The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 152 The Lantern Bearer Outside the Moonlight Tavern

The sky over Hutton Mar is always so blue, with a few white clouds drifting by leisurely.

Legend has it that this city was built in the desert by a great magician named "Mar" using a powerful magic circle.

However, all of this seemed insignificant to the adventurers living in Huttonmar.

When the past becomes history, and history becomes legend, adventurers prefer tangible gains to vague and ethereal legends.

For example, two months ago, a strange magician came to Huttonmar.

He always carried paper and pen, along with an old bronze oil lamp, and sat alone at the entrance of the Moonlight Tavern. Whenever someone passed by the tavern, he would always ask if there was anything new or interesting.

At first, everyone thought he was crazy, and many people even avoided him, since a mad magician is quite dangerous.

However, conventions are always meant to be broken.

About a week ago, a female gunslinger handed a worn-out leather belt to the magician in front of everyone. The magician then shone his oil lamp on it and immediately told a fascinating story.

The female gunslinger was rewarded with a gold coin.

Although the reward wasn't much, it was still a real gain.

Since then, every adventurer who comes to Moonlight Bar will casually bring one or two items to show the strange magician.

Because he always carried an oil lamp to go out, everyone jokingly called him the "Lamp Bearer."

……

Early morning, another day full of energy.

Ino arrived at the entrance of the Moonlight Tavern as usual and casually put down the stool he was carrying.

Leaning against the outer wall of the tavern, he leisurely basked in the sun while waiting for adventurers to come.

He had been in Huttonmar for two whole months. Although he had witnessed the prosperity brought about by the combination of magic and alchemy, he had also revised his subjective assumptions.

First of all, this is a city with a huge population. Not counting the original civilians, Hutton Myre alone has hundreds of thousands of adventurers. And the vast Grand Forest, with its countless cat demons and goblins, has successfully fed these hundreds of thousands of people with their own flesh and blood.

Secondly, Norton Massimogg, as the guild master of the Alchemy Guild, is not the old geezer standing on the street in the original story, someone anyone can approach and chat with.

As a learned alchemist guild master, meeting Norton requires not only considerable reputation and status, but more importantly, an appointment. After all, an alchemist's time is always the most valuable asset.

Therefore, after learning more about it, he gave up that delusion and settled down to his old profession.

You can either stay at the tavern entrance to collect stories, or go into the Grand Forest to practice magic and earn some extra money along the way.

As he pondered, a shadow blocked the warm sunlight, and when he looked up, he saw a bright and radiant face.

"Let's go collect the cat demon's claws!" the female gunslinger Caitlin said pitifully.

"I'm not going; you're a burden!"

Glancing at the two new pistols at the other person's waist, Ino decisively refused.

He was very curious, wondering what had gotten into Caitlin that made her run off to Huttonmar a week ago. She couldn't even kill many goblins, yet she was constantly thinking about cleaning up the cat demons.

"Why don't you just stay obediently at the Elvin Line? The Cat Demon isn't what you think, and it's not something you can act tough just because you changed a couple of guns."

"This is a gun that Teacher Kelly just upgraded and modified for me, and I'm not a burden." Caitlin pouted, somewhat dissatisfied.

Ino ignored Caitlin's complaints, knowing he couldn't tolerate her bad habit, or something bad would happen sooner or later.

"Listen to me, you can have fun in Hutton Myre, but come back when you're done. This place isn't for you. Go back to killing goblins, picking wild strawberries, and managing your and Celia's inn well. Adventure isn't foolish; don't gamble with your life!"

He truly felt compassion for Caitlin; it would be such a pity for an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl to die so young.

On the other side, just as Caitlin was about to retort, she heard a gloomy voice:

"He's right! Taking risks isn't foolish. Once you're dead and your bones rot, no one on this continent will remember you anymore."

A middle-aged man carrying a long sword appeared three meters away from the two of them at some point.

"I meant no harm. I just heard there's a lamp-bearer here who can see the stories behind objects. So I came all the way here to show you my old buddy! Don't worry! Nobody dares to mess with him in Hutton Mar."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man spread his hands, indicating that he was harmless.

As the man finished speaking, Ino slowly lowered the wand in her hand.

Indeed, no one dares to make a move in Huttonmar; even the most unruly adventurers become docile here.

This is not magic; it is order bought with blood over hundreds of years.

"Sorry! I was a little nervous." Ino looked apologetically at the man who was filled with resentment.

"It's nothing!" The man waved his hand dismissively, seemingly used to being misunderstood.

"The power of the curse has been eroding me, but my will is stronger than it. But I've come today to show you my old friend."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man unslung the long sword he was carrying on his back.

A magnificent, ice-blue longsword, its blade long and narrow, shimmering with a faint blue light, as if concealing a frozen lake, cold and deep.

Although sitting in the warm sun, Ino still felt a chill. It wasn't just a simple cold; it was a cold mixed with extreme resentment and regret.

Although he had some guesses, he still picked up the oil lamp at his feet.

The quill pen lying flat to the side also floated up, seemingly ready to write.

"The Dance of Fine Snow! This is a princess's sword! A tragic and beautiful love story..."

Sitting on a small stool, looking at the weapon laid out horizontally in front of him, Ino began to recount the story behind it.

The core story is short: a prince and princess from two different countries are engaged and deeply in love with each other.

But due to border interests, the two countries went to war. The prince abandoned his love for the sake of his people, and the princess, driven by pain and hatred, took up a sword. She won, leading her army into the palace to confront her former lover.

"...Even in defeat, the prince still chose his subjects. In disappointment and anger, the princess killed him with her own hands. But even with her lover dead, she could not let go of the resentment in her heart, so she also chose to commit suicide. Endless resentment turned into a curse, which also attached itself to this weapon."

After finishing the story, Ino put down the oil lamp in his hand, and the quill pen also stopped recording.

"What a tragic story!" A melodious voice rang out behind the crowd.

Sosia, the proprietress of Moonlight Tavern, was leaning against the doorframe of the tavern with a smile on her face, holding a cocktail.

"I'm sorry I turned you away last time, but if I had known this would happen, I definitely wouldn't have made that choice. Can I buy you a drink? Consider it my apology."

Faced with Sosia's apology, Ino shook her head: "There's no need to apologize at all. After all, I wasn't a real customer, and your initial refusal was perfectly reasonable."

As he spoke, he took out a gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the middle-aged man. The rule of giving money for every story should never change.

The story might be considered padding, but Xiaodi used the 199 paid node, and the chapter had 2199 words, so it's still counted as 2000.

Meow~ The story is free, so tell me, isn't Xiao Di a good girl?

(End of this chapter)