Chapter 41: Female Mage

The inn attendant standing nearby, having heard the merchant Wodun's orders, was about to leave to prepare according to the guest's request when the mage Shaoke suddenly said, "Mr. Wodun, today is a day for you and your daughter to celebrate. As an outsider, I'd just be intruding. Moreover, I need to check in at the local military headquarters and will stay in the barracks tonight. After all, it's quieter and more convenient over there. Thank you for your invitation."

"But esteemed Lord Mage Xueye, I do hope you'll stay and celebrate with us. Besides, you're not an outsider—you've agreed to help my daughter. It's only right that I properly thank you," the merchant said disappointedly, inviting the mage before him once more, hoping to use this opportunity to bring them closer. "And I haven't even introduced my daughter to you yet. She's very beautiful, with blue hair."

"No need. We can talk tomorrow morning," Shaoke declined again, as he genuinely wasn't accustomed to staying at the inn. The main reason was that being alone in an unfamiliar environment at night made him feel somewhat unsafe, which would prevent him from focusing on his meditation. However, staying in the barracks wouldn't pose such concerns.

The merchant had no choice but to let Shaoke leave. Nevertheless, he paid a silver coin to have an inn attendant guide the mage. Shaoke gave a nod of thanks and, led by the attendant, headed toward the barracks.

Outside, darkness had already fallen, and the streets had thinned out. Only some local small vendors, taking advantage of their local knowledge, were still open for business. Four-wheeled carriages with lanterns hanging from them occasionally cruised the streets in search of potential passengers. After inquiring with the guiding attendant, Shaoke learned that the barracks were at the other end of the small town. It would be a long walk. Shaoke asked the attendant to flag down a carriage for him and then sent him back, as the carriage drivers knew the town much better than an inn attendant.

The carriage driver steadily drove Shaoke to the barracks. When Shaoke offered the silver coins, the driver looked panicked. "Sir, thank you for your reward."

Shaoke was baffled. "You've earned this. You drove the carriage very steadily—it's not a reward." Shaoke held out a few silver coins right in front of the driver, whose hand trembled as he took them, not daring to look at Shaoke. "Thank you, sir. I thought you were like those other mages..."

Once the driver took the money, Shaoke didn't wait to hear more. Instead, he turned and walked toward the barracks entrance ahead. He guessed that this driver was receiving silver from a mage for the first time; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so hesitant to accept it. It seemed the mages on the border were quite stingy. In reality, Shaoke didn't know that mages here didn't need to pay for carriage rides. The reasons why, however, are beside the point.

Shaoke showed his identification to the soldiers at the entrance. Finally, the two soldiers, gripping their spears tightly, let the strange mage shrouded in white mist pass. Although they had seen many mages come and go here, this was the first time they had encountered such an odd one. Had it not been for the other soldiers nearby and the fact they had just seen this strange person arrive with the carriage driver, they would have issued a warning from afar long ago. After all, a mage emitting white mist, illuminated by the firelight in front of the camp, easily brought to mind some terrifying thoughts.

Although those responsible for welcoming the reporting mages had already rested, a commander in the camp, upon hearing the soldiers' report, personally came to sign Shaoke's pass and had the soldiers prepare a place for the mage to rest and a lavish dinner.

Seeing that Shaoke seemed somewhat silent, the commander, after finishing all this, tactfully saluted and left, giving Shaoke ample personal space.

Shaoke felt somewhat fatigued. After all, he had spent the past few days on a bumpy carriage, which hadn't allowed him to rest well. Fortunately, his nightly meditation had somewhat alleviated this fatigue.

After writing today's log and taking a drop of diluted empty stone liquid, Shaoke began his meditation. First, he observed the changes in his mental space. The light spots representing mental power in his mental space had increased slightly compared to when he had just advanced, but it would still take a considerable amount of time to fill the entire mental space. Fortunately, he hadn't missed a single dose of the empty stone liquid during this period, so its purity remained relatively good.

Now, Shaoke wanted to first increase the magic power in his magic space to its limit before focusing on increasing his mental power. After all, the magic space was more than half smaller than the mental space. However, even so, Shaoke estimated that, relying on his current meditation method and auxiliary herbs, it would still take over three years to reach the limit of his magic power—that is, the peak of the second rank. As for the growth of mental power, Shaoke estimated it would take nearly five years under current conditions to reach its limit. As for the subsequent purification work, he hadn't considered how long it would take. But overall, Shaoke still needed to work hard for about ten more years to qualify for promotion to the third rank. Of course, all of this was under ideal conditions. If anything happened along the way, the time for advancement would need to be postponed.

