Necromancer, What the Hell Is Summoning 055? Section 35

In any case, compared with Eastern Xia cuisine, everything else was inferior. What was there to compare?

Escorted by the same two mercenaries, Chen Mo hurried back to the mage tower, weary from the journey. He planned to take all the weapons and gold coins he could carry and get his hands on a few of those healing pills, whatever they were, before anything else.

While Chen Mo was busy packing, Instructor Morton knocked on his dormitory door.

"Roy, are you leaving?"

"Huh?" Chen Mo quickly shook his head. "No, no. I still have so much to learn, and there's the assessment at the end of the year, and after that..."

"Roy!" Instructor Morton interrupted him, regret and disappointment on his face. "You should leave!"

Chen Mo froze as he packed things into Little White.

"Instructor... teacher, did I do something wrong?"

Morton raised a hand slightly, and a gentle breeze slowly shut the dormitory door. The faint glow in the room fell on the middle-aged mage's deeply furrowed brow, lined like a mountain range.

"No, Roy, you've done very well. Of all the students I've taught, your talent isn't the best, but your diligence is unmatched in all my life!"

"I'm proud to have taught you. I even thought about introducing you to Teacher Har and having you become his disciple."

"I believe your future accomplishments will surpass mine, and even Teacher Har's!"

After a brief pause, Instructor Morton sighed deeply. "But that was if you had no other choice. When I saw the calling card you received, I understood. Roy, you should have a far greater future. Your future shouldn't be here!"

The middle-aged instructor walked over to Chen Mo's bed and slowly sat down, patting the edge. "Sit down too!"

Seeing Chen Mo sit down with a bewildered look, Morton gently patted him on the back.

"Roy, there's a problem here that you can never escape. Your identity... isn't clean!"

"The paperwork for your admission was a serious violation of Federation law. It was... illegal!"

"This will become a stain on your record. One day, when you become someone who shines over all the cities, that stain could give your enemies a reason to attack you."

"It shouldn't be like this, Roy!"

Morton grew more agitated as he spoke, his face reddening slightly in the lamplight. "You're talented, and you work so hard. You're destined to become an important figure in the kingdom, a great noble. So you must conduct yourself uprightly and not let these shady matters hold back your promising future."

"Since you know great nobles from another country, you should go to them and join a great mage tower with a clean record, or go to a magic academy in Creek Moon and work your way up openly and honorably!"

"Besides, my teacher is only level four. The future he can offer you is very limited!"

Morton spoke rather hurriedly. He took several deep breaths, gazed into Chen Mo's eyes, and urged him on with unprecedented sincerity.

"I really can't bear to see you go, but Roy, you must leave!"

"The sooner the better!"

"Go!!!"

Chen Mo felt a rush of blood to his head.

He looked at Instructor Morton's earnest face.

He looked at the face of this ordinary middle-aged mage, whom the apprentices described as old-fashioned, rigid, dull, and boring... A man whose injuries had left him with no hope of advancing for the rest of his life, who had neither wife nor children, and who seemed to be spending what remained of his life saving money bit by bit to build a mage tower for Master Har. An indescribable warmth welled up in Chen Mo's heart.

He wanted badly to say, "It's all right. I don't care. I want to stay here!"

But reason told him that Morton was right.

He had been so absorbed in learning magic and cultivating his spirit that he couldn't pull himself away, while Instructor Morton clearly understood the rules of this world better than he did.

As long as he continued to use the identity of "Roy," he would always be a criminal in violation of Creek Moon Federation law. Perhaps one day, without warning, Federation guards would appear at his door and coldly show him their shackles.

He was sure that when the need arose, Captain Saige, Deputy Director Vincent, Roy, whose place he had taken, or even Kato, who was now so attentive to him, could all turn around and take a bite out of him.

In the Creek Moon Federation, he had no respectable identity to his name!

Seeing that "Roy" seemed to understand, Morton nodded with relief. "I've been preparing ever since you left today."

"Go, go, go. Hurry and leave. I'll file a report with the Federation saying that a student named Roy suddenly stopped coming. That's the truth!"

"Remember, I've never met you, and you've never met me!"

A mixture of dejection and excitement crossed Morton's face. He took two thick rolls of paper from his mage robe and handed them to Chen Mo.

"You're bound to achieve great things someday!"

"There are two sets of notes here! One contains my own insights into spells over the years. As for the other, I know you've never stopped thinking about necromancer summoners. There's an instructor in the Dawn Light group who's a professional necromancer. I borrowed his notes and made a copy for you."

"Take them with you and look at them from time to time. They might be of some use."

"Oh, and stop by my little house on your way out. I've also prepared some cultivation materials for you. Take them and use them as you go."

Instructor Morton slowly stepped out of the room. Chen Mo watched his teacher leave, feeling as though a bleakness lingered in the air.

But now that he had made his decision, Chen Mo hesitated no longer. He began dismantling the weather station, retrieving the surveillance cameras, recalling the sample collectors, and collecting the solar charging panels and charging station...

There was quite a lot of stuff. Chen Mo quickly sorted it, hiding the important equipment and materials inside Little White's rib cage again and stuffing him full. The rest could be carried by Luke and Little John, who were waiting outside the door.

Before leaving, Chen Mo went to Morton's alchemy room.

Many medicines couldn't be exposed to direct sunlight, so the room was always dark and gloomy. The middle-aged mage sat alone in the dim light, looking somewhat hunched.

"You're here?" Morton forced a smile and laboriously dragged a large bag out from under the table. By the look of it, he had prepared more than a hundred portions of magical materials.

Chen Mo placed a bag on the table as well.

"Forget it. Keep it for yourself. You'll need money in plenty of places out there. I've already earned a lot from you these past few days!"

