I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 152 Prince Consort
"Ah, your mentors don't teach anything useful, do they? How come they're even talking about martyrdom?" Seeing the somewhat heavy atmosphere, DuPont decisively interrupted: "So your mentors are definitely responsible for your high mortality rate."

"What nonsense are you talking about? In a critical moment like that, if no one covers the rear, it's usually a wipeout. Even if we're wearing plate armor, we can't run fast." The paladin kicked DuPont's shin hard. This guy is so annoying. "After all, not everyone has the money to buy a full set of magic equipment, and not every mage knows invisibility or anything like that. They can run faster than anyone else when things go wrong."

"I'm not like that." DuPont said, dodging the paladin's attack. This girl's violent tendencies were getting worse. "Alright, when I have time, I'll take you to my hometown. The desert there is full of blue dragons. We can slay some dragons, make some equipment, and get the title of Dragon Slayer. Wouldn't that be great?"

"The two of us are going to slay a dragon? They're fighting on their home turf in the desert. If they sense something's wrong, they can burrow underground or fly. And the blue dragon isn't like the red dragon, which fights alone. During its adolescence, it rarely leaves its lair because it's protected by its parent dragons. If they do find it, it'll be a whole nest of them. There will be two adult dragons with several cubs and a number of servants. If the two of us go, we'll probably just be serving them dessert."

"Tsk, so much trouble." DuPont lay down on the soft grass. There were no livestock here, so it was a really good place to relax. "You want a pond to raise fish, right? What kind of fish do you like?"

"As long as it looks good, the more colors the better, and it can be fed anytime."

“Hmm, then let’s build a shallow pond around this house. We can then bring in water from the farm and let it circulate. With fish, we won’t have to worry about mosquitoes,” DuPont said, closing his eyes. “But that will definitely increase the budget considerably.”

“How much money could this cost? Leave it to me!” The paladin sat down and patted his chest. “I want a stable too. We can hold a pony hair-knitting competition every year. I bet it will attract a lot of wood elves to participate.”

"Oh, there are competitions like this? Are those Pokémon so free?"

"Elves are naturally idle. After all, they have such long lifespans that they need other things to pass the time. Otherwise, some elves might commit suicide because they feel they have lost the meaning of life after living for too long. People with a bit of talent can become art masters even if they don't become adventurers, just because human artists are almost starving to death."

As she spoke, she looked at DuPont's tied-up black hair, estimating it to be about the length of his neck: "I'm someone who has won a gold medal competing against them. How about I fix your hair for you?"

"Huh?" DuPont instinctively scratched his scalp.

His hair isn't oily because he uses cleaning techniques to groom it every day, but he's never really had a proper haircut: "You won first place in braiding horsehair, but that's very different from human hair, isn't it?"

“There is a big difference. Horses are much more disobedient than people. Taking care of them is much more troublesome than taking care of people.” Deva said, moving behind DuPont: “Lift your head up, turn to the side, hehe, don’t move, it will be fine in a moment.”

The girl's thighs were strong and muscular, and you could smell a faint gardenia scent as you rested your head on them. DuPont yawned contentedly, but soon realized something was wrong: "Hey, why do I feel like you're braiding my hair?"

“A braid isn’t the kind women have.” Deva suppressed a laugh: “You’re always taking a sword to kill people, just like some barbarian from the north, so shouldn’t you have a hairstyle similar to theirs?”

"Huh?" DuPont exclaimed in surprise, "Damn it, don't mess around!"

"What do you mean by messing around? I know more about fashion than you, a guy who only wears those tacky black robes all day long!" The paladin tapped his ear: "I feel like shaving the sides would look better, it would make you look more energetic, but I don't know how to use this magic, so a razor will do."

"Huh? A magic spell for shaving hair?" DuPont opened his eyes. "There's such a spell?"

"I once read a novel where a mage invented it, I think it was invented to humiliate dwarves. The hair on it would fall off automatically when you touched it with your finger. It would be great for cutting hair, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone use it like that in real life."

DuPont thought to himself that this trick probably wasn't for hairdressing: "Where did you read this novel? Is there a spell in it?"

"My family library, that book is only half full, missing many chapters. I don't think it has any spells, I don't remember. Could that magic be real?"

