Chapter 77: The Law Enforcement Family

  The Mordok family was not well-known in Oserdin, they were not even citizens of Oserdin. But this ancient family did indeed take root in Oserdin and multiplied.

  As the former chief wizard of the Velsa Empire, the third disciple under his seat, and a magical apprentice recorded by his eldest disciple, Ezak Maldoth luckily survived the long and cruel battle of the War of Gods. The instability of a magical apprentice in casting often results in a local explosion or ineffectiveness of magic - which is of no benefit to war. Moreover, the wizard tower also needs people to guard it.

  But the war would not spare any potential participant, especially mages. The mage tower of the chief mage was destroyed in a battle, and even the dense shields and preset protective spells could not stop an army fighting for God. When the high tower slowly fell under the impact of siege engines, Ezak Murdock had already escaped far away with some of his fellow apprentices. He looked back at the slowly collapsing high tower, with a crystal tear in the corner of his eye...

  These are his words in his memoirs, true or false is unknown.

  In the midst of a chaotic world, Isaac finally waited for the day when the war ended. He returned to the ruins of the mage tower, avoiding the still-effective spell traps, and found some relics from his teacher and his teacher's teacher. The relics were not particularly powerful, as the powerful ones had been plundered by the destroyers and reckless scavengers, ultimately destroyed on the battlefield or hidden in the cellar at home, or even taken into the grave.

  What Isaac got was a few books of spells. According to his perspective when he first started learning magic, the contents were only mid-tier magic that any "Mr. Mage" would cast.

  But that's old news. Those "Mister Clerics" basically all died in the wars over faith.

  "This is an era belonging to magical apprentices, this is an era where small characters create great history!"

  This comes from Isaac's memoirs. This book, with its pages made of the finest vellum, its cover made of secret silver, and its title and author written in gold, was now being held by a child who looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old.

  "Father." The little kid looked up and said to the middle-aged man in front of him who was wearing a black robe, "Isn't there any other book to read at home?"

  "That middle-aged man frowned: "Andy! Be careful what you say! What you hold in your hand is the precious wealth left by our ancestors, it's the immortal masterpiece written by the great Isaac ancestor combining his own life experience! Every member of the Murdoch family must study his spirit and then bring this respectable spirit into endless magical research!"

  "Yes, Father, I know." The little guy nodded desperately, "Ezra Murdock is the greatest wizard, he saved the records of magic from a destroyed civilization, so that this wonderful technology would not be lost."

  "This is more like it."

  "But isn't it a bit inappropriate to write this in an autobiography?"

  "You... forget it, I won't bother with you." The middle-aged man shook his head, looking utterly disgusted. "Remember, no discussing the ancestors of Isaac!"

  "It is...". Andy lowered his head and then raised it again. "But aren't there any other books to read?"

  "Don't you see the history of the mainland?"

  "There are too many contradictory and inexplicable places, it's meaningless. It's not as good as a traveling poet..." Andy said here, suddenly stopped talking.

  "Minstrel?!" The middle-aged man stepped forward in front of Andy, "You sneaked out again?"

  "No!" The little guy looked innocent, "I just thought of things from before."

  The middle-aged man stared suspiciously at Andy, while Andy flashed his pure eyes and made eye contact with his father.

  "Anyone who can become a Fa Shi is not stupid, don't think you've passed this time." The middle-aged man threw down the words, "From today on, don't even think about sneaking out again."

  Having said that, he hummed and turned around to leave, leaving Andy alone in the study room in a daze.

  "Call it, no matter how smart you are, you can't be sure I'm lying." Seeing his father walk out the door, Andy shed his stunned expression and replaced it with a relaxed and mocking one.

  He got up and walked two steps in the study, came to the window, and gazed into the distance.

  "Don't think about running away again?" The little guy chuckled, "I've been hearing this phrase since I was a kid."

  His eyes held a yearning for the outside world.

  On the frozen wasteland, the First Army was stationed.

  "Building a castle and recruiting barbarians?" Ewida Heinrich looked at the document in his hand, furrowing his brow.

