“What you are giving now is not only a reward, but also an investment and prevention.”

"You are so ruthless in your words just to squeeze an old man like me!" Elminster was choked and speechless for a long time. After hesitating for a while, he finally made up his mind.

"Alright, alright." Elminster opened his dimensional hole and took out a thick stack of books. "First, these. They're a collection of Greyhawk Eightleaf's spells. Although Greyhawk Eightleaf's spells are widely circulated in Faerun, learning them all is not an easy task. These spells can be passed on, and he can copy them to others."

Ai Meng's eyes suddenly lit up, but she quickly reacted, coughed a few times, and sat back in her seat: "There's more."

"..." This time, Elminster hesitated for a moment. He sighed and retrieved a spellbook from the depths of the dimensional cave. "This is a collection of unique spells of the Seven Sisters of the North, usually only their apprentices and high-ranking harpers can learn."

"Including Miss Simbu's spell?"

"Not entirely! She's such a tyrannical person. If she knew Team Emia knew her unique spells, there would be chaos when she recovered!" Elminster said angrily. "She's actually hunted down those who accidentally learned her spells before!"

"Okay, okay. Let's do this. I'll send these spell books to Emiya and the others... Now he will have to copy more books." Imoen shrugged.

At this moment, Elminster suddenly remembered an important question: "Is Emya leaving? Have they decided where to go next?"

Imoen paused and sighed. "They plan to go up the Chongsa River to Eltoril, the Sun-City, the capital of Elturgard. It seems there's a connection there with the devil."

"Without Miss Forsaken's protection, they would likely remain hidden in Baldur's Gate. Now, thanks to you, they've become bolder. As a result, they plan to charge directly into the devil's lair."

End of Volume Summary

Okay, that concludes volume three, The Baldur's Gate Murders.

First, I would like to introduce the relationship between this volume and the original work.

Those with a deep understanding of DungeonDragon's Gate lore will know that there was a module called Murder at Baldur's Gate, which was released between the fourth and fifth editions as a test of the fifth edition ruleset. The introduction to this module is perhaps even more widely known than the original.

That's right, Chanem and Vierkon, the last son of Baal, perished together, and Baal was resurrected. Information was poorly communicated at the time, and the exact circumstances of Chanem's death were widely rumored, with some claiming he was pinned to the ground and violently beaten.

Wizards of the Coast isn't that stupid. The module explicitly states: Chanem was unarmed at the time, and both men were highly skilled in martial arts. Ultimately, the outcome was determined by a completely fair d10 roll; whoever's first roll was two or more higher than their opponent's was the winner.

Of course, the most important thing is the outcome: winning or losing doesn't matter. The result is the same.

The original inspiration for this volume came from this module.

But that's just inspiration. The actual story structure is completely different. In the original mod, Chanem's death is the beginning of everything.

The story structure of this volume is completely opposite - all the murders are for the purpose of killing Chanem and Imoen. All other plots are both foreshadowing and more like a cover-up.

The essence of the story is that Chanem died suddenly in this dish of vinegar-wrapped dumplings.

However, how much of this volume's content was copied from the module?

…0.01%?

Besides the names, even the characters are different. Essentially, this volume is arguably the most… awkward kind of fan fiction – it’s trying to capitalize on the original work’s popularity, but it also disdains the original work’s content.

Anyway, don’t treat the background setting of this volume as official history.

Apart from the fact that Thorin Silvershield is really the Greatsmith of Gond, and Valakin really planned a coup in the background, everything else, including the devil's big plan, are all made up by me, or original.

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

I have no right to comment on everyone's views on this volume. I can only express my personal feelings about writing it here.

...Actually, I feel like the overall story structure of this volume hasn't collapsed. Even though this volume is the longest I've ever written, and the story's length was a bit unexpected, the main plot lines have been pulled together. The connection between the beginning and the end is pretty good, and overall, the story feels well-rounded.

Actually, when I was writing this volume, I was most afraid of it stealing the show. For example, the entire volume was filled with Chanem's scenes, squeezing out the protagonist's appearances, and even the final boss was dealt with by Chanem...

Fortunately, due to my burst of inspiration, this problem should not arise, so I will be very satisfied.

However, writing a story's climax has always been my weakest skill. I've worked on it for years, but the results are still so-so. Perhaps I should spend more time on the various side descriptions, the parts that amaze everyone.

Next volume, Eltoril.

Anyway, by this point, you should have figured out my style—I won't go all burnt and murderous, but I won't have any particularly literary plots either (probably none). Even the Deus Ex Machina will let the protagonist act pretentiously when the time comes. I'm not very good at it, at least not at writing a climax where the protagonist gets thwarted and then claiming that it's more realistic.