"The principle isn't difficult. If it's just about using arcane magic to trim hair like shaving, I should be able to do it right now. The difficulty lies in controlling the energy to avoid overexerting myself and hurting people. It's best to test it on animals before using it on real people." DuPont calculated, "But if it's about complete hair removal, that's a different story. After all, everyday magic is supposed to be painless and convenient, and hair removal is much more difficult than simply cutting it off. However, if it's really practical, I guess some people with thick leg hair would be very happy, right? After all, it would save them a lot of trouble. I've heard that some ladies have to remove their hair before going on dates, which must be a very embarrassing experience."

At this point, DuPont's eyes lit up: "Hey, Deva, do you have this problem? Shall we do an experiment?"

"I'm not some kind of gorilla, why would I have such a problem?" The paladin said irritably, slamming his left hand down. "You keep moving around while getting a haircut, what if you get scratched?"

Putting aside his wicked thoughts, and listening to the girl's faint breathing, DuPont closed his eyes.

Springtime drowsiness, autumn fatigue, and summer naps make this a perfect time to catch up on sleep.
-
"Haha, your hairstyle is beautiful. When you get back to our tribe, you'll probably charm a lot of young girls. If you were a bit stronger, even the chief's daughter would probably want to marry you." Man Shi looked at Du Bang's Viking braid with great satisfaction: "Who braided it for you? The skill is much better than my woman's. It's just that you're missing something because you don't have a beard. You look like a pretty boy."

"That's because you don't want to wash your hair! It doesn't even take that long!" The druid was furious when he heard this, but he also agreed with Wildstone's praise: "These eight braids are tied into a ponytail. They look neat and orderly, yet they also reveal a wild beauty. The skill is really good and you put your heart into it. Did you find an elf girlfriend?"

"A mortal, who can also be considered a teammate on the adventure, is a paladin."

"Not bad, young man." Man Shi smiled knowingly. "That girl who was all the talk in the academy before? Looks like you're quite popular with women. No wonder you're my disciple."

"Yes, I invited her over for Midsummer's Day, but I don't know if she'll have time," DuPont said, glancing at the two of them. "How are you going to spend Midsummer's Day?"

“We barbarians don’t celebrate these kinds of festivals. If they do, I’ll celebrate too. Anyway, I can get a free meal, so it’s not a loss. As for druids, they don’t seem to care much about these things. They value the relationships within their association more and usually have private gatherings.”

“Why wouldn’t we go? We just had to stay with you.” The druid said, looking utterly exhausted. “We finally got the village to accept you as an outsider, but you refused to learn any manners and eventually left because you couldn’t stand it. You’re absolutely awful.”

"Who can stand your elves' traditions that last for tens of thousands of years? Don't say I'm not happy about it, I think the young people in those villages also find it troublesome. Aren't there fewer and fewer rituals these days?" Man Shi picked up a braised pork knuckle from the table and took a bite.

"People live to be happy. I like to be free and unrestrained. Those things that we call etiquette and make things difficult for ourselves are just idle talk. I think they were invented by you petty people to mock those who don't understand your rules as country bumpkins. You're all rotten to the core."

"Never mind, I won't talk about this with you." The druid looked at DuPont: "By the way, Moonflower came to visit me these past few days, and she mentioned you. She said you even guided her. Is that true?"

"Well, it was an accident, but it's also possible they came to me on purpose." DuPont was a little puzzled: "Why did she bring this up?"

"She meant that she wanted me to help introduce her to Lavoisier, but he's very busy in real life and only uses avatars for work. He probably doesn't want to be disturbed by the mortal world, so I helped her refuse after I learned that he couldn't come back."

As he spoke, a gleam of interest flashed in the druid's eyes: "By the way, she's here for a marriage alliance, kid DuPont, are you interested?"

"Huh?" DuPont pointed to himself: "That's unlikely. Our conversation wasn't friendly at all. I thought they were sent by the church to cause me trouble. I was so angry that her guards almost beat me up. How could they be interested in me?"

"She initially brought this up by asking Lavoisier, but he was clearly not interested in such a political marriage. But then she brought up your matter, and from the High Elves' subtle perspective, you should be considered part of the plan as well."

The druid grinned mischievously: "How about it? Want to arrange a marriage with the elven royal family? You can pick and choose any magical equipment you want, learn special high elf magic, and who knows, you might even become a prince. No human has ever received that honor before. Want to give it a try?"

(End of this chapter)