The Third Monster Mountain Range, on the outskirts of the forest.

White dragons twinkling in the sunlight chased each other, and mages and warriors scattered through the forest in search.

Today was their third day in the mountains, and they encountered many creatures that inhabited the forest, such as gnolls, elves, venom spiders, and even dwarves, but there was no sign of the druid.

"Could the druids be hiding from us?" Swayne played with a sword flower, leaving traces of their visit in an oak tree.

"I don't know, this forest is so big, we don't think we've come close to them yet." Sveane's uncle, Blom, with his broadsword, watched as the soldiers swung their swords and cleared the bushes.

It was still April, and in June and July, the druids couldn't see even if they were ten yards away.

"Uncle...... Why doesn't Lord Olmedo want to go to Gem City? Sveen took advantage of this to ask the doubts in his heart.

"What do you think?"

"Lord Annan said that he would give Lord Ormedo the position of deputy city lord, could it be that Lord Ormedo doesn't want to be under Lord Annan?"

"Do you think Olmedo-sama is such a person?"

“…… No. ”

Sveen shook his head earnestly.

Lord Olmedo's year as Lord of the City was at its most stable. The taxes of the nobles increased, the knights were paid, and the commoners did not starve. Compared with Annan's treatment of nobles and commoners equally, Olmedo's policy was more in line with the code of his noble knight.

"Keep thinking about it, and you'll understand it when you figure it out."

Sveen was about to speak, but Blom had already asked, "How did Annan know these druids?" ”

Svien, who was the captain of the Annan Knights, recalled, "I remember that Annan-sama put a magical image in the forest, and the druids seemed to be attracted to ......"

"Let's try it too?"

Swayne hesitated, "Does this work?" ”

"We didn't find it anyway."

Have a mage avoid the Pond Town and get the Philosopher's Stone first. As night fell, they laid down the Philosopher's Stone and exited the forest.

The light of "The Fall of the Mage Tower" flickered through the forest......

On the fourth day, the team entering the forest found that the Philosopher's Stone was missing.

"We've driven away all the aliens in the neighborhood, who will run in and take the Philosopher's Stone?"

At this time, the white dragon hovering above the forest made a discovery, and the dragon roared in warning.

The humans scattered in the forest rushed to the White Dragon's location and saw a tree-man druid holding a philosopher's stone and calmly facing the knights who surrounded him.

"Lord Druid, do you still know me?" Sveen offered to salute it.

The Treant Druid was much more vicissitudes than it had been a year ago, and there were a few more scratches on the bark.

"Are you Annan's bodyguard?" The Treant Druid recognized him.

"It's me, Lord Annan, who asked us to come to you, and his new territory is in trouble."

The Treant Druid's face furrowed, "I'm sorry, but we druids won't be involved in your human fights. ”

"It's not humans, it's your druid's avengers who are making trouble for Annan."

"Avenger ......" the Treant Druid made a rough grinding sound, "I'll go with you......"

……

"The port of Luce refuses to dock our merchant ships? Why? ”

Annan asked as he searched for the location of Port Luce on the map.

This is the port of the southwestern neighbor of the Duchy of Montabullock, the Kingdom of Selen. Half of Liberty City's neighbors – on the other side of the Forest Mountains is Port Luce.

The trade between Villefranche and Port Luce currently consisted of Faste pants and magical images being sold, and Annan couldn't think of a reason for the neighbor's change of face.

"It is said that because the mad dog archduke put pressure on them."

"The Kingdom of Salem was so frightened by the heir of a principality?"

"No, it's just that the sister of the Lord of the Wolf Boots, the controller of Port Luce, is...... One of the wives of the Mad Dog Grand Duke. ”

Damn aristocratic marriages.

"It's not just the Lord of the Wolf's Boots who has rejected us, Deep Blue Harbor and Wheat Ears have also cut off contact with us."

"I know Wheat Ears City...... Remember when the magic video was already shown over there? ”

"That's right."

"Then why are they giving up on cooperation?"

"The Mad Dog Grand Duke said he would take back the Jewel Bay before the rainy season...... Would you mind the life or death of the person who keeps your money with you? ”

"Mind me, if he dies, the money will be mine...... All right. ”

Annan just wanted to sigh at the fragile friendship, a shadow fell from the sky, and the majestic vertical pupils stared out of the window: "My! ”

Annan began to feel that it was a mistake to place Elimoas' lair next to the City Lord's Mansion.

"We're talking about finances." Annan, who explained, added: "Your Highness the Princess, please set an example in front of your younger brothers and sisters. ”

Seeing Elimayas return to the skies, I hope poor Kritalia will get their own payment today.

The Deep Blue Harbor and Wheat Ears were marked on the map respectively, and the Mad Dog Grand Duke in the north was added to vaguely form an encirclement of the isolated Free City......

"The Mad Dog Grand Duke doesn't look like a mad dog right now."

Annan couldn't help but miss his neighbor in Starmoon Bay, Gema Diatra of Glacier Harbor, that was really stupid...... An Nanning would like to believe that someone is actually behind the scenes to advise the Mad Dog Grand Duke, just like herself.

And it's all Gema, and the female halfling is much cuter than the boy who looks like a girl.

"There's one more thing you need to know." Ingrid became more serious: "Some of the inhabitants are quietly believing in the gods. ”

"Quietly?"

"Hmm...... Because they're afraid you'll not allow their faith, but they're not afraid of breaking the rules of Liberty City. ”

"Our Liberty City Code doesn't restrict people's beliefs."

"We don't have any churches either."

The reason for not building a church is simple - the gods are missing, and there are too many of them.

Human gods, elven gods, orc gods, dwarf gods......

Primordial God, Lord God, Subordinate God, Professional God......

The beliefs of human beings are mixed, from the goddess of the sea to the sea, the silver lady representing the moon, the primitive goddess of storms, and to the merchant to the goddess of trade and wealth, the goddess of luck, and the goddess of nobility. The nobles also believed in the gods of nobility, and they also believed in the Lady of Joy and the goddess of joy and dance.

Even Lily has faith: the cat and the Midnight lady.

These mainstream gods that are believed in by humans add up to more than the buildings of Liberty City. Annan could not have wasted it on them. To put it mildly, Annan prefers to use his brand new houses to house refugees rather than cold statues of gods.

But as Liberty City becomes a city-state in the future, these are questions after all.

This is the wizarding world, and the unbelievers will only be ostracized, and the city of the untrustworthy will not end well.

(End of chapter)