Chapter 137: A High-Tier Fourth-Ring Wizard
"Yes, my lord." Levi nodded respectfully to Mykes.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Mykes asked as he walked over.
"I had a wonderful night here," Levi replied.
"Really? That's excellent. You'll always be welcome here, Mister Merchant!" The corners of Mykes's lips lifted into a smile.
"I'll be coming here often."
Levi knew that was exactly what Mykes wanted to hear.
Sure enough, the count's son looked thoroughly pleased.
"Mister Merchant, the weather is so nice today. Why don't we take a walk through the forest together?"
"But the fodder..." Levi hesitated deliberately.
"Don't worry. The villagers will take care of it."
With Mykes putting it that way, Levi no longer had any reason to refuse. In truth, he hadn't wanted to refuse in the first place.
After all, he intended to follow Mykes—the protagonist of this fairy tale—and have a "chance encounter" with the old witch.
Why would he turn that down?
So he nodded.
"Of course."
Mykes smiled and headed deeper into the forest, while Levi shrugged and followed behind.
The two chatted as they walked. Most of the conversation consisted of Mykes talking while Levi responded absentmindedly.
To Mykes, however, Levi's reserved manner simply looked like nervousness.
Trying to help him relax, Mykes joked, "Mister Merchant, loosen up a little. Nobles don't eat people."
Really?
Levi looked up at him, his expression oddly unreadable.
Mykes immediately caught the trace of mockery hidden deep in Levi's eyes.
He paused for a moment before realizing what Levi meant.
Rather than getting angry, he simply smiled bitterly.
"What I meant was... well..."
Perhaps feeling that his earlier remark had been inappropriate, he awkwardly changed the subject.
"By the way, Mister Merchant, I still don't know your name."
"Levi."
But Levi wasn't answering Mykes.
He was speaking to the elderly woman bent over in front of them, cutting fodder.
Found you.
The old witch from the fairy tale who took in the Goose Girl.
A faint blue light flickered in Levi's eyes as they settled on her.
Although Detection couldn't reveal every detail, it wasn't like when he had tried to examine the Seven-Headed Dragon, where nearly everything had turned up as question marks or blank spaces.
This old witch yielded quite a bit of useful information.
For example...
Her strength.
She possessed the power of a high-tier Fourth-Ring Wizard.
It also revealed her name.
That's right.
She was the White Wizard Barbara whom Rapunzel's godmother had mentioned.
Levi also discovered that Barbara had taken in the Goose Girl—Serena, the girl with the atavistic mermaid bloodline—for another reason entirely.
As for what that reason was...
Detection couldn't uncover it.
If Detection were a Fourth-Ring Spell instead, things would have been very different. A high-tier Fourth-Ring Wizard like Barbara wouldn't have been able to hide a single secret from him.
While Levi's thoughts wandered off in that direction, Mykes finally noticed the elderly woman standing in the clearing.
He had only recently been granted this territory, so he had no idea that the villagers regarded the old woman as a witch.
She wasn't from Blackstone Fork Village.
No one knew where she lived.
The only thing anyone knew was that every day she would appear in the forest, leaning on her cane and hobbling along unsteadily.
She was always busy.
Not kidnapping children—
But cutting fodder, picking fresh wild fruit by hand, and carrying everything back home on her back.
The load was so heavy that even a healthy young villager might not have been able to carry it.
Yet the old woman always managed to haul it away without fail.
Whenever she ran into an acquaintance—and in her eyes, exchanging greetings once in the forest was enough to make someone one—she would warmly call out:
"Good day, my dear neighbor! What lovely weather we're having today! Yes, I know you're surprised to see me carrying so much grass, but everyone has to bear their own burden."
Her "neighbors," however, wanted nothing to do with her.
Many villagers would rather avoid meeting her altogether.
They would gladly take a long detour just to stay away.
Once, a father had passed by with his young son.
The old woman greeted the child, and the frightened father immediately scooped him up and ran for dear life.
Only after reaching what he considered a safe distance did he finally set the boy down and whisper,
"Stay away from that old hag. She's an extremely cunning witch."
...
None of this was known to Mykes.
Good heavens.
He had only been granted this territory not long ago.
Besides, he was genuinely warmhearted and kind—nothing like what most people expected of a noble.
He saw the old woman kneeling on the ground, cutting fodder with a sickle. She had already gathered a large bundle, and beside her sat two baskets filled with wild pears and apples.
He paused for a moment before greeting her warmly.
"Good day, ma'am!"
