“An ordinary person without much experience, but he seems a bit interesting. That little girl, though, she’s a real promising one…”
In a barely noticeable corner of the dense forest, an old white-haired crone spoke with conviction.
“Old hag, what do you think?”
“Hard to say… Just now, the first one to make a move was clearly that boy. It was that little girl who wanted to act first, and only then did the boy give way.”
“So what? That just means the boy doesn’t know his own limits. Or do you think he can hide his strength right under our noses?”
“That’s true. Even Matt, that kid, trying to hide his strength from this old man—it’s still far too early for that.”
As he spoke, the old man shook his head and, as if nothing had happened, popped the lollipop in his hand into his mouth.
The old crone beside him gave him a look of disdain.
At their age, he was still eating something only little children would eat.
Thinking this with scorn, she quietly took out the cloth pouch hidden securely at her chest, carefully pulled out a chocolate stick, glanced at the old man again with contempt, then proudly tore open the wrapper and smugly put it into her mouth.
The old man snorted as well, shooting her a mocking glance.
Almost at the same time, both of them cursed inwardly.
‘Elementary schooler!’
***
After leaving with Sara, Li Xian continued to lead her toward the Imperial Capital, hoping to arrive before nightfall; otherwise, they’d have to spend another night outdoors.
At this time, in the Imperial Capital.
Inside a resplendent palace, Ellie looked irritably at the head of the Imperial Guard, who was kneeling on the floor, drenched in cold sweat.
Her expression was grim as she said, “Still haven’t found him?”
“This…” The head of the Imperial Guard gave a wry smile and said, “Princess, the Northern Wildwood is so vast. Even if you order us to search, the number of Imperial Guards…”
The Imperial Guard was indeed the royal family’s private force, but they couldn’t compare to a real army.
The Imperial Guard was made up of elite experts, but there weren’t many of them.
The Northern Wildwood was huge, and the clues provided by the Princess were very vague.
How could it be easy to find someone there?
Besides, he still doubted whether such a person even existed.
The Princess’s story sounded almost too fantastical.
A Legendary powerhouse even stronger than Lord Elvis—there were probably only a handful like that on the entire continent, if any at all.
In his opinion, it was possible there was a Legendary-level expert, since there were reports of a Legendary Beast appearing in the Northern Wildwood, with Matt as a witness, so that couldn’t be fake.
He guessed that the Legendary expert and Matt had joined forces to take down the Legendary Beast.
As for his strength, at most, it would be about the same as Lord Elvis.
If he could believe that much, then the rest of what the Princess had told him, he took as nothing more than a story.
Such a Legendary powerhouse, on par with the Empire’s top ace mage Lord Elvis, was supposedly a young man?
That was just nonsense!
But since the Princess insisted, saying they had to find this person, as her subordinate, he couldn’t openly contradict her.
All he could do was arrange for his men to make a token search.
As for whether they could find him—the answer was obviously no.
After all, this person might not even exist.
Maybe he was just a figment of the Princess’s imagination while she was in a daze.
And as for that Legendary expert—Legendary figures were always as elusive as dragons, never seen in full.
How could finding one be so easy?
“Keep searching. You must find him!”
Ellie waved her hand impatiently.
“I understand, Princess.” The head of the Imperial Guard could only reply helplessly and turn to leave the palace.
The sound of the door closing echoed.
Now, only Ellie remained in the hall.
She sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her knees.
The images from before she lost consciousness surfaced faintly in her mind.
She couldn’t be wrong!
She had a gut feeling that the person was the Legendary Knight she had always dreamed of since she was a child—the one who would forever protect her.
She had to find him, no matter what!
But once she calmed down, she understood that sending the Imperial Guard to search the Northern Wildwood was like fishing for a needle in the sea.
Besides, he might have already left the Northern Wildwood…
Wait, left the Northern Wildwood?
Ellie’s brows suddenly lifted as if she’d thought of something.
Why had her Legendary Knight appeared in the Northern Wildwood in the first place?
Judging by his direction, wasn’t the most likely destination the Imperial Capital?!
“Someone.” She called into the empty room, and immediately a figure dressed in black appeared outside the door, kneeling.
“Investigate the towns on the other side of the Northern Wildwood. Gather all recent news from those cities related to the Imperial Capital and bring it to me.”
The black-clad figure made no sound, silently leaving.
Ellie gazed at the empty palace, a glint of excitement flashing in her eyes.
Even though she knew the chances of everything being as she imagined were slim, she still had to try.
She had to find the one who slew the Giant Demon with a single sword, the Ice Sword Saint who cut down legends in one stroke, and then… beg him to become her knight.
From then on, she would no longer need to live in fear, nor fear those restless scoundrels of the Empire!