Knight and Wand

Chapter 135 The Warlock's Kindness

"Ten thousand gold crowns? Am I too old to have hearing problems? Are you too unrealistic? I admit that Lord Canis is of noble status, but this is an unlimited greedy extortion that far exceeds the reasonable ransom range. The Gunnar family will never accept such an unreasonable price."

"Whether you can accept it or not is your business. If you can't come up with the money to compensate for the losses caused by the war you provoked, then you will have to trouble Lord Canis to stay in the Thornflower Territory for a few more years. We don't lack a bite of food for your young master." Sir Redo replied fearlessly, leaning back in his chair.

Inside the hall, old Heinkel blew his beard and glared, and began to argue, completely losing his previous composure.

Ten thousand gold crowns? I would have thought he was redeeming Count Trosa.

Leon listened silently without interrupting.

In fact, he was also shocked when he heard the exorbitant price asked by his two colleagues. This ransom amount was obviously impossible.

The thousand gold crowns that Mamer gave in order to buy his life were already higher than the ransom standard for captured noble knights.

According to the normal custom of the Northern Kingdom, the ransom for a Knight of the Order of Arms is usually between four hundred and eight hundred gold crowns.

The ransom for a baron is usually around five to seven or eight thousand.

No matter how valuable Kanis's status is, it can never be more valuable than his father.

Of course, Leon also knew that this was a tentative negotiation strategy.

He handed over the negotiation and consultation to Ledo and Marcelo, who were both very willing to make high demands. He believed that these two enthusiastic colleagues could help him find out the bottom line of the Gunnar family.

Walking out of the hall filled with heated arguments, Leon looked towards the yard, like a sorcerer who was out of the matter.

"Your Excellency knows Master Hilgard? Did he tell you about me?"

"Of course, there are only a dozen old friends in the kingdom. I have also been employed by the general recently, so naturally I have heard about your affairs." Mette nodded.

Since the two warlocks had talked about him, Leon pondered for a few breaths and could not deny it, so he answered with reservation: "It is related to my personal experience. I asked Master Hilgard where I could learn magic, but I was busy and did not find time to go to your academy in the north to verify whether my talent is true."

Mette couldn't help but laugh and said, "You misunderstood, sir. I am not trying to help the Gunnar family hold on to the so-called decree, nor do I want to investigate whether you hired spellcasters in the wild or abroad to be with you in order to retrieve the magic tools entrusted to you for charging from Hilgard in advance.

I just want to tell you that if you are interested in the power of magic, the Northern Society is happy to be your friend."

Leon frowned: "But I'm not sure if I can learn magic myself."

"Haha, you're joking. Yesterday, I witnessed with my own eyes outside the battlefield you using magic to fight with Lord Canis. I wonder what kind of a good teacher you have. At your age, you can actually control your magic to achieve such a substantial shock effect. It really surprises me." Mette shook his head.

Leon was puzzled when he heard this: "You saw it with your own eyes? But why didn't you expose me just now?"

“Why would I do that? If other nobles hire spellcasters to interfere in conflicts, I would pay more attention to His Majesty Redwin’s decree in order to prevent the association from getting into trouble.

But not to mention the restrictions that the decree imposes on your situation, which is already very ambiguous. For someone like you who has both a talent for spellcasting and is a true Orland noble, the association only wants to be friends with you, not enemies."

Seeing the confusion in Leon's eyes, Mette said with emotion: "You don't understand. There are too few people in this world who can control magic. There are more than tens of millions of people in the entire Northern Kingdom, but in hundreds of years of history, the association has only trained dozens of qualified warlocks like me. To some extent, you and I are closer to the same kind than other humans."

Same kind? Leon crossed his arms silently, not making any comment.

To be honest, he did not share the inexplicable emotion of the warlock in front of him.

Maybe he was too lucky? Or was he too unlucky? Since crossing over, Leon felt that he had encountered quite a few magicians.

Plus Master Hilgard, and Mette in front of him.

Including Miss Lola, Ms. Aphrodite, Corvis, Pilieno, and Emon.
Although perhaps overall, there are really very few mages in this world.

But in the past four months, on average, he encountered one or two such cases every month, which caused the other party to sound lonely and he could not resonate with them.

After thinking about it, Leon asked, "Master Mette, you have told me so much. Do you want to invite me to join the Warlock Association?"

