"If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have had the chance to wake up, rest assured, you are still of use to me. Before that, all you need to do is cooperate obediently, and I promise to spare your life in the end," Gaven said as he untied the ropes from the Goblin Sorcerer's feet, not considering untying his hands just yet.
The other was a magician capable of casting third-ring spells, with a Professional Level of at least six, so it was necessary to take some precautions.
"Stay close to me, no funny business, and don't wander more than five steps away from me, or I can't guarantee your safety," Gaven said, without much intention of engaging in further conversation with the Goblin Sorcerer, and turned to leave.
"Yes, yes, yes!" The Goblin Sorcerer, lacking any dignity as a spellcaster, followed closely behind Gaven.
Whether it was his shriveled and scrawny appearance or the dense array of new and old wounds on his body, it was evident that his days in the Hobgoblin warband had been far from easy.
Being a sorcerer didn't change the fact that he was a goblin, at best he had gone from a lowly slave to a higher-ranking one, where he could be spared from consumption a bit longer.
Years of slavery had smoothed all his edges, just like many slaves Gaven had seen in his previous life, their behavior revolved around one thing: survival.
Seeing through the Goblin Sorcerer didn't mean Gaven would show mercy and release him; to him, the sorcerer was nothing more than a new tool.
Gaven, taking the Goblin Sorcerer along, rummaged through Nort Castle, scavenging for all kinds of paper, sparing neither sheepskin nor cowskin, and not overlooking the unprocessed, writeable leather either.
There was no choice, paper was a relatively scarce resource in Felen, not for lack of Paper Creation Spells – Elf Papermaking was unmatched, producing paper white as snow with the resilience of silk and astonishing thinness.
The only flaw was that they never produced it in excess because that would damage their beloved forests.
It was difficult for other races to imitate because any moderately sized forest was either inhabited by Elves or protected by Druids or Rangers, or even home to various Fae Race creatures or monsters. Extensive logging would have catastrophic consequences.
At first, Gaven still spared some attention for the Goblin Sorcerer, but he soon found it unnecessary; he had been thoroughly indoctrinated by the Hobgoblin, completely submissive.
When Gaven said not to stray more than five steps from him, not once did a sixth step occur.
In the end, Gaven simply untied the ropes from the sorcerer's hands, to help carry the piles of scavenged paper. After all, his casting speed wasn't faster than Gaven drawing his sword.
Despite the Goblin's hunched back and being less than half a man's height, his actual strength was definitely more than half, being quite useful in carrying the loads.
When Gaven felt he had collected enough, he took the Goblin Sorcerer and dove into the two-wheeled carriage that Zalanda had assigned to him, to continue his grand endeavor of translating books.
The rest wasn't his concern; Zalanda would arrange for a coachman to drive for him. As the first in line to inherit the Nort Family, he was entitled to some privileges and he accepted them without guilt to advance his plans.
For the next day and night, apart from attending to personal needs, Gaven holed up in his carriage, diligently writing at great speed.
During this process, he conducted a new little experiment, which was to merge Autohypnosis with the Elves' state of trance.
The situation was continuously problematic at the start.
Gaven either entered a trance state too early, with a low degree of affinity with the Magic Network, and became hazily trapped in a dream,
or he entered an autohypnosis state, yet his body was still tense, unable to achieve the purpose of restful trance.
With continuous trials and adjustments, Gaven believed the chance of success was very high, especially as his mental consciousness kept getting stronger. He felt this matter would likely resolve itself, so he wasn't insisting on forcing it right now.
There were also numerous small issues during the major retreat.
Thacel had been caught in warlord battles for years, with each Lord managing their own land, resulting in inconsistent governance.
The area within a dozen or so kilometers around Nort Castle was relatively better. The Hobgoblin war band that had previously besieged the castle had been thoroughly defeated by them, their leadership wiped out. The fleeing soldiers ran faster than rabbits at the sight of their banner, fearful of being hunted again.
As for the other scattered monsters, they had either fled upon the Hobgoblin war band's arrival or had ended up in their cooking pots, being stewed
But beyond this range, there were various monsters and bands of bandits.
If they were merely observing from a distance, silently watching the Nort Castle civilians pass by, Zalanda would ignore them.
However, if some were foolish enough to not only attack, but even to tail them from a distance, Zalanda would not hesitate to deploy the Nort Knight Cavalry to thoroughly defeat them, even exterminate them. Once the carts that cleared the way hung with the heads of various monsters and bandits, such unwise attempts significantly decreased.
By this time, they were approaching their first destination, Kami Village.
Here, the historical trajectory, at least Gaven's personal history, had already taken a significant turn.
With no Hobgoblin pursuers, Rogan and Oster lost their chance to act surreptitiously. Throughout the journey, Gaven hadn't even seen them at all.
They curled up inside their own luxurious coaches, aside from attending to personal physiological needs, rarely showing themselves, probably scheming. Gaven wasn't interested in meddling with them, as he was determined to help Zalanda remove these stumbling blocks before leaving.
"Young Master Gaven, Young Master Gaven, the captain has asked for you," said the boy who had previously helped Gaven with his luggage, riding a small horse and swiftly approaching Gaven's carriage.
This teenager was named Darren, an orphan adopted by Zalanda into the militia.
The reason Gaven deliberately learned the boy's name was that he discovered the child indeed possessed a will beyond his expectations. Ever since he casually mentioned something, the boy took it to heart. Even on the retreat, he never rested, either riding his small horse to help out or taking the opportunity to practice swordsmanship and spearmanship, and sometimes following behind the Cavalry Squad, waving flags and helping to boost morale.
His actions even inspired the other teenagers in the Nort Castle troops, clearly becoming a leader among these children.
How much one trains is a theoretical question. With such passion and proactive attitude, succeeding would be hard to avoid if he continued persistently, so naturally, he deserved Gaven's attention. After all, the kid could very well be one of Zalanda's most loyal followers.
"Do you know what it is about?" Gaven asked as he stepped out, knowing that a significant problem must have arisen, as the column had stopped moving for a while, and it wasn't mealtime.