Several years passed. Barthilas, the deputy who had once secretly tracked Fordring to trap Eitrigg and incited soldiers to fight Fordring before framing him, had become the Magistrate of Stratholme, a major northern stronghold in Lordaeron. He had finally become a regional power-player, fulfilling his ambitions.
However, it wasn't long before he welcomed his "benefactor"—Prince Arthas of Lordaeron, the man whose conviction of Fordring had indirectly helped Barthilas realize his goals.
By then, Arthas had lost his way. Due to the emergence of the undead plague in Stratholme, he decided to "purge" the city through a massacre. In this inhumane slaughter, Barthilas was not spared.
More ironically, after Arthas fell and became a Death Knight, he returned to resurrect Barthilas.
Thus, Barthilas became a hideous "Abomination," a walking corpse existing in a state neither alive nor dead. Arthas allowed him to continue managing the undead town, where he was called "Magistrate Barthilas" by his subordinates—skeletons and rotting flesh.
Meanwhile, the stories of Tirion Fordring's integrity and righteous deeds continued to spread among the people. The residents of Goldshire had heard much of them, especially since many of them were refugees from Lordaeron.
However, the nobles of the Kingdom of Stormwind showed not the slightest intention of overturning the verdict or rehabilitating his name. Whether it was Varian or Bolvar, they were too overwhelmed to handle such a thorny "historical leftover." Although many privately acknowledged that the original trial was a terrible mistake, it involved the reputations of the four members of the jury and the powerful factions they represented.
As a compensatory gesture, they later allowed Tirion's son, Taelan Fordring, to join the Order of the Silver Hand, where he became a Paladin and took over Mardenholde Keep.
Yet, in official mentions of the past, the elder Fordring remained a traitor and a turncoat.
Until today, more and more people began to talk about that incident, waiting for a catalyst—a chance to return truth and justice to history.
But until then, all people could do was prevent another Fordring from appearing. That was all.
Verdan, even to this day, had not realized that the spells cast that night were not actually cast by Wayne, but were the net cafe's defense mechanisms at work. Regardless, he could not allow Wayne to have any connection with Shamanism. In the current climate of a missing King, Defias riots, the Scourge's rampage, and demon invasions, anything potentially related to Orcs was far too sensitive.
Wayne himself didn't even know that while he was recuperating at Stormwind Keep, someone had already used "Mana Burn" on him. Had he possessed even a tiny bit of mana at the time, he might never have seen the next sunrise, regardless of the protection from Verdan and the others.
The fact that he had zero mana thoroughly dispelled the doubts of "those people."
In their eyes, no matter how suspicious the process was, it was an indisputable fact that a person without mana could not cast spells. This "fact" only served to reinforce their belief that their secret agents were a bunch of incompetent fools.
Having heard the full process and the reasons behind it, Wayne felt quite grateful to Vice Captain Verdan—who had seemed so formidable when they first met. He asked the group about Verdan's current situation.
Rainier, whose security clearance regarding military intelligence was higher than the others, told Wayne that Verdan had rested for two days before heading out with Marshal McBride. They were clearing out Defias bandits who had been frequently raiding the Eastvale Logging Camp and Murlocs that were overbreeding near Stonefield Lake to the north.
Thinking of the frontline soldiers constantly wandering the edge of life and death, Wayne compared them to Duke Gregor—who only spoke in official jargon and acted superior in the library—and Duke Bowles, who reeked of alcohol and clearly did nothing productive, acting arrogant toward commoners while bowing and scraping to Gregor. Wayne was reminded of a lyric from his past life:
Brothels always put on an air of elegance;Since ancient times, eunuchs have loved a grand reputation.
Having traveled to a new world, many things seemed to have changed, yet some things hadn't changed at all.
"Enough of that! Enough!"
Wayne waved his hand, wanting to drop the subject. Realizing he would soon be fighting Hogger again with these five men, and seeing that noon was approaching, he had them sit in a row. The quartet, including De Vries, continued their team play, while Wayne teamed up with Rainier. Today, he was determined to make some progress in Monster Hunter G.
Just a few minutes before noon, as the men were on the character selection screen discussing which monster to farm, which weapons to use, and how to coordinate their roles, a soft, shy voice called out, "Big Brother."
The grown men immediately stopped talking and turned their heads toward the net cafe entrance.
A petite and cute little girl stood there. Her black, ear-length hair was washed clean, and she wore a set of children's clothes that looked like they had been stored for a long time but were neat and proper—a dress over a blue short-sleeved shirt. She looked just like the children often seen running and playing on the streets of Goldshire, who occasionally formed pentagram formations to scare people.
However, compared to them, while her voice was childish, her eyes held a maturity born of her tragic experiences.
"Oh ho ho ho, isn't this the little—"
De Vries was about to say "little lover" before Rainier shot him a glare.
Don't make jokes like that about a child this young.
Wayne looked over; who else could it be but Tess?
Seeing him look at her, Tess's face turned even redder.
Wayne quickly walked over, pulled Tess to the side, and began to instruct her.
He led her outside the door, knelt down, and said to her:
"First, don't call me 'Big Brother' anymore. I just happened to save you; you don't owe me anything."
Little Tess nodded.
"Second, I'm usually very busy and don't have time to take care of you. Forget cooking and laundry—I might not even have time to chat with you all day. So you need to think carefully about whether you want to stay here. If you're willing, I can talk to Mr. Farley at the inn and find a way to let him keep you."
Hearing this, Little Tess instinctively wanted to nod obediently, but her mouth curved down in grievance, and tears began to well up in her clear, bright eyes.
"Big Bro—" She remembered Wayne had just told her not to use that title and quickly stopped herself. "Do you not want me anymore?"
Wayne was about to say something to keep her from crying when he heard De Vries and the others poking their heads out from inside, making "Heh heh heh" and "Ooh ooh ooh" noises. His face flushed red as he shouted at the group of troublemakers, "Get lost!"
Then he turned and pulled Little Tess to a spot against the wall where the people inside couldn't see them. He continued, "I promised them I'd take you in. As long as you don't want to leave, I definitely won't drive you away."
"I just have to tell you in advance that it might be very boring here. You're a child, and children are meant to be playful."
Tess was indeed a child, but her level of maturity exceeded Wayne's imagination. She first asked:
"Then how should I address you?"
Wayne scratched his head. "What do you call Farley?"
Tess said cautiously, "I call him Uncle, or Mr. Farley."
Wayne thought to himself that if Farley was "Uncle," then "Big Brother" was appropriate for him, so he said:
"Then just call me Boss."
Tess nodded seriously. "Okay, Boss. You don't have to worry about me being bored. My hometown suffered a disaster long ago. Since I was little, my father told me: 'If you can find one beautiful thing every day, you can make the hard days easier.' And I've already found today's beautiful thing."