The youth's voice was firm, both fists clenched, his face flushed red, and a faint, ethereal glow continuously radiated from his body.
"So determined? You won't change your mind? Once you go to the Eastern Capital, I might not continue teaching you anymore!"
Leilin wore an amused expression on his face.
"A Great Knight! That's nothing—in the Jenny family alone, you could find a dozen of them! Leaving aside all the dangers on the road that could take your life, what do you plan to do after you escort Jenny back? Serve as a guard captain in the Augustus family? Or worse, become a mercenary?"
"Have you thought all of this through?"
Leilin asked.
Willen's face had gone somewhat pale, but his voice remained steady: "I understand all of that! But... but if I don't escort Jenny safely back home, my conscience will never be at peace—I can feel that clearly..."
"Fine! You can leave, but don't ever come back!"
Leilin looked at this underling of his that was brimming with a sense of justice and said flatly, then turned and walked back into his room.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, leaving Willen standing there alone in silence.
"Willen! Thank you!" At that moment, a small, cold hand settled on top of Willen's calloused palm.
"Jen... Jenny, you just...?" Willen's words became stammering again.
A similarly cold finger, carrying a faint fragrance, pressed against Willen's lips.
"You don't need to say anything!"
Jenny murmured, resting her head against Willen's shoulder.
"I remember when I was little, I loved resting my head on Father's shoulder like this. Now, could I borrow yours for a little while?"
"O-of course. It would be my honor..." Willen stood there dazedly, the fragrance from Jenny's hair drifting to his nose. He didn't dare move a single muscle.
...
A night passed, and Willen gazed at the beautiful figure that had long since disappeared from view, as well as the damp patch on his shoulder, and let out a bitter smile.
"Let's go!"
On a simple little cargo wagon, Willen was dressed in rough linen, looking like a cart driver, while Jenny and Jamers had been hidden inside the wagon. At the four corners atop the wagon, large torches had been lit, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
"Don't worry! They won't necessarily find you!" Willen continued trying to reassure those behind him.
Inside the wagon, Jenny and Jamers exchanged a bitter smile.
Since the Marquis's condition was urgent, Jenny and Jamers had chosen to press on once their injuries had stabilized somewhat. But the mercenaries and adventurers of Bott Town had already been wiped out in the previous encounters, and now it was obvious that someone was ambushing Jenny's convoy. Who would still dare risk their life to go along?
Even the Baron, after losing his only Knight and most of his elite soldiers, had come to deeply regret it. The way he looked at Jenny now was more like regarding a plague god.
In his eyes, Jenny, this bringer of misfortune, could leave as soon as possible—as long as nothing happened on his territory, it had nothing to do with him.
This attitude became even more pronounced after he received an anonymous letter from the Eastern Capital, and he flatly refused Jenny's request for a meeting.
The feudal territories of this era were more like independent little kingdoms. Seeing the Baron's attitude, none of the residents of Bott Town dared to offer Jenny and the others any more help.
This little cargo wagon had been purchased by Willen only after he paid three times the market price.
Even then, the seller had made it clear that it was being sold to Willen alone and had nothing to do with Jenny.
They had absolutely no confidence in Willen's crude arrangement!
But what else could be done?
Watching the closed doors of the Flame and Hammer shop, Jenny and Jamers' eyes flickered with disappointment, and Willen's expression grew even more somber.
But he gritted his teeth, glanced back at Jenny, and whipped the reins!
Crack!
The wagon began to trundle slowly down the road, carrying the three of them away from the town.
"Wait, could I catch a ride?"
Just as Willen watched the town shrink to a black dot in the distance, his heart full of uncertainty about the future, a voice rang out from the roadside, as pleasant as a melody from heaven.
"Bo... Boss!"
Willen wiped his eyes and saw Leilin standing by the road in a fitted black outfit with a small bundle slung over his back. A mixture of guilt, excitement, and relief flooded his face.
"Lord Leilin! I'm so grateful you came!"
At that moment, Jenny and Jamers emerged directly from the cramped interior of the wagon. Upon seeing Leilin, both wore expressions of immense relief.
In their eyes, since the unfathomable Mr. Leilin was stepping in, what was there left to worry about?
In fact, a subtle gleam of joy flickered in Jamers' and Jenny's eyes.
Through Willen, they had successfully drawn Leilin—a hermit who was very likely a full
Leilin could see through their little scheme without even trying, but he showed nothing, allowing Willen to respectfully escort him onto the wagon.
With a powerhouse like Leilin to anchor the group, the trio's mood immediately relaxed a great deal.
