It was Sig who called out to him. She replied, "It's almost dusk. You've slept for eight hours. Now Lord Apodale is ready to leave."

When Emiya arrived at the lower hall of the Mage Tower, the old paladin had disappeared. The rest of the people were in the hall of the Mage Tower.

The center of this area was unusually empty. However, at this moment, that empty space was replaced by a vast illusion projecting the distant horizon, allowing those in this hall to observe every move somewhere in the distance as if they were there.

However, at this moment, this closed wizard tower is covered by two different scenes: one is the towering walls of Baldur's Gate. Although it is not yet nightfall, countless Flaming Fist soldiers are already standing on the walls in full battle readiness, with a solemn and murderous atmosphere.

However, the Flame Fist soldiers at this moment seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

The Flaming Fist soldiers on the city walls were no longer the same as they had been in the past. Though their ranks varied, every Flaming Fist soldier was now clad in exceptionally fine full-body plate armor. In the fading sunlight, the manually mounted Flaming Fist insignias shone brightly, like real flames.

Naturally, these armors are all perfect products made by Emilia.

The other scene was completely different—everywhere you looked were meticulously manicured trees and flowers, fluttering robes woven from expensive silk, and servants from the Silver Shield family weaving among the crowd. This was, of course, the Silver Shield Mansion, where the 300th anniversary celebration was being held.

Both Miss Imoen were sitting in seats in the hall. One of them looked quite depressed, lying on the chair with her eyes closed, while the other was staring intently at Silver Shield Mansion, or more precisely, Apodale, which was surrounded by countless people. Her lips were tightly pursed together, and the nails of her right hand were almost digging into her flesh.

"Um..." Emilia asked hesitantly, "Excuse me, which one is... the... real Miss Imoen?"

At this moment, Imoen, who was resting with his eyes closed, raised his eyelids weakly. "Of course, it's the one who still has the energy to do other things. Unlike the Simulacrum, who was sent to participate in the four-member council today."

"Even more unfortunately, the Council of Four had spent the previous few days dealing with Flaming Fist matters, and as a result, all other matters were piled up on this last day. Then I sat alone in the Grand Chamber, dealing with trivial agendas that were meant to delay time and energy." The Imoen Simulacrum muttered to itself, lying motionless in its chair. "I feel like I slew a dragon... no, three dragons, and they were ancient dragons."

Emya hesitated, then asked, "Are you focusing on the walls of Baldur's Gate now? Do you think there will be a conflict there?"

Imoen's true form continued to watch Apodel's actions, watching him surrounded and cheered by the crowd, his face filled with displeasure, but he didn't respond. Instead, Sig replied, "Yes, that Grand Duke Valakan started out as a speculative gangster. Five million gold coins gone down the drain is an unacceptable loss. The Valakan family might never recover. From moving into the inner city to disappearing completely—I couldn't accept that."

Mars said, "The demons also can't accept this outcome. How much of Baatezu's fame comes from the children's rhymes and stories that circulate in the streets and even around bedtimes? If the demons were truly defeated by Emya, with no power to fight back, it would be a huge blow to their reputation."

At this point, the Simulacrum Imoen added, "What's even more terrifying is that they probably still don't understand how they lost... They definitely can't tolerate this."

At this point, the Simulacrum Imoen took a breath and waved his hand at Emiya: "So, until I'm sure the devil has completely grasped your details, I don't recommend that you appear in public again."

"Can't I reuse my identity like I did these past few days?"

"Of course not. Three of you on this team aren't willing to budge. As long as the devil deliberately mobilizes resources and expends energy to investigate, your meager disguises won't work." Having said this, the simulacrum Imoen angrily removed his hood to cover his face. "Damn Karkoros, sending his simulacra to Chult at this time—a traitor!"

Imoen's original form also said bitterly, "An elder in my family is seriously ill and dying, and it can't even delay their 300th anniversary celebration... Who are the people inside Baldur's Gate?"

Emilia said casually: "Even so, you still want Mr. Apodale to be the Grand Duke."

"Ahem!" This time, Imoen was the one who was speechless. Both Imoen's faces flushed red. "When Apodel becomes Grand Duke and Marshal of the Flaming Fist, we'll have plenty of time to deal with these guys!"

