In the morning, Jess packed up the dried herbs and raw materials early and moved them into the alchemy room. After cleaning the study, he brewed tea as required by his boss. Then he sat down next to the bookshelf and waited for Marlin to enter.
As soon as he got off work and the boss left, he would start making his own shadow protection potion.
To pass the time, he picked up a pirate novel called "The Golden Shark" and started reading. It basically tells stories about the sea area around Booty Bay.
Just as he was getting into it, Marlin suddenly pushed the door open. He looked up and subconsciously stuffed the book directly into the bookshelf beside him.
The two of them looked at each other awkwardly. Only then did Jess remember that he had graduated from high school in his previous life. There was no need to hide extracurricular books when the teacher suddenly opened the door.
"Sorry, Mr. Setho. I should have knocked first." Marlin smiled and said, "I'll pay attention next time."
"It doesn't matter, Master." Jess slowly pulled the book out again and placed it on his knee.
Marlin sat on the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and while pouring, he curiously looked at the book in Jess's hand and said, "The Golden Shark is not a forbidden book. Since I put it on the bookshelf, it can be read casually. Why are you so nervous?"
"Ah... uh." Jess remembered that he hadn't really gone to school properly in this life. He just learned to read with his mother. If he talked about school experiences here, it would be too inconsistent.
"You remind me of my days studying in Northshire Abbey when I was a child." Marlin said, "At that time, the monks didn't allow us children to read irrelevant books casually. If they saw us reading, they would catch us and slap our palms. They were really a group of inhumane old guys. But when I grew up and had my own daughter and was eager for her to achieve something, I would also feel angry when I saw her reading novels and miscellaneous books that had nothing to do with her studies. Speaking of which, if I hadn't been so strict with Amy in the past, would her studies be more successful now?"
"This..." Jess felt that evaluating such a question was really beyond his ability.
"Ha!" Marlin sighed and said, "Did I talk too much? By the way, about the question we talked about last time, about the reason why red dragons are willing to be driven by orcs. I feel that you didn't tell me everything. Are you free to talk now? Anyway, reading novels and chatting are all similar ways of passing the time, right?"
"Sure." Jess answered easily, but his mind had already started frantically searching for answers.
During this time, he had been to Westfall, then Duskwood, gathering herbs, making money, learning swordsmanship and making potions. He didn't think at all about how to answer his views on red dragons when he came to the old mage.
Seeing that Jess wasn't very proactive, Marlin said, "Let's start with this question. Why do you think red dragons didn't take the initiative to attack humans or other mortals before the opening of the Dark Portal? Logically speaking, as native magical creatures of Azeroth, red dragons should have nothing to do with the orcs on the other side of the Dark Portal. Why, after the orcs came to this land, could they quickly form an alliance with the red dragons who have always been at peace with the world?"
Looking at Marlin's expression, Jess always felt that he already knew about the Demon Soul and was guiding him to answer here.
"The orcs probably found a weakness of the red dragons." Jess said, "But this is just my speculation."
"In fact, Dalaran thinks so too." Marlin almost immediately said as if he had gotten the answer he wanted, "And they have already found out the possible accomplices of the orcs."
"Black dragons." Jess said.
Marlin nodded slowly and said, "Impressive, Mr. Setho."
Jess smiled awkwardly. Of course, he didn't deserve this compliment.
If a 17-year-old native in this world could analyze this matter based on various pieces of information by himself, it would be really impressive. But he was just a time-traveler who knew the world view in advance. Now he felt like a plagiarist.
Marlin continued, "Master Krasus has been dedicated to finding the missing Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza. He believes that black dragons are related to this matter. He is one of the Council of Six, you know? Not long ago, the Kingdom of Alterac was suddenly attacked by the Horde. Those orcs were led by a death knight. They rode not red dragons but black dragons. This further proves Master Krasus's guess. In fact, it is the black dragons who help the orcs, not the red dragons. The Red Dragon Queen is likely to have been captured by the black dragons as a prisoner. But now the problem is that we don't know where she is at all."
Krasus is a real red dragon. He transforms into an elf and enters Dalaran and becomes one of the Council of Six. He hides his identity to facilitate communication with mortals and find ways to help mortals deal with possible disasters, such as the terrifying crisis of the opening of the Dark Portal.
Most importantly, he is the most cherished spouse of Queen Alexstrasza. So of course he will do everything he can to find the queen.
It's just that he doesn't know yet that the Red Dragon Queen is imprisoned in Grim Batol, the ancient capital of the Wildhammer dwarves. When he knows, he will definitely rush around the world to gather people to tear that place down. This is the suicidal mission later carried out by the young mage Rhonin, the elven ranger Vereesa Windrunner, and the Wildhammer leader Falstad - rescuing the Red Dragon Queen.
In this mission, Rhonin, who has the protagonist's halo, not only didn't die as expected when facing Deathwing but also met the beautiful white-haired elf girl Vereesa and married her. What a lucky bastard.
Thinking of this, Jess couldn't help but feel anger surging up and clenched the book in his hand.
Although Krasus can't be compared with those ultimate monsters with power close to that of gods, he is also a top-notch powerful arcanist in Azeroth.
