Knight and Wand

Chapter 146 Resting under the Tree
The setting sun cast a dim light and the sound of a military whistle was heard from the construction site outside Longka.

Soldiers and craftsmen were dismissed from their posts and returned to the camp to rest.

On the river bank, Leon extinguished the fire on the broken sword, dragged his slightly tired body to the root of a big tree, and sat down to take a rest.

Repeated attempts at magic not only consumed the magic element in the body, but also burned the energy of the caster. Although not much physical strength was consumed in the afternoon, Leon felt more tired mentally than fighting with Olivia for a whole day.

With his back leaning against the tree trunk, he wanted to imitate Corvis, who was dozing off with the little griffin beside him, and just fall asleep on the spot.

In an open space not far away, Olivia finished her last set of sword skills and gradually stopped moving.

The girl looked up at the red sky in the distance, feeling sentimental in silence.

Life has changed a lot. If it were still like the past, she would have gone home to prepare dinner by this time.

But now, fields, housework and many trivialities of past life are getting further and further away from her, and practicing martial arts and reading have gradually become her entire daily life.

Olivia put away her blunt sword and walked towards her lover.

Coming under the tree, the girl bent down to pick up the broken sword that had been deformed and cracked after being repeatedly burned and cooled, and sat down next to Leon.

"What exactly is the effect of this spell? It just burns your weapon red hot. If the enemy hits it, won't it be broken?" Olivia asked curiously, holding up the broken sword in her hand that was still warm.

"No, the weapon was burned because I am not yet proficient in my skills. Once the real 'Molten Sword' is formed, the high-temperature field created by the technique will not radiate toward the inside of the attached object. The temperature of the magic flame will only be transmitted to the outside." Leon answered Olivia's question, and took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders, enjoying the intimacy with each other.

"What about you? Can you feel the magic?" Leon lowered his head and asked about the girl's progress.

Asking this does not mean that Olivia also wants to learn magic.

According to Miss Lola, regardless of whether Olivia's soul and spirit have magical talent or not, the genetic inheritance of blood transformation in her body makes it difficult for the girl, who has a natural tendency to disturb magic, to create magic spells by herself.

This also means that ordinary magic cannot stay on Olivia and fake her appearance.

If she wanted to use the reaction of the magic manifestation to change her eye color, she could only rely on her own strength to drive the high concentration of magic in her body to actively affect her eyes.

Olivia put down the broken sword and sighed helplessly: "The sense of 'force' that you and Corvis talked about, if it's not an illusion, I can always vaguely feel it, but I can only affect it by following the movement of my body. I feel like a bucket. When I move, the 'water' inside will sway with the movement, but I can't hold it up, and I can't control it."

"Take it slow. If you really can't learn it, you can use some old-fashioned methods, such as wearing a mask or a helmet. But that would make it more obvious. It seems that I should just stay away for the time being." Leon thought.

Covering your face is really not a good idea. When facing people of equal or lower status, there is naturally no problem and you can just find an excuse to deal with it.

But if she happens to meet a great noble, the girl cannot help but take off her helmet and mask. Wearing a mask that is not in accordance with etiquette will attract curious looks and cause trouble.

Maybe if he hadn't been wearing a mask, there wouldn't have been any suspicion. After all, although blonde hair and blue eyes are rare in Orland, it is not entirely a privilege of the Drakmaar family.

Thinking about how Olivia hid her background, Leon couldn't help but think of the questions in his mind before.

After hesitating for a while, Leon asked the girl: "If you have a chance to see your mother again, and a chance to bring her back to life, would you like to try?"

He learned from the showdown between old Brian that the girl's mother, whose real name was "Lelia", had died very early, at the age of only twenty-six.

Olivia was only four or five years old at that time.

Leon wondered if she had any regrets about the untimely death of her loved one.

Hearing this, Olivia raised her pretty face and looked at Leon in a daze: "Are you saying, resurrect like Canis?"

The girl got up from bed and rushed to the cell with Leon that day, so she naturally knew the fact that the young master of the Wolf family had died.

