Chapter 675 Burn the Druids

Apart from the strangers, there were also a few magic apprentices in the manor. They were “chargers” that Christina had asked to charge the magic barriers. After all, it was too hard for her to maintain such huge magic barriers on her own.

Now that Roland had returned, they all relaxed.

After Christina canceled the barriers, Roland led Anna into the manor.

The magic apprentices came over, greeted Roland, and then said goodbye to him.

They could tell that Stephanie, who was obviously an honorable person, wanted to talk to Roland in private.

After the magic apprentices all left, Stephanie approached and said, “Your magic apprentices have been taught well.”

Roland smiled, because it was only natural.

Those kids had all been educated according to modern standards.

Apart from magic, they had to learn reading, comprehension, mathematics, astrology, and geology. They had also been taught moral lessons, the volume of which was only second to that of magic theories and practice.

Of course… they weren’t taught with terribly advanced theories. After all, they lived in a world that had gods. If the advanced theories were taught to the kids, they would find it hard to live comfortably in this world.

So, Roland simply asked Vincent and Douglas to devote a lot of time and energy to teaching the kids the expected behaviors in society and what was right and what was wrong! It was safe to say that someone with a healthy outlook really seemed more positive than others.

That was why Stephanie felt that the magic apprentices had such unique vibes.

“They haven’t finished their apprenticeship yet,” said Roland with a smile. “It’s up to them who they can become.”

He was quite eager to see the chemical reaction when the local residents in this world received the teachings of the Golden Sons.

Stephanie pointed to the side and walked to the lawn nearby.

Roland followed her.

“How is it going in the capital? asked Stephanie worriedly.

With her political experience, she knew that the assault against her would cause havoc in the capital, if not the entire Fareins Kingdom.

The assault was a clear sign that the church wanted to meddle with the crown.

Whatever roles the Pope and the Holy Lady had played in that, it was impossible for the church, which was a war and propaganda machine, to stop once it was activated.

Roland nodded and said, “Everything has been settled!”

“I knew it!” Stephanie subconsciously blurted. Then she raised her head in surprise. “What did you say? It’s been settled? How is it possible? Who was so powerful and influential as to stop the war among the three greatest forces in this world?”

“Those who initiated the trouble.” Roland intended to tease the widowed princess, so he spoke ambiguously. “Roland, stop playing around,” Stephanie said, frowning. “The war couldn’t have stopped even if the Pope and the Holy Lady both apologized to the royal family. You should know that the construction of your floating city will be affected if the royal family is in chaos.” Looking at the anxious First Princess, Roland said solemnly, “It’s truly been settled, because the Goddess of Light arrived on Earth and apologized to the royal family and the Association of Mages. Do you think that could work?”

Stephanie’s mouth gradually gaped open.

“The goddess came?”

Roland nodded.

“The Goddess of Light?”

Roland nodded again.

“Good heavens!” Stephanie covered her forehead and sat on the chair that was for afternoon tea. “Are my ears deceiving me?”

The arrival of a god or goddess was a serious matter in this world. It was a miracle.

It was usually used to increase the number of believers, launch a crusade, or pronounce an oracle.

Yet, the Goddess of Light had landed on Earth to apologize.

She was a goddess that was not to be described with words like sacred or esteemed.

Or rather, no mortal words could describe her magnificence.

Yet, such a being had arrived on Earth to apologize for the first time in history. Who dared to disrespect her and continue the war?

“I seem to have missed a good show.” Stephanie was relieved. “In any case, it’s a good thing that no war was fought. We must thank the Goddess of Light for demeaning herself.”

Roland smiled and sat down on her opposite side. Then he said, “A lot of people think just like you. That’s why her apology can settle the conflict.” Stephanie keenly noticed Roland’s implied meaning. “Do you think differently from us? You don’t find the gods and goddesses lofty and great?”

“Of course I do.” The players and the local residents in this world had different views on deities. Roland would rather not talk about that anymore, so he said, “I’ll take you back to the royal family. Although the conflict has been settled, you’ll probably have to be there for the subsequent negotiations and compensations.”

“Yes.” Stephanie nodded.

“I’ll let Andonara protect you for a while longer,” Roland added after a moment’s thought. “Okay.” Stephanie was rather delighted.

Roland was quite the doer. After they made a deal, he instantly teleported Stephanie and Andonara to the capital. He then returned to Delpon and found the chairman of the local Guild of Bards.

The Bards were a class that was focused on Charm too. The chairman had golden hair and blue eyes. He was not young anymore, but he was still handsome in a mature way, which was quite attractive to young girls and married women.

Such attractive men were usually quite casual and lighthearted when they spoke to others.

However, this man was extremely solemn and serious in front of Roland.

He was even sitting straight.

“I’ve seen your hard work in the past year.” Roland put two bags of gold coins on the table. “It’s quite productive too. I’m very delighted, so this is the bonus for your work. You’ll continue the plan.” “To reveal the Druids’ evilness? We’re good at that.” The chairman of the Guild of Bards went on, “But boss, what’s the point? The human Druids aren’t very strong, and the elven Druids barely show up in the human world. Do we need to pay so much attention to them? I, for one, think that the Hollevin Association of Mages is our primary enemy.” At this moment, the Hollevin Guild of Bards had already become affiliated to the Delpon Magic Tower, so they had moved their guild to Delpon City.

As part of the Magic Tower, it was natural that the Guild of Bards tried to solve problems for Roland.

“But in fact, the Guild of Druids is trickier right now.” Roland stood up. “Just stick to the plan. Also, the financial situation in the Magic Tower looks good right now. You can try to apply for more funding. According to what I read, you’re the department with the least funding and fewest activities.”

