Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Do you know how much death benefits a paladin receives?" Leon said expressionlessly. "Especially a high-ranking paladin like me? Hmm, you seem to be unfamiliar with the church's knightly hierarchy?"

"I know that Imperial Knights are divided into three ranks from lowest to highest": Squire Knight (ordinary Knight), Grand Knight, and Knight Commander. Among them, the Knight Commander is usually the deputy of the Knight Order or the commander in charge of a large battalion, while the Grand Knight refers to an officer who can lead a battalion independently. Squire Knight is the ordinary Knight.

Note that the squire is not a knight's attendant. The accurate translation is closer to "accompanying knight" or "accompanying knight," referring to those in a lance (the most basic unit of a knightly order's charge) who are not qualified to carry the flag or serve as the "lance tip."

"Pretty much. The church is at the fourth level, and they don't actually call them knights. Knight just refers to a holy person of the same rank who is equivalent to a knight's title."

Leon explained the structure of the Church's knights to Roach. The lowest-ranking paladin was, strictly speaking, called an "exorcist cavalryman," equivalent to a knight's squire; the second rank was called a "fellowship of the Ring," a formal knight; the third rank was a "preacher's guardian"; and the highest rank was a "guardian of the Holy Land." The highest rank, the Guardian of the Holy Land, was an honorary title, since the Church no longer had its own legion of protectors and there were no commanders at the level of knight captain.

Leon holds a fourth-level title, an honorary one, but his actual combat strength is only at the third level. This is because true fourth-level Holy Land Guardian Paladins are generally saints or near-saints. However, such individuals are rare in the Church now, or rather, those who have taken this path to become saints…

Basically, within the church's clergy system, they belong to the "Disciplinarian" system—seeing the mess those pastors and priests are making, they'd probably want to start a massacre right there in the church.

Fortunately, most of these tough guys aren't in prosperous parishes. Prosperous and wealthy parishes can't produce such big shots. They are mostly stationed in ancient demon rifts on the continent or in areas prone to invasion from hell and other worlds, and are tied up with various affairs and more urgent matters.

"How much is your compensation? Won't it be embezzled?"

“…No…” Leon paused for a few seconds, somewhat hesitant, but then replied after a moment’s thought, “Paladins are under the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Monastery. Although there are many who are just coasting along these days, those of my rank are all legitimate paladins. If the Disciplinary Monastery were to deduct the pensions of its own people right under its nose…”

Then the real fourth-class heroes mentioned earlier will take up their swords and head to the Holy City to argue their case with the bishops.

"How many are there?!" Leslie asked with concern.

“1000 gold coins is an astronomical figure for an ordinary family.”

The Church is not stingy with money in this regard. Just kidding, the kings of various countries all know how wealthy the Church is. If you are unwilling to spend money on your own powerful combat units, someone else will be willing to spend money on your powerful units. And at that time, it will be questionable whether your combat units belong to you or to someone else.

"A thousand? Isn't that a bit low?" For an ordinary knight, it's an unimaginable number. For Leon, it's probably just a little over a year's salary. Of course, his own expenses are also quite high.

"So, you earn nearly a hundred gold coins a month, but you can only send 20 gold coins home a year?"

“If I send 200, I’ll lose my parents and siblings the following year,” Leon said, looking at Leslie with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

“Ignore her, she’s not very bright,” Alessina said. Of course, she wasn’t very bright either, but she didn’t use her brain.

“It’s difficult for a miller’s family to afford a skilled adventurer or bodyguard, and they can’t be surrounded by a retinue like nobles. Besides, hiring a skilled adventurer requires connections,” Roach explained to Leslie.

"If you send back 200 gold coins, and you don't use them all on the spot, then by the second year, with the new ones sent back, you'll probably have a little over 300 gold coins. And a year is enough time for thieves, bandits, and even some wandering knights in the countryside to figure out the situation."

