Barbara fainted so "irresponsibly."
Until she lost consciousness, Barbara never explained: why, despite being injured, she chose to save Andrew just now.
Before passing out, she thought of the scene when departing from "Warm Fire City"—
"Here, this is the 'Warm Fire Order,' to help you find your future husband."
"What?"
"Ahem... just a joke. But seriously, at critical moments, remember to follow the guidance of the 'Warm Fire Order! ' It will point you the way to break through difficulties."
"Oh, okay, Father."
Barbara didn't take it too seriously, but she agreed anyway.
On the way out of the city, her father kept on talking:
"Little Barbara, this is your first time traveling since you came of age, and it's also a tradition of our Warm Fire Commerce Association. After all, the best people are those who have seen the world with their own eyes, not shut-in bookworms.
In other aspects, I have no concerns about you.
But little Barbara, you must remember!
After leaving Warm Fire City, be sure to be cautious when meeting people from the Magic Guild; remember it well!"
Her father, who was usually laid-back and jovial, spoke in a lowered voice and with great seriousness.
Barbara outwardly promised seriously, but inwardly she was somewhat dismissive.
Even if our Warm Fire Commerce Association and the Magic Guild have differing ideologies, we are all Fire Mages.
Really, would the mages of the Magic Guild turn against me, the third miss of the commerce association?
It's known that the Magic Guild and Warm Fire Commerce Association have different beliefs.
But at least on the surface, the two major forces maintain a relatively friendly relationship.
Her father grows more timid with age.
This was Barbara's thought before setting out.
Thus, Barbara, along with twenty-five members of the Crimson Knights, left Warm Fire City and embarked on a journey.
First, she visited her second sister at the "Royal Court."
Then, she visited the "Scholar's Fortress."
Afterwards, she toured almost all the famous large cities and also visited many retired renowned mages.
Throughout the process, the idea that "the Warm Fire Commerce Association and the Magic Guild are not irreconcilable" not only persisted but strengthened in Barbara's mind.
Especially at the Scholar's Fortress, when she was warmly received by the veteran mages of the Magic Guild.
Barbara truly felt: the rumors of the mages from the Magic Guild being arrogant seemed somewhat unfounded!
Thus, she traveled for more than half a year.
While preparing to return to Warm Fire City as per plan, one day her second sister wrote asking: if convenient, could she help buy some magic materials from "Hunting Wasteland City." If not convenient, it could be ignored.
"Hunting Wasteland City? It's the largest city in the Inner Sea Desert, known as the 'Hunters' Sanctuary,' right?"
Barbara thought it indeed would be a detour.
But since she also wanted to see Hunting Wasteland City, she decided to go.
Thus she arrived in Hunting Wasteland City, bought the materials.
Then naturally wanted to check out the Inner Sea Desert!
Remembering there was a once famous grand mage named Hubert at Wildfire Town in Scholar's Fortress.
And so she came to Wildfire Town.
So yes, Wildfire Town was actually Barbara's last stop before returning to Warm Fire City.
She never would have thought that everything would change after meeting Hubert in Wildfire Town.
If she could have foreseen the outcome, Barbara would have stopped herself from deciding to come to Wildfire Town.
When she first entered the town, she didn't feel anything was amiss.
The town was very shabby, not at all on the same level as the prosperous Warm Fire City.
But for Barbara, used to bustling places, this run-down town in the desert center had a unique sense of novelty!
At the town entrance, there was an inn named "Living People Cemetery."
An odd name...
But the innkeeper was as beautiful as her second sister!
Barbara couldn't help but take a few more glances.
After all, it's always women who love admiring other women the most.
Though Barbara herself was also beautiful, she had always envied her second sister's charming and mature beauty.
In comparison, Barbara always felt like an immature little girl.
"By the way, who is 'Andrew'?"
Barbara withdrew her gaze from An Ya and asked the guide from the laboratory, "Why are the townspeople all talking about this person named 'Andrew'?"
"Oh, he's a young man from the town."
The guide smiled, briefly describing Andrew's heroic act of saving people from the fire last night, but said nothing about Andrew contradicting Hubert.
"I see, a young hero who saves people from the sea of flames?"
Barbara nodded.
Unexpected that this small Wildfire Town has such a person.
Alas, such a pity.
Barbara knew that a magical wound on the lungs was incurable; even at the Warm Fire Commerce Association, they could only extend the patient's life a bit, ensuring they could live out their days as comfortably as possible.
Curing it completely was hopeless.
"So the 'It's on fire, put it out' concept advocated by our Warm Fire Commerce Association is truly the right idea! Those Magic Guild guys, while they're always so passionate and polite to me, why are they so stubborn, never willing to listen to us?"
