The vendors were shouting, the customers were shouting even louder, lost children were crying on the street, the mooing of cows, the bleating of sheep, the clucking and quacking of poultry were mixed together.

The dwarf craftsman was hammering metal plates intently, stopping to drink a sip of wine whenever he had time; the sounds of flutes, violins and dulcimers came from the corners of the square, as if bards and musicians were playing.

Ace was very familiar with this market. He wandered around the streets with the excited Elena beside him.

Several vendors who were familiar with Ace looked at him with strange eyes. They felt that this warlock apprentice with a knight-like figure was very familiar, but the girl next to him was unfamiliar - she must have been replaced.

This market is very familiar to Ace.

But today is not an ordinary day, because a big event is about to happen on Thaned Island.

"Two students... No, only one is my student." A woman's voice suddenly sounded, "Why are you not in the academy?"

"As for the other one, are you a dropout from Ben Ader? Or an apprentice of some warlock?"

Ace turned around and saw a beautiful woman. She was tall, blonde, wearing a low-cut green dress, and her figure was as beautiful as a mermaid coming ashore.

Beautiful women can make people feel relaxed and happy, but Ace felt that his hair stood up in an instant.

Elena's face also turned pale.

"Ms. Margarita..."

"Name? Class? Who is the tutor?" Margarita's voice was cold. She was Aretusa's teacher.

As she spoke, Ace suddenly felt a sharp pain in his skin.

[Magic! This sorceress actually wants to use magic in a downtown area! ]

"Wait, Rita." Another woman suddenly appeared behind Margarita and tried to stop her. This woman had smooth and neat black hair, bright eyes and thin lips, and a short lavender cape with a dormouse fur trimmed on her shoulders.

"This is a downtown area!" the black-haired woman emphasized.

Ace almost wanted to cheer for the new lady, but Margarita ignored him and the magic fluctuations in her hand became even stronger.

With Ace's current knowledge of magic, he easily recognized that it was a paralysis magic spell.

Ace held Elena's hand tightly. If a female student who skipped class was caught by the teacher, she would definitely be beaten. His eyes rolled around and he began to look at the escape route.

However, before he could take action, something even more unexpected happened -

——An alchemical bomb rolled out from a small alley, spinning.

With a "boom", green smoke exploded, covering everything around. Margarita took a big breath without any preparation, and immediately screamed and almost fell to the ground.

"Tissaia——"

Violent magical fluctuations emanated from the black-haired sorceress, with elemental power emanating from her.

She actually managed to resist the magic-blocking gold powder for a short time!

Tishaya pulled Margarita out and blew away the deadly fog in front of her with a wave of her hand.

However, all that was left was the mess of vendors and people. Halflings desperately protected the sheepskins they used to make wine skins, half-elves tightly hugged the dolls on their stalls, and dwarves hurriedly slammed their malachite utensils into the box to avoid being broken by the running people.

There were no female students, no male apprentices, and no attackers throwing durametal bombs.

Margarita coughed heavily: "Tishaya?"

The headmistress of the magic academy said sternly, "Let's go."

…

In a small hotel, the hooded House threw out a money bag and easily got the best room.

Ace settled the female student next door, and then looked at his companion whom he hadn't seen for a long time in silence.

"A demon-blocking gold bomb? Are you serious? I'll be fine even if I get caught!"

House silently took off his hood. "I saw the warlock on the other side was about to use an attack spell, and his hands reacted uncontrollably... and I couldn't tell if the spell was fatal or not."

Ace sighed. From these few words, he could tell that his companion had been through a lot during this period of time and had actually developed such an outrageous conditioned reflex.

"But I didn't expect that." Ace watched House take off his magic disguise and reveal his true face, "You have become a demon hunter now?"

He did not hide his envy in his tone.

"Not only that, but also Milva and Levin." House showed a meaningful smile, "You missed our war to restore our country, son of the Knight."

"And I was just awarded the title of knight by the Duke not long ago..."

A wine glass was thrown straight at him, and House caught it easily with his enhanced nerve reflexes, admiring Ace's exasperated face.

The joke was played, they played around for a while, laughed wildly for a while, and then slowly quieted down.

It was very quiet. They had a lot to say, but no one had figured out how to start.

House took the initiative to put the glass back in front of Ace and filled it with wine.

Then he filled the glass in front of him, took out another glass and placed it on an empty seat, filling it as well.

With a "clang" sound, the lion-headed silver sword [Sward] with its scabbard was placed on the empty space.

"It's been a while since the three of us got together."

Ace pursed his lips and nodded.

"You and... this guy, the two of you have been following the Duke all the time. It must be very hard, right?"

House shook his head. "You are still alone here as a spy. Although you seem to be enjoying it, the Duke did not let you participate in the war of national restoration, which means that you have a more important mission."

"The Duke sent me here to meet with you today. I need to get your information and coordinate our future action plans."

Ace immediately began to sort out his situation: "The first purpose of the Duke sending me to Aretuza is to become the apprentice of the warlock Vigfortz and to gather intelligence about him, so as to facilitate the Duke's battle with him in the future..."

House interrupted Ace first and said, "Viggofortz is no longer a threat to the Duke. We can skip this step and move on to the next one."

Ace looked incredulous when he heard this: "I... I was trying very hard..."

House looked at his companion who suddenly became depressed and scratched his head. It can be seen that Ace really put a lot of effort into the first mission.

However, Ace quickly adjusted his mood: "The Duke only gave me two tasks in total. The second one is to get familiar with Aretuza and the students there."

"It was not easy for me as a man, but I did it."

Ace showed a smug look in his eyes. "I majored in portals under Vigfortz, and now I have left my mark everywhere in Aretuza. Classrooms, conference rooms, studios, dormitories, the beach, the spring, the grove, I can open portals at any time to send people in or take people away."

