Equipment Printing School Mage

To this day, the status of this holy warrior on the continent is probably far higher than that of the Silver Shield family. The social status of the Grand Duke of Silver Shield probably comes more from his status as the Grand Craftsman of the Gond Church rather than from his identity as the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate.

So, at this time and place, the Son of Bhaal needs the permission of the Silver Shield family to return to Baldur's Gate?

This undoubtedly raised the status of the Silver Shield Family. Or, in other words, it was a gesture of goodwill towards the Silver Shield Family.

——But at the same time, it also established the Silver Shield Family.

A paladin renowned across the continent had already lowered his posture so much that there seemed to be no reason to stop him from coming to Baldur's Gate.

At least the Silver Shield Family does not have this position.

However, the current Grand Duke of the Silver Shield family did not respond immediately. Instead, he sighed deeply and nodded emphatically. "Yes. Baldur's Gate is open to Mr. Apodel Adrian, but I have one condition. I'd like to ask Karkoros Burning Flame to convey it. Also, everyone outside the conference hall, please come in and witness this important moment."

Grand Duke Valakon stood up suddenly: "Wait a minute, Grand Duke Silver Shield, this matter has not been voted on yet-"

Grand Duke Silver Shield shook his head firmly. "You've made one mistake. Baldur's Gate is an open city. Except for criminals and wanted criminals expelled according to the law, no one needs a permit to enter. The most they need to do is pay a toll of two copper coins to the Flaming Fist. If you attempt to ban someone from entering Baldur's Gate, then a vote will be required. I can state in advance that the Silver Shield family will not approve of such an unreasonable ban on entry."

"Tsk!" Faced with such a strong attitude, Grand Duke Valaken could only sit back in his seat dejectedly.

The Grand Duke of Silver Shield stood up and looked at the bustling crowd at the door of the conference hall with a smile on his face.

The fame of Apodel Adrian had been well known for decades. As Grand Duke Valakon had said, this paladin was no longer just a hero of Baldur's Gate. How many of those present had grown up hearing the legend of the Son of Bhaal?

In today's Faerun, perhaps even many people only know this god of murder who has been dead for hundreds of years through the legend of Apodel.

Everyone pricked up their ears, waiting for the final decision of the Silver Shield Family.

Grand Duke Silver Shield took a deep breath, ensuring that everyone present could clearly hear the final decision. "In three days, after this four-person meeting, it will be the 300th anniversary of the Silver Shield family's arrival in Baldur's Gate. By then, I hope Mr. Apodel Adrian will bring his close friends and relatives to visit the Silver Shield family. We will definitely offer you the warmest welcome."

Almost simultaneously, the people of Bod couldn't help but raise their hands and cheer loudly. Grand Duke Valakon was practically glued to his seat, his arms trembling slightly as if he wanted to escape immediately, but he didn't have the strength to do so.

Karkoros glanced at Grand Duke Valakon, nodded, and replied, "Lord Apodel agrees."

Then, the smile on Grand Duke Silvershield's face grew even brighter. He opened his arms and said, "Then, please convey my final words: Welcome back to Baldur's Gate."

*********************

"So, you should have heard it too." As if a huge stone had fallen from his chest, Apodel Adrian, the Son of Bhaal, relaxed completely and turned around. "The problem is solved. After all, the original agreement was just a verbal agreement. From now on, I can enter and exit Baldur's Gate freely."

Emiya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

A paladin who can move freely is clearly an extremely powerful aid. Baldur's Gate is nowhere near as vast as the Sharptooth Forest. There shouldn't be another case of being unable to rescue someone in time.

Then, Apodale said the second half of the sentence with a smile on his face.

"—So, try to contact Imoen. Get a few protection and detection amulets from her, and leave Baldur's Gate immediately."

Fifty-eight Curfews

Everyone present was stunned.

This unexpected answer made Emiya and Mars jump up at the same time: "Why are you chasing us away?! Aren't we safe now?"

"On the contrary," Apodale said with unusual seriousness, "I have exposed my whereabouts in public. In three days, all the conspirators will be focused here - unfortunately, this is why I would rather obtain the permission of the Grand Duke of Silver Shield in private. Obtaining permission publicly? Then I will have to prepare for a bloody battle.

