In the horse market to the north of Dorey City, as Iris led Ed toward the market, they could already smell a foul odor before even entering. The scent of animal manure, constantly fermenting in the air, caused Ed to involuntarily wrinkle his brow.

Iris didn't seem to react much to the smell. She simply led Ed into the market.

On both sides of the busy street, there were outdoor enclosures everywhere, containing various quality warhorses, donkeys, and other livestock, all confined to narrow spaces.

Many workers, their left arms adorned with red ribbons, were continuously spraying lime water along the street, which only made the air smell even worse.

Fortunately, Iris wore a light fragrance that made Ed feel somewhat more comfortable.

As they walked further into the market, a warhorse that appeared to be listless suddenly collapsed onto the ground. It began to twitch, frothing white foam from its mouth.

The workers spraying lime water quickly gathered around the horse, spraying it with more lime water, while shouting, "This is a sick horse! Quick, isolate all the warhorses here!"

The owners of the sick horses tried to stop the workers' actions but were ruthlessly kept outside. One of them shouted loudly, "No, no! I'll go buy the medicine for treatment right away! If I give it to them, they won't spread the disease anymore!"

The owners of the warhorses looked extremely anxious, repeatedly assuring everyone that they would go buy the medicine.

Seeing this, Ed turned to Iris and asked, "What will happen to those horses?"

Iris let out a helpless sigh before replying, "Without the medicine, those horses will be isolated and then disposed of."

"Buying the medicine is expensive, but it's still a better option than losing all the horses," she added.

Curious, Ed continued asking, "Is the medicine for the infectious disease very expensive?"

Iris nodded. "There are only a few pharmacies in Dorey City that carry medicine for this kind of disease, and it's very costly. You can't bargain because the pharmacies are backed by the mayor's office."

"The cost of a bottle of medicine is about two-thirds of the value of a warhorse. If there's no other choice, the horse owners might buy the medicine, but they won't do it unless absolutely necessary."

Ed nodded. People often had a sense of hope against the odds. Compared to losing all the warhorses, buying the medicine at least wouldn't result in as much of a loss.

Iris then led Ed toward the central area of the horse market, where the best warhorses in Dorey City were sold.

After walking for a few minutes, Ed saw a different scene from the rest of the market. The environment here was much cleaner, with no manure in sight. Each warhorse appeared full of vitality, their coats shiny and their eyes bright, completely unlike the horses that might be infected with a disease.

As they reached the entrance, a staff member came out and warmly greeted them, "Welcome, esteemed sir, and beautiful lady, to Hurricane Horsewalk. Are you looking to purchase a warhorse?"

"Rest assured, Hurricane Horsewalk has the largest number of warhorses in all of Dorey City, and we offer the highest quality. Many powerful Hunters come to us to buy their horses."

"And the most important thing is, we guarantee that our horses are free from any infectious diseases when sold! You can purchase with complete confidence!"

The enthusiastic staff member continued to introduce the horses. Ed, curious about his confident tone, asked, "Many of the warhorses in the city may have infectious diseases. On the way here, I even saw a warhorse showing symptoms. How can you ensure that the horses here are disease-free?"

The staff member patted his chest and replied, "Don't worry, sir. All the warhorses at Hurricane Horsewalk are bred using special methods. Not only are they high-quality, but they also have strong resistance to diseases."

"Moreover, we have partnerships with several pharmacies in the city. We never sell sick horses, and you can rest assured about that."

Ed nodded. While he wasn't completely trusting of the staff member's words, he planned to observe carefully and make sure there were no issues before making any decisions.

Soon, under the staff member's guidance, Ed and Iris looked at several warhorses, testing each one. While the quality was impressive, Ed didn't feel an overwhelming urge to purchase any of them.

He asked the staff member if there were any better horses available, only to be told that the horses here were already the best.

Ed wasn't satisfied with that answer.

Warhorses were important companions for Hunters, and Ed was looking for something more special—preferably a smarter horse, one that wasn't easily frightened.

However, there were no horses like that here. Ed also asked Iris, who replied that such horses were rare and usually came down to luck and patience.

Unable to do much about it, Ed decided he would just buy a warhorse for now, even if it wasn't ideal.

