Equipment Printing School Mage
Page 255
"What!?" This statement infuriated the druids, who shouted, "We've already done our best! The forest here is dense and deep, and it's autumn, with leaves constantly falling. How could we possibly clear it completely? Besides, there are more of you in your group than in the entire guild. Do we have to prepare hundreds of treehouses for you to stay in every day? A campfire? I'm afraid they'll be setting up a barbecue on top of it the moment we leave!"
Trouble.
Emya and Fenwe looked at each other.
At this point, it had gradually become a battle of egos. No matter how hard they tried, they could only end their relationship forever.
If Emilia didn't side with the Hell Knights and chose to stand on the side of the Druids... these already angry Hell Knights would probably go crazy.
The most likely scenario is that the Hell Knights will simply withdraw from assisting Candlekeep and return to their own homes. Even if they give in, their morale will obviously plummet.
[This isn't good, this isn't good, Emiya!] Sig was already screaming in the telepathic connection. [Before I came here, I thought it must be a misunderstanding or even instigated by someone, but from what I've seen so far, it really is just a simple argument!]
“…” Emiya was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and frowned.
The bottom of the Sharptooth Forest was actually covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and moss. The roots of the vegetation were thick and extended everywhere. Normal people could not touch any soil when walking on it.
However, there was still a layer of mud stuck on the Hell Knights' greaves.
——This is a bit unusual.
They had come here on horseback, so there wasn't much mud on their greaves. They probably started walking after entering the Sharptooth Forest.
So where did all that dirt on their greaves come from?
Take two days off
I actually put a bit of thought into the writing approach for these two chapters. However, the response was far beyond my expectations, so I planned to restructure my approach and return to my normal writing style. However, this sudden change of pace has completely ruined my previous plans, and I'm finding myself at a loss for words.
So, there will be an update on September 24th, but there will be no update on the 22nd and 23rd. I am very sorry.
Forty-three Mirages
"soil?"
When these words were spoken, the druids frowned, and the Hell Knight was confused.
Azul leaned over, somewhat bewildered, and crushed the dust from his shinplate in his hands, muttering, "...What's the problem? I don't know the difference between dirt and mud."
Inspired by this, Fenwei just glanced down at the armor of the Hell Knights, sneered, and said no more.
Druids are certainly the authority in this area, but if the Hell Knights do not trust the Druids, then naturally everything will be over.
Looking at this situation, Emiya, who thought the problem had been mostly solved, couldn't help but twitch his eyes.
However, this was also the reason why he came here.
He suspected it was a scam.
The question is how this deception is accomplished. If one cannot expose this trick and transfer the hatred of both sides to this enemy, then he can only reluctantly make the two sides stop fighting.
Unfortunately, the Sharptooth Forest is a half-neighbor of Elturgard, and if they become enemies because of this, it will cause endless troubles - he may have to come and mediate at every turn in the future.
Emilia shook her head and pointed at Asur's palm. "Sir Asur, the dust on your shin guard is too dry. There is very little sunlight under the canopy of this forest, and it is always relatively humid. If you settle in the Sharptooth Forest, even if you get stained with mud..."
He reached under the fallen leaves and groped around.
The dark soil was clearly moist.
Asul frowned, took off his gauntlets, and felt the moist air of the Sharptooth Forest. He nodded hesitantly, "...Indeed. With this amount of sunlight and humidity, the soil won't dry out so quickly... Why?"
The ordinary druids were obviously not used to this kind of thinking. They almost subconsciously asked back, "The soil is wrong, so what? The problem is that these Hell Knights are rude!"
"That's the problem," Emiya said calmly, her mind already forming a clear picture. "Your conflict stems from your perception that the other party has offended you. So, we need to first resolve one issue: did your meeting take place last night, or just a few minutes ago this morning?"
"what!?"
"what!?"
As soon as these words were spoken, most of the Hell Knights and the two druids screamed in surprise.
Although Asul had realized that something was wrong, he still felt dizzy when this possibility really came before him.
"I object!" The mage advisor behind Asur immediately objected. "I don't believe anyone could tamper with all of our memories without leaving a trace. At the same time, I've been maintaining True Seeing, and I'm sure we haven't been interfered with by illusions. If someone with arcane proficiency is high enough to accomplish the above two points without leaving a trace, they can simply do it: we're likely powerless to resist."
"We have evidence." Emilia pointed to the sand in Asur's palm.
