Why Did You Summon Me?

The next morning, when Baiyi sent Mia off to the school building, another farewell was also taking place at the gate of the Arfin city.

The usual charming and dazzling Tisdale’s face was filled with a rare concerned look. Grabbing onto Undine’s hands tightly, she looked as though she had many words to say but in the end, she refrained from saying anything. Behind those two ladies, carriages that were full of goods and trunks were aligned in a straight line, slowly moving out of the city. Each of the carriage was guarded by three to five armor-clad warriors who were each holding a weapon. From time to time, they would throw a greedy glance towards Tisdale’s graceful silhouette.

Undine had changed into the standard clothing of a female knight along with a white armor that was covered in all types of runes. Her light blue hair was tied up in a neat ponytail behind her. When the last carriage was pulled out of the city gate, she took out a magical hourglass to look at the time and said to Tisdale with a comforting smile on her face, “It’s time for class now, isn’t it? I have to go too…” As she was saying that, the black Soul Armature led a brown horse with white mane to her side.

It turned out that it was the day of departure for the Dole’s family Wasteland Reclaiming Unit. After more than two years of preparation, the family had finally taken a step forward for their future with the goal of exploring the dangerous Northern Wasteland of the Northern Kingdom.

Without a doubt, it would be a long and arduous journey. That was also why Tisdale was holding Undine’s hand so tightly, unwilling to let her embark on the dangerous and unknown journey. It was also her last try in dissuading Undine to proceed with the mission.

“S-Sister Undine… M-Must you really go?” Tisdale tried her luck again one last time. That topic had been brought up countless times. Yet, every time, her words were still not able to affect Undine’s determination.

“The Northern Wasteland is too dangerous. The beast are still manageable but those barbarians…” Tisdale paused as she hesitated on what words she should use to describe those brutal and cruel steppe barbarians. Because she had never met those barbarians in person before, she tried to come up with the most frightening reason to scare Undine, “They’ll kidnap you and marry you off! You’re so beautiful, Sister Undine! There is no doubt they would use you as a gift to their king. I heard from my friends that their king eat his women alive after he gets bored of them!”

It was supposed to be a stern warning but Undine could not help but burst out laughing when she heard this, “According to my news, the legendary king is actually a beautiful girl, you know. You see, we’ve managed to gather so many strong followers here and also hired the strongest mercenary group in the Southern Land. Who knows? Maybe I could kidnap her instead?”

“B-But…” Tisdale was still trying to come up with some excuses but before she could do that, Undine reached out and ran her fingers through Tisdale’s hair. With a serious tone, she said, “Thank you for your concern, Tisdale. But this mission plays a big role in the Dole family’s future. I can’t possibly abandon the fate of my family just because I fear for my own safety. Don’t you worry, alright? We’ve prepared for this journey for two years now. Everything was studied in great detail before we left. The schedule and plan for everyday and every corner of this expediton has already been planned out carefully. We’ve already gotten all of the informations about the people there, from the town gatekeeper to the aristocratic family of the Northern kingdom.This trip is not as dangerous as you think it is.”

“As for the matter regarding your family, I’ve already made arrangements. Just look for Butler Morris if you need any help okay?” Having said that, she gently freed her hand from Tisdale’s grip and hopped on to the white-maned horse. Finally, before she left, she jokingly said, “Wait for me to come back, alright? Tisdale? If I happened to be kidnapped by somebody, don’t forget to come rescue me just like how you saved Master Hope’s little girl last time.”

Then, without any further hesitation, she whipped her horse and her horse galloped towards the caravans that was already far away from the city. When she rode all the way out of the city, she could not help but glanced back towards the blurred Arfin City while sighing inwardly.

As a matter of fact, the journey was not as easy as she had described to Tisdale. Her troop consisted of a total of 800 over people and more than 40 carriages. Out of that number, more than 200 guards were recruited by her own family and the group of mercenaries had about 500 people. The rest of the recruits were ordinary merchants. From a standard travelling merchants point of view, the troop could be considered as very powerful. However, the unpredictable Northern Wasteland was one of the most dangerous place in the Isythre realm. Even though there were some greedy adventurers who had been there to seek for fortune and thrill, having to lead such a big troop to cross over to the wasteland was no less harder than reclaiming a realm itself.

Sigh! I’ve already shown my determination and sworn in front of the ancestors’ portraits so why am I feeling anxious now? Undine secretly reproached herself. It’s just such a waste that I didn’t have enough time to get in touch with Master Hope. Hmmm, I’m pretty sure uncle would need his help again for repairs after we come back from this trip. I wonder whether that cute Mia-girl likes my gifts?

