104 The Frigid Nightmare (1/2)
From the beginning, Olivia isn't an Aulander. She’s the daughter of a merchant from one of the seven countries of the Northern Lands, Rhodes Kingdom, and she specially traveled here to study Alchemy.
As a foreign student, she doesn't have any property here and her luggage is scant. After throwing her medicines and reagents into a Spatial Equipment, packing her books and notes, refunding the deposit and returning the key to the landlord, she is ready to leave.
By the way, the East Mist Communal Country is also one of the seven countries of the Northern Lands. Half of the land of the seven countries altogether was part of the original Mist Country. If I were to reunite the Mist Country again, it would mean merging two countries together and claiming land from two other countries. Under current conditions, it isn't feasible.
Olivia is quite delighted, being able to become the disciple of a Master Alchemist and to leave this country. After all, in the eyes of other countries, the people of the Northern Lands are barbarians who wear fur coats. Although she is happy over the fact that it isn't snowing half of the time in a year, she has met with numerous bothersome matters through these years when she was studying.
Now that I’m done with the 'Miraculous Alchemist', it is time to look for the 'Master of Magic Engineering' Timmy Lade. While searching for him, I stumble on some trouble. However, this isn't my first time meeting with such problems.
There is still 17 to 18 years before Timmy Lade makes a name for himself. The current Timmy Lade... Alright, I wasn't surprised in the least when I saw a snot-filled rascal. At the very least, this time, I managed to the find the person in question. This is significantly better than the last time, when the ancestors of the historical heroes that I was looking for were still in their egg and sperm form.
But I met with some trouble when persuading the guardian of the kid.
Timmy Lade has an elder sister and they were interdependent on one another. When she finally returns, I soon realize that she is a person we are familiar with.
”Olivia, Kathleen?”
”Tea... Teacher Dana! Why are you here?”
”This is my home, I’m still curious about why you lot are here. Didn't you all leave school already? What are you all doing here? Is something up?”
The calm-looking lady in front of me looks like she is in her early thirties. Her solemn face has a dignified atmosphere to it but there is a trace of bitterness on her beautiful face. Looking at her flat contours, I recall the milk story from before...
”Puuu!”
Alright, it is too impolite to be laughing out like that. Reyne, I will make sure to report you to Kelly when we get back. You will be in for some remedial etiquette classes... I laughed as well? Un, at the very least, I didn't spurt out. I retained some basic respect for the lady.
”Nice to meet you, Teacher Dana. I’m Kathleen's Knight mentor. I require the help of an Alchemist, so Kathleen recommended me to you. This is a long-term contract and I'm afraid that you may lose your job at the school as a result. However, I can ensure that the remuneration will be generous. Furthermore, there will be opportunity for you to climb to higher grounds. This man over here is the Master Alchemist Yingou Beyar. He is a Gold-rank Alchemist, you can have a chat with him.”
Given that Timmy Lade is interdependent with his elder sister, kidnapping the rascal by himself isn't a practical solution. On the other hand, as long as we are able to hire this teacher here, Timmy Lade will naturally tag along with us.
However, what is unexpected is that after hearing my words, Dana's face lights up, as though she is moved by my offer. But the next moment, her face sinks again.
”I'm sorry. While I really do require a new job, we have already decided to leave this city. I'm afraid that I would be unable to accept your goodwill.”
”Leave? Why?”
Initially, she refuses to speak but under my relentless questioning, she finally gives in.
Actually, the reason is quite simple. She feels that the city isn't safe, so she decided to leave.
The reason why she feels that the city isn't safe is because she could see the silhouette of that gigantic figure just outside the window.
The gigantic body of the Nine-headed Dragon Emperor Hydra fills almost half of the entire river. The proud dragon heads could be seen even a few districts away. The Dragon Breaths every now and then might not mean anything much to the entire city, but to the unlucky fellows who got struck by it, it is definitely an instant death.
This isn't some Nine-headed Snake in some marsh regions who inherited a portion of the Dragon Bloodline. The Sea Monster Hydra which has survived numerous tribulations since ancient times is a God Beast. It has obtained a portion of God Power from very early on. If a grade must be given to his bloodline, then his would definitely not be too far off from my Double Diamond Bloodline. When this kind of existence reaches the realm of a SemiGod, a human SemiGod doesn't mean a single thing in his eyes.