These vagrants don't care whether they offend a high-ranking paladin of the church. After all, they have nothing to lose. Even if you kill him, he'll still have gained something. Besides, you might not even be able to find him.

"Moreover, 300 gold coins is enough to hire the Shadow Ravens we encountered before for a small job, which means... with the level of security at his parents' house, it simply can't withstand it."

"Wouldn't that thousand gold coins in compensation be even more likely to be stolen...?"

"..." Even Alessina was looking at him like he was an idiot. "You have a thousand gold coins, why are you still a miller? Sell your goods and go buy a manor on the outskirts of the city. Bandits can steal your gold coins, but can they really steal your manor?" That would be making the lord lose face. Fixed assets are hard to liquidate, and even if they did steal them, they probably wouldn't be able to sell them for 100 gold coins.

A manor that has been breached by bandits indicates weak defenses, and coupled with the possibility of an entire family being wiped out, such haunted houses are often discounted to a tenth of their original price.

"I see... Wait, so you're just trying to scam the compensation?!" Leslie finally realized the blind spot.

"Yeah, what else do you think we were talking about?" Roach also looked confused. "We were talking about scamming compensation. Don't forget, we don't have the academy's free room and board and materials anymore!"

"Hiss! I have one too?"

“Your registrar is a servant, and you have a basket of pensions!” Leslie then showed an extremely disappointed expression.

"Wait, Ms. Elena won't have figured it out, will she?"

"She figured it out a long time ago. You don't think that as a proper witch, she wouldn't have any information channels or know whether the underground explosion could harm the young lady, do you?" Roach scoffed. "It's not like this money came out of her own pocket; she wouldn't care."

"What about the palace..."

Do you think the palace has the time to deal with these few hundred or a few thousand gold coins in compensation?

Everyone silently shook their heads as they looked at the still-smoking imperial city walls. Clearly, they didn't have the time or even the inclination to investigate whether the matter had actually occurred.

"Wait, who's the beneficiary? Who's responsible for collecting this money?!"

"Why do you think we didn't bring Lulua when we went down into the maze?" As soon as she finished speaking, a barefoot girl came running up from below, panting heavily. Judging from the intensity and frequency of her breathing, the bag on her back was quite heavy.

Chapter 375 One Luo Qi leaves, a thousand Luo Qi rise up

Lulua, panting heavily, climbed up carrying a not-so-large bag. "Huff~ huff~ I brought everything. By the way, is this really the luggage I left behind?" The Night Clan girl's leaf-shaped ears were tinged with pink, and her dark hair clung to her slender neck and face. Her chest heaved rapidly, and she looked truly exhausted.

"I... I feel like Dean Elena and the head of general affairs look a bit off." Lulua tried to regulate her breathing. Carrying such a heavy bag all the way from the capital was quite an exhausting thing.

You have to understand that this is not like taking the main road normally. After leaving the academy, you basically have to run all the way to the city wall along the spiral-shaped sinking buildings. It's like climbing a rock with a heavy load along the way.

Of course, there are some roads that are still relatively intact, such as those that have been partially repaired with wooden planks, but most roads and blocks are still broken and uneven.

“Ah, this is actually a pension for Miss Livia and me, well, at least that’s what it says on the application form.” “Ah? That’s not surprising.”

Luluya placed the heavy bag on the floor and then sat cross-legged on a chair. Her feet, having kept the pace at a minimum, were almost completely free of dust and dirt, but they were still a little red and swollen from the intense running and carrying the weight.

Lulua rubbed her feet with her hands while channeling her divine power to accelerate her recovery. The God of Night's divine power wasn't particularly outstanding in healing and recovery, but it still had some effect, especially when applied to herself.

Ms. Elena knew the inside story, so her expression was calm, even a little helpless and wanting to laugh. The Minister of General Affairs, on the other hand, did not know the inside story. The loss of two honorary professors was not just a matter of the pensions to be paid, but also the loss of two big shots who would have been teaching at the academy for a long time.

