From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 484 Guild
Baldur's Gate: living in this city means being surrounded by trouble.

Even before entering the city, trouble had already come knocking on their door.

The Zantallinn Society's smuggling hideouts hold a considerable amount of valuable goods. As a criminal organization, they are quite well-organized. Each member only takes their share from the hideout, collectively maintaining underground order.

However, considering the need to abandon this smuggling den on the riverbank, Rugen still led his men to pack up everything that could be used in the den.

Evil Thoughts was clearly very interested in this matter, and she would never miss any opportunity to loot the treasure chests.

Before Rugen could return from the smugglers' hideout with his evil intentions, four masked gang members jumped out from a corner of the sea cave.

"Nine Fingers greets you, you bastard! Your Stone Lord is already half dead, and you're all going to hell soon too!" The lead ranger in leather armor was about to launch an attack when he was taken aback to see the Flame Fist soldiers standing on the sailboat.

"This is a fucking trap! We've been betrayed! The report didn't mention this many Flame Fists!" the guild's ranger shouted angrily. "Run! Run as many as you can! Someone has to tell Nine Fingers what's going on here!"

“I think none of you will escape, especially under the destructive magic of us mages.” Jasira looked at Ivy with a pleading gaze.

Ivy wasn't sure what value these petty thieves held, but it was the assessment of the high-ranking harpist Jasira.

Brilliant lightning flashed from his mithril staff, shadows were cast from his high brow ridges, and his emotionless eyes seemed to gleam with a demonic light.

Faced with the mage's silent threat, the four thieves felt as if their feet were made of lead, unable to move.

"He'll burn us all to a crisp!" the short thief cried out in terror. "We're doomed..."

“Don’t worry,” Jasila said, feigning magnanimity. “I have some connection with Nine Fingers. In fact, I’m planning to go talk to her about a business deal.”

"Will you let us go?" the leading guild ranger asked with a hint of anticipation.

“I will personally escort you to Nine Fingers. As long as you cooperate obediently, I guarantee no one will get hurt.” Jasira waved his hand. “Disarm them, Harpists.”

"Are they our new travel companions?" Evil Thoughts, carrying a treasure chest back to the ship, looked at the four guild members who were tied together.

"Pretty much, but I prefer to call him an informant." Jahira seemed to be in a good mood, and the wrinkles etched on her face by time had been smoothed out considerably.

"You need some locals to provide you with information? I thought the old friends of the Zantalin Society would be enough." Ivy nodded. For spellcasters, intelligence is a crucial component of combat, and he understood Jashira's actions.

“Baldur’s Gate is a huge city; even the rats living underground have several hills.” Jahira watched as the Harpist and Flame Fist worked together to anchor the ship, then turned back to her. “I know you have many questions, young man. But we can talk about them after we set sail.”

Ivy inserted the end of her mithril staff into the deck and quickly and steadily drew a magic circle based on circles and heptagons. Once the magic was channeled into it, the entire ship would be temporarily invisible.

Gale's illusion magic was already prepared, and amidst the adventurers' astonishment, the sailboat once again broke through the waves, moving towards Baldur's Gate in a transparent form.

“The Baldur’s Gate guild is an underground organization that wields considerable influence. It provides a platform for peaceful negotiations among numerous gangs and various adventurer groups.” Jahira glanced at the Flamefist soldiers. “Although it’s illegal, it does have a reason to exist, and it always provides me with the information I need.”

“Your old friends in the Zantarin Guild will send us to the sewers, which is also guild territory,” Jahira said. “We can also take the opportunity to find the guild leader, the one they call Nine Fingers.”

"And it also allows us to verify the intelligence from both sides. But you went to find the guild leader specifically, surely it wasn't just to verify the authenticity of the intelligence?" Ever since entering the Baldur's Gate, a heavy and oppressive atmosphere had enveloped Ivy's heart. He really didn't know how many monsters were lurking in this huge cesspool.

