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Martina didn't dare to meet Ivan and the female sorceress's eyes again. She stood up in panic and ran away in big strides.

The female mage giggled. She didn't have any bad intentions, she just thought it was fun to tease such an innocent little girl.

Fulilian (A Thousand Years of Past): Chapter 20: Celia's Strength and Beauty

The female mage asked, "As a dragon-slaying hero, why don't you go dance by the bonfire? You can easily invite any girl here now."

Ivan just shook his head. "Forget it. It's more interesting to watch the blond captain's perfect golden spiral dance. By the way, what's your name?"

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Rowling, and I specialize in fire magic. I hope you don't mind my little joke just now, handsome Ivan. But I really didn't expect that you, who are so cruel to dark dragons and demons, would be so gentle to a little girl whose cooking is so unpalatable."

The corners of Luo Lin's mouth curved slightly. "You used the space ring just now, didn't you? You even chose the right angle to prevent the child from noticing. You really put a lot of thought into it. If you don't want to drink, just tell the truth."

"Everyone understands this truth. I also understand that if the truth brings pain, a lie will only make it worse. But when I truly see those eyes filled with expectation, I still feel a little bit reluctant."

Ivan picked up the plate again and started eating. He was not very impressed by the beautiful magician's generous behavior. Compared with people with mature women attributes, Volame was much better than her in both figure and appearance.

"But Rowling, you didn't say it explicitly just now. I'm very grateful for that. It shows that you also have a gentle heart."

Rowling narrowed her eyes slightly. "Gentle... You really know how to compliment people. Other people's first impression of me is either fiery or unruly. Gentle is really refreshing to me."

"It shows that I have a keen eye for talent and can discover virtues that most people don't see." After boasting for a while, Ivan changed the subject and said, "Martina came here just now to repay a favor. Are you the same?"

"of course."

Luo Lin smiled charmingly, "But I'm not very good at cooking, so how about I repay you with my body?"

"Oh, what then?"

"And then? What then?" Rowling tilted her head innocently, looking clueless. "Isn't repaying the favor with my body enough?"

"Don't play dumb. Do you really think I'm a gullible, innocent boy? I'm sure your teammates will suddenly jump out after this is over, and then we'll have a little tantrum and even let the whole village know about it. Then they'll ask me to take responsibility for you, like joining your team and becoming a slave laborer..."

"No, no, no, it's not that dark, it's really not that dark," Rowling explained quickly. "Although I do intend to bring you into the team, I won't do it in a way that would embarrass you. And if you join, I can let you be the captain."

"What about the current captain? Would he be willing?"

"He will be willing." Rowling looked at the blond captain spinning like a top beside the campfire, her eyes twitching. "Even if he doesn't want to, we will help him to be willing."

In this chaotic era, strength is more important than knowledge, morality and emotion.

Rowling gritted her teeth.

"If you really don't want so many people, Ivan, I can leave the team and go with you!"

After facing the fear of death, Rowling has not been able to get rid of the panic until now. She feels extremely insecure inside and wants to rely on strong people to give her a sense of security.

There is no doubt that Ivan is the most powerful person here. Especially when she saw the scene of beheading the dark dragon and shooting two demons, it was destined that Rowling would go to find him tonight.

The original plan was to attack at night, but seeing Ivan and Martina chatting enthusiastically, Rowling was worried that they would get there first, so she had to attack in advance.

Luckily, I had already showered after entering the village and sprayed some perfume before coming here. It shouldn't be difficult to win over a boy who looks very young...

"Please allow me to refuse, Miss Rowling."

Ivan finally finished the food on his plate and felt that it was time to get down to business. "I advise you to stay in the team. If you follow me, you will encounter more dangers."

"Danger? What kind of danger can compare to the Dark Dragon and the Demon Clan?" Rowling paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Sure enough, it's because of that woman named Celie, right? Are you lovers or married? Even if you're married, I can still be your lover."

