Equipment Printing School Mage
Page 143
The Eltoril envoys left the High Hall in a mighty procession, following behind Emya and Asur.
"Okay, let's assume you've come up with a solution," Asul said confidently. "Excuse me for being blunt—you might have found some convincing clues, but that doesn't mean they're enough to overwhelm us. In fact, we've also found numerous witnesses, and if we carefully list the evidence, it's also quite effective."
"Then please bear witness." Imoen raised her staff.
She teleported nearly ten people present to the south of Rivington, where the mysterious murder took place.
In recent times, there have been no reports of any silver or white dragons being sighted around Baldur's Gate. Even though they had always suspected that this was the work of Archdruid K'ha, they had yet to find any solid evidence.
Korhal was dead, his body no longer visible. The devil naturally wouldn't be so kind as to explain all this to them. Even the answers they received from the dead were rather vague—the dead themselves didn't particularly understand what had happened to them.
Likewise, Michelle Craig's death was a mess.
However, all these troubles will be solved today.
"Is this the place where the envoys died?" Craig sighed sincerely, gazing at the dilapidated villages and endless wilderness to the north. "Actually, they foresaw the dangers of this journey before they set out. The druids extended invitations to the surrounding settlements, hoping we would witness their competition ceremony. This was truly unheard of. However, their death outside Baldur's Gate was something we all took by surprise."
"It doesn't matter. Everything will come to light."
Emiya took a deep breath.
A few days ago, Elminster delivered a precious spellbook to Emya, which contained a favorite spell of Larry, one of the Eight Leaves of Grey Eagle.
Emiya was sure that this spell would play a vital role in the future.
"—Larry's replay technique!*"
The tide of magic silently surrounded everyone, and then silently dissipated.
Asul didn't notice the changes around him for a moment and couldn't help but frowned: "...What happened? I didn't feel it?"
At this moment, a fully armed team, who had obviously just traveled a long distance in the forest, came out from the direction of the Sharptooth Forest.
Asul hesitated for a moment and shouted in their direction: "Sorry, everyone! We are investigating something here and cannot be disturbed by others. Please make a detour for now..."
He was halfway through his words when he suddenly became hoarse in his throat.
This team clearly wore the insignia of Eltoril's companion sun, as well as the armor of the Hell Knights.
But as far as he knew, their team of envoys was the only combat team heading west of Eltoril in the near future.
The two teams above are Rex's messenger teams...
And, the envoy team visiting the Sharptooth Forest.
Asul's body trembled, and he quickly verified his memory with the team in front of him that was hurriedly moving towards the north.
Number of people, occupation, gender——
As the team got closer to Emiya and her group, the distortion of the team's image became more and more obvious.
Blurred edges, occasional flickers, a translucent interior—everything proves that all this is just a shadow of the past.
Then, as the Hell Knight was worried about the future, a giant eagle descended from the sky, revealing its true form as a druid.
Of course, the shape of the giant eagle is equally vague.
Amid the exclamations and sorrow of the Eltoril people, the druid transformed into a white dragon that covered the sky and turned the team into a pile of lifelike ice sculptures.
Then, the afterimage continued - next to the ice sculpture, the Flame Fist confronted the Eltoril people, and a three-person team rescued the Flame Fist, and the conflict was turned into nothingness.
Asur turned around and ordered the priest in the group to cast a detection spell while the shadow was still in motion. After everything was over, Asur asked the priest, "What school of magic is this aura from?"
The priest of Eltoril replied, "Pure prophecy."
If it was an illusion or even enchantment aura, then the persuasiveness of the shadow just now would be greatly reduced.
As for the prophecy system... then its authenticity is almost irrefutable.
Not to mention, Apodel was right there, indicating that this great paladin also recognized the authority of this spell.
Asur continued to ask the priest in the team: "Do you know this arcane?"
