Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 396 - 396 189 Garner

396: Chapter 189 Garner 396: Chapter 189 Garner On the throne, Lola suddenly put down the end of her hair she had been twirling.

“No…

On second thought, considering Aphrodite’s character, although she doesn’t care much about the safety of the masses, she wouldn’t have let her business affect others so easily.

Since before casting the Great Magic to create the Netti Card, she dismissed the Guards to evacuate the populace, notifying the Helarn Mine in advance to evacuate would have been just a small effort.”

Pushing her snow-white hair behind her shoulder, Miss Mage sat up straight, dismissing her earlier sigh: “These remnants are either lying or the miners below are unaware; their mine owner probably crossed the line from the start, secretly mining underground from Gervin.”

“Is that so?

But the head of the Mining Team Guard said they have a contract approved by King Gervin, allowing them to operate legally underground in the forest,” Leon said, puzzled.

Lola waved her hand: “Having a contract is one thing, interpreting its vague terms to push limits is another.

Don’t be fooled by those dwarves’ honest appearance; they are not straightforward people, especially when it comes to greed over various mineral deposits.

In the era of ancient wars, if Lorelette hadn’t given them enough of a lesson, those dwarves arrogantly believed that as Omlos’s descendants, all the world’s mines should belong to the Helarnians, more arrogant than us mages.”

Even in later generations when they settled down, these dwarves didn’t play word games on contracts for the first time, hehe…

But this time, a few unlucky ones are trapped by their own doing.”

Leaning back on the throne, she shook her head slightly, realizing that Aphrodite did those things in Gervin’s territory without her knowledge…

Gervin must know something.

How could he have allowed the Helarnians to dig below this ley line?

If the spirit veins’ flow was disrupted here, before the pseudo-spiritual field arrived, Aphrodite would have been livid enough to personally kill these dwarves…

…

Leon listened to Miss Mage’s speculation and sighed: “In any case, whether these dwarves breached the contract or not is a thing of the past, a flash in the pan from a thousand years ago.”

The so-called “Edel Mining Chamber of Commerce” has long disappeared, and Olivia’s ancestor can’t rise from the grave now to settle accounts with dwarves over stolen mines.

He continued to seek advice from Lola: “These surviving dwarves wish to return to the northern mountains on the continent to find their kin, but since you say their family already left this world, they may go in vain.

If we can let these people settle in Avalon, it’d greatly benefit me.

Do you have any good recommendations that could help persuade them to settle down here?”

On the throne, Lola spread her hands helplessly: “The Helarnians are more stubborn than Dragon Lizards; it’s of little use with just your words.

They won’t readily believe the claim about their kin leaving unless they see their homeland firsthand.

The King of Heraen’s plan was strictly confidential before implementation, and only a few people on the entire continent, including myself, know about it.

But if you bring them to me, I’ll try personally.

If they believe in my identity, they might consider staying.”

Leon, hearing this, rubbed his chin and frowned, contemplating the pros and cons.

He was willing to let Olivia, Kovis, Azeryan, and Lokhak know about Lola and the Mage Tower because he trusted his lover and his three brothers-in-arms absolutely.

But with those dwarf remnants, who knew if they would blurt everything out?

Thinking it over, Leon didn’t want to expose Lola’s presence to outsiders.

No matter how valuable the dwarf artisans might be, they couldn’t surpass the safety of Lola and his family and partners.

He’d do his best tomorrow; even if he couldn’t retain them all, hiring a few would be good.

Perhaps other departing dwarves, upon realizing they truly couldn’t find their kin, may return to the Avalon Territory.

After all, with the passage of time, he could be the first verifiable friendly force to them in this era.

Moreover, if a few dwarves can settle, anyone wanting to propagate the race wouldn’t want to face future loneliness watching companions pass away until the Helarnians are utterly extinct.

Surely they wouldn’t abandon their remaining kin.

….

Indeed, even with just this group, they could propagate the race.

Over fifty Helarnians, if there are no significant accidents in the future, the race could barely expand.

Though there is reproductive isolation with other humans, within this group of bearded dwarf miners, quite a few are “female dwarves” capable of reproduction.

Despite folk legends on the continent saying dwarves are only male and their offspring jump out of stones, Leon had seen in the Mage Tower’s Life Science records and knew that’s a complete misunderstanding.