  "Recruit barbarians?" The chiliarchs inside the commander's tent were all shocked, their eyes wide with doubt as they looked at their commander.

  "The King's decree." Iwida shook the parchment in her hand, "Exterminate all tribes that resist us, accept all barbarians who wish to surrender to Odin. Let them build fortresses outside the border and then settle around the new city."

  "Barbarians converting to Odin?" A chiliarch sneered, "After so many years of killing each other, can they put it down?"

  Another chiliarch shook his head: "Perhaps it can be done, Ousadin indeed has examples of barbarian assimilation."

  "That's just someone else." The third centurion raised an objection, "But this time it's obviously to let us be absorbed tribe by tribe, which is a different story."

  You spoke and I replied, inside the commander's tent, the twelve chiliarchs were discussing heatedly.

  "That's enough, let's stop here." Iwida stopped the discussion under her hand, "This kind of chaotic situation can't solve any problem."

  The leaders of the thousand men originally only wanted to express their own views, but upon hearing this, they immediately fell silent.

  "The king's orders are absolute and must be carried out. What we need to consider is how to complete this task beautifully." Iwida set the tone for the discussion, "You all speak up."

  While the war council was in session, a meeting was also being held in another tent by the army chaplain of Odin's Temple.

  "Odin's followers." The black-robed bishop held up a parchment scroll to his chest, "The Temple's orders have arrived."

  The priest below clasped his hands together under his chin and bowed his head in prayer: "Odin protect the Ostendians, for freedom."

  The archbishop unfolded the scroll in his hand, glanced at it, and read aloud: "You, Odin's messengers on earth, are needed by Osedin. You must obey the orders of the military commander and spread Odin's will across this barren land. The most important task on this journey is to make those lost barbarians submit to civilization and listen to Odin's teachings. All for freedom."

  "Freedom."

  Then there was a small commotion.

  "Silence!" the bishop thundered.

  Everyone fell silent and looked at the bishop.

  But the bishop didn't know what to say either. To be honest, he himself was also puzzled by this instruction. Looking at the meaning, it seems that they want to make the barbarians convert to Odin. Is it really that easy? Haven't we given up on such efforts hundreds of years ago?

  "What we must do is follow the instructions of the temple." The bishop said, suddenly thinking of some possibilities, "In conjunction with the military's might, it may not be impossible to spread Odin's teachings far and wide."

  "Like the white devils of Tannenberg?" a bold priest asked.

  The high priest shook his head: "Of course not. We are mainly for revenge, not to spread the doctrine, which is different from the priests of the sun god. We don't have to force the barbarians to convert to Odin, we just accept those tribes that are willing to surrender."

  "This..." The pastor wanted to argue back, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was indeed so and also stopped talking.

  "Alright, everyone go back to your respective troops and continue working. I think we should set off in two days."

  The discussion has already ended inside the tent.

  "Orderly!" Iwida called out to the soldier beside him, "Go tell Bishop Gai that we depart tomorrow."

  He then turned to the chiliarchs under his command and said: "You scatter all the light cavalry under your command, coordinate with each other, and don't have four or five thousand-man teams scouting in one area. How many scouts are in a group is up to you, but ensure safety - our enemy has crossbows. Report any unusual findings to me here, understood?

  "Understood!" They all patted their chests and shouted in unison.

  "Go."

  After the main force of the First Army set out, the Northern Volunteer Army happened to arrive at the border.

  After standing for a while on the empty ground that had been swept clean, each of the thousands of troops received orders to disperse and set up camp to rest.

  According to their superiors' instructions, these new recruits will bring the tents from the recruit camp all the way and set them up on the spot.

  "Joni, the tents are all set up, are we just going to stay on the border?" William asked, leaning in close to Joni.

  Joanie directed his subordinates to open the tents brought from the heavy truck, and replied without turning back: "Who knows? Just follow orders. For so many days, there has been no military news, I guess the enemy is far away from the border, even if we launch an attack, we won't be able to fight a battle."

