"These two types of freedom... are they different?" Hollan looked at his profile and asked.
"Of course," Feld replied, puffing on his cigarette and exhaling smoke.
At this moment, despite his still somewhat youthful appearance, Feld exuded a mature and wild charm that made Hollan somewhat mesmerized.
His voice rang out, "The former is escaping the confines of rules."
"The latter is breaking through the confines of rules."
"Let me give you an example."
"A little princess lived a luxurious life in the castle but was not allowed to leave. One day, she escaped and came to the vast world."
"Here, there were no palace formalities. She could run freely, try various novelties, and do whatever she wanted."
"But one day, the king sent guards to find her, and she had to run. She was just a little princess, not a powerful female warrior, so she could only flee."
"If caught, she would still be imprisoned in the castle. But eventually, the guards found her and tried to take her away by force."
"She cursed the guards, the king, and the castle that imprisoned her, singing her own ideals, and then was locked back in the luxurious cage."
"She couldn't resist the rules, so she could only escape them. If the rules caught up with her again, she would still be bound."
"That's the freedom of the canary."
"And the other type?" Hollan listened intently.
"That's another story," Feld chuckled.
"One day, a little princess lived a luxurious life in the castle but was not allowed to leave. Then... she punched through the castle walls and walked out swaggeringly."
Hollan: "?"
"Then the king sent guards to find her. She easily sent the guards flying and then went outside to play happily. When she got tired, she returned to the castle. But the next day, she woke up to find her room heavily locked. So... she broke the lock and went out to play again."
Hollan: "??"
"Then she discovered that her kingdom was being invaded. To ensure her own peace of mind for playing, she invaded the invaders' lair, destroyed it, and restored peace to the kingdom. And then, she could play happily again."
Hollan: "???"
"This... is the freedom beyond the rules," Feld smiled.
"Mercenaries are such beings."
"But the mercenaries I've met so far aren't the kind of mercenaries I hoped to see, so... they can't become legends."
"So, are you that kind of mercenary?" Hollan asked with a smile.
"Of course!" Feld nodded.
"What's the difference between you and ordinary mercenaries?" Hollan asked.
Feld shifted his body to relieve the stiffness from sitting for too long and then answered.
"Other mercenaries are bound by money, by fame, by beautiful women."
"But I am bound only by myself."
"Other mercenaries, no matter how many people they've killed or how ruthless they are, when faced with the Empress of the Ironblood Empire, they have to kneel down."
"What about you?" Hollan looked at him expectantly.
Feld chuckled, the cigarette in his mouth glowing, and smoke curling out.
"If the empress is willing to pay enough commission, then I will kneel."
Hollan: "..."
"I thought you would say you're a man and would rather die than kneel," Hollan laughed.
Feld chuckled and said, "If it's on the battlefield, not even death can make me kneel."
"Unless death can pay enough commission too."
"Even if she sends a million troops to kill me, I can still curse her ancestors eighteen generations before I die."
"But if she's willing to kiss me, then I can kneel down and call her dear."
Hollan was amused again, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
"You really are a lunatic," she said.
"Thanks for the compliment," Feld hummed.
It was getting late, but Hollan found herself not feeling sleepy at all. The little kitten had already fallen asleep on Feld's back, but she still wanted to talk to Feld. Perhaps it was because of his humor and wit, or perhaps it was his unconventional thoughts and temperament. In any case, everything about him was drawing her in.
Most importantly, she realized that what Feld described as the canary's freedom seemed... to be what she was doing now.
So she kept chatting with Feld until late into the night.
"Don't you need to sleep?" Feld looked at Hollan and asked. "I heard mages need to keep their spirits up."
"Yeah, I am a bit tired. I usually sleep early," Hollan yawned slightly.
"It's not too late to sleep now. We still have half of the journey left. I'll wake you up when we arrive," Feld said.
"Okay," Hollan said, then wrapped herself in the blanket and leaned directly against Feld's side.
"Mind if I?" she blinked her big eyes and asked, with a playful look in her eyes.
Feld smiled slightly, "Go ahead."
"Well then... goodnight, Mr. Mercenary."
"Sweet dreams, Miss Hollan."
Feld gently shook the reins, slowing down the pace of the carriage. Hollan noticed this, but didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep.
Usually, when traveling through the wilderness like this, she would sleep lightly. But this time, she slept soundly and even had a dream.
In the dream, she turned into a canary, but this time she didn't carefully open the cage and escape; instead, she directly smashed the cage and flew into the sky.
It felt really good.
However, when she woke up, she didn't feel very good.
Because she was awakened by the sound of a fight.
At the moment she opened her eyes, she found herself no longer leaning against the interesting big guy but against his hammer. She also felt something covering her ears, and when she turned her head, she saw Kiki covering her ears with both hands. Seeing her awake, Kiki stuck out her tongue, withdrew her hands, and looked ahead.
It was then that she noticed that there were already over a dozen people lying on the ground around the carriage. Meanwhile, Feld stood in front of the carriage, his fists clenched, blood dripping from his knuckles. His maple leaf shorts fluttered in the cold morning wind.
In front of him stood dozens of men, all of them wielding swords and daggers with fierce expressions on their faces. But at this moment, their faces were filled with fear and dread.
