It's been half a month since Fern and Stan returned to Deville, and every morning they would ride out to the woods outside the city to practice their swords, and only at dusk did they drag their tired bodies back to the city. Then they would go to the Queen's favor for a drink, and by the way see if Rhodes had returned.

When Fern had just returned to Dver half a month earlier to step into the Queen's favor, he was surprised to find that Rhodes was not in the tavern, and it was the bookkeeper Voss, who greeted the two of them in his place. Today, it's still Voss in command of the store.

"Hasn't Rhodes come back yet? didn't he say where he was?" Fern followed Voss's lead to the table near the corner.

"Fern, it's not that you don't know him, he often disappears without saying a word, and if he hadn't paid me enough, I would have ...... a long time ago" Voss immediately shut his mouth and glanced at the mercenary secretly, seeing that he didn't care what he said, before continuing, "And you really don't have to ask the same questions every day, and the answers I give will only be exactly the same." Voss and Fern knew each other well, and they didn't speak in the slightest.

"Hey, I've got something to look for him too, this guy will be out for three months......" Fern sat down in thought.

"If you want me to say, if you really have to wait for him, I advise you to think of an alternative. Voss didn't pay any attention to Fern and looked at Stan, who was sitting on the other side. "What do you two want?"

"Two jugs of rum, two large pots of beef in sauce, and a pot of kale. Stan patted his stomach and practiced swords for a day, and he couldn't wait to eat a big meal.

Stan anxiously waits for the food and drinks, and when he sees that Fern is still thinking, he pats him on the shoulder. "Okay Fern, don't think about it, anyway, we don't have anywhere else to go now, just practice swords here every day, just wait for Rod to come back and ask him if he doesn't do it, it's useless to think about it too much." ”

Fern was startled by the knight's slap and immediately came to his senses. "You're right, but what if Ness's or Quiai's letter came before Rhodes returned? ”

"In my opinion, Ferne, they won't write to you so soon, Queai probably will, and I think you'd better not get your hopes up if you're going to say Ness. The knight said casually, looking in the direction of the kitchen.

"Why?" Fern suddenly raised his voice.

Stan realizes he's talking too much. "I'm sorry, Fern, I didn't mean to hit you, but you can imagine that Ness will have a lot to do when she returns to the Mage Tower, and besides, she is so well-behaved and lovely, and now she has become the focus of the Mage Tower, there will definitely be many male mages who will take the opportunity to get close to her, after all, she is just a little girl, and it will not be easy to withstand so many temptations. ”

"Hell, how do you understand this, and what you say is justified?" Fern didn't think so, but in his heart he was anxious about what Stan said. "I think I'd better go to the Mage Tower to find her first, whether she writes or not. ”

"I think you're still looking forward to hearing from Quiai, and I think she'll write to you anyway. Stan shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.

Fern looked blankly at the tavern door. "The distance between two people is so far, unless there is some bond connecting the two, it will definitely become weaker and weaker as time goes by, after all, the intersection between the two will become less and less. ”

A maid with a freckled nose delicately brings Stan's order to the table, then winks at Stan and whispers in the knight's ear as she bends down to put the flask. "Hello, Mr. Knight, remember my name, Charlene, I will work here until midnight tonight, you can wait for me here. With that, the girl blew lightly into Stan's ear and ran back to the kitchen with a smile.

"You're really popular here, and if I'm not mistaken, I'm the third maid to flirt with you. Seeing that the food and drinks were already on the table, Fern decided not to think about those annoying things for the time being, and to fill his stomach first, and then rest when he was drunk.

Stan fills his glass for Fern and himself, smiling helplessly. "It's the same as you said here, you can see Lil's shadow on every girl, but that's not what I need, Fern, you know what I need. ”

"The process is just as important, perhaps more important than the result. Fern raised his glass, toasted Stan, and drank it down.