In truth, Tisdale had already mentioned the little girl that she had once rescued many times before, especially after that fateful meeting at the Celestial Fortress Academy’s library. Undine knew really well that Tisdale liked little Mia a lot but because of her family, she had to keep a distance with everyone… I hope this trip will go smoothly and I can come back as soon as possible. I better help Tisdale with her family issue first when I get back.

At the same time, Baiyi who was sitting down and enjoying his retired life in the ‘Seniors Park’ did not know that his great gold lord had went off on a dangerous expedition. Even though he roughly knew that the Dole family was planning something big, to the point of inviting Sven the Rogue Knight to be part of it, he did not know exactly what they were going to do. Until today, when he was chatting with the group of ‘senior’ Soul Armatures and one of them mentioned the Dole family, only did he found out about Undine’s crazy plan. She actually wants to open up a business trade from the Southern Land to the Northern Kingdom?

Immediately, he talked to the Merchant in his consciousness, I think your child has eaten too much medicine and somehow her brain has gone haywire!

“Don’t say it like that, Sir Hope! Opening up a stable commercial route connecting the South and the North had been part of the consideration of merchants since several thousand years ago. My descendant, Undine, is merely putting it into action. Isn’t that brave of her?” The Merchant replied proudly.

“Well, who knows? Maybe when I see her next time, she has already turned into someone else’s Soul Armature…” Baiyi shrugged, “So many people have discussed it for several thousand years and nobody dared to do it so why is she trying so hard?”

To be honest, before this, Baiyi was indifferent towards Undine. One could say that he even slightly dislike her. But after he had received the generous gifts from her twice, his impression towards her had improved a lot. Now that he found out that that beauty just went on a death expedition, he could not help but feel his heart ached and felt sorry for her.

“I know that this is dangerous but I think, she must have been forced to make such decision, right? Before this, when she came to look for you, I’ve carefully observed her and found her to be a very good child. If it’s not for the life and death of the Dole family, I’m sure she would not have carried out such a reckless mission.” The Merchant continued to share his view, “I believe that she must have been fully prepared before embarking on such an expedition.”

Fully prepared? Alright… Let’s hear the thoughts from the experts who’d once stayed in the Northern Wasteland before! Using part of his consciousness, Baiyi poked the Caveman and asked,Caveman, let’s hear your view. What’s the most dangerous thing in the Northern Wasteland? What type of preparation does one needs in order to deal with it?

The Caveman thought for a while before he finally replied, “Well, the most dangerous thing? Er… Honestly, I don’t find it to be dangerous over there. I’m probably the most dangerous one there! If you were to fight with the me from last time… Well, the First and the Second Walker and you, Sir Hope, could probably defeat me… Erm… Maybe the Seventh and the 28th Walker could try… Hmmmm… oh, yeah, perhaps the 30th Walker could try as well if she still had her bow with her…”

Oh? Looks like this fellow is quite confident, eh? He actually thinks that only the Archmage, the Knight and I could defeat him? And the 7th and the 28th Walker could just try their luck? On top of that, did he just completely disregard the quakers, the evils and the academic people?

Ehh! Wait a minute! This is not the point! Even though Undine’s a little addicted to medicines and potions but I don’t think her brain is so messed-up to the point that she would provoke the Divine Warriors of the alpine barbarians. What use is there to talk about yourself?

“Ah? So you meant to ask about the beasts there? Well, you should’ve said so sooner!” The Caveman retorted, ‘Well, the Third Walker is the most formidable beast right there but I’m not afraid of him at all!”

Shhhh! Be quiet! Don’t wake him up from his slumber! He’s a real dragon for f*ck’s sake! Not a normal beast! He’s gonna get pissed again if he heard you saying that!

“Alright alright! There are more out there but they are not that strong. Although the Metal Garurumon, Magikarp ¹ and Viper the Netherdrake ² could be slightly problematic but you don’t really encounter them often, let alone Moonlit Papillon ³ and Granzon ⁴ . And even if you did, they’re much weaker than the Holy Level so you really don’t have to worry much.” The Caveman explained— his last sentence directed at the Merchant with the intention to comfort him.

Er… Why do these names sound so weird but familiar at the same time? Those three in front could still be considered as beasts but why do I feel like the style of the other two somehow differ from the rest? Baiyi wondered secretly. W-Wait a minute! This is not the point here! The Caveman just said there’s nothing to be worried about as long as there’s a Holy Level supernatural being, right?

To hell with that! The reality realm is not like the Void! How can one find an old Holy Level geezerto guard the troop so easily?

The Merchant seemed to realize that as well. If Holy Level strength was needed to explore the Northern Wasteland, then it would be possible for Undine to come across all sorts of circumstances. At once, he appeared to be at lost and dejected as he secretly sighed, “I could only pray that lady luck is by her side…”