"Big guy, the mentor is awake, meow," Kiki called out.
Feld turned his head, a somewhat apologetic smile on his face. "Sorry for waking you up."
"It's okay," Hollan said, frowning at the group of people. "Bandits?"
"No," Feld shook his head. "They're from the Haidu Crab Gang. They wanted to take me out, so now I'm going to take them out."
Hollan understood, nodded, and then asked somewhat reproachfully, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I could handle these guys on my own. They robbed me of the chance to admire a beauty's sleeping face, so I've unilaterally sentenced them to death," Feld smirked.
Hollan couldn't help but laugh at Feld's words, which alleviated some of her annoyance at being woken up.
Just then, a guy hiding behind the group of people flashed a cold light in his eyes. Taking advantage of Feld turning his head to speak to Hollan, he raised his hand, and a fireball the size of a human head flew towards him.
Feld could feel the heat coming, but there was no panic on his face, nor did he attempt to dodge. Although he hadn't fought many times against mages, this one in front of him was nothing special.
Yellow Gold Rank, four stars, the fireball had considerable power, but don't forget, his magical intensity could rival that of a high-ranking gold mage. As long as he released his magic to cover his whole body at the moment the fireball arrived, forming a magical barrier, the fireball couldn't pose any threat to him.
Dealing with this kind of guy, the limited Free Magic within his magic source was completely sufficient. As long as he resisted for a moment, he could close in, and a mere yellow gold four-star mage's frail body couldn't withstand his punch.
But before he could catch this fireball and counterattack, a cold wind suddenly swept in, accompanied by a whirlwind of snow.
The fireball extinguished directly in the air, and those dozens of people, along with the fire mage, were frozen into ice sculptures.
Feld looked at this scene with some surprise, then turned his head to look at Hollan.
Hollan, with her arms crossed, had frost swirling around her.
She gently pushed her golden-framed glasses and smiled faintly.
"Don't underestimate the mentors of the Haidis Academy, big guy."
Feld looked at the Crab Gang members who had been frozen into ice sculptures with shining eyes. This kind of area-effect magic was really efficient for clearing out small fries like the Crab Gang. Even if he could knock out one with a single punch, it couldn't compare. He was truly envious.
Hollan was pleased with Feld's expression and smiled. Then, she lifted her chin, looking at Feld's bloodied fists. "Are you hurt?"
"No, this is their blood," Feld shook his hand and said.
After washing his hands and gathering the money and equipment from the bodies to throw onto the carriage, the three of them set off again. At this moment, they were only a few dozen kilometers away from Haidu. Once they crossed the grassy slope ahead, they would be able to see the city.
"What was that move just now?" Feld couldn't hold back and asked after three minutes of silence.
"Glacial Surge," Hollan smiled at Feld. "It's a platinum-level ice magic."
"How about it, interested in learning?" she teased.
"Interested! Very interested!" Feld nodded vigorously.
Hollan chuckled and said, "Is this the real reason you want to enter the magic academy?"
"Hehe, the clever mentor sees through me," Feld laughed.
"Interested? Well, you can, but you'll need to pay a commission," Hollan said mischievously.
"Wow, really?" Feld widened his eyes.
"Isn't that the rule for mercenaries?" Hollan blinked playfully.
"Okay," Feld chuckled, then shook his head. "Actually, even if you were willing to teach me, I wouldn't be able to learn."
"Why, lack confidence in yourself?" Hollan was somewhat surprised. In her understanding, Feld was a very confident person. She thought he would cheekily pester her to teach him.
"It's not a matter of confidence, it's... reality," Feld shrugged, somewhat helpless. "My magic power is very strange. It's not like ordinary magic power; it's..."
"Extraordinary magic power," Hollan couldn't help but react, and Kiki burst into laughter beside her.
Hollan shook her head with a wry smile. "So, what's extraordinary about it?"
"It can't be used for magic," Feld said. "I've talked with the village mages before. They were willing to teach me magic."
"The process of casting magic is to condense starlight with magic power, form a special array with starlight, connect it with the magic pattern formed by magic power, create a magic matrix sequence, and finally inject magic power into the magic matrix to amplify it and form more powerful magic."
"Yeah, that's about it. Your village mages are quite skilled," Hollan agreed.
"He is indeed a gold-level mage. He used to belong to the Imperial Army, and our village has many veterans," Feld nodded.
"He taught me several common magic matrix compositions, basically as long as you can release magic power, you can cast magic, right?" Feld asked.
"Yeah," Hollan nodded.
"But my magic power can't resonate. It can't form starlight, and it can't condense externally," Feld explained.
"See." With that, Feld extended his finger, and the tip lit up with a blue light. He condensed magic power at his fingertip, but he could only mobilize less than one percent of his Free Magic source at the moment. After condensing magic power at his fingertip, Feld drew a blue straight line magic pattern in the air.
Then, Feld withdrew his hand, and Hollan noticed that the magic pattern quickly dissipated, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"This..." Hollan was astonished, her mouth hanging open.
Then she extended her finger, and the tip also lit up with a blue light. A similar straight line magic pattern appeared in front of her.
This magic pattern lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually dissipating in the air.
This was what normal magic was like.