With this sweep of the area, Bai Shi also managed to collect everything he could find.
A steel-wire torch, a Stonesword Key, the Twinblade Talisman, and a whip—that was everything.
They were all items he wouldn’t need for now, so Bai Shi put them away, storing them in the Site of Grace next to the prison.
Bai Shi and Yulius returned to the courtyard, double-checking along the way to make sure no enemies had been missed.
By this time, Edgar had already begun his work, clearing away the bodies on the ground with his soldiers.
Irena was being supported by a maid as she headed toward one of the rooms in the castle.
Seeing Yulius and Bai Shi return, Edgar stopped what he was doing and walked over.
"Yulius, why didn't you get Master Bai Shi a new set of armor?"
Seeing the greatsword in Bai Shi’s hand, Edgar knew they had been to the storeroom.
But since Bai Shi was still wearing his tattered armor, Edgar mistakenly thought that Yulius hadn't brought the armor out for him."It's not his fault. I actually had my eye on a set of Banished Knight armor."
"But I was worried it might have belonged to one of your companions or an ancestor, so I didn't take it, to avoid causing any offense."
"If you don't mind, I'll go put it on now."
Bai Shi stepped forward to explain the situation.
"I see."
Edgar nodded, recalling the set.
"That armor was worn by my grandfather's companion."
"When my grandfather was appointed Castellan of Morne, one of his companions was assigned to come with him."
"He left no children behind, so that set of gear was never passed down. If you were to wear it, I'm sure he would be gratified."
Bai Shi was pleased. Now he had no reservations.
"Alright, then I won't be shy."
He was about to head to the storeroom to put it on.
But Edgar stopped him.
"Please wait. I'll have Yulius bring the chest. Please, come with me."
Bai Shi didn't refuse. It wasn't as if they were withholding the armor, so wearing it a little later was no big deal.
Soon, Edgar led Bai Shi to a room.
"This is a room we prepared for you. It was once a guest room in Castle Morne. Please rest here for now."
Pushing the door open, the scene inside was revealed to Bai Shi.
A spacious room, a large, soft bed—though there wasn't much other furniture, it was still the best room Bai Shi had seen since he transmigrated.
Edgar seemed somewhat apologetic.
"Due to the Misbegotten rebellion, a lot of the furniture was damaged, so I had it cleared out. The rest of the place has been cleaned up."
"There are clean clothes on the bed. I don't know your size, but they should be close enough."
"Given Castle Morne's current state, this is the best we can do. Please forgive us."
—
Bai Shi walked around the wide room. The lack of extra furniture made the open space even more to his liking.
In his past life, the small apartment he lived in was already cramped, and it had been stuffed full of things.
He never thought living in a large room would feel like this.
Suddenly, Bai Shi noticed a full-length mirror in the room. Although a corner was cracked, it was still perfectly usable.
It occurred to Bai Shi that he hadn't looked in a mirror since he had transmigrated.
Walking up to the mirror, Bai Shi finally saw his own appearance.
Overall, he looked much like he did in his previous life, but his face looked as if it had been retouched, making him significantly more handsome.
It was a rugged handsomeness; no one would doubt his identity as a warrior just by looking at his face. If he was considered somewhat handsome in his past life, now he was undeniably so.
The bloodstains and tattered armor, however, clashed with his appearance.
Bai Shi was a little confused. Wasn't this supposed to be a soul transmigration? Why did his appearance remain so similar?
But it couldn't be a physical transmigration, either. As a shut-in otaku, where would he have gotten his combat sense from?
Unable to figure it out, Bai Shi gave up thinking about it.
Frankly, the act of transmigrating was absurd enough. The fact that his looks hadn't changed much was hardly a big deal.
Bai Shi pushed open the door to an adjacent compartment. Inside was a large wooden tub filled with water, a towel draped on its side.
Although the water was cold, Bai Shi didn't mind.
Given the current conditions in Castle Morne, it would be unreasonable to ask someone to heat water for him.
Taking off his ragged armor, Bai Shi carefully examined his body.
The muscle definition on his body was clear. While he wasn't a muscle-bound behemoth, in his past life, he would have easily been called a powerhouse.
He scooped up a ladle of water and poured it over himself. The water, mixed with blood and dirt, flowed down the sloped floor of the compartment and into a drain.
Next to it was a bucket and some coarse paper. It seemed to be a latrine.
At first, Bai Shi was a little surprised that a medieval-style castle actually had a plumbing system.
But then he thought about the various lifts in the Lands Between, as well as the magnificent cities.
He figured the level of craftsmanship in the Lands Between was quite high, so building a drainage system wouldn't be out of the question.
After a quick rinse, Bai Shi took the towel, soaked it, and began scrubbing his body, thoroughly cleaning himself.
This was his first bath since arriving in the Lands Between, and Bai Shi was very meticulous about it. After all, he didn't know when he would get to wash again.
—
After taking care of his personal hygiene, Bai Shi picked up the clothes from the bed. There were two sets.
One was a full-body cotton outfit, meant to be worn under armor.
The other was a light green, embroidered robe—the Aristocrat Garb from the game, the attire of noble scions.
Bai Shi didn't put on the robe, instead opting for the cotton undergarments.
Just moments before, Yulius had moved the chest containing the Banished Knight set to his doorstep.
Bai Shi carried the chest inside and, piece by piece, put on the Banished Knight's gear.
The size was a good fit, and he managed to don it all without much effort.
Bai Shi wasn't just eager to try on the costume, or at least, that wasn't the only reason.
He needed to check his equip load. If it was too heavy, he would have to allocate some points accordingly when he next leveled up with Melina.
Bai Shi currently had over 67,000 runes, which was almost equivalent to the haul from killing the giant white dragon without a Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot. He was rolling in it.
When Singh died, the 5x rune multiplier effect was fortunately still active.
In the end, the hundred or so Misbegotten had contributed 48,000 runes, and Singh had contributed 19,000.
These runes were enough to raise his level significantly. Afterward, facing enemies of the caliber of a Grafted Scion or a Leonine Misbegotten wouldn't be as challenging.
He tried running a few steps. There was no problem, but if he were to add weapons and fight for an extended period, he would likely tire out more easily.
Mentally refining his point allocation plan, Bai Shi prepared to head to a Site of Grace.
Although the soft bed was right behind him, it wasn't late yet.
He would set out now, find Melina to spend the runes and improve his strength, and then check out the Roundtable Hold.
Although there were only a few NPCs at the Roundtable Hold in the game, the fact that there were items like Fia's Baldachin's Blessing to be found on Confessors suggested that the number of Tarnished there might be greater than Bai Shi anticipated.