Equipment Printing School Mage

Then, another Cosette panted and opened Emilia's door. After taking a few breaths, she pointed angrily at the girl in the room and shouted, "What's your name... Yes... Lorien! Why are you pretending to be me again?"

The girl who was originally in the room smiled slightly and turned back into a gray-skinned shapeshifter - it was Lorian.

Lorien tilted her head. "Because I can't pretend to be him in front of Emilia?"

"..." Emilia sighed helplessly, tied up the medicine bag again, and said to Lorian seriously, "Cherish this opportunity."

Yes, the shapeshifter has been officially incorporated.

Just as Emiya guessed—the race that could read minds silently was indeed very tempting to the Harpist.

If it were a shapeshifter that had already joined the evil church, the Harpers wouldn't have dared to have any thoughts. But these shapeshifters had just been tricked out of the settlement, so they couldn't help but be tempted.

While shapeshifters aren't good people, they're far from beyond redemption.

For the Harpers, it was just some low-risk intelligence work, but in the Gods and Non-Gods Society, it was obvious that they would have to go into dangerous situations repeatedly.

As long as there is a choice, everyone will choose the former.

However, they will be scattered to various places - with such a group of creatures gathered in one place, I'm afraid that no one in the hotel will be able to sleep.

Luo Li'an's face darkened, and she placed her finger on her lips. "Stop talking nonsense. That old man in the red robe has already said all the most unpleasant things. I don't want to hear them again."

As she spoke, she clenched her palms wordlessly. "Besides, no matter how I read his mind, I can only see a blazing silver fire... I dread this kind of conversation."

"If you're afraid, then don't have any more evil thoughts." Emilia said, hesitating for a moment before putting the medicine bag away. "That way, you won't run into him again."

Lorien gave him a long look and turned her head away. "Ordinary harpers can't encounter him, but evildoers can? How ridiculous."

"Alright, alright, are you done yet?" Cosette angrily dragged the Doppelganger out of the room. "We're only halfway through cleaning up the armory, and the Arm of Friendship isn't ready to welcome guests again. Oh, and those draft horses you brought aren't fed yet. There's still a lot to do! Newbies, get busy and get going!"

"boom!"

With the sound of a heavy door closing, Cosette drove Loriane out of the room, took a breath, and stuffed the bag she had been holding in her hand into Emilia's hand: "...Take it."

"……What's this?"

"You were so focused on repairing the armory just now that you didn't notice all the jumbled junk on the floor." A mysterious smile crossed Cosette's face. "The Arms of Friendship's armory has long been turned into a junk storehouse. I'm afraid even the old man himself doesn't know how many strange and bizarre things are in there."

"I've heard the old man sometimes brag when he's drunk. He says that when Faerûn was in turmoil a hundred years ago, many adventurers would sell their unused loot to the Friendly Arm. Of course, there were also some unsaleable goods piled up there."

"It's something that's been getting moldy in the warehouse anyway, so you might as well take it with you."

Emiya hesitated for a moment, then opened it.

Among them were several arrows that emitted faint light of different colors.

Obviously, these are extremely special magic arrows.

Arrows are different from melee weapons. The magic attached to an arrow is often only effective once, and once it hits the target, it becomes a normal arrow. As a result, magic arrows are so rare that even true archers are reluctant to use them.

At the same time, the magic attached to it is often varied and of varying strengths.

——But no matter what, these arrows are extremely powerful and expensive.

At the same time, he really needs it.

Emilia was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you very much, Cosette. Tell the boss that these arrows are temporarily considered payment for repairing the armory. When I come back, I will pay you the market price."

"Oh, you're always so old-fashioned when you're trying to get something for nothing," Cosette sighed. "It's a hundred years old, and you might not even have the account to pay it back. How can you buy it on credit?"

"Not a paladin, but more old-fashioned than a paladin."

"That genuine paladin over there has been scolding his fellow traveler named Leon in his room for almost half an hour. God knows how much he has been holding back on the whole journey."

Village in April (I)

The sun gradually set in the west, and the clear sky was slowly dyed golden.

The two adventurers have already set out on their journey towards the east.

Seeing the towering walls of the Arm of Friends finally swallowed by the earth, the paladin finally retracted his gaze. "Two of us, we're heading to the Druid's Glade to seek revenge. I knew a paladin's career was destined to be filled with thorns, but I never expected it to be so thrilling."

"I have to correct you. We're not seeking revenge against the Druids." Emiya retorted without looking up from her horse. "If all goes well, we can even just cheer for the Druids."

