Passing Through

Snowfang Town is a small town located on the Northern Territory border. It is the first Snowfang Town you will encounter when entering from the Northern Territory Pass of the Antir Region.

The heavy snow had already covered the entire Snowfang Town; as far as the eye could see, everything was a vast expanse of white.

Generally, only Adventurer chasing rare Magic Creature and guards on special missions pass through this area.

Even though this area belongs to the Magic the Alliance, no mages usually pass through here.

Because the Northern Lands Society has a wealth of knowledge to learn, its entry barrier is generally lower than that of the Alliance.

Within the Alliance, few people have heard that the Alliance has an enclave further north.

Knowing that there is a sorcerer from the Northern Lands Society here, there is even less reason for him to come to this harsh environment to learn magic.

However, things are different now. When Fran arrived in Snowfang Town, she was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a mage reception office in the Snowfang Town, and it was still open for business.

This initially puzzled her. Wasn't it because the number of passing monks was so small that setting up a monk reception area here seemed unnecessary?

She had planned to stay overnight at a local's home before arriving in Snowfang Town, but since the reception area was open, there was no reason not to take a look.

Fran was dressed in a black robe, with snowflakes still clinging to her shoulders.

Upon entering the house and feeling the warmth of the fireplace, she shook herself off, brushing all the snow off her body.

She glanced at the reception area; unlike any she had seen before, this one exuded an old-fashioned feel.

The wooden plank above looked like it hadn't been maintained for a long time; you could see gaps of varying sizes on it, and in the corners, there were still some white, thread-like spiderwebs left after they had been cleaned.

The surrounding walls appear to have been recently cleaned and look relatively clean, but there are still some stubborn spots that are difficult to remove.

"It looks like this mage reception area was only recently opened."

At that moment, a receptionist hurriedly walked up to her and said:

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, this reception area only officially opened three days ago, and the rooms haven't been fully cleaned yet..."

"You may need to wait a while; we'll clear the room out soon."

Fran frowned upon hearing this, but she knew that was the way things were and there was nothing she could do. So she said:

"Give me some hot food, I'll eat downstairs."

Fran was also hungry. She had been eating dry rations while riding her horse, and although she had magic to keep them warm, she still wanted to eat something else.

"Yes, Your Excellency, thank you for your understanding."

The receptionist hurriedly got up, led her to a table, and then darted behind a door, her hurried footsteps still echoing.

At that moment, a monk dragged a chair over from a table to her side and came to stand in front of her.

"Hey friend, would you mind if I sat at the same table with you and we chatted?"

The mage who arrived was Dorian; he seemed to be really bored and had been wanting to talk to someone.

Fran did not refuse; she also wanted to ask about the reception area and why the mage in front of her was here.

Logically speaking, other monks shouldn't be passing through here, and there's no need to set up a special reception area here.

Dorian spoke first, addressing Fran as if complaining:

"Hey, did you encounter a knight blocking your way on your way here?"

"I did run into them, and I even got entangled with them for a while before I managed to get away," Fran nodded, answering his question.

Fran did get 'entangled' with them for a while, but in the end she took care of them as well.

Dorian's complaints came out as if they were free.

"Those damned knights, how dare they block the road there!"

"Once I get to the Northern Lands Society, I'll definitely give my opinion to the Battle Mage Corps there and tell them to wipe out that knightly order as soon as possible."

"They're still looking for something? I think that knight commander must be out of his mind."

"Even if our mage really has that item, can he just steal it? Doesn't he even know who has it?"

Fran remained silent, letting Dorian continue to pour out his emotions. She didn't need to tell Dorian that the knightly order was gone.

She only occasionally chimed in with a couple of words as Dorian spoke, to express her disgust for the knights' behavior.

After Dorian had vented his anger a little, Fran asked:

"Hey friend, what made you come to the Northern Lands Society?"

Fran's words startled Dorian for a moment, then he relaxed.

"What else could it be? My research couldn't be published in my original society, and since the Northern Lands Society is quite famous now, that's why I came here."

Fran scratched her head. What she really wanted to ask was why the Northern Lands Society was so famous now, but Dorian seemed to have interpreted it in a different way.

"Those School and societies that deserve to be condemned to the Abyss should be swept into the dustbin of history. What era are we living in? Still engaging in this kind of thing!"

Dorian started complaining again, repeatedly using vulgar language to insult the members of the society.

"I (swearing) really (swearing)... even though my research only touched on some aspects of the Nature School, they rejected my Paper simply because it contained content from other School, really (swearing)!@!"

Dorian seemed quite dissatisfied with the academy he had previously belonged to, and Fran seemed to have grasped the reason why the Northern Lands Society was so famous from the information Dorian revealed.

"Those are all in the past. Fortunately, we've all come to the Northern Lands Society, so we won't have to worry about what those people in the society think when we want to publish Paper."

Dorian's expression relaxed considerably, as if he were quite pleased to have mentioned the Northern Lands Society.

At this moment, Fran spoke up.

"That's right. The Northern Lands Society allows us to freely publish the content of various School, so we don't have to worry about what others in those societies think."

Dorian agreed with this statement and echoed Fran's sentiments.

This made Fran even more puzzled. She suddenly realized that the reason Dorian had mentioned earlier for the Northern Lands Society to be so famous was very important.

So she stopped being mysterious and asked directly:

"Hey, can you tell me what's been going on at the Northern Lands Society lately? Why is this reception area open?"

Dorian gave a strange look.

"Huh?! You didn't know about that? Then why did you come to the Northern Lands Society?"