She had already been shocked when she saw Canis come back to life today, so she was not surprised to hear that her lover had a way to resurrect the dead.

“It may not succeed, but I can guarantee that this magic will not have any negative impact on your mother’s soul. It is different from the evil witchcraft in the legend. You have also read the ancient magic book. Do you remember the Dead Sea Dragon recorded in it?
This magic is a miracle recognized by the true god of death. If it succeeds, your mother can return to the world from the underworld intact to meet you. From now on, as long as I have enough magic power to maintain her, she can live with us like a normal living person." Leon explained.

Olivia listened quietly, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

Although the girl has been accustomed to being without her mother's company for more than ten years, how could she not yearn for the warm embrace that she vaguely remembers?
But the girl's mind suddenly flashed with the indelible sadness on her mother's beautiful face, and she couldn't help feeling heartbroken.

Shaking her head, Olivia straightened up and said to Leon: "Forget it. I miss her very much, but I don't want to disturb my mother's rest."

The girl said this as if she was relieved, but before she finished her words, she, who was thought to have already accepted that her mother was no longer in this world, suddenly felt a slight sadness and longing in her eyes.

She paused, endured the sudden palpitations, and lowered her head to lean on the other's chest.

Seeing Olivia's sudden fragile expression, Leon had no choice but to hug her tightly in his arms.

Relying on the warm comfort, the girl slowly calmed down the sadness of waiting for her loved ones.

“When I was little, I didn’t understand my mother’s constant sadness. She was very gentle to me, but I rarely saw her smile from the bottom of her heart.

Until that day, my mother fell asleep quietly in her bed, and no matter how much she shook her, she never opened her eyes again.

But it was also on that day that I saw a smile on her face that showed she had let go of everything.

My mother left with a smile, and I don’t want to drag her back to this world of pain just because of my own willfulness.”

Olivia slowly calmed down from her longing, she raised her head and said self-deprecatingly: "It's funny that a long time ago, I thought it was my father who did something wrong that made my mother so sad.

Now I know that she and my biological father must have experienced many tragedies. If I call her back to the world now, it will only continue the pain she suffered in her previous life."

Gently soothing the girl's back, Leon nodded: "I didn't think it through. It's not necessarily a good thing to wake up your mother regardless of the wishes of the deceased. Not all deceased people want to live again. May she rest in peace." But suddenly realizing the words Olivia used, Leon stared at the girl in his arms and said in astonishment: "Wait, you said biological father? You know everything?"

"Uncle Brian told you?" Leon opened his eyes wide. He clearly remembered that the other party did not intend to let the girl know the identity of her parents now.

“Father didn’t say anything to me, but…” Facing Leon’s surprise, Olivia propped herself up and sighed helplessly: “Leon, you don’t think I’m stupid, do you? Since I came back that time, I can feel the change in my father’s attitude towards me.”

In fact, it wasn't just that subtle attitude, there were many more clues that made her suspicious, but Olivia was too embarrassed to say it directly.

Ever since she was teased by the big bad guy in front of her every night, she is no longer as naive and ignorant about matters between the sexes as before.

This also made her realize that from a young age until her mother passed away, she had always slept in the same room with her mother, and she had never seen them sleeping in the same room. They had never even done anything as intimate as she was doing with Leon at this moment.

They don't even hold hands or hug each other, live in separate rooms all day long, and have been together for many years without any conflicts or quarrels. They respect each other. What else can be said about such a "couple"? It only shows that they are not a real couple.

"Of course I don't think you're stupid, I just haven't decided when to tell you the truth." Leon smiled awkwardly.

"Then don't tell me yet. I don't think I'm ready to accept everything."

Olivia nodded slightly. Since Leon was willing to protect her own destiny, she was willing to follow her partner's guidance until the day she could bear the truth.

"Besides, no matter who my biological father is, the ones who raised me with great effort are still my current family. This will not change because of blood. Brian will always be my father."

The girl said, and warned Leon: "When I came back from the forest that night, I scared my father when I confronted him. You must not tell him what I guessed."

Olivia didn't want to see her old father, whom she had lived with for so many years, suddenly become extremely respectful and unfamiliar to her one day.