"At your age, how do you manage to carry so much?"
The old woman looked back at him and sighed helplessly.
"I don't have much choice, child."
"The sons of wealthy families don't have to do this kind of work. But as the saying goes: 'Don't waste your time looking around—your back will end up bent like a bow.'"
"That's terrible," Mykes said sympathetically.
The old woman's gaze lingered on Levi, who stood behind Mykes. An unreadable glimmer flashed through her eyes before she turned back to the count's son.
"Kind child, would you be willing to help me?"
"Your back is straight, your legs are strong, and this isn't difficult work for someone like you."
"Besides, my home isn't far from here. It's out on the wasteland beyond that mountain. We'll be there before long," said the old woman—Barbara, the Fourth-Ring Wizard—in a pitiful tone.
She successfully stirred the compassionate heart of the kind-hearted count's son.
"My father may not be a farmer but a wealthy old count," Mykes replied, "but to prove that the children of wealthy families can work just as well, I'd be happy to carry these things home for you."
After saying that, he turned to Levi.
"Mr. Levi, I'll help this poor old lady carry her things home first. When I get back, we can continue our walk."
No... you won't be coming back, Levi thought.
But he kept that to himself, merely casting Barbara a meaningful glance.
Barbara returned it with a faint, knowing smile.
Levi tightened his grip on the items inside his pocket.
They were the gifts—and means of self-defense—that Rapunzel's godmother had left him.
Among them were the three golden plates.
Two of them together were already capable of blocking attacks from a high-ranking Church Inquisitor with the strength of a Third-Ring Wizard.
With all three combined, their defensive power would only be greater.
That...
...was Levi's real trump card against a Fourth-Ring Wizard like Barbara.
After a brief silence, he spoke.
"My lord, if that's the case, may I accompany you to the old lady's home as well? I imagine she'd be willing to welcome me too."
There was a deeper meaning behind his words.
Barbara smiled knowingly.
"Of course. I welcome every adorable child."
Mykes was delighted to hear that. Having another companion along the way would make the journey much less dull.
He nodded.
"Then let's help Grandma carry the fodder home together."
"That would make me very happy," Barbara said. "The walk will take about an hour, though that shouldn't be any trouble for the two of you. Oh, and you'll need to carry those pears and apples as well."
Mykes immediately looked a little reluctant.
He had kindly offered to help the old woman carry her things, yet she was already asking for even more.
Barbara paid no attention to his hesitation.
She hoisted the enormous bundle of fodder onto his back, then hung the two baskets from his wrists.
Levi watched in silence for a moment before speaking.
"I'll carry the two baskets."
"Oh? Very well, if that's what you want."
Barbara gave Levi a peculiar look before removing the baskets from Mykes's wrists and hanging them on Levi's arms instead.
"Thank you, Mr. Levi. You really didn't have to do that."
Mykes looked at him gratefully, becoming even more convinced that Levi was a genuinely good person.
Levi simply smiled without saying anything, though his expression had grown serious.
The weight of the two baskets was completely wrong.
They felt like two small mountains.
Even with physical strength approaching that of a Sky Knight, he was barely able to endure them. He was right at his limit.
Levi looked up just in time to see Barbara staring at him with a smile that never reached her eyes.
His gaze shifted slightly, and he lowered his head without a word.
Only then did Barbara turn back to Mykes with a smile.
"There now. That young man has already taken the two baskets for you. You're only carrying this little bundle, and it's hardly heavy at all. Off you go."
Mykes wore a miserable expression.
"No... it isn't light."
He possessed the physique of a Knight, yet even he felt close to collapsing.
"This bundle of grass feels like a pile of rocks on my back. It's crushing the breath right out of me."
He desperately wanted to put everything down.
Barbara refused to let him.
"Look at you!" she mocked. "An old woman like me can carry these things without any trouble, yet a young man like you claims he can't?"
"You're certainly good at talking, but the moment it's time to do some real work, you start making excuses."
"You're not even as capable as that thoughtful young man over there."
Barbara pointed to Levi as an example.
In reality, Levi was struggling just as much.
He was forcing himself forward through sheer determination.
He knew Barbara had cast magic on the fodder, the apples, and the pears.
The spell specifically targeted physical strength.
The stronger a person's body was, the greater the suppression it exerted.
Which meant...
Levi was no better off than Mykes.
"What are you still standing there for?" Barbara barked.
After a brief pause, she snapped, "Move! Get moving!"
"You said you'd carry them, so you're going to carry them all the way home."
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