Teleport. This powerful spell allows the caster to instantly teleport to a designated location. However, the specifics of this "designation" can be quite complex.
An object that has been away from its target location for less than six months is a perfect guiding item, and will certainly allow the caster to lead a large number of subjects to their target accurately.
After a teleportation spell, they arrived at the real campsite of Asur and his group.
"Evidence?" The Hell Knight's mage snorted and pulled out a ball of equally dry sand from his waist bag. "This sand is no different from the one on the Knight Commander's armor. And I'm sure it was wet when I dug it out. Regardless, it's now very dry."
"Are you kidding?" Fenwei narrowed his eyes slightly.
She gestured towards the impenetrable canopy of the Sharptooth Forest. "In the Sharptooth Forest, sunlight is divided by the dense undergrowth. If you camp in the forest and even store soil in a container, the moisture in that soil wouldn't disappear overnight."
The mage choked, but then gritted his teeth and raised his right hand: "I swear to Mystra, the goddess of magic, that the soil was indeed moist when I dug it out. I was accompanied by several Hell Knights when I did this. They all witnessed the entire process of me sampling the soil."
Several Hell Knights behind him nodded and replied, "We saw it with our own eyes. The soil was definitely not this dry back then."
Just as the two sides were about to start arguing again, Sig sighed and said, "Let me ask you a question: Why do you have to dig a piece of dirt every time you go out?"
"You ask them." This sentence almost made the mage consultant jump up.
He pointed at the druid angrily. "This morning, they didn't even bother to show us the way. Instead, they gave us a stalk of mistletoe and told us to teleport here. I can't teleport the whole team here at once, and I have to leave my mounts at camp. That's a shame. I have to think of a way out."
"what!?"
The mage's words angered the two druids. "Didn't you keep saying you don't trust us, so the meeting place is up to you?"
The moment these two sentences were spoken, both sides suddenly fell silent.
Those present were the backbone of both factions, so naturally, there wouldn't be any utterly foolish people. Previously, they'd refused to communicate out of anger, but now, at this point, they should have reacted.
The anger was extinguished as if a bucket of cold water was poured over the head.
Finwe pursed his lips and said softly, "It seems that Shar's followers have arrived. What an overly enthusiastic welcome."
Emiya nodded between her brows: "...I see, this is how the final step of the plan is achieved...Gin, how is your research on illusion?"
*******************************
The Sharptooth Forest is a quiet and lonely forest. To the Hell Knights who stayed behind in the camp, this forest has become almost predatory.
All the mages in the team left with Asur, and the professions left behind were mainly priests and warriors.
The team left behind at the camp lacked the ability to provide long-range support. If anything unexpected happened, all they could do was use the Mantra of Return to immediately return to Eltoril.
But the remaining Hell Knights obviously did not want to run back to Eltoril in disgrace in their time of crisis and abandon one of the country's current supreme leaders.
"Why is Lord Asur still acting like a holy warrior—!"
Bishop Tyr in the camp was very dissatisfied with Asur's behavior. Unfortunately, whether in the church or the knightly order, or even in Elturgard, Asur was his immediate superior, so he could only anxiously pace around the camp.
At this moment, a faint smell of burning came from the west, making the tense atmosphere in the camp suddenly even stronger.
Bishop Tyr frowned and immediately rushed to one side of the camp.
That was the resting place of Asur's mount, a Pegasus. This celestial creature was also the most agile creature in the entire camp.
"Reality!" the bishop called out Pegasus's real name, pointing at the source of the burning smell. "Please fly up to the sky and confirm the situation! A forest fire is a serious matter!"
Perhaps it was an accidental forest fire, or perhaps something even worse.
Almost at the same time, there were bursts of thunder in the sky, as if a rainstorm was coming.
The Pegasus straightened up alertly, nodded, took a quick sprint, spread its wings, and knocked aside countless branches and thorns along the way, forcibly opening up a path in the dense jungle.
After arriving above the forest, the Pegasus named True easily saw the worst situation.
——In the western forest, countless dark smoke rose into the sky, and the scorching flames illuminated the entire sky.
Even so, the flames continued to emit. After the flames dimmed slightly, another column of thick smoke rose into the sky.
There was no way a druid would do such a thing to his own forest.
In other words, the one setting fire to the forest is the mage in Hell Knight.
"Ehh!!!"
This scene completely shocked the Pegasus. It turned in a circle in the air and flew back to the camp as if it had almost crashed. It raised its front hooves and gestured to the bishop.