"Well, but if he knew your attitude, he would be moved to tears." Leon nodded.

The old knight has given so much to Olivia's family. He has spent all his years and life fulfilling his oath to his old master. Even now, he is still willing to sacrifice his life for his lord's only offspring without hesitation. Of course, it is also because he has long regarded the girl as his own.

I just don't know whether he had a family or left any real offspring before he protected Lelia and Olivia and lived in seclusion in Selva.

If not, Leon thought that when he settled down in the future, maybe he should find a companion for old Brian. Maybe he would still be strong and healthy, and Olivia could have another nominal brother or sister.

After so many years of hardship and suffering, it would be a tragedy if this loyal old knight ended up without an heir a hundred years later.

The few days in Lonka passed by in a flash.

The wait did not last long, it was the third day since Baron Elliver led his cavalry to camp at Wachterburg.

The scout who had been observing the Wolf Leader's army camp in the west hurried back to Longka to report that all the Wolf's troops stationed in Aiken Village had evacuated.

The confrontation here seems to have been resolved, but this does not mean the trouble is over.

For the army did not return to Woffenhall, but seemed to be marching in the direction of Wachterburg.

The day after Wolf's army left, the Thorn Flower Messenger from the north brought Baron Elliver's military order.

Leon called everyone together, and after discussion, he left Azerien to guard the Lonka camp, and then assembled three commanders of soldiers who had been armed with captured armor, together with the halberdmen led by Sir Redo, a total of more than one hundred blood-stained veterans in full armor, led by a group of knights, and were summoned to the north.

With the captured Wolf-Collar warhorses, although only the dozen or so people who knew horsemanship, including Leon's six guards, could be considered real "cavalry", the dozen or so people behind them could only be considered "mounted infantry" wearing cavalry armor, but if they didn't charge on horseback, it would be difficult to tell the strength of the team.

The thirty-man heavy cavalry team looked very intimidating at first glance. If it did not fight against the real elite, this hastily assembled heavy cavalry would still be a crushing force for ordinary light infantry.

When Leon arrived at the location with dozens of heavy cavalry and a hundred heavy infantry in chain mail, outside the tall fortress walls, the formations of two armies, or three armies, had already been deployed in a mighty manner on the field outside Sir Marcello's castle.

The knights' flags and the infantry phalanxes' swallowtail flags fluttered in the dense array of spears and lances. The sharp blades flashed with cold light, reflecting clusters of cold light under the sun.

The endless army formation on the western hillside was made up of the 3,000 Wolf Clan troops who had just returned to Kossos County from the Mamor County Army and had not yet been disbanded.

The group of Wofenhall soldiers who withdrew from the Aiken camp must have already joined the lord's army.

On the north side of the camp located by the river in the wilderness, there is a green deer head family crest flying.

A thousand soldiers under the banner of the Earl of the Stag were neatly lined up in the middle of the confrontation between the two families.

As for Farolis himself, he was certainly not unprepared for the aggressive Wolf Leader's army. On the city wall of Wacht, the battlements were filled with Thorn Flower soldiers with swords drawn, and the crossbows and catapults on the top of the tower had already been set up.

According to the messenger's oral information.

Two hundred knights of Marcello's army, one hundred garrison troops in the baggage camp, four hundred soldiers from the city of Farolis, two hundred cavalry brought back by Baron Elifer, and more than a hundred of his own soldiers.

In the Wacht region, more than a thousand troops of the Thorn Flower family were assembled at the call of Baron Elliver.

With the advantage of defending the fortress and pass here, we can still fight a big battle with the 3,000 invading Wolf Leader's army.

However, Leon knew that with the mediation of the great nobleman General Trosa, the war would most likely not break out.

Baron Elliver asked him to bring some troops with him, not only to be on the safe side, but also to strengthen his army.

I just don't know if he has told Earl Stag about the Nightmare Forest at this moment.

Leading the soldiers into the Thorn Flower Camp outside the castle, Leon asked Old Brian to place the troops, and then went to meet the feudal lord with Knight Redo.

(End of this chapter)