33: wizard

[Divination 1: Alastair Cecil, a youth who had been orphaned since childhood and made a living by stealing, recently stole a Wizard Scroll from an official's home in Suostai City. He was subsequently pursued by a group of unidentified and mysterious individuals. However, possessing extremely strong counter-reconnaissance skills and good luck, he managed to shake off his pursuers. He will pass through Ironthorn Town tomorrow at noon, disguised within an ironware merchant caravan heading toward the Western Frontier.]

[Divination 2: The Black Flame Demon Bear is feeling extremely enraged due to its failure to kill the daughter of its enemy. Over the past few days, it has been on a killing spree in the Mist Forest to vent its fury, causing many beasts to flee outside the forest. The surrounding territories have suffered significant damage because of this. Among them, a herd consisting of over a dozen Wild Bulls will flee into the Ironthorn Territory in two days.]

[Divination 3: Recently, Stellar Dewitt, the son of a viscount who was dispatched to the Western Frontier Territory, was killed in a collision after his horse lost control while passing through the Baron Territory of Jonathan Steven.]

Wizard!

If those two characters were seen separately, Lister wouldn't feel much, but together, they made his heart skip a beat.

In the Pedan Kingdom, the word 'Wizard' was a taboo that could not even be mentioned, all stemming from the Witch Hunt incident over four hundred years ago.

About six hundred years ago, in a kingdom where only mages existed, a mage named Senior Jonat appeared out of nowhere.

He abandoned the traditional mage's method of cultivating Spiritual Power combined with natural elements, instead obtaining magical power by forming contracts with creatures in nature.

This method opened up a broad path for those who wanted to become mages but lacked sufficient talent.

For a time, a large number of mages were born. Due to their different cultivation methods, the world gave them a new name—Wizard.

During this period, the prestige of the Church reached its peak, and even the royal power was constrained by them.

But later, traditional mages gradually discovered that the cultivation methods of those Wizards were becoming increasingly strange.

They no longer limited themselves to contracts with ordinary creatures, but instead obtained magical power through Gu-refinement, curses, contracting evil creatures, and even plundering life.

These actions brought great shock and turmoil to the kingdom at that time. Consequently, traditional mages led by the Church, knights led by the royal power, and other practitioners triggered the famous Witch Hunt.

After more than two hundred years of bloody and tragic struggle, the Wizards in the kingdom were completely wiped out. The Witch Hunt thus ended, and 'Wizard' became a taboo in the kingdom.

"But why would a Wizard Scroll appear now, and in an official's home? Could those mysterious people be Wizards?..." Lister muttered softly to himself.

He thought about many things for a moment, but due to the taboo nature of the topic, he knew nothing beyond the official accounts and couldn't figure out the reason.

However, even if he couldn't figure it out, he still took it seriously. Originally, he hadn't wanted to get involved in this mess.

But the divination information was clear: Alastair Cecil had successfully shaken off the mysterious pursuers, showing that he was currently safe.

Then he could unhesitatingly take the Wizard Scroll. After all, he was very interested in Wizards, and he also wanted to recruit a talent like Alaster.

As for whether there would be danger?

Yes, but he felt it was minimal. Since those people were pursuing in secret, it meant they most likely weren't officials; otherwise, there would be no need for such secrecy.

Of course, there was another reason for his confidence: Daisna. As for what to do, he already had some ideas... Snapping back to reality, he looked at the second piece of divination information.

"Black Flame Demon Bear?" Lister was startled for a moment but immediately realized: "It must be the magical beast that attacked Daisna. How truly tyrannical."

Speaking of which, his lips curled up: "However, I'll accept the herd of Wild Bulls you've sent with some gratitude."

He didn't plan to eat these Wild Bulls; he had other uses for them. Now, he just had to wait to capture them all.

He only gave the third piece of divination information a cursory glance before losing interest... In the castle's first-floor hall.

At dinner, Lister was still with Daisna, but he noticed her mood was much lower compared to noon.

He figured this was still due to the magical beast attack. He had thought that with the company of Bai Ze and the others, Daisna would feel better.

But now it seemed the incident had dealt her quite a blow, at least not something easily forgotten.

After dinner, Lister escorted Daisna back to her room. As he was leaving, Daisna suddenly spoke: "Lister, I want to tell you about the magical beast attack. Are you willing to listen?"

Lister looked surprised. He hadn't expected Daisna to take the initiative to tell him. It seemed he had underestimated the girl's strength.

"Of course," he said with a gentle smile.

Soon, Daisna recounted the whole story of her group's encounter with the magical beast attack.

After listening, Lister fell silent. He hadn't expected the attack to be so tragic that even a Rank Six Silver Knight Captain couldn't escape death.

He had still underestimated the strength of the Black Flame Demon Bear. At the same time, he felt very fortunate—fortunate that the Black Flame Demon Bear hadn't pursued them to the Ironthorn Territory; otherwise, he would have had no choice but to flee for his life.

Coming back to his senses, he looked at Daisna under the moonlight. At this moment, her eyes were brimming with tears, and she could no longer hold back her crying.

"Waaa~ It's all my fault. If I had been more insistent on my ideas when communicating with Knight Captain Morrison, the outcome wouldn't have been like this."

Hearing this, Lister's tone suddenly became stern, and he said loudly, "Yes, you are wrong. But your mistake isn't your thoughts back then; it's your current self-blame and cowardice."

Daisna was stunned. Then she saw Lister shake his head, his expression disappointed. "I originally thought you took the initiative to tell me because you were strong enough, but your appearance just now makes me feel like my thoughts were a joke."

"If your self-blame and cowardice could save those knights, would you still be here now?"

"To buy you a slim chance of escape, they fought to the death without retreating. Even that Knight Captain Morrison burned his own Combat Qi to fight until the very last moment."

"Perhaps it was because of your father's orders, but I think it was more because of their knightly spirit. You must understand, they didn't owe you anything..."

"But they did it anyway, so I sincerely admire them. Yet here you are, putting on an act. Do you think you're worthy of their sacrifice?"

"If those strong men saw you as you are now, I think they would surely be disappointed."

"So what you should do now is pull yourself together, drop this disgusting act, and think carefully about who the truly guilty party is in this attack."

"The dead are dead; the living are what matters most. I hope you can figure it out."

With those words, Lister turned and left, leaving behind only the sight of his broad back as he walked away.