Equipment Printing School Mage

The following questions should revolve around these two aspects.

The leader of the shapeshifters, Lorian, once read the mind of the Archdruid, but the information still needs to be verified from multiple sources.

The surviving druid was probably being interrogated by the Harper at this moment. Regardless, with a wizard of that caliber in charge, the druid was bound to collapse—so Emiya could just mind her own business first.

He took a deep breath.

"Where is the old druid who was with you?"

The deceased hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I think—Archdruid K'har has most likely returned to the Sharptooth Forest."

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

Very good. Although the deceased was not 100% sure about the question, he still answered it and inadvertently revealed the name of the old druid... This is a good sign.

And the answer was the same as the one given by Lorian - this proved that the druid had no hostility towards him.

"Second question, why did Keha take the sword?"

"—For—Lindi—that sword—the magic is somewhat unusual—makes us feel—close—"

...For the woodlands?

Emiya could only assume that this woodland referred to the sacred grove of the druids. Although the word was called "forest," it could actually refer to any type of landform.

But no matter what, the sacred forest must be the dual geographical and cultural core of a druid circle, and all druids in the circle are guardians of this forest.

This is getting off topic. In any case, the fact that the Shadow Druid had such a legitimate purpose was really beyond his expectations.

“…” Now, Emiya couldn’t help but hesitate.

Do you want to continue asking about the use of the sword?

The corpse before him was just an ordinary druid, perhaps not very knowledgeable about the affairs of the forest. Further questioning would probably only yield vague answers.

The opportunity to ask questions is invaluable.

Although many questions could be asked to the Harpers later - after all, the Harpers were also conducting interrogations - Emiya would still prefer to keep the initiative in her own hands if possible.

If we ask the druid about his understanding of the holy sword here, his understanding of the druidic circle will inevitably be affected.

Emiya clenched her hands and finally sighed.

...What's there to ask? No matter what the origin of that sword is, it's just his teacher's sword.

A warrior's sword may have cut off a dragon's claws, and a paladin's sword may have chopped off a demon's head.

What secrets could a wizard's sword hold?! It wasn't like he hadn't researched it all this time, and had come up with absolutely nothing.

Emiya himself uses the sword purely out of personal hobby, and uses the bow because he learned it in his early years. As for why his mentor used the sword and bow, he had no idea.

But no matter what, that giant sword that was as tall as a person couldn't possibly be a weapon used by a mage. The secrets hidden within it must be limited.

Even if we take a step back, a druid's research on a weapon is bound to progress slowly. Furthermore, the archdruid wouldn't immediately know what happened to the Friendly Arm. They had a precious time lag.

If he were to question the Holy Sword without knowing anything about the situation of the Circle, he would also regret it.

As long as we find the location of the Druid Circle as soon as possible, there will be time to do anything later.

The decision has been made.

"...Third question." Emiya leaned forward slightly and asked, "What agreement did you reach with the Gods and Non-Gods Society?"

"—We, near Baldur's Gate, created a crisis—and the Gods, not the Gods, provided full assistance to our Circle—"

...Baldur's Gate.

Baldur's Gate lies just a few dozen kilometers north of the Friendly Arm, on the other side of the Chongsa River, a prosperous port city-state. Centuries ago, a catastrophe known as the Mag's Bane ravaged Faerun, transforming countless once-prosperous kingdoms into a living hell overnight.

Baldur's Gate, located in the southern part of the Sword Coast, was miraculously unscathed, and therefore took in a large number of refugees during that period. Over the years, the refugee camp at that time has become a large outer city.

This city, originally only famous in the Sword Coast, is now famous throughout Faerun.

The worst thing is that this city advocates freedom and tolerance - that's a nice way of putting it.

To put it bluntly, it is a harboring of filth and dirt.

Such a place is indeed suitable for the breeding of conspiracies.

But that was for later, and it was enough for their plan to get this far.

"Fourth question, which shadow druids are there in your guild?"

"This time - Archdruid Korhal is leading the team..." The dead man quickly said a few names, obviously the four people who came to the Friendly Arms.

"--Only Moonsong Monsoon stayed in the Sharptooth Forest to report the situation of the Ring Council--"

That is to say, there are a total of five Shadow Druids in the Sharptooth Forest.

However, the problem still exists.

Shadow Druids are the common enemy of all Druid circles. As long as the existence of Shadow Druids can be exposed, they will surely gain the friendship of normal Druids.

The problem is that, precisely because this is an extremely serious accusation, there is no evidence to support it.

And the internal identity of the Shadow Druids? This is obviously a top secret.

"One last question. How do you confirm among yourselves that each other is a Shadow Druid?"

"In the setting moon, the blooming moon, the fading moon, the moon of the year's end, the new moon when Selûne's radiance fades and only the stars remain in the sky, we will climb the highest beech in the woodland and meet there. If we part, we will only meet there again—"

"——The druids who came to the beech tree are like-minded people. Other than that, there is no other——mark——"

After answering the last question, the body, which had barely sat up, fell heavily onto the bed, its skin cracking into pieces.

Even without considering the limitations of the spell itself, it has no way to continue answering questions.

And Emilia's face had turned completely dark.

Shadow Druids are indeed the cancer that can lurk in countless circles, the inner demon that countless druids want to kill...but they can actually hide so thoroughly.

