Emiya said coldly, "We've exhausted ourselves investigating, but what's the result?"

The paladin, who had been somewhat jubilant, suddenly drooped. "...I don't know. I don't know if the investigation has been thorough, and I don't know if there are any hidden agents left. All I can say is that we can ensure that there are no Baatezu left in the city. At the same time, we are doing our utmost to ensure that any remaining Devil's supporters dare not continue their activities for a short period of time."

Emiya sighed.

At least it's better than Baldur's Gate before the Late Summer Rebellion - there, even demons could openly settle in under the name of the Chamber of Commerce.

The Deathlands, east of Baldur's Gate, are, as their name suggests, far from a place suitable for human survival. Their most deadly aspect lies in their location at the foot of the Troll's Claw Mountains. The unfriendly inhabitants of this troll-infested mountain range often venture out on hunting expeditions. Unsuspecting caravans often become a powerful reminder of the Deathlands' existence.

The trolls of Faerûn are actually quite unusual—trolls are often depicted as robust but stupid creatures in some Earth-based works. However, in Faerûn, the trolls' greatest characteristic is their absurd vitality.

These giant green-skinned creatures possess regenerative abilities that surpass most creatures, even dragons. Even if a troll is chopped into pieces, the remaining limbs still retain their ability to move, making it impossible for ordinary weapons to inflict a fatal wound on a troll.

Fire, strong acid—using these elements to destroy the last cell of a troll is the only way to ensure its true death. The only good news is that this thin, tall, yet strong creature still reproduces sexually, and a small piece of skin torn off by a troll cannot grow into a brand new troll.

Even so, a single troll tribe could quickly turn a large area around it into a barren wasteland with its voracious appetite. It might be that the continued presence of trolls in Troll Claw was due to the Hell Knights' constant presence, keeping their numbers under control.

In order to avoid this dangerous area, the land route from Baldur's Gate to Eltoril had to make a huge detour, traveling hundreds of kilometers to the north, crossing the winding river in the north by the Polesky Bridge, and then turning south to officially enter the border of Elturgard.

Of course, danger in Faerun is always relative. The troll horde is no more dangerous than the demonic army and the musket array of the Church of Gond. The might of Eltoril's Emissaries alone is enough to run rampant in this area.

"Eltoril has wanted to clear this area for a long time," Asur said, reining in his horse slightly and gazing at the endless wilderness. "But unfortunately, we've always been short of manpower. To specifically drive the trolls out of a large area, we'd have to mobilize the entire Hell Knights and call on a large number of spellcasters for assistance. With the Chongsa River, clearing this area wasn't a high priority, so it remained in the planning stages. Even so, we were infiltrated by demons due to our lack of manpower. Now we have even less manpower."

Until it is safe, this place will remain a deadly place that only the most reckless and greedy merchants and travelers will pass through - they are not afraid of the trolls. But not every caravan has such a strong escort.

Now that it was completely dark, they had already lit torches and cast lighting spells without hesitation. Even Asur was more impatient than them.

Emya pondered for a moment, feeling somewhat helpless: "...Everyone in Eltoril. You probably don't intend to take this opportunity to attract some trolls. It's better to clear this trade route on the way back."

That's the downside of having a paladin lead the charge. Anyone else would probably just brush it off. Asur's face was visibly embarrassment. "...If they really come, we'll handle it. We won't need your help, at most you can just help burn the bodies."

He actually admitted it!

Mars said dissatisfiedly: "If the Hell Knight is stretched thin, you should ask for help directly instead of dancing on the edge of inappropriateness like this."

"Sorry, this is mine..." Although Asur had a high status in Eltoril, he was very straightforward and ready to apologize at this time.

At this moment, an extremely loud elephant cry suddenly tore through the dark night.

"...Huh?" Sig shouted from her horse, "What? Are there really elephants around Baldur's Gate?!"

"Emmia." The onomatopoeia made Mars' expression grow serious. He immediately leaned in close to Emmia. "You should have realized the real problem with the Rite of Truth, right? Although the Great Reader will temporarily issue some bounties after the Rite of Truth begins, according to the information I read in Candlekeep, most of the points for the Rite of Truth participants are actually earned on the first day of the Rite of Truth."

Yes. Emilia has discovered it.

