The one who had quietly approached the magus from behind was none other than Balin. At this moment, Balin's steed had already collapsed outside the city, lying on the ground and panting heavily as it tried to recover. It probably never wanted Balin to ride it again for the rest of its life.
It might even be thinking about how to escape from here entirely.
Balin had also heard what the magus was saying. As the magus swore that no one would ever leave the barrier alive unless he died, Balin casually drew his knight's sword from his waist. He was already prepared—ready to lift his weapon and bring it crashing down on the magus's head in the next moment.
When Aslan saw Balin raise his sword and sheath in preparation to strike, and realized the magus wouldn't be able to dodge in time, he let out a soft sigh and pointed behind the magus.
"You may not believe me, but there is someone behind you."
The magus clearly didn't believe Aslan's words. In fact, he thought Aslan was just trying to divert his attention. Determined to trap Aslan and Morgan inside the castle at any cost, the magus refused to let down his guard—even for a moment—refusing to so much as turn his head.
"Don't try to fool me, you despicable locals! You're desperate to distract me because you know you can't get out, aren't you? Well, I'm not falling for it!"
Aslan sighed again. The usual indifference on his face faded away and was replaced with a look of quiet pity.
Not knowing whether the magus was religious or not, Aslan gently raised his hand and traced the sign of a cross in front of him—a silent prayer for peace and mercy upon the man.
At that same moment, Balin's sword sheath came crashing down with a crisp crack, and the barrier surrounding the castle began to rapidly dissipate.
Balin then plunged his sword into the ground, clasped his hands together, and leaned against his weapon, looking utterly exhausted and lazy.
"I have to say, my friend, you sure made me work for this. I've been chasing after you for four whole months. Finally, I caught up. Looking back, this journey really has been... draining."
Aslan raised an eyebrow. Though he didn't sense any hostility from this man, he couldn't understand why this person had been chasing him. Before Aslan could ask anything, Melusine, standing nearby, was already frowning again.
"Aslan! Just how many people have you attracted!? Why is there another person who's been chasing you for four whole months?"
If it were only women, that might be one thing—but why did Aslan attract men too?
Her golden eyes locked onto Balin. Though he was tall and muscular, his face was scruffy with stubble, his body reeked of sweat, and his armor was old and worn, his clothes mended and patched all over. He looked like a poor and unkempt knight. There was no way Aslan would be into someone like this, right?
With that thought, Melusine's expression finally eased a little. Compared to this guy, she was clearly the superior choice.
The blade of grass Balin had been chewing on fell from his mouth in shock. His previous laziness vanished without a trace, and he looked as though he'd just been struck by lightning. He waved his hands rapidly.
"Young lady, please don't say things like that! Sure, I may be a bit rough around the edges, not young anymore, and maybe a little broke, but I still want to find a wife and have some kids, you know!"
The way Balin flailed and tried to explain himself so desperately made Melusine finally lower her guard completely.
Alright, this middle-aged man didn't seem to be lying.
Alright, if he wasn't coming after Aslan with that kind of intention, then there was no problem.
"I heard that there was a skilled blacksmith here, so I came hoping to get a fine sword. Seeing as I just helped you out, could you maybe forge one for me? If you agree, then if you ever need anything in the future, just call on Balin!"
Aslan had originally intended to refuse. After all, he still needed to spend as much time as possible studying magic.
But upon hearing the knight's name, Aslan paused, then took a good look at the man in front of him. His eyes lit up.
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the very same Balin who was heavily featured in the legends of King Arthur.
Though not one of the Knights of the Round Table, his combat strength was said to rival any of them. More than that, in the original legends, this man had drawn the Red-Hilted Sword.
Thinking about it, given the current state of the world, the Red-Hilted Sword having been forged by his own hand, and how difficult it was for that sword to acknowledge a master, Aslan had a pretty good idea of what that meant.
Even more importantly, this knight had once wielded the Holy Spear Longinus in battle, and its single strike had plunged four cities into disaster. For a living man to wield that sacred spear and unleash such tremendous power—this alone proved that he was no ordinary knight.
There was one other critical detail: the man before him knew dual wielding!
As mentioned before, while Aslan was focused on learning magic, he had also considered studying basic martial arts and sword techniques. That way, even before he forged himself a fully empowered weapon, he could still put up a fight if necessary. More than that, improving his personal strength was always a good thing. Even a blacksmith needed to protect himself.
And more importantly, he also needed to forge another treasured weapon for Melusine soon. That meant that in the future, Melusine would also be wielding dual swords in her human form—and Balin could help her improve her combat skills significantly.
After all, Melusine in this world hadn't yet mastered any strong battle techniques or swordsmanship. So far, she was just relying on her ridiculous physical strength.
Aslan turned to Morgan.
"Would it be a problem if we temporarily added one more person to the team?"
Morgan simply bent down and picked up the barrier's core, studying the magical circuits etched into it. She nodded lightly. She was, after all, just a simulated personality. Compared to a normal personality, she was far more accommodating. Her purpose was to protect this body and the main personality within, so the more protectors around, the better.
Having received his "discount mentor's" approval, Aslan finally nodded at the knight before him.
"Since you helped us, I'll forge you a sword worthy of legend. But I have one condition—
You'll become the swordsmanship teacher for both me and Melusine."