Looking at the two bags of gold coins on the table, and hearing what Roland said, the chairman of the Guild of Bards swallowed and asked, “Can we really? We can’t fight or do business; we’re just Bards who sing and play music for a living. Do we really deserve so much money?” It was understandable why the chairman of the Guild of Bards was so “humble.”

The Guild of Bards had never been appreciated ever since its establishment.

Few nobles or big bosses were willing to sponsor the Guild of Bards or hire them.

Most of the time, the Bards could only sing in taverns and make money for food.

They would be excited if they met a patron who tipped them a couple of silver coins.

Since the Bards were not good at making money, it was natural that their guild was poor.

They had been poor for hundreds of years, and they could barely afford meat for food.

At this moment, a force that was willing to help them had finally appeared. It treated them as an affiliated organization and offered them quite a lot of money.

Their job wasn’t too much trouble either. Gossiping about certain people and forces had always been their specialty.

Their job was easy, and their pay was good.

The Bards’ life was much better than before. Even many poor families were now willing to send the kids that they couldn’t afford to keep to the Guild of Bards as apprentices, after seeing that they were thriving.

In any case, population was always the greatest factor that would decide if a class and guild could flourish.

At this moment, Roland even offered two bags of gold coins personally, because he thought that the funding of the Guild of Bards was too little. They were truly lucky to have met such a

boss.

Therefore, the chairman of the Guild of Bards almost found it surreal.

Now that he had given his instructions, Roland stood up and said unhurriedly, “Don’t bother fighting. You’re just responsible for unveiling the hypocrisy of the Druids, and collecting any intelligence that you find interesting.”

“Intelligence about any force?”

Roland nodded. “Yes, anything that you find interesting.” Roland left the Guild of Bards with satisfaction.

It seemed that whether an organization was kind or evil depended largely on the stance of the organization.

Otherwise, it would be inexplicable why the Druids had red above their heads.

It meant that the rules of good and evil in this world could be manipulated in a way.

That was really interesting!

Roland narrowed his eyes and smiled, delighted Then, Roland received a message from the magic spiders, which had been following the Druids and finally tracked them down to their camp.

It was in a wood to the east of the city.

Because of the long distance, the image and sound that the magic spiders sent back were quite fuzzy, so Roland moved closer to that location.

About twenty minutes later, Roland was only about one kilometer away from the camp of the Druids.

Over such a distance, the image and sound that the magic spiders sent back were quite clear.

In Roland’s head, he could see Aslan seated in a simple treehouse made of branches. There were a dozen more male Druids crammed into the tiny house.

“Roland is already back. He has refused to surrender the Immortal Phoenix’s Blood Grass,” said Aslan coldly. “He has refused our friendship and nature’s love. So, what do you think we should do to this corrupted man?”

“To judge him with nature, of course.”

“Let’s talk to him first. He’s a Mage anyway, we can all go and present our demands. If he’s still unwilling to surrender the grass, we’ll kill him.”

“If he has a wife or children, we’d better kill them too in case they seek revenge against us —that could be tricky.”

“In any case, the Immortal Phoenix’s Blood Grass is something we can’t pass up.”

Looking at his partners who were discussing vehemently, Aslan nodded in satisfaction. “All your suggestions are very good, but Roland is supported by a strong female Warrior. Based on our intelligence, she seems to be Queen Andonara, a Legendary Great Swordsman. So, in order to deal with Roland and get the Blood Grasses, we have to circumvent or subdue

her.”

“A Legendary Great Swordsman?” One Druid seemed intimidated. “What if she hunts us relentlessly afterward?”.

“What are you scared of? We can always hide in the Elf Forest. Not just a Legendary Great Swordsman, even a Demigod Great Swordsman wouldn’t dare to confront the World Tree.”

“That makes sense.”

“Let’s call for more reinforcements. We failed to conquer that manor before. I don’t believe we’ll fail again if we have a hundred more partners.”

“I’ve already sent a signal. They’re already coming. After we get the Blood Grasses, we’ll refine them, and then we’ll all develop a flying form. We can also choose the form of the Immortal Phoenix. Who in the world could possibly defeat us then?” Aslan snorted. “If we can’t beat the Legendary Great Swordsman as individuals, can’t we do it together?”

All of them laughed aloud.

One of them even smiled creepily. “Do it? You mean do her, right?”

Everybody laughed even more happily with the dirty joke. Hearing that, Roland walked into the woods.

He didn’t approach the Druids’ camp immediately. Instead, he hid with Secondary Stealth and the complicated environment when he was still five hundred meters away.

At the same time, he threw magic materials down around the camp and reshaped them into circles.

Because it was simple painting with magic materials, there were no magic waves at all.

Outsiders couldn’t sense it.

It took Roland half an hour to encircle the Druids’ camp.

The Druids were still having a heated discussion as to what they should do after picking up the Immortal Phoenix’s flying form, and how they should brag about it in front of their elven masters.

They were very excited.

Standing in front of the magic array, Roland sneered.

He could destroy them with a big fireball, which would get rid of all of them if they didn’t escape.

But the problem was that it took time to condense the blue fireball, and its magic waves were so obvious that anyone who wasn’t stupid could detect it from one kilometer away.

It would be weird if the Druids didn’t escape.

However, the magic array was different. One wouldn’t know its existence at all unless one really saw it. It was completely soundless and released no magic waves, until Roland took a ruby gem out of the system Backpack, dropped it on the pivot of the array, and snapped his fingers.

The magic array glowed, and an enormous pillar of flames rose from below the camp like a volcanic eruption.