Chapter 34
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Chapter 034: Malin’s Investigator
Early in the morning, Jesse packed the dried herbs and ingredients into the Alchemy Room, cleaned the study, brewed tea as the boss requested, sat by the bookshelf, and waited for Malin to arrive.
As soon as work was over and the boss left, he started making his Shadow Protection Potion.
To pass the time, he picked up a pirate novel called "Golden Shark" and started reading about adventures in the seas near Booty Bay.
Just as he was getting into the story, Malin suddenly walked in. He quickly put the book on the nearby bookshelf without thinking.
Both of them looked awkwardly at each other. Jesse remembered that he had graduated from high school in his previous life, so there was no need to hide books when a teacher suddenly walked in.
"Sorry, Mr. Seso, I should have knocked first," Malin chuckled and said, "I’ll remember that for next time."
"It’s okay, Master." Jesse gradually took the book out again and placed it on his lap.
Malin sat down at the table and poured a cup of tea. Curiously, he glanced at the book in Jesse’s hand and said, "Golden Shark is not a forbidden book. Since I placed it on the bookshelf, it can be freely read. Why are you so nervous?"
"Uh… umm." Jesse realized he hadn’t had a formal education in this life, just learning to read with his mother. Trying to talk about school experiences here felt out of place.
"You remind me of my childhood days studying at the Northshire Abbey," Malin said, "The monks didn’t allow us kids to read unrelated books. If caught, they would hit our hands. They were really harsh old folks. But as I grew older and had my own daughter, hoping she would achieve something, I too felt upset seeing her read non-educational novels and random books. Then I slowly understood the feelings of those old monks. Thinking back, if I hadn’t been so strict with Amy in the past, would her studies be smoother now?"
"This…" Jesse felt like he was faced with a question that was beyond his understanding.
"Ha!" Malin sighed and said, "Did I say too much? By the way, about the topic we discussed last time, why do you feel like you’re holding something back from me regarding why the Red Dragon would allow themselves to be controlled by Orcs? Can we talk about it now? After all, reading novels and chatting are similar pastimes, right?"
"Of course," Jesse replied casually, while his mind was already racing to find an answer.
Lately, he had been alternating between Westfall and Duskwood, collecting herbs to sell and learning about swordsmanship and potion-making, without even considering how he would respond to his views on the Red Dragon when he arrived at the old mage’s place.
Seeing Jesse’s hesitation, Malin suggested, "Let’s start with this question: Why do you think the Red Dragon didn’t attack humans or other ordinary folks before the Dark Portal opened? In theory, as magical creatures native to Azeroth, the Red Dragon shouldn’t have had any connection with the Orcs from the other side of the Dark Portal. So why were they able to quickly form an alliance with the Orcs once they arrived in this land peacefully inhabited by the Red Dragon clan?"
Watching Malin’s expression, Jesse had a feeling that Malin already knew about the Demon Soul and was subtly guiding him to respond.
"The Orcs probably found some leverage over the Red Dragons," Jesse said, "but this is just my speculation."
"Actually, Dalaran shares the same belief," Malin almost immediately responded as if he had gotten the answer he was looking for, "and they have already identified who might be aiding the Orcs."
"The Black Dragon," Jesse stated.
Malin nodded slowly and said, "Amazing, Mr Seso."
Jesse awkwardly smiled, feeling unworthy of the compliment.
If a 17-year-old native of this world could analyze this situation with all the information available, it would truly be amazing. But he was just a time traveler who knew the world beforehand, and now he felt like he had cheated his way through understanding.
Malin continued, "Master Krasus has been searching for the missing Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza. He believes the Black Dragon has something to do with it. He is part of the Council of Six, you know? Recently, Alterac Kingdom was attacked by the Horde led by a Death Knight. They rode Black Dragons, not Red Dragons, which supports Master Krasus’s theory. The real supporters of the Orcs are actually Black Dragons, not Red Dragons. The Red Dragon Queen is likely captured by the Black Dragons as a prisoner, but the problem now is that we don’t know where she is."
Krasus is a true Red Dragon who transformed into an elf to join the Council of Six in Dalaran, hiding his identity to communicate with mortals easily and help them deal with potential disasters, such as the terrifying crisis of the Dark Portal opening.
Most importantly, he is the beloved spouse of Queen Alexstrasza, so he is determined to find her at all costs.
He currently does not know that the Red Dragon Queen is imprisoned in the ancient Dwarf city of Grim Batol belonging to the Wildhammer clan. When he finds out, he will surely gather people from all around to take down that place. This is the mission later carried out by the young mage Rhonin, Elf Ranger Vereesa Windrunner, and Wildhammer chieftain Falstad—a suicide mission to rescue the Red Dragon Queen.
In this mission, Rhonin, with his protagonist aura, not only faced Deathwing without fear but also met the beautiful white-haired elf Vereesa and ridiculously lucky managed to marry her.
Thinking about this, Jesse couldn’t control his anger and clenched the book in his hand.
