Witch Troupe and the Undead

“We overpaid…” Roach glanced at the items on the stall and knew that they had overpaid for the monster materials they bought in Valley City. They would be at least one-third cheaper here. In fact, the monster materials and monster processing materials sold in Valley City and many markets in Lywood County were “imported” from Rock Tower County.

"By passing through the northern Black Forest lies the Empire's investigation camp, which is now completely occupied by the Sin Demons. It is said that they can only retreat to an ancient ruin on the outskirts of the Black Forest to hold their ground."

"If you want to go to Dragon Keep, you can see the Dragon Keep elevator by going up Blackwing Mountain, but..." But the ancient elevator is completely broken. This is no problem for dragons and dragonborn. They can fly over this distance. But the witch's hut is a bit difficult.

"So what are we doing here?" Roach looked around. Tallinn City had a more otherworldly feel than any other imperial city he had ever seen. After all, you really couldn't find so many men on Earth wearing only a tube top and a short skirt that reached their knees, revealing their muscular abs, in the frigid zone.

That's right, both men and women of the Yanta tribe dress like this, often using triangular serrated patterns as decoration on the edges of their clothes, which looks very cool. The only downside is that they live in a subarctic region... It starts snowing here in late autumn and doesn't melt until late spring, which is at least equivalent to the climate of Siberia on Earth.

“Find a guide. I know you’ve come to feel at home once you’re in the Black Forest, but the Black Forest here is a little different from other places.” Vivi didn’t say how it was different, but everyone felt it was better to listen to the opinion of this “local dragon.”

"In other words, we need to find a guide here, and then go to the new camp in the Black Forest to learn about the general situation of the seal. After that, Livia may help you reinforce the seal, or she may stay for a while to study the composition of the seal and the barrier?"

"Making some money on the side" was Weiwei's main purpose. As a dragon that had reverted to its ancestral form, she didn't even have ten gold coins in her treasure trove. How could she bear this?

"Hmm, if it's about making money, why go so far?" They could make money right here in Valley City. For one thing, the herbs that Roach and the Little Witch buy can make a huge amount of magic potions. With the Little Witch's success rate, the profit margin is basically over 500%.

“The commercial guilds in Valley City are divided into factions. They may not dare to provoke a Gold-level witch, but they would definitely not hesitate to target you.” Vivi’s meaning was a bit convoluted, but it meant that unless the little witch openly revealed her class, they would definitely be targeted by various means.

If the Golden Witch's rank were revealed, it wouldn't just be these merchants coming; they might get embroiled in something even more serious, involving struggles between nobles and high-ranking officials, especially since the little witch's badge doesn't even belong to her, but to Nellie.

Just thinking about the old witch's utterly immoral life, one knows that the consequences would be unimaginable if her identity were exposed. Valley City is not a poor, remote place like Hearthglen, which is right next to Deathwhisper Fortress. Who knows, Livia might pull out her badge to register, and eight hundred assassins might come knocking on her door to kill her the very next day.

"However, the Rock Tower tribe doesn't follow this approach."

"Oh, so they're very well-behaved?"

“No, I mean, they chose to come to our door and settle the dispute physically,” Vivi said, glancing sideways. “I think we shouldn’t have anything to be afraid of in this part, right?”

Indeed, even ordinary Rock Tower warriors might not be able to defeat the oxen and horses responsible for carrying supplies in the team. In fact, apart from Livia, no one in this team could defeat those two oxen and horses. As for Roach, it depends on the situation. If there is a pre-arranged position, he might be able to defeat the oxen, but he might not be able to defeat the horses.

"If you really don't want to get involved, just treat it as a sightseeing trip. Isn't this trip wonderful?" The blonde little witch nodded seriously, indicating that traveling was indeed wonderful, especially if the house could be moved, that would be even more amazing.

Lywoodshire's vast plains and farmlands, Rock Towershire's valleys and hills, from somber Gothic castles to exotic grottoes and cave dwellings, from the sun-drenched south to the snow-covered north.

It must be said that the scenery along the way was indeed quite beautiful. Occasionally, they would encounter some adventurers and caravans. They did not seem to notice anything unusual about the witch's hut. Roach could only attribute it to some kind of special barrier and magical blessing released by the old witch.

