But Laurena’s answer immediately resolved his doubts: "No, just some trivial divinations and prophecies, Lord."
Brand suddenly realized: "Then, northward, what direction north?" he suddenly asked.
"This..." The female knight was momentarily speechless, how could she possibly know such a thing? However, her inherently serious personality compelled her to respond: "I’m sorry, I don’t know either."
But she didn’t expect Brand to interrupt her with: "It’s okay, maybe I know."
He turned around, his eyes landing on the point marked as Majitan on the giant map. North from here lay the vast Mist Forest, further entering Lantoniyan territory, his gaze quickly moved upward, Anselma Forest, Golden Sparrow Mountain, the mountain range north of Valendom Lake—
A flash of lightning crossed his mind, seeming to ignite a spark of wisdom. He suddenly looked up, realizing what these demons, or cultists, or Duke Anliek intended to do.
To rebuild a teleportation gate, a large amount of magic power would be required.
Preferably an energy core.
The Kruz people have flame gemstones.
So what about Duke Anliek?
Brand’s gaze finally settled, there, on the map labeled with rough text: Falling Needle Hills Road.
Falling Needle Hills Road, Frost Forest Maze, Dragon’s Heart.
...
"Princess."
As soon as Brand stepped out of the hall, he found Princess Griffine standing outside in the porch. The Half-Elf Girl stood by the stone hole window, looking out at the scenery of the hills in the direction of Gers River Beach. He paused for a moment and immediately bowed in greeting.
The princess turned around; it seemed she had been waiting for him here for a while. After quietly glancing at him, she slowly asked: "Count, how should we handle our relations with the Kruz people next? Should we help them this time?"
"This time we must help, Princess." Brand replied truthfully.
"Hm?" Princess Griffine turned back with a slight surprise: "Why? I remember you don’t quite like them?"
"In fact, I already have some clues," Furlo followed Brand out of the hall, allowing him to take the coat and cloak from her hands. Brand glanced outside the window, the undulating ridgeline covered by a piece of verdant forest, above that was a snowy-like cloud, and the azure blue skyline. He watched as the flock of migrating birds flew farther away and said, "This is an excellent opportunity to persuade Duke Viero to join our alliance."
"If luck is on our side," he added, "perhaps we can also win over Golan-Elsen."
Princess Griffine was not a fool; on the contrary, her wisdom was among the best within several generations of the Erune Royal Family. Naturally, she understood Brand’s intention, but the girl looked curiously at the cloak in Brand’s hand and asked, "Count, where are you planning to go?"
In her memory, although this young man had already become a count, he was almost always unkempt. Unless he was traveling far, it was rare for him to put on a coat, not to mention taking a cloak or shawl.
Thus, she keenly detected this detail through Brand’s subtle actions.
Brand did not intend to hide; he nodded: "Suddenly had an idea."
"An idea?"
"Yes," Brand answered, "It seems Lord Marsha still stands on our side this time; if it goes well, Princess Magdalene might awaken."
Princess Griffine first froze, then extreme joy spilled from her silver eyes, and she asked without maintaining her composure, "Really?!"
"When have I ever deceived you, Princess?" Brand felt equally relieved, as if all the problems troubling him for days had suddenly been solved. He had to admit that this time Duke Anliek and Jandener really sent him a great gift.
In fact, he, Bai Lu, and Antitina had long discussed that awakening Magdalene was easy yet equally difficult. The Nun Princess was not human; the injury she suffered was essentially because the magic source driving and maintaining her body’s functioning was destroyed by that sword — Alorz indirectly confirmed this point.
To restore the magic source, the simplest method would be replacing it with a new one.
The person mastering this skill, there was only one within the territory. Brand hadn’t forgotten that Alorz once installed the Titan Core into his body. But finding a new magic core, that’s another problem.
Yet Duke Anliek’s current movement immediately provided him with an answer.
Due to being busy with participating in and planning the Erune civil war affair, he had almost forgotten his former self as a player. Falling Needle Hills Road, Frostbitten Forest Maze Dungeon, happened to possess the most suitable magic core.
Dragon’s Heart.
Evidently, Duke Anliek was going for this item too, although Brand didn’t know from where the duke learned about the existence of Dragon’s Heart there. But now, what he needed to do was obviously to find this treasure before the duke.
Moreover, if those inconsiderate people are actually establishing a teleportation gate there, he certainly wouldn’t mind taking the opportunity to destroy it. Thus, completing Veronica’s task while sorting out the affairs here simultaneously, there really was no gift more worthwhile for Brand.
Seeing the confident expression on his face, Princess Griffine took a soft breath, a bit cautiously asking, "Are you going now?"
"No," Brand shook his head: "Before that, I still have one thing to resolve."
"What is it?"
Brand gave a toothy smile, answering: "Personal matter."
...
(PS: Three updates today totaling ten thousand words! Also, I highly recommend the novel by Lord Roaring Wind Moon, Tian Drive, with ID... uh, 2493250! A shameless introduction follows — this book has all kinds of points sure to attract you all!
Official synopsis: How many people’s bones must be tread upon to lord over the world’s peak?
...
Alright, this is actually a story about a young lad stepping onto the ’Magnetic King’ path with his older sister and loli, cluelessly leading many power users toward wealth, prosperity, and a bright future...
)(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)