After arriving at Scorched Stone City again, Mick looked at the environment here with a little curiosity. Although the buildings generally did not change much, they always felt that some places were different.
Sitting in the tavern, he ordered something to eat, and he and the goblin ate together, occasionally listening to the people in the tavern talking about recent events.
"Queen Musa has issued a new decree. It is said that the power of the city lord will be divided into three parts, one for finance, one for military affairs, and the last one for handling government affairs."
"It sounds a bit complicated, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but in the past few years, Regas's situation has indeed improved a lot."
"Anti people are in trouble now. It is said that the country is about to be destroyed by the cold winter."
"Hahaha, isn't that what you deserve? After hearing this news, I have to drink well today."
Queen Musa? Regas Did Princess Musa inherit the throne? But didn't she have several older brothers and younger brothers before her? Regas established the country with force, so there is no reason for the princess to inherit the throne.
Mick has been wandering abroad in the past few years and has paid little attention to the situation of Regas. Most of the journey was by boat or traveling in the wild. It was not until I returned to Scorched Stone City today that I discovered that Regas seemed to have undergone some drastic changes in the past five years.
After asking the bartender for a while, he learned that Regas had already been defeated once by Anti. Now Regas can be said to be a brand new country, and the previous nobles are no longer there.
"Her Majesty the Queen now rules Regas, and she is protected by the loyal and powerful Griffin Order." The bartender briefly explained the current situation in the country.
Although the implementation of various reforms has made some conservative forces dissatisfied, Musa now directly controls nearly 70% of Regas Knight and Transcendent. Other small forces cannot make any waves at all, so it is very easy to implement it. It depends on whether the policy can be maintained.
After a preliminary understanding of the situation, Mick couldn't help but be speechless. This Princess Musa was really powerful, far beyond his imagination.
"Queen, a very young princess has succeeded to the throne. Mick, why don't you try to woo me? I think you are quite good-looking and have a wild charm. Maybe the queen will like you." After hearing this, the goblin used the power of alcohol to make a fuss.
Fortunately, Mick interrupted him in time. Several people in the bar were already unhappy with this vulgar goblin. Now Queen Musa has a very high reputation among the people.
"Say less." Mick picked up the chicken leg, blocked the other person's mouth, then packed up the rest of the food and took it back to the room to enjoy.
Huh, I'm really tired tonight. Let's get some sleep first. I'll go check it out tomorrow and ask Teacher Heide if the others are back.
The night passed peacefully. The next day, Mick got up and found Scholar Heide's former residence. Unfortunately, it had long been vacant.
"Are you looking for Scholar Heide? He has moved away several years ago, and that was when the Anti people invaded." Pedestrians on the roadside told Mick about the current situation.
As a last resort, Mick went to other places again. His first choice was naturally his close friend, Lei.
This time, it wasn't completely lost, but Lei was indeed not at home either.
"Lei is now at the blacksmith shop at No. Copper Horn Street 25 in the east of the city. He is the new blacksmith there." A kind person told him.
So Mick took the goblins to find the blacksmith shop.
"Blacksmith, that's good. You can ask him to help you customize a piece of armor. As for the money, just give it on credit first and pay it back later."
"Don't be embarrassed, that's how friends are used. If you are too polite, don't make any friends." The goblin continued to mutter.
"If you earn a piece of armor, you won't lose anything when you come back this time."
The two came to the blacksmith shop, and after some questioning, they were led into the backyard. Mick finally met Lei after they had been separated for several years.
When the two saw each other, without saying a word, they walked over with a smile, bumped their fists, and then shook hands vigorously to test each other's strength, and then sat down laughing.
"You're back, Mick."
"Yes, I'm back, but I'm just staying for a while." Mick took the water from Lei and drank it in big gulps.
"How's it going outside?"
"It's exciting out there, but there are also a lot of risks." Mick said with emotion.
"Lei, what about you, how have you been these past few years?"
"I learned how to blacksmith, haha." With that said, Lei took out the prepared Hundred-Refined Black Steel Greatsword from the back room and placed it on the stone table.
"I prepared this for you, try it."
"For me?" Mick was a little surprised, but the goblin beside him couldn't help it.
"This sword... looks like it was made by Black Steel." He saw the exposed corners of the oil paper and cloth package.
After saying that, he curiously opened the oil paper, but because Black Steel was extremely heavy, he had to work very hard to lift the hilt.
"This sword is definitely made by Black Steel, Mick, you are a good brother." He shouted excitedly.
Mick came over at this moment, took the big sword, and untied the oil paper on it, revealing the Black Steel big sword with fine lines in it. He held it in the palm of his hand and tried to wave it twice, and there was a whistling sound in the air.
"Okay, good sword, Lei, your blacksmith has already learned it. This sword is at least the second level, and the quality is very good." Mick shouted excitedly.
"Hehe." Lei touched his head.
The two of them talked and reminisced excitedly in the small courtyard again, and they were still not finished until dark.
"You mean Tia, she is now a big shot of Regas, or a close friend of Her Majesty the Queen?" Mick opened his eyes wide, a little in disbelief.
"Yes, Tia, very smart and strong." he replied in a thunderous voice.
