From the central square to the Tower of Time, all the snow on the road had been cleared away in advance, making it very convenient for people to settle down. Xia Duo followed the mage in front and slowly walked towards the Tower of Time.
Behind him, the light in the square gradually dimmed, and the soldiers had already begun to guide the onlookers to leave one after another. Of course, when these ordinary people left, each of them could get a large piece of white bread.
When we arrived at the Mage Tower, the pure black portal, which was usually only two people wide, was now completely open. Even from the outside, we could see the inner hall, the tables and chairs for the dinner, the busy apprentices, and the servants were all clearly visible.
When passing through this door, there is no deep sea immersion feeling like the usual black door. Instead, it is like a teleportation spell, and you arrive in another space in a blink of an eye.
"How strange!" An apprentice made a surprised sound, but he was immediately attracted by the food in the hall on the first floor.
Meat, fish, fresh fruits, vegetables, and the fresh and sweet smell of wine that can be smelled as soon as you enter the lobby!
Apprentices are no stranger to this taste. You can usually get a glass of similar Elf Cider in the restaurant during lunch, but those are just the diluted apprentice brewed version.
The genuine version is brewed by a specialized winemaker and is only available to official mages. Unexpectedly, the lord is willing to entertain everyone with genuine elf wine this time.
Others may have heard of the reputation of elven wine, but few have actually drank it, or even just smelled it. When the real elven wine is placed in front of their eyes, many people can't help but twitch their noses.
It seems that all the aroma of the wine is being absorbed into the chest.
…
"Master Mage, your place is over here!"
Under the guidance of the servant, Xia Duo came to the end of a long dining table. Perhaps the servant made a mistake and directly arranged Xia Duo next to an official mage.
Before Xia Duo could remind him, the mage next to him took the initiative and said, "Sit down, I remember you, apprentice Xia Duo."
"Uh, Master Mage, you are -"
Xia Duo is still wearing a robe that looks like this, and there is no name written on it. Somehow the mage recognized him, but he had no impression of him.
"Material Requisition Office, you went to my place to redeem the learning scroll."
In a flash of lightning, Xia Duo remembered the time he redeemed the learning scroll before the mission——
At that time, an apprentice purchased a [Fireball Technique] scroll and was called a fool by him. However, when Xia Duo redeemed the learning scroll, the other apprentice reminded him to make good use of it.
"It's you, what do you call Master Mage?"
"My name is Siole. I have known for a long time that you can survive the orc tide. You will gain a lot this time!"
"This -" Xia Duo didn't know what Siole meant, but he had already sat down and still wanted to say something, "Sir Siole, I have learned a lot after going through this mission."
Siole nodded, but then changed the topic, "Xia Duo, the time when the Mage Tower class starts is uncertain now. Have you figured out how to arrange the next time?"
The topic was a bit awkward. The two had only met once before, and one was an official mage and the other was just an apprentice. Xia Duo was a little frightened by this sudden concern.
"I'm going to the library to copy a few books and then do my own research. I don't know what the mage means -"
cough--
I don't know if he felt a little uncomfortable pretending and couldn't pretend anymore. Siole smiled and then said bluntly, "Are you interested in coming to my laboratory to work?"
Not interested in!
This was Xia Duo's first reaction. To be courteous for nothing was to commit adultery or to steal. If you think about it with your toes, you will know that Siole's real purpose is definitely not to support him.
But there is definitely a place where he needs to be used.
It was impossible to agree, but to refuse directly and worry about offending the official mage, Xia Duo was a little entangled for a while. Fortunately, the bell to start the banquet rang in time.
The hall suddenly fell silent.
Only then did Xia Duo breathe a sigh of relief, and quickly gave Siole an apologetic look, then looked at the lord who had already sat down and was about to speak, and remained silent.
But there were already waves in his heart, and he didn't even listen to what the lord said. He just heard "the dinner begins" and started eating subconsciously.
Only one side of the long dining table on Sha Duo's side is occupied by spellcasters, and only one side of the long dining table opposite is occupied by ordinary people. The two sides are facing each other, and there is a special table for lords.
Servants were constantly coming and going, and occasionally someone would get up and talk at the table, but Chateau didn't care about this. He just immersed himself in eating, and at the same time, he was trying to figure out what Siole's purpose was.
The food for the dinner was pretty decent, and even Xia Duo, who comes from a foodie empire, couldn't fault it. This shows that a lot of effort was put into this dinner.
Among them, Xia Duo liked the elf wine the most. Even though he only had a small cup, it gave him the taste of nature, as if he was floating in the clouds and roaming freely, which made people very nostalgic.
And this also allowed him to temporarily forget the doubts caused by Siole.
It wasn't until the end of the dinner that Xia Duo returned to reality. Taking advantage of the gap between Siole and the neighboring mage, he immediately found an opportunity to leave the hall.
…
After returning to the dormitory, Xia Duo's heart was still beating fast.
Although he had temporarily escaped once, Xia Duo knew that he could avoid the first day of the new year but not the fifteenth. He had to figure out what Siole wanted to do, otherwise it would be a dead end.
And even if he knew it, he had to find a way to avoid it. Before becoming an official mage, he really didn't want to interact with any mage. In the case of unequal status and strength, how could there be equal interactions!
After changing out of his uniform, Shado took out the Tower of Time badge issued by the previous lord. The appearance of this thing was similar to the one Master Horst gave him when he participated in the previous mission.
But this one is obviously a magic item. In the focused state, you can clearly see that it is continuously emitting a faint blue light.
On the front of the badge is the Tower of Time and a book, which is the emblem of the Savile family, and on the back is a text -
"Shado participated in the orc wave that ended the Savior Territory - Epps Savile, 834 years of the Nese calendar."
It's not an inscription recording his achievements, it just shows that he participated in this year's orc war. However, this is indeed the case. It's just that people are greedy, and Xia Duo is no exception.
This badge is actually a device that connects to the tower spirit of the Tower of Time. It can contact the tower spirit outside the mage tower. If you have enough authority, you can even return directly to the mage tower from the outside with the help of the tower spirit's summons.
For apprentices, it is a bit tasteless. After all, apprentices spend most of their time in the mage tower.
Putting away the badge, Xia Duo continued the inventory and summary work that was interrupted before.