From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 486 The Mimicry in the Accounting Room

Baldur's Gate is a very diverse city, which means you can see almost any race on the streets.

Dragonborn of all colors, humans from various cultural spheres, orcs, half-orcs, and dwarves, and even undead creatures that reek of foul odor and are wrapped in bandages.

In this way, the heavily armored drow paladins don't stand out much.

At least people won't avoid Minsara like the plague just because of her skin color.

The detachment proceeded as expected.

Ivy, accompanied by two druids and two companions wearing Mind Protection Rings, headed to the accounting office.

Ever since stepping out of the guild's ground exit in the East District, Ivy's attention has been focused on Shadowheart.

Although he was very confident in his skills in crafting magical items, psionic power was, after all, a field he had not yet explored in depth.

Moreover, seeing yesterday's bed partner suddenly turn into an octopus head waving many tentacles must be quite a psychological shock.

To prevent Shadowheart from becoming the next Mind Flayer, Ivy naturally had to closely monitor her every move, even the subtle changes in her mind.

Yes, Ivy used Larry's mind link to connect her teammates' minds.

In this way, even in the main streets with the highest foot traffic, team members can communicate without barriers.

“The Clearing House is a bank built on the reefs inside the Grey Harbor, and it’s where countless nobles and commoners deposit their money.” Jahira was explaining the details of the Clearing House. “I really don’t understand why Minsk went there. He doesn’t even know how to spend that huge sum of gold.”

"It's certain that it was the Supreme God who made him do this. A cult needs money for many things." Halsin's steady voice rang out in the mind connection. "For those jingling, shiny little trinkets, many people are even willing to sell their souls. I've heard that this is one of the main reasons why gold can be used in Hell."

"...Is there anything unusual about your little visitor?" Ivy squeezed Yingxin's hand, conveying a wave of concern.

“Don’t be so nervous, darling.” In Shar’s shadow, Shadowheart had been taught to avoid too much attention, but now, under Ivy’s mental gaze, she seemed to be enjoying it.

“Shadowheart is right. You should have confidence in your skills.” Even on the mind channel, Minsara’s voice still had a proud hoarseness. “I already proved it in Resven. The mainframe’s psychic power is not all-pervasive, otherwise that Mind Flayer of the Radiant Order would have been a puppet long ago.”

Seeing that Ivy did not reply, Minsara's voice, tinged with laughter, rang out again: "Leatherman's Minsk. Even in Menzoberranzan, he is a legend."

"His fame has spread so far?" Jashira was very surprised by this news. Although it was not exactly a closed city, Menzoberranzan was, after all, a city belonging to Lolth, the Spider Queen. How could there be any positive legends or stories about heroes like them who were on the side of justice?

“We’ll tell the story of Minsk and his vicious hamster, Bu, to scare our children,” Minsala said vividly. “Beware of a big megaphone with an ugly rodent on its head and a purple scalp. If they think you’re evil, they’ll kill you on the spot.”

"It's kind of funny to hear that a legendary ranger has become a terrifying legend in his own city, just like in the Underdark."

“I really didn’t expect that Zol’s description of Minsk was basically true…” Jasira was clearly speechless at Minsala’s portrayal. “He really was a loud-voiced, burly man with a purple scalp, who also had a little hamster, and was always shouting about fighting evil and stuff…”

As the adventurers' boots trod down the smooth stone steps, they finally came upon the accounting office, protected by layers of guards.

In addition to the bank's own Golden Guards, Flame Fist and Gotash's Steel Guards also patrolled not far from the Clearing House.

The heavily guarded security system of the clearinghouse was indeed a fitting description. But today, it has become a trap, used to ensnare the heroes who protected the city a century ago.

After crossing the stone bridge guarded by soldiers, the group of five officially entered the main hall of the accounting office.

With the army of the Supreme God pressing in, the lobby of the clearinghouse was packed with customers who came to withdraw their deposits.

They were all shrewd types who hoped to take their gold and sail to a safer place before the real war broke out.

But Ivy believed that Gotash would not let them have their way.

The voters of this Bann city consider everything in the city their own, so why would they give up the gold in the bank vault?
Even if bankers who prioritize savings balance have enough gold to cope with the potential risk of a bank run, those who want to leave the city to avoid danger also get their own gold.

It is highly likely that their ships at sea were also filled with cultists belonging to Bane and Barr.

The sea is both a suitable place for murder and a suitable place for dumping corpses. For the followers of the Three Gods of Death, appropriating the money of the customers at the clearinghouse was not difficult.

“We need someone influential enough in this city to take charge.” Minsala coldly surveyed the crowd of people thronging the hall; it was clear she disliked the noisy environment.

The clerks and citizens eager to escape the city argued endlessly over every single piece of gold, and the line moved forward at an unusually slow pace, barely moving at all.

“I’ll handle this.” Jahira left a reassuring message in the telepathic link and then met the halfling standing behind a pile of ledgers.

If it weren't for the fuzzy hairs sticking out from the side of the stack of ledgers, Ivy wouldn't have noticed this character at all.

“Welcome to the Clearing House…” Only after Jasira placed her hand on the ledger in front of the halfling did the lobby manager look up and read out the rigorously trained welcome, “I am Chief Clerk Midhorni—what services can the Financiers’ Guild provide you? If you need to withdraw money, please queue at another window…”

The halfling Midhorni glanced at Jashira's dreadlocks and her weathered face, which bore no resemblance to a well-maintained noblewoman.

“You seem a little nervous, Mr. Midhorni.” Jasira placed his hands on the table, revealing two curved swords on his back. “Besides us, have you encountered any other difficult clients? Like, a fellow who calls himself the Stone Lord?”

