"I didn't expect anyone to still understand the etiquette of the Magic Empire Era." Old Will nodded at Jack, and said with a smile, "It seems your family must be an ancient one with deep roots in the empire."
"My ancestors were once 'followers' of a high-ranking mage family during the Magic Empire Era! They took care of precious plants from all over the Multiverse for that great mage." Jack's expression showed some pride, "Actually, to be strict, my ancestors and the royal family of the Griffin—the Hogwarts Family, aren't that different."
"Follower"? Heh, just a gardener. At Jack's boasting, Bartlett couldn't help but sneer in his heart. However, he didn't actually mock out loud, because what Jack said wasn't wrong.
The Griffin Empire's royal family—the Hogwarts family, also claimed to be "followers" of a certain mage during the Magic Empire Era. However, those who knew history were well aware that the "Griffin Family," which had established a huge dynasty, was actually responsible for taking care of various magical beasts for a certain high-ranking mage.
At the beginning of the collapsing of the thousand-year-old empire, the majority of ordinary people on the road didn't know about it because mages and ordinary people belonged to two different worlds, and their interactions were rare.
However, as time passed, when the people on the ground habitually looked up at the sky, they discovered that the thirty-six Floating Cities that were scattered across the continent were disappearing one after another. This caused people to feel terrified, and also gave many surviving evil exotic species other ideas, eventually leading to the outbreak of the Chaotic Era.
Human civil war, orc invasion, counterattack by various exotic species, and forces from different Plane Realms in the Multiverse starting to hunt mages—all of a sudden, smoke filled the various parts of the continent. It wasn't until the Magic Association, as the eldest child of the Empire, grew up from the "corpse" of the Empire and stabilized the situation once more.
The Hogwarts Family, on the other hand, rose to prominence during the Chaotic Era, relying on their "advantages". Although many powerful magical beasts returned to their wild nature without the restraint of mages and could not be tamed by ordinary people, the Griffins—such creatures had always been synonymous with "loyalty".
"But my ancestors didn't have as much ambition as the Hogwarts Family." Handsome Jack spoke passionately, as if Old Will was a confidant of their family, "They remained loyal to their duties in taking care of the mage's 'property'. My grandfather said that our family was very good at cultivating 'killer vines', very good!" He repeated, "You know that's a dangerous plant. If, I mean, if my ancestors wanted to meddle during the Chaotic Era, perhaps there wouldn't be a Hogwarts family today!"
No Griffin Empire, but a rise of the Killer Vine Kingdom? Royal knights all riding on limp killer vines to attack? Bartlett imagined that kind of scene in his mind and couldn't help but feel grateful to Jack's ancestors for their complacency.
Old Will just smiled and didn't respond, but looked at Bartlett, signaling him to deal with this overly enthusiastic guy in front of a mage.
Bartlett coughed, interrupting Jack's endless chatter, and said to the latter, "The people in your team," I mean most of them, "don't seem to have much adventuring experience." Actually none at all, "Their appearance does not make them look very reliable." No, not at all reliable, I'd rather fight alone than trust those with my back.
"Indeed they are still 'green', as you know, I don't mean in age, because Dylan is already 63 this year, haha!" Jack made a not-funny joke and laughed first.
Sixty-three? To some people, that's indeed young, Bartlett thought.
"Of course, his name might also be Deray, or Durien. Who knows, it doesn't matter anyway. But I'd rather call him 'Old Man', the nickname isn't very distinctive, but it suits him well." Jack put one hand on his stomach and habitually pressed the iron nail on his leather armor, "However, Elton is indeed very 'green', he's the little boy in front of the team. I guess he's only about 12 years old, but he claims to be 17 already. 17? Haha, have you ever seen a 17-year-old boy without any hair down there? When I was 17, the hair down there was as lush as the reeds in the swamp." He looked smug.
