Chapter 12 – Lin Wei and the Dragon

After Duan Yu’s words fell, Talin no longer attempted to walk out the door.

Her slender, pale fingers slowly slid down the carved handle, and when she turned around, there seemed to be something more in her eyes.

It wasn’t the sudden burst of hope that had flared up when Lin Wei said he could cure her brother, but rather a brilliant light that had gathered bit by bit—steady and unwavering.

“Humility, integrity, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, soul.” She repeated these eight words and looked up at the four people in the center of the room. “Who… are you?”

Now she no longer seemed like the fragile girl who had bravely argued with Suke with sheer courage. Instead, she had suddenly become calm and reliable, like a true knight from ancient legends.

“We have a teacher named Anuo. When we asked him if knights had truly vanished, this was his answer,” Lin Wei looked at her and spoke slowly, “The legacy of the knights may have been severed, but as long as someone remembers these eight words in the knight’s oath, the spirit of the knights still exists in this world.”

The word “knight” seemed to trigger something. Talin locked eyes with Lin Wei. “No, the legacy of the knights has not been severed. It’s just that we…”

She knew she was a knight!

So, do true knights still exist on the continent? Then why do the records in the books say that knights have vanished from the continent, with no clear explanation for their decline?

“Just what?”

Talin shook her head. “People on the continent, even the Imperial Family, already believe that knights are just legends… You must first tell me, who are you?”

Haitie took two steps forward and extended her right hand. In an instant, a small flame flickered to life in her palm.

—Knights are the best companions of mages, a gift carefully crafted by the Creator God for each other.

Talin’s reaction to this was completely different from the awe and fear that ordinary people on the continent showed when they saw mages. She remained calm, as if finally letting her guard down, and sighed in relief. “So you are mages.”

This lady knight clearly knew something.

Just as Lin Wei was about to continue the conversation with her, Talin did something that no one expected.

She suddenly knelt on one knee, her upper body still upright.

Her thin, brown leather armor outlined her slender figure, and her loose silver hair and calm eyes gave her a certain heroic air.

Before Lin Wei and the others could recover from their bewilderment, Talin spoke. “Mage, although I am not a true knight, I wish to pledge my loyalty to you in exchange for your healing of my brother.”

Suddenly being treated with such solemnity, Lin Wei didn’t react much, but Haitie was clearly uncomfortable and hurried forward to try to pull her up.

“There’s no need for this… We can go see your brother right now.”

However, no matter how much force Haitie used, Talin remained unmoved.

—Now Haitie truly understood what the books said about the physical strength of knights. Even Talin, who didn’t look particularly strong…

Lin Wei asked, “Is your brother also a knight?”

Talin replied, “He is the same as me.”

Earlier, Talin had said that she was “not a true knight.” Now, facing this question, she didn’t directly answer yes or no, but instead said her brother was the same as her.

Lin Wei noticed that Daniel’s green eyes were also turning, as if he was thinking about something—this was his habitual gesture.

It seemed Daniel had also noticed that there seemed to be more to this story.

But then again… if knights with such great power truly existed, it was impossible that they had never caused any stir on the continent.

Regardless, this might be an opportunity for them to learn more about knights.

Not to mention how excited the old men at the Magic Academy would be if they heard this news. Lin Wei was even thinking, if knights were to rise again… what kind of changes would occur in the continent’s power structure?

So, he also spoke in a formal and steady tone, “I accept your pledge of loyalty.”

—In any case, they had just secured their first knight.

Daniel rubbed his chin with his right hand and looked at Lin Wei. Without even looking, it was clear that Daniel was probably thinking something along the lines of “You’re really something, aren’t you?” or “You sly noble kid.”

Talin placed her right fist over her left shoulder, completing a silent oath of loyalty.

Lin Wei first had Talin stand up and sit back down on the chair she had been in earlier. Then he asked her, “How did your brother get injured? How is he now?”

“We’ve always been hunting low-level magical beasts at the edge of the forest, and we’ve never encountered any danger. This time, we ventured a bit deeper, wanting to try and take on some stronger beasts. But we unexpectedly ran into two mid-level dire wolves… Although we managed to kill them in the end, my brother was severely injured. The physician said that without precious medicinal herbs, he could only hold on for a day or two.”

Although it was already late at night, the energetic mages, having met Talin, clearly had no intention of going to sleep now—especially since Talin’s brother’s life was hanging by a thread.

Haitie immediately looked at Lin Wei. “Shall we go now?”

“Up to you.”

Thus, the patrons of the tavern, who had been speculating about what would happen after watching the noble-looking young masters and ladies take the “thief” girl upstairs, were stunned to see the girl who had been accused of stealing the Count’s goods walk downstairs unharmed.

Not only that, but the people following her were the same group from before, and it seemed she was now leading them!

The group completely ignored the curious and inquisitive glances from the patrons in the hall, lifted the leather curtain at the entrance, and walked out of the tavern.