"I know she has always been different, but I didn't expect the difference to be so big." Mick felt a touch of regret and loss in his heart.
Perhaps the other party has long forgotten it, but the beautiful figure he saw when he was unconscious in the mountains that afternoon has always been the object of his ignorant admiration.
He thought that the gap between himself and the opponent was 10 points and 20 points, but he did not expect that the gap was 10 points and 100 points.
Huh, forget it, fortunately, I have always kept my emotions hidden, and am not so obsessed or crazy. I will just focus on my own path in the future. Mick also tried to let go of some past emotions.
"Karen also became a general? It's really amazing." He was a little envious, but thinking about the various adventures he had experienced in the past few years, he did not feel that his time was wasted.
"It seems that I have to speed up my pace in the future to catch up."
After returning to the hotel to rest, the five of them reunited again in Lady Falan's mansion the next day.
Sitting around the coffee table in the living room, several people drank the herbal tea brewed by Sylutia, looked at each other curiously, and began to talk about the changes over the years.
"Tia, Tia, do you think my dress looks good?" Comia was wearing a blue and white dress, spinning in circles in the hall, the gauze skirt fluttering like blooming morning glory.
Karen sat on one side and asked Mick which countries he had visited. Lei curiously observed the tea leaves floating in the cup and kept taking sips, fearing that he would drink all the tea in one go.
On the other side, Tia was pulled over by the excited Comia, who helped her evaluate the quality of her clothes, and then listened to Comia talk about the process of studying in the past few years.
"The organization I go to is called "Winter Slumber Cottage". Most of them are Witch, majoring in "Winter Slumber" and "Mist Shadow". The Witch sisters are very approachable and take good care of me~"
"The organization is very small, with just over 30 people in total, 18 of whom are new apprentices. I was promoted to the second level Mist Shadow with the help of sister Meisha two years ago." Comia said about his life in the past few years.
Compared with Sylutia's life that has changed several times, Comia's life trajectory is particularly stable. He probably studies with girls of the same age, and then goes out on weekends under the leadership of senior Witch to learn some mountain medicinal materials and simple rituals.
The whole teaching process is very low-pressure, probably because the organization is new, and it still retains a lot of human touch. Officially, Witch can allocate a few resources to help First Order's apprentices easily enter the second level.
"We live near a snow-capped mountain, and the "Ice Crystal Fruit" produced there is considered a local specialty." Comia recalled with his fingers tapping his cheek.
"I brought some of it to everyone this time." As she said that, she ran to the suitcase on the side of the living room and opened it, revealing the ice-blue berries sealed inside.
[Ice Crystal Fruit](First Order·Winter Slumber)
"It is said that it grows in snow-covered caves on high-altitude snow-capped mountains. The fruits are clear and when ripe, they will turn slightly blue, like glass."
If you make good use of these fruits, you can probably make two bottles of "Ice Dew Wine" to practice "Winter Slumber" and "Aspect Power".
However, for Sylutia, the most important thing is to obtain the fruit seeds of "Ice Crystal Fruit", and have the opportunity to cultivate them by themselves in the future.
Several others finished talking about their experiences one after another, and finally everyone focused their attention on Sylutia. After all, compared to them, this girl's experience was so legendary that it was simply incredible.
"Well..." Sylutia sat on the sofa and tilted her head slightly. She had no choice but to talk about her experiences over the years as plainly as possible, especially regarding the establishment of New Regas. She skipped many too shocking scenes, which made everyone think that she could help Queen Musa. In fact, she had a lot of luck.
"... That's probably what happened." After saying that, the girl's light blue eyes blinked once, as if to end the story, waking everyone up from the immersion.
However, even though she deliberately weakened some of her descriptions, her almost legendary encounter shocked many people present for a long time.
"Tia, Tia..." Comia murmured.
"No, I was almost completely fascinated by you." She covered her eyes.
"No wonder Queen Musa trusts you so much, I would marry you instead." She joked with a smile.
"It still feels like a dream." She stood up and circled around the girl little by little, as if she wanted to memorize her completely.
"This time I will reply "Winter Slumber Cottage". I guess there are endless topics to talk about."
"From now on, everyone will call me "Sylutia's best friend" and "Azure Star's fellow villager" ~ However, will this embarrass Tia? After all, compared to Tia, Comia I am too weak." She hugged Sylutia's hand and shook it slightly, looking like she was shaking her head coquettishly.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to help Tia much in the future, but I will write to Tia about the delicious and fun things I see in the future."
"It's decided, this is how I, Comia, maintain friendship, hehe."
As he said this, everyone in the living room laughed again.
Although five years have passed, there are still endless things to talk about among the five of us. Sylutia also learned about every corner of the world from several friends, what he experienced during his journey to a foreign country, interesting things about living in the snowy mountains, many changes in Regas, etc.
After that, the five people went on an outing in the mountains near Scorched Stone City for several days, visiting local towns and villages. It was not until ten days later that they waved goodbye.
Before leaving, Sylutia gave each person a gift and told them that they could not open it until they left.
After that, she boarded the carriage and waved goodbye to this familiar city. Her slightly sad farewell words floated in the shadow of the trees under the sunlight.