Chapter 703: 549 starts from here
After introducing his companions to Reiger, Ash proceeded to introduce Reiger to his companions.
"He is a... uh, magician traversing in his journey, who happened to come by here and got caught up in the anomaly I just sensed. So, I brought him back with us," Ash explained.
His explanation made the Knight look at Reiger with increased vigilance and caused Tettelot to show a face full of surprise.
"A magician? Isn’t that just like you, Ash?"
Tettelot circled around Reiger.
"Yes," Ash said with a smile, "He, like me, is a user of magic."
"That’s quite rare," exclaimed Tettelot, "I thought the only weirdos who would want to use magic were you and Grim."
This was a common view among the fairies.
In their eyes, those who wanted to use magic were oddballs.
Therefore, hearing that there was someone other than their own companion using magic was why Tettelot reacted that way.
"There’s nothing bad about it, right?" Ash wasn’t offended, saying as a matter of fact, "Magic is indeed very handy. Even though fairies naturally possess mystique and can do many things akin to magic naturally, the power of magic, when studied in depth, could lead to many possibilities, right?"
Perhaps, holding that belief was why Ash had become a far more brilliant magician than Altoria?
She was able to sense the appearance of "Water Mirror" from such a far distance on the coast and went to investigate, which was enough to prove that the abilities of this savior were incomparable to those of Altoria, the mediocre magician.
Moreover, the grade of the magic barrier set up near the campsite was also quite high. In Reiger’s view, if placed within the hierarchy of magic, it was at least a level nine.
This alone demonstrated how high Ash’s level of magic was.
Reiger had even felt a faint threat coming from Ash.
What did that imply?
It implied that Ash’s strength, even if it fell short of Reiger’s, would not be by much.
If Reiger hadn’t been brought to this era along with "Disaster" of Norwich and had intervened against "Disaster," then Ash, who felt the magic of the same system as "Convergence" and thus came to the coast, would have taken action personally to eradicate this "Disaster."
In other words, Ash possessed at least enough strength to deal with the troublesome "Disaster" of Norwich.
It can only be said, after all, that she is the savior who has been traveling in the Fairy Country of Britain for nearly two thousand years and has eradicated countless "Disasters."
Unaware of Reiger’s thoughts, Ash had just finished expressing her views and attitude towards magic when Tettelot jumped out.
"Got it, got it, Ash, you love studying magic, and we’ve known this for a long time, alright?"
Tettelot’s unabashed words seemed to leave Ash somewhat helpless.
"You underestimate this magician," Ash had to change the subject, "His strength is not below mine. I personally witnessed him eradicate a very powerful ’Disaster.’ Even if it were me in his place, I definitely wouldn’t have performed better than he did."
This time, Ash’s statement truly surprised both Tettelot and the Knight.
"You’re joking, right?" Tettelot said unwillingly, "There’s actually someone stronger than Ash?"
Clearly, in Tettelot’s memory, Ash was the strongest existence.
"...It is indeed a bit unexpected," the Knight also spoke up, his voice grave, "Fairies stronger than Ash in this Britain are very few, and even if it were the Tusk Clan’s leader, if they were to fight against Ash, the winner would be Ash, right?"
The Knight was referring to the former leader of the Tusk Clan, the predecessor to Woodworth.
The said leader died in battle against a ’Great Disaster’ during the year 1000 of the Queen’s chronology. His essence returned to the soil of Britain, and after some time, his offspring Woodworth was born.
If one had to describe him, he was Woodworth’s previous life or, in other words, Woodworth’s father.
The title of the Duke of Cooling that Woodworth inherited was owned by this former Clan Chief of the Tusk Clan, who was also an Ailing.
Ash’s ability to defeat the current Clan Chief of the Tusk Clan, who was also an Ailing, demonstrated her formidable strength.
However, I have a somewhat different opinion.
"Reineck’s blessings are quite troublesome. Without special means, I definitely wouldn’t be able to defeat him," Ash shook her head, speaking quite rationally, "In my view, if we don’t count Queen Mab, who rules over the northern fairies, the strongest fairy in Britain would have to be Reineck. Just with sheer power, I would not be able to defeat him now."
Tettelot clearly didn’t agree with Ash’s statement.
There was no helping it.
"Mab has already lost to you, and Reineck has never won against you, you are clearly the strongest in Britain, alright?"
Tettelot looked exasperated.