Ivan: “…”

Seeing the other party's silence, Rowling continued, "I won't affect your relationship. I just want to seek your protection. Yes, just treat it as a business. You don't need to have any emotional or psychological burden."

"Sorry." Ivan still shook his head, "I still firmly reject you."

Rowling was still a little unwilling to give up, so she asked, "Is that woman named Celie beautiful?"

"Of course she is beautiful, but it's not just a question of being pretty or not. Although she is beautiful on the outside, 90% of her beauty is an inner beauty... a beauty of strength! Do you understand? The kind of beauty of strength that can blow up a mountain with one punch."

Especially after spending so many years in this environment, I don’t know how much modern knowledge they have absorbed. Their combat effectiveness must have been a qualitative leap compared to the past.

"So how long will it take her to fight the Dark Dragon?"

"Less than ten seconds."

"...!"

After learning that Celie had easily defeated the fully-formed Dark Dragon, Rowling finally gave up on the idea of ​​continuing to pester Ivan. It wasn't that she couldn't pry him away, it was simply that the original wife was too powerful, capable of defeating the mistress in a single encounter. How could this be tolerated? She could only quietly return to the revelry of the adventurers.

I heard that Ivan is going to Holy Sword Mountain to draw the sword tomorrow. I wonder if he can succeed?

◇

A book by a friend of py

Introduction: The allure of free tuition and all-inclusive accommodation convinced Shirogane Yuxing to enroll in Yucheng High School. However, from the first day of enrollment, a different voice appeared in his mind:

[Take off! Take off! You've arrived at a school tailor-made for you.] Tailor-made? You can see tons of seniors struggling to survive due to poverty. And while they promised free living expenses, everything ends up costing money. [Here are beautiful girls, rare and hard to find, for you to choose from.] [Aloof and arrogant, gentle and charming, two-faced white lotus, introverted female idols, and even sickly cane girls.] [You're starting to feel excited about your future life, thinking you'll find a girlfriend in high school!] [Highly recommended: sickly cane girls; easy to conquer sickly and helpless girls!] [You're starting to feel motivated!] No motivation at all... Wait, is it really polite to attack a sickly girl? [First-year Class C, starting point, start charging upward!] [Defeat the super genius Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, defeat the Tyrannosaurus Rex, win the rich and beautiful woman, strength is everything!] Hmm. Shirogane Miyuki immediately realized there was something wrong with this narration.

People are actually teaching, and future daughters are providing assistance

Fulilian (A Thousand Years of Past): Chapter 21: The Disgraceful Viscount

The night after the hustle and bustle is often quieter than usual. Ivan returned to the hut prepared for him by the "tall and mighty" village chief, washed up, and sat comfortably on the bed.

While he was still awake, Ivan shook his bracelet again, and a sniper rifle made of dark dragon bones appeared in his hand, which he played with carefully.

This gun was inlaid with an anti-space array when it was made. With just a thought, it can be shrunk into a bracelet, or extended from a bracelet into a gun. It is much faster than taking out a gun from a space ring.

The bullets were naturally compressed from magical power and were made from the corpses of two demons whose names were not convenient to disclose. There were a total of thirty of them, and the actual damage that each bullet could cause was close to their full-strength attack.

However, if it is simply magic compression, it will quickly dissipate once exposed to the outside world. In order to preserve it for a long time, Ivan also mixed dark dragon horn powder into the bullet.

The dark dragon's corpse was truly put to good use.

Ivan kept repeating the movements of sheathing, drawing, and aiming his gun to develop a feel for how to use it. Although he was very skilled at it in the world of illusion, it still took a lot of practice to translate that experience into reality.

"Ultra-long-range sniper rifles are almost ready for actual combat, but close-range combat is also very important in everyday life."

With this idea in mind, Ivan spent a lot of energy and time to make a dragon bone pistol. It was all white, with a slightly round texture like jade, and was very comfortable to hold.

