# Chapter 9: Ying's Concern
Seeing this scene, the warrior stopped in his tracks. He turned around, put down the giant beast's head in his hand, and walked toward Kili and the others.
The one old, one wounded, and one unconscious before him were all his father's most capable subordinates, and could be considered Joshua's elders—of course, now they were his subordinates, but that wasn't how the logic worked. Facing these people he had known since childhood, he naturally had to go greet them.
However, the moment they encountered each other, the warrior furrowed his brow. He stopped walking, looked at the green-haired half-elf with a puzzled expression, then turned to the white-haired mage and asked, "Mr. Lawrence... who is this?"
"Ah?"
Caught off guard, Kili, who was walking in front, hadn't reacted yet.
He had seen Joshua as a child and, under the old Count's instructions, had taught him how to use weapons. Because he could imagine what that young boy would look like when he grew up, he didn't find this face unfamiliar. But the half-elf warrior never expected that the other party seemed to have no memory of him at all, and he immediately felt deeply wounded inside.
"Don't be foolish. Your helmet fell off."
A sigh came from beside him, accompanied by Feng's voice: "He's never seen your face before. It's perfectly normal that he doesn't recognize you."
Hearing the word "helmet," Joshua suddenly understood: "Teacher Kili!"
After saying this, the warrior's expression turned strange—putting everything else aside, the green-haired half-elf before him had an exceptionally handsome face. Although dense magical runes covered his profile, it didn't diminish his charm in the slightest. More importantly, this guy looked even younger than him, completely different from the stern and imposing tall warrior in his memory!
Even though Joshua's facial features were sharp and defined, he was still a young man in his early twenties. The other party was of the same generation as his father, at least forty or fifty years old, yet he looked younger than him... No wonder he usually used a masked helmet to cover his face. The magical runes were secondary; if the knights in the order saw their direct superior still looking so young and handsome after all these years, the double blow of age and appearance would surely crush their morale.
Feng didn't find it strange at all. He respectfully bowed to Joshua and said, "Lord, this isn't the right place to talk. If possible, please wait in the fortress's meeting room for a while. After Kili and I send Zolgen for medical treatment, we'll immediately come report on this Black Tide situation."
"There's no need to be so formal, Mr. Lawrence."
Waving his hand, Joshua sighed: "This time, the fault is mine. Several days passed without contact, yet I still didn't react, thinking it was because everything was fine..."
"This is a problem of communication being blocked. No one could have predicted the Black Tide would come so quickly. Besides, there weren't many casualties in the end. It's just that the city wall collapsed and needs to be rebuilt."
Taking over the conversation, Kili, who had come back to his senses, shook his head and said: "And now the magic tide has receded. Before the next Gold-rank magical beast appears, they probably won't dare to come out. We have plenty of time to repair it. Compared to previous times, this loss isn't too great."
His gaze shifted slightly, and he saw the silver, shiny egg-shaped object in the warrior's hand. Natural curiosity made the half-elf ask one more question: "What's that?"
"This? It's something I found inside the giant beast's body."
Joshua didn't think much of it and briefly explained: "Mammoth beasts usually eat grass for a living. Although not exactly docile, they never actively attack other creatures. As the top of the ecological layer, if not for it, the giant beast would never have appeared in the beast tide."
Beside him, Feng stared at this silver egg, his brow gradually furrowing.
A familiar aura emanated from it. He felt like he had sensed it somewhere before.
But now wasn't the time to discuss this. The white-haired mage thought to himself, then said, "Zolgen's injuries are severe. We'll see you in the meeting room later, Lord."
---
—Outside the city, south of Black Forest Fortress.
The silver-haired girl rode a black warhorse, galloping across the white snowfield. Horse hooves kicked up snow dust, leaving behind a trail of marks.
Before Ying's eyes stood the tall city wall of Black Forest Fortress facing the snowfield. The gray-white giant rocks were almost the same color as the surrounding environment. At a glance, it was completely impossible to spot them.
She had been searching back and forth across the snowfield for the past two days. The dense fog had interfered with communications, making it impossible for Joshua and her to find the exact location of the fortress. They could only head in the direction of the mountains they could see, circling along the mountain base—fortunately, they finally found it in the end.
Arriving at the fortress gate, the Divine Mechanism girl was somewhat surprised to find the soldiers on guard looking perfectly calm, as if the shrill alarm that had come from the communication array not long ago had never sounded. They curiously watched this silver-haired girl riding a warhorse, looking very young, and speculated about her origins.
Ying didn't think too much. She decisively dismounted, led the black horse, and showed the nameplate proving her identity to the city guards on the wall. Light flashed, and her name and origin were projected into the air. A nameplate with magical fluctuations couldn't be forged, so a small door beside the massive gate was immediately opened.
"Lord should be in the meeting room next to the central tower of the fortress."
While passing through the passage, she was given this information. Although she could sense where her contractor was, the silver-haired girl still politely thanked the soldier before walking out of the passage.
What appeared before her was a street bustling with people.
Many wounded warriors stood outside various medical rooms waiting, some even treating their wounds right on the street. The few Silver-rank warriors and archers who had suffered relatively minor injuries were already running around everywhere, maintaining order.
But the Silver-rank mages were nowhere to be seen. Ying did spot a robed figure at the other end of the street. He was holding his head while walking on the stone path, looking quite uncomfortable.
This was normal. Facing war and endless magical beasts, the noble profession of mages couldn't leverage its advantages. Powerful targeted spells were useless against the Black Tide, where monster attributes numbered in the hundreds. Except for certain specially advanced war mages, this was basically the case.
Ying had imagined many scenarios. The worst was that the fortress had already been breached, the city burning in flames, black smoke pillars rising everywhere, and the air filled with the stench of burnt flesh. The best was that the city wall hadn't been breached yet, with soldiers and civilians defending against the enemy's invasion on the walls... But such a peaceful scene as now—she had never even thought of it!
How long had it been? Not even two hours. Had the Black Tide really ended so quickly?
Asking a city guard by the roadside, Ying smoothly obtained the information she wanted.
"What? It was really resolved that quickly..."
Letting out a long sigh, the silver-haired girl felt joy at her master's victory and strength, yet also somewhat dejected: "But unfortunately, I had no part in this glory... Even though I'm a weapon, I don't get the chance to be used... Sigh..."
This feeling was truly hard to describe.
Ying naturally knew that this kind of thinking was wrong. How to use a tool was the master's business. As an implement, if it wasn't needed, she should stay hidden in its sheath and wait quietly. Wanting to appear on stage was a sign of immaturity and might even interfere with the master's judgment.
Although she understood the logic and recognized its correctness, she was still somewhat afraid.