However, at that moment, a few people suddenly entered the market. Ed glanced over without thinking and was momentarily stunned.

Among the newcomers, there was one person he recognized—the same person who had followed him from the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association's entrance all the way to Uncle Du's inn.

The other people, Ed didn't recognize.

Iris whispered in Ed's ear, "The young man at the front is Andrew, the son of Dorey City's lord, Gavin."

Ed furrowed his brow slightly. The son of the city's lord?

He seemed to remember hearing at the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association that Andrew was pursuing Melissa.

Could it be that it wasn't Reve who had sent someone to follow him, but Andrew himself?

As Ed was pondering this, Andrew lifted his chin arrogantly, walking slowly towards Ed with an air of superiority. His gaze lingered on Iris for a long while before he finally turned to Ed and spoke:

"You're Ed, right? Tell me honestly, what's your relationship with Melissa?"

Ed kept a neutral expression. Seeing Andrew's hostile attitude, he chose to ignore him.

Instead, he turned to the nearby staff member and said, "I'll take the warhorse I just tried."

Just as the staff member was about to finalize the transaction with Ed, Andrew took two steps forward and stood directly in front of the staff member, saying:

"Wait, none of the horses here are to be sold to him!"

Before the staff member could react, Andrew continued, "Call your boss over here. I'm going to make sure no one in this market sells him a warhorse!"

Ed's brow furrowed tightly. He hadn't expected Andrew to be so outrageous. Even if he was the son of the lord of Dorey City, surely he didn't have the authority to do this?

Soon enough, the staff member rushed to bring the owner of Hurricane Horsewalk.

The owner of Hurricane Horsewalk was a plump man with a balding head. The moment he saw Andrew, he became unusually deferential, saying, "Young Master Andrew, what brings you here? It's been a while since we last saw you. How have you been? Everything's going smoothly with business here..."

Before the owner could finish speaking, Andrew impatiently waved his hand to cut him off. He looked at Ed again and asked:

"I'll ask you again—what exactly is your relationship with Melissa?"

Ed replied directly, "Want to know? Then go ask Melissa."

At this moment, Ed was feeling extremely irritated. His relationship with Melissa was a professional one, though of course, the specifics of their collaboration were not something he could openly discuss.

If Andrew had been a bit more polite, Ed might have answered his questions.

But this Andrew was being extremely rude—he immediately started threatening Ed. The lack of manners made Ed disgusted.

Hearing Ed's response, Andrew immediately grew furious. He had sent Melissa many invitations—whether for a night at the theater or a performance at an elegant concert hall, but Melissa hadn't responded to a single one.

Now, Ed was telling him to ask Melissa himself? How could he?

Ed was just an ordinary Hunter, yet he dared to ignore Andrew like this. It was maddening.

Thinking this, Andrew pointed directly at Ed and turned to the owner of Hurricane Horsewalk, saying, "None of the warhorses here are to be sold to him!"

"And you, make sure to notify everyone else in the market. If anyone dares to sell him a warhorse, I will make them regret it!"

The plump, balding middle-aged man immediately nodded and answered in a servile tone, "No problem, Young Master Andrew. I'll send someone to notify them right away!"

Iris, standing beside Ed, was eager to say something, but Ed immediately stopped her.

Iris looked at Ed and said, "No way, I can't stand this! This guy is too arrogant!"

Ed glanced at Iris. To him, things were starting to get interesting. The owner of Hurricane Horsewalk had said something strange when he saw Andrew, and his attitude was unusually servile.

What did he mean by "everything is going smoothly with business here"?

Could it be that Andrew had some kind of connection to Hurricane Horsewalk? Or perhaps Hurricane Horsewalk was actually an asset of the lord's estate?

If the pharmacies that sold medicine to treat warhorse diseases were backed by the lord's estate, and if Hurricane Horsewalk, which guaranteed disease-free warhorses, was also owned by the lord's estate, then things were indeed becoming quite intriguing.

Instead of settling for just buying a warhorse for now, Ed felt an even stronger curiosity about the warhorse disease, the pharmacies, Hurricane Horsewalk, and Andrew, who represented the lord's estate.

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