Barbara thought, "Maybe next time when I go to the Scholar's Fortress, I should speak to those mages of the Magic Guild again. We really can't keep causing a bunch of fires every day and then forbid people from putting them out. If I step in, maybe... I can persuade them, since they were so warm to me before."
While musing absent-mindedly, she walked into Hubert's Magic Laboratory located in the center of the small town.
Change occurred at the very moment the laboratory door closed.
Barbara can never forget it. The twenty-five elite members of the Crimson Knight Order accompanying her were almost instantaneously savagely bitten, wrapped, and burned by dark red fire serpents that erupted from the walls of the hall!
Then, devoured entirely, leaving a horrible scene!!
The scene was so bloody and brutal, the dual impact on the senses and the heart was simply indescribable!
Barbara was completely stunned for a moment.
Almost couldn't believe it was real!
"Miss Three, run!"
The leading Crimson Knight roared.
With his spear poised, he summoned his remaining strength.
Smashed a hole in the laboratory door from a distance!
Then he tossed the still-dazed Barbara out of the door!
That Crimson Knight himself, however, did not survive, as his head was swallowed whole by the thickest fire serpent.
Yet, even after having his head bitten off, this Knight Captain wobbled and stood up again!
Seemingly unwilling to fall just yet.
Then his headless body, standing upright, was burnt to ashes.
"Hehe, since you've come, don't think about leaving."
Hubert's aged voice smiled from some unknown corner.
"You are... Hubert?!"
Barbara finally regained her senses.
And then felt incredibly furious, never before in her life had she been so angry: "Why do this? Are you... are you crazy?! This 'Fire Snake Trap' is a magic array approved by the Magic Guild, right? Did the Magic Guild command you to do this?!"
Her father's voice, reminding her to "be extra careful when encountering mages from the Magic Guild," seemed to echo once more in her ears.
The idea in Barbara's heart that "the Warm Fire Commerce Association and the Magic Guild are not irreconcilable" collapsed suddenly at this moment!
Her vision became a bit blurry.
Barbara cried in anger.
Fortunately, years of good education and her parents' strict requirements played their role at this time.
Barbara, in midair, was being hurled by the Knight Captain toward the laboratory door.
As she struggled to adjust her balance.
She backhandedly cast an "Orange Flame Spider Web," temporarily blocking the magical fire serpents pursuing her.
Then—
She shot out through the escape passage bought by the lives of the Crimson Knights.
The physical constitution of a Warm Fire Mage, overall, is a notch higher than that of an Earth Fire Mage.
Barbara burst through the hole in the laboratory door.
The cost was being shaken into spitting blood directly during the clash of magic power with the old mage!
This was the reason Barbara was wounded when she later met Andrew.
A single strike.
With just one confrontation with Hubert, she was seriously injured on the spot!
At this time, on the other side, Andrew had just come out of the Living People Cemetery.
"Oh, escaped, did she?"
Hubert's figure slowly emerged from within a fire serpent.
The old mage's expression was somewhat helpless:
"The Magic Guild's mission was to 'capture alive if possible,' sigh, why insist on giving such an arduous task to an old man like me? If not promised in return to assist me with 'continuation of life,' I really didn't want to offend the Warm Fire Commerce Association like this.
Fortunately, the most troublesome Crimson Knights were all taken by the 'Fire Snake Trap' and annihilated! Otherwise, forcing me to confront these knights head-on, 'the current me' couldn't indeed handle it."
Though old, Hubert's mind remained clear.
He knew once the Crimson Knights were dealt with, things would become easier.
In this lonely island-like town in the desert, capturing a just-come-of-age girl was merely a matter of time.
Thinking of this, he waved his hand, and the dark red fire serpents immediately disappeared.
Leaving only a scene of bloodstains, broken armor, and knight's spears.
"Issue my order, seal the entire town! I want her captured alive."
As Hubert's words fell, a large number of intermediate and even advanced magic apprentices rushed out from the Magic Laboratory, silently spreading out across the town to carry out the search and capture.
Compared to novice magic apprentices like Andrew, these apprentices were far more formidable.
The best among them had already acquired the ability to cast magic, just a step away from officially earning the title of "Fire Mage"!
Hubert himself was not in a hurry to make another move.
Thinking to himself that from today, the Magic Guild and the Warm Fire Commerce Association were probably going to break all ties.
Standing under the setting sun, the wrinkles on the old mage's face seemed even deeper.
He silently contemplated, "Although I took on this daunting task for 'continuation of life,' I did not delve much into what exactly lies behind this mission.
Still, it's somewhat concerning: why does the Magic Guild insist on having me 'capture' this girl alive?
Is it... the 'contribution year' approaching again?"