At this moment, in Bante City, a group of young men and women who had just entered the city were passionately discussing something. Some of them were dressed in luxurious clothes, with delicate robes adorned with tiny defensive magic circles. Others were dressed more modestly, with simple coarse cloth robes indicating their ordinary backgrounds.
The residents of Bante City could easily identify these young people of similar age and different backgrounds: they were magic apprentices from various magic academies across the continent, intending to complete their assessments in Mist Swamp.
While their companions were delighted to have finally reached a large city where they could rest, Vila began to worry. The composition of this team was quite complex, with rich and prominent young masters like Edith, the genius girl Gwendolin who showed exceptional talent at a young age, and Benson, who, like Vila, came from a common background and seemed somewhat dull compared to his two brilliant companions.
This was a temporary team, with members unfamiliar with each other. In particular, Edith and Gwendolin were at odds, creating a tense atmosphere throughout their journey.
Vila sighed. As a temporary team leader, she had no authority among these proud young men and women. To them, she was just a gentle and friendly senior with slightly more wilderness experience, not a reliable decision-maker for the entire team. Vila could already foresee that once the team faced choices, they would argue endlessly and leave her awkwardly on the sidelines.
As the only third-year student in the team, Vila had experience surviving in Mist Swamp. She knew very well that Bante City was the last major city where they could purchase supplies, and now was the time for crucial decisions.
The first issue was where to stay at night. Their mission was not very difficult, as they didn't need to engage in battles with magical beasts. They just needed to obtain some branches of the Conjugation Tree, which were suitable for making beginner-level magic staffs. This meant they would have to spend a lot of time in Mist Swamp searching for Conjugation Trees.
If they chose to camp in the mercenary campsite in Mist Swamp at night, they would need to purchase tents and moisture-proof sleeping bags now. This was Vila's original plan, as they could get quite a lot of information in the mercenary camp, and the Conjugation Tree was not very precious, so the mercenaries wouldn't mind sharing related information. The downside was that the campsite was quite rudimentary, and could even be described as dirty and messy. The mercenaries' behavior was crude; they might even urinate beside their tents at night. This wasn't necessarily provocative, but more likely due to the fact that the mercenaries didn't dare venture too far away from the camp in the dark, and would randomly choose someone's tent.
After all, the campsite was only so big. Sometimes tents were set up close to each other, leaving no space to even step on the ground. It was dangerous to leave the camp, and the chosen ones could only accept their misfortune. Vila hadn't even told the three of them about this possibility, and young master Edith was already quite dissatisfied with the camping experience they had during their journey.
If all three of them opposed staying at the mercenary camp, they would have to travel back and forth between Mist Swamp and Misty Town every day. This would mean that they would only have two to three hours of effective time to search for Conjugation Trees, and the rest of the time would be spent on the road.
Compared to the accommodation issue, the food issue was a trivial matter. How could Vila persuade everyone to agree to stay overnight in the mercenary camp? The four of them had now arrived at an inn, and the owner had brought food to their room. Vila looked around discreetly, observing everyone's reactions.
There was some dust on the chairs. Benson found a clean cloth to wipe the chair clean, and just as he was about to ask the others if they needed help, Gwendolin used a cleaning spell beyond her grade level, making the chair instantly spotless. Young master Edith took out a soft, brand-new cushion embroidered with silver patterns from his space ring and placed it without hesitation on the dirty chair. Benson could only awkwardly put away the cloth in his hand, his expression even more disheartened.
Vila had already witnessed countless scenes like this on their journey, and couldn't help but wipe away a bitter tear for herself. This was truly a team with no sense of cooperation.
She remembered the joke her friend had made before their departure.
Vila was quite surprised when she received such a simple assessment task, "I didn't expect that the task for the third year would be easier than when I was in the second year!"
Her friend warned her not to celebrate too soon, "But you're the team leader! The task for second-year students is to get the Conjugation Tree branches, while your task is to lead this group of second-year students to get the Conjugation Tree branches. It's not the same level of difficulty at all."
The words turned out to be prophetic.
If Vila had known earlier that the team would be in such an awkward situation, she would have definitely chosen a more challenging assessment task. However, it was too late now, and the main issue was to convince these young men and women with varying degrees of cleanliness obsession to agree to stay overnight at the mercenary camp in Mist Swamp.
Vila's mentor, Professor Derek, once said, "If you want to convince someone to do something your way, don't put the matter as an option, put it as a prerequisite."
"Ahem," Vila cleared her throat, "If we decide to camp in the mercenary camp, should we buy food in Bante City or purchase it in Misty Town near Mist Swamp?"
"What's the difference, Senior Vila?" Although Gwendolin had grown up surrounded by praise, she didn't have a spoiled temperament. Instead, she possessed a tenacious spirit in pursuing her goals.
Vila saw that young master Edith frowned as if he wanted to say something. She quickly spoke up before he could realize something was wrong, "The food in Bante City tastes better, while Misty Town's specialties are hard bread and vegetable paste."
Benson knew the eating habits of his two companions; they would even complain about the softest white bread he had ever eaten in their lives, saying that the flour was not ground finely enough. So he gently suggested, "Then let's buy enough food here."
Young master Edith widened his eyes, "Do we really have to stay in the mercen…"
Vila interrupted him cheerfully, "Then we have to carefully select food that lasts long! Mist Swamp is dark and damp, and ordinary food will spoil quickly. It's best not to choose food with a strong aroma, as it will attract magical beasts and insects. The last time I came to Mist Swamp, a teammate's goat cheese in his bag somehow got infested with eggs laid by some bug, and a lot of maggots crawled out."
Young master Edith's face showed disgust, and he was finally led astray, "Then we do need to make a careful selection."
Vila quietly gave herself a thumbs-up: Plan successful!
Back home, Frank couldn't stop touching the gold coin warmed by his hand. He called out to Dusì, who was walking outside, "Little Dusì, your father has money to send you out to study now."
Dusì stopped but didn't turn around. Her tone was stiff, "Dad, not every child needs to study outside. Lilith's father can't teach her more about potion making, but I haven't even learned one percent of Mr. Winter's wisdom."
Frank was used to Dusì getting angry every time he mentioned studying outside. However, the younger generation in the small town all had plans to leave Misty Town. Keira's son was studying in the Knight Academy in the capital city, and Lilith was about to go to the Star Academy to study potion making.
"Mr. Winter only stays here for two months a year, and he has his own business to deal with." Mr. Winter was Frank's "tenant," just like other mercenaries who briefly stayed in the townspeople's homes. But Mr. Winter was not a mercenary. Frank guessed he was a merchant, dealing with many mercenaries and purchasing the magical materials they obtained from Miye Swamp.
Frank was grateful to Mr. Winter, who taught Dusì to read and write, which he couldn't teach her himself. He had rich combat and survival experience but was nearly illiterate.
"I don't have magical talent, and there are no schools suitable for me outside," Dusì said, and without turning back, she limped out the door.
Frank continued to caress the gold coin. If Dusì didn't want to leave Misty Town, maybe this money could be used to hire a priest to cure her limp. But it seemed that one gold coin was a bit too little; he needed to earn more money. With this thought, Frank immediately set to work preparing the building materials for a new chicken coop.