Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

Chapter 188

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: none

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Lucy Talian hugged Ian with all her might, shouting, "Ian, is it really you?! It's really you!"

She clung to him as if afraid he'd vanish if she loosened her grip even slightly.

Ian smiled and stroked Lucy's hair. Lucy, who he was reuniting with after a long time, had grown even prettier. Her dark blue hair, reminiscent of the night sky, shimmered like twinkling stars, and her bright yellow eyes were wide with excitement. Though her face remained youthful, her body had developed graceful yet alluring curves. Lucy too had matured into a woman.

Lucy gazed up at Ian with sparkling eyes for a moment. Then, in a slightly subdued voice, as if embarrassed, she said, "Ian... you've gotten taller."

"So I have. You've gotten smaller."

Ian and Lucy, looking at each other, burst out laughing almost simultaneously.

"You really came back?"

"I promised, didn't I? That I'd return someday."

"You could've at least written a letter before coming."

Lucy, belatedly embarrassed by her earlier behavior, led Ian's group into Talian Hall.

"Wait here!"

A moment later, Lucy appeared wearing the fancy pointed hat she was so fond of.

'She put that thing on again.'

To him, with his modern aesthetic sensibilities, the pointed hat looked strange no matter how many times he saw it. He briefly worried that his companions might think Lucy was odd.

But Ian was the only one who found the pointed hat bizarre.

"You look very elegant, Lady Talian," Salvador said, kneeling to kiss Lucy's hand.

"That's the lady of Talian...!" Maria openly praised Lucy. "You're beautiful and dignified!"

"..." Ian asked Kira, just in case, "Kira. Doesn't that hat look a bit strange?"

"Strange? How?"

Ian felt a twinge of betrayal from Kira. Good lord. Even a former jester thought it looked fine...!

As Lucy's appearance took a hit, Ian felt oddly calm...

"A bit late, but..." Lucy said, seating her guests on a long couch.

Though it was a noble's mansion, to Ian it felt more like visiting a vacation home. He was actually enjoying himself, having already discarded his expectations.

"Welcome to Talian!"

"Thank you for your hospitality, my lady," Salvador spoke on behalf of the visitors.

"We meet again, Sir Salvador the Sword Master."

"Haha. It must be the will of heaven."

After exchanging warm greetings with Salvador, Lucy turned with a much colder gaze. "We meet again, Professor Inglan."

"Ahem. Good to see you, Baroness."

Inglan the 'Caught Grave Robber' couldn't meet Lucy's eyes...

He had a history of getting caught trying to rob Lucy's ancestors' graves. He was released after paying a settlement, but somehow ended up meeting her again.

"Has Belenka been well?"

"Of course, Lucy."

Lucy also exchanged greetings happily with Belenka. During their stay in Talian territory, the two had become close enough to call each other by name. Moreover, Belenka had received a secret request from Lucy.

Lucy whispered, "If Ian happened to meet a girlfriend or something during his travels..."

"Don't worry, nothing like that happened."

It was a request to stop Ian if he seemed likely to cheat, or at least tell her about it if he did.

At Belenka's reassuring answer, Lucy clenched her fist. "Great!"

"Well... He did seem to form a fan club though."

"...? Fan club?"

Belenka silently pointed to the rest of the group. Kira and Maria. And Jubal.

"Ian. Who are these people?" Lucy asked Ian to introduce them.

"This is Kira, Maria, and Jubal. Kira and Maria are wizards."

"Wizards?!" Lucy blinked as she looked over the two women.

"Kira, daughter of Laventa. My lady."

"I'm Maria."

First, the red-haired Kira. A woman with striking crimson hair, she had clean-cut features that made her a beauty. Even to Lucy, another woman, the thought 'She's pretty!' came to mind...

Add to that her confident attitude and charming smile, and she exuded a powerful presence. And Kira was a wizard to boot!

"Nice to meet you." An all too charming... woman. Lucy shook hands with Kira, feeling strangely wary.

Then Maria. A girl with skin so pale it was almost transparent, and jet-black hair. She had languid eyes.

"It's an honor to meet you, my lady. I've heard a lot about you from Brother Ian."

"Brother Ian?!"

"Yes. Heehee. He's the most precious person in the world to me, who saved my life."

'This girl... She seems a bit dangerous?!'

Lucy recoiled as she recognized the slightly unhinged look in Maria's eyes. A visual that would make you 100% mistake her for an evil witch if you met her on a dark street!

'Scary.' While Lucy felt a sense of rivalry towards Kira, Maria evoked a chilling fear...

"I'm Jubal!"

"Jubal. You should say 'my lady.'"

"My? La? Dy?"

The last companion, Jubal, was a bit slow.

Lucy looked at Ian's companions and thought: Ian must have had many adventures during this time... She could tell just from how he'd brought together such an ill-matched group of people.

"I am Baron Damon! Friends!"

"Oh my... You must be heartbroken to have lost your domain."

"My domain is fine though?"

Salvador assumed Baron Damon was a refugee-nobleman. After all, why else would he be staying at Talian Hall?