Smiling, in Faerun, the most arrogant and realistic thing is that my Church of the Magic Goddess is invincible. All other realities are put aside.

Overall, this book has a refreshing tone.

Then, I plan on not writing a story longer than this one. Damn, 450,000 words is already way over the limit. I'll try to keep future stories under 300,000 words.

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

Finally, it is the author's own habits.

Being recognized by others is a major part of human needs, so I just asked for it here.

I found this volume quite enjoyable to read. Please show your support in this post. Thank you very much!

If you are dissatisfied with this volume or my own writing habits (I already know that I often miss words, tears), or think there are areas that need improvement, and would like to offer suggestions, please send this line.

Volume 4: Under the Sun

Miss Zero Fenwei's offensive today

No matter what, a sixth-ring mage who had just broken through had to be kept where he was and take lessons.

No matter how hardworking a mage is, he can only spare a little over ten hours a day for study. And in that time, no matter how efficient he is, Emilia can only learn one or two high-level spells.

Unfortunately, Emiya had a rather extravagant and happy problem—he knew quite a few high-ranking and even legendary mages. Even more bizarrely, the end result of Emiya's interactions with them was often that they owed him a favor rather than the other way around.

Being able to repay a favor with just the spellbook was already a huge win—after all, they hadn't actually lost anything. The spellbook would be returned within a few weeks at most.

But for Emilia, this meant that he had endless copying work to do.

Emiya has learned something about this kind of work that is so long that it seems to have no end - it can be solved by relying on Silver's time acceleration.

Coincidentally, Yin was also in the process of cutting off her hand. Although she learned spells much faster than Emiya, the biggest challenge for her was understanding the meaning of those obscure words in the spellbook.

Unfortunately, the two of them did not control the intensity when they practiced side by side. As a result, after a few days, they both fainted in the room due to overwork.

After all, time acceleration essentially means that Emiya is working during his sleep time, making his day 48 hours long while still getting 8 hours of sleep - and Yin even has to maintain time acceleration during this process.

Humans obviously cannot withstand this level of consumption, so after he and Yin did this for ten days, their bodies were completely overwhelmed.

Everyone quickly recognized the suicidal tendencies of both Emiya and Yin. Yin didn't know when to stop, and Emiya didn't know how to live or die. Yin was bold enough to come up with any idea, and as long as it was feasible, Lunia's Emiya would follow suit.

These two people have been alone for a long time, and they can only move normally at noon because something will happen sooner or later.

Someone has to watch.

But these are turbulent times and everyone is very busy.

Before the Late Summer Rebellion, Baldur's Gate already had many unresolved issues. The two Grand Dukes, Adrian and his wife, were unlikely to accompany them. The Flaming Fist itself was also being purged of its demonic connections and was semi-paralyzed. Even Grand Duke Violet's maid, the shapeshifter Lorian, had been exhausted as a messenger. Mars, having missed the final battle, was exhausted and was working hard to improve himself.

What is very subtle is that Emiya's teacher did not take the initiative to look after his own students, but chose to look after Yin.

Sig was also unwilling to do such a job that might offend others - so the job of looking after Emilia was eagerly snatched away by a certain great druid.

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

"Snap." The pen fell to the side, marking the end of copying a spell.

Larry's replay technique, the latest Grey Eagle Eight-Leaf product obtained from Elminster.

In Faerun, most mages' arcane spells are surprisingly accessible, and most mages' spellbooks can be circulated among each other with almost no obstacles. However, even so, it does not mean that everyone is willing to hand over their spellbooks directly to others.

So how did the Chosen of Faerûn obtain it? Greyhawk's Eight Leaves, Greyhawk being the name of another material world. The two worlds are close by the standards of plane travel, but that doesn't mean you can travel freely—at least not on foot.

When Emilia asked this question, Elminster smiled and did not answer.

...I hope these spell books come from legitimate sources.

That was all Emiya could do.

"Oh? Finished copying another spell?" Just then, the Archdruid walked in wearing a turquoise dress. However, if you look closely, you will find that her clothes are actually woven from vines, flowers, grass, and leaves.

However, compared to traditional druid clothing, this dress was excessively refined. Most druids didn't put much effort into weaving, so they only put some effort into the materials, and the overall appearance of the clothing was still quite rough.

Fenwei's dress at this moment showed a subtle feeling - it seemed more secular and in line with the aesthetic taste of ordinary people, but if you look closely, it is clearly a completely druid style and material, which can be said to be a combination of the best of both families.

Ordinary tailors would not have the energy and time to carefully disassemble these materials, which would be incredibly time-consuming, and druids would not deliberately entrust this task.

Naturally, this outfit was also made by Emilia from Lunya, and he even made several sets.

For well-known reasons, these clothes have become Miss Fenwei's main attire today.