They discarded all the goods that had served as a disguise and converted the emptied wagon interior into a passenger carriage style. At last, they no longer had to squeeze into narrow gaps and hide away.
Clip-clop, clip-clop!
The carriage wheels rolled along in a rhythmic cadence, pulled forward by two old horses with all their might, carrying the carriage steadily onward.
"Lord Leilin! Why are you willing to give up your little shop and come with me to the Eastern Capital?"
Willen looked at Leilin, who had his eyes closed in rest, held back, held back again, and finally couldn't help but ask.
"Of course it's because of you, you idiot! If you go out on your own, how could I not worry?"
Leilin opened his eyes and said calmly.
"Bo... Boss, I'm so moved..." Willen choked up, glistening tears welling in the corners of his eyes.
"If you thought I would say something like that, you're sorely mistaken!" But then, Leilin's next words left Willen standing there, dumbfounded.
"Business at the Flame and Hammer hasn't been great lately. I've been thinking about going to the Eastern Capital to look around, find a good spot to make a big deal or open a branch or something. Since you happen to be going too, I figured I'd hitch a ride..."
"No! You must be lying! You actually came because you were worried about my safety, right? Right, Boss?"
Willen's expression was on the verge of crumbling, while Jenny and Jamers behind him looked like they wanted to laugh but didn't dare.
"Think whatever you like."
Leilin was somewhat speechless at this employee who thought far too highly of himself.
He said nothing more, then pulled his coat tighter and seemed to drift off to sleep.
But in his mind, he silently called: "Chip! Display my current status!"
"Leilin Farell. Second-rank Warlock. Bloodline: Komoin Giant Serpent. Strength: 21.1. Agility: 14.4. Constitution: 27.9. Spirit: 77 (104.3). Mana: 77 (Mana synchronously determined by Spiritual Power). Condition: Sea of Consciousness shattered; a small portion of Spiritual Power undergoing solidification!"
After more than two years of recuperation, Leilin had been using various potions to repair the damage to his body, and by now all his physical injuries had been fully healed.
However, the damage to his Sea of Consciousness and Spiritual Power was progressing extremely slowly, making Leilin somewhat impatient.
Therefore, once this wave of his Warlock bloodline's emotional turbulence had subsided, he immediately decided to set off for the Eastern Capital to find methods and means to accelerate the process.
After banishing the tracking mark of the third-rank Wizard Avik, he had now released a portion of his Spiritual Power, restoring his strength to roughly that of a peak first-rank Wizard.
With that level of power, whether on the South Coast or in the Dark Pole Domain, he was more than capable of going wherever he pleased—as long as he didn't offend any second-rank Wizard or above, he was essentially a local overlord!
Although the Dark Pole Domain, owing to the abundance of advanced Meditation Methods in circulation, had a Wizard community whose overall strength was comparable to the South Coast, there were still some differences.
Leilin, who himself practiced an advanced Meditation Method, was well aware of these distinctions.
Advanced Meditation Methods inherited from the ancient Wizards could elevate a Wizard's rank with each tier of progress and would even bestow various extraordinary abilities—but they also came with several notable drawbacks!
Once raised to a certain height, ordinary mundane resources became completely ineffective for their advancement. They had to obtain certain extremely rare, bizarre resources—or even resources from other worlds—in order to push the Meditation Method further. Otherwise, they would remain stuck at that level indefinitely.
In the ancient era, Wizards had conquered one other world after another, and resources were extraordinarily abundant. Moreover, the Dark Pole Domain had not yet been cut off from contact with the outside world, so these had not been problems. But now, trouble had arrived.
The Dark Pole Domain had not only lost its supply of resources from other worlds, but even its connection to the underground world had been severed.
And some advanced Meditation Methods demanded such unique resources with an almost absurd level of exactitude that even substitutes were unacceptable!
Therefore, while the Wizards here had a much higher probability of advancing to full Wizard rank than their South Coast counterparts, at the second-rank Wizard level they would very likely be caught up with.
As for third-rank Wizards, Leilin speculated that they might be even rarer than on the South Coast!
After all, the higher a Wizard's rank, the scarcer the resources required—and for those who practiced advanced Meditation Methods, this was doubly true.
Without those precious supplementary resources, the only way for Wizards to advance was to rely on time, pushing the Meditation Method forward bit by bit, drop by drop. This glacial pace of progress was enough to drive nearly all Wizards to despair.
The majority of Wizards would exhaust their entire lifespans without ever breaking through to the next tier of their Meditation Method, growing old and dying filled with helplessness and unwillingness!