Pale Emblem

Chapter 149

Christine rented a house from Mrs. Carol as their temporary residence in Sands Town.

She plays Joanna, a third-level animal tamer of a distressed adventure group who doesn't have much money in her pocket but wants to rent a big and cheap house.

The kind-hearted Mrs. Carol tried her best to meet Joanna's requirements and personally arranged a four-story stone house for them. It was said that it was once the home of a wealthy man in Jinsha Town and could accommodate dozens of people. However, the location was a bit remote, far away from the center of the street, and on the east side of the town.

In fact, the house is not only slanted, but also a bit run-down. The decoration on the exterior wall has long been rotten and fallen off, the wall is mottled and cracked, and there is moss crawling on the shady wall. There is not a single intact window. It is like an old man with no teeth and a face full of wrinkles. If you get a little closer, you can smell a musty smell.

Of course, the structure of the house is still intact, and the walls are thick and strong enough, so it cannot be said to be a ruin.

The mayor's wife sent dozens of servants and craftsmen to clean up the house. They were quick and skilled, and brought a few ferocious leaf monkeys to drive away all the wild cats and birds living in the house, then cleared the garbage, washed the walls, installed windows and curtains, and finally moved in simple furniture, mattresses and other daily necessities.

In about half a day, the servants and craftsmen had cleaned the house inside and out, and thoughtfully left cooking utensils and some food.

Of course, all of these require payment. The price agreed upon by Christine and Carol is 10 gold taels a day, which means a first payment of 100 gold taels for a ten-day rental, and daily expenses are included in the price.

For professional adventurers, the daily cost per person when resting in the town is less than one gold tower, which is considered very economical.

But if most adventurers spend money in Sands Town, even if they are as frugal as Christine, Mrs. Carol can still make a lot of money.

Christine felt that she should be like Carol, staying somewhere and secretly building a force. Only in this way could she give full play to her charm and ability, earning money for her master and cultivating fanatical followers for her master to command.

If she ran around all day like an adventurer, it would be a waste of her lustful bloodline.

Christine wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Victor about her ideas, but it was definitely not possible now. From what she understood, her master would face a very complicated and extremely dangerous situation.

Now, I have to help my master solve the problem at hand first, and then consider other things.

Before the sun set, Victor, Harvey, Maddie, and two alchemists were led by a guard from Sands Town and found the big house that Christine rented.

Hermann went out and gave two Eagle's Nest silver coins to the guard who led the way to express his gratitude.

After receiving the reward, the guard left satisfied.

Christine had greeted the mayor's wife before, saying that she and five other companions were going to other places to do business, but they would definitely meet up in Jinsha Town today, and asked her to arrange for someone to wait at the city gate.

Carol agreed readily and immediately assigned the lucrative job to a waiter in the tavern.

The guy can change his clothes and become a guard at the gate.

Victor changed his appearance. He now has thick eyebrows, big eyes, a strong back and strong waist. He is a tall and strong young adventurer. His facial features are only regular, but his muscles are well-developed. His every move is full of strength, and he looks heroic.

At this moment, Victor's face was not looking good. His amber eyes and tightly pursed lips revealed a cold and hard taste. Stephanie, Ruth and Jessica, who ran out to greet them, did not dare to speak now, and huddled against the wall obediently.

The amber eyes that are friendly to the earth element are a feature that Victor has maintained throughout his life in Braun Town. When he went to the plantation outside the town to visit his old friends, he had to use the image of Veltok to avoid being misunderstood by them.

Victor came to Jinsha Town to reunite with Christine and others, so he naturally had to use the Alchemical Snake to change his disguise, but the amber eyes with affinity for the earth element were not easy to change, at least it was not worth it for him to waste the opportunity to switch elemental affinity, which he only had twice a day.

The personality traits expressed by amber eyes are firmness and stability, but also toughness and stubbornness. It is not easy to get close to Victor when he is angry.

The alchemists would not care whether Victor was angry or not. After all, they were unnatural creatures, and their personalities and emotions were all fabricated. Their souls only showed support and obedience to their masters, but they had no awe and did not know how to care for their masters.