The Rite of Truth has a duration, but it is impossible to limit the period of time during which participants can gain knowledge.

The essence of that duration is the time the Church of Oghma stays in the area and the time it takes to verify the results.

- Acquiring knowledge itself? That is something that should be done before the Rite of Truth begins. The Rite of Truth is where knowledge is summarized and verified.

Unfortunately, Emiya and his group were a little late in their preparations. Therefore, if they wanted to gain any benefits from the Ritual of Truth, they would have to consider a pre-exam cramming session.

Almost at the same time, the elephant's cry had just stopped when a sharp howl sounded in the north.

There may not be mammoths in the Land of the Dead, but there are trolls.

Before Emiya could make up his mind, Yin's cheers rang in his ears: "I've been bored of traveling for a long time!!!!"

"Mammoth!!!!!!" And this was Sig's cheer.

Well, there's not much to say at this point.

"There's one more thing—" Mars reminded, "The appearance of unreasonable creatures in unreasonable places is an extremely tempting bait for the people of the Church of Oghma."

In other words, the team from Candlekeep might be in that direction.

And if Emilia's guess was correct, the Candlekeep team should have been the biggest obstacle in their Ritual of Truth, even an insurmountable mountain.

In that Ceremony of Truth, the Candlekeep team will rely on the accumulation of Candlekeep over the past hundred years.

How much knowledge will the people of Candlekeep classify as known, and how much will they deliberately reserve for the Ritual of Truth, aiming for an unimaginably high score in one go...

It all depends on their ethics.

"So, Lord Asur?" Emilia pulled the reins of the Phantom Horse.

"Hey." Asur grinned and waved towards the north. "Hell Knights of Eltoril, move forward! I want to see if there are really mammoths moving near Eltoril!"

The Hell Knights initially thought of using Eltoril's fine horses to teach the outsiders a lesson, but they soon realized that using ordinary mounts was a foolish idea compared to the Phantom Steed.

The effectiveness of this spell is directly proportional to the skill of the caster. A mage who has just learned this spell might unleash a phantom steed that is no more than a poor, nag. However, despite her youthful appearance, Emiya's power as a mage is formidable.

When Emiya and his party started to urge their mounts, the Phantom Horse, which had been following the Hell Knight obediently, suddenly rushed out like a racehorse with the saddle opened, leaving Eltoril and his party behind in an instant.

Although Eltoril's mount is also a well-known good horse, it is still far behind the high-level Phantom Horse, which requires no physical strength and can climb mountains and cross rivers as if it were flat ground.

However, Asul is obviously not a vegetarian.

Perhaps this was the way high-ranking paladins loved to make their debut, the warhorse under this paladin of the Church of Tyr actually spread its wings, and with a few flaps of its wings it flew over the heads of Emiya and his group - Pegasus' wings were much faster than its four hooves.

Asur's mount is the same as Apodel's, also a Pegasus.

However, this kind of race did not last long - the Hell Knight's warhorse could not run at full speed for more than ten kilometers.

Although it was night, the full moon was approaching, and the bright moonlight outlined the vague shape of the troll's claw in the darkness. A few bare trees began to appear scattered in their sight.

Sig raised his head, looked at the vague shadows in the sky, and murmured, "This place may be desolate, but it's also quite lively."

Then, the roar of the mammoths resounded in the mountains again. Even though the mammoths were several kilometers away from them, the roars were still clear.

Needless to say, Eltoril's horses were well-trained and would not back down. But they still lowered their ears a little nervously.

However, the roar of the troll is becoming weaker and weaker with time.

Mars frowned and said, "A single mammoth wouldn't be afraid of a troll. But a mammoth doesn't have the vitality of a troll. If the troll keeps pestering it, the mammoth's injuries will only accumulate."

Asur replied, "Then we have a chance to establish relations with the druids of the River Forest. We in Eltoril have tried hard to befriend the surrounding druids, but unfortunately, we've always been unlucky—the druids of the River Forest remain reclusive and simply ignore us. The Sharpfang Forest did contact us, but it turned out to be a conspiracy by the Shadow Druids. It's truly unfortunate."

At this moment, a ray of fire suddenly ignited the dark sky.

It descended from the sky, a pillar of fire that obscured the heavens and the sun. Born in mid-air, it slammed directly into the earth.

"...Flame Strike."