The priest cried out, "This is unheard of! If this spell were to circulate in Faerûn, countless secrets would be easily revealed! The darkness would no longer be able to hide, and all the tricks that once deceived us would become circus tricks! With all due respect, when I return, I will immediately advise Eltoril to obtain the scroll of this spell at all costs! It is simply too important!!!"
At this point, Asul no longer had any room for rebuttal.
He was silent for a moment, then heaved a long sigh and turned to say, "...I lost. Baldur's Gate's investigation into the matter was far more thorough than expected. I will report this matter to the Supreme Observer, and Lord Craig will decide how to compensate Baldur's Gate and Mars."
Finally, he turned to Emiya: "Have you figured out the identity of this druid?"
Emiya replied calmly, "His name was Korha, a ninth-ringed shadow druid. He was killed a month ago."
"Who did it?" Asur shouted immediately. "Eltoril is willing to pay a large reward for this warrior!"
Apodale laughed. "Then you can prepare to combine the two payments."
Asul blinked, then looked at Emiya's young face and couldn't help but gasp.
He shook his body and looked up and down at Emilia's face repeatedly, as if he wanted to carve it into his bones.
Finally, he murmured, "A nine-ringed druid... perished at the hands of a group of young men... Even the devil's plan was completely ruined without a clear explanation... This is..."
"Suing the dead?"
3. Towards the direction of the rising sun
"Why do I feel like this Ritual of Truth doesn't sound right?!"
Aimia and her group had already begun packing. As they stuffed boxes of personal belongings into Aimia's dimension hole—though it was now becoming more and more of a public dimension hole—Sieg couldn't help but complain, "How can people from Candlekeep be allowed to participate in this ceremony? Isn't this like being both a judge and a contestant? Can fairness be guaranteed?"
Mars put on the last gauntlet and put on his robe while answering, "This needs to be discussed from many aspects. On the one hand, the Ceremony of Truth has always been presided over by the eight great readers of Candlekeep. They are the third commander after the Keeper of the Book and the Chief Reader. Their actions represent Candlekeep and the Church of Oghma. They will not blatantly cheat in public..."
Sig shrugged. During this time, she had come to understand Mars's speaking style to some extent: "In other words, they like to cheat secretly."
"To be more precise, it's to make the rules favorable to them. For Candlekeep, this is enough to ensure their victory." Mars replied, "The simplest point is that the Ritual of Truth has not yet begun, but the people of Candlekeep have been preparing for it years in advance. And what about us? We only knew about it a few days in advance."
"So, the chances of winning are very low..." Emiya frowned. "And with such an unfair competition, the prize shouldn't only go to the winner, right?"
"Ah, you immediately discovered the true significance of this Ritual of Truth to outsiders." Mars hung the greatsword on the side of his horse and said, "In fact, the Ritual of Truth is also a place for the distribution of information. Participants can use the points they earn from completing many tasks during the period to exchange for knowledge - even those that should belong to the secrets of the church and will not be disclosed to outsiders."
Emiya paused. "...It sounds like even the devil would be interested in such an activity."
Mars replied, "The most optimistic guess is that the Church of Oghma has begun to be wary of the devil's activities. They have also discovered the high density of devil activity in Eltoril, so they chose to hold the Ritual of Truth here to see if they can lure the devil into revealing some flaws."
He was silent for a moment, then continued, "I've come to think of it. The All-Knowing One's actions during the final stages of the Late Summer Rebellion were quite passive... Perhaps this is related to the activities of Supreme God Oghma. The possibility of this speculation is not zero."
"I hope so," Emilia replied.
If that were the case, he would not be the one to venture into the dangerous and dangerous Eltoril.
Imoen had informed him—there were no Harpers active in Eltoril.
The Harpers weren't a typical espionage organization, nor were they top-down. Quite the contrary, many local Harpers were supported by local people with a sense of justice.
This characteristic also directly led to the lack of Harpers in Eltoril—in this place, those with a sense of justice should join the Church of the Three Pillars of Justice and patrol every corner of Elturgard. They might even join the Knights of Hell and fight bloody battles against all kinds of enemies that disrupt public order.