It’s just that in outsiders’ eyes, female dwarves, except for their organs under clothes and smaller noses compared to male dwarves, have no significant difference in appearance from male dwarves.

With long bearded cheeks, big faces, leopard heads, round eyes, rough voices, muscular bodies like rocks, even the chest muscles are as solid as the males, strong and forceful.

Dwarf infants don’t need nursing like ordinary human babies.

They can drink and eat meat from birth….

Upon hearing Leon didn’t want to expose her existence, Lola nodded: “Then it’s up to you~”

Leon saw her and couldn’t resist his curiosity: “By the way, do you know where the ancient elves and later dwarves went collectively?”

Miss Mage shook her head: “I never particularly cared about their whereabouts in the past.

The vast void, where they wish to go, has nothing to do with me.”

Leon frowned and asked again: “So…

why did they leave this world?”

“…” Faced with this question, Miss Mage returned the same silence as before.

It was unclear whether she was unwilling to say or didn’t know.

Leon sighed; there was no way to delve deeper into his little mentor’s reaction.

However, his imagination filled his mind with doubts.

One powerful ancient civilization after another vanished, and under this otherworld, would there be some terrifying catastrophe in the future?

Perhaps, they observed a certain asteroid speeding toward the planet, destined to bring cataclysm to this world?

Or maybe some ancient demon king is about to awaken and destroy the world?

…The many games he played in his previous life, with countless film and novel works, set Leon’s imagination spinning, making him anxious.

But logically, if such a great disaster were imminent, Lola wouldn’t need to keep it from him.

Could it be because the disaster is far away, and as an ordinary person, he couldn’t live until then, so she didn’t tell him to prevent undue worry?

That would make sense.

Just like telling an Earthling the sun will die in five billion years, who would care about such a thing?

Let alone five billion years, it’s uncertain if human civilization will persist on Earth into the next millennium, and no one seems anxious about that.

“…Li Ang.”

Lola, with her arm braced on the armrest under her robe sleeve, tilted her head and propped her chin, unexpectedly asked: “If you could return to your true hometown, the world where you used to live…

do you want to go back?”

Leon was stunned by the question, his eyes widened.

“You mean, back to Earth?”

“Yes.” Lola watched him, nodding lightly.

…What does she mean?

Is it real?

Without much thought, Leon replied: “If I could go back…

I’d take Olivia, Kovis, Azeryan, Lokhak, Elena, Brian, Miss Raya, Miss Sali, Treya…”

He listed a string of names like a menu and looked at his little mentor sitting on the throne: “And you, Lola, can you go back with me?”

Lola, resting her face on her hand, couldn’t help but chuckle at his long list: “You sure would bring the entire family along.

Just move all of Avalon back.”

Leon could only smile at her: “Olivia and Kovis would surely want to go with me, but others might have attachments and may not want to venture into an unknown world.”

Lola laughed: “Knowing that, why did you still include me?”

Leon blinked, speaking earnestly: “Wouldn’t you want to come along?

There’s a saying in my old home: once a teacher, always a…

mother?

Ahem…

That’s not quite what I meant.

I just think, with you having passed away for years, there should be no attachment left on the continent, right?

If I return home, exploring magic independently would be dangerous if I mess up.

Since you have nothing holding you back, why not come along?”

Lola shook her head helplessly: “But what if you can only return alone?”

Leon lost all desire to return to Earth upon hearing that.

“Then…

never mind, I’m not that homesick.

Wherever all of you are is where my home is.

My life was pretty good before, and my little sister is there to care for my parents, so there’s no worry.”

He entertained himself by saying: “By the way, didn’t you say that my soul is about to fully overwrite this body?

Establishing roots in this world, I guess I’m extending the Li family into another plane, bringing glory to my ancestors.”

“Haha~…

Your way of thinking is unique.”

Lola laughed, clutching her forehead, and waved her hand: “Alright, alright, you don’t have to comfort yourself to that extent.

I was just joking to tease you, without exact guidance and positioning, even when I was alive, searching endlessly in the void or Star Realm, it would be impossible to find your home world like a needle in a haystack.”

“I know, I was just joking too.” Leon said with nonchalance.

At that moment, a series of rumbling thunder rolled across the sky outside the tower…

Lola closed her eyes, seemingly sensing something, then rose from the throne and waved to Leon: “It’s time, come with me, let’s go see the magic wand I made for you.”

