The crescent moon hung faintly in the deep night sky, while the mountain snow reflected a soft silver glow.
Snow covered the ruins of the fishing village, blending the burned houses into the vast whiteness. The traces of human existence were easily swallowed by time. In just half a year, this place had become frighteningly unfamiliar.
Luo Wei crouched down and dug out a half-burned wooden board from a mound of snow.
The board had joining marks - it was originally a corner of a wooden door.
All the houses in the village had been burned down, leaving only circles of low stone walls. Though mostly collapsed, they still vaguely showed the original layout of the fishing village.
Following these stone walls, Luo Wei found her original self's home. This place was destroyed most thoroughly, with nothing left on the ground except some stones and pottery shards.
The bones of the village chief's family, along with their house, had turned to ashes.
She tried summoning spirits with her mind, but failed.
The summoning rune was content taught to advanced magic apprentices, which she hadn't learned yet. Besides, the school's rune classes didn't teach students how to summon spirits, as that belonged to the realm of black magic.
Just as Luo Wei was about to leave, from the corner of her eye, she saw a semi-transparent hunched figure floating up from the snow.
With a white beard and corn silk-like white hair, the old man drifted above the ruins with a blank expression, like a wilderness ghost who had forgotten all past memories.
Luo Wei was startled as a flood of memories suddenly surged through her mind.
They were all scenes of Village Chief Grandpa from the original owner's ten years of life, from her earliest memories until death.
Since she first learned to speak and walk unsteadily, the elderly village chief had always followed behind her tiny form, hunched over and leaning on his cane.
Those withered but strong hands would always help her up when she fell, gently pat her back when she wailed, and make her laugh with dried fish treats.
The village chief's son and daughter-in-law disliked this overly pretty little girl, always saying she would bring them disaster, but the village chief remained kind to her.
When the pirates raided the village, if the chief hadn't hidden her in the cellar, she would have died long ago.
As the memories faded, Luo Wei walked toward the old man.
"Village Chief Grandpa?"
At her call, the old man seemed to hear her voice and slowly turned to look at her.
His semi-transparent soul was light and ethereal, so weak it was like a wisp of smoke that could be scattered by the slightest breeze.
And in the next moment, the wind did scatter his soul.
Luo Wei stood dumbfounded for a long while, unable to speak a word.
Ordinary people's souls were too fragile, requiring immense magical power to solidify. With her current abilities, she couldn't achieve this yet.
Her magic power could summon at most a small spider. To summon the spirit of the deceased required at least a mage's strength.
That day would come, Luo Wei told herself.
She stood for a while where the old man had disappeared, then turned and walked out of the village.
The origins of those pirates remained mysterious, possibly connected to her original self's true identity. She wanted to check their remains for any clues.
Back then, after her original self escaped from the village, the pursuing pirates were shot dead by Princess Lilith and her knights on a hillside about seven hundred meters from the village.
Luo Wei found the hillside but discovered no remains of the pirates - they had likely been devoured by wild beasts.
She tried summoning the pirates' souls several times but failed.
Logically, pirates were fierce and evil, their souls should be much stronger than ordinary people's. Why couldn't she sense their souls at all?
Could it be that pirates had no souls?
Perplexed, Luo Wei flew back to Sisda Town.
She had originally planned to recruit some spirit workers tonight. But after a whole night's effort without recruiting a single spirit, it seemed she would have to grab some laborers from among the spirits on Demon Island.
Lost in thought, Luo Wei changed direction and flew to Ross Court.
The night was still long, enough time for her to engrave another teleportation array in Ross Court.
After a busy night, the problem of transporting supplies was finally solved.
Once McAuley finished purchasing supplies, they could be placed directly on the teleportation array. Luo Wei had instructed Patrick to receive them from the other end.
Patrick had been a high-level mage in life - activating a teleportation spell was well within his capabilities. With his magical power, he could easily activate it ten times a day.
However, letting spirits handle such matters still carried risks - it would be trouble if the church discovered it.
If she could recruit some loyal followers...
Luo Wei's eyes sparkled with bright light.
Friction between Western countries was constant, especially in the Northern territories. Every winter when food became scarce, barbarian tribes from the north would raid neighboring countries' border villages for food.
Those impoverished farmers displaced by war would be her perfect source of followers.
Luo Wei pulled out her brand new magic wand from under her dress. Now with sufficient magic wands in stock and no fear of them cracking, it was time for the divine messenger to make a comeback!
In these remote lands far from imperial control and beyond the church's reach, she could safely use transformation magic as disguise and visit places with the most refugees, deceiving as many as she could.
With enough followers, she could select some loyal and clever ones to manage the northern factories and infrastructure projects.
A qualified leader doesn't need to handle everything personally, but should know how to use people well and fully utilize subordinates' vitality and creativity. This way she wouldn't be exhausted by heavy official duties.
There were still thirteen days before Siria Magic Academy began. Luo Wei was determined to tour the war-torn areas of the North.
The paper mill plan would be put on hold until she had recruited followers; building a lumber mill required no technical expertise, so she could leave that to McAuley.
Luo Wei gave McAuley the building plans for Ross Court and the lumber mill layout, telling him to find people to start construction according to the blueprints. Then she and Troy left Sisda Town on horseback, heading for the southwestern region of the North.
The Western North was high in the west and low in the east. In terms of latitude, the western land was also much higher than the east, with a harsher climate and more difficult living conditions.
The famous Exile City was located on the frozen soil of the western plateau, where people survived solely by hunting as crops couldn't grow in the soil.
South of Exile City lay the northern border of West Tower Country, where herdsmen within the border frequently suffered raids from ice plain tribes.
Luo Wei planned to go to the northern border of West Tower Country.
If she couldn't recruit people at the border, she would go promote herself in Exile City, where she might even see Gladys.
The cute little silver wolf - last time she had promised to let her pet her ears, but she hadn't gotten the chance!
The ice plains were cold and dry; she couldn't handle the cold well, so riding horseback there would be unbearable.
Moreover, the ice plains had a fierce culture, with bandits and thieves of all sorts who would kidnap any woman they saw and often rob passing merchants and civilians. She had to reveal her identity to prevent those ignorant people from blocking her way and wasting her precious time.
Luo Wei and Troy first went to Santanle City, where they bought a luxury carriage and got Troy a full set of horse armor and battle robes, dressing him up as an imposing royal knight.
With the Fog Empire princess traveling and a magic swordsman as escort, those bandits would have to carefully consider their capabilities before trying to rob her.
If anyone questioned her purpose for going north, she would say she was visiting a friend.
What's that? Who was her friend?
Well, none other than the daughter of the leader of the Ice Plain Wolf Tribe - the strongest power in the ice plains - the Ice Wolf Princess Gladys, who had everything except an official title.
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