At this moment, the Flaming Fist soldiers on the city wall shouted down, "We announced this hours ago! Baldur's Gate will close early today! Sorry, everyone, the time limit is up. Please stay away from the city gates. We are closing them!"

There was always an endless stream of caravans trying to rush into the city gate. At this time, the Flame Fist soldiers at the city gate raised their weapons and began to prevent others from entering or leaving, while slowly retreating into the city gate.

The caravans, narrowly denied entry by Flame Fist, naturally began to complain. The caravan closest to the city gates even called out to Flame Fist, "Sir Flame Fist, can we discuss this? It'll only take a few minutes."

The Flaming Fist wasn't particularly known for its integrity, but today was different. The Flaming Fist soldiers on and off the city walls shouted in unison, "Except today, we just handed out a large bonus. No matter what, today we must enforce the law strictly!"

After some fruitless bargaining, the caravan in front of the gate could only sigh and turn around. However, just as the gates of Baldur's Gate were closed, the caravan closest to the gate was turning when the wheels of the carriage suddenly rolled off the carriage, causing the entire carriage to lose balance. With a loud bang, dozens of wooden barrels on board rolled and tumbled to the front of the city gate.

The caravan leader screamed in surprise, then shouted towards the city gate, "Ouch! I'm going to find a craftsman now! But I just arrived in Baldur's Gate and am not very familiar with this place. Maybe it will take some time?"

The guards looked at each other and then replied, "If you are not afraid of your goods being stolen or damaged, then we naturally don't care either." After all, the city gates were already closed, and these goods could help block the city gates.

"I'll definitely do it as soon as possible!"

As the caravan gradually disappeared, the Flaming Fist soldiers at the city gate sniffed and coughed in the wind. "...Why does it smell like feces? Where's that coming from?"

Emiya, who was far away in the Witchcraft Grocery Store, didn't care about this at first. However, when he was about to look away, he noticed that a fully loaded wooden barrel hit the city gate heavily, leaving a small crack.

Fine black sand-like crystals flowed out of it.

Seeing this scene, Emilia stood up suddenly.

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

On the other side, Apodel Adrian was already dry-mouthed from saying polite words.

He had rarely appeared in the public eye for many years - most of the time, he and his team traveled through the wilderness, fighting enemies like the Red Robe Wizard and leaving mountains of blood and blood. The last time he entered a big city was many years ago.

After that, he went to Candlekeep and took in a student named Mars, who also stayed indoors for many years.

Therefore, he has always lacked a clear understanding of how great his reputation is.

If he had known that his reputation was so great that everyone at the meeting would come up to him and chat with him enthusiastically, that he would be surrounded by three layers of people, and that even if they kept chatting without a break, it would take hours, he would definitely find a reason to refuse the invitation.

But it's too late to regret now.

Apodale looked up sadly at the crowd of heads.

His tall stature made him half a head taller than the people around him, but even so, at first glance, all he saw were headdresses and jewelry that looked like blooming spring flowers, and he couldn't even see the end of the crowd.

He was worried that he might not be able to leave the mansion all night.

At this moment, a young man's loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the crowd surrounding Apodale: "Everyone! Everyone! The Silver Shield Family wants to discuss something with Mr. Apodale in detail. Please make way, please make way!"

In this way, the crowd reluctantly made way for Apodel Adrian.

Apodale immediately recognized the identity of the young man who rescued him.

Anta II, the eldest son of Grand Duke Silver Shield.

Due to Apodel's personal experience, he was absolutely unwilling to call the young man Anta directly.

Anta II struggled to squeeze into the crowd and whispered in Apodel's ear, "Mr. Apodel, you may already know that an elder in our family is dying, and he hopes to see you before he dies."

"Please follow me."

The Blood of Ninety-One Murders (Part 3) Anta Silvershield

Today, even Grand Duke Silver Shield himself did not attend the Council of Four, remaining at his residence. Naturally, Anta II had also taken leave, busying himself in his ancestral home. The face of the next Silver Shield leader was familiar to all the guests who visited.

