Dalaran! Dalaran! Dalaran!

"Milord, milord, we've arrived at Dalaran. Shall we go in?" Jobby's voice came from the front of the carriage.

Finally here? Orendo jumped down from the carriage. From the Sefrosa lands to this place, they had crossed the northern highlands of the foothills. After a long fourteen days, they had finally reached Dalaran's outskirts at noon on the eighth day of the Harvest Moon.

Twenty-one days had already passed since he sold the secret formula in Southshore.

In his previous life, he had been a librarian. He had worked in a library for five years, surrounded by piles of books every day.

With nothing else to do, he had mostly read all kinds of miscellaneous books.

Normally, no matter how many books one read, aside from the small portion that left a deep impression or particularly interested them, the contents of the rest would be forgotten completely.

Fortunately, the Eye of Truth had integrated all of the original Orendo's memories and unearthed all those things tucked away in the corners of the current Orendo's mind.

The tens of thousands of books the librarian had once read had now become the Eye of Truth's store of knowledge.

The method of refining sucrose in Azeroth had been created by Orendo through experiments, based on methods from Earth and adapted by the Eye of Truth to Azeroth's laws. Orendo had named this refining method "Snow Sugar."

Originally, Orendo had planned to plant sugarcane in the Sefrosa lands, refine the sucrose himself, and sell it for profit.

But later, on the way to Southshore, he had thought long and hard.

Sefrosa was merely a viscountcy. In the Hillsbrad Foothills, it truly did not count as a major power.

Leaving aside colossal entities such as the various kingdoms and Dalaran, there was even a duke in the foothills. There were more than a dozen marquises and counts combined, and every one of them was someone the current Sefrosa lands could not afford to provoke.

The path of planting sugarcane, refining sucrose, and selling it could work at first. But once other powers, great nobles, and wealthy merchants noticed this immensely profitable business, it would surely draw the covetous eyes of those behemoths.

Were there good people in this world?

There were.

Were there bad people in this world?

There were, and more of them than good people.

Orendo was not confident that he and the Sefrosa lands could protect this business right now, unless he became a powerful mage and made others fear his strength enough not to act recklessly.

Conversely, once he became powerful enough to make other forces wary, businesses like this would come knocking on his door without him even seeking them out.

Which top-tier mage lacked money to spend? What great mage of Dalaran feared having no money?

Arcane arts and magic were his foundation. Family, power, and territory were merely auxiliaries.

Having figured that out, Orendo decisively sold the secret formula for refining sucrose in exchange for the gold he needed to study in Dalaran!

Thirty thousand Lordaeron New Gold Coins. Ten thousand had been converted into checks that could be deposited and redeemed in Dalaran, while the remaining twenty thousand had become a long procurement list of various magical materials and tomes—things Orendo would need for his upcoming studies in Dalaran.

After getting down from the carriage, Orendo stared at the Dalaran before him.

Dalaran stood on the southern shore of Lake Lordamere, its walls curving with the great lake into a semicircle. The first thing he saw was the city gate.

This magnificent gate left him astonished. In a world with such primitive craftsmanship, a stone structure of this grandeur could only be credited to the power of magic and arcane arts.

He glanced at the Dalaran emblem carved into the stone gate, dozens of meters high, which had left a deep impression on him—a eye and symbols against a purple background, the emblem of the Kirin Tor Council that ruled Dalaran.

"Let's go in!" Orendo said. Jobby and the coachman quickly unloaded their master's luggage from the carriage.

The carriage had to be left at the station outside the city, at a cost of fifty copper coins per day and night. Carriages and horses were not allowed inside Dalaran. Even a king had to enter on foot.

This was the mages' pride.

Dalaran's people often said, "Farmers may enter, hunters may enter, kings may not!"

Anyone could come to Dalaran, but secular royal power was not welcome here. This was the magical center of the northern human kingdoms, a paradise for mages.

The coachman and Jobby carried the luggage as they followed the somewhat excited Orendo. The servants, too, entered this city of miracles full of admiration.

The coachman belonged to House Sefrosa and would return tomorrow. Jobby, however, would remain in Dalaran to provide his master with whatever services and work he could manage.

Orendo looked over the city excitedly, this great city that, in the "original story," would be crushed in a demon's hand.

The first thing he noticed was the harmony between nature and the city. Trees and stone buildings were everywhere. Ancient oaks that had been transplanted and preserved stood as tall as the stone walls. Most of the city's roads were paved with cobblestones, with sidewalks shaded by trees on either side. Houses lined the streets, their balconies and spiral staircases visible everywhere, while windowsills, railings, and pillars were decorated with flowers and plants grown in carved bowls.

Compared with the floating Dalaran from his memories, which had been no bigger than a village at most, the real Dalaran was several hundred times larger.

"Milord, we've arrived at the Violet Academy." Jobby, who had visited Dalaran several times and had made preparations for Orendo in advance, said, "I asked around. Someone will be here to receive and guide you shortly, and we'll be directed to a place to rest. Or should we wait outside for you?"

"No need to wait for me." Orendo, who was actually very excited, waved a hand.

He watched Jobby and the coachman leave.

Then Orendo turned to look at the Violet Academy.

Dalaran loved purple, and the Kirin Tor had simply made it their primary color. The mages believed mysterious purple was the best depiction of the arcane, entirely unlike Quel'Thalas, which revered gold and red.

The first thing Orendo saw was a gate. A two-meter-high stone wall painted purple blocked ordinary people's view, and the power of magic could faintly be sensed within the wall.

"Sir, entry is not permitted without authorization." There was a smaller door beside the main gate, but a guard stepped forward politely to stop him—only because he was well dressed and did not look like an ordinary citizen or adventurer.

"My name is Orendo Sefrosa. I have a special letter of recommendation. Could you please deliver it to Mage Hadren?" Along with the letter came a gold coin gleaming in the light. The guard looked over the recommendation letter and accepted the coin as well. "Wait here. I'll deliver it to Mage Hadren."

Before long, the guard returned with a broad smile. "Mr. Sefrosa, please come in. I'll take you to Mage Hadren."

Beyond the academy entrance lay groves of trees, lakes, and all manner of small buildings. The guard introduced them enthusiastically as they walked.

It turned out that every small building was a mage's laboratory and a place for apprentices to study. There were only six tall buildings: six enormous mage towers belonging to the Council of Six, the towers of its six archmages.

The energies gathered by the six archmages' towers resonated with one another, making the concentration of energy within the academy far greater than in ordinary surroundings. This benefited the apprentices' magical studies.

Aside from the six mage towers, the grand library was particularly conspicuous. The moment Orendo heard it was a library, his eyes nearly lit up.

When they reached one of the many smaller buildings, the guard told him at the entrance, "Mr. Sefrosa, Mage Hadren is inside."

"Thank you for leading the way." Orendo gave him another gold coin, and the man left beaming.

Two Lordaeron New Gold Coins were equivalent to half a month's wages for a guard.

Orendo pushed open the door and entered, immediately seeing an elven mage. With pointed ears and azure eyes, the elf gave him a keen sense of the immense energy hidden within him.

[Unknown elven mage. Enormous energy. Could easily kill a hundred apprentices like the host...]

The information observed by the Eye of Truth made him curl his lip inwardly.

"Mage Hadren?" He did not know whether this elven mage was the person he had come to visit. "Hello, I'm looking for Mage Hadren."

"I am Hadren. You are Orendo Sefrosa?" the elven mage asked calmly. "Sir Delon's son? The new Viscount Sefrosa?"

"Yes." Orendo replied. Delon Sefrosa was the name of his nominal father. "I am Orendo Sefrosa, Viscount Sefrosa."