"So how did you handle it?" Laine thought this was indeed a problem.

"Casters enjoy special privileges, I know. I can only issue verbal warnings and call upon Lady Teresa and Lady Veronica to handle it themselves. But as you know, Veronica is somewhat better at it—she’d confine the apprentices, whereas Lady Teresa tends to shield them. She even misuses punishment; a peasant hunter accidentally trespassed near her Wizard Tower and was shot dead by the witch apprentices using Ice Arrow, yet Lady Teresa acted as if nothing had happened."

"Ah~ Just like those High Elf wizard apprentices in Ossuan Safuri Kingdom’s Hos White Tower." The Lake Fairy giggled nearby, the Goddess played with the grill in her hands: "Those wizard apprentices are the same, learning a few minor spells makes them feel they’re already Grand Mages of the White Tower, eager to use them everywhere, causing major trouble quite often."

"That’s just how casters are, Lake God Prophets and Lake God Saintesses often face this issue too." Mogiana seamlessly joined the conversation, lately Laine had been residing in the tower, and naturally, the Lake God Witch had benefited quite a lot. She often clung to Laine during the mornings when Surya practiced swordsmanship and exercised, and also during the afternoons when Laine dealt with governmental affairs alone.

"So how are you planning to handle it? Didn’t the Winter Festival’s turkey banquet yield any conclusions?" Laine also felt troubled; personally, both Teresa and Veronica were her female courtiers and had relations with her. Professionally, the powerful mana of the two witches and their complete wizard training systems bring huge benefits to the territory’s construction and development, not to mention the magic equipment and Magic Potion produced by Veronica’s Magic Workshop, and Teresa’s Ice Magic aiding in increased food production."

"The turkey banquet didn’t discuss that." Surya shook her head. She straightened her skirt for Laine to take advantage, then said with a blush on her face: "Anyway, Laine, you’re the one who has to solve this issue."

"Alright, I’ll call Teresa and Veronica to talk about this issue. Wizards must also uniformly accept management." Laine nodded. Casters, due to contact with Magic Wind, are particularly prone to corruption, so he must be cautious.

"Those witch apprentices in the future will definitely have a hard time getting married." Surya said with a half-smile, "Those young apprentices are now worldly women, how would they willingly marry some ordinary Ranger Knights? Or those rustic Lord Kislevs?"

"Then what does that have to do with me?" Laine grumbled, "Veronica pinned all her hopes on me early on, Teresa nearly died twice for me. If not for these reasons, I wouldn’t have accepted them. Contribution and reward are mutual; only seeing teachers find a human hero Laine Macado, don’t consider how much their teachers contributed?"

Laine and Surya’s conversation reached the ears of Mogiana and the Lake Fairy. Mogiana clearly had some thoughts, she squeezed her legs tight without saying a word, while the Lake Fairy self-mockingly chuckled, the Goddess realized she too had invested everything in Laine.

In the end, the benefits mostly went to Surya, though the three together was quite nice, the Lake Fairy still felt a bit reluctant. However, she had no choice but to accept, after all, Laine’s father’s attitude lay there.

"You shouldn’t be so harsh; they are more enamored by you." The gentle, wise female knight instead spoke favorably of the witch apprentices: "Teenage girls always have a princess dream, especially for witch apprentices."

"Hehehe, you’re right, Surya, I was a bit too... I shouldn’t view them with tinted glasses. It’s just, you know, I was born and raised in Nord, not really a place of simple folks. Nord often faces raids from the Barbarian Raiders from Northern Wasteland. The people there are extremely savage and calculating, though Nord people are considered the most honest in the Old World, that’s only because they’re bad at lying. Poor mountains and rivers breed tricky people, huh?" Laine laughed, "From childhood, children who awakened Magic Talent had only two outcomes—taken away by the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy or Jialan Council, or burned at the stake. I had to carefully conceal my Spiritual Energy to avoid becoming grilled."

At this, the Lake Fairy, Lake God Witch, and the female knight couldn’t help but cover their mouths and laugh.

After a while, the pizza was done baking, the Lake Fairy signaled it was time for lunch.

"I wonder how Bertrand and the others are doing." Laine tasted the handiwork of the Lake Fairy and Lake God Witch, casually saying: "Hope all goes well."

"It will, Laine." Surya smiled radiantly: "You must believe in yourself."

......

In the cold winds and snow of the Winter Festival, a team of dwarves and a team of human armies were underway.

The dwarf army was led by King Belgar of Eight Peaks Mountain, with about eight hundred men and five heavy cannons, advancing slowly in the wild.

The human army was led by "Green Arrow" Sir Bertrand, with about four hundred men and roughly a hundred Ugoer Bow Cavalry. Expedition Knight Kaled was also with them, believing it was necessary to examine the extent of damage done to Jisoleox Duchy by Kemler, and help Duke Hagen solve the issues.

"We expect another day’s journey, King Belgar, where would you like to rest?" Now promoted, Bertrand had changed into a beautiful green leaf scale armor, a creation of the wood elf. The knight tried to slow his words so his accented Low Gothic Language could be understood by Belgar.

"Dwarves don’t need rest, hmm... When it gets dark, we’ll find a place to camp." Belgar responded gruffly: "Or you can go on ahead; we’ll catch up soon."

"No, we’ll follow your arrangements." Sir Bertrand said cautiously.

The knight suddenly felt annoyed as that group of Ugoer Bow Cavalry began singing, drowning out his words in song.

"We’ll make Kislev punish the whole world!"

"From the Linsk River to Claw Sea in the east!"

"The whole Old World will echo our song!"

"Capital, Vodka, our Erson Giant Bear!"

"All nations standing tall here!"

"We are already united as one!"

"Bow deeply with gratitude!"

"From the Old World’s toughest country!"

"Ula~ Ula~"

The peasants whispered, "Weird Ugoer people."

"There’s nothing strange about it; the Ugoer people and Kislev people together formed the Kislev Kingdom. This kingdom is the northernmost order nation of the Old World. They spent one hundred sixty years still unable to recover from the torments of the Great Holy War. Numerous filthy creatures inhabit Kislev’s uninhabited areas, and no nobles have the ability to expel these terrifying creatures and Barbarian Tribes." Expedition Knight Kaled briefly introduced, "Until the previous King (self-styled Tsar) Boris Bokha, he led all of Kislev’s armies in a cleansing campaign lasting over twenty years. This campaign cleansed Kislev Kingdom’s endless ice fields and a small part of eastern forests, returning many territories to the kingdom. As a cost, at the brink of total victory of the cleansing campaign, Bokha led a cavalry over the Linsk River to the northern Giant Demon Realm, encountering a Kurgan tribe worshipping Chaos. The Tsar gloriously died in that war, his sacrifice paved the way for the current brief peace."

"An admirable person!" Belgar exclaimed loudly, "Humans indeed have people worth admiring, Laine is one, that king too."

"Roar~" As everyone chatted, atop the peak of the nearby Gray Mountain Range, a deafening dragon’s roar suddenly sounded, a huge flying dragon descended roaring from the high mountains: "Roar~ Roar!"

"Two-legged Flying Dragon!!!"

"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!"