I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 225 An Unexpected Visit

DuPont sat at the stern of the boat, holding the fishing rod given to him by the fisherman, fishing alone.

Whether out of shyness or something else, after their lips parted, the paladin girl lay in the small cabin pretending to be dead, and no one knew what she was thinking.

With nothing much to do back home, DuPont decided to try analyzing the battle he had just fought and replaying it; fishing was just a side thing.

His fighting style, if not unique, is certainly very rare.

With a number of specializations far exceeding those of ordinary people, he can use magic to fight enemies from a distance, and use greatswords/longswords to counter melee attacks when close. His magical equipment is comparable to that of high-level professionals. It can be said that he would not be inferior to even formal high-level professionals in an encounter. Moreover, many powerful enemies have been defeated by his unexpected trump cards.

However, his problem persisted: whether it was his use of magic or his melee skills, they were far too crude compared to even a pure elite like Deva, let alone a true master.

In a life-or-death duel, the opponent is clearly no match for him, but that doesn't mean his problems don't exist.

So where is the problem?

I didn't fully utilize those expertise.

Compared to knowledge that can be accessed and consulted at any time, even if a combatant possesses a specialty, they can only be said to know how to use it. Not to mention how far they are from mastering it, they are still far from being able to use it well, let alone master it.

This is also why warriors among adventurers cannot do without a lot of training: they need to train extensively to develop muscle memory so that when faced with a crisis, they can make the right choice without having to think, thus increasing their chances of survival.

Those who cannot do this have clearly become part of the missing persons list.

Because of his own magic, equipment, and the Barbarian's innate defense, defense is DuPont's most reliable issue. This is why he dares to fight at the cost of injury, and he has achieved many remarkable feats.

However, with his intelligence having been leaked and exposed to the public, he will definitely need to refine his skills in the long run to avoid being targeted by malicious individuals, in order to face more complex situations.

It seems we can't afford to slack off anymore.
While pondering his upcoming training plan, DuPont suddenly felt a slight movement in his fishing rod, which surprised him.

He only used a sausage as bait, how could he catch fish with that?
He had always come up empty-handed when he accompanied clients fishing, even with all sorts of bait. Could it be that his fishing skills had improved?

He tugged the fishing rod, but there was no resistance on the fishing line. Just as DuPont was wondering if the hook had come off, a few bubbles suddenly appeared on the side. Unexpectedly, a beautiful girl emerged from the water.

She adorned her skin with seashells, her ears were long and narrow like an elf's yet soft like a fish's fin, and her delicate face, devoid of any makeup, looked both alluring and youthful. However, her half-fish body still made DuPont realize what had happened to her.

Mermaid.

“This handsome human gentleman.” The mermaid girl’s gentle voice woke the seemingly sleeping paladin girl up: “Could you give me some more of the food you had on your fishing hook? I can trade you some.”

The girl reached into her chest and found pretty seashells, a few poorly formed pearls, and a glass marble. Upon seeing the marble, she grabbed it, then tucked it back into her chest, holding it in her hands. "Don't you humans love pearls? Well, I have some here~"

"Dear mermaid, pearls generally have requirements for roundness, luster, and size. Such items can usually only be ground into powder and used as ornaments."

The mermaid was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, and her once upright ears drooped. However, DuPont put down his fishing rod and summoned the Mage's Hand, grabbing the item from the mermaid's palm: "But given your friendly question, of course, that's fine. How many sausages would you like?"

"How many?" The mermaid was a little puzzled by DuPont's question, clearly not familiar with this unit of measurement. However, after DuPont took out two sausages, she was immediately satisfied and hurriedly replied, "That's enough, that's enough for me."

DuPont smiled and took out another one: "Here's another one for you, you can share it with your friends."

The mermaid girl raised her hands to receive it, eagerly took a bite, and smiled like a crescent moon. However, the next second, without saying a word, she dived into the water, leaving DuPont somewhat astonished.

They haven't even asked his name yet.

As he was pondering the information about mermaids, he heard Deva's enigmatic greeting from behind: "Wow, you even lied to mermaid girls? You're exaggerating like that."

“What do you mean by cheating? Isn’t this just barter? The simplest and most effective way of trading.” DuPont said, glancing at Deva who was sitting next to him, “How are you? Have you recovered?”

"I'm just a little dizzy..." Deva looked at the sea at her feet with some guilt, her bare feet gently splashing the surging water: "The waves started to get bigger this afternoon, and our boat is too small, so we have to go back."

What would happen if we didn't go back?

“Unless you’re a barbarian chieftain with unlimited stamina, you probably won’t be able to move this ship at all. Our little wrecked boat doesn’t even have sails.” Deva said, finding the old oar. “Of course, if you want to spend the night at sea and don’t mind a wet night, this place is quite suitable.”

DuPont glanced at the wooden cabin and grinned: "What's the point of this little boat? It's not even good for casting nets to catch fish."

