Chapter 247: The Empire’s Military Graveyard

As the mage looked on in confusion, Shaoke took out a piece of white paper and sketched on it with a feather pen tipped with blue-gold. A thin, cloaked figure appeared, looking very blurry, as if under a Blur spell. The figure held a huge scythe, giving off an eerie vibe. This was Shaoke's redesign, based on the Grim Reaper's look from his past life and the image of mages in this world; at least it looked decent.

"Are you planning to use this symbol in the future?" The Death Mage set the paper aside. "I'll report this to the higher-ups, and they'll take care of it."

"What if I take these and leave the Blue Feather Empire for good?" Shaoke couldn't help asking. He wanted to know how this mage would respond, and more importantly, what the Death Mage Corps would do about it.

"You won't," the Death Mage said firmly. "Even if you leave, you'll end up coming back. Without a major power backing you, you'll have to fight for yourself, and then you'll think about forming or joining another faction. But by then, you'll realize they can't compare to the Death Mage Corps." He chuckled softly. "Covering your expenses for a hundred years is just a normal day's cost for the Blue Feather Empire's Death Mage Corps. What's there to feel bad about? The higher-ups never care about such things."

Shaoke nodded after hearing the Death Mage's explanation. The Death Mage then headed back to the underground base through the tunnel. As for the Mist Trade Guild causing him trouble later, that wasn't his problem, since he wasn't responsible for that.

After he finished copying the spells he planned to learn, Shaoke decided to leave the capital and, as he had previously decided, visit his hometown in this world. He planned to stay there for a while and get some good rest. As for forming the Wandering Mage Alliance, he temporarily set it aside, since there was no time limit for that task. However, before leaving, he still had some matters to handle.

After packing all his belongings, Shaoke informed the noble steward of his impending departure. The steward dutifully reminded his temporary master, "Honorable Mage, the Mist Trade Guild folks are still out there looking for you. Be careful." Then he saw the master off.

After thanking the steward, Shaoke took a carriage straight to Mage Roman's small castle. Worried about the Mist Trade Guild attacking, he deliberately extended his mental power to detect anything within a dozen meters, ready to fight if he spotted anything suspicious. Everything went smoothly, except for a short delay when two cargo carts blocked a street. The mage arrived safely at the small castle of the Blizzard Legion.

He met Mage Roman again at the tavern, but this time she was accompanied by Sixth Tier Mage Yisier. The three mages chatted warmly in a quiet corner, where other mages would hardly notice them if they weren't paying attention. When they learned Shaoke was about to leave, Roman and Yisier felt a bit helpless, but since they had already mentally prepared for this, the atmosphere didn't become too somber.

"Xueye, the Blizzard Legion still hasn't dealt with those nobles and merchants from back then. I think you should watch your back when you're out alone," Roman said, frowning slightly as she brought up the Mist Trade Guild. "I heard they're looking for you." She added, "But the Blizzard Legion hasn't gotten its strength back yet, so we can't help you in other ways." She looked at Shaoke with concern. After all, a trade guild with tens of thousands of years of history likely had considerable reserves of high-level power.

"They can't have Eighth Tier professionals," Shaoke patted the female mage's hand. "And I'm not afraid of Seventh Rank professionals." He twitched his mouth, sensing someone probing him with magic power. But the probe quickly vanished after Shaoke became alert, so he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the prober.

"If I catch that bastard, I'll kill him with my own hands," Yisier said, also sensing the probe. But she too failed to locate the prober. Under Roman's puzzled gaze, Yisier explained, which made Roman furious. However, with the prober's quick escape, they could do nothing.

"Before I leave, I want to visit some of my comrades from that war," Shaoke said after a moment of silence, finally pulling out the pale blue dagger left behind by the Sleazy Officer after his death. "Roman, did you make this?"

"No, it was made by an ancestor of my family," Roman glanced at the dagger and said softly, "It can somewhat dispel the target's Aura or spell protection. That's its only feature." She seemed to recall something and sighed softly.

Having decided to visit his former battlefield comrades, the mages quickly prepared to set out. Since the imperial military cemetery wasn't inside the capital but on a small hill outside the city, they took a carriage to the cemetery.

Silence. After sending the carriage away, Shaoke felt a sense of silence envelop him. After a brief pause, the three mages walked up the smooth mountain path. There were few people on the road, and when they met, they only nodded politely before passing by.

Although it was a small hill, it took the mages nearly a magic hour to reach the cemetery gate without using any Support Spells. A dilapidated log cabin stood there, housing a caretaker. The caretaker looked very old, with a graying beard almost reaching his waist and tangled hair spread on the ground. After hearing the mages' purpose, he quickly pointed out the location of the Blizzard Legion's public cemetery. Thanking the old man, the three mages followed the path forward. The old man staggered back into his cabin, as winter was approaching, and the blizzards would make it hard for him to endure the cold outside.

The path was lined with dense small graves, with low stone slabs detailing the lives of their occupants. Some had epitaphs prepared in advance, while others had only brief introductions. Occasionally, visitors meticulously cleared the withered weeds around the graves, making the cemetery look cleaner.

After casting Feather Fall, Shaoke and the others reached the Blizzard Legion's cemetery an hour later. Only then did they realize that the seemingly small hill actually stretched across many peaks. Faced with the endless rows of graves, the mages were at a loss, unsure how to find the deceased they knew. Fortunately, a young legionnaire was nearby. After asking him, Shaoke and the others followed his instructions and soon located the graves of those who died in the conflict with the nobles in the small town years ago.

The first was the Necromancer's grave. A few sparse lines introduced his life and mentioned his cause of death. Perhaps he had sensed he would die on the battlefield, so his epitaph was quite interesting: "This was finalized after several revisions. Mage Xueye, if I die, please bring some mage or Ritualist heads and place them before my eternal resting place. I think I'll have plenty of time to turn them into staves. Also, if you pick up my staff, please leave it at my door; I think I'll need it. Busy with experiments now, talk later."

The Necromancer's epitaph nearly made Shaoke cry. Among the entire small mage team, he had been closest to the Necromancer. Almost half of the heads on the Necromancer's staff had been hunted by Shaoke himself. The Necromancer had repeatedly pestered Shaoke to recommend him to the Death Mage Corps. Thinking about it, Shaoke finally couldn't hold back his tears. How similar he was to himself! If not for that conflict, the Necromancer might have become a Sixth Tier mage by now.

Shaoke took out the pale white staff and thrust it firmly into the ground before the Necromancer's grave. Then, leaning over the small stone slab, he used a sharp carving knife to inscribe in Chinese on the blank space: "The staff is placed here. I hope you can soon find a female practitioner willing to accept you." After carving, he stood up, performed a salute, and then checked the graves of the other mages who died in that conflict.

Every deceased person's life story was carved on the tombstones, and Shaoke memorized it all. Doing this, he couldn't help feeling sorrow for how he had interacted with them back then. He didn't even know their names when they were alive, yet now he had to remember every detail of their deeds after death. Perhaps this was the greatest irony for him.

In an inconspicuous corner, Yisier found the Sleazy Officer's grave.

The carving on the stone slab depicted him as he looked before his injury, with a strange posture and expression that made him unlikable. The introduction was very simple: "Former Commander of the Blizzard Warriors of the Blizzard 33rd Corps. Served for 135 years, died as an Eighth Tier Warrior." Aside from this line, there was no other introduction. This puzzled the mages, but they didn't intend to delve deeper, as it was beyond their control. Moreover, they didn't know much about the Sleazy Officer's specific deeds, so what could they add?