  "I knew I shouldn't have come." William took the giant sword off his back, hugged it in his arms and sat down on a pile of wood nearby, sighing, "I didn't think there would be no battle to fight."

  "Maybe later." Joanie turned around, facing William, "Don't think you can slack off, get up and come help."

  "It's been seen through." William stood up with a sulk, "How many of you can do it, why do you still need to add me?"

  "If five people can do it, four people can too; if four people can do it, three people can also; if three people can do it... Well, if you keep running your mouth, we'll reasonably have to let you set up the tent by yourself." Johnny sneered coldly.

  At these words, several people who were shaking out the canvas looked up at William, their eyes filled with expectation.

  "What do you want me to do?" William spat twice into his palm, "I'm a diligent person, speak up, what do you want me to do?"

  As a wartime material transit station, a simple wooden house has been hastily built by the thousand-strong troops left behind. At this time, the officers of the volunteer army are having talks with the commander of the garrison in the wooden house.

  "Are we just going to stay here?" the commander of the volunteer army shouted excitedly, "With nearly 10,000 volunteer soldiers, standing guard like fools at the gates of Ossedin? For what? To prevent the cold winds from the north from blowing into Ossedin's territory?"

  "General, please don't get agitated. The enemy's location is still unclear, and by staying here, you can also help alleviate the logistical pressure on the First Army."

  "Nonsense!" A chiliarch slammed the table, "If you really think logistics are under pressure, then don't deploy us! If you really think there's pressure, then don't gather those new recruits!"

  "That's not right," said the one who stayed behind, his face stern. "Recruiting volunteer soldiers is an order from the capital, this has nothing to do with us."

  "Cut the nonsense." The general spoke up, "And stop pretending with us. That little kid Iwida is also someone I've known since childhood, what he's thinking I don't know? Let me tell you, don't look down on my troops just because they're new recruits, when it comes to fighting we won't be much worse off! You immediately dispatch a cavalryman to bring word to your general and ask him how he plans to deploy the troops under my command."

  "But, General, didn't our general tell you to stay and guard this place..."

  "Cut the crap!" The military commander, who looked quite refined, slammed his hand on the table. "I'm already furious that I wasn't assigned to a front-line unit, don't add fuel to the fire!"

  "Yes, yes, I'll have the signal soldier report your arrival to our commander-in-chief, including your request. For now, please stay here first."

  "This is more like it." The volunteer army commander nodded in satisfaction, then switched to a polite expression, "I apologize for my earlier impulsiveness, please forgive me."

  "It's all right, it's all right." The garrison commander wiped his forehead, "It's all right."

  The Murdoch family's castle is in disarray.

  "Master gone missing again?" Wesley Mortlake rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. He was the middle-aged man, Andy Mortlake's father, the current head of the Mortlake family and teacher of all apprentice mages within the castle.

  As a family with a long tradition of single inheritance, the sudden disappearance of the heir is always very distressing.

  "Find! Go around the city and find it for me!" Wesley shouted somewhat out of control, "Bring that little brat back to me! It's too much!"

  That's too much! Andy's enthusiasm for the troubadour has his parents worried.

  "Be careful, don't make too much noise, if you cause trouble outside the castle I won't be able to help you." Wesley calmed down and instructed his butler, "Wait a minute, let me take a look."

  He pulled out a handful of powder from the material bag at his waist, bowed his head in contemplation for a moment, then sprinkled the powder into the air, his fingers rapidly changing postures as he muttered to himself.

  "Wesley opened his eyes slightly and said to his butler: 'Northeast direction, just left the castle, not far away. Go chase!'"

  "Yes, master." The butler bowed and quickly exited.

  "Can't you just let me catch my breath?" Wesley slumped back in his chair, adjusting his breathing and suppressing the discomfort of the spell.

  And his son, Andy Murdock, was now running down the road to freedom.

  "Freedom, what a wonderful word! Praise you, Odin, thank you for spreading the light of freedom to humanity!" The little guy shouted excitedly as he ran.