Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 405 Tracing the Fire
Scattered flames lit up the ground, the black smoke from the burning still lingering, swirling and howling in the evening wind, carrying away the ashes and scattering them.

Through Doflamingo's bird's-eye view, the entire farm center and western part were deathly silent, without a trace of movement.

The mage withdrew his gaze and pondered for a moment. He left the tinkerer and Bard to continue guarding and looting the prisoners, while he, accompanied by Old Clockwork, headed to the west side of the farm, the place where the caravan and farm residents had previously been.

Stepping into the scene of the tragedy, the stench of blood mixed with the cold wind grew stronger, and the sparks from the burning houses, thatched roofs, and vehicles crackled and bounced, illuminating the already dim night.

As they continued deeper into the area, they could see corpses lying everywhere, mostly ordinary civilians, who, judging from their clothing, were probably local farmers or residents, with a few dressed as guards.

Heading straight west, you'll see tents still burning, but they're almost completely burned down, leaving only the frames. This must be the campsite of the caravan that Kegan mentioned.

The corpses at his feet grew denser, many of them wearing leather armor, their weapons scattered haphazardly, uncollected. This was not surprising, as the well-equipped underground dog tycoons would hardly deign to accept these ordinary, basic weapons.

As I walked, I felt a sticky feeling on the soles of my feet. When I stopped to look, I saw that blood was flowing freely, staining the once dry soles of my shoes red.

Amidst the clusters of flames, the mage scanned his surroundings intently. Where the flames shone, there was not a trace of life, only the sounds of Kegan and his companions searching.

"Boss, these are the supplies we found on the caravan. That's all. Most of the rest were burned beyond recognition."

With disheveled hair and a face blackened by soot, Kegan led a group of dwarves over carrying several crates. They put them on the ground, and judging from the sound of them hitting the ground, they didn't seem very heavy.

The monk nodded in approval, bent down and opened the box, only to find that it was mostly made of wood and leather, which explained the heavy losses in the fire.

We will not take a single penny of money or goods; we will burn them all. This is not for the purpose of seeking wealth.

They left no survivors, and even if the corpses littered the fields, they did not collect them. They did not come to plunder slaves for blood sacrifice.

What are they here for? Could this clearly purposeful raid be the work of some family that has gone mad and thinks they can please the Spider Queen by randomly killing a few people on the surface?
The monk's eyes, which had been slightly closed, suddenly flickered, and he gave the order:

"Kagan, send someone to inform Bard, the rest of you come with me to take a look inside the farm."

He put the boxes into his pocket and turned to walk straight toward the still-burning houses.

Kegan and the dwarves obeyed obediently, quickly sprinting to catch up while saying to their master:

"Boss, we've checked those dilapidated houses. The fire is so big, even if there are people, they would have been burned to death."

"Let's see and then talk."

Zhang Yuan left with a noncommittal remark and continued walking until he reached the house.

Although it is currently the transition from winter to spring, the temperature is still cold but also somewhat dry. The wind fanned the flames, and several wooden houses were engulfed in fire. The flames swayed like demons in the wind, and the flickering light illuminated the faces of the group of people, making them appear and disappear.

Although Kagan had explained a lot along the way, now that things had come to this point, he shut up and didn't say a word, refusing to mention anything like "I already said that".

The fire in front of them was burning for who knows how long, and the monk didn't have the time to waste on it.

"The perfect liquid."

The mage, who had no memory of rain-related spells and was unwilling to waste his Ice Storm Scroll here, quickly found a suitable firefighter—a Morphling.

For the Water Spirit, who claims to be the perfect liquid and upright water, extinguishing a fire that wasn't even a supernatural flame was a piece of cake. The two Morphlings didn't need to do anything else; they simply merged into their Wave Form and pounced on the fire, like waves engulfing rocks. Under the onslaught of the water, the originally raging fire was completely extinguished, leaving only a few scattered flames struggling pitifully like candles flickering in the wind.

"Great! We won't even need firefighters anymore!" Mr. Zhang praised his own ingenuity and stepped forward.

A gust of cold wind blew by at that moment.
With a crackling sound, all that could be seen was the house, blackened by the scorching heat, collapsing in an instant like the embers of a campfire.

There were no houses left, only a few black charcoal pillars and that door stubbornly standing in place, while everything else had turned into slag and waste.

Mr. Zhang, who had been poised to push the door open and enter, immediately froze in place. What was going on? So there was only one door left?
Why bother?

Looking at the other houses, he saw that they were all in the same state. Only then did Master Zhang realize that the Morphling's Wave Impact had not only extinguished the flames, but also destroyed the houses!

Wow, the problem and its underlying cause are both solved, addressing both the symptoms and the root cause, leaving no future troubles.

"Ahem, the fire is out. Quickly search for anything unusual."

"Yes, Lord."

The mage quickly adjusted his posture, adopting an air of complete control, while Kegan, with his eyes fixed straight ahead and a serious expression, led his fellow clansmen, who were still staring at each other in confusion, to the ruins of the house to rummage through them.

The mage activated his Arcane Vision to survey the ruins, but still found nothing. After several fruitless attempts, the mage began to doubt his own deductions.

"Dispel the spell."

"Detecting stealth."

After two spells proved ineffective, the undeterred mage retrieved a go-to adventure spell from his treasured scrolls:

"Detect hidden doors."

A faint light burst forth from his hand, spreading across the ground before him like flowing water, enveloping the ruins of all four wooden houses, and spreading along the broken walls.

The white light flowed like mercury, seeping into any cracks it encountered, and turning red when it met a hidden compartment, revealing the outline of the hidden door.

Once the spell was complete, the mage glanced around and noticed that there was a hidden door in both the largest house in front of him and the smallest house not far away.

Is this the entrance to the cellar?

The mage muttered to himself, but he was not careless at all. He ordered everyone to sweep away the debris and embers on the ground to reveal a hidden door with a spell mark.

Kegan wiped the door, his hand covered in black ash, and then tapped it several times with his fingers, producing a metallic sound—it was a stone door.

Pah!
The dwarf spat twice into his palm, gripped the stone slab with his fingers, and with a little force, flipped it aside. At the same time, he rolled over and hid behind the dwarf shield guards nearby.

Its movements were nimble and skillful, like a fat groundhog rolling around.

Nothing happened. A dwarf cautiously extended a torch into the room, but found nothing unusual.

Thank you to Brother A-Yi for the generous donation, and also thank you to ZSPZSP, Tiramisu 3rd Generation, Hawkhand, Moon's Min, and Smoke Returns to Dust for your monthly ticket support. Thank you all!
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(End of this chapter)