Jaina

The voyage took far longer than Yinsen had expected. The real Azeroth was simply too vast, and its transportation methods were primitive and backward. Since coming to this world, he had found that most of his time was wasted on the road.

After finally reaching Theramore, he did not even know whether he would have enough time left to return to Stormwind City.

"I’m starting to find this journey a little boring."

Even Loki, with his long lifespan, was getting fed up with such simple travel, especially since the conditions aboard ships in this world were even worse than those on Yinsen’s side.

"If there weren’t still a black dragon waiting to be defeated, I’d really ask you to send me back right now."

He would rather endure the Goddess of Dawn being tossed about by those waves than keep wasting time in this world. Besides, his training over this period had steadily improved his strength. He felt that he might now be able to personally teach that arrogant black dragon a lesson.

Loki did not care much about mounts. Even if he could not capture it as one, killing a black dragon still came with plenty of benefits. After all, it was a powerful black dragon, and every part of it could be called a treasure. Loki was already considering whether to make himself a new outfit.

"If Jaina is willing to help, perhaps we won’t need to waste so much time taking a ship back."

Jaina was one of the most outstanding Mages among humanity in this world, but that was not the important part.

What truly drew Yinsen’s attention was that Jaina was exceptionally skilled in Teleportation Magic. Not only could she teleport herself anywhere at will, she could even teleport entire armies. This made Jaina Proudmoore someone many factions were unwilling to provoke.

That was the fundamental reason Theramore had remained safely established in this world despite suffering repeated devastating blows, being pushed aside by the Alliance into a fringe power, and distrusted by the Horde.

Of course, Jaina herself had not realized this. She still naively believed that gentler methods could let every race happily become one family, and she had been working tirelessly toward that goal. To achieve her dream, she would not hesitate even to get her own father killed.

Only Yinsen and Windsor knew these matters. Yinsen did not give everyone a detailed account of Jaina Proudmoore’s life, while Windsor did not wish to discuss this powerful Mage whom he did not know how to judge. Besides, humans generally knew what Jaina had done. Windsor assumed Yinsen and the others already understood Jaina’s past, so there was naturally no need to repeat it.

"Next, we’ll have to rely on you, Marshal Windsor."

The benefits of bringing Windsor had finally become apparent. This Marshal of the Stormwind Kingdom was fairly well known, enough to ensure that Yinsen and the others could smoothly meet Theramore’s ruler.

If they were merely a few travelers, meeting the ruler of a major power would not be easy—Jaina was, after all, the legitimate heir of Kul Tiras, one of the former Seven Kingdoms of humanity. She had founded the harbor city of Theramore alongside her father, bringing Lordaeron’s refugees with them. How could such an important figure be seen just because some adventurers had suddenly shown up?

Bringing Windsor was different. Perhaps the guards at the gate could not identify him, but the title of Marshal of the Stormwind Kingdom meant they would not dare brush him off. They had to report the matter upward.

Whether he was genuine or not was for his superiors to decide. No blame would fall on the guard for doing his job, and for a power as large as Theramore, finding someone who knew Windsor was not difficult.

Thus, only half a day after arriving in Theramore, Yinsen and the others met this famous father-dooming Mage.

"I’m very glad to see you in Theramore, Marshal Windsor. I heard earlier that you vanished during battle, and I worried about you for quite some time."

In truth, Windsor and Jaina were not the same sort of people at all. Windsor was a career soldier, and his stance leaned more toward killing every enemy; Jaina, meanwhile, had always devoted herself to easing conflicts between races, hoping everyone could live together harmoniously in this world.

From Jaina’s perspective, soldiers like Windsor being wiped out would better suit her aims. That way, the Stormwind Kingdom would be more inclined to use peaceful methods to deal with its various problems.

Compared with Jaina’s warm manner, Windsor was far less polite. The Marshal of the Stormwind Kingdom did not have a particularly good temper, and he did not think much of Jaina. Since he was also poor at concealing his true thoughts, after exchanging a few stiff pleasantries, he bluntly introduced Yinsen to her.

At that point, Jaina understood that the one who had come looking for her was not Marshal Windsor, but the others.

"I came here to search for Varian Wrynn, the missing King of the Stormwind Kingdom."