Krasus may not be as powerful as the ultimate creatures similar to gods, but in Azeroth, he is a top-notch Arcane master.
His thousands of years of life have given him the chance to learn countless strange spells, and Jesse knew he would do whatever it takes to find his queen.
This is why he couldn’t reveal too much of what he knew in advance, if Krasus found out that a random Stormwind worker knew the exact location where the Dragonmaw Orcs kept the Red Dragon Queen captive, he might not even know how he would die.
No matter how kind and gentle Krasus was, he was still a male Red Dragon who had lived for thousands of years.
At that moment, Malin took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, possibly talking too much hurting his voice.
After swallowing, he continued, "Earlier, a guard reported seeing dragon tracks to the north of Redridge at Stonewatch Keep, identifying it as a young black dragon. That’s why I went to Redridge, but unfortunately, I found nothing. Maybe it was just a lone wild black dragon, or perhaps the guards mistook something large for a dragon, it’s not the first time."
Jesse was surprised that a mage from the Wizard’s Sanctum knew so much about Dalaran. But upon further thought, it made sense, considering the next target of the black dragons would be Blackrock Mountain or the whole Redridge area, and the Wizard’s Sanctum was the nearest human magic institution.
If Dalaran wanted to know more about the whereabouts of the dragon race in the vicinity, they would definitely keep close cooperation with the Wizard’s Sanctum and the Stormwind Royal Family.
"Mr. Jesse Seso," Malin set down his teacup and said, "Let me get straight to the point. Would you be willing to help me… with matters concerning Orcs, the dragon race, and Dalaran? In fact, when I first recruited an assistant, I had this in mind, as I am overwhelmed on my own. However, assistance in these matters requires a certain level of knowledge, enough courage and responsibility. Most importantly, I believe you are a very kind person, Mr. Seso, and I feel I can trust you."
Jesse paused for a moment and said, "But you also know…"
"I understand," Malin continued, "This means that you may need to go to some very dangerous places or travel for a long time, there will be significant changes in your life. If you refuse, I understand, I won’t fire you just because of this, you don’t have to worry, after all, you are already a very ideal assistant."
"No, Master, what I mean is," Jesse set down the "Golden Shark" and said, "I need a raise."
"Right now it’s 6 silver coins per month, if I add on the things you want me to do, it’s really a bit low. And I hope to be reimbursed for travel expenses. If I have to travel to Dalaran in the future, at least don’t make me pay for the boat ticket myself, right?"
Malin nodded and said, "Let’s increase it to 10 silver coins, how about that? If I give you a task to go to Dalaran, it must be on behalf of the Wizard’s Sanctum, so someone will definitely help you with the travel expenses, and that person may not necessarily be me."
Hearing this, Jesse felt a rush of excitement, not because of how tempting the 10 silver coins were, after all, his appetite had changed now.
The cost of boat tickets from Stormwind to Southshore often fluctuated, even when it’s cheap, it could be over a dozen silver coins, making him feel like he was bleeding money to pay for it.
But he hadn’t gone home to visit for over two years, saying he didn’t miss home would be a lie.
Although, as a time traveler, his attitude towards his parents who had raised him for over a decade might have some subtle differences from the locals, they were still his closest family.
"As for going elsewhere." Malin twirled his beard and asked, "Can you ride a horse?"
"Yes."
This was not a boast. Jesse, the son of a city guard and a farmer’s daughter, had many more chances to be around horses than the average person.
As a child, he thought that since he had crossed over, he shouldn’t waste time. So, he learned a bunch of random things, including some basic knowledge of herbs, and of course, how to ride a horse.
His learning to ride was not systematic. He would sneak and ride around when playing with a group of naughty kids from the town. Some adults would also secretly teach him. After getting caught, he would get a beating from his parents. Over time, he got the hang of it.
At that time, his skill level was just being able to ride faster without falling off; there was no need to talk about riding techniques.
Despite that, amongst the children of his age in the Lordaeron Royal City, he was considered one of the better horse riders. Many kids from the town who played with stolen horses at first thought that knights were born on horseback, like some kind of Centaur creature, and would get a shock seeing a horse without anyone on it.
However, in this world, the cost of keeping a horse was very high, similar to Earth. So, Jesse never thought about buying a horse for himself.
"The Wizard’s Sanctum stables are just outside the western city walls. Go out the small gate and walk a few minutes, and you’ll see them," Malin said. "If you ever need to go to Redridge or somewhere further, you can show the note I wrote for a free horse rental. But if you need it for many days, you have to take care of it."
Jesse said, "I’ll go over there and take a look in a little while."
Malin asked again, "By the way, I heard you telling Amy that you don’t want to live in the Mage Quarter, why? Wouldn’t it be much closer to my place, so you wouldn’t have to walk so far every morning?"
This question left Jesse speechless. Who would refuse to live in a good house and insist on staying in those small rental rooms outside?
"I’m just not used to living in the Mage Quarter," Jesse said. "Let me stabilize my work here first, then I’ll figure out how to move in."
Malin nodded slowly and said, "You have your reasons."
