The young man scraped the last bit of stew out of the bowl, wiped the bottom of the bowl twice with bread, and stuffed his mouth full.
Saira glanced at him, then at the half piece of bread left on his plate, hesitated for a moment, and pushed it over.
"Are you not full? Take it."
The young man's eyes widened. He hadn't yet swallowed the food in his mouth. He mumbled a thank you and took it unceremoniously and stuffed it into his mouth.
Lin Ze said, "You said that the Witch King was imprisoned by the king. Do you know where exactly he is?"
"I didn't know that." The young man shrugged and swallowed the bread with difficulty.
"We ordinary people can't find out what's going on in the palace."
"What you just said made perfect sense."
"Hey, I heard what others said. There are a lot of people at the ferry. If you stay here often, you can get in touch with a lot of vendors who come from north to south, so you can also know a lot about some folk rumors."
Saira added, "You're from the capital, why are you here?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, and soon returned to his smiling look, "Visiting relatives, I have a distant aunt here, and my mother asked me to give her something."
Lin Ze nodded, but he always felt that the young man in front of him had an extraordinary bearing and did not look like an ordinary person. Although he was a little different in food and drink, he still couldn't hide that kind of bearing.
"Let me ask you another question, that Witch King, have you seen him in person?"
"Two years ago, I saw it from a distance." The young man grabbed the half piece of bread and said with a serious expression on his face.
"When the Witch King goes out, the king arranges for a guard of honor, eight soldiers at the front and back, and a black carriage in the middle."
The noise in the tavern suddenly became louder. Several men in leather armor were punching fists at the next table, and the dishes and chopsticks were clinking.
Lin Ze glanced at the side, then withdrew his gaze, picked up the bowl and took a sip of the soup. The soup had gone cold, and the oil had condensed on the edge of the bowl.
"We are going to the royal capital to find someone. If you go too, you can help us along."
The young man looked up at him and then at Saira, as if he was weighing whether these two people were trustworthy.
"That's good, there's someone to take care of you on the way." He stretched out his hand.
"My name is Arthur."
Lin Ze held his hand. The palm was rough and the mouth was thickly calloused. At first glance, it looked like a hand that had been holding a sword all year round.
"My name is Lin, and this is Saira."
Arthur nodded towards Saira. Saira didn't say a word. He just picked up the scimitar from the table and hung it back on his waist.
"Let's go, we can still go some distance before dark." Saira stood up.
The three of them left the tavern. The pony was still tied to the pillar at the door and was gnawing at the sparse grass roots on the ground.
Arthur glanced at the horse and smiled, "This horse is really short."
"Pony, it's safe to walk on mountain roads and swamps." Saira got on the horse.
"You go in front, Lin Ze goes in the middle, and I'll take the back seat."
Arthur had no objection and walked forward with two long legs.
Lin Ze followed, and noticed that Arthur walked very steadily, with a low center of gravity, and the soles of his feet landed silently, as if he had received special training.
Sure enough, he is not a child educated by ordinary people.
The three of them walked along Wangdu Avenue for a long time. When the sun turned westward, an oak forest appeared on the roadside.
Saira dismounted and led the pony into the forest for a while, finding an open space with leeward wind.
"Let's rest here tonight."
Lin Ze built a simple stove and used Transfiguration to turn a few stones into a pan.
Arthur squatted next to it, watching the wooden stick change its shape with just a tap on the stone, and his eyes almost popped out.
"What... what is this?"
"Magic." Lin Ze said casually.
"Magic?" Arthur trembled.
"Are you a wizard?"
"As you can see."
Arthur stood up suddenly and took half a step back, his hand already on the dagger at his waist.
Saira was unsaddling the horse and said without looking back, "Don't be nervous. He would have done it long ago if he wanted to hurt you. There is no need to wait until now."
Arthur's hand paused on the hilt of the sword for several seconds before slowly letting go.
He squatted down again, but his eyes never left the wand in Lin Ze's hand.
"So you asked me today about the Witch King in the capital, are you going to save him?"
"Guess."
Lin Ze took out the dry food from the bag, broke it into three parts, and handed one to Arthur.
Arthur took it, held it in his hand and turned it over.
"What? You know I'm a wizard, are you afraid I'll poison you?"
"No... how could..." Arthur patted the things in his hands in embarrassment.
Lin Ze summoned some dry firewood and built a bonfire in the open space.
The bonfire was dancing between the three of them, and the orange-red light illuminated the oak bark.
Arthur broke the piece of dry food into small pieces and threw it into his mouth. He chewed it for a long time before swallowing it. His eyes never left the wand in Lin Ze's hand.
"That... magic of yours can change anything?"
"No, you can't change what you eat." Lin Ze said and took the wand back.
"That... this... Ms. Sela?"
"Huh?" Sela raised his eyebrows.
"Well... the kingdom doesn't have orders..." Arthur hesitated, but Sela immediately understood what he wanted to say.
"You really dare to say that in front of this person, you are not afraid that he will turn you into a pig's head." Sela said deliberately to scare him.
"Uh... well..."
Seeing Arthur's helpless look, Lin Ze smiled, "Don't worry, I have no interest in turning others into pig heads."
Arthur nodded in understanding and added a dead branch to the fire.
Saira tied up the pony, walked over and sat down by the fire, took out the old blanket from his backpack and wrapped it around his shoulders.
The wind was strong at night, and the oak leaves in the forest were blown loudly. Occasionally, an acorn fell and hit the ground, making a dull "thunk" sound.
"Are you two from the north?" Arthur asked.
"Hmm."
"What's going on in the north now? I heard it's not peaceful there, and the lords are fighting each other every now and then."
Saira glanced at him. "Who did you listen to?"
"Of course it's hearsay." Arthur said with a smile.
Arthur put his hands over the fire and roasted them. "I heard that the North's patrol team has a female patrol officer who can chop off seven heads with a scimitar in her hand, but she doesn't seem to have a very good temper, and I don't know if it's true or not."
Saira The corners of his mouth twitched.
Lin Ze was holding back a laugh and shaking his shoulders.
"Why are you laughing?" Saira glared at him.
"Nothing." Lin Ze turned his face to the other side and raised his hands to pretend to rub his eyes.
Arthur seemed to notice something and glanced back and forth at the two of them. "Isn't that female patrol officer you?"
"Eat your food." Saira squeezed out four words from between his teeth.
Arthur Shut up wisely and lower your head to eat the dry food.
The bonfire crackled twice, and sparks flew upward along the fireworks.