Swords, magic, and martial arts

"Lord Jon, this man says he has something very important to report to you," the castle guard said to Jon.

The man guarding the side was disheveled, his clothes were tattered, and he smelled terrible, even worse than Baron, who hadn't showered for a week.

Everyone present, except Jon Snow, knew this person.

"What's so important?" Jon asked, looking up.

The man looked at Baron and his companions with surprise as he entered. Hearing Jon's question, he replied respectfully, "It's about the Cult of Dragons. They appeared on your territory and stole my goods?"

"Oh? Are you sure it's the Dragon Cult? They just stole your goods? What in your goods are they after?" Jon took a sip of his drink and continued to ask.

"There's nothing particularly valuable, just furs and food," the man replied.

Rod thought the voice sounded familiar. He looked at him closely and realized it was Daniel with the big beard. He was surprised to see him in such a sorry state after just a few days.

"So the Dragon Cult would rob such worthless things?" Jon said.

"Perhaps they're out of food, which is why they're stealing from me. After all, they're human too and need to eat. I beg you to send troops to wipe them out and uphold justice for me. They are a threat to my territory," Daniel said with a mournful face.

Upon hearing Jon's words, Waver seemed to recall something; they had encountered quite a few robberies along the way.

They had encountered three robberies in the short distance they had traveled: one by ordinary bandits, one by well-trained and well-equipped free riders, and the last by followers of the Dragon Cult leading a group of bandits.

Before the final robbery, an ordinary arrow was shot and attracted him and Baron, making them rush towards the direction from which the arrow was shot, as if they were under some kind of spell.

“No, you must have been transporting something unusual,” Weber said, recounting his previous experiences and his own conjectures.

Daniel's expression changed upon hearing this, but he quickly regained his composure.

Jon stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "You'd better tell the truth."

"That's the truth," Daniel said, forcing himself to speak.

"Go and fetch Master Carl," Jon said to a servant standing nearby.

Racar is a maester and a wizard at Jon Castle. Unlike most wizards in castles, he didn't live in the castle itself; he mostly lived near a forest on the territory, conducting his research.

He had watched Jon grow up, both his brother and Jon himself, and felt immense guilt over his brother's death. After the deaths of Jon's family, fearing that Jon would suffer the same fate, he moved back to the castle.

Now, Rakar usually stays in his room studying magic and learning various kinds of knowledge, and rarely leaves his room. His three meals a day are delivered to his room by servants.

Soon after, Rakar appeared beside the stairs in the hall. He had a very serious expression, a hooked nose, and deep-set eyes. Although he was very old, his eyes were still very sharp. However, he was unkempt, with messy hair and his white silk robe had turned into a dirty gray.

"Master Rakar" Jon rose to greet him and sat him down, then told him everything.

As Racar listened to Jon's story, his hawk-like eyes remained fixed on Daniel, making Daniel somewhat flustered.

"I can sense that you've been in contact with Dragon Crystal recently," Rakar said. "You should know I can't hide this from you, so why aren't you telling the truth? Do you want to suffer some consequences?"

His voice was both authoritative and cold, and even though it wasn't directed at Rhodes, it made Rhodes a little nervous, just like when his homeroom teacher used to criticize others sternly on the podium when he was in school, and he would tremble down in his seat.

"No, sir. What is dragon crystal? I have no idea what dragon crystal is," Daniel said in a panic.

Rhode had never heard of dragon crystals in this world, but judging from the name alone, they must be related to dragons.

"Hmph," Rakar sneered, "Stop making excuses. Even without using magic, I can tell you now that you realize what you've done. If you confess honestly, you'll suffer much less."

Daniel fell silent and began to look around, as if he were about to run away.

At this moment, the guard next to him pressed him to the ground and made him kneel down.

"I already told you, why waste my energy to personally read your memories?" Rakar stood up, walked to Daniel, and placed a finger between his eyebrows.

Blue light emanated from his fingers. Daniel first felt as if he had been electrocuted, and then began to struggle in pain, but he was held down firmly by the castle guards.

Rakar withdrew his finger, the eerie blue light disappeared, but a black mark remained between Danil's eyebrows, and he collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"Hmph, he did something wrong and got his comeuppance, yet he still wants the lord to uphold justice and lock him in the dungeon. I never thought a slave trader would walk right into my trap." After saying this, Rakar turned and walked towards the stairs, glancing back at Jon.

Jon paused for a moment, then immediately followed.

Rhodes felt uneasy listening to their cryptic conversation.

"Are all the mages who serve the lord as powerful as him?" Rhodes asked Weber beside him. Rhodes was uneasy seeing how easily Rakar could read Daniel's memories; his newly built confidence was shaken.

"Definitely not. I've seen many mages in taverns who claim to serve the lord, but their skills are quite average. You should know that Rakar is not only a mage but also a scholar; not all mages can become scholars," Weber replied.

"What's the difference between a scholar and a mage?" Rhodes asked again.

"Only those with profound knowledge, and who have received the personal approval of the chief maester of Nord, can be called maesters. However, not all maesters possess magic, but you must remember that we are no match for any maester who can use magic, even if we were all together. As for mages... many people who can perform a small trick dare to call themselves mages," Weber explained. "That Daniel clearly doesn't know the situation here and thinks there's only an ordinary mage in the castle, which is why he came to ask the lord to uphold justice for him."

"So most lords don't have scholars serving them?" Rhodes asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Hammer interjected. "It seems you really should travel around more and learn about the basic situation of the Kingdom of Nord. You should know that there are no more than fifty scholars in the entire country."

Rhodes nodded and asked Hammer, "Then why did Daniel, who came seeking help, end up being captured and thrown into the dungeon?"

Hammer said while eating his fried rice, "I don't know either. We'll find out when Jon gets back. He's definitely going to have a headache about this lately."

Jon Snow did not return to the hall until Rhodes finished his meal. Instead of waiting in the hall for Jon to return and explain what had happened, Rhodes took the sword the female knight had given him and went back to the castle courtyard to practice his left-handed swordsmanship…