"Uncle Garcia, why did you choose to come to Border Garrison Town?"
Fanny asked this question because she had heard from Owen that the mage who arrived before her planned to sign a long-term contract with the Lord and stay after two months.
In other words, Garcia wasn't simply looking to earn the high reward for that commission; he chose to live in Border Garrison Town.
Garcia wasn't a half-baked mage like Fanny, who only came to Border Garrison Town to try his luck because he couldn't make a living in East Rise Fortress. He could have just taken his payment and left.
This was also what puzzled Fanny: how could a remote border town like Border Garrison Town offer the conveniences of a prosperous metropolis like East Rise Fortress?
"That question, well..."
Garcia looked up at the ceiling, seemingly recalling something. After a while, he shifted his gaze to Fanny and replied, "Perhaps I got tired of it."
"Tired?" Fanny tilted her head, not quite understanding.
"I grew tired of the adventurer's life," Garcia added.
As an experienced mage, Garcia had been part of many teams, experienced all sorts of adventures, and completed numerous commissions. However, an adventurer's life is never smooth sailing; he had encountered danger many times, and if not handled well, there would be teammate casualties.
The first time a teammate died, he was deeply saddened. Later, after seeing it more often, he gradually became numb. adventurers, that's just how it is; as long as you can ensure you're still alive, that's enough.
This continued until Garcia received an invitation from a female swordswoman full of righteousness. Seeing that she was a good-looking beauty, Garcia got a bit carried away and agreed to join her team without much thought.
Damn it! Why is this woman so meddlesome? Just follow the commission's content, why insist on saving unrelated people? Besides two words of thanks, there's nothing else to gain.
This was Garcia's thought the first time he went on a mission with that team. The captain's behavior greatly disgusted him, and he planned to leave the team immediately after completing this commission.
Later, during the mission's cleanup, the team was attacked by a group of wild boars, and Garcia got separated from his teammates. He was relentlessly pursued by a large wild boar with red eyes, and his magical power was insufficient. The situation at the time could truly be described as desperate.
This is the fate of most adventurers: dying out in the wilds, unknown to anyone. Teammates are indeed unreliable; if you can't survive on your own, then just wait to die.
Holding this thought, Garcia gave up on the idea of surviving, closed his eyes in front of the wild boar, and awaited death.
Just then, the female swordswoman appeared. She actually found Garcia and decisively came to his rescue.
Damn it! What's wrong with this woman? As a captain, one should consider the entire team and decisively abandon lagging members; that's the correct approach.
Although he thought this way, Garcia's will to live reignited.
After several rounds of fighting with the wild boar, the female swordswoman was careless and got her left leg pierced by a tusk. Oh no! Garcia transformed the last bit of magical power in his body into a fireball and shot it out, deflecting one of the wild boar's attacks.
It was precisely that moment that brought a glimmer of hope; his teammates arrived in time, successfully drove away the wild boar, and both Garcia and the female swordswoman survived.
Later, Garcia learned that the other teammates had cooperated to repel the group of wild boars, then split up to search for the captain and Garcia.
Through cooperative effort, everyone had a chance to survive. Garcia's long-held beliefs developed a huge crack.
During the retreat, the team encountered another difficulty: most of their food had been discarded during the wild boar attack.
Although reluctant, Garcia believed they should abandon the captain, who was unable to move easily, to allow most people to survive. However, all the team members were unwilling to abandon the captain. On their way back, they actually encountered the person the captain had saved, who provided the team with enough food, preventing everyone from starving.
An unrelated person actually saved the entire team. Garcia's original beliefs were completely shattered.
Afterward, what made Garcia feel very guilty was that the female swordswoman's left leg was injured while saving him, and the injury was so deep that even Holy Light Healing couldn't completely cure it.
Her adventurer career was effectively over.
Garcia felt he had to take responsibility; he was the one who caused the captain's injury. Little did he know, he had already been deeply captivated by that female swordswoman.
A few years later, Garcia and the female swordswoman got married.
Because of this, Garcia began to worry, fearing that one day he would die unexpectedly outside, and then no one would be able to take care of his beloved wife.
Coincidentally, at this time, he saw the commission for Border Garrison Town. This was a stable job with no danger, and both he and his wife liked the quiet life in the countryside.
After discussing it, they decided to take on the commission, go to Border Garrison Town, and settle down there.
Unexpectedly, Garcia spoke endlessly about his past, but Fanny and Mapel listened with great interest.
When Mapel heard that Garcia had fallen deeply in love with the female swordswoman after she saved him, she somehow fell into deep thought, unsure of what she was thinking.
Fanny, on the other hand, was moved by this tumultuous story. It was truly wonderful that Garcia and the female swordswoman could finally be together!
"How enviable, Mr. Garcia, to experience so many exciting adventures and finally marry the woman you love. For a country bumpkin like me, this life is pretty much stuck in Border Garrison Town, and I don't know if there'll ever be a chance to rise up."
Unexpectedly, there was another listener. The three of them looked together at the person who had just spoken; it was the short, odd-job worker responsible for spreading the raw slurry in the furnace.
"Are you done with your work over there?" Mapel inquired.
Realizing that interrupting was not good, the odd-job worker immediately panicked when facing the Lord's Chief Knight.
"Ah! That, I'm sorry, I, I shouldn't have been eavesdropping."
"I don't mean to blame you; you don't need to be nervous," Mapel said calmly. "Everyone's background cannot be changed, and it's normal to envy others' lives. But you should be fortunate that our Lord is very concerned about the development of the territory; you will have a chance to rise up in the future."
Mapel's last sentence was just a casual comfort to the odd-job worker. But unexpectedly, that odd-job worker later truly seized an opportunity to rise up.
"The Knight is right."
Learning that the Chief Knight didn't blame him, the odd-job worker breathed a huge sigh of relief, then reported, "The raw slurry has been laid out. Please, Mr. Garcia, enter the firing room to work."
"Alright." Garcia stood up and looked at Fanny, "Fanny, do you need to observe the cement firing process again?"
"Of course!" Fanny nodded in response.
Once Fanny was familiar with the firing process, Owen went to guide her in remembering the amount of magical power to output and the duration for each stage.
Two days later, the Frost Cloak arrived. That afternoon, accompanied by Owen, Fanny successfully completed a cement firing job in the firing room.
Incidentally, Fanny's limit was firing five batches of cement.
Afterward, Owen was completely freed from the cement workshop. cement production gradually got on track, and the city wall repair work also proceeded smoothly; everything was progressing systematically.