"...Mab was caught off-guard by me that time, and Reineck has never fought me seriously, that’s why it ended up that way," Ash said helplessly.
"Fine, if you say so," Tettelot said, too lazy to argue with Ash.
The Knight timely intervened, shifting the attention of the two.
"What I’m saying is, if there were fairies stronger than Ash active in this Britain, we would have heard of it," the Knight said sharply, "And since he is neither the queen of the Rain Clan who inherited its position nor that member of the Tusk Clan, how come we have never heard of such a powerful fairy in Britain?"
The implication behind the Knight’s words was straightforward.
That is to say, Reiger’s origins must be far from simple.
"Aren’t you one of the fairies of this Britain?"
The black knight questioned.
"Not a fairy of this Britain?" Tettelot came to a realization and suddenly exclaimed, "Could it be that you have drifted here from the other side of the sea?"
This too was what the black knight suspected.
If that were actually the case, then they would probably need to be wary of this person.
Of course, even if the other party were one of the fairies of this Britain, the black knight would still be on guard against him.
After all, the fairies of this Britain were equally untrustworthy.
"Tettelot... Black knight..."
As Ash furrowed her brows, about to say something, she was stopped by Reiger.
"Indeed, I am not a fairy of this Britain, I’m not even a fairy."
Reiger’s words came as a shock, ignoring the surprised look on Ash’s face as he spoke with ease.
"But rest assured, I don’t have much interest in you all. If I wanted to do something to you, I could have done it by now."
The moment these words came from Reiger’s mouth, suddenly, a hand stretched out from behind the black knight and rested on his shoulder.
"Just like this, do you understand?"
Reiger’s voice no longer came from in front of the people, but instead appeared behind the black knight.
He had suddenly appeared behind the black knight, his hand on the knight’s shoulder, the corner of his mouth slightly raised under his hood, causing everyone’s expressions to change abruptly.
"...!"
The black knight instinctively jumped away, his movements surprisingly agile despite his burly size.
"What?"
Tettelot too was extremely shocked to find that Reiger, who had stood before her just moments ago, had vanished, only to reappear behind the black knight.
"... A space-moving magic like ’Water Mirror’?"
Ash looked intently at Reiger.
Reiger withdrew his hand and smiled faintly under the watchful eyes of everyone.
"In any case, I won’t do anything to you, and you can rest easy. Even if you don’t trust me, you should trust the Savior Miss you follow, right?" Reiger said with an open hand, "In front of her eyes, I wouldn’t dare to tell any lies, would I?"
Tettelot and the black knight both froze for a moment and then simultaneously turned their gazes to Ash.
Ash nodded her head, informing the two that everything Reiger had just said was truthful.
No, it should be said that every word Reiger had spoken since he appeared had been truthful.
This caused Ash’s look towards Reiger to change slightly.
"Not a person of this Britain?"
Thinking of something, Ash lowered her eyelids.
After Ash’s nod, Tettelot and the black knight exchanged glances, and eventually, they lowered their guard against Reiger.
"Since you’re not here for us, I suppose I’ll choose to trust you," the black knight said gravely. "I hope you don’t do anything that would make both parties unhappy."
"I don’t really care," Tettelot said nonchalantly. "Anyway, with Ash here, she’ll see right through you if you try anything strange."
Ash nodded almost imperceptibly.
Now, she was intrigued by Reiger and wanted to see for herself what kind of person this stranger, who was without a doubt special to her, really was, and what he was planning to do.
At this moment, Ash had not yet realized that the fear she had held for Reiger had unknowingly vanished.
Whether it was because of the things Reiger had said before arriving here, or some other reason, perhaps even Ash herself did not know.
All Ash knew was that her heart, long dormant, had sprung to life, and her spirit, once on the verge of stagnation, seemed to be reinvigorated with new energy, no longer dead.
Therefore...
"If you really have nowhere you wish to go, then travel with us,"
Ash proposed the suggestion.
"With the assistance of someone as strong as you, the purpose of my journey might unexpectedly be easily accomplished."
To Ash’s invitation, Reiger nodded his approval indifferently.
But as to whether he truly was indifferent, only Reiger himself knew.
Reiger murmured quietly to himself as Ash turned to speak with Tettelot and the black knight.
"The karma between you and me, it begins here, doesn’t it?"
Thinking this, Reiger touched his chest.
There, a ’peg’ was lodged.