In this social atmosphere, harpists have no room for activity.
How did the devil infiltrate such a country? This is even more chilling.
Emiya sighed, everything will have to wait and see.
He shook his body, grasped a hand that was already tightly entangled with his clothes, and shook it helplessly: "Miss Yin... why have you been so inseparable from me these past few days?"
"Because I now feel that you are more trustworthy than I thought!" Miss Yin, who had been silently beside him, shouted as if to vent her anger, "I have decided that I will always be with you from now on!"
"Watch your words!" Emilia's blood vessels throbbed as she saw the gossip-filled light in Sig's eyes. "We haven't seen each other in a few days!"
"Just because the first thing I see when I open my eyes these past few days is that blue-haired guy, I think you've become adorable!" Yin's face was filled with grief and indignation, his eyes almost filled with tears. "That guy who doesn't even have a name has been staring at me so hard these past few days that I can't even breathe!"
Yin Shao started to talk non-stop, "I have to go to bed when it's time, and I have to get up when I've slept enough. I have to rest and recover my energy in between studying spells... She's so controlling! What's even more infuriating is that every time I'm about to lose my temper, she suddenly relaxes a little, preventing me from getting angry—and then, when I'm discouraged, she becomes strict again! Ahhhhh!!! This feeling of being neither here nor there is killing me!"
"Uh..." Emilia couldn't help sweating slightly.
This way of getting along seemed to be the result of the negotiations he had with his teacher during his years as a student in Lunya. Having fixed sleep and wake times wasn't a problem for Emiya. But sometimes, when he felt he was in a good mood, he would refuse to go to bed. After several conflicts, his teacher finally agreed to compromise occasionally.
As for why Miss Abandoned could grasp Yin's habits so accurately even though they were so disgusted with each other, he had no idea.
But no matter what, Yin has been having a very uncomfortable time these days. As an outcast student and Yin's teammate, Emiya should bear some responsibility.
"Then are you still going to Eltoril?" Seeing Yin's frightened look, Emiya couldn't help but sigh.
Although Yin's fighting ability is very important in the team, he would not force Yin to go with him for this reason - his teacher is not a weak person either.
At this point, Yin finally broke free from her rare moment of self-pity. She called out to Mars, "Can that Ritual of Truth be exchanged for a spell?"
"Of course you can change it." Mars replied.
"Then I'll go!" Without even a millisecond of hesitation, Yin blurted out, as if his previous fear of the Forsaken was just an illusion. However, after a few seconds of pause, a slight blush crept into Yin's face.
She tugged at Emilia's robe again. "We agreed that if I have any trouble, I can come to you! Now you have a mission! If the Forsaken comes to tell me what to do again, you will be responsible for driving her out... Uh, at least don't let her bother me! I don't want to see her!!!"
"No, you two just met by chance, is there any need to be so exaggerated?"
***************
Eltoril is located upstream on the Chongsa River. Simply rent a river boat from Baldur's Gate and sail upstream to reach Eltoril's port.
However, Eltoril's envoys seemed to have no intention of taking the ship. They came on horseback without much luggage and seemed to plan to return by land.
The Emya team wasn't a formal diplomatic mission, as relations between Baldur's Gate and Eltoril had always been strained. Asur and his companions were merely there to try to defuse the conflict.
Further cooperation? Let's first ensure that Team Emya's trip to Eltoril is a pleasant and memorable one.
What was even more bizarre was that the time chosen by the Eltoril people for departure was dusk.
Generally speaking, journeys should be made during the day, with night being the time for travelers to sleep by campfire. Only spies who dare not reveal their whereabouts or those with urgent tasks would choose to travel at night.
Their journey to Eltoril clearly did not fall into the other category, so the Eltoril people's choice left Emya somewhat puzzled.
"To accompany the sun." Mars gave the answer under the gaze of the Flaming Fist soldiers outside the Cockatrice Gate of Baldur's Gate.
"I've always wondered what a companion day is."