"If it's just Imoen and I, it's fine. We've fought similar battles countless times, and even dying here wouldn't be a big deal. But you guys?"

The old paladin shook his head mercilessly: "You are still too young."

Mars clearly had no intention of backing down. He held his head high, even slightly taller than his teacher. "I'm already a three-ringed paladin. As far as I know, even in the heyday of the Secret Fire Knights, I could have become a Knight Commander."

"Although it's rather rude to say so," Apodel replied, "the Grand Master of the Secret Fire Knights is far inferior to me. If you believe yourself worthy of being a Knight Commander, then obey my orders."

"Unfortunately, the Knights of the Secret Fire disappeared along with Halrua a century ago, and I have yet to take the title of Knight of the Secret Fire." Mr. Mars was naturally no traditional paladin, and at this moment he showed no intention of backing down. "You and I are not superiors or subordinates. And I made it very clear when I first accepted the path of the paladin—I acknowledge you as my mentor, but I will not follow your every word."

"Pa!" Apodale slapped his hands hard on his face and sighed heavily. Then, he froze for a moment and turned towards Emilia.

Emilia replied expressionlessly, "I can state in advance that I have no habit of running away from difficulties. I will definitely not leave."

Apodale's eyes rolled around, and a smile quickly appeared on his face. He said, "Then you should be the leader of the team. Mars, as the vanguard of the team, you shouldn't abandon the team and act alone, right?"

Mars's face darkened: "...Indeed."

Even a few days ago, when the team was just slightly stretched, he almost caused a disaster.

"That's easy." Apodel clapped his hands. "Mr. Emya, I've heard that Imoen has chosen a sixth-level spell, I think it's called Divided Blades, as the subject for your advancement to the sixth level?"

The promotion of a mage and the learning of high-level spells involve a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma.

Did you become a sixth-ring mage first, then learn a sixth-ring spell, or did you become a sixth-ring mage the moment you learned your first sixth-ring spell? This was still unclear.

Emiya was stunned for a moment and replied, "Yes. It's just that I just got promoted to the fifth ring a few days ago..."

"That's not a problem. Faerun is in no shortage of rapidly advancing geniuses. I'm very optimistic about you!" Apodel's speech became increasingly rapid. "To study this kind of spell, you obviously need a large number of magical weapons as research material?"

Emiya reacted immediately and shook her head, refusing, "This kind of bribe is a bit low-level..."

"No, no, no, how can this be called bribery!" Apodel Adrian said seriously, "Generally speaking, a mage's promotion will not aim for such a spell that has not yet been fully cracked. As a senior, it is understandable for me to provide you with some help. Moreover, I also hope to have a sixth-ring mage instead of a fifth-ring mage as a possible backup... Do you understand?"

Emilia raised her head: "I can refuse to accept it!"

"That may not be the case." Apodel Adrian coughed lightly, "Although you are the team leader, it seems that you do not have absolute decision-making power."

Emiya choked and looked behind her.

Mars was on the same side as him, but the same couldn't be said for Sig and Yin.

One is a money-lover, the other is a magic fanatic.

In other words, these two guys have no resistance to magical items.

Under his shocked gaze, Apodel Adrian slowly untied his greatsword from his back: "First, I will temporarily hand over my Holy Avenger to you..."

"I can't accept that," Emilia refused decisively. "This is your most important weapon, right? I don't want it to leave your side."

He glared at Yin and Xige, who were eager to try, with anger: "If you two waver at this moment, I will simply quit the team!"

Emiya rarely showed such a level of determination. Sig suddenly became silent, his mouth tightly shut. Only Yin's eyes were still firmly fixed on the Holy Avenger, his face full of reluctance.

Emiya scowled and grabbed her arm, stopping someone from rushing towards the holy sword. "Please give up this plan."

"Ah, so it is." However, Apodel's face was full of understanding as he naturally put the holy sword back behind his back. "Then let's move on to something else. This kind of analysis should also be conducted from the basics to the advanced."

As he said that, he unhooked his dimensional hole from his waist and spread it on the ground.