"Well, I'm sorry." The Archdruid placed a wicker basket filled with berries in front of Emiya with his left hand. "You have used up your study quota for today."

"Hiss..." Emiya raised her head and glanced out the window. It was already night. Unknowingly, another day had passed. "How can there be such a thing as a learning quota!"

"Because it takes twenty-four hours for Toril to complete a revolution. The world has day and night changes!" Fenwë took the opportunity to pinch his face without any hesitation.

Although Emilia vaguely remembered that outside the Wizard Tower, it seemed to be an eternal starry and moonlit night.

At this point, Fenwei clapped his hands and said, "Oh, there's one thing. Miss Abandoned has left."

"Is it time yet..."

His teacher had clearly stated that she had a grudge against the Archmage, the lich Larloch. Larloch was no academic lunatic. The lich of Amnesia Mountain was one of his many subordinates.

In this case, she couldn't stand with Emiya and her group easily. Otherwise, if Larok discovered them, they would be in even more trouble.

The Red Mage and the Devil... these two families were already formidable enough. However, their bases were far away in the Nine Hells, one in the Far East of Faerun, and the other in the Far East of Faerun. Therefore, it wasn't easy for them to mobilize their forces to the west coast of Faerun.

Larok lived nearby. If you mess with a monster like that, you'll have a hard time.

Adrian could scare off a lich, but that didn't mean Baldur's Gate could withstand Larloch's entire power.

It is said that Larloch has hundreds of liches under his command.

And every lich should be at least a nine-ring wizard before transforming from a living person into a lich.

What's even more terrifying is that these hundreds of liches are completely under Larloch's control. They are more like his slaves than his subordinates.

This number was enough to make all the people of Faerun dumbfounded. Unless it was absolutely necessary, no one wanted to fight Larloch - such a war would inevitably sweep across the continent, devastating everyone. It would be best if both sides could live in peace.

Therefore, his relationship with his teacher had to remain hidden in the shadows. Emiya had originally planned not to see his teacher for many years, but now that they could no longer be together openly, it didn't seem to be a problem.

Fenwei brought a table and chairs, put the basket aside, and took out a piece of twin light blue berries from it.

These two berries had obviously just been picked from the branches, and they still shone with a little moisture from the forest.

"Thank you." Emilia took the berries from her hands skillfully. Although the druids' food was not known for its large quantity, the legend that one druid's raspberry could meet their daily needs was well known to everyone.

Emiya had just brought the berry to her lips when she suddenly discovered a subtle fact and her hand stopped.

This small piece of berry branch is quite curved and seems to be able to form a heart shape.

"What's the matter?" Fenwei looked confused.

"Uh." Emiya hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is this just an ordinary berry?"

"Of course it's not ordinary," Fenwë said confidently. "How could the woodland we druids have worked so hard to cultivate be just an ordinary orchard?"

……

Emilia's hand couldn't help but pause.

Although he trusted Fenwei, she would never hurt him...

But in other aspects...her fierce attack on the other hand has already made Emiya's defense a little shaky.

In this case, a heart-shaped vine really made him think about it.

"Hmm~" Fenwei noticed his hesitation and smiled as she placed her hand on her chest. The fair skin exposed there was particularly eye-catching. "Mr. Emiya? You don't think I put a love potion in the berries, do you? You've been doing a lot of fanciful things these days."

"I..." Emilia wanted to argue, but Fenwei had already supported the table with both hands and stretched his head forward like a female leopard. In an instant, the distance between them was almost zero.

Like a dragonfly skimming the water, she opened her lips and swallowed one of the berries into her mouth and down her throat.

What was even more outrageous was that she ate the berry closest to Emiya! Emiya was too slow to react and only felt a numbing warmth on her lips.

Fenwei smiled and shook his finger. "So? Even if there's a trap, I've already eaten it."

"Or do you want me to eat the other one too? You won't be able to eat enough if I eat alone. I swear on the forest, there is no love potion in this berry."

"No, no, no, there's no need to swear on this..." Emilia's breathing became tight at this moment, and he swallowed the other berry with some shame.

Then, how to describe it.

He felt as if the world suddenly became brighter.

Or perhaps it was as if Fenwe had suddenly become the world's light source, eye-catching but not overly bright. Every feature on his face became exceptionally radiant.

The luster of the eyes, the moisture of the lips, and the delicate skin made it almost impossible for him to take his eyes off her.

Emilia could hardly restrain herself from reaching out her hand to the Archdruid, while Fenwe smiled and squeezed his hand, rubbing it gently.

But Emilia still took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice: "-Fenwei, you just swore that you didn't drug it."

If they were two strangers, it might be misinterpreted as love at first sight. However, they had known each other for quite some time, so this sudden surge of feelings was quite noticeable.

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