Chapter 347: Act 114 – The Border of the Black Forest (Part 2)
“That’s because you used to be just a little madman, and you haven’t met this big madman yet.” Kuran glanced at Brendel and internally scoffed.
However, scoffing aside, the old swordsman turned to Brendel and asked with a side-eyed glance, “So, where are those young fellows that need your attention?”
Brendel smiled slightly. The reason he brought Kuran out was actually quite simple; he hoped to take this opportunity during the adventure to mentor those young people. The Black Forest was fraught with danger, making it the best place to hone one’s skills.
Having those young people around him would also facilitate his transmission of his ideas.
However, the crux of the matter was that the dangers in the Black Forest were unpredictable, and protecting these young people, whom he had put effort into cultivating, was not an easy task. Brendel alone couldn’t do it; he needed help.
Charles, Medisa, and Xi were all strong individuals in the Golden Realm, and the twelve Lubis mercenaries now possessed peak Silver strength, but aside from Xi, Brendel understood he couldn’t bring anyone else along.
At this moment, the Cold Fir Territory didn’t allow him to mobilize too much strength, and if it weren’t for the fact that Xi couldn’t be too far from him for long right now, he wouldn’t even want to bring this red-haired girl along.
For this reason, he had to use the journey as an excuse to trick Kuran into coming here, as he wanted the old swordsman to help him with this task. He believed that although Kuran spoke cautiously, he would still step in when the moment came.
Sure enough, Kuran hesitated for a moment but agreed to his conditions, as long as he didn’t confront Count Rendener head-on or become his subordinate; the old man was fine with coming out for a stroll.
Of course, even so, he still wouldn’t give Brendel a good look.
“We’re almost there,” Brendel answered.
He looked into the distance, and sure enough, a dark spot quickly appeared on the wilderness outside the forest, which rapidly grew larger until it transformed into a convoy. Four large carriages slowly entered the forest, stopping one by one.
The mercenaries on the carriages apparently recognized this Lord; they immediately got off and bowed to Brendel, saying, “Lord!”
“Is everyone here?” Brendel asked.
“Yes, my lord.”
“And Xi?”
“Miss Xi is here too; she is with Miss Antinna—” The answering mercenary kept his head bowed in respect.
Brendel looked up, his gaze falling on the last black four-wheeled carriage. He saw the carriage door open, and Antinna and Xi got out in order, but he was surprised to see the Wild Elf sisters on it as well. The sister who was younger waved vigorously as soon as she saw Brendel.
“Lord!” Because the Lubis mercenaries had been on serious missions lately, the girl named Diya hadn’t seen Brendel for a while, and she looked particularly excited at this moment.
“Why are they here?” Brendel nodded at the Wild Elf girl, casting an inquiring look at Antinna.
But the noblewoman seemed to have anticipated that Brendel would ask this. She glanced at the four large carriages, seemingly unconsciously checking if anything had gone wrong.
Then she looked up at Brendel and replied, “Miss Flour is here to take care of the lord’s living arrangements.”
So she’s a personal maid!
Brendel almost coughed, staring at Antinna in shock. “I don’t need a maid.”
The elder Wild Elf’s face darkened, standing behind Antinna and glaring at Brendel with her emerald green eyes, as if to say, “Mind your manners, my lord!”
“I…” Brendel was instantly speechless. He really had not thought about a maid at all; it was purely because Flour’s role overlapped too much with that job. After thinking it through, he could only change his words, “What I meant was, I don’t need any care; I’m not one of those who expect everything to be handed to them.”
“But you are the lord of Toniger,” Antinna said seriously.
“That’s just a title, Antinna; it was the same in the past.”
“The past is the past,” the noblewoman said, looking at him with a hint of reproach, “Now you are the lord of Toniger, and everything you say and do sets an example; how can you not even have a personal attendant?”
She shot a sideways glance at Brendel, “You don’t want Lord Charles to take care of your living arrangements, do you, my lord?”
Brendel finally choked at that, horrified at the thought of the scenario. He looked at Flour, who, under the influence of this noblewoman, had been doing just that in the recent days; he wasn’t accustomed to it but had gotten used to it.
In the end, he simply raised his hands in surrender to signal his defeat.
“This little girl is not bad,” Kuran remarked as he surveyed Antinna, speaking to Brendel. “Noble birth, graceful demeanor, and she’s beautiful too; really rare. Your grandfather must be pleased.”
“What do you mean?” Brendel shot a glare at the old man, who seemed to revel in stirring chaos.
