Leaving the wooden hut, Orlando snorted coldly and pulled Willard to the right. Colin, on the other hand, was forced to go left with Catherine.
They walked one after the other.
"Kid, you better not have any ideas about me."
Catherine suddenly said, turning back to glance at Colin, then coldly continued,
"Orlando has nothing but junk in his head, and I hope you're not the same!"
Colin's expression remained unchanged, but he was quite astonished inside, suddenly unsure of how to respond.
Observing Colin's calm demeanor, Catherine furrowed her brows and said sternly,
"Sometimes, daring to admit your thoughts is what makes a real man."
"...I really have no such thoughts about you."
Colin stopped in his tracks and said solemnly. His face was calm, and his tone sincere.
Catherine scoffed and continued walking forward, her expression disdainful.
Colin frowned and chose to wait a few more minutes on the spot, until Catherine's figure had become a small dot, then slowly began to walk.
'What an undeserved calamity,' he sighed inwardly.
He hadn't anticipated Catherine's terrible personality.
Thankfully, the guardhouses were roughly five hundred meters apart from one another, which could spare him some awkwardness.
Entering the hut, Colin took out a Bright Crystal and lit it up, placing it on a wooden lamp holder on one side of the wall.
With the soft white light, he surveyed the inside of the room.
It was laid out just like the one Captain Holt had been in, a large single room with a bathroom, with a set of tables and chairs to the left of the entrance.
In the middle of the room was a clean-looking soft mat, similar to a tatami. It seemed to have been changed recently.
Still, Colin cast a Cleaning Technique on it before slowly sitting down.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as Colin had sat down, a knocking came from outside.
'Could it be that fierce beasts are attacking so soon?'
He furrowed his brows and quickly got up to open the door.
"My lord."
As he opened the door, there stood a burly City Guard captain dressed in fine steel armor, taking off his helmet and placing it in his left hand, then respectfully touching his chest in greeting.
Behind him were several City Guards, also in plate armor and having taken off their helmets to salute.
"Is it a fierce beast attack?" Colin asked, "Why not launch the signal flare?"
"No, my lord, we have come especially to meet you," the City Guard captain hastily explained, then added,
"You've just started your duty, and you might not be aware that our squad is responsible for your lordship's area."
Before Colin could respond, the captain gestured behind him, took a huge gray cloth bag from one of his men, and passed it to Colin.
"This is a little token of our regards; please accept it, my lord."
The City Guard captain held the cloth bag with both hands, nervously watching Colin.
For the patrolling City Guards, establishing a good relationship with the on-duty wizard was especially important.
When fierce beasts attacked, perhaps just by the duty wizard paying a little more attention, spotting the signal flare sooner, and arriving a mere ten seconds to half a minute earlier, it could save them from losing a life.
Colin hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take it.
He had gradually become accustomed to the rules of this world.
"My lord, we ask for your care in the future… We won't disturb you any further now."
Seeing Colin take it, the City Guard captain sighed with relief and then asked to leave.
Colin calmly nodded, watching them as they lifted their torches and marched away to patrol.
The City Guards were a force apart from the Four Great Gangs and the three Great Families, directly under City Lord Price Bennett.
Price Bennett was an aging Wizard Apprentice at his peak, about over 90 years old, frailer, with no hope left for advancing.
His sole desire now was to see his bloodline flourish and spread.
The Schools always looked down upon other forces from high above, unwilling to waste their energy on Blackstone City's trivial matters.
Thus, they quickly came to an agreement with Price.
Price took care of the minutiae of running Blackstone City for the Schools, who, apart from sending the Guard Team to deal with Polluters, Cults, and fierce beasts,
simply waited each month to collect their dues.
Colin thought about this as he stepped over to the window, gazing into the distance towards the mountain top, where the Lap School was.
'In the Schools, the vast majority of Wizards stay in the Wizard Territory. They enjoy the offerings of the entire city, free from trivial bothers, focusing solely on climbing ahead, except for required missions.'