The bishop naturally couldn't understand Hoof Language, but he knew to ask the question that concerned him most: "Is the forest really on fire? Is it serious?"
Pegasus's head clicked hard.
The bishop hesitated for a moment, then immediately sent a message to Asur via short messaging: [Knight Commander?! Is there a fight going on over there? Should we support them or evacuate immediately?]
To his surprise, Asul was able to speak back.
However, the answer was very strange: [Emergency assembly, rush towards the direction of the flames. Everyone immediately put on their armor, but no one is allowed to return to Eltoril. Everyone, move towards the direction of the flames.]
...?
This answer is too strange.
【why? 】
[Because, as long as one group uses the Mantra of Reversion to return to Elturgard, the rest will be in danger.]
******************************************
"The ambushers must be hoping the remaining Hell Knights return en masse to Eltoril, thus confirming the druids' attack on the Hell Knights," Emya muttered. "Even with a formidable enemy at hand, the loss of Elturgard's most important military force in the forest is unacceptable. War will be declared in an instant."
What's more, Fenwei has an extremely sensitive identity background at this time.
It was during the Arcane Plague that Fenwë escaped from the Church of Shar.
If someone really wants to dig, maybe someone can discover this.
——Even if no one finds out, the Church of Shar can still create evidence.
By then, the Sharptooth Forest Association will be unable to defend itself.
At this moment, Yin's cheer echoed in his mind: [Wow! I couldn't even remove that mirage in one go!!! It must be a brand new spell variant!]
He is probably the only one in the whole of Faerun who is so excited when faced with a spell that cannot be dispelled.
Emiya sighed inwardly.
Before him lay a vast expanse of wilderness. This place, called the Green Wilds, was a wasteland devoid of villages and trade routes. Even goblins, let alone humans, would likely starve to death in such a place. Aside from sunlight, there was nothing here.
Even the people of Elturgard wouldn't take this wild road if they weren't in a hurry.
However, Emiya only took a cautious step forward.
In a twinkling, the sky darkened, all things began to grow, tall trees covered the sky, and fallen leaves turned into melted gold.
This place is about one mile away from the Sharptooth Forest.
Inside and outside the spell's range were two completely different worlds. Unless you stepped into this area, you wouldn't see a single trace of disharmony.
Forty-four fifty percent truth (I)
Before the remaining members of the Tyrian Church had gone far, they all reined in their horses and silently split into several small groups, centered around a few paladins. The Tyrian paladins had already drawn their swords without a word.
They weren't sure yet what had happened in the Sharptooth Forest, but they were pretty sure it wasn't something they should be encountering right now.
For example, the person who silently blocked their way at this point in time didn't seem to be a druid.
Even if they wanted to come, the druids should not appear silently behind the countless trees and surround them silently in the center.
Bishop Tyr, leading the group, silently drew his greatsword and shouldered it. He gestured to his troops and immediately began casting a spell. He shouted, "Members of the Sharpfang Forest Circle, we see a forest fire. Instead of putting it out, you've surrounded us. Are the flames of the Sharpfang Forest so insignificant compared to the Elturgardians?"
The druids, fully armed and with vines covering their faces, spoke in muffled voices, "Firefighting, of course, is divided into three phases: stopping the spread of the fire, extinguishing the fire, and preventing it from recurring. We are responsible for the third mission."
"Ah."
The Bishop of Tyr shook his head, walked over to the crowd, and said, "Can I take it that this is the Sharptooth Forest's declaration of war against Elturgard?"
The druid replied coldly, "You were ambushed by the Church of Shar. What does this have to do with the Sharptooth Forest? Whether you flee now or fight to the death here, the ones who killed you were Shar's fanatics."
...How shameless!
Such brazen words sent the blood boiling among the Hell Knights present. Although Bishop Tyr didn't want to argue with the druids, he couldn't help but sneer, "Then I'll say it again: Whether you flee or run like moths to a flame, our enemies will only be the druids of the Sharptooth Forest."
The Hell Knights had already prepared for any potential attacks on their mounts, even granting them the ability to move freely. Using intermediate divine arts simply to maintain their mounts' mobility was a tactic considered incredibly extravagant.
But sometimes, the only downside of luxury goods is that they are expensive.
This forest is definitely not a place suitable for galloping horses: waist-high bushes, sharp thorns, and low-to-the-ground roots make it rugged and difficult to move forward.
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