At this time, the vampire Christine was more like a thoughtful half-elf woman. She took the initiative to comfort Victor: "My dear master, it seems that things are not going well for you?"

As she spoke, she took the bow and sword that Victor was carrying, helped him take off his bag and cloak, then politely asked him to sit down and served him a cup of hot tea.

"Well, it didn't go well," Victor said glumly.

Stephanie is young, but she has a strong sense of crisis and is quick-witted. She follows Christine's example and takes the initiative to help Maddie, Harvey and others take off their equipment.

Maddie rubbed the little girl's head with relief. The child was very smart and sensible beyond her age. She should understand that she knew too many secrets of this group. If she was abandoned by everyone, she would have no way out. Even Maddie, a teacher, could not plead for her.

Stephanie took the initiative to do some small things within her ability, as long as everyone got used to her presence, they would naturally accept her as a member of the group. At that time, she would be given everything she deserved, including secret techniques, secret medicines, the inheritance of the secret hunter profession, and the snake tentacles transformed by secret medicines. All of these were promotions that ordinary half-elves could not even dream of.

The truth is actually that simple, but not many people can actually do it.

"We didn't find any of the guys from the Adventurer's House. No matter they are old or young, none of them came to the agreed meeting point!" Harvey frowned, looking ugly but worried, and said, "I guess something must have happened to them!"

Maddie scratched his hair hard and said, "There are 15 large and small mountain plantations outside Jinsha Town. We ran through all of them and didn't find anyone from the Adventurer's House... There's no need to guess in this situation. Something must have happened to them!"

Victor's amber eyes turned and looked at Christine, and asked solemnly: "What news do you have?"

Christine smiled slightly and nodded, "Yes, the Adventurer's House in Braun Town is indeed in big trouble."

"…The story begins last winter, after the fall of Braun Town. Fallen Leaf City sent a general named Clark to lead an army of 3 to suppress the Orc invaders."

"This mission should have been handled by General Bartru, the commander of the Flame Tiger Legion. He and his Flame Tiger Legion are stationed in Godore Fortress, which is closest to Braun Town... However, Clark has obtained authorization from the Fallen Leaf City Council to control the Flame Tiger Legion."

"It is said that the two generals held a closed-door negotiation. We don't know what they discussed, but the final result is that the Flame Tiger Legion is only responsible for defending Godore Fortress, while the command of attacking the orcs belongs to Clark, which also includes the control of the Godore Fortress Adventurer's Guild."

Christine sighed and continued, "...Perhaps in order to establish his authority over the adventurers, Clark's first announcement to the Adventurer's Guild was to arrest the survivors of the Adventurer's House in Braun Town. The crime was that they were deserting their posts and allowing the orc invaders to occupy Braun Town instead of holding out and waiting for help!"

"Please note! Clark only captures residents of Braun Town. He didn't capture any adventurers who escaped from Braun Town." "What?!"

"Clark? How dare some stinking shitty general do this?"

Harvey and Maddie should have been angry when they heard the news, but they were just generally angry, not as furious as one might imagine.

After going through so much, especially after being on the verge of death and coming back to life, their hearts have completely leaned towards Victor. Their former comrades and partners are now not as important as Victor.

Victor asked, "Where is Red Lion Bartom? Any news about him?"

"Red Lion Bartom has been confirmed dead in battle. Clark sent people to publicize his bravery, but treated his men cruelly... Clark ordered the capture of the survivors of Braun Town, and then executed those over 45 years old, hanging their bodies on both sides of the road behind Godore Fortress for a whole month."

"Those who survived under the age of 45 became Clark's slaves, either imprisoned in prison or thrown into the arena for the amusement of noble sons."

Christine was silent for a moment before continuing, "This is terrible, and it seems to be inevitable... An adventurer told me that the boss behind Braun Town is General Bartru of the Flame Tiger Legion... Clark persecuted the residents of Braun Town to tell everyone that he is a cruel general. Now everything here is decided by him, so don't expect the Flame Tigers to fight against him."

After listening to Christine's narration, Maddie turned to Victor and explained, "Oh, we have a close relationship with General Bartru and give him a large sum of money every year. But we don't have a boss behind the scenes..."

