Chapter 550 - Trouble Along the Way
Chapter 550 Trouble Along the Way
On the second day, Roland gave Marilyn a gold coin and asked her to buy three camels.
Although Marilyn was playful and liked having fun, she was actually trustworthy during errands.
Three bactrian camels that looked tall and healthy were bought.
With Hand of Magic, Roland seized the vulpera and placed him on one of the camels. Then he and the catgirl each took a camel.
After that, they slowly rode out of the city.
Many people watched them on the way.
After all, it was quite rare for a vulpera Mage to be tied up and escorted like a prisoner. The suffering of a lord Mage was not something they saw every day.
There were many vulpera in the city. They were a rather united people. However, seeing that their compatriot was escorted by a human Mage, many vulpera dropped the idea of trying to rescue him.
The average IQ of the vulpera was very high, even slightly higher than that of human beings.
A high IQ meant that they were rational in most cases.
They found that their compatriot didn’t seem to have been tortured. His hands were tied up, but he wasn’t wounded, and he looked okay.
He wasn’t deprived of his dignity.
More importantly, this compatriot of theirs was also a Mage. Should they really get involved in a fight between Mages?
All in all, smarter people would always consider several factors.
If the green-skinned orcs saw their compatriot captured by humans, they would’ve charged forward with their axes, not caring if their enemy was a Mage or a Warrior.
So, Roland and his companions left the city easily. They spurred the camels and rode to the Red Magic Tower unhurriedly.
After they left the city, the catgirl rode her camel near Roland and asked, “Master, why do you not use the spell that can swoosh us back home?”
A wind was blowing in the desert at this moment. It wasn’t exactly a sandstorm, but it was nonetheless noisy on the empty, vast ocean of sand.
The catgirl’s voice couldn’t be heard by anyone else except the person who was right next to her.
Roland shook his head. “I don’t want too many people to know about that, so please keep it a secret.”
The catgirl nodded quickly.
In fact, Roland wasn’t scared of the catgirl spreading the information, because multiple teleportation was too sophisticated a subject. Ordinary people would only think that it was yet another miraculous thing that Mages could do, and the Mages, knowing how hard multiple teleportation was, would not believe her.
Even if the catgirl were to blab, people would only think that she was bragging.
However, it would be a different matter for someone who had experienced it in person.
So, Roland intended to take his time and ride back to the Magic Tower.
A journey of several dozen kilometers would take a day and a night at most as long as they didn’t get lost.
The vulpera Mage had been observing them.
e felt that something was wrong when he left the city. Now, after a while of observation, he finally noticed what was wrong.
“My Mage friend, can I ask you a question?”
Roland turned around and looked at him. “Speak.”
“Have you forgotten to bring water and food?” The vulpera prince already felt thirsty. “I think we need to go back.”
The catgirl laughed aloud.
The vulpera prince looked at her unhappily.
Roland, on the other hand, took out a waterskin and showed it to him before putting it back in the Backpack. “We’ve got food and water. Don’t worry.”
The vulpera prince felt that his odds of escape lowered again.
They kept moving forward. A trip in the desert could be boring and dangerous. Apart from the scorching sun and the ravenous sandstorms, there was also fatal quicksand that would swallow anyone who accidentally stepped in it.
Therefore, even the catgirl did not dare to walk in the desert despite her usual perkiness. After half a day, Roland built a rounded house with Rock to Mud and ate food inside.
At this moment, Roland untied the vulpera prince and gave him water as well as some meatloaf.
Instead of eating the food in a hurry, the vulpera prince looked around at the house that Roland built in surprise.
He had never thought that Mud to Rock and Rock to Mud could be used in such a way.
If possible, everybody would love to learn all the spells available.
However, people only had limited energy, so they could only choose spells that befitted them.
The vulpera prince, for one, didn’t learn these spells, because he didn’t think that they were useful.
Now he realized that he was just too ignorant.
After the vulpera prince had enough food and answered nature’s call, Roland tied him up again.
He then reminded the catgirl to be careful, because he had to answer nature’s call too.
The moment Roland left the house, the vulpera prince said to Marilyn, “Catgirl, you people love freedom. It must piss you off being his slave, right?” The catgirl stared at him, stunned.
“I have a way to open the collar on your neck. We can run away together. What do you say?”
Normally speaking, it would take a dozen minutes for someone to unlock the slave collar without a key.
The vulpera prince could tell that the slave collar on the catgirl’s neck didn’t have any magic power. He didn’t know whether the human Mage simply fooled the catgirl with a fake collar or failed to notice the collar’s problem in time.