Of course, no one in the academy believed they were dead. They thought they were most likely injured, and seriously so they needed to find a place to rest and recover. After all, it was difficult for high-level spellcasters, especially witches and potion masters, to die completely.

Just like Ms. Elena, it would be difficult to make her completely die. As long as the mass of her remaining flesh is greater than the mass of her brain, and there is enough life magic and materials including soil nearby, she can temporarily restore her physical state and maintain a near-immortal state.

However, this does not mean that she will not be injured. If she is really injured to this extent, it will take at least twenty or thirty years to rebuild her body. The lifespan lost by this level of self-healing is also completely irreplaceable. Therefore, whether it is the Empire or other countries, it is generally believed that a sorcerer of the witch class can only be defined as "seriously injured" or "missing" unless they have witnessed her completely die.

However, the fact that she is not completely dead is not a reason not to pay. On the one hand, for witches, severe injuries require a very long time to recover, and some of them, whose lifespans are already short, are no different from being dead. At most, they can prolong their lives for a few more years and give their last words and arrangements. On the other hand, people of this level are equivalent to saints, not common cabbages. It is already extremely kind and righteous for them to be willing to fight for you until they are seriously injured before running away.

Many sages and witches are so powerful that they usually only run away when they are injured, either because they owe a huge favor or because their moral integrity is enough to surpass 99% of their peers.

"Ah, no wonder everyone along the way told me to take good care of the chosen ones~" Everyone she met had a sorrowful expression on their face, and then instructed Lulua to take good care of the two masters. She thought it was because everyone was sad and reluctant to part ways due to the sudden separation.

"Well... you shouldn't delve into this." Roach felt it was best not to taint the pure heart of this Night Saint. Let the dirty adults bear the burden of swindling compensation!

Roach and Leon exchanged a glance, then both looked at Leslie, the most naive and talkative one among them. "Don't tell the young lady about this, okay? You don't want to have a direct ticket to hell after you die, do you?" Roach threatened, while Leon beside him said with a sinister expression.

"The heinous crime of corrupting the pure hearts of children is so grave that even if you were thrown into hell, you would be tortured to the very depths of hell."

"I...I understand." Leslie indicated that she absolutely wouldn't dare. Other threats might not work, but the threat of her soul going straight to hell after death would be very effective, because there really were two demons in her house.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Suddenly, Leslie had a wonderful idea. Since there were already two demons in the family, why not inquire about the treatment and consequences of souls falling into hell? If all else fails, it could also serve as a connection—ah, no, a demon connection—in case things really went wrong one day and she ended up suffering endless torment in hell after death, she could have her own demon help smooth things over.

If Old Ma really does become a lord someday, Leslie actually has a plan to go to Old Ma's side after she dies because she can't go to heaven. From then on, she can make a fortune in hell. Well, that might be a bit difficult, but at least she can get a lazy job!

Leon had no idea that the mermaid girl's mind had already jumped to "post-mortem connections." Judging from her solemn expression, he thought she had taken his words to heart.

"By the way, Lulua, what was the students' reaction?"

"Ah, everyone is so sad, especially the students. They keep asking when the chosen ones will return to class. Hmm, they look a little pitiful. Shouldn't we go back to say goodbye?" Lulua felt heartbroken and sympathetic as she recalled the students' tearful eyes when they heard that Professor Roach would not be returning, at least not for quite some time.

"Let me tell you, if we really go back to the academy now, they'll be the ones who are truly pitiful." Professor Roach is very self-aware. He has extensive teaching experience on Earth and may seem like a nobody at international academic conferences, but within his own department, while he may not be the absolute authority, he is at least a powerful figure.

Therefore, he knew perfectly well that when students asked when the teacher would return, apart from a very few genuinely eager learners who cared about when the teacher would start class, the unspoken message was usually "how much longer is the free vacation?" or "how many minutes are left between classes?"