Stan laughs and gulps it down. That's just as true for you. ”

Fern was just about to fill the wine glass for the two of them again, when the wind chimes rang at the door, and a burly figure walked in. "Vos, why is business so bad, you must be lazy when I'm not there, you see, the two tall guys over there just ordered this, why don't you ......" Before he finished speaking, the figure turned around and wanted to run out of the tavern, but Fern had already set his eyes on him.

"Rod, stop!" Fern yelled, and the people in the tavern looked at him in amazement.

Rod looked back with a smile on his face. "Fern, it's you, when did you come back?How's the commission going?Where did the rich lady go?" he said, walking slowly towards Fern.

"Sit down. Fern lifted his chin across the table. "I have a lot of questions for you. Then he commanded in a loud voice to Voss, "Two more beers, Rod is in for a treat." ”

The wine came up immediately, and Fern poured Rhodes a glass. "Rod, no, it should be Barrede, where have you been all this time?"

Rod looked around nervously, then glared at Fern and lowered his voice, "Be quiet, Fern, as long as you still call me Rode, I will answer your questions." ”

Fern smirked. "Well, Rod, do you have anything to offer?"

Rod drank the wine from the glass in one gulp and poured it again. "You must already know that the sword I gave you is one of the three swords in the stone. After receiving an affirmative nod from Fern, Rod continued. "That's right, I'm Oberon's successor, but the name Barrede, I'd rather forget. ”

"Why? And ...... How did you get Oberon?" Fern sipped slowly.

"Why? It's a long story, let's talk about the latter first. The sword in the stone is passed down from swordsman to swordsman, as long as the previous swordsman is willing, he can give it to others at any time, and at the same time give the blessing of the swordsman, the sword in the stone is spiritual, and it will not succumb to the person who forcibly takes it. Rod's gaze looked at Fern forcefully, after all, he was much older than Fern, and he was still a senior for mercenaries.

"And how did you know Byron? and Elonhan, I guess you know. Stan asked, shoving a piece of beef sauce into his mouth.

"The two of them. Rod smirked. "The three of us were apprentices of the Oberon lineage at the time, and in the end, in a competition, I won the final victory, so our swordsman gave it to me. ”

Stan almost squirts out the innermost beef. "What? You actually have the same master?"

Fern also widened his mouth in shock. "They lost to you?"

Rod looked at the surprised two people in front of him in confusion. "What? Do you have a chance to fight them?"

"Yes, I've fought against Elonhan, and he's so strong that I'm no match for him. Fern deliberately didn't say anything about how he was almost killed by Elonhan and then saved by Ness, and he didn't think Rhodes could understand.

"It seems that you still need to hone a little more, although Elonhan is strong, he is not invincible, he has obvious weaknesses. Rod's eyes narrowed, as if he had returned to the moment of the showdown with Elonhan.

Stan couldn't sit still, and the knight looked at Rhodes sincerely. "Senior, please teach us swordsmanship, although the two of us have been practicing swordsmanship together, but if we only practice by ourselves, it seems that we have reached a bottleneck, if you can guide us, we will be grateful. ”

"Oh?" Rod glanced at Stan with an eyebrow raised. "It's okay if you want me to teach you, but you have to promise me two conditions. ”

"You say, we'll do our best. Stan replied excitedly, seeing that there was hope.

"First of all, you can't ask me where I've been for these three months. As soon as Rod finished the first point, Fern's cheeks twitched visibly, and Rod looked at Fern with a smile. "Second, don't tell anyone who knows that the sword in your hand is Oberon, and that I taught you how to use the sword. ”

Stan blinked, completely unaware of what was wrong with either of them. "No problem, we'll do it. ”

Rod nodded at Stan in satisfaction, then looked at Fern obliquely. "How are you, Ferne?"

Fern sighed as he feigned disappointment. "It seems that I have no choice, I don't want to lose to my peers. ”

"Don't worry, you and Stan have a good foundation, which is why I'm willing to teach you, otherwise I wouldn't have taken in apprentices at will. Rod gulped down, completely unaware that he had revealed a flaw.

Fern slowly lifted his glass, pouring the rest of the wine into his mouth, the corners of his mouth showing imperceptible curves.