"Good question. Unfortunately, no one knows what the Companion Sun is," Mars replied. "According to the records of the Eltoril people, the Companion Sun descended upon Eltoril without any warning."
"Back then, the ruler of Eltoril was called the Knight King, usually a warrior or even a paladin. However, the Knight King was discovered to be a vampire. While the people of Eltoril uncovered his identity, they were unable to defeat a vampire and his descendants who had been cultivating for years. Thus, all sorts of undead spirits roamed Eltoril, and the people could only tremble in fear within their houses and ruins, unsure which would come first: death or dawn."
"In this moment of despair, the Companion of the Sun descended upon Eltoril. The vampire and his descendants were instantly annihilated, the remaining undead scattered, and Eltoril was reborn. Countless priests and paladins traveled thousands of miles to witness the glory of the Companion of the Sun. At the same time, the ruler of Eltoril was no longer called the Knight King, but the Supreme Observer."
"But what exactly is the Companion Sun? Even the people of Eltoril themselves don't know." Mars sighed softly. "Some say it is a gift from Lathander, while others say it is a gift from the long-lost sun god Amaunator."
"Believe me—the secret of the Companion Sun must be one of the reasons why Oghma's followers came to Eltoril."
Sig yawned repeatedly and said dissatisfiedly, "So, what does this have to do with our departure at night?"
The Asur paladin ahead had already heard their discussion. He turned back and laughed, "This is the custom of the people of Eltoril—when someone sets out from the west for Eltoril, we always hope they can enter Eltoril by land. The perfect opportunity is for them to enter Eltoril at night."
"It was a spectacle I'll never forget. I hope everyone who visits for the first time can see it with their own eyes."
Emiya sighed, "But this will take several days to travel... We can obviously use teleportation."
"Believe me, these few days are worth it. Also, if you're bored, I might as well tell you a secret." Asur coughed lightly, as if knowing he wasn't entirely right. "In the Land of the Dead between Baldur's Gate and Eltoril, someone witnessed a very strange creature hunting trolls."
"It was a mammoth. If you can verify this, the Oghmans will surely make a note of it in the Rite of Truth."
"...A mammoth?! Here?!" Emiya blinked, a little bit unable to believe her ears. "Mammoth? One of those giant elephants with long manes? Here on the banks of the Chongsa River? It will die of heat?"
The paladin of Tyr laughed. "My knowledge and interest in this area are far less than yours. Whether or not you wish to verify this is up to you."
Norwich at Candlewood
Emya and his companions did not participate in the reception of the Eltoril people, so it was not clear how they came to Baldur's Gate at first.
It was precisely because of this that when Emilia saw this well-equipped group of envoys, from priests to mages, all skillfully mounting their horses, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.
Unlike Emya, the mages in this delegation did not use phantom horses, but rode real good horses.
The Eltoril people had clearly done this on purpose. After they mounted their horses, they even took a moment to observe Emya's reaction.
However, to their great disappointment, Sig was the only one who showed obvious surprise at the superb riding skills of their Eltoril people.
Asul coughed lightly and stretched out his hand towards the east. "Alright, my fellow informants, we won't take the official road. We will head straight east, along the banks of the Chongsa River."
"Do we have to use the term 'accuser of the dead'?" Emilia sighed. "The connotation behind that term... is somewhat disrespectful."
Asul shrugged. "Young man, I don't need to use that title. But you have to understand that there are only a few people in this world who are willing to consider your feelings. If you clearly show discomfort with this title, be careful that people around the world will deliberately use it to provoke you."
He turned his horse's head, walked around to Emilia's side, and patted him on the shoulder: "Boy, you still have things to be careful of in the future."
"Ha..." Emiya was choked and could only sigh.
However, the paladin didn't really use the name anymore. He returned to the front of the group. "You've already made a name for yourself in Eltoril—we've been exhausted these days trying to find traces of demons. There are many waiting to see who can defeat the demons in a place like Baldur's Gate."
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