Chapter 37: Pre-deployment Reconnaissance

Nina felt that the young mage was not only handsome but also powerful. As he soared into the sky, the prominent men of Red Hazel Town were left cowering on the ground. Usually, these men strutted about with an air of grand authority, but that was only because they were in such a backwater; once confronted with someone of true capability, they were nothing.

Nina felt her perspective had outgrown this small town. Everything she had once valued—reputation, prestige, family—had only been important because she loved and cared for this place. Now, because she looked down on so many of the people here, those things had become irrelevant.

"No, I cannot divorce you."

Seeing Nina lift her skirt, the hem swinging and kicking up a cloud of dust as she walked away without looking back, Barbarov hurried to catch up, lowering his voice.

"It is that you cannot, not that you are unwilling," Nina scoffed. Just as Lady Ordos had said, after undergoing the clam-cleansing ritual, the dense fog that had clouded her mind seemed to have dissipated. Her vision was clear, her thoughts sharp, and many things she had struggled with before now made perfect sense. According to the common parlance of the Roland Continent, as people age, a fog settles in the mind to obscure wisdom—a phenomenon known as "brain fog."

"What is the difference?" Barbarov asked, gripped by anxiety. If they divorced, it was far from certain whether the Ordos family would continue to support his position as mayor. If this mage were to stay, the Ordos family might even back an outsider like him for the seat. After all, for the Ordos family, as long as the mayor was obedient, it made no difference who held the title. Moreover, this young mage was clearly in the good graces of Lady Ordos; it was said she had been dining and spending her days with him. Whether they shared a bed at night remained unproven, but wasn't it obvious? If a beauty like Lady Ordos were by his side all day, even Barbarov wouldn't be able to resist!

"I know you are angry, but in that situation, only by letting me survive and escape could I find a way to save you!" Barbarov pleaded desperately. "Think about it, if the magic wolf had kept its grip on me, what could you have done? Did you expect to save yourself?"

"It was all a measure of expediency!"

"In the end, weren't you left completely unscathed?"

"That was all part of my calculation."

Nina admitted there was some truth to his words, but reflecting on it, wasn't it his long-term suppression—constantly scolding her for being timid or cowardly—that had made her afraid to act or think, ultimately turning her into the "incompetent woman" he claimed she was? She was no longer the same person she had been, yet he still looked down on her? Who did he think he was?

Nina turned and stopped, staring at Barbarov. Barbarov assumed his words had swayed her, convinced that this woman was merely acting out of a momentary temper and would never truly escape his control. If they really divorced, where could she go? He looked at her figure, her waist cinched tightly by her dress. Just a moment ago, he had feared she would be crushed by the magic wolf, and those wide, fertile hips of hers didn't look quite as dull or annoying as he usually thought.

"Right, you say that to make yourself sound clever, but why couldn't you be like Mr. Zohan? With just one long staff, he saved the Lady and saved everyone in a single stroke?" Nina thought that when it came to using a "staff," Barbarov was truly inferior to Mr. Zohan in every way. She no longer cared about his face or whether the scene would become a public spectacle.

Just as Mr. Zohan flew outside the manor, Nina found herself missing his magic. She walked over to Lady Ordos, took the large iron ladle meant for serving, and approached.

"I am here to help maintain order—" Barbarov said, regaining his mayoral authority as the townspeople lined up.

"Go to hell!"

Nina raised the large iron ladle high and brought it down with a loud *clang* against Barbarov’s forehead. A sharp pain erupted. Barbarov stared at Nina in disbelief, followed by a wave of dizziness; his head hummed, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Carry him away, don't let him block the queue," Lady Ordos said with a faint smile. She understood Nina’s retaliation; after experiencing what a "real man" was, her own fear of her husband had vanished like smoke. As she looked forward to the magic experiments she and Nina would undergo in Mr. Zohan’s bed that night, she began to consider that since Barbarov’s reputation was now in ruins, a new candidate for mayor of Red Hazel Town could finally be planned and vetted.

...

...

After leaving the manor, Zohan ceased his flight. Levitation was a high-level spell; once mastered, it granted a mage a significant advantage in perspective and attack angles. When Zohan was five, Yemungard had been eager to teach him the art, simultaneously introducing him to the rich, beautiful landscapes and diverse creatures of the Island of Ye-Lantis.

It was vast. Zohan had even thought Ye-Lantis was a continent, but since the only humans living there were his teacher and himself, he concluded it was a remote island; otherwise, as a continent, it should have been inhabited by many more human tribes.

The flight technique Yemungard taught emphasized graceful posture, which consumed significantly more mana than other methods. She had even invented a flying style that involved standing on one's staff; because it completely discarded the aid of wind currents and was unaffected by turbulence, it consumed even more mana and was entirely useless except for looking cool. But Yemungard had said, if studying magic didn't include doing something interesting, wouldn't it be too dull?

Zohan had used this particularly stylish posture to leave the Ordos manor, but he quickly descended to conserve mana. The only information he currently possessed came from the "His Majesty Edmund's Spacetime Fracture" he had used that morning, but information had a shelf life. Ignoring that could lead to failure or even death.

Would the number of magic wolves increase? Would other monsters appear—some he knew how to counter, or entirely new breeds? After all, the enemy was mad enough to use humans for transformations; it was very possible they would create even more taboo, terrifying entities. How powerful was Mahait? These were all unknowns.

Zohan straightened his mage robe, pulling the fabric that had billowed in the wind tight against his body to reduce his profile, and then concealed his presence. He checked the depth and density of the snow, sensed the soft crunch of his footsteps, and used the "Echo Wall" spell to cancel the sound. Based on the feedback, he adjusted his parameters and mana output, casting the "Aiai Moski People" spell, which allowed one to roll, fly, or run across snow without leaving a single trace. His teacher’s battle against that tribe had been one of her most brilliant victories, and naturally, she had thoroughly looted them afterward, mastering many of the spells unique to that ice-attuned tribe.