Chapter 18

At this time, the two teammates who were originally from the north had already left, leaving only Dai Meng to accompany Fu Lamei.

They passed through that elf village wiped out by the Demon Race. The elves in the village had already perished with the Demon King's army, leaving only a severely injured silver-haired elf girl kneeling on the ground waiting for death.

For this situation, Fu Lamei, who had returned from the Demon King City, had long been accustomed to it.

She first affirmed the strength of this elf girl, and then habitually mocked her, thinking that her choice to fight the strong enemy head-on was too stupid.

Of course, mockery was mockery, but Fu Lamei, who had a hard mouth but a soft heart, still let Dai Meng carry her, wanting to take her to a nearby town to find a monk in the church to treat her injuries.

But what Fu Lamei never expected was that this silver-haired elf girl had magic talent different from ordinary people, and was actually a rare magic genius among the long-lived elf species!

The girl made a judgment based on intuition alone, thinking that the seemingly weak human in front of her was actually a powerful mage far superior to her.

This discovery made Fu Lamei both surprised and happy.

Coupled with the information she heard from the demons along the way—that is, the Demon King ordered the extermination of elves—it made Fu Lamei keenly aware of the Demon King's fear of the elf race.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fu Lamei immediately decided to take her as a disciple and teach her all her knowledge.

Writing to this point, Fu Lamei's letter had reached its end.

At the very end, she left her itinerary, which was to take Frieren to see her teacher first, and then come to this forest to visit him.

Besides that, she also brazenly believed that this newly accepted disciple of hers would definitely be able to gain Lin Yu's approval.

This sentence sounded like a joke between friends, but Lin Yu keenly sensed the deep meaning behind it—Fu Lamei wanted to leave her Sacred Scripture to Frieren!

That was why she needed to gain Lin Yu's approval.

"Only in her thirties, and she's already starting to think about things after her death?"

Lin Yu complained on his lips, but a complex emotion that was hard to describe welled up in his heart.

Lifespan theory, huh!

Thinking that he would lose this friend in a few decades, he really felt a bit uncomfortable.

Lin Yu shook his head, tidied up his mood, and tucked the letter into his bosom.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Lin Yu raised his head, looked at the old village chief and Dai Meng, and said: "Do you have anything else?"

"No—"

Dai Meng shook his head, and the old village chief next to him hurriedly glared at him, then said respectfully:

"Lord Lord, regarding the construction of the Ridge Peak City wall..."

"Hasn't this matter already been discussed? You can take full responsibility for it!"

Lin Yu waved his hand, glanced at him and said: "Or are you saying that you need me to send some Yellow Turban... Magic Warriors to help?"

The old village chief hurriedly stated: "That's not it, it's just that while building the city wall, we also need to construct a city-protecting barrier. We want to ask you for some magic crystals as the energy source for the barrier."

"So it was this matter."

Lin Yu nodded and said: "I will let Lord Longlongyan move his nest tonight. If you need them, just go and mine them yourself!"

The old village chief was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Thank you for your grace, Lord Lord!"

Dai Meng next to him was at a loss, completely failing to understand what the relationship between the two was.

Lin Yu saw his confusion and explained with a smile: "That place was the site where I tested new magic in the past. Due to the theory of magic power gathering and magic power permeating matter, a large number of magic crystal veins formed underground."

"Lord Longlongyan likes that place very much, and has been lying on the veins to rest for the past few years..."

Is that how magic crystal veins are formed?

Dai Meng opened his mouth slightly, looking at Lin Yu with some confusion.

Seeing the expression on his son's face, the old village chief snorted softly, looking as if he shared the honor.

Afterward, he quickly adjusted his expression and said to Lin Yu respectfully and nervously: "Lord Lord, there is one more thing, regarding the City Lord's Guard that is about to be formed in Ridge Peak City, I want Dai Meng to serve as the first captain..."

"You really don't avoid relatives when recommending the virtuous!"

Lin Yu teased with a smile.

The old village chief said solemnly: "Dai Meng is the vanguard in Lord Fu Lamei's team and has fought head-on with the Demon King and the Demon Army. There is no better warrior than him in the entire Ridge Peak Territory!"

