nChapter 259 “hot potato” (part one)

nLooks like the injury on this Green Hat wasn’t light.

nAfter returning to the Duke’s Manor, Du Wei immediately searched for a clean room in the castle’s cellar.

nThis was Gandalf’s request.

nHe asked for a room without any possibility of light coming through.

nIn fact, his injury was so strange like he that it sounded like he was afraid of the sun’s light.

nRacking his brains out, Du Wei could only temporarily vacate the castle’s cellar for the old guy to use.

nAnd regarding the hundred barrels of wine, it wasn’t a joke! He reiterated the request very seriously the moment they stepped into the castle ground. Though the request was a little ridiculous, it won’t stump Du Wei.

nIt’s not like the Desa Province was lacking in food like before, in fact, there’s a surplus of grain to make wine this year. Although there’s not enough stock in the residence, Du Wei sent the soldiers out to make a round across town to round up the needed supply.

nAs such, many of the pub owners were woken up in the middle of the night by the banging on their door. At first these people were frightened by the commotion, but when the soldiers explained everything that it was the Duke’s request, it didn’t take long for the task to be finished. In fact, many of the pub owners offered to donate their stash out of gratitude to the Duke. But because Du Wei gave specific orders to pay for everything, nothing was taken for free.

nAfter all the wine was moved into the cellar, old Gandalf immediately closed the cellar door and left behind only one sentence: “Don’t let anyone bother me within a month, including you.”

nTo seal the deal, this old fart went as far as to set up a silencing spell around the place. Even if the outside was facing armageddon, he could still sleep with the wine barrel in his arms.

nTherefore, even if Du Wei had a rack full of questions to ask, he could only run off to Joanna for the answer.

nAt the very least Du Wei was no longer that afraid of this abusive woman…… Although she would still threaten to turn him into an ice crystal or turn him into an ice wraith at every turn, Du Wei wasn’t too concerned for his safety at this point considering his own strength.

n“That’s what happened.” Joanna raised the biggest cup on the table and generously gulped the wine down: “Your wine here is pretty good. Guess being a powerful nobleman can be quite beneficial.”

nAfter a good while of immersing himself in Joanna’s story, Du Wei finally reorganized his thoughts and asked: “You’re saying, you and your teacher……”

n“It’s our teacher.” Joanna quickly corrected the error in Du Wei’s phrasing: “Teacher already promised to take you in as a disciple, so, whether you like it or not, you have to refer to him as your teacher.”

n“Alright, our teacher!! After leaving the capital, you and our teacher went directly to the north? And from the Frozen Forest, you came to the tundra field and eventually reached the Dragon Mountain?”

n“That’s right.”

n“Our teacher challenged the dragon chief … … And then……”

n“At the beginning the other side didn’t take us seriously, but those big flying reptiles quickly knew the seriousness of their mistake. Teacher personally beat the leader of their patrol team to the point where the black guy could barely breathe. Only then did that old lizard come out.”

nDu Wei sighed and imaged the scene where Green robe Gandalf faced off against that dragon chief: “That must have been quite the dramatic scene.” Du Wei smiles wryly at himself.

nHe can already imagine the face that old lizard would make when meeting Green Robe. It’s not often one gets to meet someone they just killed not so long ago.

nBy the way, Du Wei was careful to ask for the timeframe. It’s clear that by the time Green Robe and Joanna reached the Holy Mountain, the three dragon prince had already left for Du Wei.

nOn this issue, Du Wei was utterly speechless over Joanna’s explanation.

n“It’s not like we ever went to the Holy Mountain before. Teacher and I ended up roaming around in that blasted forest for months. I can’t even remember how many magic beasts we killed along the way. At first we would occasionally encounter some humans in our path, but as we continued to head north and pass the great circular lake, there wasn’t a single sign of human activity. Once we were left alone, we didn’t know where to go. All we knew was head north, but north was so big, how are we supposed to know which path led to where?”

nThat’s why this pair of directionally challenged duo could only arrive at the Holy Mountain after spending so much time in the Frozen Forest. By the time they did reached the dragons’ home, the three prince was already on their way to Du Wei.

nAs to the PK between Green Hat and the dragon chief, there’s not much to talk about. Back when White robe Gandalf, Hussein, and Medusa fought together against that old lizard, the result still ended up in their loss. Therefore, Green Robes had no chance of winning.

nAnd the loss was in a very miserable way both occasions.