"Casting a net is certainly possible, but it can't be too big, because it might not be able to catch anything by manpower alone, and it would just be a waste of a fishing net."

Deva kicked the fishing rod: "Usually, it's some people from the mainland who come here wanting to experience sea fishing. They can't afford to spend a lot of money or want to go on a long voyage, so they charter these small boats to have some fun. If there are any old boatmen, they can even start a fire and cook. Whether it's grilling fish or steaming, it's all fresh."

"Then you might as well just eat the fish instead." DuPont said casually as he picked up the little thing the mermaid had handed him.

Five pearls, but only one is fairly round. However, it's too small to be used for decoration, though it seems like it could be used as a spellcasting material.

The other four should only be used for food or cosmetics? However, DuPont couldn't find a way to process them at the moment; I vaguely remember that they were ground into powder.

All three coins are silver; I didn't see any copper. They're probably heavily corroded, so these mermaids wouldn't want them.
DuPont hadn't paid much attention to the beautiful seashell at first, but upon closer inspection, he discovered it was actually a pleasant surprise.

Mermaid Armor
Quality: Extraordinary

Attribute: When activated by mental power, it grants 10 minutes of underwater breathing. Using it three times will eliminate all magic power, and if left unused for a year, all magic power will also disappear. However, its use may attract the attention of the creator.

Note: This is a seashell that mermaids usually carry with them, generally as an ornament. Over time, it has acquired a touch of magic.

A portable seashell?
DuPont examined it carefully, scratched his head at the three-finger-wide shell, and tossed it into his fanny pack.

The affairs of magical races cannot be measured by science; the urgent matter is to go back and find an underwater breathing scroll to copy into a book. Because he needed to exercise, the task of rowing was assigned to DuPont alone, and before the boat had even sailed 20 meters, DuPont already knew why rowing, blacksmithing, and grinding tofu were called the three great hardships of life.

It was high tide, which should normally make rowing less strenuous, but DuPont was already drenched in sweat after just 10 minutes, and he couldn't stop for even a moment.

"Hey, why are you wearing a strength belt to train?" Deva said sarcastically from the side, hiding from the sun in the cabin. "You think you can't do the work that ordinary people can do well?"

DuPont was already panting heavily. No wonder there were few fat fishermen by the sea; this job was just too strenuous: "There must be some skill involved in rowing this boat, and isn't this boat too rudimentary? I can't even move it more than a few meters when I'm just rocking it."

"There aren't many tricks involved; it's all about brute force. Even a savage could use a pole to make a raft move!" Deva said, rummaging through her spatial bag. The boat captain had given her several delicious fish today; she should go back and ask the tavern to have them cooked for her.

However, just as Deva was thinking about how many strips to eat for dinner, she unexpectedly heard a somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar shout, and the words in the shout made her immediately pout.

"Hey, DuPont, I'm here~~"

Those are those annoying elves.
Half an hour later, DuPont was soaked in sweat when he got ashore. Jona handed him a green coconut with a straw made of hollow grass stuck in it: "Here, I bought it in a nearby village. I chilled it with the power of ice, and it tastes pretty good."

"Thank you." DuPont took the drink, took a sip, and immediately felt refreshed. Meanwhile, Moonflower smiled and handed a green coconut to the stern-faced paladin girl: "It's hot, want to cool down?"

"...Thank you." Although she still maintained a businesslike demeanor, the girl's brows relaxed slightly: "You guys got here pretty quickly."

“After all, this place is very close to Harragad. We can just rent a carriage after arriving at the teleportation array.” The moon elf said, taking out an open coconut.

"Ms. Veronica's prestige is truly remarkable. The car dealership was even willing to give us a 50% discount when they heard we were visiting. Even Miss Deva's name is known to quite a few people."

"It's alright, considering that far fewer people are chosen to be paladins than mages in Harua each year." The girl held her head high, her black ponytail bouncing slightly. "What do you want to eat tonight? I remember elves don't seem to have any aversion to seafood, right?"

"Actually, elves don't have many dietary restrictions. Although they eat relatively little beef and pork, it's usually because we eat a light diet and are more sensitive to fishy smells. If a chef can prepare it properly, they are willing to try it."

The moon elf seemed oblivious to the girl's slightly displeased tone, her smile warm: "By the way, I brought some desert-style clothes, but the tailors here clearly have no intention of making clothes for elves. Many of them need trimming. Would you be interested in trying them out?"

"Oh?" The paladin was unsure whether the other party was showing goodwill or showing off her trip to DuPont's hometown. However, when she thought that DuPont didn't seem to care and didn't even bother to mention it usually, she became confident again.

"Let's talk about it when we get home."

"By the way, you just came from Nas City? I heard there were protests there too, how did it go?"

"It's quite serious. It seems that quite a few apprentices have been beaten." When she mentioned this, Yuehua's face was solemn, and even her voice became much softer: "I read in the newspaper that Yarah is relatively civilized. The apprentices are more restrained and have not used spells to hit people. At most, they use some buff or control spells. And the guards do not dare to use spells to fight back."

