# Chapter 17: We Are Watching You
"Oh?"
After exchanging a glance with Ying and then looking at Lin, the black-haired boy also shook his head in confusion. None of the three recognized the other party. It seemed they were indeed complete strangers. This made Joshua somewhat curious.
The other two hadn't recognized him—why could this priest?
He looked curiously at the middle-aged priest, who was tall and held a heavy mace capable of easily shattering armor, and asked, "Do you know me?"
It would take a blind man not to recognize him.
The bishop first looked at Kate and Jean, who were still on guard, with a gaze as if they were fools. Then he coughed, cleared his throat, stepped forward with a smile, and extended his hand to Joshua, speaking loudly: "I've long heard of your reputation, the Dragon-Slaying Lord of the Northern Lands, the master of Moldavia, Lord Joshua van Radcliffe. Your arrival here is truly our fortune."
To prompt those two, the bishop deliberately called out several of Joshua's titles. Kate and Jean weren't fools either—the moment they heard the term "Dragon Slayer," they immediately realized who the person before them was.
Even so, the two still muttered inwardly.
He doesn't look like it at all!
Doesn't match the records!
This wasn't entirely their fault. Heavy-armored swordsman Kate, as the fortress garrison commander, belonged to the Imperial military system. He naturally knew about the lord of the neighboring Moldavia Territory in the Northern Lands and kept a close eye on news about him. After all, whether it was repelling the Black Tide, closing the space-time gate, or slaying a dragon, these were all top-tier news stories—how could anyone not pay attention to such information?
Unfortunately, military records weren't updated promptly. The portrait of Joshua in his possession was still from a few years ago. Although the man's appearance hadn't changed much, the warrior's aura was vastly different, making him look like a completely different person. Under tension, it was understandable that he couldn't identify him.
As for Jean's side, the reason was even simpler: due to poor information flow and Joshua's generally reclusive lifestyle, aside from the Imperial nobility having his portrait, mercenary factions like his only had basic information about such a high-ranking noble, and it was rarely updated. If not for the bishop's explanation, he would never have imagined that the man before him, who looked like some evil demon king from who-knows-where, was the lord of the neighboring territory.
Since the misunderstanding was resolved, there was no need to remain on guard. In a harmonious atmosphere, Joshua, accompanied by Ying and Lin, met with these high-ranking officials of the Ural Mountains one by one and conducted friendly negotiations.
Through conversation and self-introductions, Joshua learned that the bishop's name was Sig Daral. He was originally the second son of a minor local noble in the Ural Mountains. After coming of age, he was sent to a monastery in the Imperial Capital for further study. Unexpectedly, upon returning to his hometown, Sig rose through the ranks and became the diocesan bishop. In terms of power, he even surpassed his elder brother, who had inherited the title. The reason he could recognize Joshua so quickly was precisely because his brother frequently mentioned this prominent figure from the Northern Lands.
"A lord who accomplishes even one of the things he has done in a lifetime can be considered accomplished..."
In the family estate, his elder brother would sigh like this from time to time, and Sig deeply agreed. As a Gold-rank himself, he admitted he couldn't accomplish any of those feats. So when facing Joshua, he showed sincere admiration.
"Well then, Lord Count, what do you plan to do next?"
After learning that the earlier pillar of holy light was caused by a holy relic on Joshua reacting naturally to expel a curse placed on him, and that the subsequent commotion was merely his counterattack, Kate, as the garrison commander of Ural Fortress, felt it wasn't appropriate to demand compensation.
After all, an Imperial Count being attacked in his jurisdiction was a stain on his political career. The position of Ural Fortress garrison commander lasted ten years, carried great authority, and involved little major work—it was essentially a stepping stone to higher office. The heavy-armored swordsman naturally didn't want this perfect resume to have any blemishes.
Jean had already taken his leave. This mage had originally been conducting an experiment. Now that he understood the cause of the earlier holy light phenomenon, he naturally didn't want to stay longer. After bidding farewell to the warrior, he used a spell to return directly to his laboratory.
"I originally planned to travel slowly and teleport to the Imperial Capital when the time was right."
Joshua was in a good mood after just killing two enemies who had cursed him through the space-time channel, so he spoke more than usual: "Now it seems better to go there sooner."
As he said this, the system also notified him that the Ultimate Essence Trial mission was now one-thirtieth complete, indicating that both beings on the other side of the space-time channel were Gold-rank.