After eating the breakfast brought by the soldiers, Shaoke found the commander who had signed his pass the previous night to bid farewell. This commander also understood the thoughts of these newly promoted mages and, with envy, saw him off and hailed a carriage for the mage to use.

Although Shaoke wanted to leave alone, considering that his many belongings were still with that merchant, he had to let the carriage driver take him there. After all, he couldn't just abandon the books he had painstakingly collected and the gifts from the soldiers in the small town!

As soon as Shaoke got out of the carriage, the attendants at the entrance recognized the mage shrouded in white mist who had arrived yesterday. They cautiously invited him into the inn. Fortunately, there weren't many guests, so Shaoke sat in the main hall and had an attendant notify Merchant Wodun.

Just as Shaoke was gently swirling a cup filled with clear water, the merchant hurried over and saluted, saying, "Esteemed Lord Mage Xueye, shall we go to the back? There are quite a few people here."

"Alright, lead the way," Shaoke said, glancing at the surrounding and the people secretly watching him at the entrance. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he agreed to the merchant's suggestion.

After passing through a narrow corridor, they arrived at the place where the merchant and his daughter stayed. The attendants didn't live here, as it cost more silver coins compared to ordinary rooms.

The merchant led Shaoke to a room and gently knocked on the door carved with some patterns. "Dear daughter, it's me. Father has invited Lord Mage Xueye over." "Lord Mage Xueye, my daughter is in this room. Just a moment, please," the merchant softly explained his earlier action.

When the door opened, what appeared before Shaoke was a slightly short mage wearing a black hooded cloak. The wide brim of the hood covered most of the other's face. Shaoke could only see that the exposed part of the face was very fair and delicate.

"Father, come in quickly! It's cold outside," the mage before him softly called to her father. "Mage Xueye! Thank you for coming. Please come in."

Shaoke and the mage who had just opened the door sat somewhat stiffly around the long, low-legged table placed beside the fireplace. The merchant, however, was quite at ease, casually adding a few pieces of firewood to the fireplace to make the room warmer.

"Esteemed Lord Mage Xueye, this is my daughter I mentioned the day before yesterday, Francis, Francis Wodun," the merchant formally introduced his daughter. "Dear daughter, can't you take off that annoying cloak for the sake of having a guest? Oh! I didn't mean you, esteemed Lord Mage Xueye."

Shaoke originally didn't want to remove his cloak, but hearing the merchant say this to his daughter, he felt it would be impolite not to do so. So, he softly chanted the spell to deactivate the magic array and then took off his cloak, hanging it on a nearby hook.

"Mr. Wodun, you can just call me Mage Xueye. As you said, I'm not an outsider," Shaoke adjusted his robe and sat down again.

"Thank you! Mage Xueye, you are truly handsome!" the merchant said somewhat flatteringly, but Shaoke felt uncomfortable. Did he have to flatter like this? An old man calling someone who, without the mage identity, would be forgotten at a glance on the street, handsome? Shaoke felt uneasy and turned to look at the other mage.

The merchant's daughter complied with her father's words, but she only removed the hood covering her head: a head of blue hair, slightly curly, cascaded over her shoulders, tied only in the middle with a ribbon of the same color to prevent it from becoming too messy. Her blue eyes were slightly closed, and she lowered her head slightly, gazing at the silver wine cup in her hand. The skin on her face was very fair and delicate; Shaoke could even see the fine down on her small mouth.

"To the successful advancement of both of you, cheers!" The merchant secretly glanced at the expressions of the two mages, raised his glass, and offered the first toast.

"Mr. Wodun, to you having such a wonderful daughter, cheers!" Shaoke followed with his own toast.

The female mage blushed slightly, took a small sip of wine, glanced at Shaoke, and then lowered her eyes again, staring intently at the wine cup in her hand.

"Mage Xueye, Francis is also going to report to the imperial military headquarters in the capital. It happens to be the same destination as yours. Could she go with you? It would be good to have someone to look out for each other on the way. I won't be accompanying her to the capital," the merchant said, putting down his wine cup and cutting a small piece of pastry from the table for his daughter to cover up his unease.

"Mr. Wodun, I would very much like to have a mage companion for this journey. However, this matter still needs to consider Miss Woton's opinion," Shaoke said, looking at the merchant. He somewhat hoped to travel with a female mage he found beautiful, as his physical desires were beginning to yearn for female companionship.