In other words, the identity of a Shadow Druid is one of complete freedom of conscience.

Unless you admit that you are willing to act as a Shadow Druid, or you are caught red-handed while acting as a Shadow Druid.

Otherwise, they would never be Shadow Druids.

Even if they were, they weren't.

Emiya covered her face helplessly and opened the door: "...Did you all hear it?"

The Paladin was leaning against the wall at this moment and sighed: "I heard it."

The paladin briefly recalled the time and replied, "Today is a full moon. This means we're still a decade and a half away from the new moon of the waning moon."

There is no Christianity in this world, so a month is divided into three decades, and a decade is ten days.

In other words, there are still fifteen days before the opportunity to catch Shadow Druid.

If they missed this opportunity, they would lose the precious window of time to leverage the power of the Druid.

Otherwise, with just the two of them, wanting to kill a high-level archdruid in the druid's home turf... they were somewhat sleepy.

fifteen days.

Emiya took a deep breath.

He must find the druids within fifteen days and gain their basic trust.

Finally, capture the Shadow Druid K'har and take back his sword.

Three Harpists' Support

Regardless of day or night, the first floor of the Friendly Journey Inn lacks sunlight for illumination and relies heavily on the inn's eternal torches. Because of this, the lighting in the inn occasionally fluctuates due to the rise and fall of the magic network.

The dark and uncertain shadows cast on Nikins's mirrored face made his expression look even gloomier.

"Really? This is the result you got."

Niggins Mirror Shadow took a sip of beer and sighed, "We almost had an accident over there."

"Shadow Druids are as hard to catch alive as the legend says, especially now that they have begun to move openly."

"The shadow druid just woke up and immediately tried to commit suicide."

Emiya paused as she was turning the pages of the book: "...He succeeded?"

"Of course not! How could a harpist be so amateur?" The old dwarf angrily separated several sheets of paper with wet ink into two piles. "This is the result of an enchantment spell."

"These pages are related to Shadow Druids, and these pages are related to the Circle."

Emiya took the report, quickly scanned it, and nodded. "It's similar to the answer we received."

"This is good news. If everyone has a different version of the story, it would be hard to tell the truth."

The old dwarf seemed to have thought of something and slapped a pile of pages in front of Emilia: "Also, this is what Lord Elminster left for you."

"...Leave it to me? What do you mean?"

The old dwarf coughed lightly, and seeing Emilia's surprise, he couldn't help but feel a little proud.

"—He's a very busy man. He left after questioning the druid."

Emiya was stunned for a moment, and her eyes suddenly widened: "Gone?"

"Rather, he's been here longer this time," the paladin nearby replied. "My mentor also met Lord Elminster several times in his youth."

"And all the meetings combined probably lasted less than ten minutes. The first few meetings only left a few vague messages."

"It was such a rush." ​​Emilia covered her face with her hands and sighed. "Should I feel honored?"

The mage shook his head and held up the pile of scattered papers. "So what is this?"

The old dwarf shrugged. "This is your first aid from the Harpers."

"You received firsthand intelligence from the Shadow Druids. This is all the information the Harpers have had about the Sharptooth Forest in recent years—uncensored."

"It may be related, it may not be related. We try our best to ensure it is true, but it may be false."

Emiya's face darkened. "I might be alive, but I might be dead."

Facing this sarcastic remark, the old dwarf retorted in a sullen tone, "How can intelligence work be so easy? Unfounded gossip is easy to find; we Harpers hear tens of millions of them every day. Credible intelligence? That requires specialized sifting and verification—at least ten days before we can get it to you."

"The good news is that we've time-stamped this information. It's up to you to decide how much to trust it."

"..." Emiya tapped her forehead with the back of her fingers and sighed softly.

Screening is easy, but verification is very difficult. It takes time anyway.

The most crucial reason is that this trip is more of his personal matter.

The Harper is probably more concerned about the affairs of Baldur's Gate.

Going to hunt down a druid in a vast forest covering dozens of kilometers... Even if Emiya herself were to evaluate this matter, she would not think it was very wise.

The old dwarf snorted a few times. "We Harpers are still mostly active in the city. Intelligence in the wilderness? We can't find anyone to verify it in such a short time. The success of this trip depends on you two."

"Try your best and come back alive."

"The life of the deceased should be very tough."

With the Dimension Hole, carrying the once-annoying luggage became much easier—even the heaviest and most complex items could be thrown into the Dimension Hole. Only the most frequently used items needed were left with you.

People who had interacted with Emilia in the past were coming to his room one after another to say goodbye. The once bustling and peaceful inn was now tinged with a touch of sadness.

Now, Cosette had just knocked on his door. And she did not come empty-handed.

"Emmya, take this."

Cosette had just entered the room when, somewhat mysteriously, she half-closed the door and placed a small bag on his table.

"......?" Emilia weighed it in astonishment.

There was a strange stench coming from the bag - it seemed to be sulfur.

"what is this?"

Cosette's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her voice: "Weren't you drugged a while ago? This is the drug they used."

"...Huh?!" Emilia was about to lower her head to sniff the air again, but upon hearing this, she immediately threw the bag onto the table as if struck by lightning. "How did you get all these pills?"

Cosette hesitated and lifted her hair: "Because..."

"—Because she's a shapeshifter!!!"

At this moment, Cosette's voice came from far away and rushed into Emilia's room.