techniques compared to ordinary swordsmen, so he even regulated his heartbeat until it became nearly undetectable.

His destination was the sealed storehouse within the Shining Moon Palace.

For the past two months, he had secretly been digging a tunnel from the garden behind it, where the rear side of the storehouse stood.

Entering from the front was impossible.

A knight was always stationed there.

The back entrance was his only option.

His room was located in the north-eastern section of the palace, while the storehouse stood in the north-western section.

Although the distance between them was not large, Caelum was still unsure if any servants were awake at this hour, because he had seen servants wandering the halls late at night before, so he proceeded cautiously.

So after quietly avoiding several servants – who, for some unknown reason, were drunk and holding a late-night gathering, Caelum finally arrived near the north-western part of the Shining Moon Palace.

But before he could move toward the secret entrance, he noticed something.

A knight.

And that knight had clearly looked in his direction.

"Who’s there!" the knight shouted.

Caelum instantly suppressed his presence further and slipped behind a nearby pillar.

The knight appeared unusually vigilant.

Curious, Caelum activated his [Heaven Reading Eyes] to observe the surroundings.

And then he understood why.

’What kind of drama is this?’

Hidden behind the bushes nearby was a maid, clearly waiting for the knight.

The knight began walking toward her.

But this situation was not Caelum’s concern.

The couple stood dangerously close to the massive stone that concealed the entrance to his tunnel.

"Martha, stay where you are," the young knight, who looked to be in his late teens, said as he approached her.

"But Jack, why did you shout earlier?" the maid asked.

"I was just trying to scare those drunk servants away from this area," Jack replied, then paused for a moment.

"The servants are having a party tonight. Why didn’t you join them?"

"If I did, how could we have met?" Martha answered softly.

Jack gently held her hands and looked at her with determination.

"Right now I’m only a trainee-knight, but once I become a true knight and receive my knighthood, I will ask the lord for your hand in marriage and his blessing."

"Jack..." Martha’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.

Meanwhile, Caelum had already reached the large boulder and quietly crouched behind it, waiting for the couple to leave so he could begin his operation.

’Not bad... he’s already a trainee knight,’ Caelum thought while observing Jack.

Though the young man was technically one level below him, he clearly possessed strong potential and could eventually become a Grand Knight if properly nurtured.

’Whoever recruited him has a great eye for talent.’

Fifteen minutes later...

’Are they planning to marry tonight?’ Caelum wondered patiently.

The two of them showed no signs of leaving.

Instead, they continued chatting endlessly, complimenting each other and whispering affectionately.

Only the soft chirping of insects and their hushed voices filled the quiet night.

Finally, Caelum’s patience snapped.

He circulated his Qi, and a faint blue glow of Aura appeared around his hands.

Aura was incredibly useful. It could enhance physical strength dramatically.

If someone could normally lift one hundred kilograms, using Aura properly could increase that strength up to a thousand kilograms.

And when combined with Qi, the results became even more astonishing.

Slowly, Caelum lifted the massive boulder.

Beneath it lay the entrance to the tunnel he had painstakingly dug.

However, from Martha’s perspective, the shadow of the boulder suddenly appeared to be... growing.

"Huh? Jack, look! That boulder looks strange, is it... rising?" Martha said uneasily.

Jack frowned and turned around.

He saw nothing unusual.

Just a boulder sitting exactly where it should be.

"Maybe you need some rest..." he said.

And the conversation continued.