A laboratory explosion nearly ended his pursuit of knowledge. In the golden light after the explosion, the wizards saved Gailte. Many wizards wanted to heal his wounds, but he ordered them to leave.
From that day on, Gailte became the way he is now. He always wore a golden mask, and no one could see his expression.
"I don't know if I can trust you, Gailte," the Emperor said solemnly. "But given the current situation, I have to trust you. You know, German is a Fire Mage, and it's already the middle of winter. His magic isn't very effective in the North."
"You can certainly trust me, Your Majesty." The sound of metal rubbing deepened the Emperor's doubts. Carl Franz shook the strange thoughts out of his head. He knew that since he was going to hand the task over to Gailte, he had to trust him. There was no reason to not trust someone to whom you had entrusted the task.
One day later, Nord Kingdom, Mijordenhaven.
Laine, his face weathered, finally arrived at the largest port city on the West Coast of the Nord Kingdom, Mijordenhaven.
The sky was a clear blue with no clouds, making it a rare fine weather day, and there was a constant stream of people and carriages at the city gate of Mijordenhaven. The gate guards all wore chest armor and long spears with swords. The three-leaved family crest of Count Albert Baker, Lord of Mijordenhaven, hung high on the city towers.
His encounter with Lorne was destined to be brief. As the Duke's son and Mission Knight, Lorne was sure to continue on his Path of the Holy Grail. Laine, on the other hand, needed to head to Mijordenhaven's White Wolf Divine Hall as soon as possible to inquire about the Ancient Saint. Therefore, they talked late into the night and parted ways early the next morning.
Before leaving, Lorne gave him a gold coin with the Leaping Lion insignia, telling him that whenever he visited Connet, he would personally welcome him and treat Laine to the finest wines and delicacies.
It's worth mentioning that meeting a kindred spirit is indeed rare. In his short interaction with Lorne, they connected like old friends of many years with no secrets between them. In return, Laine gave him his wolf fang pendant: "This is a gift I received from the Master of the White Wolf. Although I don't have a distinguished family or dazzling wealth like you, as long as you have this, I'll offer any help that I can."
"Deal!" Lorne accepted, without any disdain, with genuine sincerity.
"Deal!" They shook hands.
After parting, Laine made his way down from the mountain. His broken chain armor was no longer wearable, so he stored it away, washed the bloodstains off in a stream, changed back into Nord noble attire, and calmly descended. After a day's journey on the mountain paths, he finally arrived at Mijordenhaven.
By then, the rivers were beginning to freeze over, making it impossible for boats to sail on the inner rivers. Along the way, Laine encountered quite a few passersby, mostly merchants and townsfolk, with a few farmers heading into the city. Upon seeing a nobleman traveling alone in the wild, the passersby, though curious, still showed him respect.
"By the way, have you heard?" A group of villagers on the road was having a discussion: "Recently, a Lady Witch from the east settled at the Butter Beer Inn in Mijordenhaven."
"Ah?! A Lady Witch?" A farmer carrying firewood gaped: "Unbelievable!"
"Oh~ don't say that. This Lady Witch is really nice. Isn't there a fever epidemic recently?" said a farmer carrying vegetables.
"Yes! Someone in our village caught the fever and died within a couple of days." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel_fіre.net
"The Lady Witch took it upon herself to make potions to cure us villagers! As long as we gather the materials, it's incredibly cheap! I just knew those disgusting doctors only knew how to extort us!"
"Really? That sounds amazing."
"And besides that, the Lady Witch also makes other potions. Our village's ox developed an abscess and was dying, but she cured it with her potion. She's truly a savior to our village!" said a farmer.
"I wonder how long the Lady Witch will stay here."
"She'll probably stay a while, but..."
"Oh no, it's good if she stays longer, but what?" The farmer carrying firewood became anxious and asked quickly.
"But another Lady Witch arrived yesterday and settled next door to her. She's completely different, bad-tempered, and loves to drive people away. Everyone who sought her help was chased out." The speaking farmer seemed frightened, then indignantly added, "I say there are good and bad witches. Don't you think?"
"Of course, of course!"
Another witch arrived yesterday? Bad-tempered? Likes to drive people away? Laine almost chuckled. He knew who that new witch was.
But who was the witch that had appeared earlier?
"Hey! Oh my! Lady of Agriculture above, the annoying witch is standing at the city gate!" Two farmers murmured as they looked toward the gate, "She won't refuse us entry, will she?"
"How could that be! Quick, let's just go in." The two farmers lowered their heads, pretending to know nothing.
At the city gate, Teresa leaned on her Magic Staff, watching the bustling crowd: "Banda, you actually don't need to keep standing here with me. It's just a waste of your time."