Chapter 79: The Heavy Snow Is Coming

Three days later, the weather gradually began to change; heavy, low-hanging clouds covered the entire sky bit by bit, and even a few snowflakes began to drift down.

Seeing this, Xia Duo decisively decided to return to town. With snow clearly imminent, he was unsure if the Orcs would continue their attacks in snowy weather, but heading out to carry out missions during a heavy snowstorm was clearly not a good choice.

Furthermore, they had already been out for three days, and their supplies were somewhat insufficient; now was the perfect time to return.

Xia Duo was a man of action. Once he had the idea, he immediately notified Jibu and told him to prepare to pack up. Afterward, Xia Duo went to find Sami.

"It's about to snow, I'm planning to return to town, what about you?"

"This—" Sami hesitated, "What if the Orcs take the opportunity to come out of the forest?"

The tragedy of the village they had passed three days ago still lingered in Sami's heart, making it difficult for him to make a decision. Xia Duo had originally thought Sami would be easy to persuade, but he hadn't expected to get stuck here.

Did he still want to fight in the snow?

"Orcs need to eat too, and they are afraid of the cold. This snow probably won't be light; if they aren't fleeing for their lives, are they going to come here to die?" Xia Duo advised.

The fact that the Orcs' lair had been wiped out was not exactly a secret in the Territory; even without deliberately asking around, one would have heard other team members talking about it over the past few days.

Like Xia Duo, who had heard it from Jibu.

A trace of struggle appeared on Sami's face. At this moment, Dewan heard the two talking and came over, "Sami, I also agree with going back now. Even if Orcs really do come, do we have to fight in the snow?"

As a Mage Apprentice, Dewan was much more rational than Sami. Being emotional was a good thing, but letting emotion override reason was not necessarily a good thing, especially for a Mage.

"Alright!"

Although still somewhat unhappy, Sami finally agreed to Xia Duo's proposal. As for Dien, he now followed Xia Duo's lead in everything; basically, whatever Xia Duo said, he did, and his obedience was very high.

Just like that, both teams packed up their things and returned before the snow could get any heavier.

On the way back, Xia Duo deliberately took a detour to leave warnings for some villages that still had people—keep an eye on the forest direction, and hide as soon as any Orcs were spotted.

This action immediately earned Xia Duo the respect of everyone, including Sami. It is true that Mages value reason, but being overly rational leads to a loss of human touch, and the path one walks will become narrower and narrower.

Showing appropriate warmth—is that not also another choice of reason?

From the *Biography of Archmage Dasiruier*, Xia Duo had learned more than just common knowledge in the field of Magic and the customs of Netheril; he had also learned the Wisdom of a Mage.

This Wisdom was not only reflected in the insight and analysis of objective things, but also in the insight into human feelings and the human heart.

Of course, it was not as if there were no existences among Mages who were absolutely rational, but such cases were extremely rare. Such people were almost invisibly guarded against by everyone.

As far as Xia Duo was concerned, he absolutely did not want to have anything to do with such people. Perhaps you are useful to him alive this second, and you are all smiles, but the next second he decides your death is useful to him, and he might immediately start a war.

In essence, this is an extreme egoist. Perhaps many Mages are like this, but they do not show it.

After taking some detours, Xia Duo and the others returned to Savile Town near noon. This time, in addition to their original forty-plus people, they brought back some residents from outside the town.

For various reasons, they had voluntarily chosen to join the Territory Army, so Xia Duo had brought them and their families back along the way.

However, when everyone returned to the Military Camp and prepared to end the mission to have a good winter, they learned a piece of bad news. All teams returning in the last two days were told—

The heavy snow would not fall for at least another week; this was the news transmitted from the Mage Tower.

In other words, Xia Duo and his group had to continue for at least another week, so the originally planned vacation turned into a temporary rest, and they would have to continue missions tomorrow.

At the Old Neil Inn, in a second-floor guest room, the Necromancer Kenni was holding a thick book and reading it carefully, while Lao Nier respectfully reported the information he had gathered to the Necromancer Kenni.

"My Lord, tomorrow morning a caravan from the Eagle Chamber of Commerce will leave Savile Territory for the north; in the afternoon, a caravan from the Niujinte Chamber of Commerce will also leave Savile Territory for Kangnifeila City. Both caravans are recruiting Mages."

Lao Nier cast an expectant gaze toward Mage Kenni. He now hoped that this foreign Mage would leave as soon as possible so that he could distance himself from the situation.

"I've changed my mind." Mage Kenni moved his gaze away from the book and looked at Lao Nier; he could see through the other man's thoughts at a glance. "I plan to stay in Savile Territory until next year."

"What?!"

Lao Nier was shocked. He didn't know what had gone wrong to make this foreign Mage change his mind at the last minute. Lao Nier's lips trembled, and he was just about to say something.

"What? Do you have an opinion?"

Meeting those eyes that had suddenly turned cold, Lao Nier immediately swallowed the words he had originally wanted to say. "I dare not, I dare not."

"Get out, I want to read!"

"Yes, yes!"

Lao Nier scrambled out, almost crawling. This foreign Mage was actually going to stay in Savile Territory, which made Lao Nier even more terrified and uneasy, fearing that the Lord's soldiers would come knocking on his door the next second.

The only thing to be thankful for now was that Lao Nier still didn't know what this Mage Kenni had done in Savile Territory; otherwise, he would have probably gone to the Temple to report him immediately.

And as long as he made such a move, Mage Kenni could immediately take his life, or even his Soul.

Unaware that his life was already hanging by a thread, Lao Nier returned to the first floor. The war at the front had ended, and the conscripted Adventurers had been released.

It was just that, as for the numbers, it was good if one out of ten returned, and even that one would surely be covered in heavy scars.

But even so, it brought a bit of life back to Lao Nier's inn. A group of young men from who knows where were surrounding a middle-aged man leaning on a crutch, listening to him recount his "great achievements" from a while ago.

"You don't know, at that time the Orc's battle axe had already cleaved down to the top of my head. If I had hesitated for even a second, I would have been split in two!"

"Then what happened later?"

"Later, of course I counter-killed him! You don't know how the blood spraying from that Orc's neck poured onto me—so fishy, so stinky!" The middle-aged man with the crutch made a fanning motion at his nose as he said this.

It was as if the Orc's blood was still lingering on him.

The young men watching immediately looked at him with worshipful eyes, and he seemed to enjoy it very much.

Just at this moment, a harsh, mocking laugh came from outside the door.