"You shouldn't bring these people into the Foggy Forest. They don't belong here." Bartlett furrowed his brow. Although he used to recruit team members from Slumtown, he only recruited mature, strong men. Moreover, Bartlett would teach them many skills and precautions for adventuring to increase their chances of survival, although the results weren't too good...
For adventurers in the Foggy Forest, as long as they could survive, gold coins would eventually come. The forest was never stingy with its gifts; it's just that sometimes you can't bear them.
"Indeed they don't belong here." Jack nodded, "But where else do they belong? Instead of lying in Slumtown waiting to die, might as well come out and try. Sieve, that guy who's been trembling all the time..." He turned his head towards his own back, but his words suddenly stopped, "Alright, now we have 7 'sieves'."
Jack shrugged his shoulders and turned his head to look at Bartlett again, "Do you know about the big fire in Carano a few years ago?"
Bartlett seldom stayed in Carano Town except during the winter. But he did know about the big fire, because it was famous. Despite the rapid start and end of the fire, the damage it caused was enormous.
The population within Slumtown was quite dense, with various tents and wooden houses built closely together, so it was easy to accidentally cause a fire.
A few years ago, there was a huge fire that spread rapidly, burning hundreds of people to death. However, as Carano Town, the largest commercial city in the western part of the kingdom, it was under the protection of a branch of the Magic Association. There were always mages on duty in the mage tower in the city center.
Bartlett heard that the mages from the branch of the Magic Association arrived at the scene promptly, using an enlarged-area version of "Raincloud" and a reduced-damage version of "Frosty Fog." With the combined application of these two skills, the fire was extinguished instantly.
But the disaster was not over. After the fire came abnormally low temperatures, which caught people off guard, especially with the lingering residual magic.
Although the powerful mage had reduced the damage of the magic, it was still difficult for ordinary people to bear. Nearly seven hundred people were frostbitten by the low temperature that followed, leaving behind all sorts of incurable after-effects.
"'Sieve' Johnny was lucky to survive that fire, but the cold brought by the magic has stayed in his bones. He needs to take a boiling-hot bath every week. My God, is this even normal? Even nobles don't care about hygiene that much!" Jack said as he scratched his messy hair, continuing, "If he doesn't bathe in time, he'll have convulsions all over his body, writhing on the ground like a skinned snake. Even more crucially, he needs to put garlic and black pepper in the boiling water for his bath. Hah, I don't know if he's treated by a doctor or a cook."
"So what is he doing in the Foggy Forest?" Bartlett asked, puzzled. "It's even colder here!"
"You can rest assured that Johnny is surrounded by cold constantly, so this damned forest can't steal any more warmth from him," Jack answered. "More importantly, as you know, black pepper is quite expensive..."
Bartlett frowned as Handsome Jack rambled on, making him feel somewhat confused. He was sure that Jack was mentioning all these things with some purpose in mind, but he could not guess what that purpose might be for now.
"Anyway, the majority of them will have a hard time getting out of here alive," Bartlett said, looking at the novice adventurers not far away. "At least you should teach them how to use their weapons."
The minimum requirement for using weapons – not harming your comrades – should at least be learned, Bartlett thought.
"Those who survive can learn everything, and the dead don't need to be taught," Jack responded ambiguously.
Bartlett didn't want to say much more about this, as every adventurer had their own way of doing things. He wouldn't make a fuss over Handsome Jack's somewhat irresponsible approach to dealing with the newcomers.
Death might offer a certain relief for some, especially someone like "Sieve", Bartlett thought.
"If there's nothing else, I think we should part ways," he told Jack. "Good luck to you all." You need it, you really do.
"Wait a moment," Jack rubbed his hands and chuckled.
Bartlett looked at Jack, waiting for his next words. I knew he had an ulterior motive, the Barbarian confirmed in his mind.
Jack faced Bartlett, but his eyes were on Old Will. "There's a widely circulated saying among adventurers: 'The lone wolf dies, the pack survives!' Anyway, more people always give a better advantage. So, let us join your team," he said with a smile on his face.
...