The Wizarding World's Forbidden Book Administrator

Chapter 578 Power

The sap of mangrove trees has a faint aloe vera scent.

Earthy, bitter, and with a touch of freshness.

"Sir?" David called out.

Dick snapped out of his daze and looked at the man in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Dick asked.

"You seem a little distracted, what's wrong?"

"No," Dick shook his head. "Have you run into any trouble these days?"

Upon hearing this, David's face darkened: "Yes, sir, someone has been here."

"Pirates?" Dick frowned.

I don't think so.

A blue-gray monster immediately flashed into Dick's mind: "An alien race?"

"Another race?" David repeated the word. "What do you mean? Ice people? Easterners? Or green-eyed people?"

"A monster from the deep sea, calling itself the Will of the Deep Sea."

A collective of beings sharing a common consciousness? Dick pondered whether he should answer that way. But a group that erases all individual characteristics—such a philosophical notion shouldn't come from a knight's mouth. "They are tall; you should be able to distinguish them at a glance. But you aren't, which means you haven't seen them before. Okay—so they are other people?"

"Yes, people."

David squinted, and if you looked closely, you could see yellow discharge in the corners of his eyes. But who can expect a sailor to maintain personal hygiene at all times?

"But they were definitely not pirates. They were disciplined, decisive, and had a clear objective, passing through this area. I was forced to recall all the men I had sent out to prevent them from discovering us."

Since the ship is still intact, it means: "They haven't found us."

“Your Excellency is wise,” David nodded, “but it was just a hair’s breadth away. A soldier stared in the direction of the Hunting Yellow Dog for a long time, and we hid under the branches, afraid he would see something. But he left, and we breathed a sigh of relief.”

How many people?

“A dozen or so,” David said, “but I can tell that each of those dozen or so people is no ordinary person; they are probably quite strong. If a conflict breaks out, even with the advantage of terrain, our ship’s fighting strength would probably be insufficient to resist. Oh! Of course, we did not include you, sir.”

"You're lucky you weren't discovered," Dick admitted.

"No—" David hesitated, "In fact, I think they may have already spotted us, although there's no evidence, but the man raised his hand and pointed at the ship once."

Dick was startled: "Then why don't they attack?"

"I think they lacked the tools to approach the center of the lake, and approaching a deliberately camouflaged boat rashly would have made them easy targets for an ambush. From a tactical point of view, this decision was also unwise."

Dick frowned: "You mean—"

"Yes," David nodded, "they are definitely not idle pirates. That kind of discipline is clearly something only a serious group would have, such as a mercenary legion or a lord's private army."

Upon hearing this, Dick stroked his chin.

Pirates, deep-sea creatures, mysterious and serious groups—unexpectedly, three forces have appeared on Fallen Feather Island at the same time.

However, the truth may be that there are far more than three forces!

This is no coincidence.

Mr. Jonas and Miss Anne must be hiding something.

But a true knight never complains about the difficulty of his mission.

What Dick needs to do is achieve the established goals.

After a moment's thought, he asked David, "Did you discover anything?"

“No,” David shook his head, “but I think this group knows this island much better than we do.”

"Your judgment is correct," Dick nodded, "but then what? What have you gained from this judgment?"

"I realized that perhaps they are pursuing the same thing as us."

A cunning smile suddenly appeared on David's face.

Dick understood what the other person meant: "What did you do?"

“I had people follow them,” David said. “Not the kind of surveillance, of course, just keeping an eye on their general movements from a distance, so they weren’t easily detected.”

"You underestimate others."

Dick frowned, his face showing concern.

"Apart from this lake area, the island is teeming with parrots. Perhaps these birds don't like the lake water, or they hate these mangrove trees? Who knows—"

David shrugged. "Anyway, in this noisy place, it's not easy to find a follower, especially since I sent out the best ones."

"I can find it," Dick said seriously.

"Not everyone can be called a demon slayer." Oh, sorry, sir, I forgot you don't like that nickname. I'll just call you "the fighter" then.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Yeah, it really doesn't matter anymore.

"In short, you are Lord Hubert's only attendant. You are indeed a humble man, but you are also a formidable one. There are probably very few in this world who can compare to you."

"I hope your strategy succeeds," Dick frowned, "but it's flawed. Have you considered what will happen if it fails?"

"We will lose a loyal and excellent member."

"Not only that," Dick's face instantly darkened, "our location may be exposed, and we've also created a clear enemy on an unknown island. There are many more downsides, I could talk about them for three hours straight."

David looked surprised after hearing this: "I'm sorry, sir, I—I really didn't think that much about it. I thought this could help you."

Seeing David's remorseful expression, Dick took a deep breath.

He felt very calm now.

"Never mind," Dick shook his head. "Since the decision has been made, it's too late to say anything now. Let's pray for that warrior."

"I'm so sorry—" David repeated again.

This time, Dick didn't choose to strike up a conversation.

Voila.

Whether or not one has studied at a knightly academy makes a huge difference in the comprehensiveness of one's thinking.

Knight schools may not be able to train all students into excellent squires or knights, since everyone's martial arts talent may be determined from birth.

However, it can train everyone to be a strategist.

Although strategies that are not put into practice are just empty talk, at least we know which direction to start thinking from.

Dick looked at David again: "What's the latest he'll be back?"

“Seven days, sir,” David said. “I only gave him seven days. You know I don’t want to see him die in vain.”

"What day is it today?"

"The seventh day."

At this moment, someone came to report to the two of them.

It turned out that they had noticed someone waving from the lake shore.

David smiled. "I think he's back!"

After a short wait, the scout was already standing between the two.

Dick said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you, sir."