It is certainly not as powerful as a sniper rifle, but it is lighter. Ivan named it Moye, and the other one is naturally Gan Jiang.

Creating something meaningful is a joy in itself, so Ivan slept soundly that night and even dreamed of killing everyone with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye in his hands.

As for drawing the sword tomorrow, he was not worried at all.

The Holy Sword is an emergency weapon left by the Goddess in this world. It can mobilize a lot of authority. It can make the holder immortal, move mountains and fill the sea, etc. These are all basic operations. The purpose is naturally to eliminate security risks or foreign viruses that threaten the survival of the world. Under normal circumstances, it cannot be pulled out.

Fortunately, in the illusion world, Celia taught him a cheating trick that could bypass the mechanism left by the goddess and take away the sword body without changing the authority of the world in the sword. Even if Ivan did not return the holy sword, he could obtain all the authority by just putting a branch there.

Although the sword itself cannot unleash the full power of the holy sword, Ivan is not interested in its power itself. He just wants the title of a brave man to make things easier for him.

◇

"Urgent notice, the sword-drawing ceremony has to be postponed."

While having breakfast, the tall and mighty female village chief stood on tiptoe, looked up at everyone and spoke.

A well-dressed, middle-aged man with a large belly and an arrogant expression stepped out from behind her and announced to everyone, "My name is Ferro Puskas, and I'm the herald for the Viscount's relatives. I'm here to announce that the sword-drawing ceremony will be postponed until next week. Our noble King will be here with young talents from across the country. Those who draw the holy sword will even be awarded the title of Viscount on the spot!"

"Viscount?!"

The adventurers and villagers were all stunned. You know, for people of ordinary backgrounds like them, the title of knight was already out of reach.

Becoming a knight is considered a preliminary step into the circle of nobility. Barons start to have fiefs, and viscounts can even own a city and surrounding towns as territory. For example, Sword Village belongs to a viscount named Hicks.

I don't know why the king suddenly issued such an edict. You know, the stories about the brave men who pulled out the holy sword in the legend did not become nobles. They just pulled out the sword, eliminated the crisis of world destruction, and then returned the sword. Their actions that were slightly related to fame and fortune... probably only involved erecting a few bronze statues.

Soon, the messenger named Ferro told them the answer. Simply put, it was fear of death.

"Recently, the demonic attacks have become increasingly frequent, and several border cities have been engulfed in flames. Even the nearest one is less than a hundred kilometers away from Sword Village. Although His Majesty the King is being escorted by the Royal Guards and the newly formed Palace Magic Squad on this trip, and there's no need to worry about his safety, Viscount Hicks orders that Sword Village ensure proper protection and hospitality. Thoroughly clean and repair the roads along the way. We must demonstrate our spirit and leave a good impression on the King and the young talents from across the country!"

Ivan on the side: "..."

He felt a very familiar breath, and even though he didn't need to worry about these tasks, he still felt a stomachache subconsciously.

Not to mention the young village chief Wen Li, who still had a sad face until lunch.

"Do you think road construction is troublesome? You can't even eat your meal properly." Ivan came and sat down next to her and touched her head.

"Mr. Ivan!"

Wen Li pouted in dissatisfaction and said angrily, "Don't touch a lady's head like that, or you won't grow taller!"

"Sorry, sorry, I was a little impatient at the moment, and it might have developed a mind of its own. I'll fix it when I get back."

"Pfft."

The girl was amused by Ivan, and her originally frowned brows relaxed temporarily. "Mr. Ivan, are you here to enlighten me? I didn't expect you to be such a humorous person."

"Life is full of suffering, so finding joy in adversity is a compulsory subject for adults."

After finishing his opening remarks, Ivan didn't continue talking nonsense and got straight to the point. "Now you can tell me why you're so depressed."

"Well...it's nothing secretive. Just as you guessed, it's about road construction and the overall renovation of the village."

Winry sighed softly, her brow furrowing again.