Either way, the vulpera prince felt that it was a chance for him.
“You mean like this?”
With a crack, the catgirl separated the collar into halves with her hands.
The vulpera prince’s eyes bulged.
The catgirl then closed the collar back around her neck.
The vulpera prince couldn’t be more confused looking at this.
One of them was a spatial Mage who was still energetic even though he didn’t sleep at all, and the other was a catgirl who wore a slave collar even though she was free. What kind of weird combination was this?
It seemed that regular tricks wouldn’t work on them.
After Roland came back, the vulpera prince hesitated for a moment and said, “My friend, do you not want to know why I’m wanted by the Monochrome Magic Tower?”
Roland shook his head. “No.”
“I do!” The catgirl jumped and shouted.
Both of the Mages stared at her coldly. The catgirl was so scared that she meowed and jumped back to a corner.
Taking a deep breath, the vulpera prince said, “It’s because I stole a very awesome spell model of the Monochrome Magic Tower.”
“Okay,” Roland remarked casually.
The vulpera prince found it rather odd. “You’re quite good at spatial magic too. Are you not interested in a powerful spatial spell?”
Roland smiled. “You’re not carrying any books, so you must’ve hidden the model.”
“Yes,” admitted the vulpera prince proudly. “I foresaw that I might be caught, so I made preparations. As long as you’re willing to free me, I’ll bring you to the magic spell as well as a huge fortune.”
“I’m a member of the Red Magic Tower, which is very close to the Monochrome Magic Tower. As long as I continue my studies, there will be a good chance that I can apply for high-level evoking magic and spatial magic when I graduate. Why would I be interested in a spell that’s too powerful for me to learn correctly and will ruin my bright future?”
The vulpera prince was stunned as he heard that. After a long time, he said, “You are self-controlled, and you have a good idea of your future. You’re much better than me.”
After that, the vulpera prince lowered his head and fell silent.
After a moment of rest, they resumed the journey.
But the vulpera prince didn’t try to talk Roland into betrayal or to bribe him again for the rest of the journey. He simply sat silently on the camel, as if he were reflecting on something. Thanks to the prince’s cooperation, Roland returned to the Red Magic Tower at noon on the next day. After transferring the vulpera prince to relevant personnel, Roland took a break and then met the Great Elder at the conference hall. “I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.” Alfred the Great Elder was rather happy. “Not only have you caught him so quickly, but you were also immune to his bribery and temptation. That’s exactly what a determined Mage should be like.”
Roland smiled.
“Do you know what the vulpera prince stole?” asked Alfred.
Roland replied, “He wanted to tell me in exchange for an opportunity to escape, but I wasn’t interested.”
“It’s Mystra’s Mansion,” said Alfred with a smile. “It’s the spatial spell of the highest level. It’s multiple times more practical, and difficult, than Space Obliteration.”
Roland had read about this spell from random books before. It was one of the spells Mystra created before she became a goddess.
It was said to be the most powerful escape and survival spell. Whoever capable of this spell could spit at demons or raise their middle fingers at them.
They wouldn’t be scared no matter how many people were hunting them.
“How was something so powerful and critical stolen so easily?”
Roland found it hard to believe, as the vulpera prince wasn’t very strong and any Master in the Monochrome Magic Tower could’ve beaten him up easily. Alfred smiled and said, “I don’t know about the details, but he had helpers. A lich and a weirdo with black wings helped him. Does that sound familiar?”
Roland realized who they were. They were the First Princess’s ex-husband and the Fallen Angel of the Paradise of Life from the incident in the capital.
Roland had thought that the thing with the vulpera was only a side quest. He didn’t know that it was associated with his main quest.
“If they were his helpers, they must’ve already taken the magic models that the vulpera prince hid.”
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Alfred nodded. “I expect so, too. Your part is over right now. Next, the old people including myself have to do the work. The enemy is very powerful. Although you’re from an alternate dimension and can be infinitely resurrected, your capabilities will plummet, which will jeopardize your future development. So, this matter is too dangerous for you to intervene in now. You got it?” Roland thought for a moment and nodded.
He might as well give up the epic quest on Stephanie’s ex-husband.
Alfred was right. Now, Roland would drop by one level after each death.
It wasn’t really easy to get a level-up.
“Now that you’ve accomplished the task brilliantly, I believe a bonus is due. What do you want? A piece of equipment or a spell model?” asked Alfred.
Roland thought for a moment and said, “I want the spell model of Lesser Benediction!”