Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

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The Guard Captain tried hard to raise his head, forcing himself to calm down, and trotted to catch up, "Prince, it must be true, it must be true, I saw with my own eyes that he can release flames..."

Richard, who was walking towards the deepest part of the dungeon, stopped in front of the last cell. Inside was a person dressed like a wizard in a black hooded robe, appearing extremely mysterious but... not at all comfortable. Four iron chains respectively bound his hands and legs, preventing him from moving freely. A rope was tied into his mouth, reportedly to keep him from chanting spells.

At this point, the person appeared somewhat calm, not as panicked as the three wrongly accused before him. However, upon noticing his slightly flickering gaze, Richard could guess that maybe he did have some tricks. But the probability of him being a real wizard was close to zero.

"Prince, someone reported this man for causing trouble in a tavern, not paying for his food, spreading rumors about seeing a fire-breathing dragon, and claiming to be a wizard, which caught my attention, so I took the team to arrest him.

At that time, when we caught him, I saw with my own eyes that he released flames, almost burning one of my soldiers. He is definitely a real wizard," said the Guard Captain. The next moment he took a bundle from his subordinate, and carefully handed it over, "Prince, these are the things the man was carrying with him; there are short wands and all sorts of bizarre casting materials inside..."

At this moment, the captured wizard in the dungeon spoke up. Although his mouth was gagged with a rope, his speech was extremely indistinct, yet still threatening, "You… you better release me, or… or suffer my wrath; I tell… tell you, I am a wizard. Do you know what a wizard is? I can ride a fire-breathing dragon and use magic to easily kill you…"

Richard ignored the wizard, reached for the bundle, and opened it. The first thing he saw was several black sticks approximately twenty centimeters long and about one centimeter in diameter. The rest were bottles and jars of unknown materials.

Richard randomly opened a bottle and found inside pieces of a yellow substance that looked like candle wax. After sniffing and detecting a faint garlic-like smell, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Prince, you..."

"The flames you saw earlier, did they appear like this?" Richard asked, picking up a short wand from the bundle, rubbing it against the yellow wax-like substance, and then forcefully scraping it against the stone wall beside him.

The intense friction caused heating, and with a "poof," a flame burst out from the tip of the short wand. At this moment, the entire wand looked just like an oversized match.

The Guard Captain's eyes widened instantly, "Prince, could it be that you… you also know magic?"

"What do you think?" Richard retorted, "I do intend to understand the principles of magic and subsequently figure out some other issues. But… reason has to be given; magic is magic, and tricks are just tricks. If I could use magic, would I still need to go to such lengths as to have you arrest people?"

"But you now..." The Guard Captain couldn't help but look at the burning short wand in Richard's hand.

"Just yellow phosphorus," Richard said, tossing the short wand into a small puddle of water on the ground, extinguishing it.

"Yellow phosphorus?"

"Yes, yellow phosphorus," Richard briefly explained, "This yellow waxy solid substance is called yellow phosphorus or white phosphorus. Its melting point is 44.1°C, and it can spontaneously ignite at 34°C, even in humid air around 40°C, just like now. It can be used to make some matches or smoke bombs and has nothing to do with legendary magic. So… you caught the wrong person again."

As Richard spoke, he gently patted the Guard Captain on the shoulder. Miraculously, as Richard's hand landed, the Guard Captain seemed to shrink segment by segment, finally sitting on the ground with a "thud," his face pale and bloodless.

Raising his head in panic, the Guard Captain looked at Richard's indifferent expression, feeling a chill emanate from his soul. "Bang," and he started kowtowing vigorously, "Prince, I was wrong, I was wrong, please give me another chance. I will definitely catch the person you really want."

"The last chance."

The Guard Captain was initially stunned, then quickly nodded, "Understood, understood."

Richard stepped forward, intending to leave with the swindler wizard's bundle, when suddenly his eyes caught something. He took out an item from the bundle.

It was a piece of snake skin, still warm to the touch, just as if it had been toasted before the fireplace, feeling very unusual, somewhat like something he had been searching for.

Richard's gaze sharpened, and he abruptly turned back, walking to the front of the cell, holding up the snake skin and asking the swindler wizard, "What is this? Tell me."

Who would have thought the swindler wizard, feeling somewhat backed, would lift his head proudly, nostrils flaring, completely ignoring him?

The Guard Captain asked tentatively from the side, "Prince, what do you think, how should we deal with him?"

The wizard in the cell gazed with dangerous and malicious eyes, as if saying: what do you think should be done with me?! Let me go now, or you'll suffer.