“I originally planned to gather the harpists after we disembarked, but the guild members who have been staying in the sewers are obviously more suitable to consult.” Jasira crossed her arms, a nostalgic smile on her face.

“Tell me—Leatherman, Minsk, how much do you know about this man?”

"Oh my god! Minsk!" Karak clenched her hands in front of her chest, striking the same fangirl pose she had when she first met Jasira.

Meanwhile, the evil thought on the other side rubbed its stomach with a sad expression, as if thunder was rumbling inside.

"Heroes of Baldur's Gate, your comrades... that's pretty much what they're called. And it all comes from Karak's sharing." If Jashira was a character he had seen in video games, then this ranger who only appeared in storybooks and legends was a character Ivy could never have imagined.

“That’s quite accurate.” Jasila sighed. “Minsk was an old friend—perhaps the oldest of them all. We fought side by side countless times… The last time I saw him, I left him to die alone.”

"Because of the Order of the Supreme God?" Although it was a question, Ivy's tone was very certain.

“You’re very perceptive.” Jasira licked her slightly dry lips. “We’ve discovered the first dark seed of this conspiracy—cultists and mind flayers are gathering in the lower city.”

“We could have ended it all there, wiped the weeds out completely. But before I could even ask for help, Minsk went out alone.”

"At that time, I had a choice: stay and let the news of the cult perish with us, or leave him, survive, and fight another day."

With just these few words, the images of Minsk and Jashira became much richer in Ivy's mind.

A reckless wanderer and his external brain.

“If we’re lucky, we might see him again.” Ivy’s gaze swept over her teammates, who were all thinking about bugs. “But you should be prepared to be his enemy.”

“Infection, indoctrination, extermination. Every cult captive we’ve encountered so far has suffered this fate,” Jahira said gravely. “But perhaps with your help, Minsk will not have to suffer the same fate.”

“If we can capture him alive, that’s certainly possible. Hopefully, we can get the information we want from Nine Fingers.” Ivy’s gaze swept over a shadowy spot where Minsara was hiding, admiring the approaching Baldur’s Gate.

As a drow who had lived in the Underdark for most of her life, she had never been fond of sunlight, a stark contrast to her vampire counterpart who was leisurely sunbathing at the stern of the ship. "I knew you wouldn't let go of any opportunity that might strengthen our forces," Jashira said with a grateful smile. "However, besides intelligence, there are a few other things I'm lacking. Safe houses, liaisons, supplies... but these can all be obtained with the help of local forces."

“Your ‘help’ sounds more like a freeloader.” Ivy glanced sideways at the old lady with dreadlocks in front of her. Years of city life had made this druid less bound by the dogmas of nature.

If we compare a city to a forest of towering boulders, then the rules of survival within it are often more brutal than those in the wilderness.

This is especially true in Baldur's Gate, a place rife with materialism and complex interplay of various forces.

Bubbles floated on his head as he navigated through the sewer-lined lower city. The long line behind Ivy was filled with everyone except for the Roland siblings, who were heading to the upper city to find Lorokan. This included four guild prisoners.

“Brapton…” Karak looked up at the moss-covered stone wall, “That’s where I grew up.”

"A question." Perhaps sensing Karak's worry, Gale initiated the conversation, "How far is it from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep?"

"Judging from the distance from Baldur's Gate to Eltoril, I would say...it's very far," Karak replied after a moment's thought.

“Ah, this distance makes it a little difficult for my mother to receive my messages.” Gale scratched his chin, the stubble he’d shaved off in Morningstar City now turning green. “But it’s alright—things she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, at least not at this distance.”

“Does the mage always speak with such poetic grace?” Karak smiled. “But I think you’re right, at least I won’t make her sad. When it’s all over, I’ll definitely take you to see my mother and my father. They’re lying up there, in the cliffside cemetery.”

Based on what Ivy saw along the way, the surrounding environment is visibly improving.

