Chapter 98: 99. The Visitor

Outside Ziguo Village, Huoen and Jennie sat on their horses, gazing in the direction the party had departed.

Although they had remained in Ziguo Village, their daughter Ailin had followed the party to Shanlin Town.

Even though the distance between the two places was not far and they could visit often, this was, after all, the first time Ailin had traveled far away from her parents alone.

No matter which world one is in, the feelings of parents toward their children are universal, and the two of them were no exception.

Jennie quietly wiped the corners of her eyes, brushing away the tears shed during the parting, "I wonder if letting Ailin follow the Baron is a good thing."

Huoen sighed and helped his wife wipe the tear stains from her face, "But we had no other choice, did we?"

Even though they were treated with courtesy by Luoning and did not have to start from a "probation period" like Wodun, Dandi, and the others from Qingzhu Village, and even though Jennie had offered strategies to successfully conquer the Huitu Tribe, in the end, they were still surrendered generals.

Added to that, their previous status as remnants and savages meant they could not possibly gain the lord's one hundred percent trust in such a short time.

Therefore, when faced with Luoning's request to take Ailin away, they had absolutely no reason to refuse.

Huoen comforted her: "Although the Baron is exceptionally outstanding in his performance, he is, after all, only a seventeen-year-old youth. It is clear that he is very fond of Ailin. During the days I spent with him, he was always very kind and benevolent; I think he will treat Ailin well."

Jennie shook her head, "Even if they slept together and a foundation of affection were to form, Luoning is, after all, a scion of the Wushan Family. His marriage partner will either be the daughter of a great noble or the daughter of a wealthy consortium; without exception, they will all be people who can consolidate his status. But what do we have?"

She sighed, "We are just ordinary Level 2 Transcendents."

In her view, her daughter would definitely be discarded after being toyed with, and in the end, she would likely be reduced to becoming Luoning's mistress and raising a few illegitimate children.

After all, many nobles were like that.

"But our daughter is a thirteen-year-old Magician! As long as she does not give up her cultivation, she will sooner or later become a Magus!"

Huoen spoke with great confidence, "A Magus is someone no one can look down upon. Furthermore, we still have the opportunity to become Advanced, or even go further. Don't be so pessimistic, Jennie!"

"The Baron also values sericulture highly. As long as we handle the tasks he entrusted to us well, the future will get better."

Jennie hesitated, but then slowly nodded.

Huoen was right; rather than being depressed and pessimistic, it would be better to do what needed to be done.

In fact, they had truly wronged Luoning.

He took Ailin away, on one hand, indeed to keep Jennie and Huoen from overthinking, running around, and to ensure they worked properly;

On the other hand, given Ailin's excellent talent for Magic, he truly wanted to take her out to see the world, broaden her horizons, and cultivate her properly.

All that talk of sleeping together, being discarded after being toyed with, or even mistresses and illegitimate children, was entirely Jennie and Huoen projecting too much by treating Luoning as an average noble.

Was Luoning an average noble?

No, he was not; he was a noble with principles!

On the return journey, Ailin held Luoning's hand tightly, because among this group of strangers, the one she was most familiar with was the person beside her.

She looked at him pitifully with her slightly red eyes, "Brother Luoning, you won't bully me, will you?"

"Of course not!" he said righteously.

"Then you won't sell me to someone else, will you? Father said young female Magicians are very popular with slave traders."

Luoning rolled his eyes. Why would Huoen say such things? Could it be that he viewed him as a human trafficker?

"Rest assured, I won't."

"Then will you sleep with me?" Ailin asked.

These words immediately drew the gazes of the guards and soldiers nearby, but they only glanced once, then kept their eyes on their noses and their hearts on their minds, pretending they had heard nothing.

Luoning felt slightly embarrassed and pretended to cough, "No, I am not interested in little girls. After arriving at Shanlin Town, you will sleep by yourself."

Ailin's eyes flickered, and she thought to herself that her mother must have been scaring her; in the past, whenever she wanted her to be obedient and study and cultivate well, she would always use Magic Beasts on the mountain to scare her.

But when she thought about having to sleep alone, she hesitated again: "But I'm a little scared to sleep alone, what should I do?"

"I will have Beila accompany you."

"Who is Beila? Is she your wife?"

"No, Beila is my maid."

Luoning understood the feelings of a little girl leaving her parents' side for the first time, so he answered Ailin's questions whenever he could, treating it as a way to pass the boring time.

The road back to Shanlin Town was not fast, and since they did not set out early, it was not until around three in the afternoon that the group emerged from the forest and arrived at the northern border of the town.

"This is Shanlin Town. Look, over there are the orchards and vegetable plots, and over there is the pasture for grazing."

Luoning pointed to several areas ahead to introduce them to the girl in his arms, but he received no response.

He couldn't help but look down, only to find that Ailin had tilted her head and fallen asleep at some point.

The road from Ziguo Village back to Shanlin Town was not short, and since many places were difficult to traverse on horseback, they had to walk.

After such a journey, it was indeed very unfriendly to a Magician with a weak constitution like Ailin, so fatigue was only natural.

He looked back at the party; not everyone who had gone had returned this time.

Apart from the Transcendents, only seven of the twenty-seven guards returned; the rest were left with Ruidar to help him train the new recruits recruited from the three villages.

The eighty militiamen of Shanlin Town were all brought back without exception; after all, they had families and land here, so it was not appropriate to leave them there.

After returning this time, Luoning had already instructed Maiken and Dawei to select thirty of the better-performing militiamen to be trained as new guards.

At the same time, during the farming off-season, they were to regularly organize the militiamen for training to strengthen their coordination and combat capabilities, preparing for future expansion.

"Let's go, everyone. If we don't hurry, there won't be time left for Chahaer to prepare the banquet for everyone."

The party marched grandly toward Shanlin Castle, naturally attracting the attention of many working serfs along the way.

With Wilson intentionally or unintentionally leaking the information, the serfs all knew that the Lord had launched the campaign to clear out the savage tribes for the sake of their safety, which made Luoning's image stand even taller.

Added to the fact that Wilson, who had returned to Shanlin Town two days ago, had boasted about it, the serfs also knew that the Lord had broken through three savage tribes in a row and achieved an unprecedented great victory, making them even more reverent toward this Lord.

Seeing the triumphant Luoning at this moment, the serfs all cheered loudly and ran to tell each other the news.

When Luoning returned to the castle, the Steward Chahaer led all the servants to stand outside the castle gate.

"My Lord, your loyal servants congratulate you on your triumph!"

With Chahaer at the head, Jialun and Beila all bowed deeply to Luoning in unison.

Ailin, who had long since woken up, was stunned by this scene, feeling that Brother Luoning looked so impressive.

"Hahaha, it's been a while, Chahaer, how is the situation at the castle?"

Luoning walked into the castle with a smile, and the people behind him followed one by one across the drawbridge and through the main gate.

"My Lord, rest assured, everything in the territory is normal. The barley from this autumn harvest has also been dried, and most of it has already been put into the warehouse for storage."

"Very good!"

Luoning laughed and said, "To celebrate our victorious return, I am going to hold a banquet in the castle tonight. Go notify Mrs. Bandele and have her lead the people to prepare for it."

"Very well, My Lord!"

Chahaer followed closely behind, "However, a few people have already been in Shanlin Town for two days. They said they wanted to see you. I don't know when you plan to meet them?"

"Oh?"

Luoning stopped in his tracks, "Who has come?"

(End of this chapter)