Full-Time Wizard: Starting with Harvesting Wheat

"My son went out again after coming back last night and hasn't returned. Have you seen him?" Usopp frantically wandered around the town, asking everyone he met for news of his son. But once night fell, the townspeople either went to sleep early or gathered in crowded areas like taverns, so no one would notice his son.

After asking around, he only received a few sighs and words of comfort from acquaintances, but he didn't get any news about his son.

The blacksmith shop remained silent, except for Gerrard, whose eyes widened in disbelief.

He recognized Usopp and immediately understood who the "son" the other was referring to was—it was Lucaon, the third of the top ten fighters, who had just disappeared like that?

Then, 24 hours after Lucaon went missing, Usopp went to Sheriff Larry for help.

But it was clear that, with the help of that small glass bottle, Delock had already skillfully and perfectly erased the traces at the scene. Larry searched the area but couldn't find a single useful clue.

He could only start by investigating Lucaón's interpersonal relationships.

As a sheriff, Larry already knew that Lucaon had joined a youth-run organization called "The Sword of the Kingdom." After talking with the youths in the organization, he gleaned a crucial piece of information: Lucaon's closest friend was none other than Delock, the founder of "The Sword of the Kingdom."

The next morning, he went straight to the merchant Joel’s house in Blue Creek and found Delock.

It is said that Delock received him warmly, and even when Larry rudely suggested searching the entire house, Delock did not show the slightest anger, but readily agreed.

But the result was still disappointing. Larry searched the house for a long time but found nothing.

For the next week, Lanxi Town was shrouded in unease.

Not only are the boys of "Kingdom Sword" restless all day long, but the adults in the town are also on edge.

Since its establishment, Lanxi Town has never had such a disappearance case, let alone the fact that the person has been missing for a week without any news, which is very strange.

They were all speculating that there might be a serial killer in town who lured Lucaon out at night, killed him, and then chopped up his body and mixed it into the pig feed on the farm.

Some say that there is a werewolf in the town, who transforms into a giant wolf with thick fur on the night of the full moon and randomly selects a town resident to kill.

However, compared to the two bizarre guesses above, the townspeople believed another explanation more readily—Lucao had been carried away by a wild beast.

Although there was no blood or signs of struggle at the scene, which seemed very strange, this was the closest to the "reasonable" answer among all the speculations.

A week later, nothing happened, and this speculation was gradually put to rest.

Everyone sighed with regret. Such an outstanding young man as Lucaon, even if he did not become a knight's squire, could at least make a name for himself in the mercenary world in the future.

……

On this day, however, it was Roy's turn to ask the mercenary Perland for advice on swordsmanship.

The mercenary lived in a small house in town, which was better than not only the villa of the Drog family, but even the "bachelor apartment" of the Tak hunter.

Just as Roy was about to enter the yard, a voice behind him called out, "Wait!"

Roy shook his head slightly and looked behind him. A strong figure emerged from around the corner and came running towards him at high speed.

"Karazhan?"

The newcomer was Karazhan, sixteen years old, nearly 1.8 meters tall, more than 20 centimeters taller than Roy, looking like the difference between an adult and a child.

"Roy..."

Before he could finish speaking, Roy interrupted him.

"Wait, how did you know I was coming to the mercenaries' place to learn swordsmanship today? The only people who knew were Drock and Gerald."

"Ahem, I overheard Gerald talking to Drok," Karazhan said honestly, scratching his head. "Let's not talk about that. Could you take me inside today? I have some questions about swordsmanship that I'd like to ask Mercenary Perland."

Roy understood. According to the rules, the number of times he could learn swordsmanship from mercenaries in Karazhan had been used up, and he would have to hone his skills on his own, which was inefficient. Therefore, he had his eye on Roy, hoping to use him as an opportunity to go in together.

"Sorry, we're very familiar with each other..."

Just as he was about to refuse, Karazhan suddenly pulled a money pouch from his waist.

"Here is five silver coins; consider this my payment for this."

Five silver coins is a huge sum of money for an ordinary teenager, and Karazhan doesn't believe Roy wouldn't be tempted.

"No, what if Mercenary Perland gets angry..."

"Add another five silver!" Karazhan exclaimed anxiously, pulling out another cloth bag.

It's clear that he's very eager to improve his swordsmanship.

But Roy knew that swordsmanship was far more important than money.

If he angers the Perland mercenaries now, his path to learning swordsmanship will be completely blocked, and he will have no choice but to seek help from others.

In the worst-case scenario, Roy is facing Delock alone.

Even if he has a way to prove that he is not a bloodline, Drock will probably not let him go.

Thinking of this, Roy's sense of urgency instantly overwhelmed his slight desire for money, and he resolutely refused, saying, "Once I've learned swordsmanship, I'll try to teach you."

With that, he turned and went into Perland's courtyard.

Karazhan reached out to grab Roy, but grasped only air. His volatile temper made him want to rush in recklessly, but when he recalled the mercenary's swordsmanship, which seemed capable of splitting mountains, he felt a sense of awe and reverence.

"Damn it!" Karazhan cursed, speechless at Roy's tone, which seemed to make him certain that he could learn swordsmanship.

That feeling was just like my first time visiting Perland's Hut in Karazhan.

He was just as confident, believing himself to be omnipotent.

"He must not know the profound mysteries of swordsmanship. That kind of thing can't be mastered without years of hard practice." Karazhan's eyes held a hint of schadenfreude. "Once he learns, he'll realize how ridiculous his confidence is today."

Karazhan shook his head. In any case, Roy's idea of ​​asking the mercenary Perland for advice had failed. The mercenary had also said that swordsmanship depended on talent and persistent practice, and that once the opportunity to ask for advice was used up, one should not come to him again.

"Now, I can only do the next best thing and go to Delok for advice."

Just as Karazhan was about to leave, Roy seemed to have foreseen something, suddenly turned back, stood at the threshold, and said to him, "I need to remind you of something."

"Watch out for Delock."

His tone was calm and solemn, possessing a convincing power.

—If the face of the speaker wasn't so childish.

"What's going on? Is he telling me to be careful of Droc?" Karazhan was baffled as Roy disappeared from sight once again. "Did this guy guess I was going to find Droc and deliberately stop me? Could it be that he's afraid I'll learn the correct way to use swordsmanship from Droc?"

Karazhan seemed more and more appealing the more he thought about it.

Even though he didn't trust Delock as much as the other teenagers, he never doubted that Delock was behind Lucaón's disappearance.

In contrast, Roy only made it into the top ten by luck—Karazhan always believed that Brenda was not worthy of being among the top ten.

With such a horizontal comparison, which one to believe? Need I even say more?

"Yes, the conscription is not far off. I'll go find Delock now."

After making up his mind, Karazhan walked to the crossroads, scratching his head in distress, as if making a difficult choice.

The left side faces the direction of my house, and the right side faces the direction of Delock's house.

He actually stopped and paused there.

"Damn it, do I really believe that shorty can learn swordsmanship and then teach me?"

He shook his head dismissively, as if he had just thrown away his own thoughts.

But deep down, he subtly retained a sense of anticipation for Roy and a wariness of Delock.

He knew that he and Delock were rivals, and that the latter would not teach him 100% of his skills.

This made Karazhan hesitate.

"Damn it, that kid and I are competitors too, why should I expect him to teach me!" he cursed, his thoughts already drifting to the right side of the road.

Strangely, his body did the exact opposite of what he thought.

They moved to the left.