"In Nas City, the people are probably fierce. Blood was drawn between the two sides when the guards came down. The apprentices didn't know anything about battle formations at the beginning, and even with the enhancement spells, they were no match for them."

"Later, the apprentices barely managed to win due to their numerical advantage. Then, nearly a thousand burly guards from Nas City arrived. When the apprentices got desperate, they started summoning wolves and other weapons to help them fight back. As a result, the guards even brought out the bang-bang guns that DuPont liked to use. The apprentices immediately cursed the city lord of Nas City for being shameless and sending regular troops to bully people."

"As a result, the marquis was probably a bit upset by the scolding, so he ordered all the local airship mage units to be mobilized. In the end, anti-magic barriers and silence spells were everywhere, causing the group of apprentices to flee in panic. Almost half of the apprentices who stayed at school were arrested, and many more apprentices, sensing that things were not going well, fled to the church."

"Bullying people? So my fellow villagers thought this was just a warm-up exercise, huh? That trip out of Huangsha Town for the exercise cost quite a bit of money." This amused DuPont: "How's it going now?"

"I'm not too sure either. After all, it's your internal affair, how can I ask about the details? What if someone has a brain fart and arrests me as a spy?" Yuehua rolled her eyes at DuPont, annoyed. "Luckily, the people from the church are easy to talk to, and they even said they would come to find you. Otherwise, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to even borrow the teleportation array."

"Oh right, and the church too." Deva remembered something: "What's the church's stance this time?"

"They actively cooperated in the rescue, but I feel their attitude might have been a bit ambiguous." Yuehua considered her tone carefully, and said casually, "At that time, many apprentices were beaten badly. They fled to the church and cried under the statue of the Magic Lady. The priest also healed them, and seeing this, the guards did not dare to make a move."

"But when night fell, the pastor persuaded the apprentices to leave and return to their own campus. Some who did not use invisibility or were not fast enough were caught by the guards lying in ambush."

Meanwhile, the church pastor did nothing, and the apprentice guards who had escaped didn't dare to arrest him, so the situation remained at a stalemate. As for what happened in the end, I'm not entirely sure.

"It seems even the lady's servants are a problem," DuPont remarked. Deva, however, was somewhat displeased: "These people in Nas City are going too far and barbaric. They're even arresting people protected by priests. Does that mean if it weren't for the protection of the Magic Lady, they would just storm into the temples of other gods and arrest people?"

“Temples that are not the main religion have relatively low authority, not to mention that the official Harua only serves the Lady of Magic, and even the faith in the mage god Azus is relatively weak.” Dupont shook his head, feeling that this mess was much deeper than he had imagined, and that even the church dared not do anything.

“If these priests were to actually do something, that would be a diplomatic incident, but priests who run temples abroad are certainly shrewd and would never do such a thing.”

"And what about you?" Moonflower looked at DuPont: "Back then, quite a few apprentices were calling for you, a local, to step in and resolve the issues at the Desert Academy. Some even said they would go to the Yalach Council to complain about the Marquis's abuse of force. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I was nearly killed by a cult assassin and am now half-dead. I might not even be able to be saved. I'm afraid I can only lie here and watch."

DuPont shook his head. If the reward offered by the council hadn't been so generous, he wouldn't have even considered having his mentor take on the task.

"Then you'd better keep a low profile." Yuehua chuckled and took out a straw hat commonly worn in desert regions, placing it on DuPont's head: "Be careful not to be recognized, otherwise there will be news saying that you're indulging in a life of pleasure and refusing to come out and fight for the honor of your fellow apprentices. Your reputation will probably be comparable to that of the Marquis."

"The council officials just made the order without my knowledge. I don't even have a mage certificate, so what use am I?"

DuPont scoffed, calculating that he still had two academic years and half a semester left before graduation: "But it is indeed a bit barbaric. What did Yarach say?"

"I don't know. It happened yesterday, and the newspapers haven't reached a conclusion yet." Yuehua tilted her head slightly, her delicate profile completely unadorned. "But what can we say if the policy isn't changed? Wasn't that marquis just trying to ensure stability and facilitate policy implementation? In this situation, the council can only issue a reprimand at most. Otherwise, wouldn't that discourage these law enforcement officers?"

“If we deal with them this time, who will help the parliament implement the new policy next time? We can’t expect the members of parliament to do it themselves. The time of the archmage is so valuable. It’s not very likely, not to mention it’s not very respectable.”

"So?" Deva looked at DuPont and Moonflower, and for some reason, she felt that the two seemed to have a tacit understanding: "What are we going to do next?"

"Us? Of course, we're going home for dinner." DuPont smiled. "By the way, I saw on the map that we seem to be quite close to that swamp. How's the conflict between the green dragons and black dragons there going?"

(End of this chapter)