"This…"
Ethan was stunned on the spot.
He had already planned everything out, but now the very first step of the plan had gone wrong.
The Queen Bee said she couldn't notify the residents. That was a real problem.
Unwilling to give up, Ethan pressed on, "What about the Fart Bees?"
["That won't work either,"] The Queen Bee shook her head, ["Fart Bees are poison-type. They're sensitive to both heat and cold. But under my training, they should soon improve their fire affinity. Even if they won't match the Killer Bees, they'll still be much better than other non-fire types."]
"…"
Ethan did not care at all about the future development of the Fart Bees right now.
He scratched his head then looked toward the two Archmages.
"You can beg me," Sylas looked smug, "If you beg me, I might have a way!"
"Heh!"
Ethan glanced at Sylas, then immediately shifted his gaze to the Stone Man on top of the Scarecrow's head, "I heard from Archmage Sylas that you were once a great astrologer?"
"Hmph! At least that brat has some conscience and knows how to introduce me," The Stone Man looked proud, "That's right! I am the greatest astrologer, Nostradamus!"
Ethan had already figured out the psychology of these Archmages. What they wanted was respect. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, once people solve their physiological needs, safety needs, and social needs, they begin to pursue esteem.
These two Archmages had been locked up here for over a hundred years. Probably no one had shown them respect in a long time.
So that was exactly what they craved now.
Naturally, Ethan played along, "But… Sylas said your magic isn't as strong as his."
"What?"
Nostradamus exploded in anger, "Me, Nostradamus, not as strong as him? He must be dreaming!"
"Kid, if you don't believe it, go ask those old fellows from our faction back then. Ask them whether I, Nostradamus, was stronger, or that useless Sylas was stronger."
"If he's stronger than me, I'll write my name backward!"
"I don't think Archmage Sylas is stronger than you either," Ethan grinned, "If you were entrusted with guarding such an important place as the Land of Treasure, then your ability must definitely surpass his."
"After all, preventing underqualified heroes from entering is clearly more important than handling prize redemption tasks, right?"
"Hmph!"
<(￣︶￣)>
Nostradamus laughed proudly, "Of course!"
"You're a good kid. When I have time in the future, I might teach you some astrology."
"By the way, what else did that old bastard say about me?"
"Nothing much, just…", Ethan hesitated on purpose.
Nostradamus shot a glance toward Sylas and then said coldly, "It's fine. Just say it straight. If that old thief Sylas dares to do anything to you, I'll back you up."
"That's great!", Ethan beamed, "Actually, Archmage Sylas didn't say much. I just mentioned needing to send a few bees to inform my residents to hurry back to the territory and watch out for Ice Gall attacks."
"But Sylas said I should beg him, because in this world, no one but him could do it."
Ethan mixed truth with lies, "Isn't that looking down on you?"
"Hmph!"
Nostradamus flew into a rage, "That old dog actually dares to look down on me!"
With that, Nostradamus snapped his fingers.
Instantly, several paper cranes made of ice and snow flew out from the white expanse.
They circled around the Scarecrow's hive once before landing.
Only then did Nostradamus say with satisfaction, "Alright. Just say whatever you need to tell your residents. The messenger birds will deliver it. When you're done, end with 'cha,' then describe your residents' location and appearance. That'll do."
"OK, thank you, Nostradamus."
Ethan was delighted.
He immediately followed the instructions and chattered away at the messenger birds.
Meanwhile, Sylas, seeing Nostradamus help Ethan for free, grew irritated, "You old bastard! I'm teaching my disciple here. Why are you butting in? If he wants to send a message, that's my job as his master! What's it got to do with you?"
"You're so nosy and eager to help. Why don't you go save the world?"
"Why don't you go uphold justice?"
"Hey! I haven't even settled accounts with you yet!", Nostradamus snapped back. He jumped off the Scarecrow and rapidly expanded, becoming a full-sized Stone Man again, hands on hips in fury, "What did you just say? That my abilities are inferior to yours? Fine, let's compete!"
"Bring it on! Who's afraid of you?", Sylas rolled up his mist-formed sleeves, "Looks like you haven't been beaten in a hundred years and forgot what it feels like!"
"Bah!"
The two Archmages started arguing again.
Meanwhile, Ethan had already finished giving instructions to the messenger birds.
As the birds flew off, Ethan quickly summoned his Bone Horse, hugged the golden teapot, mounted up, and flicked the reins, "Hyah!"
At that moment, Sylas had just finished gathering his magic.
But due to the restriction of his spell, he couldn't move more than ten meters away from the golden teapot. So when Ethan rode off, Sylas was immediately dragged along.
Seeing this, Nostradamus burst into laughter, "Hahaha! You old brat saw the power of my magic and ran away in fear, didn't you? Hahaha!"
"Who's scared? If I weren't being dragged away, I'd beat you back into shapeless rubble!"
"Oh yeah? If you've got the guts, stop running!", Nostradamus stomped after them, "Let's compete again! Come on!"
———
Amid the bickering of the two Archmages, Ethan had already ridden the Bone Horse back to the Ruins.
The once shattered land was now covered in endless white snow. Nothing was visible anymore.
[Fifty meters ahead, there is a large pit. At the bottom are some Mud Monster eggs and a cursed object.]
"Huh?"
Ethan stared at the prompt and froze.
'Mud Monster and cursed object… isn't that where I fought the Mud Monster before?'
He had thrown the doll into the pit back then and used the curse to eliminate the Mud Monster. Now he had circled back to the same place.
At that time, the rag doll had still been down there. He hadn't known whether it was dead or alive.
So he didn't dare take the risk. He had only used Ghost Claw to pull the Scarecrow out.
He hadn't expected that there were still Mud Monster eggs left inside.
And, if Ethan wasn't mistaken, that cursed object was probably the remains of the rag doll.
[🎉 Shoutout to DarkLost for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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