His thousands of years of life have given him the opportunity to learn countless strange spells. And Jess knows that he will definitely use all means possible to find his queen.
This is also the reason why he can't say too much about what he knows in advance. If Krasus knows that an inexplicable worker in Stormwind City actually knows the exact location where the Dragonmaw orc clan imprisons the Red Dragon Queen, he may not even know how he will die.
No matter how kind and amiable Krasus is, he is also a male red dragon who has lived for thousands of years.
At this time, Marlin took a sip of tea and swished it in his throat. Maybe he had talked too much and hurt his throat.
After swallowing, he continued, "Previously, a guard reported that the sentries at Stonefort saw the trace of a dragon in the north of Redridge Mountains. He determined that it was a young black dragon. This is also the reason why I went to Redridge Mountains. But unfortunately, in the end, I found nothing. Perhaps it was just a lone wild black dragon. Perhaps the sentries just misidentified it and mistook some huge vulture-like creature for a dragon. This is not the first time such a thing has happened."
Jess didn't expect that a mage from the Wizard's Sanctum could know so many things about Dalaran. But thinking about it carefully, it's normal. After all, the next target of the black dragons is Blackrock Mountain, or the entire Redridge Mountains area. The Wizard's Sanctum is the nearest human magic institution.
If Dalaran wants to know more news about the appearance of dragons nearby, it will definitely maintain close cooperation with the Wizard's Sanctum and the Stormwind royal family.
"Mr. Jess Setho." Marlin put down his teacup and said, "Let me get to the point. Are you willing to help me... deal with matters related to orcs, dragons, and Dalaran? In fact, when I recruited an assistant at first, I also had this intention. I am really too busy to handle everything by myself. But to help me with work in these aspects, one must have certain knowledge, enough courage and a sense of responsibility. Most importantly, I think you are a very kind person, Mr. Setho. I think I can trust you."
Jess paused for a while and said, "But, as you know..."
"I understand." Marlin continued, "This means that you may need to go to some very dangerous places or travel for a long time, and your life will change a lot. If you refuse, I understand. I won't fire you because of this. You don't have to worry. After all, you are already a very ideal assistant."
"No, no, Master. What I mean is." Jess put down The Golden Shark and said, "I need more pay."
"It's six silver coins per month now. If you add the things you need to do as I hope, it's really a bit less. And I hope that travel expenses can be reimbursed. If I have to go on a business trip to Dalaran in the future, at least I can't pay for the boat ticket myself, right?"
Marlin nodded and said, "I'll increase it to ten silver coins. What do you think? If I have a task for you to go to Dalaran, then it must be the intention of the Wizard's Sanctum. Then someone will definitely pay for your travel expenses, and this person may not be me."
Hearing this, Jess was excited. It's not that the ten silver coins are so tempting. After all, his appetite is different now.
But the boat fare from Stormwind Harbor to Southshore often changes. When it's cheap, it's also more than ten silver coins. It would be a huge expense for him to pay this amount.
But he hasn't gone home to take a look for more than two years. It's not true that he doesn't miss home.
Although as a time-traveler, his attitude towards his parents in this life may be a bit subtly different from that of real natives, but after all, they are his closest relatives who have taken care of him for more than ten years.
"As for going to other places." Marlin stroked his beard and asked, "Can you ride a horse?"
"Yes."
Jess is really not bragging. As the son of a city guard and the daughter of a farmer, he has much more opportunities to contact horses than ordinary people.
When he was a child, he thought that since he had time-traveled, he couldn't waste time. So he learned a lot of messy things. Including some basic herbal knowledge, he learned it in this way. Of course, riding a horse was also one of them.
He didn't learn riding systematically. Instead, he secretly rode horses when playing around. There were a group of naughty kids in the city who rode horses stolen from others with him. And there were also some kind adults who secretly taught him. When they were caught, his parents would beat him up. After a long time, he gradually learned a little.
At that time, his level was just being able to ride fast without falling off. He couldn't talk about riding skills at all.
Even so, he was still one of the kids of the same age in the capital city of Lordaeron who rode better. Many city kids who secretly looked for horses to play with even thought at first that knights were creatures who grew on horses, similar to some kind of centaur. When they saw a horse without anyone on it, they were even startled.
But in this world, the cost of raising a horse is very high, which is similar to that on Earth. So Jess has never thought about buying a horse himself.
"The stables of the Wizard's Sanctum are just outside the west city wall. You can see them by walking a few minutes from the small gate." Marlin said, "If I need you to go to Redridge Mountains or a slightly farther place in the future, you can rent a horse for free with a note from me. But if you need to go for many days, you also need to take good care of it."
Jess said, "I'll go and take a look over there later."
Marlin asked again, "By the way, I heard you told Amy that you don't want to live in the mage area. Why? Wouldn't it be much less walking in the morning if you lived here?"
This question really stumped Jess. Who would give up a good house and insist on living in those small rented houses outside?
"I'm not used to living in the mage area yet." Jess said, "I'll find a way to move in after my work here is stable."
Marlin slowly nodded and said, "You have your reasons."