"It's winter now, and with the adventurers hired to clean up the monsters, the village's finances are already low. We need to be frugal to make it until spring. Now we have to build roads and host banquets, and we can't afford it. What's worse is that the higher-ups haven't set standards. What if we don't do it right... Sigh."

It’s not easy to conduct spot checks, Loli sighed.

Ivan was a little puzzled: "That shouldn't be the case. Normally, for a large-scale event like this, the higher-ups should allocate money and supplies."

"I asked the Ferro Herald about this, and his face turned terrifying. He then told me that the local finances were also in trouble and that I needed to find a solution myself. The few carts of ginseng grain and a few skinny slaves he brought with him were the most support Viscount Hicks could offer."

The slaves at the village entrance and Che Yiwen had also seen him. At that time, they thought he was a refugee. Now it seems... Viscount Hicks seems to be eating in a somewhat unbecoming manner.

Fulilian (Thousand Years of Past): Chapter 22: Help Him Look Good

In Ivan's original plan, after pulling out the body of the holy sword, he would expand with the Sword Village as the base, but now that the king has agreed to directly confer the title, he can definitely take a long-term view.

There is too much uncertainty in the fiefdom issue. The good places have already been divided up. Even if they are divided up, they are divided into messes, or even directly into places where war is already going on, leaving him no time and space to develop.

The more likely scenario is that he would be granted an honorary viscountship without any territory. There is no better excuse than that all the land has already been divided.

So if you plan to climb up, you have to make sure there is space free up for people above you.

"Village Chief Wen Li, what do you think of Viscount Hicks?"

"Eh? Why are you talking about this suddenly?" The girl's face turned pale as if she recalled something very scary.

"You just need to tell me your true evaluation."

"Woo..."

Winry glanced around nervously, then leaned over to Ivan's ear and whispered, "Viscount Hicks has a terrible reputation. It's not just because he likes to collect taxes and gossip, but he's also very, very bad at treating the women in his territory. Many civilian women, especially the young and lovely ones, have been murdered by him, and it's said that several have been killed. He's never been to Sword Village because it's quite remote, but he'll definitely be there this time. I'm very afraid he'll..."

She trembled with fear, and her petite and pitiful appearance looked particularly helpless.

"No need to say more, I already know what I'm going to do. I'll pick the largest bullet for him." Ivan patted her shoulder to comfort her.

The young village chief in front of me is a very talented person. Although he is still young, he can manage such a large village in an orderly manner. He is definitely a rare internal affairs talent.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

As soon as Ivan said this, he felt that such words of comfort were too empty and could not stop Wen Li's mental exhaustion at all. It would be better to find something for her to do.

"The village can remain untouched for now. Let's focus on the exterior first. Build the road to horse-drawn carriage standards, widen the road surface, and repair any potholes. We'll start work after you finish eating. The sooner we finish, the better."

"Hmm." Wen Li nodded lacking interest.

Ivan was helpless. After all, he was just trying to divert her attention. She would probably still be worried until the problem was solved.

After finishing his lunch at the village chief's office, Ivan was walking back to his room. On the way, he met adventurers or villagers who were also taking a walk after lunch, and they all nodded in greeting.

Until I met Martina, who was holding a lunch box and was probably preparing to deliver food to her father.

She looked a little strange, and when she saw Ivan coming over, she was obviously at a loss. She stammered, "I really didn't mean that about what happened last night. I just wanted to express my gratitude..."

Ivan jokingly said, "I'm a little hurt by your serious explanation. It makes me seem unattractive. Am I really that ugly?"

Martina quickly waved her hand in denial.

"Ah? No, that's not what I meant... Ugh, sorry, I think I said the wrong thing again."

Ivan smiled and said, "I'm just kidding. Don't take it seriously. Where are you going?"

"My father is chopping trees in the woods east of the village. I'm bringing him lunch."

"I'm going back to my room. We can walk together for a while, so come on. I just happen to have something I want to ask you."

"it is good."