Afterwards, this son of Baal, who had been adventuring for hundreds of years, began to make Emilia and his party understand what background meant.

"First, there's this Spider-Slaying Sword. It grants the wielder the equivalent of free movement. This sword is quite old, and it was one of my favorite weapons when I was just starting out."

"Furthermore... this Daylight Star, half a sword in hand, is incredibly powerful against undead creatures, and comes with a Sunburst charge that can be used once a day."

"Then there's this Flail of Time. Each hammerhead is condensed with the power of elements and time. I accidentally acquired it when I liberated a castle... But weapons like flails require far too high a combat space..."

Emiya had to admit that he couldn't take his eyes off the weapons.

Although Imoen said that she didn't understand why someone could read the original user's experience from a weapon.

But Emilia, it seems, can.

What caught his eyes was clearly the sharp blades of the weapons, but in his mind, he couldn't help but keep flashing the scenes of these weapons being wielded.

He was clearly still quite a distance away from the sharp blades on the ground, but he could already see these vague impressions. If he further analyzed these objects, he would definitely be able to see more.

He began to be convinced.

As long as he studies it a little, he will be able to break the spell of splitting the weapon into two.

Sig, looking at the magical items that covered the entire mountain, screamed and fell backwards. Only Yin, who was beside her, reached out and supported her.

Finally, Emiya watched as the paladin pulled out a katana. "Oh, and there's also this Celestial Wrath, a rare intelligent magic weapon. I wouldn't recommend getting into it. Anyone not in the Chaos alignment would be struck by lightning and severely injured if they tried to use it. But it's always good to see an intelligent magic weapon."

When these magical weapons piled up like a mountain in front of them, Apodel said seriously, "In this way..."

Emiya shook her head with difficulty: "I still feel..."

Apodel waved his fingers. "So, here are almost all the magic weapons I collected before I turned thirty. If you can analyze them all, there are still more than ten times more. If you still can't break this sixth-ring spell, don't talk about joining the war."

Emilia was silent for a long time, and finally answered: "I still think that your life is a little too rich."

After successfully showing a group of young people what an old adventurer's assets were, Apodale coughed lightly and said, "I've made it this far. Mr. Emiya, Mr. Mars, you should at least give an old man some respect."

Emilia felt his brain blood vessels twitching slightly. He took a deep breath and said, "Sir Apodel Adrian, I think you are also responsible for Mars developing this character."

The two men's styles of doing things are at least 60% to 70% similar, except that Apodel is much more mature and gentle!

"Well, it seems we have a deal: After you reach the Sixth Ring, I'll allow you to participate in this event. Until then, stay in this safe house... By the way, where is Imoen?"

After a series of interruptions, Lord Apodale finally belatedly remembered his original purpose: "She was the one who told me the location of this safe house. Why isn't she here?"

Emiya was silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth and handed over the envelope in her arms.

"Her letter to you—it's not even sealed. Please read it."

The Son of Bhaal took the envelope with a smile on his face: "Oh, let me see... Huh? Huh? Hmm? Hmm?!"

Make up a leave request

Sorry, my ID was about to expire, so I slept very early to get in line and didn't renew it. Even though I woke up early and got in line early, it still took me half a day. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and had no energy left (*￣︿￣).

Here's the reason. I'll try to update 2.2 with 4000 words per update and 2.3 with 8000 words per update. I'll fill in the missing parts from what I've done in the past two days. I'm very sorry.

Fifty-nine Miss Shiki's Escape

"I was shocked."

The old paladin, who had experienced many vicissitudes of life, sighed, turned the grill in front of him, let the grease on the long skewers slowly drip into the fire, then cut off a piece with a knife, put it in his mouth, chewed and sighed.

Today's four-person meeting ended prematurely with another explosive outcome, and His Excellency Apodel Adrian was clearly still not fully recovered from the impact of that meeting.

Of course, there was also the impact of Miss Imoen's even more explosive letter.

"That sounds so familiar...I feel like I heard it not long ago." Emilia sighed.

"What is Imoen thinking?!" Apodel Adrian pondered as he turned the wild boar meat in front of him. "Anyway, breaking into a strange woman's house at night, and then... and then!"