The paladin looked at the golden sky and sneered, "—It's not even dark yet. Druids may have different personalities, but they all dislike those who are good at setting fires or chopping down trees."

Then, the paladin raised his right hand and flexed his muscles. "If I don't take care of my weapon, it would only take me about a minute to chop down a tree that two people can hug. And you..."

"He is the most skilled evocation mage."

"Instead of making these optimistic yet unrealistic predictions, why not share some intelligence? How much do you know about the Sharptooth Forest?"

Emiya finally raised her head and quickly pulled out a piece of parchment from the pile of intelligence. She presented it to the paladin with her mage's hand: "I don't understand, but there's a crucial piece of information in it."

The contents of the parchment were unexpectedly brief.

When speaking with the villagers of Hollowhorn, they boasted that they hadn't found any druids in the Sharptooth Forest. Therefore, their logging efforts were undisturbed, and their lives were quite peaceful. This information was recorded in the year 1466 of the Valley Calendar.

"...1466 Vale Calendar. Isn't that information from five years ago?" The paladin hesitated. "If the information is correct, these druids have only been here a few years at most. By druid standards, such a young forest is nothing more than a sapling."

Advanced druids can draw long lives from nature, and every druidic circle you find is likely to have a history of hundreds or even thousands of years.

The Druid Circle, which was just established a few years ago? They actually ran into such a low-probability event. They didn't know whether it was luck or misfortune.

The good news is that the highest-level druids basically won't come to unfamiliar forests to cut through the thorns - the bad news is that such newly created circles often don't have time to accept apprentices - so the main members of such circles are almost inevitably a small number of elites.

"—The worst possible scenario," Emiya said gravely, "These druids came to the Sharptooth Forest because they are not tolerated by the original circle. In that case, we will be offering our heads ourselves."

"...Tsk." The paladin immediately understood Emilia's logic and couldn't help but frowned.

Druids are ordinary beings, and they're not without their share of internal conflicts. But are they so serious that they'd have to leave en masse and come to an unfamiliar forest to open up new land?

Unless, all the druids in the circle are shadow druids who are in cahoots with each other.

Imagining the scene of countless thunderbolts chasing after him, Mars said unhappily, "Do you only have the most pessimistic and optimistic predictions about the future?"

"Let's talk about the present." Emilia squeezed the horse's belly slightly, and the Phantom Horse under him immediately stopped.

A very fantasy-like thing: two riders riding majestic horses, but neither of them was actually riding a real horse.

A paladin's mount is a celestial, horse-like creature, magically summoned to life at the paladin's call, while a phantom steed is simply a magical imitation of a steed.

It looked like a black horse with a gray mane, but its eye sockets were only a blurry white phantom, and its four hooves were nothing but incorporeal smoke, running silently.

As the caster becomes stronger, it will gradually be able to travel off-road, walk in the air, and even fly high.

However, at this moment in Emiya, it can only ignore the swamp mud.

Of course, its strongest point is that it is not frightened by battle and is completely controlled by the wizard - at the same time, it does not need to eat or rest.

"...I guess, sooner or later, I won't be able to resist asking you for a Phantom Horse ride."

As soon as the holy warrior's words came out, the celestial beast named Silver Ship immediately jumped into a rage.

It raised its hooves high, and even leaped up on its hind legs, jumping around on the ground, vowing to throw off the rider who looked down on horses.

The paladin groaned in pain, but he still held the horse tightly and shouted to Emilia, "So, what do you mean by what's in front of you?"

Emiya glanced at the grumpy Celestial Horse, covered her face with her hands and sighed, then pointed ahead and replied, "Right now, let's go to the only settlement near the Sharptooth Forest to get some information."

And that settlement is naturally the source of the Harper's intelligence - the Corner of the Hollow.

"I know that place!"

Silver Ship's posture became increasingly exaggerated, his upper body leaning back more and more exaggeratedly, causing the paladin's voice to distort. "The village near Sharptooth Forest makes a living by logging. If druids truly were to settle in Sharptooth Forest, they'd probably immediately target Hollowhorn."

"In fact, they may have already had contact with the village."

"Those druids are no match for most classes. Their spells are no match for mages or priests, both in functionality and lethality. They want close combat, but they can only wear half-baked plant armor and wield vine-covered clubs, making them no match for true warriors—"

"In the end, I can only bully those guys who break into houses and pick locks."

