harleyscars Page 192
Page 192
Wow! Wow, wow!
"...Is it necessary to give a child such vague hope when even the transfer of apprentices cannot be completed?"
Norrig asked in an aged voice, shook his head, stood up with his cane, and asked:
"Sir, are you here to see me?"
"Yes and no." Latis nodded and then shook his head. In his opinion, after learning about the history of the Dwarven Tower in the simulation, there was nothing he needed Norrige's help with. Therefore, he came only because he was curious about the bell and wanted to see the old woman in reality. After all, time in the simulation flew by, and she would not mention the details of her lessons in town.
"Oh? You're not just here to amuse this old woman, are you?"
Norrige frowned slightly, picked up his cane, and walked quickly to the gate of Listening Wind Terrace, saying:
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my rest now."
"Wait!" Latis quickly took a few steps closer, scratched his head, and asked in a moment of inspiration:
"You just said that the child won't be able to complete the apprenticeship extradition. Why are you so sure?"
"Why are you so sure... Isn't this something you should know just by thinking about it?" Norrigi frowned, lifting his cane.
"What do you mean?" Latis looked at the children's retreating figures with a puzzled expression and said, "Is it only him... or is it that none of them can complete the extradition?"
Norrige pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed, then pointed to the mountains surrounding the town and said with a forced smile:
“Look at this, not to mention that the mountain wilderness is sparsely populated with demons, and few apprentice guides come here. Even if they do come, they may not be able to lead the children through this area teeming with demons... Just take Silver Path Town in the mountains, where do the townspeople get the money to pay for the tuition of Green Vine Academy?”
Latis pondered for a moment, then said:
"But I see that even in a wild and uncivilized place like Dragonhorn Territory, there are many people participating in the apprenticeship extradition..."
“You’re only seeing the surface, sir.”
Norrige took two steps to the side with his cane, then casually tapped a stone on the road with it.
Watching the stone roll down the hillside, she then said:
"Is Walmart the current headmistress of Green Vine Academy? I heard she's basically given up her headmistress income to subsidize the students' education expenses, but that's still not enough for the apprentices to live on in Lundia. You should have noticed that most of the apprentices extradited from Dragonhorn Territory are adults, right?"
“That’s the same as that rock,” Norrigi said, pointing with his cane to the rock that had almost rolled down the hillside.
"The apprentices of Dragonhorn Territory have completely abandoned their homeland when they prepare to participate in the extradition. They sell their property and take all their money with them... Heh, actually, they don't have much property. Most apprentices still have to find a reliable mage tower to work in and earn a living when they arrive in Lundia."
"So the children here can't be extradited?" Latis had only asked casually, but upon hearing these words, he couldn't help but frown and pinch his chin.
“To be precise, they don’t participate in extradition, and that decision is usually made by themselves,” Norrige corrected.
Latis paused for a moment, then fell into deep thought.
"Is there anything else?" Norrigi studied the serious expression on Latis's face, and his expression softened slightly.
Latis snapped out of his reverie, hesitated for a moment, and asked:
"Then... why do you continue to teach them magic, Lord Norrige? They are unlikely to become mages, aren't they?"
Norrige was silent for a few seconds, then grabbed his cane and ran towards Latis with lightning speed, shouting:
"All you do is ask questions! Don't you have a brain?!"
……
……
Latis, a Level 4 warrior who had been chased away by the elderly woman in her sixties, ran down the hillside, clutching his head.
"Damn, this old lady is really irritable..." Latis muttered, brushing the dust off his clothes, then muttered to himself:
"Alright, let's not trouble her with anything else. Let her stay alone... The next plan is to have the teammates go find the Dwarf Tower tomorrow. The ancient tree hasn't been resurrected yet, and the monsters are still relatively calm."
"Once the tower is raised, I can contact Slinger. When I met Slinger before, I hadn't learned beacon communication yet, so I guess I can only contact her through Zerris... Hmm?"
Latis looked at Musk, who was shivering and disheveled in the evening breeze at the market entrance, paused for a moment, and ran up to him to ask:
"Hey, Old Ma, still not home?"
“…Sir, uh, senior.” Musk turned around, chuckled awkwardly, hesitated for a moment, then touched the gold white in his pocket and said:
"I'm waiting for a classmate. He originally said he'd come back to me in a few days if he couldn't find any teammates, but I don't know why he suddenly came back. It's like he wants to show me something good..."
His fingertips traced the textured surface of the gold coin on its cool surface, but in the end, he didn't return it to Latis. Instead, he sighed inwardly and said:
"It's almost dinnertime, senior, you should go back and have dinner first. If you don't mind, I have some homemade sweet potato chips... Hey, why are you already eating?!"
Musk, seeing that Latis had somehow stuffed his mouth full of dried sweet potato chips, couldn't help but lose his composure. He took a deep breath and loudly complained:
"Senior, eating too many dried sweet potatoes can cause indigestion!"
"Oh really? Haha, might as well eat it..." Latis muttered vaguely, glancing at Musk's helpless expression and then looking behind him. Suddenly, his eyes froze, and he abruptly squatted down.
"Huh? What's going on?" Musk scratched his head, just about to prop himself up to see what Latis was doing squatting behind the cart, when a rough voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Musk, I'm here!"
Musk quickly turned around, his face beaming with joy, and shouted:
“Jesston!”