Ian whispered, "That guy. He's a bandit boss."

"You mean he's not a real noble?"

"Well, he is a leader with subordinates."

"Ha! Not so different from me then!"

After brief introductions, Ian got down to business. He would have loved to catch up on all the conversations they'd missed. But Talian's situation wasn't good enough to leisurely chat.

"Sorry to bring up serious matters right after meeting."

"First off, Sir Salvador and I came because of the black dragon."

As soon as they heard the words 'black dragon', Lucy and Damon frowned.

"Black dragon..."

"The name of that cursed creature has spread!"

Ian nodded. The black dragon was a monster devastating the area around Talian. It was no wonder Lucy and Damon showed fear.

"Lucy. Do you have any specific plans to deal with the black dragon?"

"For now... I've requested help from Duke Araz."

As expected, Lucy had first informed the duke of the situation. Lucy and Duke Araz had a distant feudal relationship, so the duke would certainly take action to protect his subordinate noble.

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'and'?"

Lucy tilted her head. Ian was freshly reminded that he had returned to Talian territory. That snow-white expression...! I believe you. You truly are Lucy of Talian!

Seeing Ian's incredulous expression, Lucy cried out defensively, "Ian! We're talking about a dragon! A dragon!"

"Well... That's true."

"What am I supposed to do about it!"

Lucy had reason to be upset. No matter her noble status, Lucy was just a baroness.

She didn't have an uber-powerful knightly order, nor did wizards reside in her domain (though she came close to having one). Moreover, dragons were monsters that even those high-and-mighty wizards recoiled from in disgust. If a dragon attacked, Talian Barony would be reduced to ashes.

But Ian shook his head. Not being able to stop a dragon? He understood that. But there were many other things Lucy should have been handling besides that. Without going too far back, she should have dealt with the refugee problem first.

"Lucy. Even if we can't do anything about the dragon. We need to come up with a plan for the refugees."

"That..." Lucy said in a small voice, "I did ask other lords for help."

Meaning she'd at least tried.

Salvador clicked his tongue. "I'm guessing they refused."

"Yes. They said they understood Talian's situation, but they had to prepare for the black dragon themselves..."

The medieval era was a time of every man for himself. A lord wielded immense power in their domain, but conversely, they had to handle their own territory's affairs themselves.

Refugees are pouring into Talian? Well... Your neighbor's plight is sad, but... Not my problem, is it?

"Listen here, wizard Ian. I clearly advised the Baroness of Talian to drive out all the refugees..."

At Damon's rebuke that wasn't quite a rebuke, Lucy hung her head.

That's right. The medieval solution to the refugee problem was to simply drive out all the refugees. Of course, the expelled refugees would die miserably, but... I barely have enough to eat myself. Why should I take in beggars? If you take in refugees, everyone starves to death together.

Lucy wasn't foolish enough to not understand that cause and effect. But.

"Yes. I said we should take them in."

"Ian. I just acted according to the teachings of the scripture. I just followed the words not to ignore neighbors in difficulty..." Lucy said, almost tearfully. "I know how hard it is to live as a fugitive. Leaving a warm home to flee... It's really tough."

"Lucy."

"I was lucky enough to meet you, Ian. But... not all refugees can meet someone like you!"

"I thought I should be like you for those who've lost their homes!"

Ian looked at Lucy, who was crying out tearfully. Lucy was certainly different from other nobles. She hadn't accumulated knowledge or honed her martial skills. But Lucy had a pure heart. A heart that sparkled like stars in the night sky.

"Haha."

"Ian?"

Ian couldn't help but laugh. He'd felt it before, but Lucy was truly a lucky person. There was always someone around to help her! Right now, Ian was that person.

"Alright. The milk's already been spilled. What can we do now?"

"I'm sorry, Ian."

Ian shook his head. "No need to apologize. Isn't that right, old man?"

Salvador strongly agreed, saying, "The path to heaven is naturally arduous for those without wings. The road humans take towards heaven is inherently difficult."

"Sir Salvador..."

"But the baroness chose the difficult path! Living out the teachings of heaven is the true life of a follower of Heaven's Faith! On behalf of the Knights of Santiago, I pay my respects to the baroness's courage!"

In a sense, Lucy made a 'foolish' decision. But there are many people in the world who can sympathize with and support that 'foolishness'. Ian was one, and so were the Knights of Santiago.

"This might actually be for the best."

"How is this for the best?"

Lucy tilted her head at Ian's words. Whatever the reason, the domain was in chaos because of the refugees. How could this situation be seen positively...

Ian smiled and said, "Well, we've secured people, haven't we?"

"People...?"

"Yes. Population."

Most domains in the Holy Empire had pathetic population numbers. The empire's largest city had about 70,000 people, which gives an idea of how few people there were. In an era where securing population was difficult, they'd gathered this many people? If they could somehow handle the food problem and the black dragon problem, Talian Barony's population would explode.

"Now let's try to turn these refugees into citizens of Talian."

They may be a burden now, but it's a different story if the refugees become domain residents. Ian resolved to shore up the domain's internal affairs before the black dragon arrived.

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