"That's right, Lord Pendragon. The society welcomes every spellcaster brother or sister to join, not to mention that you are an honorable lord." Mette nodded.

If this happened two months ago, Leon would definitely be happy, but now, Neti cards have solved his communication problems with Miss Lola. Now he just lacks time for professional studies, so there is no need to go far away.

What's more, Miss Lola, who was praised as a prophet of god in history and came from ancient civilization, obviously possesses much more magical knowledge than these contemporary wizards who seem to be less civilized.

Seeing the other party hesitate, Mette smiled and said, "Don't rush to make a decision, this invitation will always be valid, you can take your time to consider it.

But listen to me, sir. As a noble with military honors, you already possess wealth beyond ordinary people, and a status and power above many people. You may get even more in the future, and glory will accompany you throughout your life.

But how short is a few decades of life? The life of a mortal is like a passing cloud. When the life span is about to end, the old hands can no longer lift heavy weapons, the glory returns to the dust, and the wealth, status, love, and honor you are pursuing now will also be gone with the wind. "

"What do you mean? Does the Warlock Society have magic that can prolong life?"

"Of course, sir, looking at my current appearance, how old do you think I am?" Mette asked with a raised eyebrow.

Leon looked at the other person, knowing that since this person asked this question, he must be very different from what he looked like.

However, he did not deliberately argue, but followed the topic and gave a guess from the perspective of an ordinary person: "Forty years old?"

"I am now over 180 years old." Mette replied slowly.

Leon tried his best to look surprised and nodded: "Oh, amazing, amazing."

".?"

Mette could see that the other person's mood hadn't changed much, and couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

This reaction was indeed unexpected.

Of course Leon didn't feel anything. Various games, movies and entertainment works in his previous life had long made him numb to the concept of "immortality". Unless the other party said that he was four thousand years old or forty thousand years old, he would not even bother to raise his eyebrows.

Besides, Leon didn't even dare to guess how old his mysterious Miss Lola was when she was alive.

Accustomed to getting along with an ancient wizard who was like a god in every sense, Leon found it difficult to mobilize his emotions when he saw the warlock in front of him pretending to be mysterious with only a lifespan of a hundred or eighty years.

Mette touched her chin slightly embarrassedly, but on second thought, she was relieved by the other party's attitude.

The person in front of him was an energetic and high-spirited young man, who looked no more than seventeen years old. How could a young man of this age feel the approach of death and the reluctance to his own annihilation like an elderly person in his forties?

It doesn't matter. Since he has the extraordinary talent to control magic power, the other party will always understand the value of magic above the mortal world in the future. He will also always understand that the reality of spellcasters who are beyond mortals in the Western Continent is not in line with his own status.

A crisis occurs, a desire sprouts. Once the young spellcaster wants to make a change, the Warlock Society is naturally the only place where he can improve his magic.

After all, in the four northern kingdoms of the Western Continent, in Serian and Dineshien, which are ruled by the Holy Sun Church, spellcasters will only be locked up in a magic circle tower and strictly guarded. As for Kantadar? Those wild wizards who danced with the gods would be lucky if they didn't torture themselves to death. They don't know shit about magic.
During the private conversation between Leon and Mette, the negotiations in the hall also temporarily explored each other's bottom line amidst the fierce quarrel between the two sides.

The amount of the first round of ransom was set at 5,200 gold crowns.

But the money cannot be paid immediately, and we need to wait for Baron Gunnar's attitude.

The Battle of Longka has just ended, and Baron Grey Wolf probably doesn't know that his eldest son was accidentally captured.

Of course, before paying the ransom, the Farolis family had to guarantee to provide Canis with a comfortable residence and to have dedicated servants to maintain the daily living standards of the young master of the Wolf family, whose hands were bound by heavy shackles.

This was also the condition for Lei Duo to successfully ask for an additional 200 gold coins.

Old Heinkel promised to deliver two hundred gold crowns within a few days to ensure that Canis's prisoner treatment would be improved.

After that, once the Wolf family confirms the preparation of the ransom, it is time to hand over the people and the money.

Leon specifically set the date at the beginning of next month, which is about the time when Baron Elliver is expected to return.

After writing down the preliminary terms of agreement on the parchment and both parties signed and stamped their respective seals, Leon finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching the old knight of the Wolf family and the Mete warlock leave.

