“Ah?” Lawson was taken aback, momentarily unsure how to respond.

In his previous life, he had certainly seen countless beauties, but in this life, he was still a virgin. The women in the bandit camp had all been worn down by hardship; even those with good foundations weren’t much to look at. So the most reasonable answer should be that he hadn’t seen any.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Silas automatically chose the most logical answer and said with a faint smile, “I must be overthinking it. You’re just a little shepherd living deep in the mountains—how could you have ever seen a beautiful woman?”

Lawson’s mind raced.

Following Silas, his lowest expectation was to leave the forest alive, and his highest was to become this man’s apprentice and learn magic from him.

But this guy clearly didn’t think much of him. Now that his drawing had caught the other’s attention, he decided to up the ante and give it another try.

“Uh~ sir, actually, I have seen one. The head... it was that Ironclaw Wolf, Wald, whom you killed. A few years ago, he captured a very beautiful girl. Her face was as lovely as a flower—so beautiful that no one could take their eyes off her.”

After all, it was something from years ago, and the dead can’t testify, so he could make up whatever he wanted without fear of being exposed.

Silas believed him and asked with interest, “And what happened to her?”

“She died.”

“How did she die?”

“She died in childbirth. It was a terrible death—she screamed for a whole day and night but couldn’t give birth, and then she died. Wald was very upset and threw tantrums for almost a month. Lots of people got whipped for no reason. I got whipped too—it hurt a lot and took more than half a month to heal.”

In these times, childbirth was a matter of life and death, and dying from it was all too common. He remembered several women in the Wolf Bandit Camp who had died that way, so this explanation was perfectly reasonable.

‘Oh~~’

Silas nodded slowly, not caring about the woman’s fate. “Do you still remember what she looked like?”

“Of course I do.” Lawson nodded vigorously.

At the same time, he opened “My Imperial Harem” and navigated to the “Fantasy Style Photo Collection” subfolder.

Inside, there were four more subfolders: “Decent Looking,” “Quite Charming,” “Rare Beauties,” and “Stunningly Gorgeous.”

Judging from the details, Lawson was sure that the standard of living in this world was pretty average.

He figured that even an ordinary girl from Earth would stand out here. If a girl was above a six out of ten in looks, she’d probably be considered a legendary beauty.

After a moment’s thought, Lawson opened the “Decent Looking” subfolder, found a photo set of a girl just over five but not quite six out of ten, and picked a conservatively styled photo to prepare.

Sure enough, Silas handed over another piece of parchment. “Draw it for me.”

Lawson was ready. With a few swift strokes, in less than fifteen minutes, a young woman in a light green dress with delicate features appeared on the paper.

Especially those big eyes—sparkling, soft, and alluring—they tugged at the heartstrings.

Of course, the real person was nowhere near this attractive, but Earth girls knew how to use makeup and beauty filters. A five-out-of-ten girl, after all that, could easily become a striking beauty.

Silas glanced at the drawing, his expression instantly changing. He immediately brought the picture close to his eyes for a careful look, and as he stared, his breathing noticeably quickened.

Suddenly, he grabbed the severed head hanging from the luggage rack and punched it several times, his face full of indignation. “What a pearl cast before swine! That damned wolf got such a bargain!”

He reluctantly looked at the drawing a few more times before finally raising his head to look at Lawson, a hint of anticipation on his face. “You drew very well, but it’s not quite good enough. The girl is wearing too many clothes. Can you draw her without any?”

“Ah?!”

Lawson was shocked again, this time genuinely surprised by Silas’s bluntness.

Of course he could draw it, but he couldn’t—at his age and with his experience, there was no way he could draw something he’d never actually seen.

Before Lawson could answer, Silas shook his head to himself. “Ah~ I’m overthinking it again. You’re just a kid, how could you have ever seen a beautiful woman without clothes?”

But he didn’t seem disappointed. Instead, there was a new heat in his gaze as he looked at Lawson. “Your drawing skills are outstanding—far beyond my expectations.”

After a moment’s thought, Silas stood up, kicked some snow to extinguish the campfire, and took the heavy luggage chest onto his back. “Let’s go, keep moving. If we hurry, we can get out of the mountains before dark.”

With that, he strode forward.

Lawson jogged to catch up. “Sir, let me carry it instead?”

“No need. This morning was a test for you. You’re an honest and hardworking kid, and I’m very satisfied. From now on, you are my spell apprentice. I’ll teach you spells, but in return, you’ll work for me.”

Before Lawson could reply, he stopped again, staring into Lawson’s eyes and speaking word by word.

“Remember, ‘magic’ is what ignorant fools call spells.”

“Spells are spells! They have nothing to do with devils from hell! Spells are the path for us mortals to reach the heavens!”

‘The path for mortals to reach the heavens, huh?’

Lawson felt a tremor in his heart, his longing for spells growing even stronger. He immediately changed his address: “I understand, Mentor Silas.”