However, even so, the journey of Apodel and Anta II to the back house was extremely bumpy - Anta II's voice naturally could not reach everyone's ears, and almost every guest who saw Apodel would immediately rush in this direction impatiently.

Thus, this journey, which was not actually very far, almost turned into a life-or-death journey. After finally entering the confines of the Silver Shield's rear compound, the two could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The front yard was where the party was held, and it was not a very reasonable place to avoid the enthusiastic guests.

Anta II wiped the sweat from his head and said awkwardly, "Faced with such almost disorderly enthusiasm, you can still maintain your composure. It's really admirable."

"No. I consider it a rather unfair privilege to walk among the unarmed like this, fully armed. I want to thank you for tolerating my impoliteness."

"You're joking. It's an honor for us to have a great man like you visit our humble home. How dare we ask you to take off your weapons?" Anta II sighed. "If only one day I could be loved by the people of Baldor like you are."

"What they admire is nothing more than a statue that moves and speaks," Apodale replied with a smile. "To get along with a paladin, tolerance is most important... Otherwise, the best thing is to just meet by chance and never see each other again."

"The entire Silver Shield family is deeply grateful for your leniency."

The defense measures in the backyard were visibly much more complete. The moment he stepped into this area, Apodel felt several streams of magic sweeping through his body.

"Mr. Apodale, please forgive me. Many spells cannot be precisely controlled after they are cast. I hope you will..."

"I understand,"

Despite this, Apodel actually still keeps in touch with Imoen.

[No problem, the defenses are perfect. Even if Karkoros were to come, they would be very conspicuous if they tried to break in.]

In other words, even if he was attacked here, he should have enough time to react.

Then, Imon continued in Apodel's mind: [There are forbidden spells. Also, there are too many priests here.]

In other words, if there was danger, the quickest way was to run out of the house on foot. The same was true for rescue, unless it came from the sky.

Although the Silver Shield Mansion might not be hostile, Apodel, who had spent almost his entire life in magical storms, still habitually analyzed it.

Priests are the absolute core and backbone of a church. Faerun has dozens of churches, large and small. Even the most popular churches usually only have four or five allies.

Along the way, Apodel saw at least a dozen kinds of holy emblems - probably, these priests came here more for the dual identities of Master Craftsman Gond and Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate.

"Speaking of which..." Apodel asked casually, "I heard that the Church of Luck in Baldur's Gate announced a few days ago that it would leave Baldur's Gate. What's the follow-up to this matter?"

Hearing this, Antar II sighed deeply. "As you know, the priests of the Church of Tymora are probably the most lax in all of Faerûn. The previous bishop died unexpectedly, and a normal church would have sought revenge. Of course, the priests of Tymora also wanted revenge, but they chose to act on their own. No one was willing to stay in Baldur's Gate to do the arduous work of restoration, preferring to take risks to solve the problem. Waterdeep, Beregost, Elturgard—"

"Anyway, there's no Baldur's Gate, which they're so familiar with. The elven priestess who reported to the Council of Four that day seems to have already gone to Eltoril."

Adventure, travel, luck.

The Tymora Church, with these concepts at its core, doesn't even have a nominal headquarters; each branch is its own master. Pastors who grew up in such a church naturally don't want to be tied to one place.

"The Church of Tymora has always been like this," Apodel said, silently observing the entire backyard. "The Church of Gund doesn't seem to be like this."

The entire backyard has an astonishing number of buildings, the most eye-catching of which is the main house facing south.

A hundred years ago, Apodale visited this place - and at that time, the Silver Shield Mansion only had this backyard.

"I'm really old." Apodale sighed softly.

Traces of time can be seen everywhere.

After entering the backyard, the holy emblems were no longer so dazzling, but the number was even more shocking.

Along the way, he saw at least a dozen priests wearing both the Silver Shield family crest and the Gond holy emblem. Even the guards guarding the inner and outer boundaries of the mansion were two priests.

He knew that the Silver Shield Family had deep ties with the Gond Church, so he estimated that the Silver Shield Family was deeply rooted in the Gond Church. However, being able to allow family members to enter the church on a large scale like now, and still maintain control over them... this was an extraordinary cohesion or power.