At this moment, Roach and his group made a grand entrance. Lulua didn't see tears welling up in her eyes, but rather a look of utter shock, followed by a torrent of tears. Everyone knew that after such a major event, Professor Roach would definitely use the events as a quiz, and his first words upon entering would be...

"Ah, although everyone performed well in this incident, there are still many areas for improvement. In addition, some students have been busy with rescue efforts and participating in the academy's defense work, so their course progress is currently uneven, so..." Professor Wilder snapped his fingers, and stacks of exam papers flew into the classroom, making the podium creak with a loud groan.

"I've discussed it with the dean, and we've decided to move the midterm exams forward. Also, before the exams, we need to understand everyone's progress and learning in this world so that we can adjust the teaching plan accordingly."

Wilder, mimicking Roach's calm tone as if nothing had happened, said smugly, "Well then, let's begin. First, let's have a few practice tests to reinforce the knowledge points, and then a short, quick pop quiz." Professor Wilder cheerfully used his finger as a conductor's baton, letting blank sheets of paper fall in front of the students with blank stares and stiff expressions.

"Time is limited, so let's begin. Ah, from this point on, your usual test scores will be factored into the recommendation quotas for the future." There are many things going on in the capital right now, requiring a large number of arcane mages, and this is an important opportunity for both commoner and noble students to gain political and networking capital.

Immediately, the expressions on the faces of many who had been indifferent changed. Professor Wilder pulled up a chair and comfortably lay down on the recliner left by Roach, holding a magic book in his hand, with a teapot floating in mid-air and steaming vanilla black tea beside him.

In the past few days, the professors have been busy repatriating the residents of the capital who had taken refuge, as well as reinforcing the academy and the labyrinth area below. At present, neither the empire nor the academy has the time to deal with the underground labyrinth tower below that has revealed part of its true form, so it can only be sealed off for the time being. Fortunately, the probability of a labyrinth that has not caused any trouble for decades suddenly having an accident is not high.

In addition to dealing with the remaining demons, reconstructing the ritual site in the capital, and maintaining stability in the surrounding areas as a powerful armed force, everyone from the dean to the contracted mages has their own tasks to complete.

Even the graduates and the recalled battle mages were extremely busy, but the academy's teaching plans and tasks couldn't be completely ignored. How to find time to deal with this matter was a major concern for many professors, until Professor Wilder remembered Rhodes's approach.

The students were given a high intensity of practice problems, which could even be summarized by busy graduates and battle mages based on the problems they encountered. Then, the junior mage assistants in the academy would help to create the problems. In this way, class time often became a break for the professors.

Even if there's a situation where it's impossible to get away, it's perfectly fine to leave the task of explaining the collection of wrong questions to those battle mages and graduates of the coming era. After all, many of the questions in it are things they've just encountered, so explaining them would be incredibly immersive for them.

The only drawback to doing this is:

“I thought things would be much easier after Professor Roach left,” Nina said weakly, slumping onto the table. Natalia, still engrossed in her studies, said, “But just because one Professor Roach fell, a thousand more have risen up. We really can’t get any more into school!”

"Instead of complaining, why don't you finish the 'Selected Problems in Applied Potions' that Dean Elena just sent out? It's due next week."

This is a general course focusing on potion applications. If an arcane mage or even a potion master were to drink a potion that killed them, that would be a truly hellish joke.

This subject mainly focuses on how to use potions, how to determine the toxicity of potions, the conflicts and contraindications of using multiple potions together, and how to use the interaction of potions to improve the effect of potions without using advanced potions.

Even Natalia has to learn. Her witchcraft can bypass rituals, but drinking potions will still kill her. This is the biggest difference between the academic school and those wild sorcerers. They may not have as many tricks and remedies, but at least they won't kill people with potions.

"Aaaaaah!" Nina grabbed her hair, screaming like a groundhog. "I still have potion-making homework! Why did I have to choose this subject?!"

Professor Roach once said something that I think makes a lot of sense.

