The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 47: The Legend of the Old Lady

Unfurling the parchment in his hand,
Beihai was moved with just one glance, unable to stop his entire body from trembling, and couldn't help but murmur, "This old thing Scáthach lives in a pretty weird place. The mountains and houses are all upside down. Could she be living in the clouds in the sky?"
Elsa brought over a chair, climbed onto it effortlessly, and took a look at the map. The map had very clear routes and markings.
Everything was quite simplified, but it all had place names written on it. As long as you knew these place names, finding Scáthach's address wouldn't be difficult.
The only eerie thing was that on this parchment map, the mountain ranges were inverted, the peaks pointing downward, and even the houses weren't spared.
Finally, Beihai turned the map around a full circle.
"You're holding it upside down."
"I know. I was mainly afraid this map might have some hidden mechanism. After all, sometimes, secret manuals need to be soaked in water, or roasted over fire, or you simply have to find a hidden layer."
"But sir, what you're holding is parchment."
"Actually, I was testing you just now, Elsa. You passed my test perfectly."
Beihai delivered the lie without blushing or his heart skipping a beat. This move was very successful.
Elsa found it perfectly reasonable. How could Beihai possibly not know how to read a map? This must have been a test for her.
"Yay!"
Seeing this little kid have her topic perfectly diverted and even look a bit smug after just a few words of praise, Beihai felt a twinge of guilt in his heart.
This kid could be clever when she was clever, and truly dumb when she was dumb, but it was all based on her trust in him. It was pretty much, 'I believe whatever he says.'
The main reason, of course, was, 'How could Beihai possibly harm me?'
'He must have his reasons for doing this,' and then she would start filling in the blanks with her own imagination.
"Alright, alright, don't get arrogant or complacent over a little test.
Remember, in the future when you study magic, take that magic book, soak it in water, burn it over a fire, and check if there's a hidden layer..."
To make the lie more believable, Beihai had no choice but to keep spinning the tale. Anyway, many stories were written like this. Like those super popular ones about Dragon-Slaying Sabers and such, where the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber clash, and finally produce a secret manual.
Elsa listened very seriously. If she was fortunate enough to become a mage in the future, she must abide by these few major rules. If she became even more powerful and created a magic book herself, she would definitely set it up this way too, hiding the real secrets inside.
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A bear flipped through the parchment map in front of it. After observing it, it pointed a direction to the east, then rolled up the map and returned it to Beihai.
Beihai then took out a jar of honey from his backpack as a token of exchange.
Since he couldn't read the map, he had no choice but to resort to this. But he couldn't let Elsa know. Fortunately, Elsa would automatically fill in the blanks with her imagination.
Elsa stood to the side without disturbing him, quietly waiting for Beihai to finish. In her heart, she thought the Knight was just too kind, using this method as an excuse to help the little animals.
With a clear direction, they could continue forward.
"Sir, what are we going to do when we find Scáthach?"
Elsa asked curiously, mainly because there wasn't much to do right now.
"Let me think... Probably because she's very powerful. Also, she most likely possesses a type of magic.
Or maybe I just want to see what she looks like. From what I know best, she's a purple-haired old lady, and then there's the normal old lady."
Huh? Aren't they both old ladies?
Elsa felt, what's the difference between a purple-haired old lady and an old lady? Just because her old hair is purple?
"Is Scáthach more powerful than you, sir?"
Beihai also felt this was a topic. He really wasn't sure about his current strength, but her reputation was still impressive. She taught those two warriors, Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad.
These two warriors were indeed brave and fierce in the previous battle, capable of taking on a hundred enemies alone. Although he had gotten involved too, the overall feeling was just not good.
"Well, that depends on whether she has any divine weapons. Probably her martial arts, and also a type of Rune magic is very strong."
Elsa imagined it: an old lady with a hunched back, using a spear as a walking stick, and in her other hand holding a magic wand.
When fighting, she'd swing the spear with great force and vigor, then use the magic wand to harass.
No, she should attack from range with magic first, then when the enemy gets close, switch to close combat... No, that's not right either.
Hmm, but it feels so weird!
Not to mention Elsa couldn't imagine it, even Beihai couldn't picture it. The old lady he knew about was from a game. Based on her description in that, she was truly awe-inspiring without understanding why.
Scáthach is a warrior from Celtic mythology, the queen of the Land of Shadows, considered a god-slaying being of divine level.
She taught many heroes, with Cú Chulainn being the most outstanding among them. She has mastered all causes and effects in the world but remains silent about them.
Scáthach believes she has already graduated from the world. If she were to take action, it would be disrespectful to the people living in the present, depriving them of their chance to grow.
Having become a demigod, Scáthach does not face death like humans do, whether a beautiful death or an ugly one. She can only exist here until the world and what lies beyond it fade away together.
It could be said that when people mention this name, what they know, what they remember, is definitely not from the myths, but an old lady from a game.
Even if you search for her online, you won't get the mythological prototype, but directly get that purple-haired old lady. So Beihai really didn't know much about this character.
"Elsa, we might not find a Sprite, but if she also knows magic, learning a bit won't hurt.
When we meet her, be sweet with your words. Remember to call her 'big sister.'"
"Mhmm, got it."
Under the guidance of the map, or more accurately, under the guidance of the animals, they soon arrived beside the ford.
Many, many boats were docked nearby, with people disembarking. There were fishermen, sailors, and anglers who came to buy fish.
Among this multitude of boats, one could spot some royal members. It seemed to be the prince from some unknown country again.
In this world, it's very common for princes to travel far. The world is so big, they want to see it.
If this prince doesn't wander around everywhere, how is he going to rescue princesses? Although most of them hear about some legend and specifically run off to find it.
Only the King is like someone working a 9-to-9, six days a week.
According to the guidance on the parchment map, they needed to take a boat and sail far to another continent.