Seeing this, Asur patted the Pegasus under him and circled in the sky: "It seems that we are no longer needed in the front."

Flame Strike is a fifth-level spell for priests. A fifth-level priest working together with a mammoth is more than enough to kill a troll.

However, Mars immediately pushed the silver boat hard to make his mount speed up.

Emiya frowned and followed him.

What a coincidence! Oghma's group is at the Troll Claw.

By the time the mammoth came into view, another team had indeed arrived.

They all wore meticulously maintained, shining armor, with the gleaming emblems of Oghma's scroll and Candlekeep's candle inlaid on the chest, one above and one below.

However, the most unexpected thing was that there were two mammoths appearing in front of them.

These two behemoths weren't actually much taller than the trolls. Trolls were classified as giants precisely because of their exceptional height. Unfortunately, despite their impressive strength, the trolls were still too thin. Compared to the two silent and powerful mammoths, the trolls were like thin blades of grass beside tall trees.

In front of the mammoth and the Oghma priest was the charred corpse of a troll - it was obvious that the flame strike just now was used for this purpose.

As Emya approached, she could hear the Oghma priests cautiously yet enthusiastically surrounding the two mammoths. They tossed their rations before the mammoths, hoping to win the beasts' friendship. However, the mammoths showed little appreciation, still shaking their tusks menacingly and keeping their distance from the Oghma priests. However, Oghma, the god of knowledge, was the chief deity of the gods of craftsmen, and his priests naturally possessed a number of unusual tools.

However, before they could take out more things, a series of horse hooves and the sound of wings hitting the air caught their attention first.

The series of horse hoof sounds naturally could not escape the sensitive ears of Priest Oghma.

The leader of the Oghma priests was also very young, looking about the same age as Emya and Mars, also in his early twenties. He immediately raised his head and held up the gleaming mace in his hand. "Excuse me, is this Your Excellency Asur? I had assumed that if your mission to Baldur's Gate went smoothly, you would be returning home in the next few days."

Asur laughed heartily on his Pegasus. "Mr. Norwich, I thought that if anyone in Eltoril would travel all the way to the Land of Death just for a rumor like this, it would be you, the people of Candlekeep!"

At this moment, Norwich also cast a glance in the direction where Asur came from: "Are they accompanied by your Hell Knights or the Companions of the Sun?"

"First of all, the Hell Knights are not mine. I am only one of the Knight Commanders of the Hell Knights. I only exercise command authority in the Hell Knights." Asur meticulously corrected Norwich's wording and then said, "Furthermore, behind me now are not only the Hell Knights, but also the envoys returning from Baldur's Gate."

"A returning envoy..." Hearing this, Norwich was silent for a moment, then asked, "The old powers of Baldur's Gate are probably just as busy with their own internal affairs as Eltoril, and simply can't find an envoy with both authority and availability." "Did Baldur's Gate send those deceased informants? May I ask if Mars is among the team?"

"That's right!" Asur replied with a smile.

At this moment, Mars rode his horse silently up a hillside and faced his former fellow townsmen and even classmates from afar: "...Everyone, it's been several years since we last met."

Norwich's originally unyielding demeanor faltered upon seeing Mars in person. But after a moment, he took a deep breath and said, "Mars! You're here too! I heard you've been erratic since leaving Candlekeep, and I only just learned you were active in Eltoril for a while. But I didn't expect you'd be gone again when we arrived."

Having said that, he paused and continued, "...I guess you also want to participate in the Ceremony of Truth?"

"good."

"Then... Mars." Norwich's face twitched, but he finally showed an uncontrollable smile, "This will be the first time you lose to me in twenty years."

"You and your friends have no chance of winning."

Mars didn't laugh: "Really? I think this time will be no different from every time before."

"Quite the opposite." Norwich took a deep breath. "No matter how much I admired your figure before, that's all in the past. The difference this time was that I successfully passed the initial screening and became a novice. But you could only escape Candlekeep without a word and cry in the deserted wilderness."

Mars had a bad temper. But this time, he just narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Norwich no longer paid any attention to Mars. Instead, he waved his hand and signaled to his fellow believers, "Let's go. We can't verify the mammoth legend here."

The other Candlekeep people hadn't reacted yet and asked, "Why?"