“Who? What?” Midhoney was clearly taken aback. His gaze shifted from Jahira to the four people standing behind her.

This group of five was very strange. In addition to two half-high elves, there was a drow paladin and a tall, strong wood elf. Only the spellcaster standing in the middle did not have elven blood.

Although the elderly female warrior in front of them didn't seem like a regular customer at the bank, all spellcasters were very wealthy.

Their wealth was almost as well-known throughout Faerûn as their ability to cause trouble. Therefore, before Jahira officially launched his threat, Midhorni spilled everything he knew, like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

“The chief banker just took the Stone Lord to the vault,” Midhorni said. “He’s huge…” Halsin’s muscles drew attention once again. “And he was fully armed—which is against regulations—but the chief banker certainly knows what he’s doing.”

“Your bankers have no idea what they’re doing. If we go down there at the right time, maybe the gold in the vault can still be saved. If I were to shout something in the lobby…” Jasila glanced at the anxious citizens behind her who were unable to retrieve their money.

The halfling gasped, his hair standing on end: "It really wasn't necessary!"

He quickly pulled a piece of paper with lace trim from the drawer and handed it to Jahira with both hands: "Just give this temporary pass to the guards, and they'll let you through! But if my superiors ask, don't mention my name."

Jahira waved the note in his hand and took the lead through the carved gate guarded by several golden guards.

These Golden Guards were even more luxuriously equipped, wearing golden armor befitting their name, though it was unclear whether the color was from some kind of paint or from a gold-plating process.

Jahira's temporary pass was checked again after passing through two guarded staircases.

Jin Wei then allowed them to enter the core area of ​​the vault.

It was a circular gate resembling a sealed chamber, the thick metal of which was well lubricated. When Jinwei turned the rudder, it made almost no metallic friction noise.

Behind the basement gate are many separate small rooms, each corresponding to a vault with different security levels.

Lower-level security measures rely on physical protection, with multiple, tested locks being the only way to deter thieves.

Others with higher security levels used magic. Ivy simply scanned them with her arcane vision and could figure out the basic principle—a short-range teleportation array forming a loop, which might confuse low-level thieves who didn't know magic. But it was useless against spellcasters who truly coveted the treasure.

By the way, a thief who only knows the Striking spell isn't considered a spellcaster by Ivy.

After passing through an exceptionally clean corridor, the adventurers came to another vault door.

It is protected by a pressure-sensitive combination lock; four floor tiles must be stepped on in the correct sequence to light up four indicator lights on the door in order to open it. Ordinary knocking techniques are unlikely to work.

If the order is wrong, it will probably be turned into a lump of charcoal by the current coming from below.

This is also the conclusion Ivy reached using her arcane vision.

The pressure sensors beneath the floor tiles were buried very shallowly. Although the security system was highly sophisticated, its installation clearly had too many hidden dangers. Even arcane vision, which cannot penetrate thick walls to see magical auras, could still be effective.

“The password is in the chief banker’s office, but we obviously don’t have time to be thieves.” Jasira looked at Ivy. “Open a door in the wall, mage, we need to save Minsk quickly!”

“Don’t describe me like some barbarian who only knows a little evocation magic, Jahira.” Ivy waved for her teammates to get off the sunken pressure floor. “We need a smart brain here.”

Perhaps the security system used by the clearinghouse came from Gonda believers; although ingenious, it was too craftsman-like and lacked flexibility.

The dense network of cables under the pressure floor can indeed cause the greatest harm to criminals standing on it, but it also leaves many safety hazards.

Especially given that there are no suitable waterproof coatings available on the Far East continent.

The pressure floor can move up and down, which means there are enough gaps for conductive liquids to seep through.

The mithril staff collided with the ground, and clear liquid gushed out like a spring, quickly filling the sunken pressure floor.

Before the onlookers could even voice their questions, flashing arcs of electricity shot up from beneath the floor, crackling and leaping across the water Ivy had created.

This is a phenomenon that defies common sense. At least on the Earth where Ivy once lived, liquids do not exhibit such obvious electric arcs when electrified. This is one of the reasons why liquid electrocution accidents are not easy to warn of in advance.

On the continent of Faerûn, such physical properties might contribute to the arrival of the electric age.

The security system in the clearing house had plenty of power; the short-circuit arc on the pressure floor flickered for at least ten seconds before finally extinguishing itself.

The indicator light, which had been flashing continuously along with the electric arc and constantly switching between red and green, finally went out.

The vault doors, now unprotected, silently opened to the adventurers.

"Your brilliant mind is truly invaluable!" Jashira praised, then led the way into the most secure vault of the accounting office.

The banks in Baldur's Gate are not much different from those on Earth. Apart from a few separate vaults that serve the powerful and wealthy, the main vault holds the city's economic lifeline.

A small vendor's weekly profit, a housewife's coin to buy bread, or a child's deposit of their birthday present.

Therefore, in the deepest vault, in addition to rows of safes, there are also many desks used for compiling accounts.

These desks are currently unused, simply to carry out Nine Fingers' plan.

As Jahira rushed into the hall, he saw a thick arm emerging from a treasure chest behind Chief Banker Yaoxu.

"So, Nine Fingers' plan is a Mimic?" Jasira had completely relaxed. In the past, she and Minsk had faced creatures far more dangerous than the Mimic, and she knew that Leatherman's rangers wouldn't be crushed by the Mimic's sharp teeth.

However, another person's uneasy thoughts entered their companions' minds through the telepathic link: "A shapeshifter? Disguised as a treasure chest? I know how to deal with it... I read the relevant spell in the library of Menzoberranzan—Freeze! Don't move! You filthy creation!"

(End of this chapter)