Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

Two days later.

That night.

Lord's Hall, Earl's Mansion.

Because the drought plague that had ravaged Greyhawk Keep for more than half a year had finally come to an end, and was no longer spreading or infecting.

So, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and held a simple banquet in the lord's hall to celebrate.

The meal was plentiful, including grilled eel, turkey with blueberry sauce, apple pie, crispy flatbread, mashed potatoes with bacon, and a special clam chowder...

After three rounds of dishes.

At the party, Holman invited Wayne to drink.

However, Wayne wasn't interested in the slightly bitter, locally produced fruit wine, so he only took a small sip and didn't drink much.

At the banquet, the happiest person was undoubtedly Earl Victoria.

Now that the plague in the city has finally ended and no new citizens are being infected, the next step is to allow the city to slowly recover and regain its vitality.

However, it will probably take five to ten years for the population to recover to its original size.

This plague outbreak has had a severe impact on the Earl's territory and Greyhawk Castle, almost resulting in catastrophic destruction.

Furthermore, if Wayne hadn't arrived at the end and investigated the cause of the plague outbreak in the city...

It is likely that Greyhawk Keep will eventually become a ghost town, with no living people left in the city.

Therefore, the fact that the plague can now be resolved is a great relief.

At the banquet, Earl Victoria drank a lot, and by the end, her eyes were glazed over and red-rimmed. She spoke to Holman beside her.

"Actually, I had already prepared for the worst. If that lord still refused to let us go, I would personally go to his door and offer my life as an apology, hoping to gain his forgiveness and spare Gray Eagle Castle..."

"Father, what are you saying! With your son here, what can't be resolved? You must know your son is a wizard; they wouldn't dare go too far!"

Facing his elderly father, whose eyes were glazed with drunkenness, Holman patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Father."

It conveys the impression that the matter was resolved very easily.

"Hollman, it's all thanks to you! The best thing your father ever did was send you to wizarding school to become a wizard!"

Now, Earl Victoria, with her cloudy old eyes, looked at Holman and spoke in a voice full of relief and emotion.

"If it weren't for your protection, Father, I really don't know how we would have gotten through this ordeal."

"Actually, my father was quite old, so it didn't matter if he died. He had long since taken life and death lightly. The only thing he still couldn't let go of was your sister, Lilith."

"She's still young, not yet an adult, and unmarried. If I die, what will happen to her in the future..."

"Father, you've had too much to drink..."

Seeing the tears welling up in his father's eyes, Holman's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible sadness, and he said softly.

Then he instructed his old butler, Alfred, to help Earl Victoria back to her bedroom to rest.

"Yes, I drank too much, I drank too much..." the old count said, his expression dazed.

Then, the old butler Alfred helped Earl Victoria leave.

After his father left, Holman took a sip of the fruit wine in his glass and, finally no longer needing to suppress his emotions, said with a face full of emotion.

"What a cruel world! The other party used such a vicious method, almost killing everyone in Gray Eagle Fortress, and in the end, I have to go over and take the initiative to apologize, settle things peacefully, and choose to make peace."

"Furthermore, if I hadn't brought up my apprenticeship at the Black Forest City Wizarding Academy at the end, making them hesitate, this matter probably wouldn't have ended so peacefully!"

Hearing Holman's words, Wayne sighed softly and said...

"Yes, the cruelest rule in this world is that it is too lenient on the strong and too cruel on the weak."

Wayne learned from the conversation that took place in the Earl's mansion last time.

The incident stemmed from a court banquet held by Grand Duke Frederick a year ago.

After the banquet ended and everyone had left, out of a sense of justice, the Earl of Victoria stopped a frivolous man from attempting to assault a lady after the banquet had concluded.

At the time, no one knew what methods that despicable fellow used to render that beautiful lady unconscious, making her like a puppet at his mercy.

After his plans were ruined, the guy became furious.

He immediately declared that he would make Earl Victoria regret his actions and pay a heavy price in the future.

It wasn't until later, after making inquiries, that I learned that the guy was actually a wizard's apprentice.

Furthermore, his "cabin in the woods" is said to be a wizarding organization with inexplicable and mysterious connections to dark wizards.

No one knows how they disguised themselves and managed to sneak into the banquet... At the time, my father didn't pay much attention, thinking that the other party was just saying hurtful things out of anger.

Besides, he considered himself a noble lord with numerous knights, guards, and troops under his command.

If the other party really comes looking for trouble, so what? I'm not necessarily afraid of them.

Unexpectedly... the other party actually used such sinister and despicable methods!

If Wayne hadn't investigated and uncovered the truth in time, Greyhawk Keep might have been destroyed in this plague outbreak without any explanation.

Moreover, it was a bloodless killing, silently wiping out a count's territory under the guise of a plague!

After learning about this from his father, Holman thought it over and over, and finally decided to take some valuables with him.

After making inquiries, they learned that the cabin in the woods was a base in a nearby province.

He took the initiative to visit her by carriage, proposed a reconciliation, and hoped that this matter would end there.

The Earldom of Victoria will not pursue their responsibility and hopes that they will not cause them any further trouble.

At the time, the guys in the cabin in the woods scoffed at Holman's request for reconciliation.

This implies that angering the members of the cabin in the woods will result in a fight to the death.

It wasn't until Holman revealed his identity as a wizard apprentice from the "Black Forest City" that those guys relented and agreed to a settlement.

After all, the Black Forest City Wizard Academy is one of the larger wizarding organizations among the surrounding kingdoms and allied nations.

Even if you don't respect the monk, you should respect the Buddha.

If this leads to a falling out with this Holman wizard apprentice, who knows what bigger trouble it might cause in the future?

Moreover, this place is still officially the "territory" of the Tudian Empire.

Although the Tudian Empire is now preoccupied with its own problems, and various power struggles are erupting in the court after the death of the old king, it is gradually declining.

However, they attacked a count within the empire and caused the deaths of so many people and subjects.

If the Tudian Empire were to investigate... they were worried that things would spiral out of control and backfire on them.

Therefore, after agreeing to the reconciliation with Holman and accepting the "gift" from Holman as a gesture of goodwill, he indicated that he would no longer cause trouble for the Victoria Territory.

All Holman could do was try to appease the situation.

After all, it's not the theft itself that's scary, but the fact that the thief has his eye on it.

If we really break ties completely with the other party, it will be a fight to the death.

Although I will be able to return to live in the Black Forest City in the future, I am not afraid of their revenge.

But my father and the others definitely can't do it.

They will continue to live and work here.

If they come to Victoria's territory to cause trouble every now and then, and use dirty and evil black magic, no one can withstand such torment.

After all, ordinary people have almost no ability to resist wizards, and he couldn't possibly protect his father every moment.

Therefore, he had no choice but to compromise, which is why Holman felt extremely frustrated.

"In this cruel world, all we can do is become cruel 'players' ourselves, constantly improving our strength, so that we can control our own destiny!"

Wayne said.

"Yes, you're right, Junior Brother Wayne! Come... let's drink to this cruel world!"

Holman raised his wine glass and toasted Wayne.

Wayne also raised his glass, clinked it with Holman's, and then drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.