208: Lure the snake out of its hole (1)

"Whoa—"

"Stop!"

"Lord Green commands that it's late today, the convoy is to stop immediately and set up camp for the night!"

A knight, riding a tall, high-blooded, exotic magic beast, galloped from the rear, shouting loudly.

"Hee-haw..."

"Thump-thump-thump..."

"Clatter-clatter-clatter..."

Suddenly, various noises erupted: human voices, horse neighs, carriage friction... This was a giant convoy of over a thousand people, stretching for four to five li, with hundreds of specially made, heavy-duty two-horse carriages linked end-to-end, majestically traversing the tree-lined avenue in the Mist Forest.

In the very center of the convoy was a particularly exquisite four-horse carriage, clearly a noble carriage designed to transport people of high status.

Inside the spacious carriage, Wizard Green was instructing several combat wizards under his command...

"Mentor Brucekrin..."

"You, at your age, why are you still getting involved with these youngsters in such a messy situation? You know how dangerous this mission is."

Wizard Green said with some concern. The battlefield was no child's play, and Green did not want his esteemed mentor to meet with an accident.

"When the melee with Formal Wizards breaks out, I won't have time to look after you."

"Haha..."

"Lord Green, I'm not so old that I can't lift a sword anymore."

The white-haired Mentor Brucekrin, over 120 years old, laughed heartily like an old rascal.

"I know you're thinking of my old bones, but I'm not afraid."

"At most, it's just death, isn't it? Opportunities to spar with a Formal Wizard don't come often!"

"I've never fought a Formal Wizard in my life, so this time I absolutely have to get my fill. Lord Green, even if I encounter danger during this mission, you don't need to save me. Everything is to complete the plan."

"Heh heh, Mentor, if you had experience fighting Formal Wizards, you wouldn't be alive today. At the level of a Formal Wizard, each one is a mobile natural disaster. It's best for ordinary people not to court death."

"Lord Green, just go and complete your mission. You don't need to worry about us. Even if we all die, the planned deployment will definitely be completed."

What could Wizard Green do now?

They were almost at the end of the road; it was useless to regret it now.

"Then so be it. Take good care of yourselves. For yourselves, for your families, and for the Plant Heart Academy, I hope to see you return safely at the celebration."

...The convoy camped in a flat clearing, next to a small cluster of inns.

This grand thoroughfare, stretching from the Plant Heart Academy in the southern Mist Coast all the way to the capital of the Motlan Grand Kingdom, had been widened by more than double over the past 10 years. This stopping point, being the closest to the mundane world, had also expanded its area seven or eightfold.

Yet, it still couldn't accommodate the massive convoy.

Yes, this convoy was the annual transport of various knight series potion resources.

When Lord Green was still a Wizard Apprentice, he had undertaken a mission concerning a knight series potion resource convoy. That was Green's first major mission, involving counter-sniping Black Wizards.

(For details, please refer to Chapters 113 to 136.)

The same road, the same resource convoy, the same mission objective, but the people executing the mission were different...

Green's objective was clear: this was another Black Wizard counter-sniping mission.

Of course, the outside world was not told this. Officially, Lord Green was ostensibly rushing to attend the 300th birthday celebration of Lord Orleans, the Guardian Wizard of the Motlan Grand Kingdom.

This conveniently allowed him to organize a convoy to transport potion resources. As the Plant Heart Academy's strength rapidly expanded, its pursuit of profit naturally grew.

Because the best place in the Mist Coast Wizard World to accumulate destiny was the endless desert region west of the Motlan Grand Kingdom, the Motlan Grand Kingdom, which served as a central hub, became especially important.

Numerous wizarding forces were extremely keen on developing the western desert world, investing large amounts of resources into it. The interests involved were immense, and the Plant Heart Academy naturally wanted a slice of the pie.

A week before the main force departed, a small diplomatic team was dispatched by the Plant Heart Academy to convey its purpose:

Lord Green was about to visit the Motlan Grand Kingdom to attend Lord Orleans's 300th birthday banquet, and would also meet with high-ranking officials of the Motlan Grand Kingdom to discuss expanded cooperation between the two forces and launch the second resource convoy exchange activity within a year...

"Hmph..."

"This Wizard Green really has a huge appetite."

"The past 10 years of development have been booming, making people incredibly envious, but that's because Lord Joyce was backing him."

A male wizard, hidden in the shadows, spoke sourly.

His eyes, red with jealousy, gazed at the distant resource convoy, clearly very displeased.

"But now?"

"What does Green have? A Formal Wizard who only advanced 10 years ago, probably hasn't even fully mastered one or two Formal Wizard-level offensive wizardry, has he? And he still wants expansive development?"

"Who gave him the courage?"

"Heh heh..."

"This is probably a newborn calf not fearing a tiger. Young geniuses, it's not surprising. I've seen many like them, each one incredibly arrogant."

From another shadow came an ambiguous voice, neither male nor female.

"Raysel, you were like that back then, weren't you? Your nose was so high in the air. If you hadn't suffered the beatings of society all these years, would you be here emitting such resentment?"

"Dead bat, how dare you talk about me?"

"Back then, we both ranked among the top ten geniuses of the Mist Coast. But 200 years have passed, and look at what we've become?"

The resentment of Wizard Raysel in the shadows grew even stronger.

"Everyone else left this wretched place and went to big cities for a better future. Only the two of us: one was unlucky enough to be cursed while exploring a secret realm, suffering for 200 years, with his path completely cut off, only able to place hope in the next generation."

"The other, for the sake of power, embarked on the path of sacrificing to evil gods, becoming a rat crossing the street, reviled by everyone. Dead bat, it wasn't easy hiding and dodging across the vast ocean, was it?"

"Lord Joyce's two encirclement campaigns back then, you were the number one target in both. Yet you managed to escape. I can't help but admire your skill at escaping..."