Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 131 Superb Intuition

The snowstorm had just stopped, and the sun was shining brightly.

A flying legion crossed the frozen mountains, arrived at its designated destination, and launched an attack.

Under the terrifying magical bombardment, the entire mountain trembled, and an avalanche brought mud, rocks, and thick snow into the valley, burying everything.

Several tens of minutes later, the griffins descended from the sky to search for survivors.

A flock of griffins, baptized by water elementals, specifically targeted a cave entrance, digging a path through the snow to enter the cave.

Looking at the scattered supplies and still-warm ashes, they missed their enemy again.

"These rats! They can run so fast."

Upon receiving the intelligence, Wilbur immediately led a large force of griffins, traversing mountains and rivers to encircle and annihilate the thieves, but he was still a step too late.

Despite the heavy snow blocking the mountains, the enemy moved out before the snow had completely stopped, even transferring their acquired treasure. Judging by the enemy hero's movement ability, it was an effect only achievable with advanced Logistics and Pathfinding skills combined. When did such a figure emerge in the plains?

Wilbur slapped his thigh, looking rather annoyed.

He had been besieging the enemy at the border for a long time, but he still hadn't figured out their identities. It was only when Salman told him that the enemy was a group of thieves that he realized the true nature of these 'bandits'.

Unexpectedly, even when we got closest to the enemy, they still managed to escape.

"No, we need to make some noise, otherwise we won't be able to deliver."

Wilbur, having no other option, ordered his griffins to hurle dozens more boulders from the mountaintop, creating a massive avalanche that crushed many wild animals in the snowfield. He also dispatched his men to clear out the surrounding wild bandit guilds.

Although we failed to capture the enemy, knowing their unit type made things much easier.

Thieves are a neutral unit. If the other side wants to recruit soldiers, they will definitely leave clues. If he mixes in some scum, someone will naturally report him because of the reward.

After that, by following the clues, we can find the enemy's trail.

"Once I catch you bunch of sewer rats, I'll chop off your heads and hang them on the city wall as a warning!"

After making those harsh remarks, Wilbur hurriedly left.

About half a day later, deep in the snow-capped mountains, a group of soldiers, armed with wooden pickaxes, broke through the ice wall and stood in the sunlight once more.

Wayne and his gang of thieves hid and disguised themselves, thus evading detection.

In fact, the moment the witch initiated her reconnaissance, he sensed something was amiss; his reconnaissance talent granted him powerful sensory abilities. Even if the other party possessed special stealth abilities, direct eye contact with him would trigger his alertness.

For some reason, the enemy's investigation did not seem to be completely completed, and they were unable to obtain the final truth.

Based on Wayne's understanding of heroes, this situation is very likely that the enemy used special magic or artifacts to investigate him and his troops.

Therefore, Wayne immediately changed his location, but instead of making a big fuss about retreating, he moved to a secluded spot and hid temporarily.

As expected, the enemy arrived with their flying forces at an extremely fast speed and launched a wide-ranging magical attack, triggering an avalanche.

Given the griffin's high-altitude field of vision and the road-blocking effect of the avalanche, if he chooses to flee hastily, he will inevitably be exposed to the enemy's sight.

Even without showing himself, Wayne sensed a peculiar spying; the opposing hero likely possessed Eagle Eye or scouting abilities.

"We must inform the lord of this news. The enemy has intensified their encirclement and suppression efforts, and we must temporarily avoid their advance."

With the Governance skill bonus, Wayne isn't too afraid of ordinary troops. But if he's targeted by the Griffins, they don't even need to fight him head-on; they can simply follow him and gather surrounding troops to form an encirclement.

After all, this was a border region, with both Saliman's and the Northern army present. If he were to escape and his identity were exposed, it would ruin the lord's plans; caution was paramount. Therefore, Wayne immediately contacted Sumu, and after their discussion, Sumu advised him to return to Longlet Castle to rest for a while.

With the lord's approval, Wayne was able to successfully regroup.

It has to be said that thieves usually only steal small things. Even if they take on a big assassination job, they're lucky if they can earn a few thousand gold coins.

This time, he led his men through the border regions and robbed a total of 8 caravans. They were all posing as legitimate trading groups, but in reality, they were private armies of northern nobles.

A total of 20000 gold coins, 70 primal stones, and 40 crystals were seized. The remaining goods were countless, and the slaves were released on the spot, as the horns of freedom were sounded.

The Northern nobles had their own agenda; their caravans carried not only public transport goods but also a lot of smuggled merchandise, probably hoping to use the route for personal trade. They never expected their operation to be busted. Wayne reaped even more gold coins.

It's no wonder the other party was furious. Losing public money is one thing, but being caught in the middle is another, which is quite distressing.

That's good. Salman will definitely be blamed by the nobles of the North. They won't be able to use this trade route until they deal with the roaming 'bandits'.

……

During the time Ivan was stationed in the western region of the Marquisate, he stopped caravans at least ten times. Traders without a Langlitburg pass were unable to pass through.

Only caravans from Langlit Castle and Kuraki Market could successfully enter the heart of the kingdom and circulate goods.

As a result, many merchants in Graystone City became anxious and tried to establish connections with the market trade officials of Longlet Castle in order to obtain a pass. Unfortunately, Maggie was very strict and only allowed passage to large trading groups from the capital that provided basic goods and products; otherwise, they were all blocked.

Although it may cause some stagnation in trade, special times call for special measures, and Maggie can't worry about that too much.

"We are the team that transports supplies for Lord Raven. If we delay military operations at the front, you can't afford the consequences!"

"Don't give me any nonsense. I know the front lines better than you do. The supply convoy has a special royal pass that you can't produce. You dare to impersonate a royal transport team? Be careful, or I'll arrest you all and send you back to Parliament for trial!"

Seeing that their attempt to pass off inferior goods as genuine had failed, the merchants had no choice but to return and temporarily leave their goods in Graystone City.

Ivan didn't force the caravan to stay. Some of the caravan members were lackeys of the North, while others were indeed connected to the capital or high-ranking nobles, making it difficult to distinguish between them. He established the checkpoint ostensibly to suppress bandits, not to directly plunder the caravan's supplies, as that wasn't their objective either.

If the caravans from the North are eliminated, Salman will be unable to conduct business. He built such a long transport route, only to be ultimately controlled by others; one wonders what the duke's son feels.

Of course, Ivan showed no mercy. He hated Salman to the core for using insidious and despicable means to coerce his father and brother.

If the kingdom hadn't forbidden civil war among the nobles, he would have led his troops to conquer the northern border long ago.

"Report! My lord, an aurora realm has appeared in the northwest region, with a magnificent, giant wheel-shaped building manifesting across the boundary. Within a radius of several kilometers, the area is filled with magical energy."

Having received training from the Magic Guild, Ivan instantly identified what the suddenly appearing structure in the wilderness was.

"The Star Axis! It's a building that might actually be visualized; I need to go check it out!"

The previous Marit Tower was an illusionary building that disappeared after a certain number of uses. This time, the Star Axis seems to be more concrete. Even if it is not a permanent outdoor building, it will be used more often, making it definitely a strategic resource location.

After Ivan informed Su Mu of this information, he led the Thunder Swordsmen to the Aurora Region.

Not far away, the scout who had just left returned: "A strange caravan is coming from the north, claiming to be diamond traders, but there is only one person leading the group. The wagons are loaded with huge wooden boxes, which seem to be sealed with magical power, and they are approaching the Star Axis."

A lone diamond trader leading a team transporting wooden crates?

Ivan had a vague feeling that this was probably not a caravan.

"Thunder Swordsman, prepare for battle!"

(End of this chapter)