"what?"

"Advising someone to study medicine is like being struck by lightning; you look just like someone struck by lightning." Nina is planning to pursue the very rare "Healer" branch of magic, one of the few branches in the Life Sciences discipline. It requires learning how to use life magic to heal external injuries, concoct potions, cure diseases, and so on.

While not as immediate as church spells and unsuitable for battlefield first aid, it is cheaper and more effective (though slower) than seeking a priest's healing spell in daily life.

Many nobles who could not go to the Church of Jesus for treatment due to religious conflicts needed such professional family doctors. In addition, the therapists also handled some treatment needs that the Church could not handle, which were not classified as "plague" or "injury".

One of the most typical jobs, which was very important in this era and even in earlier times, especially among the nobility and upper class, was midwifery and infant care.

Although the priests of the Church of the Moon Mother can also handle such problems, the problem is that there are many churches with healing magic, but only the Church of the Moon Mother can provide midwifery and pediatric care. Moreover, considering some doctrinal and religious issues, not everyone can go to them, nor are there many people who are willing to go to them.

However, for this reason, these healers have to learn the same things as medical students on Earth, and even more magic and supernatural mysticism. At the same time, this job is not something that wild mages can do; basically only academic schools have this kind of branch of profession.

In most countries and circles, it is both very popular and very rare, which is why Nina chose this branch. But now... she looked at the half-meter-high stack of books and papers on her desk, wishing she had some kind of time-space magic to travel back two months and push her confident self, who had chosen this branch, into the toilet to wake her up.

"Oh, let me remind you first, have you watched the therapist's practical course?"

"What?" Nina turned around abruptly, realizing she had forgotten something terrifying. "Oh, the practical courses at the city's temporary medical camp... I suggest you prioritize completing the Applied Potions course, otherwise, if someone gets poisoned, it'll be difficult to handle." Nina's hands trembled slightly. "Yes, a professor will be in charge; we'll just be assisting, right?"

“Well, if it were before, it would probably be like this, but as you know,” Looking out from the tower, the devastation of the entire city was immediately apparent. “Look at this scene, do you think the professors would have time to teach you anything? At most, they would give you some explanations, find a few high-ranking professors as treatment models for you to see, and then dump thousands upon thousands of wounded and sick people on you to work on.”

Nina was numb. Clearly, the lives of those from the slums and ordinary lower-class residents of the capital were of little value to these nobles and high-ranking mages, being used as practice material for their apprentices.

Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing for them, because without this demand, most people would just lie in the ruins waiting to die, and valuable items such as potions and healing spells would never fall into their hands.

No matter how incompetent these healing apprentices are, at least it's better than waiting to die. And to be honest, Natalia, who comes from a noble family that has been pioneering the frontier, has seen military doctors before. In the frontier, let alone healers, there are hardly any reliable priests. Barefoot doctors who treat patients with herbs, bandages, and various simple diluted potions are the mainstream.

She also clearly understood that the skill level of doctors, or rather, healers, was directly proportional to the number of people they killed. She imagined that after this wave, Nina and the other healers from the healing branch would be very powerful—using hundreds or thousands of patients and wounded who had been given simple treatment with wide-area holy magic in the temporary camp as practice material.

Nina's eyes were lifeless, just as Natalia had said. On the first day of entering the temporary camp, she familiarized herself with the environment. Then the professor led her to treat several seriously wounded soldiers who were clearly officers and knights. After that, they found several middle-class merchants and citizens to guide them in their actions.

Then on the third day, Nina saw hundreds of wounded people struggling and writhing in front of her, especially those who came from the industrial area. Each of them had varying degrees of burns and large-scale infections caused by the burns. The wide-area holy ritual had prolonged their lives to some extent, but it had also prolonged their suffering.

