The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 42: Departure

Beihai and Ella said their goodbyes.
When Ella heard the news, she was very shocked, but she quickly calmed down. For some reason her face suddenly flushed; Beihai cared about her, and she was a little happy. Sure enough, becoming stronger attracted his attention. What a peculiar fellow—everyone normally likes the frail type, yet this made her a bit embarrassed. Previously she had started learning simply to help out, but along the way she had accidentally become obsessed. Now seeing Beihai again felt awkward.
Ella chastised herself for losing sight of her original intention. At first it had been love at first sight, and although there had been a few small incidents in the middle, stories like this usually end with the two people, at the last critical moment, suddenly realizing their feelings and eloping on the spot. The prince commented that you two are romantic—if you elope and escape my arranged marriage, then I’m the sucker. Is this going to turn into a love triangle? He had no objection to that.
Beihai, however, was not surprised. This was contact with the occult. There’s a saying: once you touch mysterious things, you are no longer the same kind of person. Learning some simple magic might not match firearms in raw attack power, but that sense of pride is indelible. Once you step into things science can’t explain, you’re already in a different category. In their eyes there were usually only two types: first, muggles; second, the ultra-cool destined ones, those magicians burdened with the mysteries of the world.
“Uh, well, actually it’s getting late today. How about we set out tomorrow?” Ella stammered for a long time before remembering her ultimate goal. She managed to regain her original resolve, but picking it back up now felt a bit late. Under the circumstances she could only come up with some excuse.
Originally it had been love at first sight; now that she had learned magic, her strength and outlook had both risen. Looking around once more, Beihai was still the best. His character was beyond doubt; universally acknowledged as a good man, though a little too honest. If she were not there to assist him, someone as good as Beihai would surely be deceived.
Elsa held up her small hand in protest.
But protests were useless—a child can do what? Distinguish right from wrong? Ella guessed that if Beihai met a smooth-talking villain, he might end up buying a buy-one-get-one deal.
“But Sister Ella, it’s morning now. Everyone just got up. The gentleman was just sitting by the lake, feeling wistful,” Elsa said.
“Elsa, your gentleman is right. Sometimes it’s better to not say too much,” another voice added.
Ella gripped her magic wand tightly with both hands, smiling as she warned Elsa not to ruin things. In that careless moment she almost snapped the wand in two.
Elsa obediently shut her mouth and silently thought, That wasn’t an accident. Damn, I want to learn magic too!
“Forget it. Even if I stay, it seems I can’t do much. Besides, I bear a mission on my shoulders; I suppose I’m a person of destiny, though a bit unconventional.” People of destiny were usually prophecy children, or some half-dragon, half-demon hybrids—basically some mysterious crossbreeds. It’s an old mythic trope. Even though the gods were absent in this world, the stories still circulated.
Beihai kept a poker face, though he inwardly complained. Secretly staying behind would only waste time. Besides, he had a mission: to save Aurora. He no longer had time to dawdle here, though he still had a few years to handle the matter. In truth, right after leaving the palace, Beihai hadn’t done anything proper.
No—how could that be called “not doing anything proper”? It was more like secretly gathering strength. That old witch was too powerful. Since she could summon demons, who knew what else she might summon next? So Beihai definitely did not intend to outright abandon Ella.
After Beihai laid out the stakes, especially after he praised the old witch’s strength to the skies—how she could summon a host of demons and even dragons in an instant, and her potent dark magic could destroy an entire kingdom—each fabricated detail increased Ella’s psychological pressure. If Ella were still an apprentice now, the other party would already be a Grand Sorcerer.
“Once you can cast trans-level magic, then you will be able to help me,” Beihai said.
“Am I still not qualified? But even facing such a powerful enemy, for a child’s sake I would embark on this journey. I really did not misjudge you.” Looking at the little stars in Ella’s eyes, Beihai scooped Elsa up from the ground and walked away without looking back.
He had given an excuse. Whether she believed it or not was her business. Besides, upon hearing such news—a mere apprentice who behaved herself and who had limitations, not yet a Grand Sorcerer—shouldn’t act rashly.
Ella watched Beihai’s departing figure and could only follow the most traditional method: take a cloth and wave goodbye at the gate. She secretly vowed in her heart that she would defeat that wicked old witch and be of help.
“Ella, don’t worry. Your learning progress is fast. Once you complete your apprenticeship, I will give you this magic wand.” The Fairy appeared behind the door without Ella noticing. Her tone carried hints of wanting to retire and extreme concern about who should inherit the wand.
After all, with a single incantation and no great magic reservoir required, this wand could reverse the entire world’s time. A Fairy who held such power understood clearly that this thing could not be handed over lightly.
Aside from Beihai not yet having found the old witch’s trouble and slacking off, there was Aurora, cursed yet bearing twenty blessings and a vow of guardianship, riding a tiger with two artifacts in hand as she traveled.
“The story says you need to find teammates to defeat the evil Demon King. There’s no record of a Demon King on this continent. Maybe I first need to lift my curse and clear the side quests before moving to the next stage. Hmm, the guardian knight is right: first take down the dungeon boss, then the great demon will appear.” That was how orthodox stories worked. Even when a meteor was about to strike the earth, someone would still help Mrs. Wang at the village well.
With Aurora now present and Ella added, perhaps the old witch could be handled. But the child with twenty blessings was still just a child, and Ella was only a novice who had just stepped into the magical world.
And the person actually meant to undertake the task was currently shirking responsibility. His thinking was simple: it’s only an old witch. Give her a few years to develop; like homework, as long as there’s a long holiday, she won’t act until the last day.