"Because we're hindering the Archdruid's activities." Norwich looked deeply at the Mammoth and said in a deep voice, "If we don't leave now, it won't be the Mammoth's forefoot that'll trample on our heads, but the Druid's thunderbolt."

"Also, when I return, I'll apply to raise the difficulty rating of the rumored mammoth sighting in the Land of the Dead to level three. If you want to verify this rumor, you have to get past the Druid first."

Five flying mammoths

The people of Eltoril were clearly not known for their knowledge. Even though they saw the two mammoths turn around with unfriendly expressions, they still failed to react immediately.

The other members of the Candlekeep team immediately realized the implication behind this statement. They all took a few steps back, putting some distance between themselves and the mammoths, and exclaimed, "Norwich, you said these two mammoths are druids? This place is at least a hundred kilometers away from both the River Forest and the Sharptooth Forest!"

"That's not all." Norwich also honestly raised his hands to indicate that he held no hostility. "A druid's ability to transform into a beast is directly proportional to his own strength as a druid. If we don't leave now, the mammoths in front of us may become dragons."

The Eltoril people finally understood what Norwich was saying. Asur immediately signaled the others to retreat, but he still sighed, "...Why would the druids of the River Forest travel all the way across Eltoril to the Troll Claw?"

The two mammoths were not very friendly to begin with, and they became even more excited after hearing Asur's complaints. One of the mammoths dug its tusks into the ground, then suddenly raised its head and kicked up a handful of sand and dirt at Asur, choking the paladin speechless.

This was not the end. The more ferocious mammoth walked with heavy steps to a huge rock and stabbed its tusks into the ground again.

His meaning was clear: if you don't leave now, the next thing that will fly over will be stones.

In druid style, this dispelling method is already very mild.

"...It's because you, the River Forest, have always acted this way that we want to connect with the Sharptooth Forest..."

"boom!"

As soon as Asur said this, the huge rock was lifted out of the ground by the mammoth, and the soil splashed.

"Okay, okay, let's leave now."

Asul covered his mouth, turned his horse's head, and trotted back: "It turned out to be a wasted trip."

There are also mages in the Candle Castle team, and they have also changed to Phantom Horses during this period.

Naturally, this Candlekeep team was very young. As they were about to part, the other members glanced tentatively at Norwich before waving to Mars and saying, "Mars, see you in Eltoril!"

Mars' attitude towards these former companions was much better than that towards Norwich: "Goodbye."

Only Norwich glanced at Emiya with a hint of surprise before turning around: "The guy who used to be so arrogant can only follow others now. How things have changed."

Faced with this half-sarcastic, half-provoking remark, Emilia replied casually: "At least, I didn't start showing off my power after Mars left Candlekeep."

Hearing this, Norwich, who had already jumped on his horse, couldn't help but pause for a moment. Then, without turning back, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Go back to Eltoril!"

At this time, Asurdi, who had already walked some distance, was surprised to find that Emilia had not yet made any plans to leave. He turned his horse's head and wanted to greet Emilia, but saw Emilia slowly shaking her head at him.

"...Well, why should I worry about suing the dead?" Asur was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but sigh. "Whatever you plan to do, be careful... Also, after you arrive in Eltoril, don't forget to visit the Hell Knight Station and Eltoril's Supreme Hall."

"Of course," Emilia replied.

Seeing this outsider being so arrogant, the Archdruid, who was just demonstrating, became even more furious, and the huge rock was lifted up a little.

At this time, another quieter mammoth suddenly stretched out its nose, shook it in front of its companions, and then walked and stood in front of Emiya and his group.

The mammoth digging the boulder froze for a moment, then nodded. Its massive body transformed into the form of an elderly man in a matter of seconds.

Mars then bowed and said, "...It is you, Archdruid of the Woods. I guess you are the only druid in the River Forest who can transform into a mammoth."

However, Mars's experience in Eltoril clearly wasn't enough to give him any leverage with the druids. The archdruid, Woods, glanced at the other mammoth and bowed politely. "Those outsiders actually used flamestrike to blast the troll's corpse? That Oghma priest created such a commotion, what creature would dare approach again? I'm afraid all our efforts over the past few days have been wasted... I'll be returning to the riverside forest. See you in ten days."

The other mammoth nodded politely, and then Archdruid Woods leaped into a nearby tree and disappeared.

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