Nina completed the treatment of her first patient while her mind was completely blank. Unsurprisingly, something went wrong. However, luckily, she didn't kill the patient. It was just that the dosage of the medicine was too high, and the rapid replenishment of life force caused the burned skin to regenerate too quickly, resulting in terrifying burning pain and itching that went deep into the bone marrow, as if it were a secondary burn.

The unfortunate worker's screams seemed to echo sharply in Nina's ears even into the night, making it impossible for her to sleep peacefully.

But a week later...

"Carry this one out, next..." Nina said expressionlessly, her hands covered in blood, instructing the burly workers helping her to carry the now-silent man out of the pit. "Ah, don't throw him in the pit, he's not dead yet. I gave him some Dream Potion, just find a sunny spot and dump him there. It'll be good for his new skin to get some sun."

Nina rubbed her temples. Now she could precisely control the dosage of the highly dangerous potion, Dream Water, at the cost of poisoning nearly thirty people, but no one blamed her.

Dying peacefully under the influence of the potion was already quite good, because there was no time to treat the wounded. Some of the more seriously injured people cried out in pain from the burns, rolled and struggled on the straw mats, and eventually died from high fever and infection in their own pus. That was the real tragedy.

Nina felt that now, in her eyes, there was no difference between human bodies and pork. No matter what kind of hell she was in, she could eat and sleep well. Not only were her eyes cold, but her hands were also cold. She could chop off those charred and twisted limbs without needing to call the patrolling cavalry for help.

Nina is already considered to be fully enlightened in the camp. Those guys with good mental fortitude are now even dealing with people who have been injured by falling objects, killed by demons, or corrupted by hellish magic. That is the real hell. Severed fingers and arms can be collected by the bucket. Every day, the air is filled with the smell of entrails and blood, like a slaughterhouse.

If it weren't for the magic and potions that allow for rapid healing and infection control, as well as genuine divine protection, given the unsanitary conditions and surgical procedures, at least 9% of the injured would have died from subsequent infections and complications.

Years later, Nina, now one of the Empire's leading healing authorities, still recalls the day Princess Livia walked into the classroom with exam papers nearly half her height. [A reference to One Hundred Years of Solitude]

Chapter 376 Where's my horse?

The witch's hut.

The pocket contained Roach and the witch's compensation, or more accurately, the cost of their medicine.

First, the lightest part: two bags of coins, one large and one small. "How come there are only 300 gold coins in total?" Leslie counted the number of gold coins in the bags. Moreover, these were gold coins made by the Royal Mint. Although they were exquisite, the gold content was only about 80%, and each coin weighed 3.5 grams. All of this added up to less than a kilogram of gold.

“Because mages and alchemists, especially high-ranking members, are generally not short of money, I mean currency.” Roach gestured for Lulua to take out two rather large bags from her pocket. “So usually, the compensation or medical expenses given to spellcasters are not given in cash directly; money is just a gesture.”

"High-purity refined gold ingot, pure refined gold." This was for Roach, and it was also the heaviest part, pressing down on Lulua so much that she couldn't breathe properly the whole way. The density of pure refined gold of the same volume was about three times that of gold, and it had an ebony-like color.

After smelting, it will have an exceptionally dull silver-gray color. Usually, most so-called adamantite weapons are alloys formed by adding a large amount of other metals to adamantite base. If you directly use this adamantite ingot to forge weapons, no one can lift them.

"By the way, the higher the purity of refined gold, the softer it is, and the worse its heat resistance." This is also why refined gold, a metal made by alchemy, is difficult to process again once it is melted. High-purity refined gold is as soft and malleable as gold, but once it is added to other metals to form an alloy, it becomes the hardest thing in the world.

"Then there's the one for the young lady..." A similarly heavy purplish-black crystal, with swirling lightning inside, "It's actually Titan Crystal, priceless and unavailable."

Leon recognized this thing; it was used to replenish magic power or to construct specific ritual sites when there was no environmental magic power. Even in desert areas where water elemental magic power was almost non-existent, Titan Crystals could be used as a substitute to release water elemental spells similar to tsunamis.