Yun Zhe saw the Pas family castle again. The sun was just rising, and the morning light was faint, with occasional wisps of smoke rising from the castle. The castle gates were already open, and farmers who had risen early to work were emerging from the castle in twos and threes, curiously watching the carriages entering the city. Inside the carriages, a man and a woman sat close together.
"Why do they see us like that?" Yun Zhe asked, puzzled.
“It’s simple, because merchants travel during the day and usually enter the city after noon…” Ellie replied softly.
"Is it my fault? If you hadn't been in such a hurry to come back..." Yun Zhe realized he had overlooked such a common sense point and became somewhat annoyed. He couldn't help but start shifting the blame.
Ellie frowned. "No one's blaming you. The city gates were already closed when we arrived; it's possible we entered the city at dawn." But seeing Yun Zhe's grinning face, she realized he was actually joking. She couldn't help but grumble angrily.
"childish!"
"simple!"
"I'll practice my sword swings a thousand times today!" Ellie unleashed her ultimate move.
Yun Zhe's face fell. Ever since his battle with the vampires, he realized he possessed great strength and speed, but his martial arts skills were utterly mediocre. His longsword was no different from a fire poker in his hand. If he had used even a single move at the party, he wouldn't have been so badly overwhelmed by a group of unarmed vampires. Therefore, Yun Zhe made a firm decision to learn swordsmanship from Ellie.
Although Ellie usually only uses a bow and arrow, she is also quite skilled with a sword. Although her skills are limited to the territory of Pas, she is more than capable of teaching Yun Zhe, a complete novice. So for the past seven or eight days, Yun Zhe has been guided by Ellie to practice a set of "highly practical" sword techniques every day. This set of sword moves consists of dozens of movements and requires him to swing it more than a thousand times a day.
Swinging a sword a thousand times is already quite strenuous for a vampire, and repeating the movements a thousand times takes even more time. Now, with an additional thousand repetitions, the tedious practice has doubled, giving Yun Zhe a real headache.
"By the way, when you get back to the city and practice swinging your sword, be slow, just like a normal person," Ellie kindly reminded her, her face full of smiles.
Yun Zhe was pondering how to retaliate when he saw Ellie jump off the carriage and run towards the city gate.
There stood a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, her brown hair loose, her white nightgown askew, and she was only wearing one shoe. She was leaning against the city wall, panting heavily. Seeing Ellie running towards her, she kicked off her other shoe and ran joyfully towards her. That was Alice.
After Ellie hugged the girl, she tidied her hair and clothes, and frowned when she saw that the girl was barefoot.
"Although spring is over, it's still quite chilly in the mornings."
Alice just smiled and didn't answer.
Yun Zhe jumped off the carriage and promptly presented a pair of leather boots made by elves.
"A gift for Alice," he said, giving an elegant bow and reaching out to kiss the back of Alice's hand.
Ellie snatched the boots away and slapped away Yun Zhe's outstretched hand as he reached for Alice. Then she knelt down and helped Alice put the boots on.
Yun Zhe didn't mind, gently rubbing the back of his hand, and smiling as he watched Ellie help the little girl put on her boots. The little girl suddenly seemed a little flustered, blushing as she nodded to Yun Zhe, then lowered her head to cooperate with Ellie. Yun Zhe looked at Ellie, then at Alice, thinking to himself, Ellie is a beauty, and although Alice isn't as pretty as Ellie, she has the advantage of youthful vitality. The two of them, one squatting and one standing, really looked like sisters.
Alice looked at the new shoes with delight. She knew about elf leather boots, but they were extremely expensive; even for a family like hers, wearing such boots was a luxury. Alice glanced at Yun Zhe, feeling a growing fondness for this Aluru man.
Ellie's expression was somewhat unfriendly. She stood up and stared at Yun Zhe. This was the first time she had looked Yun Zhe directly in the eye like this. Anyone who wasn't blind could see the anger in her eyes.
"How did you know the size of her feet?" Ellie asked, enunciating each word clearly, her face almost touching Yun Zhe's.
Alice blushed upon hearing this and hid behind Ellie, secretly glancing at Yun Zhe.
"Looking closely, this Aluru is not bad looking," Alice thought to herself, when she saw a knight running towards her from afar.
Yun Zhe was speechless; he had simply picked out a pair of shoes that looked similar. He hadn't expected them to fit so well. He could only dismiss it as a coincidence and then jumped into the carriage.
More and more people were gathering at the gate. Yun Zhe looked up and saw several familiar faces: Wood, Serena, and the young mage.
Yun Zhe sighed and jumped off the carriage again.
Hello everyone, it's nice to see you again.
With the sound of hooves, Yun Zhe turned his head and saw a cavalryman rushing to the city gate. Upon seeing Serena, he hurriedly jumped off his horse and shouted, "Ars and Tra have assembled a large force at the city gate. Donic City cannot be defended..." After saying this, he suddenly collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.
Upon seeing this, several guards at the gate rushed forward to check the situation.
Yun Zhe saw Serena stumble and be caught by the little mage beside her.
Wood also approached, but was scared away by the little mage's gaze.
Yun Zhe immediately realized that the three people at the door weren't actually waiting for me, but for this news.
Ellie walked to Yun Zhe's side, watching the dying soldier being carried into the castle, and whispered, "War is about to break out. We've come back just in time."
"Fight a war? Where will we fight?"
"Go to Donic Castle! Take back Donic!"
Yun Zhe turned around and looked around, seeing the farmers gathered in twos and threes, discussing amongst themselves. He couldn't help but frown.
"Could you pass on a message to the city lord, telling him to order these farmers to continue working as usual and not to overthink things?"
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