"As a result, the so-called maintainers of natural balance can only show their power when they persecute innocent civilians and bully the weak. Perhaps, only when they become owlbears instead of brown bears will they be able to fight effectively."

Emiya rolled her eyes. "...If even owlbears can be classified as beasts and become targets for druids to transform into, then sphinxes and chimeras are just around the corner."

"Maybe one day."

"That's horrible."

Emiya shrugged and didn't continue the topic. Instead, she stretched out her hand toward the distant horizon. "Let's focus on what's in front of us. Do you see that path ahead?"

The celestial horse named Silver Ship still knew what to prioritize. He let out a long breath, then reluctantly accelerated forward, bringing his rider behind Emia.

Mars breathed a sigh of relief, looked in the direction Emiya pointed, and frowned: "Trail...?"

This area is close to the Sword Coast, with abundant moisture and no shortage of rainfall. As a result, the grasslands are quite lush.

But in the grass, there are two straight paths.

There is no grass growing on it, making it extremely conspicuous.

The paladin leaped from his steed and placed his feet on the path.

Even through his iron boots, he could feel that the two paths were unusually hard.

"...a road carved out over the years. No, ruts."

Mars took a look at the direction of the trail and immediately came to the conclusion: "This path leads to the Chongsa River. The residents of Hollow Corner probably use this path to transport heavy logs to the river."

"This road is so compacted... How many logs do they have to haul at a time?"

The estuary of the Chongsa River is Baldur's Gate. Over the years, Baldur's Gate's population has increased nearly tenfold. There's no shortage of markets for logs.

Emiya, on the other hand, was concerned about other anomalies.

He sniffed and paused at a point on the trail.

There, there was a group of pitch-black ants forming a long dragon.

"...honey?" Emiya hesitated as she looked at the slightly yellowish, transparent stain. "You have to bring it with you when you're shipping goods? How much do you like sweet things?"

In any case, the direction of the Corner of the Void has been confirmed.

The two men looked at each other, jumped on their horses, and galloped towards the south with Chongsa River on their backs.

The sky gradually darkened, and the first ray of moonlight from the sky fell on their backs.

The Village in May (Part 2)

The Friendly Arms is a large inn operating in the wilderness, and as such, it's decorated with eternally burning torches both inside and out. Even in heavy rain and dense fog, the magical illumination persists, giving it a feel similar to Earth's sleepless city.

But once you leave the radiation range of civilization, this scene will no longer appear.

The moon of Faerûn shares its name with the moon goddess Selûne. The planet's satellite has risen into the sky, and on this cloudless night, the bright full moon is the only illumination.

"Unlike the Cloak Forest, the Sharptooth Forest has always lacked records of civilized activity. Aside from the accounts of the Hollow Horn, all that's known about this forest is its most primitive forest elements."

The so-called native forest means that there is no record of druid activities.

Dryads, treemen, and all sorts of woodland creatures related to fairies—

While druids are seen as a nuisance by most factions, the Harpers are a rare exception. They have close ties with the Green Court, an organization primarily composed of druids, also scattered throughout Faerûn. In fact, a significant number of druids are Harpers.

Even so, the Harpers did not obtain any information related to the Sharptooth Forest - that is to say, the existence of the Sharptooth Forest Circle itself is a strictly guarded secret.

Even other druids may not know that a circle has already taken root in the Sharptooth Forest.

This was a very bad sign—it meant that their target, Rui, had a habit or reason to hide himself.

This type of group is often quite aggressive when the disguise is likely to be peeled off - what's worse is that they are now ready to peel off the disguise.

Although druids are generally not considered evil, not being evil does not mean they are not dangerous. Any group is very dangerous when their bottom line is touched.

Even though Emilia considered himself a man who was not afraid of difficulties, he still didn't want to bang his head against a rock if possible.

What's more, he could already confirm that several shadow druids had already developed in this new circle alone.

If possible, he still hopes to collect some information before rushing into the forest.

The corner of the hole is the most likely breakthrough point at the moment.

...Is that so?

"...Now, I have to doubt whether this village even exists."

Emiya glanced around and gave a brief summary of their current situation.

As the paladin approached the forest, he fully armored himself again, concealing his body behind his armor. He spoke in a muffled voice, "The records of the Hollow Horn aren't isolated evidence; they're backed by multiple sources spanning time and space. I tend to believe that the Hollow Horn does exist."

Emiya took out a record from the pile and checked it again.

Among the information provided by the Harpers was statistics on the sources of building materials in Baldur's Gate in recent years.