Yinsen did not particularly like this woman either. On top of that, who knew what reaction his identity as an "outsider" might provoke from this Mage? So he did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

He wanted to know whether Jaina had found—or perhaps encountered—Varian Wrynn after he had lost his memories. If she had not, Yinsen had two options next.

He could search for the naga who had imprisoned Varian, or find a way to reach Durotar. One was a possible plot thread from the game, while the other was setting established in an official comic.

Originally, he had thought that since Varian had not been split into two people, and there was no indolent, pleasure-seeking king in Stormwind City, events should be following the game’s storyline.

Unexpectedly, Jaina gave him an answer that slightly surprised him.

"I have already found His Majesty Varian Wrynn."

"What?"

The one who reacted so excitedly was naturally not Yinsen, but Windsor, who had been wearing a cold expression the entire time. The moment he heard news of Your Majesty, he shot to his feet in excitement and even overturned the chair behind him.

No one found his reaction surprising. Jaina felt that this was entirely normal, so she did not mind Windsor’s breach of etiquette. Instead, she soothed the agitated Marshal and explained that some trouble remained unresolved, which was why she had not yet sent His Majesty Wrynn back to the Stormwind Kingdom.

"What trouble?"

After asking the question, Windsor suddenly remembered what Yinsen had said earlier: Your Majesty was currently in trouble, and they had worked so hard to travel to Kalimdor precisely to resolve that trouble.

So he immediately turned toward Yinsen, who was seated not far away. "You can solve it, right?"

Yinsen did not answer directly. Instead, he asked for details about Varian’s condition. Jaina concealed nothing and thoroughly explained everything she knew.

After hearing Jaina’s account, everyone finally understood what had happened. Yinsen felt that events seemed to have progressed a little quickly, but on further thought, it was perfectly normal.

Varian Wrynn had been missing for quite some time, and Yinsen had wasted so long on the road. This world did not revolve around Yinsen. While he was traveling, Varian Wrynn had not been standing still in one place, waiting for the "player" to come rescue him.

Jaina briefly recounted how she had encountered Varian Wrynn and explained the problem Your Majesty was currently facing.

This part was broadly the same as the comic storyline Yinsen knew, though some details differed.

Varian Wrynn had indeed been captured by the naga, just as in the game’s story. However, even after falling under Onyxia’s magic and losing his memories, Varian Wrynn was not someone willing to remain imprisoned. He had constantly sought ways to escape the naga’s control, and through a strange twist of fate, he had been saved by a passing shaman.

Although the injured Varian had been saved by that shaman, it did not mean he had escaped suffering. That shaman was no kindhearted person. He had saved Varian solely because he saw Varian’s outstanding personal strength, so he captured him, brought him to Durotar, and trained him into a gladiator.

After forming a powerful gladiator team with Valeera Sanguinar, a Blood Elf rogue, and Broll Bearmantle, a Night Elf druid, Varian won arena championships one after another and became the renowned gladiator Lo’Gosh.

He had not become lost in the glory of being an arena star. Instead, he had constantly sought a way to escape, and he had ultimately succeeded.

After leaving Durotar, Lo’Gosh had wandered everywhere while searching for ways to recover his memories. As the largest human city in Kalimdor, Theramore naturally became his target for restoring them, so he had run straight into Jaina’s hands.

Jaina naturally recognized Varian Wrynn. After examining him, she confirmed that he was indeed the missing King of the Stormwind Kingdom. Just as she was considering how to remove the magic affecting Varian, Yinsen and the others appeared.

"Where is Your Majesty now?"

Almost at the same moment Jaina gestured for Windsor not to worry, a Middle-aged Man radiating a fierce aura entered with two elves.

Yinsen studied the first man to enter. He knew that this was Varian Wrynn, whom many called King Varian. Yet he did not look like a king at all right now. He looked more like a gladiator steeped in bloodshed.

"Your Majesty!"

As Marshal of the Stormwind Kingdom, Windsor immediately recognized the person before him as his king. Unfortunately, Varian could not recognize him at all. He merely frowned and looked Windsor over a few times before turning toward Jaina beside him.

Meanwhile, Jaina was studying Yinsen, who had shown no excitement at Varian’s appearance.