As long as the hostages are kept in hand, the Wolf Lord will no longer dare to invade. Moreover, everyone's attention is now focused on the border conflict between the two families. The task that Elliver gave him has been successfully completed.

At noon that day, the repaired Wachter reinforcements, led by Sir Marcelo, left Longka and returned to the castle in the north to garrison.

The reinforcements from the baggage camp will stay for another day and then return to the east of Selva the next day.

The chaos and dark clouds that shrouded the stronghold gradually dissipated. The soldiers repaired the fortifications in an orderly manner under orders, and built wooden walls and roofs to protect the seriously injured soldiers who could not move in the camp outside the village wall from wind and rain in case of weather changes.

Amid the hustle and bustle, Longka's day passes in a flash.

The sun sets, the moon rises, and darkness shrouds the night.

In the silent villages, there was no movement except for the yawns of the night watchmen and the occasional barking of war dogs.
No one noticed that a life had passed away quietly.

The beautiful outline moved through the darkness between the village houses, like a slight chill breeze.

The light footsteps made only a barely perceptible sound, almost no different from the noise of a snake or insect crawling by.

Under the torch, the Duwana war dog lying on the ground suddenly pricked up its ears, raised its huge head, and sniffed the faint strange fragrance with its nose.

The dog trainer, holding the halberd, lowered his head and looked at his war beast partner who was reacting abnormally.

The shadow under the moon stopped instantly, drew a seal with his fingertips, turned around and disappeared into the alley against the wind.

After a long time, the war dog could no longer smell the strange smell, so it shook its head and lay back on the ground.

The poetess did not stop. She changed her route and came to the back of the big house in Longka village.

Wait for five patrolling guards to pass by.

The curvy figure flashed out of the shadows neatly and walked quickly towards the building in front of him.

But the nimble figure suddenly stopped. She narrowed her eyes, squatted down, and looked intently.

In the dim moonlight, she saw the base of the building's wall. There were several hidden grooves carved into the ground, and inside the grooves, there were things that looked like garbage discarded by carpenters and stonemasons after processing the materials.

Simple early warning technique.

Just like the habits of those wizards in China.

Moreover, this magic pattern structure clearly bears traces of Imperial Academy magic.

It doesn't look like the work of a native spellcaster from the Western Continent at all.

The poetess stood up and slowly backed away, her eyes scanning the windows where the lights were still on.

Are there any mages from the Empire in there?

As her thoughts searched for information in her mind, the poem of the mysterious great poet once again came into her mind.

The young nobles mentioned by the Falcon family. They were looking for a woman at the wedding. They also looked for "Gauliad" at the wedding.

Galliard's new poem full of metaphors and the Knight of Selva praised earlier
Villania Fanu, the last person pursued by Lord Eamon before his disappearance
The poetess intuitively got the answer from her speculation.

She believes she has found the assassin who killed Pilieno.

but why?
Why would the knights of House Farolis travel thousands of miles to assassinate the envoy of Atias?
This indigenous kingdom clearly knows nothing about the empire.

The domestic eastward expedition faction has just launched its action. When did they make enemies with this northern kingdom?
Too many questions pile up.

The poetess had to put aside her doubts for the time being.

The materials used in the warning spell here are very simple and it is not difficult to break it.

But as she considered her thoughts, she slowly retreated into the darkness.

The convenient operation had been completed, and there was no need for her to take the risk of creating further complications, as there were more important tasks to be accomplished.

We must reach Rolandar as soon as possible and find out where those important figures from the Eastern Expedition who have lost contact have gone.

Even the fake position holder like Piriano who stayed in the embassy was killed.

At present, except for the officers sent by the fleet and the legion, the Empire has lost the official in charge of liaison with the top leaders of Kantadar.

How ridiculous! Who on earth was able to wipe out the Eastern Expedition Faction's influence in the Western Continent in just one or two months?

Could it be that the Westward Movement in China was behind this?

Internal fighting?
Are the masters above crazy? Aren't they afraid of angering the terrifying Majesty?

With unanswered questions in mind, the poetess climbed over the outer walls of Longka like a snake.

The enchanting figure disappeared into the wilderness in a few flashes.

The night returned to peace, leaving only the body of Canis with a pierced heart in the Longka prison, eyes wide open, as if roaring silently.
(End of this chapter)