"It does not matter."

Victor raised his hand to interrupt Maddie, then stood up, propped his hands on the table, looked around at his followers, and said in a cold voice: "I once promised Aunt Sarah that I would try my best to take care of the people in the Adventurer's House... Now, I only want to do two things, rescue all the survivors who have been framed and captured."

"And that General Clark... I don't care who he is or what his famous background is, I want him dead!"

Victor's tone was firm and no one doubted his will.

Stephanie was particularly excited. With tears in her eyes, she gritted her teeth and said, "Yes! Kill that noble general from Fallen Leaf City. You must kill him. Cut off his head and stick it on a stake!"

Christine turned to look at the little girl and asked with a half-smile, "Why, is it this Island Street poor people that Clark massacred?"

Stephanie regained consciousness in an instant, retreated to the wall again, shook her head and said, "I don't know if it was him, I just..."

"Did those noble families care about who they slaughtered?" This sentence was only in Stephanie's heart and she never said it out loud.

"Christine, you did a good job." Victor first praised the vampire, and then said, "I don't believe that everyone in the Adventurer's House was captured by Clark!"

Christine only used a little trick in the tavern, and those adventurers wanted to tell her everything they knew. Therefore, she only took half a day to organize the information she had obtained.

However, most of the information that adventurers know is general, one-sided and outdated, and can only be used as a reference and cannot be regarded as accurate intelligence.

At present, Christine just didn't get timely and accurate intelligence. She gritted her teeth secretly, shook her head and said, "I hate Mrs. Carol from Jinsha Town. She is also a person favored by fate. My ability is greatly reduced in front of her. But I have a hunch that there must be something wrong with her!"

Harvey said sullenly, "We used to have a very good relationship with Carol, but now I feel that she is unreliable..."

Christine suddenly asked, "Who is the most important person in your Braun Town?"

"Of course it's Veltok, oh no, it's Lord Victor." Harvey answered without hesitation.

Christine glared at him unhappily and said, "Before the master came to Braun Town, who was the most important person in the Braun Town Adventurer's House?"

Victor's heart moved, and he tried to ask, "Are you talking about Doctor Cole?"

"That's right, Doctor Cole is the core figure in Braun Town."

Christine nodded and said, "I understand professional physicians and their abilities...Braun Town can train awakened people and professionals because of Cole, a level 4 physician...If the Atre family in Jinsha Town and Carol's Rose Blade Adventure Group don't have a stable supply of secret medicines, they will of course have to curry favor with Braun Town."

"Now that Braun Town is finished, if Doctor Cole is still alive and comes to Sands Town again, I believe Carol will hide him and not let anyone find him."

“…I can sense that the woman is ambitious and very vigilant, like a fox that stole the hen.”

Even though it was not easy for Christine to charm Mrs. Carol, who was in charge of a powerful party, her ability to perceive emotions was not restricted too much.

Carol's excessive vigilance toward strangers naturally attracted extra attention from Christine.

"If you don't believe my intuition, then please think about it. So many survivors in Braun Town have escaped. Is there no one who has gone to Jinsha Town?"

"This shouldn't be possible, right?"

"Let's assume that there are survivors from Brown Town who arrive in Jinsha Town. Why didn't Jinsha Town show any traces?"

"So, there is only one possibility. Doctor Cole is taking refuge in Jinsha Town, and Carol has specially covered up his traces!"

What Christine meant was that ordinary survivors were not as important as Dr. Cole, and Carol would probably hand them over under pressure from General Clark.

This kind of thing naturally could not be hidden from the adventurers who settled in Jinsha Town, nor could it be hidden from the vampire Christine.

Since there must be survivors from Brown Town who sought refuge in Jinsha Town, and Jinsha Town chose not to hand them over, it could only be Cole, the Level 4 doctor, whom Carol was willing to take in at the risk of her own life for the huge benefits!

Victor took a deep breath, his amber eyes turned into ice blue, and he said, "If Doctor Cole is still in Sands Town, I can always find him."

"I'm going to go out for a walk now!"