"Boom!"
Inside the house, the fireworks, like a dazzling sun, relentlessly devoured everything around them.
Two figures flew out of the gap in the wall, crashing towards the farther courtyard wall. The little green winged snake, who was first to fly out, desperately flapped its wings and leaped over the quickly approaching wall, flying high into the sky.
The other figure was not so lucky, hitting the wall and even breaking through it, tumbling down onto the street outside.
"Eckerz, it turned out to be the rare explosive potion, you were right, he indeed had good stuff in his hands. Too bad that bug activated it."
Once the noise inside the house had quieted down, leaving a mess everywhere, the little green winged snake flew back, excitedly talking about the just-now exploded potion, seemingly unaffected by the blast.
"Cough cough cough."
Unlike it, Eckerz was covered in dust and dirt, even his usually neat grey robe was now tattered and torn, with multiple rips, and his back and hood showed signs of being scorched by flames.
He downed two potions and sat on the ground, his face dark as he stared at the house.
This time, he was injured repeatedly, and he had also lost an important magic defense scroll. If it weren’t for this scroll, the enemy might have taken him down with them.
In the explosion, half of the residence collapsed, and the owner was buried in the flames.
Such commotion alarmed many. Some were hiding, scared to get close, especially after seeing the strange creature in the sky and the odd figure on the ground.
"The City Guard is here."
The City Guard arrived belatedly.
The City Guard should have detained anyone suspicious. The leader, quite astute, sent someone to inform the higher-ups while cordoning off the area, driving away the remaining residents, and ignoring Eckerz, who was still fuming.
Upon receiving the news, Baron Karl, the City Lord’s confidant, hastened to the site. He glanced at the marks of magic battle left inside the house then turned to observe the beleaguered sorcerer apprentice.
"Mr. Eckerz, what happened here?"
Eckerz had been waiting for the person in charge. He said coldly, "The person inside was a sorcerer’s runaway slave. I just fought with him."
Baron Karl, naturally aware of who lived there, said with a surprised face, "Is that so? This person opened a medical clinic not far from here. He was liked by the nearby residents. I didn’t expect him to be an unruly slave, alas!"
He sighed heavily.
Sensing an opportunity, Eckerz asked, "Where is that place? We need to check it out."
Since Baron Karl knew his status, he did not refuse, "Mr. Eckerz, just two streets over that way. I will lead you there."
Hearing the Baron say so, someone immediately cleared the way.
As a result, they didn’t find any clues about the porcupine’s burrow but ended up hunting quite a lot of game.
The same thing happened the next day.
For two days in a row, Ivan and Beaman learned how to use a shield, and this time nobody said anything about it.
He also treated Captain Marshall, making the latter’s face gradually look more human. In a few more days, he would be completely healed.
Night.
Bored, the two brothers Ivan and Beaman ended up wandering to the other side of the castle, just as they discovered a large rock behind a bush, they casually sat down on it to chat.
"At this rate, how long do you think we’ll have to wait?"
"Mercenary work is like this; you can encounter any situation. Just take it easy, there will be a day when it’s all completed."
"I hope that day comes sooner rather than later."
Ivan was not a man lacking in patience, but he was not used to and somewhat uncomfortable with the absence of any increase in Experience Points after several days here. He started to miss the days back at Flying Fish Port.
Beaman was about to reply when they heard some noises and voices from the other side of the bush, causing him to shut his mouth.
"Miss Lisa, why have you been ignoring me recently? Did I do something wrong?"
"Buck, I told you, stop bothering me from now on."
The two voices spoke in succession, one of them belonging to Baron’s daughter Lisa, the Miss Church who had been recently pestering Ivan.
Beaman raised an eyebrow and teased someone with a look.
Ivan felt that it was improper to eavesdrop on people’s conversations and thought about standing up, but Beaman pulled him back and signaled him to stay quiet and watch the drama unfold. Ivan didn’t want to embarrass him.
"Is it because of Captain Marshall? You said you no longer liked Marshall—is he forcing you? I—"
"No, dear Buck, I admit that you are the handsomest man in Black Pine Forest territory, and I was once attracted to you. But you’ve never been to Flying Fish Port, you don’t know how vast the world is, and you have no idea how outstanding he is. It’s not that you’ve done something wrong; it’s just that you can’t compare to him."
"Who? That mercenary’s son, that arrogant Ivan?"
"Shut your mouth, Buck. I won’t allow you to speak that way about Mr. Ivan. You don’t understand the depth of Mr. Ivan, none of you do. Only I can comprehend Mr.
Ivan,"
The other voice carried clearly to the two behind the bush. After listening to a few sentences, as one of the parties involved, Ivan felt rather bewildered. What were they talking about? Could this be the secretive life of the nobility?
He was curious to see how Miss Church understood him and why she was fixated on him, someone she had barely met.