Free Web NovelChapter 283: Chapter 271: Servant Demon
"Widespread crop failure in the eastern Golden Valley Kingdom..."
Roland’s brow furrowed slowly as he carefully studied the details of the commission.
’It’s the middle of the autumn harvest, yet the crops are withering for no reason. The soil has an oily sheen... and there are black crystals at the roots... Could this be an anomaly caused by the resurgence of Magic Elements?’
After a moment of thought, finding no clear leads, Roland shook his head gently and moved his gaze down the page.
’The phenomena in Stone Furnace Castle and the Black Reef Duchy are quite similar... In both cases, those who came into contact with it developed mental problems...’
Seeing these two somewhat familiar place names and the bizarre phenomena described, a vague guess immediately formed in Roland’s mind.
Unlike the Golden Valley Kingdom, which was divided into "territories," the Dwarf Realm used "castles" as its administrative units.
Stone Furnace Castle was one such territory on the fringes of the Dwarf Realm, bordering the Black Reef Duchy.
The Black Reef Duchy, in turn, was another human kingdom that faced the River Domain across the sea.
The coastal watchtower mentioned in the commission was located right near Wailing Gorge.
’Could it be... Heartstealers at work?’
But he quickly dismissed the thought himself.
It wasn’t that he doubted a Heartstealer’s ability to cause mental confusion. Rather, Roland believed that if these evil creatures—so fond of enslaving and consuming intelligent life—were to truly make a move, the commotion would not be limited to something as "mild" as mental confusion and shadows on the mudflats.
Their invasions were usually accompanied by large-scale chaos.
After rereading the commission details several times and finding nothing more, Roland temporarily suppressed his doubts and began to leaf through the recent major intelligence reports compiled by the Adventurer’s Guild.
At the very top of the list was the incident of the reappearance of the Magic City Jiles, which had previously occurred in the Land of Mist.
The intelligence was extremely detailed, even recording the terrifying sight of Graham’s Dragonification, as if the writer had witnessed everything from the edge of the battlefield.
However, the description became very vague regarding the identity and purpose of the Witch Demon, as well as the crucial final confrontation between Roland and the Witch Demon.
It only vaguely and uncertainly attributed the outcome of the incident to "an Extraordinary Spellcaster who repelled the Witch Demon."
This report, with its stark contrast between detailed and vague sections, made Roland all the more curious about the Adventurer’s Guild’s sources of intelligence.
’Did the Guild plant spies among the high command of the River Domain’s armies? Or... do they have scouts like Jia Xiu, masters of stealth techniques, who were lurking near the battlefield at the time? But how could they have appeared so timely at the scene of such a sudden incident?’
Shaking his head gently, Roland continued reading.
’King Morne is personally leading an army to counter the Beastmen invading the border?’
This piece of news didn’t hold his attention for long.
Beastmen from the Northern Domain of the Golden Valley Kingdom harassing the border was hardly anything new.
Never mind his own experiences in the Black Water Territory; just during his time living in the River Domain Kings’ Capitals, he had heard reports of similar border conflicts more than once.
The only difference this time was that King Morne was leading the army personally.
’Perhaps he wants to use this opportunity to resolve the threat from the Northern Domain once and for all...’
The subsequent pieces of information were either of little value or described events happening too far away from Roland; some were place names he had never even heard of.
After double-checking that he hadn’t missed any important intelligence, Roland stood up and pushed the door open to leave.
Of course, before leaving, he didn’t forget to ask about the High Tier commissions with "customizable rewards."
However, the moment the Guild staff member respectfully presented the commission scroll and he saw the title...
[Slay the Demon occupying the Golden Land (Suspected Dragon Species)]
Roland raised an eyebrow, decisively put down the sheepskin scroll in his hand, and turned to leave the Adventurer’s Guild.
Never mind that the location of the Golden Land described in the commission was extremely far from the River Domain, just the part about "slaying a suspected Dragon Species"...
Although the description on the commission scroll was vague, and the text between the lines revealed that the intelligence itself was full of uncertainty, even the writer couldn’t be sure if the occupying creature was truly a dragon.