Mars said calmly: "You remembered it wrongly. The letter didn't say that we had to break in at night."

"Is it?"

"Yes, you could also rush into the grocery store in broad daylight and pin Grand Duchess Violet to the bed."

The bard was naturally the one who was least bothered by the situation. "Actually, I think if I bring some rose bushes, maybe I can avoid forcing her. The Grand Duchess might not mind spending the night with Faerûn's most famous paladin—not to mention you have a face and a figure that would make every woman in Baldur scream."

"Yes," Apodel said unhappily. "Except that I would break my vows by cheating on her and violating my lifelong vows to Imoen, it would be quite simple. Besides, whether or not I could leave Grand Duke Violet's room after breaking my vows would be beyond my control."

Paladins have strong resistance to external intrusions, but after losing the power of the paladin, most of these gains will naturally disappear with the wind.

"I think this might be some kind of... puzzle." The only one who took it seriously was Miss Silver. She was now holding the letter, flipping through it carefully against the sunlight. "I can't see any magic; it's completely handwritten. Perhaps some other method was used?"

"There's no need to study this letter. When she's angry, anything I do is wrong—if I do something, it's like, 'How dare you?' If I don't, it's like, 'How dare you not do it?' I can only finish the task at hand first." Apodel replied while keeping an eye on the barbecue. "Since I'm here, I'm afraid a battle is inevitable. Before that begins, I need to confirm the current terrain and landmarks of Baldur's Gate..."

He paused, then sighed to the southeast, "It's been almost a hundred years. Besides the Lower City, which was already the bottom of the city, there's actually an Outer City that can be discriminated against. The world is truly amazing."

Sig's ears pricked up immediately, and she raised her hands high, afraid that Apodel wouldn't see her sitting behind the fire. "I actually offer guided tours of the outer city!"

"Haha, no." Apodel smiled and waved his hand. "If you come with me, then if a fight breaks out, won't you be taken hostage immediately? I say again, keep in touch, but until the situation changes, I will not allow you to enter Baldur's Gate."

"Oh, forget it if there's any danger." Sig's hand, raised high, suddenly retracted behind the flame.

"You are indeed at a very delicate stage now. If you were to take to the battlefield, you would already be considered a fighting force. But if something goes wrong, your future potential will not be realized, which is a pity." Apodile sighed. "Unless it is absolutely necessary, I never encourage the younger generation to take to an asymmetric battlefield, such as the current Baldur's Gate. I don't even know what Baldur's Gate will become!"

He stood up and waved his hand heavily. "You might as well sleep peacefully here for a few days. If all else fails, if Emiya can really break through that spell, that spell should be a very good trump card."

Mars said casually, "It would be nice if I could sleep peacefully. Last night I dreamt I was fighting a red mantis two men tall! Damn, the red mantis's size is really intimidating. Its recurved joints are especially terrifying when they leap on the ground. When I woke up, I found myself covered in cold sweats."

"...Red Mantis?" Upon hearing this, Apodile's body paused without leaving a trace.

"Ah, that's my first impression." Mars frowned, actually recalling it seriously. "But when I think about it carefully, the body is not exactly the same as that of an insect. It's still mostly flesh and blood... It's like a mammal twisted into the shape of a mantis? Tsk, this dream is a little too clear."

"Dreams are so unpredictable." Apodel was silent for a moment, shrugged, and suddenly changed the subject: "By the way, where did you find the wild boar?"

He looked around and deliberately avoided Mars.

Although this place is called Imoen's safe house, from the outside, it looks like a modern suburban villa.

A few scattered stone houses stood in a rather abrupt manner across a large open space. They were covered with thatch. From the air, they looked like a few ordinary stones.

There is not even a single landmark to be found on this sparse grassland.

It is naturally difficult to find wild animals in such a place, let alone wild boars.

Marsben mentioned it casually, not intending to discuss the dream further. Instead, he replied, "I caught it just before leaving Sharptooth Forest. With Miss Silver's help, I've managed to keep it fresh. Emiya's archery skills are truly exceptional. She easily pierced the boar's brain with one arrow. It's truly incredible skill."

Keep it fresh.