“What? You don’t like it? Then I’ll introduce her to Carglis; that guy will be your aide in the future, and he and you have quite the connection—”
Brendel coughed and gave Antinna a side glance. “Stop talking nonsense,” he replied.
“Having the heart but lacking the guts—on that front, you can’t hold a candle to your grandfather, kid.” Kuran wasn’t angry at all this time; he patted Brendel on the shoulder and ambled away triumphantly.
He was in high spirits, having managed to find Brendel’s sore spot.
Brendel turned back to look at Antinna. The noblewoman’s face was rarely flushed; she lowered her head and said softly, “Get ready, my lord; time is limited.”
“Are you going back alone later?” After Kuran’s reminder, Brendel first felt that this noble lady, who always seemed to oppose him at every turn, actually had a bit of cuteness to her.
Antinna nodded.
“Too dangerous,” Brendel shook his head.
“But Xi is going with you…” Antinna was initially considering that fewer people knew about Brendel’s entrance into the Black Forest, and since the road returning from the border of the Black Forest to Firburh wasn’t long, and given that the Cold Fir Territory was under the mercenaries’ control, she thought there wouldn’t be any problems.
“What I mean is, you should go with us.” Brendel replied.
“Ah—?” Antinna exclaimed softly. Due to her own limitations, Brendel hardly ever took her out on missions. Although she felt a bit of regret, she understood where her capabilities should be utilized and had not thought too much about it.
But now that Brendel suddenly made this request, it surprised her greatly. She was well aware of what kind of place the Black Forest was; someone like her would only be a burden there.
“N-No, that’s not good, is it?”
Rationality told Antinna to refuse, but a small voice inside her urged her to agree. Just the thought of continuing to travel and adventure with this young lord felt like returning to their previous days together, causing this usually rational and calm girl to feel somewhat indecisive.
However, Brendel was not making a spur-of-the-moment decision. He had a reason for having Xi send Antinna over; he would have many things to attend to in the future, and it wouldn’t be possible for him to stay within the territory at all times. Since Antinna would be his first assistant in the future, managing Valhalla and ensuring the territory operated normally would be crucial, so he needed to familiarize her with this dormant territory.
Valhalla was unlike any ordinary territory; once it awakened, the impact on mortals would be enormous. The quickest way to accept that shock in the shortest time possible was to allow someone to manually trigger it and experience the awakening process alongside it.
“Don’t worry, this is actually part of the plan,” Brendel replied. “However, this plan is not irreplaceable. The Black Forest is very dangerous; therefore, I am giving you the choice.”
“What about Miss Romaine?” Antinna frowned and hesitated, “If I’m not here, no one will keep an eye on her.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Brendel didn’t expect her to be concerned about this, but he shook his head.
“Hm?”
“She won’t cause any trouble.”
“Hm?” The noble girl was taken aback. During her months in the Cold Fir Territory, that Merchant Miss had encountered some minor troubles almost every day. Antinna even doubted how this girl had survived for over a decade.
Thus, she once held extreme admiration for Romaine’s aunt, wondering what kind of excellent woman could effectively manage this girl.
But Brendel understood that when he was not around, that little one would definitely be more restrained than anyone else. He could clearly see that Romaine’s actions were merely attempts to attract his attention, much like animals use tricks to draw in potential mates.
Although the Merchant Miss was scatterbrained, she inherently had a bit of cleverness, and it was precisely this that made Brendel find her charming.
“So, what’s the verdict?” he asked.
Antinna, slightly taken aback, seemed to grasp this point. After a moment of thought, she blurted out, “Of course, I would be willing.”
However, the noble girl quickly cleared her throat: “I mean, it’s for the lord’s sake; I’m not afraid of danger.”
Brendel smiled faintly. “Thank you.” But he quickly pointed to Diya, who was curiously examining the plants and trees in the forest, and asked, “What about this young lady?”
He thought it was understandable to bring along a sister to care for him; moreover, taking along a cute red-haired girl might lead to unexpected gains.
But what was this little sister all about? Did Antinna also understand the legendary “buy one, get one free”? If she was buying a maid and giving him a loli, then this deal was quite advantageous indeed.
“She was sent by Mr. Tam,” Antinna replied.
Brendel suddenly remembered that this little girl had acted as an assistant to the Alchemy Master Tam a short while ago, but what did Tam send her here for?
“Wait,” he suddenly thought of a question: “Is she here to collect materials?”
Antinna nodded.
…
(PS: Sorry for the delay. Also, in the future, I won’t change the chapter numbers for cases like “One”, “Two”, “Three” with the same title.) (To be continued; for more details on subsequent events, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support authentic reading!)