Leon perked up, following her.

He finally awaited this treasure; he felt inexplicably excited.

When he came to the tower, he didn’t expect the timing to be just right.

Today happened to be the completion day of his magic wand, so he stayed longer, chatting a lot with Lola in the tower.

However, catching up with Miss Mage’s pace, Leon noticed she didn’t head to the staircase of the corridor leading to the tower top.

Instead, she opened the heavy doors in front of the circular hall, heading outdoors.

“So you can come out of the tower?” Leon, following behind her, asked in surprise.

Lola stopped outside the door, turned back, and pointed to the ground.

“I can only move a few steps away.

I manifest by absorbing magical power from the ley line through the Mage Tower, but the range of the node isn’t exactly the same size as the Mage Tower, so it slightly covers the outside, bringing you out merely to avoid damaging the tower floor.”

Damage the floor?

Leon puzzled: “Using the magic wand will cause such commotion?”

“It’s not necessary, but I want to demonstrate one of its usage states for you.”

Speaking, Lola looked up at the sky.

Leon, following the mage girl’s gaze, looked up.

Darkness wasn’t just due to the evening settling in, but a huge vortex-like cloud covering the sky above the Mage Tower.

He could still see the light in the sky when he arrived, but now, amid the swirling clouds with darting electric snakes, a storm seemed imminent.

“This is a replica of a magic wand from an old friend I made for you.

Although the materials are limited and it’s not as powerful, I put in my utmost effort to mimic a similar form, which I believe you will find comfortable to use…”

The whistling wind slightly moved Lola’s robe; she withdrew her gaze and waved a hand toward Leon: “Stand back a little for safety.”

“Alright.”

Leon, unsure why, stepped back a few paces.

Once a safe distance was achieved, Lola extended her right hand forward, palm up, as if summoning something.

——Boom——!!

A peal of thunder roared overhead.

A blinding lightning strike descended from the stormy whirlpool above.

Solidified lightning struck heavily in front of Lola, the howling wind causing her white hair to billow backward.

Bright electrical arcs spread from the impact point on the ground, prompting Leon to take a step back.

As the dazzling blue-white lightning gradually faded, he fixed his eyes again.

It was a magic wand — silver-white throughout, entirely of steel, with a twisted long handle, demon runes entwined around it…

The wand angled in front of Lola had a spear blade composed of two wing-shaped blades at its end.

And the connection between the elegant spear blade and the long handle of the wand was covered on both sides by sun disk coronas with sun radiance totems.

Leon looked at this piece, read as a magic wand, written as a lance, awed by its majestic and magnificent shape, also feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

Strange?

…Where had he seen this design before?

Before he could think further, he saw Lola grasping the magic wand with her right hand, lifting it from the ground.

With a clang, the heavy all-steel shaft twirled between Miss Pope’s slender fingers, buzzing as Lola flipped it, diagonal at her side.

Clearly, this mage girl also excels in martial arts, far from appearing as feeble as her exterior suggests.

Looking down at the splendid spear blade, shimmering brightly, a hint of nostalgia appeared in Lola’s golden eyes.

“Its original version was called ‘Solrier Flame Sun’s Holy Verdict’, and this replica is identical in shape, only silver due to the materials, not the original’s gold.”

“…Of course, a replica forged in thunder with ordinary steel naturally can’t compare to that bygone holy spear forged in Sol Flame Sun.”

Lola introduced it, holding the magic wand horizontally, presenting the long handle to the delighted Leon, raising her hands in offering.

The girl smiled warmly at Leon, as always.

“…

I hope you won’t dislike it.”

Dislike it?

How could he?

Leon’s smile almost reached his ears, excited by such a cool-looking magic wand, his heart skipped a beat.

Feeling both flattered and overwhelmed, he solemnly accepted this precious gift from his mentor with both hands.

“May I give it a name?”

Leon held the silver “magic gun,” caressing it delicately, asking eagerly.

“Of course, it’s yours now.” Lola, observing his delighted expression, nodded with a smile.

In an instant, numerous fantastical names flashed through Leon’s mind.

Feeling the magic gun’s active thunder inside, along with its atmospheric elemental power, Leon immediately selected one and blurted it out.

“I’ll call it — Garner!”