Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 47: Not... Not Not

"interesting."

Hera Molly gazed at the scene within the divination crystal ball, and a dynamic topographical map of the entire town of Kyna Forest appeared before her from above. She saw Wu Chen and the Sentinels retreating from the town. The position of the Dragon Tomb was slightly disordered due to the aura emanating from Saroknir's slumber, but she could still make out its general outline.

She saw Wu Chen carefully sneaking towards the mine.

There are some logical inconsistencies.

After receiving intelligence that their target was most likely a vampire, they didn't prioritize exploring key areas like the cemetery, the military camp, or the mayor's house. They also didn't inquire about information in the tavern, exploring for clues. They didn't try to interact with well-informed thieves or the well-connected local gentry. Instead, they headed straight for the mine, completely blindly, despite having no evidence of any evil hidden beneath it.

The process was incomprehensible, but the result was correct. The dark wizard Gerd, who had stolen the academy's knowledge, was indeed hiding deep in the mines. He and his minions were lurking there, only sending out an insignificant minion to distract the sentinel who suddenly appeared in the town and divert his attention.

This only means two possibilities.

First, the new member of the academy that she has her eyes on has an intuition that is sharper than expected. He only needs a few clues to accurately find the right target.

Second, he has some unknown, secret and reliable information channel.

"Has Stendar favored him? Or is it..."

The thought flashed through her mind. Since she had already said she had no intention of exploring Wu Chen's hidden secrets, she wouldn't delve into any unnecessary details. Divination was only for the purpose of ensuring the mission's success rate. After all...

"Hera Molly." The door swung open with a bang, and a court wizard in ancient robes pushed open the door to the side hall of the Palace of Kings. The elderly spellcaster and his apprentices stepped onto the rich wool carpet. At this moment, all the candlelight rose to a uniform brightness and stopped beside the witch on the end seat.

A thick, unchanging darkness filled the witch's surroundings. The court wizard raised his hand, and all the apprentices stopped at the edge of the side hall. An invisible partitioning magic circle then unfolded, creating a secret area for conversation.

"Wunfys." Windhelm's court wizard, known as the 'Living Dead,' was a master of destruction spells. He had served the lord of Windhelm for many years. Even though spellcasters were not valued in the Nords, his influence in this land could not be ignored.

"I heard you were attending to the funeral of a graduate, but you didn't look like you'd been through a battle."

"That's your job," the witch said calmly. "As the Court Wizard, you're supposed to be the one caring for the members of the Academy in the East Territory. Do you no longer consider yourself a member of the Academy?"

"I've always been a member of the academy." The court wizard approached the witch and found a seat. "But you must understand that the lords and nobles don't want us wizards to interfere too much in the affairs of our realm, nor do they want to see us become too closely connected. Ultimately, the Nords believe in the sword."

"You and I are both Nords." Hera Molly glanced at him.

"We are wizards," replied Wunfels.

"So I took over the job that should have been yours." Hera waved her hand. "I've already found the vampire, but there's a new apprentice nearby. So I made some arrangements, turning this pursuit into a trial. After all, Mirabelle requires every new student to pass a test. The difficulty can only be higher, not lower."

"You think highly of that new student, Hera Molly." Wunfels nodded. "Hopefully, you'll be able to clean up the mess he makes."

"Let's end this official business here." The witch raised her hand. "Now, let's get to personal matters. I'm here because I need your help with something."

"I hope my old bones can still help the most outstanding new generation of witches in the Fourth Age."

"It's not a big deal." Hera raised her hand, and a book materialized before her. The cover was heavy and ancient, and the pages inside were quite old. "It's said that the library in the Palace of the Kings is the oldest and most comprehensive library in Skyrim. If you can't find a book here, you can only go to the Imperial City, Summerset Isle, or even the Demon God's palace to get it."

"I want you to help me figure out which direction and category this book is in, and what it records."

It's just a book, an ordinary book without any trace of magic.

"That's quite simple indeed. I haven't done much in this city for decades except studying the collections of books. This is just a small matter, and it will be done quickly—"

He took the book, and the pages in front of him turned. And in the next moment -

"……What does it mean?"

The book's contents were completely blank. Even though each sheet of paper was pristine and aged, there wasn't a single trace of written information on it. "Seven days ago, while reading documents in the ritual tower, I suddenly discovered that the contents of a book had vanished. Along with them, the notes and notes I'd left while reading it were gone. I can't even remember when I read the book or what I felt while reading it. Fortunately, I'm used to categorizing my readings, and now all I can confirm is that this book belongs to the travelogue category, and it's related to dragons."

Wunfels's beard twitched slightly. He lifted the blank book and examined it carefully.

"The paper is very ancient, possibly even dating back to the First Age. But the binding style suggests it belongs to a series of books, not a single volume... Can I cast a spell on it?"

"Feel free to do so, but I've tried this many times. Sadly, it doesn't work as well as I'd like."

Hera waved her hand.

"Then give me some time. Let me explore it." Wu Enfeis took the book.

........................

The night is getting darker.

Skyrim and Earth are different after all.

After sunset, no one would bother to light torches except in the tavern, the barracks, the mayor's hall, and other areas. Perhaps it was different in the larger capital cities, but in this modest village, the brightness wasn't very bright.

People returned to their homes, enjoying the unremarkable pastimes of the era, or simply closing their eyes and going to sleep. Only a few East Territory guards would patrol the streets with torches, ready to deal with possible thieves or other unexpected situations.

Wu Chen would not be a thief.

Because he knew the secret, knew that the thief, the patron of thieves, the demon god Nocturnal, was bringing disaster to the entire stealing business due to the theft of the demon artifact Skull Key. Anyone who participated in this business, even temporarily, would suffer a great decline in luck.

He's just a stalker.

The thick new cloak muffled the noise of his steel armor, and his ample vitamin intake gave him good night vision. He easily found the location of the mine, and he found a good viewpoint and looked towards the specific location of the emerald mine.

Jadeite, a specialty of Skyrim, is used in low-end jewelry and is primarily used to craft the elves' unique lightweight elite armor.

The relationship between the Nords and the elves is very bad. In theory, the harvest from this mine will not be very good.

but……

——There are actually scouts.

There was a local standing at the entrance to the mine, holding a torch. He couldn't be a vampire, because a high-level vampire who could tolerate the light wouldn't stand guard at the entrance.

With preconceived notions, loopholes were indeed easy to find. Even though the mine owner was indeed highly vigilant, even deploying guards at night, there was still a problem that Wu Chen observed.

——Where are the miners’ dormitories?

Wu Chen had never been to a mine, but he knew that miners' dormitories would never be crammed underneath a mine. Yet, as he walked along in the evening, he didn't see a single person in miner's attire.

There was no home, no dormitory. Miners occasionally worked overtime. But—

Hera had said that the problem had to be resolved tonight, otherwise the enemy would likely resort to blood sacrifice of the entire town in a desperate attack. And no matter what kind of evil ritual it was, sufficient sacrifices had to be used.

Dark wizards are dark wizards. If they want to gain magical power, they will indeed use necromancy as a method first.

And now, just need to verify it one last time——

(End of this chapter)