Richard chuckled coldly, drawing out a second short wand from the bundle, rubbing it with the yellow phosphorus, and scraped it against the wall, igniting it, then threw it.

The burning wand drew an arc through the air, passed through the cell bars, and landed in the straw-filled cell where the wizard was confined. The straw caught fire instantly, and soon flames and heavy black smoke were rising.

Amidst the wizard's terrified gaze, Richard turned and said to the Guard Captain, "For useless people, how to deal with them? Like those few patients you arrested by mistake, let them go. As for this prisoner, I truly detest him, so… just burn him to death!"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Very well."

"Da-da-da," with those steps, Richard walked towards the dungeon exit, the wizard's vague curses trailing behind, slowly changing in tone.

"Kid, you… you come back…"

"Put me down…"

"I beg you…"

"Pri… Prince, I was wrong, I'll tell you what that thing you asked about was…"

"Pri… Prince, I know you're interested in things related to wizards; that thing is the skin of a Flame Python that shed…"

"Da!"

Richard suddenly halted, and before the Guard Captain could react, he heard Richard order, "Extinguish the fire."

"Huh?" The Guard Captain was stunned, and the next moment he quickly turned around, and with a roar, over a dozen soldiers stumbled over, each carrying a wooden bucket of water, running quickly to the swindler wizard's cell, pouring it in without even looking.

"Splash, splash..."

The flames, which were not very large in the first place, were completely extinguished after the dozen or so buckets of water were poured out, though the iron-chained wizard became soaking wet.

With a "creak," the cell door opened. Richard stepped onto the damp, waterlogged straw inside, and looked up at the wizard. With a slight gesture, the Guard Captain obligingly stepped forward to untie the rope gagging the wizard's mouth.

The wizard breathed a sigh of relief but hadn't started speaking before Richard said, "You have one minute to convince me not to kill you. If your words cannot convince me, then rest assured, your subsequent death will certainly be more painful than being burned alive."

The wizard shivered all over, "I… I…"

"Still fifty seconds."

The wizard, awakened with a shiver, realized his life or death lay entirely in his own hands. He quickly started speaking, "Prince, honestly, I'm not a wizard; I'm just a swindler, I…"

Richard showed no interest in the other's confession, his expression calm as he reminded, "Forty seconds."

The wizard's tone heightened, "I know you're interested in wizards and magic. Just a few days ago, I saw with my own eyes a python entirely wreathed in flames. I believe it would certainly be useful to you. And that skin in the bundle is part of the shed skin of the python that I found; I sold the rest..."

"You've seen a Flame Python? Then tell me, exactly how many days ago was it?" Richard asked, his eyes locked onto the wizard's gaze.

The next moment, seeing the wizard's eyes involuntarily shift downwards to the right, Richard understood this involuntary action during recollection generally indicated he was speaking the truth, "It was exactly three days ago."

"Morning or afternoon?"

"Uh… noon."

"What was the weather like? Sunny or cloudy?"

"Sunny."

"Where was the sun relative to you?"

"Uh… on the left."

"What did it look like?"

"Similar to an ordinary python, except it was on fire."

"What color?"

"Red."

"How long?"

"More than three meters."

"How much more?"

"About half a meter more."

"Specific location."

"On a small hill over ten miles outside the city..."

...

After a brief silence, Richard paused his interrogation, and the Guard Captain quietly asked, "Prince, what do you think…"

"Untie him, then tie him onto a horse. You take a team and leave the city with me immediately."

"Ri… right now?"

"Now," said Richard. "If we capture the Flame Python he spoke of, we'll release him; if we do not capture it… we'll slice his flesh piece by piece to feed the dogs!"

"Uh…"

"Prince, Prince!" the wizard shouted loudly, fearing for his life. He quickly reminded, "Prince, to catch that python, proper preparation is essential. After all, it is a demonized creature capable of magic, very dangerous."

"Then I'll have people bring more bows and arrows…" the Guard Captain suggested, thinking quickly, "and bring a big net…"

"No, nets are no use," the wizard urgently advised, "That python's whole body catches fire, it'll burn through any net."

"Then how would you suggest handling it?"

"I…" the wizard's momentum weakened immediately.

"Bring everything necessary, select some elite soldiers," Richard made a decision, "Additionally…"

"Additionally…" Richard continued, "go to the 'KGB' shop in the city and notify the third steward, asking them to bring the goods I previously ordered, and together they'll help find the Flame Python."

"Yes."

...

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