"I have also established...deep friendships with the prefects and student representatives of each grade at Aretusa College. Now I can recite the names of all the current students by heart!"

"No matter what the Duke wants to do, as long as it is aimed at Aretuza, I can always play the most crucial role!"

A powerful aura burst out from Ace at this moment.

House had a blank expression on his face and couldn't help but want to touch the hilt of the sword again.

"So, is the Duke's operation against Aretuza about to begin? What exactly is the operation? Can I return to Cintra after it is completed?"

After hearing his companion's question, House said with empty eyes: "You seem to be living well here. I thought you didn't want to go home."

Ace gave a "shy" smile, but his eyes were firm.

"Okay, okay." House was just joking, and soon his expression became serious. "I don't know what the Duke's plan was when he sent you out, but now - the Duke wants to destroy the entire Thaned Island, dismember the Warlock Brotherhood and Aretuza School of Magic!"

…

Ace swallowed.

It's not nervousness, it's excitement.

He was not surprised, but instead showed an expected look.

No matter how ambitious his sworn master was, he felt it was justified, or rather, Ace felt that only such a plan was worthy of the Duke of Lannister and worthy of his hard work over the past two years.

"Soon there will be a war between many forces on Thanedd Island," House said in a deep voice. "This will be a battle that will destroy Thanedd Island and the Brotherhood of Warlocks. Duke Lannister plans to add fuel to the fire and take this opportunity to recruit wandering warlocks after the dissolution of the Brotherhood to work in Cintra."

"The island of Thaned is the battlefield of the Duke and the witcher masters, and our operation is in Aretuza - the Duke not only wants warlocks, but also students. The Duke wants to build a magic academy of our own in Cintra!"

Ace nodded slowly and took a deep breath, but still couldn't suppress his excitement.

"I heard that the admission standards of Aretusa are different now than before. Is that true?" House asked.

"Yes, there are more than just warlock apprentices here." Ace confirmed House's question. "Aretusa's etiquette and general education courses are also well-known in the North, and they can train "qualified ladies." Therefore, this place also accepts many daughters of wealthy businessmen, scholars, bankers, and even minor nobles. As long as they pay 1,500 crowns in tuition and an additional 200 crowns in miscellaneous fees each year, they can become students here."

Ace shrugged. "The nouveau riche families lacking in background can't find qualified etiquette teachers like the old nobles, so they love this place more than Niuburgh. That's how Elena from next door was sent here."

House muttered, "Damn it, 1,700 crowns in total? That's enough to hire a witcher master to kill all the water ghosts in Sint!"

Ace cooperated and complained: "We can also add ghouls."

"But this money is used to support female students who are truly gifted in magic. The dean and teachers often pick up some girls from outside - they don't have to pay tuition."

House nodded, understanding the current makeup of Aretuza.

"Once the operation officially begins, we will mainly rescue those girls who are truly talented. We should also try to rescue other 'prospective ladies' as well. This will help to accumulate a lot of good reputation for His Excellency the Duke."

"As for how to distinguish them, I leave it to you." House looked at his companion, "You are the key to this operation."

Ace smiled excitedly, and the two attendants raised their glasses, clinked them together, and drank them all in one gulp.

"Where is the Duke?"

House spilled the wine in front of the lion-headed silver sword on the ground: "My Lord always has things more important than us."

…

"That is to say, now all the money of the wealthy businessmen, nobles, and military officers in the city is deposited in your bank." Lann summarized the report just made by the dwarf banker Morna Giancardi.

"At the same time, the mayor here and even the surrounding mayors will hire you to help calculate all the financial details of the city, including taxes?"

"Yes, like winter camp tax, head tax, chimney tax, property tax and so on. Some time ago, there was also a 'non-human race tax' - because of the damn Scoia'tael, the country wants us to pay money to help them deal with our compatriots."

"But now, because of you, the North has a new understanding of non-human races and has cancelled the last non-human race tax." The dwarf banker bowed slightly to Lann, "I sincerely thank you."

"The king and the nobles were arrogant about money. They believed blindly in their armies, but ignored the power of these jingling little cuties."

Lane said slowly, "I have no doubt about what you say, Mr. Giancardi."

"So now that you know this information, how does it help you?"

"No, it's not 'what can I do for you', it's 'I'm here to help you'." Lann looked at the dwarf's gray eyebrows and wrinkled forehead, "Let me give you a piece of advice: withdraw your family's funds from Gos Velen as soon as possible."

The dwarf's hand, which was fiddling with the papers on the table, suddenly froze.

"Ah...did Lord Lannister receive any news?"

Lann shook his head slightly. "The power of money is infinite, even on the battlefield - I agree with this. Just like Mr. Giancardi, you can indirectly understand the political trends of the city, the kingdom, and even the North through the fluctuations in prices and the increase and decrease of taxes."

He looked at the dwarf banker and said word by word: "But, I am the one who controls the direction."

This statement speaks volumes.

The dwarf banker suddenly didn't dare to look at the dark golden lion eyes anymore.

"ah."

The dwarf banker suddenly exclaimed: "Ah... This is really shocking news. If you didn't have the lead ring, I would doubt whether I could keep my head after receiving such shocking news."

He then laughed: "You have saved a large fortune for my family, Lord Lannister. Since you don't need help, but we can't be ungrateful... Please let me do what I can for you, please!"

Lann looked at the ugly smile on the dwarf banker's face. He was indeed very different from Yarpan and the others.

So Lann also laughed: "It's okay now, but I may need some help in the future. I heard that you also have banks in other large cities in the North, and some families even provide services to the South?"

Lane’s smile was sincere: “Like I said before…I’m a big believer in the power of money.”