The words spoken by Mission Knight Lorne echoed in his mind again: The head of a Doomsday Bull can be exchanged for a full set of blessed knight plate armor from our Lady.
After years of wandering, Laine was well aware of the "price" of these demon heads; a jar of holy oil was indeed the cheapest blessing.
This truly left the White Wolf Knight feeling a bit frustrated. What did he get from Yurik when he killed the Beastman Leader "Sharp Fang" Gor?
It was that wolf tooth necklace he gave to Lorne.
Regardless, Laine had already obtained the information he needed. Suppressing his displeasure for the moment, the White Wolf Knight left the White Wolf Church. After long periods of vigilance and traveling in the wild, Laine felt mentally and physically exhausted. Within the town, he could finally relax a bit and enjoy some leisure time.
Following the cobblestone-paved road, Laine headed towards the Butter Beer Inn. The inn was not far from the White Wolf Church, and, from a distance, the target was quite obvious... A large group of villagers had gathered at the inn's entrance, with more and more people seemingly joining.
What's happening here?
"Beautiful Witch, please, our village's cow is sick. It has green spots on its body. We beg you to help us!" A middle-aged male villager with a turban on his head pleaded with the woman standing at the inn's door.
The woman at the entrance appeared to be a beautiful lady in her thirties. She wore a lake-green, cinched-waist long dress, and a brown bear skin vest draped over her shoulders. A full white fox fur scarf was tied around her neck. Her face was dignified and gentle, beautiful and elegant, with black long hair coiled on her head. Yet, her face carried a hint of helplessness: "Sir, do I look like a veterinarian?"
"No... you don't." The male villager lowered his head, but immediately realized what he had said. So, the villager knelt down: "But, Witch, I beg you, our village cannot do without that cow! Without it, several families will go bankrupt. Please! We know we have nothing to offer you, but would you accept this? It's all we have!"
After saying that, the male villager took out a few silver coins from his person and offered them to the woman.
"...Alright, I'll try to make some potions. Take them back and see if they work." The woman sighed, refusing the man's money but instructing him to collect some herbs. Then, she said to the remaining villagers, "That's enough. I'm tired today and need to rest. You all should go back."
Having gotten the woman's promise, the villagers were overjoyed, dancing with joy, while the other villagers wore gray expressions, looking at each other.
"Well, the witch said she's tired. We should come back tomorrow," a chubby man said.
"That's our only choice since we didn't get to be first today," replied a tall, thin man, and the rest of the villagers dispersed.
"Lady Dietlinde?" Laine, standing behind everyone else, thought as his eyes rolled.
What wind blew this Female Member of Jialan here?
Dietlinde Soma, a female member of the Jialan Council, was an Academic Legendary Witch, not good at combat but very skilled in alchemy and pharmaceuticals. Earlier, she had asked Laine to obtain the Heart of the Harpies, and in return, she made a Space Ring for him.
Dietlinde was relatively kind-hearted. She was a wizard, not a warlock, and sometimes offered help to townspeople while passing through towns, which also allowed her to acquire herbs from villagers at low costs.
Laine walked in unceremoniously, squeezing villagers to the point of stumbling. They were about to curse him when they saw he was a Kingdom Knight in noble attire and quickly made way.
Pushing open the inn's door, he heard Teresa's voice inside: "Dietlinde sister, why did you suddenly appear here?"
"The merchant ship from the south will bring a batch of precious alchemy supplies. I'm worried about the quality, so I came to inspect them personally."
Laine rolled his eyes. This content belongs to novel⸺fire.net
He remembered Dietlinde was at least over seventy years old, wasn't she?
He had just stepped through the inn's door when the two women were already heading upstairs.
"How's the feeling of adventuring? How is having Laine as your companion?" Dietlinde asked.
"Uh... it's not bad," Teresa nodded: "It's just that some things happened in the middle... a bit dangerous."
"Is the feeling of adventuring good, or is having Laine as your companion good?" the Academic Witch pressed.
"Both are good." The Ice and Mind Element female sorcerer blushed slightly, though her expression seemed normal. She seemingly asked casually: "I heard you've met Laine several times before?"
Dietlinde was about to say something when she caught sight of Laine standing on the first floor out of the corner of her eye, then suddenly smiled and asked: "What do you think of him?"
"Laine's personality? Hmm~" Teresa's pretty face blushed slightly, and she suddenly remembered how she lost her composure at the city gate earlier: "Overall, he's satisfactory as a partner."
"Indeed, strong and handsome, and from what you said, it seems he's quite polite too? Truly rare." Dietlinde was about to tease further, but Laine already spoke up unceremoniously: "Lady Dietlinde? Could you please not discuss me to my face?"
"Hohoho~ I thought you'd be happily listening to our Teresa praising you~" Dietlinde laughed coquettishly, feeling quite proud of her joke, while Teresa instinctively turned her head and saw Laine standing on the first floor. Her beautiful face flushed red, and her tone turned very dangerous: "Eavesdropping on ladies' conversations? Laine, your behavior is truly disgraceful, I'm really disappointed."