"... but the Guard Team could only stay in this place."
He exhaled and took out the Golden Paper.
The progress of the Intermediate Apprentice above halted at 2/100.
"It seems that my own Wizard training progress is so slow, not only because it becomes more difficult to improve after advancing but also because the Magic Power in Blackstone City is far less dense than in the Wizard Territory..."
He sighed softly in his heart, walked to the cushion in the middle of the room, and sat down cross-legged.
......
On patrol.
The team members whispered among themselves.
"Do you think the new Wizard can be trusted? He looks even younger than me!"
"Yeah, just our luck! We finally get a new Wizard, and it just happens to be on our shift. Let's just hope no Fierce Beasts attack this month."
"Alas, the weaker they are, the nicer they seem. He looked so gentle when he was giving out gifts; his strength is probably..."
"Shut up!" the Guard Captain scolded in a deep voice, "Do not discuss Wizards behind their backs."
The team members fell silent.
The Guard Captain paused, then added, "Be more cautious this coming month. If Fierce Beasts attack, run faster!"
He casually supplemented, "Prioritize running to the nearest cabin... I remember the one on the left is that veiled Witch..."
"Yes, Captain!"
The team members immediately understood.
Most of them came from the lower levels of the city, and although they had braced themselves for danger when they chose to join the City Guards, coming from the lower classes meant they were likely the main support of their families, which made them cherish their own lives even more.
The Guard Captain continued to lead the patrol with a torch in hand, his expression calm while his heart was somewhat uneasy.
The concerns of his team were also his concerns.
It had been a long time since such a young Wizard had come to West City.
In the past, they wouldn't worry so much when a new Wizard arrived, since the Fierce Beasts were not strong.
But in recent years, the power of the Fierce Beasts had been growing... and not long ago, a Wizard had fallen here.
If the strength of the new Wizard from the Lap School was weaker, it wouldn't affect him much. If in danger, the nearby Wizards would help, and it was hard to lose one's life.
But for them, it was completely different.
Although he hinted that the team members should be smart and run towards the stronger Wizards, in reality, the lives of everyone in their squad were bound to the duty Wizard they were assigned to.
If the Wizard died, so would they, eventually.
...
Time flew by.
That night was calm, without any attack from Fierce Beasts, only occasionally interrupted by the sound of City Guards patrolling.
Colin glanced at the clock on the shelf on the wall, slowly stood up, gathered his things, and prepared to go home.
The duty work for the Guard Team, as Holt had said, wasn't very rule-bound.
Just come when it's time, leave when it's time. There was no need to report to anyone, nor was there any performance assessment.
Only improper handling of Fierce Beasts, such as being absent when an attack happened that caused damage, would there be punishment.
Picking up the grey cloth bag the City Guards had given him last night from the wooden table, Colin opened the door and walked outside.
Inside the bag was a large piece of fresh meat, which, if not mistaken, was probably Fierce Beast meat.
But what kind of animal it was, Colin really couldn't tell.
However, whatever the type, Fierce Beast meat was a good thing; it could strengthen the bodies of ordinary people who ate it regularly.
Of course, its biggest benefit was aiding Knights in their training.
The reason why all the City Guards were Knights and the Captains were all Great Knights was due to the assistance from the Fierce Beast meat.
Aside from that, Fierce Beast meat was also an invisible benefit for the West City Guard Team.
Beasts killed by Wizards were all bought up by the City Guards.
If they encountered many Fierce Beasts in a month, they could even earn a few extra Magic Stones.
As Colin stepped out of the cabin, he happened to meet the Wizard coming to take over the shift, also a member of the Lap School. They greeted each other amicably.
In fact, Colin had seen him from afar when he arrived at the cabin last night; however, probably due to spending some time in Holt's cabin, they didn't actually meet face to face.
West City's fields accounted for over eighty percent of Blackstone City's food production, and any problems could lead to dire consequences.
Therefore, essentially, there was always a Wizard guarding this place.