"Enough, shut up, take us to Feuerbach." The Lake God Prophet couldn't be bothered to listen to the peasants' complaints. If the Saintess Order were a charity organization for peasants to voice their grievances, the line of complaining Brittania peasants could circle the Old World one and a half times. So she decisively stopped the peasant from continuing.

Morgiana's face was stern, and she remained silent throughout, clearly not giving any importance to the peasant's words.

Thus, the peasant led the Lake God Witch and the Lake God Prophet to Feuerbach.

This was a village already showing signs of decay. Amidst the rain and snow, a few militia and guards stood duty atop the wooden, low, city walls and watchtowers. The residents, however, were rarely seen. Looking around, the entire village seemed almost buried in white snow, like a half-dead old man desperately gasping for his last breath of life.

Hanging from the big tree at the village entrance were an astounding number of corpses; soldiers from Estalia, unwelcome outsiders, and offending peasants comprised these bodies. With just one glance, Morgiana knew there were at least thirty to forty of them.

The authority of the Lake God Witch was absolute. Under her orders, the Kingdom Knights granted fief in this village immediately commanded all the peasants to come out of their houses to accept the Lake God Witch's inquiry.

During the midwinter season, with heavy snow falling, about over two hundred townspeople were called out. Morgiana immediately found the girl with excellent casting talent and ignored the peasant parents' crying pleas, instructing Clement to take the girl away.

This was not because Morgiana was cold-hearted, but because the Lake God Witch knew well that if these children with magical talent were not taken away early and sent to be trained in the Lake Fairy's Divine Kingdom, their future was almost certain—corrupted by Chaos while trying to cast spells on their own, serving as high-quality portals for Chaos Demons, helping demons appear on the Prime Material Plane.

There were very few exceptions; corruption and fall were only a matter of time.

When the peasant parents begged not to take these children away, did they also wonder in their hearts whether they had the right to let the children live, only for them to become portals for demons, ultimately bringing destruction to the village and even the kingdom?

No, the peasants wouldn't understand, so Morgiana would not explain either. The Lake God Witch had already given them the chance. If the family of these gifted children had the ability to send them to the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy, Morgiana would not stop them.

After the matter was settled, Morgiana signaled Clement to take the girl away. The Lake God Witch directly utilized her powerful mana to open a teleportation gate: "Clement, you go back first. I need to go to Borelion Castle to find Theodoric."

"Yes, Your Highness." The Lake God Prophet vanished into the teleportation gate with the girl.

Morgiana's expression was composed. She nodded, then rode Hilphain out of the village. Yet in the wind and snow, a lonely figure blocked her path: "Your Highness, the Lake God Witch!"

"It's you, is there something you need?" Morgiana frowned, questioning the peasant's intention.

"Your Highness, I am grateful that you saved my life!" said the peasant named Allen, kneeling before her.

"If that's what you wanted to say, then there's no need to repeat it. I understand." Morgiana replied impatiently and signaled the unicorn to continue walking.

"Well, Your Highness, I know I have nothing to repay you with." To Morgiana's surprise, the peasant blocked her path again, shakily taking something out.

A pearl necklace threaded together with silk.

"This is?" The pearls in the peasant's hand looked bright and round, exceptionally beautiful.

"I found this by the seaside, strung it together myself when I got home. I thought and thought, and only this could express my gratitude to Your Highness the Lake God Witch. Please, Your Highness, accept it!" The peasant named Allen knocked his forehead to the ground repeatedly, kneeling there.

Seeing such beautiful pearls, Morgiana liked them at first sight, and recalling that this peasant was indeed someone she had saved, Morgiana sighed lightly. She dismounted from Hilphain, her dust-free white boots stepping onto the ground under her gray long skirt, her gloved hand gently flicking, and the pearl necklace flew into her hand from Allen's.

The cautious Lake God Witch checked it and, finding no traces of magic on the pearls, nodded: "Alright, I accept your gift. You may go now."

After speaking, Morgiana no longer paid attention to the peasant. She rode Hilphain away.

Allen watched the Lake God Witch leave before he finally walked step by step back toward his town.

At that moment, people began to gossip about this peasant who had survived a great misfortune.

"I say Allen is really lucky. Three days ago, he encountered a Terror Wolf Pack in the wild, only to be saved by a passing wizard, and today saved again by Her Highness the Lake God Witch."

"Indeed, I even wonder if he might be a Divine Favored of the Goddess of Fortune?"

The peasants chattered, but Allen showed no reaction, walking step by step back to his home.

Closing the door, Allen emotionlessly looked at his bare, modest house, then moved to the middle of the room. Then, as if his spine had been removed, he collapsed to the ground, losing all signs of life, and hot blood pooled across the floor.

In a rapid loss of blood, his body turned to a desiccated corpse.

In the darkness of the room, a decayed, withered voice spoke. "Don't rush, everything is proceeding according to plan."

"Yes, Godfather." The young voice carried some confusion: "But... Godfather, the flood of that wretched pool severely damaged Connaught's economy. Our original plan to attack Boldro next year must be postponed."

"It doesn't matter; what we have plenty of is time... Morgiana is not easy to capture. We need patience, my godson," the withered voice said. "You've seen Morgiana's power?"

"... Extremely strong."

"As long as we can't take her immediately, nearby knights will come to support within fifteen minutes, followed by even more knights..."

"I understand, Godfather."

"Good, then, according to the intelligence from Borelion, Theodoric will hold a concert in the Borelion choir hall tonight. Judging by the time, Morgiana should arrive at Borelion Castle around then," the withered voice continued, seemingly pleased that the younger voice grasped the main point. "That's when we will act."

"I will summon an Undead Army to attack the choir hall at Borelion Castle, while you take the opportunity to seek out the Nine Volumes hidden in the Borelion Library! Haha~ Centuries of accumulation and lurking are finally coming to fruition."

"Yes!"

........

By dusk that day, the heavy snow finally stopped, and Morgiana arrived at Borelion Castle.

Borelion's main castle is situated at the highest point between the city and the island's mountain peaks. The harmonious integration of the mountainside buildings includes numerous small turrets that control the sea, and tall, fortified towers in the streets can be defended by just one person, holding off entire armies. Many gardens and residences are enclosed spaces; invaders can be isolated and annihilated one by one due to these architectural structures. Thus, Estalia's invaders have often attacked the castle but have always returned empty-handed.

"Where is your Duke? I have matters to discuss with him." As the castle gates opened, Morgiana's expression was cold as frost as she directly asked the guards.

"Your Highness, the Duke is in the choir hall. There's something you need to know," the guard replied promptly.

A flash of displeasure appeared in Morgiana's eyes. Compared to the role model of the Knightly Path, Red Dragon Duke Bohemond, Theodoric, Duke of Borelion, was like the reverse side of a coin.

In battle, Theodoric brandished a massive war axe as he charged, rarely returning with a scratch, but his knights claimed that the power of war had descended upon the Duke, and he would always finish off any opponent he unhorsed.

"Lead the way!"