From the very start, this Nine-headed Dragon Emperor is almost an invincible existence in the mortal world. Due to its overwhelming strength, the Hydra's movements are also restricted. Its aversion towards fighting is quite apparent. However, if you were to approach him and get on his nerves, then who can you blame when you are the one seeking death?
This is like a prologue of a large-scale war game. A few powerful figures come out to lecture you and fight with a few old friends to brush up their existence, but this are all simply part of the storyline. As a rookie, you can just treat it like a movie and just watch the show. However, if you think that you can solo the boss and charge forward, screaming 'Die, evil! I want to slay the dragon' and get instant KO-ed, who else can you blame for it?
At the very least, after understanding the prowess of the other party, Darsos doesn't intend to break through recklessly, nor does he want to anger the master of the Nine-headed Dragon, the Queen of Storms. Looking at how he is trying to avoid battling while sending letters to numerous great Churches, he is obviously waiting for the Order Gods to deal with this problem.
Of course, if the Nine-headed Dragon were to come ashore, Darsos would probably stake everything in and make a final stand to protect his country. The Hydra also understands that and it doesn't intend to escalate the battle. That's the reason why the battle is stuck in a stalemate. On the contrary, the ones who were working the hardest are the Seafolk under its command. Other than there being a powerful being pressuring them from the back, the main reason for it was because of a coincidence.
In order to display their extravagance, the Magic Lamps were hung by the river coastline and the fuel used is the highest-grade luxury of the human world, the expensive Mermaid Oil. Mermaids are the favored children of the sea, well-reputed as the royals of the Seafolk. Thus, when the Fishmen of the White Whale Tribe saw those oil lamps, it is equivalent to a human watching an Ogre cooking human meat. No matter what, they would go into a frenzy. Naturally, the fight escalated.
Even if the Seafolk are unable to get past the solid defensive line and the temporary barriers set up, the Auland Empire still suffered considerable losses. The appearance of the Nine-headed Dragons has caused the Pier District to be submerged in water. There are a portion of civilians who managed to escape on time, but at the same time, there are also a portion who are unlucky and swept away by the river water along with their houses, fated to never appear on land again.
”My uncle and his entire family lives in the Pier District. Also, my boyfriend's house was struck directly by the Dragon's Breath, not a single bone remains of his family. Thus, we decided to leave this depressing city.”
There are quite a few people who choose to leave the city because of such reasons. Dana is just one of them. It is just that her luck is really bad. Despite just dating her boyfriend for just 2 weeks, he met with such a tragedy.
Many of the wars on the continent are the same as well. Regardless of who wins or loses, no matter how sacred or reasonable the reasons for the war are, the ones who suffers first are the weak ordinary civilians.
”That's great. Oh, I am not talking about your kin. My apologies, lady. I have misspoken. What I meant is that this job requires you to move to a foreign country as well. Since you intend to leave this city, then this job may be suitable for you.”
”Really? Can you fill me in on the details?”
Alright, since the other party also intends to leave the city, the generous remuneration of the employment contract easily moved the heart of Dana, who was worried for the future.
When the two future rising stars were finally under my command, I couldn't help but fall into deep thoughts.
”Since I interfered in their fate, will they still be as influential as they were in 'history'? Will they still reach the pinnacle like how they did previously?”
But looking at it from another perspective, even if I do not interfere, the fate of those two would have changed anyway. Since the sudden invasion of the Seafolk would cause Timmy Lade to leave, then regardless of whether he becomes a Master Engineer or not in the future, there is already no basis for the both of them to work together in the future. If so, there is not a possibility for the emergence of the Magic Engineering Study. However, my interference may relight this possibility once again.
”Oh well, why should I think so much about it? At the very least, they are both good buds. If so, I should just wait patiently and groom them as an outstanding rookie. Un, since I introduced Olivia to Yingou, I should introduce little Timmy to Jinya. If the Magic Machinery Dragon were to be born in the future, it should be in the style of the Goblin Explosion Study.”