nThe lucky part though was that the old lizard also paid a hefty price when Du Wei and his party escaped that day. Though it can’t be called a heavy injury, they did force the Dragon Chief to use the “Dragon God Armor” and “Dragon Blessing” after dealing some decent hits, both of which can only be used once every hundred years.

nIn theory, these two tricks should give that old lizard absolute defense to both magic and physical attacks.

nAs such, Green Robed got off easy in his encounter because the old dragon couldn’t utilize his greatest trump cards.

n“You said the Dragons themselves had trouble on their hand?” Du Wei’s more concerned with that problem than anything else.

n“Think it was some kind of enemy from the northern part of the mountain.”

nThis part from Joanna sounded like an understatement, but Du Wei knew better.

nNorth?

nAccording to his speculations from before, what lies beyond the dragon mountain are the exiled races: elves, dwarves, beastmen, and maybe even more…….

nThe dragons responsible for guarding this mountain were the first line of defense to the human world. Since ancient times, this barricade has never been breached.

nBut what does that “trouble” mean?

nCan it be that the races in the north have grown so powerful that even the mighty dragon race was beginning to worry?

nThe stuff Du Wei needs to consider was this:

nIf such a powerful group of people broke through the dragon barricade and returned to the Roland continent, what kind of impact will it bring to the human world?

nIf the dragons can’t hold them off, how was the human race supposed to?

nJust like that, Du Wei randomly thought of all of this in the splurge of the moment. Looking back, even Du Wei felt silly for worrying so much. It’s not like he’s the king of this empire, he’s only a duke. There are plenty of people that should be worrying about this before he does. For example: the Pope from the temple, or the Regent himself.

nThough this method of self-comforting was very pleasing, he could not stop the unease lurking in his heart.

nUltimately, he found that things are spiraling beyond his control.

nDu Wei can tolerate the stuff going on in the Northwest, why? Because whether it was the prairie natives, Northwest Army, or Bohan’s request, all of this was within his area of expectation. At the very least, he still has control over his next course of action.

nBut the Dragons in the North, the exiled races beyond the mountain, none of them are within his control.

nDu Wei’s mindset was always like this: he doesn’t hate difficulties, he hate difficulties that are outside his field of control.

nDamn it…… Survival of the human race… … What the hell does it have to do with him!

nDu Wei gave himself this conclusion.

nWhatever the result of the battle between the dragon race and the exiled races….. Joanna doesn’t know. Because by that time, she and “our teacher”, had fled in a panic already.

n“Enough, my dear senior sister.” Du Wei squeezed a smile out: “No matter what, let the dragons deal with whatever headache is over there. At the very least they got that psychotically powerful old dragon there. Hmm, I almost forgot to say, welcome to the land of the Tulip Family. If you wish to have a stroll outside then go right ahead. If you like anything then buy it. Here, you can enjoy the finest food and finest wine while living in comfort. But promise me this for the sake of sharing the same teacher; please don’t go making trouble by blasting someone to smithereens because they are an eyesore to you, alright?”

n“I want to find something to do.” From the way she sounds, there’s no way Joanna will behave.

nAfter hurting his brain, Du Wei came up with something: “Let’s do this then. Bohan from the Nuling Province has been asking me to give him a little aid in the magic field. He’s upfront against the Northwest Army so he’s in dire need of a Mage to support him. I already promised to send him a batch of five magic apprentices to aid him in two months. If you like, you can act as these kids temporary mentor. Their talent ain’t so bad if I do say so myself.” Pausing here, Du Wei quickly put this woman’s personality into consideration and emphasized his next part: “I can ignore how you train these poor kids, but my request is in two months, they must come back intact. Not a single finger can be missing from them, understand? Also, I want to see obvious improvement in their strength. If you can’t do this much in two months then I will consider this job unfit for you.”

nJoanna’s eyes lit up and a cruel smile emerged from her lips: “Oh, be a nurse for a bunch of rookies? The job sounds very interesting…. Fine, I accept!”

n“Please remember the two conditions!” Du Wei once again reminded her with a tinge of panic in his voice.

n“I got it! No injury allowed and a definite improvement in their strength, does that please you?” Joanna showcased a disregarding smile: “I promise to uphold your requests….. And make sure their physical bodies remain unharmed…… But I can’t guarantee whether or not they will come back without psychological trauma!”

nDu Wei sighs… … Oh merciful creator, did I just bring in a demoness?

n