CH 14

The New Year came—ever since Baron Wolf and Baron Bill died, evil spirit attacks had been reported from time to time.

The Church responded by developing holy water, which was said to be effective against evil spirits.

You only needed to consume it once every seven days, and you would be able to prevent all the evils.

The first 3,000 bottles that were produced were sold out within a week, and they had zero negative reviews.

Levi thought that the nobles were really easy to deceive, but he couldn’t exactly blame them—the Church had power over them.

“Just how am I going to locate a wizard?”

Levi rummaged through some books in his father’s study room, attempting to look for an answer. So far, this world has not developed paper yet, so books were made of parchment made from animal skin.

Ultimately, he found nothing.

Knight Fred hurried into the study with a smile and said, “Master, I have brought you a birthday present that is beyond your imagination.”

Levi was curious as to what gift Fred had gotten him; it was unusual to see him this excited. He saw Knight Fred ordering his men to push a cage with wheels and a curtain obscuring it.

Knight Fred lifted the veil, and three furry creatures could be seen curled up in a corner.

“Bears?” Levi asked.

“Master, this is no ordinary bear,” Knight Fred smiled. “This is the cub of the Great Northern Bear!”

“Excuse me?” Levi was stunned. How did they catch these ferocious beasts?

“Last night, a peasant woman discovered something had sneaked into her yard and eaten her chickens; she yelled for the military, and they captured them. They may be young, but they were difficult to catch.”

The bears were grey, black and white, and white. Knight Fred held the black and white one by the neck, and it bared its teeth and claws, trying to attack him.

The bear had chicken feathers stuck by its mouth too.

The other two cubs whimpered, seemingly worried for their sibling. These bears were strangely skinny, too.

“Where is their mother?” Levi asked. “Won’t she follow her cubs’ scent?”

“No worries, It seems like their mother died or abandoned them. The bears are currently in hibernation, so something must have happened to her. Each cub is worth about a hundred gold coins on the market, and many nobles have been seeking to tame them. Their reasoning is that they would like to own a beast that is as strong as a knight to protect them.”

Levi scoffed, and Knight Fred chuckled: “I suggest we raise these bears ourselves.”

“Alright, put them in the castle. We’ll send some people to look after them—the grey one will be called Grey, the white one will be called Snow, and this black and white one… Fatty. We shall feed this one the most.”

Levi entrusted the cubs to his servants. It would take about seven years for them to mature, and he wasn’t even sure if they would be useful until then. He decided it was best to rely on his own strength.

Sending the growling and screaming bears away, Levi asked Knight Fred, “Knight Fred, have you encountered any books that speak of wizards?”

“You seem interested in wizards,” Knight Fred smiled. “I’ve sent someone to look for them; the books you speak of only detail them as a legend. Here’s one book I got from a wandering trader.”

“Grimm’s Travels…”

The author was a person named Green.

Levi returned to his room and read it from the beginning.

Green stated that he was a travelling businessman from the City of Storms, and he mostly just recorded some anecdotes that he heard during his journeys as a businessman. One of these was about wizards.

In the 847th year of the Holy Calendar, a merchant ship I was on was wrecked due to a storm. I held onto a piece of wood and prayed to the Loving Father; perhaps it was because of my pious belief that I survived and washed up on an unnamed island. I was hungry and thirsty on that island, but that island housed magical creatures that subverted my imagination.

A three-legged toad with a beautiful face plastered on its back; a swan with six pairs of majestic wings, just like a seraph as the Church had told us; a mushroom that spoke the human language, and it fed me pieces of itself as I was starving; and I remembered a beautiful lady sitting next to me as I fell asleep by the mushroom…

I don’t remember what happened after that. I found myself on a fishing boat when I awakened, and they said they found me floating on a wooden board, unconscious, but I know for a fact that I was on that island. Perhaps I met a wizard; only wizards are able to create such strange and magnificent creatures! And with that mushroom, the stubborn diseases that plagued me were healed in an instant; I felt younger and stronger. And that woman, that witch… she must’ve saved me. I wanted to look for the island to thank her, but the island disappeared, and my hair was greying.

I left everything behind to look for this island—my family, friends… And they said I was crazy, but I know what I saw. I sold my mansion in the Emerald Kingdom. Perhaps the eighth time is the charm. Before going to sea, I will write down everything I have experienced and publish the books at my own expense. If I cannot find her, I hope that the people who read this will find her in my stead.

That mushroom spoke to her in my limbo. I remembered her name as clear as day—Rollins.
RECENTLY UPDATES