But as long as the word "dragon" was involved, Roland knew very well that it was definitely not a commission he could handle at his current level.
After returning to the inn, having dinner, and washing up, Roland lay down and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, he opened his eyes right on time.
He packed his belongings simply, mounted Black Wind, and raced towards the Royal Capital.
In the days that followed, Roland enjoyed a rare period of leisure.
Having successfully advanced to the Extraordinary Profession of [Knight], his desire to increase his strength was no longer as urgent as before.
Coupled with the fact that there was less than a month left before he was to go to the Golden Valley Kingdom for the exchange program, Roland was no longer in a hurry to find promotion paths for other Extraordinary Professions. Instead, he focused wholeheartedly on consolidating and honing his existing abilities and strength.
His partners weren’t idle either.
Hobbit and Freddy focused on their studies.
Avril continued to fulfill her minimal duties within the Shadow Veil Organization, enjoying her "leisurely" life.
Teresa, with her enthusiasm undiminished, frequently visited the Adventurer’s Guild to take on commissions and hone her skills.
Galvis once again found himself lingering at various banquets and social gatherings.
As for Mason, Roland used his connection with Colin to secure a comfortable and cushy job for the young nobleman at the Merchant Guild.
Bronson, as always, shut himself in his room, conducting his strange and peculiar research.
And Tress...
"Hey, Roland, I can’t help but feel..."
On the training grounds of the Knight Academy, the Pikachu perched on Roland’s shoulder, warily eyeing a red squirrel nibbling on a piece of bread not far away.
"That... squirrel? Something feels weird about it!"
"Tress..."
Roland helplessly shrugged his shoulders, causing the tiny Pikachu to float up.
Then, he held his breath and focused his mind...
THUD!
Following a dull thud, the solid ground beneath his feet instantly cracked like a spiderweb, with fine fissures spreading outwards.
In the blink of an eye, Roland’s figure had already appeared several dozen paces away.
[You have successfully completed one training session for Combat Skill Charge. You have gained two Experience Points.]
"Tsk..."
Seeing that his landing point was still several paces from the target dummy, Roland shook his head gently.
’Controlling my Power, landing precisely, and integrating an attack into the movement... It’s definitely not as simple as I thought.’
Although Roland had mastered the Combat Skill [Charge] through repeated practice and his Experience Points were steadily increasing, the greater the Power he put into it, the more difficult the Combat Skill became to control.
At his current proficiency, he still couldn’t precisely control his landing spot when using a full-power Charge, let alone smoothly follow up with an attack during the movement.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Roland finally turned to look at the Pikachu floating in the air.
"Tress, this is the thirty-second time you’ve given me a similar warning recently, so..."
He looked toward the red squirrel at the edge of the training grounds.
As if sensing Roland’s gaze, Qiao looked up, his white incisors glinting in the sunlight as he gave a friendly wave with his furry front paw.
"Why don’t you tell me, what exactly is so strange about Qiao?"
"Umm... I just... I feel an unsettling aura from him. And..."
Tress furrowed her little brow, looking vexed at the red squirrel’s friendly gaze.
"And, if he were really just an ordinary squirrel, how could he possibly contain such abundant Magic Power? The way he is... he’s less like an animal and more like what the Fairy Queen mentioned when she taught me... a Servant Demon?"
"A Servant Demon?"
Roland raised an eyebrow.
He wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the concept.
According to ancient texts, Servant Demons were typically a Caster’s contracted partner or extension, assisting their master with Casting, reconnaissance, and even sharing the burden of their Magic.
"That’s right!"
Tress flew up to Roland’s eye level, put her hands on her hips, and began her explanation with a serious look on her small face.
"In the world of powerful Casters, Servant Demons aren’t ordinary pet partners. They are beings typically summoned from the Spirit Realm or an Elemental Plane through specific, sometimes ancient and complex, magical rituals, and bound by an eternal contract."
"And after being summoned to the Prime Material Plane, they often choose to manifest in a form that fits their essence. The most common forms are various small animals, like cats, ravens, bats, lizards, or..."
She shot a meaningful glance at Qiao, who was still nibbling on his bread in the distance.
"A squirrel."