Lin Yu nodded and said: "That is indeed true."

Hearing the words of the two, Dai Meng next to him frowned.

Hesitating for a moment, he bowed and said: "Thank you for your favor, Lord Lord, but I am an adventurer and it is difficult to serve you for a long time. If you can accept a guard captain who will respond to a companion's call at any time and abandon his duties to go out on adventures, then I..."

"No problem!"

Lin Yu agreed without hesitation, a hint of appreciation appearing on his face as he looked at him.

Dai Meng was caught off guard, his voice stopped abruptly before he could finish, and he looked at Lin Yu with astonishment and incomprehension.

He said this to make this Lord Lord retreat in the face of difficulties. Who would have thought that the other party didn't care about his loyalty to his companions at all, and even felt that this was a bonus point worth appreciating.

Of course, only limited to Fu Lamei's companions.

If it were someone else, it would be completely different!

Dai Meng came back to his senses from his astonishment and said hesitantly: "My lord, isn't this bad?"

Lin Yu raised his eyebrows and asked back: "Then you don't want to accept it?"

Dai Meng looked hesitant.

"That's fine too."

Lin Yu nodded, turned his head to look at the old village chief and smiled: "I rarely point fingers at your decisions, but in this matter, let Dai Meng make his own decision. He helped me deliver Fu Lamei's letter, so I owe him a favor."

The old village chief had just fallen into ecstasy, but in the blink of an eye, he was pulled out by his son himself.

However, this was limited to the first half of Lin Yu's words. When he heard the last sentence, the disappointment and anger that had just welled up instantly turned into deep surprise.

The old village chief tidied his robes, turned around, and looked at Dai Meng with a serious expression:

"Dai Meng, do you really want to waste Lord Lord's reward on this?"

"..."

Dai Meng also seemed to realize something, and his complexion began to change.

Lin Yu looked at the two with interest, finding that there seemed to be some hidden secrets behind them that he didn't know.

Not long after, Dai Meng gritted his teeth, changed his attitude under his old father's advice, suddenly knelt on one knee, and swore allegiance to Lin Yu with a knight's salute.

Lin Yu looked at them with some surprise and said thoughtfully:

"Looking at what you mean, you don't want to waste this favor!"

"It's a reward, Lord Lord!"

The old village chief corrected Lin Yu's statement, and then said respectfully: "Lord Lord, you should know that the ancestors of Dai Meng and I were once knights of the Unified Empire. Because a certain generation of ancestors made some mistakes, the noble title... and even the family surname were stripped away!"

Hearing this, Lin Yu suddenly realized and finally understood the old village chief's craving.

In this world, commoners do not have surnames; only the noble class is qualified to have surnames passed down to future generations.

"Speaking of which, the Unified Empire seems to have sent a state letter, acknowledging my status as a lord..."

"That's right."

"I understand. Do you want to become a noble again, or do you want your old family surname back?"

"Neither!"

The old village chief shook his head, knelt on one knee with Dai Meng, and looked at Lin Yu with burning eyes: "That ancestor three generations ago has already brought shame to that surname. What Dai Meng and I want is a brand-new surname bestowed by Lord Lord!"

Huh?

Lin Yu looked at the old village chief with incomprehension.

This can't be blamed on him; after all, from beginning to end, he had never had any direct contact with the nobles of this world.

For a former knight family like the old village chief, the surname is more of an honor to them, rather than the meaning of the surname itself.

After all, their previous surnames were also bestowed by nobles, and there was no inheritance significance related to ancestor worship like Chinese surnames.

Although he didn't quite understand, Lin Yu chose to respect it.

He thought for a moment, looked at the father and son kneeling on one knee in front of him and said: "Let's call it Stone!"

"In another language I know, it means rock."

Rock, huh?

This sounds much better than the previous 'Donkey's Tail'!

The old village chief was overjoyed in his heart and decisively pulled Dai Meng to bow his head in gratitude.

"Thank you, Lord Lord!"

(End of chapter)