Shortly after, the sound of a carriage departing could be heard. The absence of the creaking noise typical of a poor-quality carriage, combined with the heavy, powerful sound of the hooves, made the experienced mercenaries immediately recognize it as a high-end carriage.

The murmurs grew louder again. The burly Suke scratched his short, bristly hair in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Not long after, the carriage was approaching the residence where Talin and her brother lived. The large carriage could no longer navigate the narrow, winding alleyways. The group got out of the carriage and followed Talin through a maze of alleys, eventually entering one of the few small houses with dim yellow lights still on.

Talin’s home consisted of only three small rooms. Though cramped, it was tidy and clean. The only item that could be considered decoration was a rusty longsword hanging on the wall of the central room.

Talin noticed Lin Wei’s gaze on the sword and explained, “This sword has been passed down through our family for generations.”

Lin Wei didn’t say much and followed her into another room.

In the center of the room was a bed, not particularly spacious, on which lay a man with the same hair color as Talin.

“This is my brother, Nigel.”

Nigel was unconscious, his face pale, and he occasionally let out heavy, labored breaths from his chest. It was clear he was severely injured, but since the injury was recent, his face still retained its handsome, strong contours, which was different from the emaciated appearance Lin Wei and the others had imagined.

In that case, treating him should be easier. Although Daniel seemed highly unreliable, his skill in potion-making was still trustworthy—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been taken as a direct disciple by the legendary Master Sirius.

Daniel approached the bed and asked Talin, “May I examine his wounds?”

Talin nodded.

Daniel lifted the thin blanket covering Nigel, and the gruesome wound on his abdomen, which had been roughly cleaned, was exposed—it was still covered with a layer of gray-green substance, likely the work of the physician Talin had hired.

Daniel, who loved the color green, now didn’t hide his disgust for the gray-green substance. After pinching his nose and smelling the pungent odor it emitted, he mercilessly expressed his great doubts about the physician’s skill. “Juice of green silk grass, stems of golden sparrow grass, and roots of dark green vine? What kind of nonsense is this!”

After saying that, he turned to Talin and said, “Lady Knight, I’m afraid you’ll need to clean off this terrible herbal paste first… In my opinion, it does nothing but deceive people.”

Talin carefully wiped off the paste as instructed, revealing the wound, which had already begun to show signs of graying and withering.

Aside from the severe flesh wound, mid-level magical beasts already possessed the ability to use organized magical attacks. The chaotic magical elements in the wound were truly difficult for ordinary physicians to handle.

Daniel, who had memorized the contents of each of his six space rings, took out a small vial of slightly cloudy, transparent liquid from the emerald ring on his left pinky finger. “Even if that herbal paste might have had a minuscule effect, compared to this…”

As he spoke, he carefully poured the liquid onto the wound. The moment the potion made contact with the wound, a faint sizzling sound could be heard. Talin, hearing the sound, nervously looked at Nigel’s wound, but upon seeing that it wasn’t worsening, she finally relaxed.

“That’s it,” Daniel put the empty vial away and winked at Talin. “Although I can’t make your brother jump around tomorrow, by the day after, he’ll definitely be fine.”

After saying that, he even poked Nigel’s abdomen with a finger, adding with a hint of jealousy, “Tsk… he’s really solid.”

Talin was still somewhat in disbelief. “That’s all it takes?”

“That’s all,” Lin Wei said. “Talin, once your brother recovers, come find us at the tavern.”

Talin responded crisply, “Yes.”

On the way back in the carriage, Lin Wei, satisfied with the day’s gains, tugged on Duan Yu’s sleeve. “How did I do tonight?”

Duan Yu replied, “Very different from your usual self.”

“How so?”

Duan Yu seemed to think for a moment. “…Like the two dragons on the island.”

Lin Wei: “…”

The behavior of those two dragons was something everyone on the island knew all too well. They put on the airs of noble, proud dragons, but in reality, they were greedy creatures who coveted anything shiny!

If Old Ansel wasn’t around and the students who couldn’t fly needed to get to the floating island, they had to bring out some shiny gold coins or crystals. At that point, the dragon would lazily lift its noble eyelids and reluctantly carry them up to the island, but once it got its hands on the items, it would hide them faster than anyone!

For once, Daniel didn’t burst into laughter but instead spoke somewhat seriously to Lin Wei. “Speaking of which, is this how it is on the continent—you just need to act like a noble, say a few words, and that burly man immediately lets the girl go? Can nobles just oppress people, and the commoners don’t resist?”

“The gap between nobles and commoners on the continent is indeed vast,” Lin Wei also dropped his joking tone. “But… it’s nothing compared to the gap between ordinary people and mages—a severe injury like Nigel’s, which the physician thought was untreatable and could kill him at any moment, is nothing more than a small vial of the most common potion to a mage.”

Daniel lowered his eyelashes slightly, seemingly deep in thought.

The atmosphere in the carriage became somewhat heavy.

Lin Wei leaned against Duan Yu and stretched. “Don’t think about these things anymore. We’ll be here for a couple more days—how about we go into the forest tomorrow?”