For the 300th anniversary celebration, every priest of the Silver Shield family even carried a rare wooden long barrel on their backs.

Lantan matchlock muskets. It's said the craft for using these weapons was gifted to the Lantan people by the Avatar of Gond during the Time of Troubles. It's long been speculated that the Gond Cult in Baldur's Gate possesses similar technology, though it's never used.

Now that Lantan had been destroyed by the arcane disaster, this technology, which should have been extremely valuable, was taken out so nonchalantly, just to strengthen the defense. This made Apodel quite emotional.

Anta II did not answer this question, but pointed to a small house next to the main house and said, "The elder is waiting for you in that house."

Apodale casually said, "I hope my arrival can make his final moments more comfortable. Is Lord Silver Shield accompanying him?"

"Yes."

Although the main purpose of this trip was to find Grand Duke Silver Shield, hoping that he could help fight against Valakan - but for such matters, it was natural to establish good relations first.

Anta II opened the door of the hut and led Apodel into the hall, which was also guarded by other Silver Shield family priests. Of course, to be more precise, the so-called hut was only compared to the Silver Shield mansion. In fact, this hut still had a considerable area.

Anta II pointed to the large door at the end of the hall and said, "That's it. Please excuse me."

Apodel didn't think much about it - the memorial celebration was still going on, and the Grand Duke of Silver Shield was still accompanying the old man, so Anta II couldn't stay in the backyard as well.

He nodded in thanks and walked towards the door.

Before opening the door, Apodale couldn't help but feel a little distressed.

He is over one hundred and twenty years old this year.

It could be said that any human older than he was now would almost certainly be a well-known old monster on Faerun. And an old man from the Silver Shield family, nearing death, was unlikely to be among them.

It was rude to say this, but as far as he knew, while the Silver Shield family had an increasingly solid position in Baldur's Gate, they didn't often produce prominent figures. Although their family had produced several Grand Masters, many still doubted the value of the position. Consequently, the Silver Shield family wasn't particularly powerful within the Lords' Alliance of Faerun. The current Grand Duke was already a true standout among the previous clan leaders.

In this case, with what identity should he meet this dying person?

It's impossible for an old man with a vigorous spirit to comfort a young person who is about to die, right?

Apodale sighed and opened the door.

The scene inside the door was almost exactly as he had imagined.

A bed large enough for several people to sleep on, curtains thick enough to block out any sea breeze, yellowish and gentle lighting, and incense thick enough to cover up any body odor.

An old man, so decrepit that he was almost unrecognizable, was lying on the bed, while the equally elderly Grand Lord Silver Shield was sitting beside the bed like a child, holding the elder's hand tightly.

There was only one question that prevented Apodale from stepping forward to greet him immediately.

He frowned and stared at the old man's face.

——That face looks familiar.

It was not the appearance inherited from the elders like the Silver Shield family, but a face that was worn down by the ruthless years and almost on the verge of collapse, but was still barely recognizable.

However, Apodel Adrian actually had very few connections with the Silver Shield family in his life. His previous contacts with all members of the Silver Shield family were pitifully few.

He once brought back to Baldur's Gate the news that a young master of Silver Shield had been accidentally attacked and killed. In addition, he was involved in the incident of Shi Ji I's escape from marriage. He took her in for a few days and thus came across Anta Silver Shield at that time.

He was then implicated in the death of Shiki Silvershield - he was framed by one of his most dangerous enemies, Jon Erinikas, and was forced to flee Baldur's Gate by Shiki's enraged father.

Then, on his way out of Baldur's Gate, he was easily captured by Erinikas and taken south to Amn.

During this long process, he seemed to have seen the old man on the bed.

The old man lying on the bed struggled to stand up with help, put on his reading glasses, looked at Apodel in front of him, and whispered, "Does time not exist for you, son of Baal? You seem to have only aged a dozen years."

Apodale was silent for a moment, then replied, "It seems you shouldn't say this."

"Mr. Anta Silver Shield, you should be over 150 years old this year, right?"

Apodel remembered that Imoen had once mentioned casually that one of the main reasons she was able to become the Grand Duke was that she had provided the Silver Shield family with the Fountain of Youth, which they desperately needed.

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