However, this also struck Joshua as somewhat strange. He naturally knew the extent of his power, but even as strong as he was, he wasn't confident he could kill two Gold-rank beings with a single punch.
It seems those two were already heavily wounded by the Sage's power. Otherwise, even I couldn't kill a Gold-rank existence in one strike.
After thinking briefly, Joshua quickly guessed the reason for that battle result, which made things much more reasonable. And thinking of the Sage's terrifying power, even he couldn't help but feel his heart surge with excitement and longing.
That was what he wanted to pursue.
At this moment, both Kate and Sig could tell that the warrior had no patience to linger. So the two tactfully didn't say much more, took their leave, and said they would meet again when there was time.
To be honest, they were also quite busy. Since Joshua hadn't come to cause destruction and had no other business for now, there was no need to accompany and watch him constantly. The many patrolling knights in the fortress were enough to observe the warrior's movements in their stead.
Joshua also had no intention of staying long. After finding the coachman, paying his wages, and telling him to return to Moldavia, the three of them headed straight toward the center of Ural Fortress.
Being suddenly cursed had somewhat alerted Joshua, but he had already guessed the enemy's identity. The greatest advantage of curses—'the unknown'—had been completely eliminated. Coupled with the Azure Orb on his person, he wasn't particularly concerned about it.
If not for the worry that more attacks might delay his journey, Joshua wouldn't even have considered shortening his itinerary. But this didn't affect his plan to tour the massive city of Ural Fortress. At Ying's suggestion, the three warriors walked along the artificial river with interest and arrived at the streets in the city center.
On the streets of Ural Fortress's center, many fortress banners were hung. Although it looked somewhat crowded, most passersby wore smiles. The city's atmosphere was peaceful, showing no sign of the possibility of a dragon calamity breaking out nearby.
The pillar of light that had pierced the sky at the North City Gate earlier was certainly awe-inspiring, but since it had no follow-up and the phenomenon it caused didn't affect people's daily lives, after a brief moment of amazement, everyone treated it as an interesting topic for discussion. No one connected it to the trio walking down the street.
"Master, that bard ahead sings quite well. Lin and I were listening here earlier."
At Ying's suggestion, Joshua turned a few corners and arrived at a street corner. Looking up, he saw an elven bard with long ears. This handsome bard had just finished telling the epic of King Aias's pioneering exploits and was now drinking water to rest, preparing to tell the next epic story.
Partly because of the silver-haired girl's recommendation and partly because he missed this feeling, Joshua decided to listen.
After a short rest, the bard began again. He was preparing to sing the story of the elves' great migration a thousand years ago. This was a widely circulated epic among elves, recounting a series of major events where the elves left their homeland forests to go to the Far South and other islands to escape natural disasters.
The bard's enunciation was clear, and his tone was beautiful. After listening for a while, Joshua felt it was indeed good, so he smiled and tossed out some tips. Several dozen golden coins spun through the air and landed in the bard's box, drawing exclamations from those around.
"Where did this rich guy come from? Tipping with gold coins!"
"So much money at once—Little Mo probably won't have to work for a year!"
The people around this bard seemed familiar with him. They all knew his name and sometimes even called him directly by it.
"Master, don't throw money around like that... You tipped so much."
Lin, standing nearby, had been earnestly listening to the elven bard's song, but when he saw Joshua's generous tip, he was startled and then advised with some reluctance: "Our liquid funds are already a bit tight..."
Joshua was unconcerned: "I'm in a good mood today. Spending a bit more doesn't matter."
"..." Having reached this point, Lin couldn't argue. He looked somewhat angrily at his sister, hoping for support, only to find Ying completely immersed in the bard's story, not noticing anything else. This made him even more frustrated.
They're all grown up and still spending money so carelessly! How can they be so carefree!
Because Joshua's tip was quite substantial, the bard personally walked over to express his thanks. This seemingly young elf performed a common elven salute to the warrior, then gracefully returned to his spot and continued reciting ancient poetry that sounded like a song.
However, inadvertently, Joshua suddenly noticed that the bard's lips seemed to be silently forming these words.
We are watching you.
Blinking, Joshua looked again at the bard's lips, but nothing unusual happened. Just as he was about to dismiss it as a hallucination caused by the earlier curse, he suddenly saw, on the elf's cuff, an embroidered black circular holy emblem. (To be continued.)