Chen Mo grinned. "Same rule as always. If you don't take the money, I won't take anything!"

"Besides, if you accept this money, Master Har's mage tower, the one you've been longing for, should finally be within reach."

Instructor Morton's eyes widened. He rushed forward and opened the bag, and the gleaming gold coins lit up his eyes.

"Have you gone mad?!!"

Chen Mo smiled and waved a hand. "Don't worry, Instructor. Money isn't a problem for me!"

"What you've done for me is worth far more than this. Measuring it in money is a little too vulgar, but I'm just a vulgar person. What can I do?"

The teacher and student, whose time together had been brief, exchanged a few more words of advice and said their farewells.

Before seeing Chen Mo out the door, Morton stopped him one last time.

"Oh, Roy, you probably won't use that name anymore, will you? Can you tell me your real name? Otherwise, when a dazzling new star rises over the continent someday, I won't even know it's you!"

"Yes. My name is Chen Mo!"

"Chen Mo... all right, then. Goodbye, Student Chen Mo!"

"Goodbye, teacher!"

Chapter 58: A New Deal Completed

For the commandery princess's traveling camp, stationed on the banks of the North Foothills River, there was bad news first: the little commandery princess had casually promised away a core bargaining chip, the healing medicine the other party valued so highly.

No one could say anything. The little commandery princess had the right to dispose of the camp's belongings as she pleased in the first place. More importantly, these weren't even Cloudmist Territory's property, but gifts from her mother's family.

Even if the little commandery princess used them to feed birds and fish, the lord could do no more than frown.

Besides, they had a precedent. When the orc Bulwark knight had crushed them in the Longwind Hills, a dose of medicine could not have saved them from that hopeless situation. Yet the little commandery princess's inexplicable generosity had given the team a chance at survival.

They might as well let her do as she pleased...

After all, Lady-in-Waiting Linda had grumbled a few times to the little commandery princess about the previous pill. Then, after the Longwind Hills incident ended, Linda had heard no shortage of Commandery Princess Liushuang's "pointed remarks."

In the morning, the little commandery princess would say, "Ah, the sun is so red! It looks just like the flames on that orc that day!"

At noon, she would mutter, "Linda, Linda, if I hadn't given him that Eversong pill back then, do you think we'd still be able to have such a good lunch now?"

In the evening, she would sigh, "Whenever night falls, I remember the endless darkness when we were surrounded by orcs that day..."

Several maids gathered around the little commandery princess, praising her in every way they could and laying it on thick until she was beaming. Lady-in-Waiting Linda, meanwhile, would walk away silently with a stiff expression. Lately, she had barely mentioned Noble Etiquette.

Who knew whether this was one of the little commandery princess's ways of skipping lessons...

In any case, although the team's managers were pained by the little commandery princess's generosity this time, they tactfully said nothing.

Sure enough, as soon as the little commandery princess made her promise, the other party immediately went back to prepare a gift of thanks for her. Before long, the guide Luke came galloping back with news.

The other party had made up his mind to travel with the Cloudmist Territory team.

That was wonderful!

At the welcoming feast, Master Locke had very tactfully expressed his intention to recruit the young mage. After all, he had produced a weapon that had directly "judged" a Bulwark knight. No matter how much of it was due to chance, its power was plain to see.

For a noble who had left his family, recruiting him into their own ranks or recommending him to the lord when they returned would strengthen their own side and weaken a potential opponent.

Externally, if talent wasn't put to their own use, it would be used by someone else. When nobles fought, it was a life-and-death war.

Internally, although the little commandery princess's place in the line of succession had no value, someone else in the line might try to win her over, suppress her, grow suspicious of her, or even use her. It was no bad thing for their own team to be stronger.

Even if the lord requisitioned him in the future, wouldn't that still count as a favor from the little commandery princess?

Of course, Chen Mo had been wholly focused on studying at the time and hadn't considered the option, so he had politely declined.

Now, according to Luke, he had actually needed to go back and report to his instructor, obtaining his instructor's consent before deciding whether to accept Cloudmist Territory's invitation to travel together.

That display of character reassured Master Locke and Captain Peiwen a little more.

Luke had already carried back one large bag, then brought several guards with him. In the end, they brought back more than a dozen packages of all sizes, making everyone look at Chen Mo in a new light.

That was noble style, all right. Even the little commandery princess, who changed into a new outfit every day, now had less luggage than Chen Mo after losing her supplies in the Longwind Hills.

Chen Mo was as open and straightforward as ever. As soon as he arrived, he stated his intentions: he hoped Cloudmist Territory could find him a mage tower, a magic academy, or a private magic teacher to guide his study and practice of spells. The cost was negotiable.

Then he opened his "skeleton safe," poured out a large assortment of equipment and devices, and invited the little commandery princess to choose for herself.

Having sent all the servants away beforehand, Liushuang's team-the little one and the big three-began eagerly examining these wondrous creations of the legendary "Mechanical Monarch" and "Cyber Lord."

Chen Mo introduced each item to them in turn. Of course, Captain Peiwen no longer quite trusted Chen Mo's descriptions. After all, he had described that thermite grenade as "a tiny bit hot!"

It had burned a Bulwark grand knight to death!

"This is... hmm, a standard weapon used by the soldiers under that monarch. It shoots a small projectile out of this tube?"

Captain Peiwen eagerly picked up the 95-1 automatic rifle and squinted down the barrel with one eye closed. "I don't see a crossbow string in here. How does it shoot?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment and offered a tentative explanation. "Uh... gas. It uses expanding gas to propel it out..."

Peiwen understood instantly. "Oh, it blows it out, right? Interesting!"

"Tsk, tsk, the projectile is only this big? No wonder it doesn't need a bowstring."