Jesston chuckled, stepped forward, gave Musk a friendly punch to the stomach, then put his arm around his shoulder and said:
"Phew, we've finally arrived at this wretched place. The journey has been incredibly difficult, but thankfully I've had some good luck... Oh, by the way, this is Lord Torso. He saved my life on the way. Without him, I might be sitting at the same table as Flying Maroo tonight! Sir, this is Musk, my junior at Green Vine Academy."
"Don't talk about such scary things!" Musk looked horrified. He rubbed his stomach, looked at Torso behind Jeston, touched his head, and bowed, saying:
"Lord Torso, hello..."
Torsor adjusted his shawl, which was billowing in the wind, nodded slightly, looked around, and asked curiously:
"I think I just saw you talking to someone? Who was it, a friend of yours?"
"Huh? It is..." Musk was taken aback.
"It's me." Latis's voice came from behind the cart. Torso looked in the direction of the voice and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Dressed in a pristine white priest's robe, Latis held a grimoire in his hands, looking every bit the scholar. He smiled and nodded, speaking in a steady voice:
"Musk, you and your companions talk first. It's getting late, I'm going back to study magic."
Musk stared wide-eyed, frozen in place.
As he watched Latis walk steadily past the cart, Torso frowned slightly, waved to Jeston, then put his hands in his opposite sleeves and followed.
Jeston looked at the retreating figures of the two men who had silently departed, puzzled. He then glanced at Musk, who still seemed confused, waved his hand in front of Musk's face, and said:
“Shall we go too? I’ll tell you, the reason I came early this time is because I discovered a magical beacon…”
……
……
"Priest, please wait!"
Torso's voice came from behind him, and Latis paused. He quickly came up with several countermeasures in his mind, then placed his hand on his grimoire.
When they met again, he instinctively chose to avoid them immediately, but that was because he hadn't expected to see Torso so soon, and he hadn't yet developed a plan to deal with Torso.
However, now that Torso has caught up, he is not afraid to adapt to changing circumstances. With the magic network's scheduling capabilities and cyber police capabilities at his disposal, he has a chance of winning in close combat against any mage below the legendary level.
"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" Latis turned slightly to the side, stopped in his tracks, and asked calmly.
“Hehe…it’s like this.” Torso slowed his pace, and in the few steps he took to approach Latis, he had already prepared his words. He stopped about three steps away from Latis and said with a smile:
"I have always held the Church of the Goddess in high esteem. Today, I met a priest under the Goddess's command for the first time, and I was so excited that I took the liberty of following you. Please do not take offense."
“I understand.” Latis nodded. Although Torso gestured for him to talk as they walked, he stopped and asked with a smile:
"Priests are just ordinary people, nothing special, they just have faith in the goddess."
"Your character is evident in your words and actions; your indifference to fame and fortune is truly admirable," Torso said, keeping his distance and taking two steps around Latis.
"Your words, High Priest, suddenly reminded me of an old friend I met not long ago, and I suddenly felt a sense of warmth in my heart. How about we talk as we walk?"
"The church teaches us to be courteous to strangers we meet for the first time, regardless of their status."
Latis shook his head, and following the priestly ritual he remembered, placed his hand on his chest and said:
"May I ask where you are from and what you do for a living? Perhaps I will meet you again when I am helping the goddess in the future."
Torso frowned upon hearing this, glanced at Latis with some uncertainty, and then said with a smile:
“I wander the world, with no fixed abode. I make it my duty to help people eliminate monsters, so I am like-minded with you, Priest… Speaking of which, are you familiar with this town? I’m new here and don’t know where to spend the night!”
"What cunning old foxes, one after another..."
Latis listened to Torso's tapping from the side, muttered something to himself, pondered for a moment, and then said:
"Although I don't know Yindao Town as well as the locals, I can still help with something as simple as finding a place to stay. For guests with official connections, the mayor will arrange for them to stay in a private residence near the town entrance, where there are many shops and it's more convenient."
"Besides the houses at the town entrance, there is a hotel next to the central market, but it gets quite noisy during the morning market hours. There are also a few vacant houses at the back of the town, but they are separated from the main part of the town by a hillside and are much quieter."
Torso's eyes widened in confusion. He paused, then spoke:
Thank you very much. May I ask where you live...?
"Oh, right," Latis interrupted him, smiling as he said:
"You mentioned earlier that you sometimes help eliminate monsters. I wonder about your abilities. I do have some tasks here, and if they're suitable, I might need your help!"
Torso pondered for a moment, then said:
"I am... a sixth-circle mage, specializing in wind-related spells, and I also know a little about combat techniques."
"Okay, then I will ask you for help when the time is right. Hehe, who knows, maybe it will take two or three weeks."
Latis laughed and said:
"In that case, I'll take my leave. If you're going to the inn or the houses at the back of town, just head that way."
Seeing that Latis was pointing in a completely different direction, Torso instinctively put his hands into his sleeves, remained silent for a moment, then sighed and said:
"It's still early. Why don't I come with you and discuss the philosophy of the Goddess Church with you?"
Latis took a deep breath, about to say something, when suddenly a slender hand patted his shoulder, followed by Jennifer's voice.
"Hey, Lazi! What are you talking about here?"
Latis quickly turned around, looked at Jennifer who had changed into casual clothes, laughed, and, to her surprise, put his arm around her waist. He then turned to Torso and said:
"As you can see, I need to go back to my wife's house to rest now. Let's end our conversation here for tonight."