Although the stone slabs were still covered with moss and damp stone slabs, and soft mud and sewage struggled to move through the channels, traces of human activity began to appear.

Where there are people, there is usually order. Especially in chaotic places like the lower city, the mere sight of someone setting up a tent and a campfire is a rare sign of civilization.

Some silent thugs stood at the end of the passage, coldly watching the visitors emerge from it and the bubbles covering their heads.

A mage is not uncommon, and two warriors wielding massive weapons is not unusual either...

But as more and more people emerged from the passage, the guild's gatekeepers began to visibly waver, not to mention the Flame Fist soldiers whose identities were very distinctive.

They were talking in hushed tones, and the one who was the fastest on his feet and the quickest on his tongue had already gone to the back.

"Fallin! You betrayed our location to the council's lackeys!" Apparently, someone recognized the rangers Nine Fingers had sent to plunder Stone Lord's goods outside the city.

After reaching a consensus, the guild's mission specialists were freed from the constraints of their hands and feet, but their weapons were still guarded by the Flame Fist soldiers.

The guild's ranger hurriedly waved his hands: "They have nothing to do with the council! Uh... they shouldn't, right? The harpist is the one leading them!"

“We outnumber them, shouldn’t we just storm in and take over the guild’s territory?” Xie Nian looked around. Although his teammates had all drawn their weapons, their expressions didn’t seem like they were ready for battle.

“Sometimes I can understand what you sons of Baal are thinking,” Jahira said with a smile as she emerged from behind the evil thought. “The dark, sunless underworld does give one the urge to tear down all the coverings and let the rats in the gutter bask in the sun. But believe me, we’re here to negotiate, not to fight.”

"Blocking my door with Flame Fist and Harpist doesn't seem like the style of a hero."

The guild thugs who had been standing at the end of the passage had disappeared, replaced by a woman wearing gold-trimmed leather armor and a green cloak. She had her arms crossed and a dagger-like smile on her face.

Even when facing a large, indiscriminate crowd, she maintained her composure.

Ivy really didn't expect that the leader of the underground organization that could stir up trouble in Baldur's Gate would be a woman, and a woman who looked to be no more than thirty years old.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.” Jahira waved to Nine Fingers, who was standing on the stairs. “Come and meet my new friend, the guild leader.”

"Friends?" Nine Fingers exhaled through her nose, her voice slightly hoarse. "Not bad. You won't make many friends in my guild hall."

"You owe me a gold coin, Grandma."

Nine Fingers' words seemed to be a sign of weakness, or perhaps just a simple greeting. Ivy was certain that Jasira must have often dealt with the guild leader in front of her in the past.

"When I heard that your body had been left to rot in the wilderness, I offered a sacrifice to the well in Kelanvor."

After traveling through the Sword Bay for some time, Ivy had gained a general understanding of the major deities of Faerûn.

Kylanvor, mentioned by Nine Fingers, is one of them. He is the Grim Reaper who came after the Three Death Gods and the Prince of Lies, Cyric, and is known as the fairest Grim Reaper in history. Like his four predecessors, he was just a mortal before becoming a god.

“Gold?” Jashira laughed. “I had no idea I was so important to you, Guild Leader.”

“I’m a sentimental person,” Nine Fingers sighed. “Besides seeing you as a rival, I mostly see you as a tough-talking but soft-hearted older sister.”

“Not bad.” Jasila’s expression didn’t change much. “From grandmother to older sister, you’ve made me look a lot younger.”

“Let’s get straight to the point, Nine Fingers. I won’t waste your time.” Jasira was tired of this cryptic conversation. “I need some intelligence, a safe house, skilled messengers to help deliver messages, and plenty of supplies… Well, that’s all for now. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”

Nine Fingers' eyes widened; she had never seen Jahira act so drastically before: "You want too much! Do you want to start a war at Baldur's Gate? Why don't you become the guild leader?"

(End of this chapter)