Otherwise, given her utterly immoral character and lack of covert methods, she would likely be attacked by a large group of assassins before she even reaches 20 kilometers away, to the point where assassins might have to queue up.

If there's one thing Tallinn has in abundance, it's taverns. For the Rock Tower Clan, spirits are practically a necessity, but unlike the chaotic and filthy taverns elsewhere in the Empire.

The taverns of the Rock Tower tribe are often quite spacious, usually built in a semi-subterranean style. For example, the "Flaming Spring" tavern in front of Roach and his companions is built on the mountainside, with an entrance that is an artificially carved archway and a half-open stone door that is just for show.

Roach discovered that it was just a decoration carved into the shape of a door, meaning that the tavern didn't actually have a door.

“The taverns here are open all day, they don’t close, so there’s no need for doors.” Vivi led everyone inside, while the two oxen and horses stayed outside to watch everyone’s luggage. It’s said that there are quite a few thieves in Tallinn City, and they’re all quite ruthless. So, the black horse volunteered to watch the luggage, hoping that the local thieves would be more ruthless than a demon lord and his henchmen.

Well, why is it "Lord" and not "Sub-Lord"? That's because "Deputy" is a title for superiors, not for you. Calling someone a "Deputy" is a basic workplace rule! (Confirmed)

Upon entering, a warm, pungent aroma of alcohol wafts towards you. A brazier in the corner burns brightly, providing warmth to the tavern. Holes that let light through are carved into the porous sandstone near the brazier to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

The floor was rough, flat sandstone, and the tabletops and counters were carved from rock, possessing a rugged yet strange beauty. Perhaps it was still too early, as there weren't many people in the tavern, only a few guys dressed as Rock Tower warriors drinking some kind of golden-green liquor from wooden cups the size of human heads.

“It’s definitely different from the ones in Lywood County.” Leslie looked around. This place was more like a salon than a tavern. The environment was very clean, and there were even several potted plants emitting a fragrant scent hanging overhead.

“For the Rock Tower people, ninety percent of the winter is spent in the tavern. If it’s dirty and messy… in winter, the smell can really kill.” Vivi walked toward the counter. There was no bartender, only a tall Rock Tower woman fiddling with a metal utensil.

“It’s Vilandella…” The woman with messy, coarse black hair like a wild beast’s mane looked up, a smile appearing on her cold, handsome face, which seemed to be sculpted from rock. She pulled out a ceramic pot from the cabinet and filled a wooden cup with some kind of transparent liquid.

"Ha~" Weiwei downed her drink in one gulp, two red blushes rising on her cheeks, and she exhaled a breath of alcohol. "Yours is still the best."

"Your alcohol tolerance has improved," the woman said, putting away the earthenware pot. "This cup is on me. If you want more, you'll have to pay."

With a "clang," Vivi tossed out a gold coin and gave each of them a cup of "fruit syrup." Oh, and don't give that little guy any alcoholic beverages.

"Smack!" Livia angrily tapped her on the head with her cane, eliciting laughter from the Rock Tower woman. "You're really something, coming here for a non-alcoholic drink."

“No, if you give her alcohol, you’ll have to be prepared to redo the renovations.” Vivi shrugged. She didn’t know what would happen to the little witch if she drank too much, but she knew it was definitely not a good idea.

A row of brass-hooped wooden cups were thrown in front of Roach. The so-called "fruit pulp" seemed to be a kind of fruit wine made from fruit, with a considerable amount of fruit pulp remaining in it, giving it a golden-green color.

"Fruit wine?" This stuff can produce a lot of fusel oils if you're not careful. Nevertheless, he took a sip and found that the wine wasn't very strong. Instead, it had a rich, sweet and sour fruit flavor, more like a fruit juice drink with a low alcohol content.

What was given to Livia was a cup of... spiced goat milk. Rock Tower County is the empire's largest spice-producing region, where spices are not considered valuable, which perfectly complements the local sweet but extremely pungent Rock Tower goat milk.

"Are these your new companions? A sorcerer, a... beastman warrior, a bard, wait, sea creatures?" The Rock Tower woman rubbed her eyes. Damn it, why would she see sea creatures in this inland land?

“Let me reiterate, we sea creatures don’t die from the sun if we leave the water; that’s just a stereotype,” Leslie put down her glass and explained helplessly. “It’s just that the lack of water in the inland areas makes our skin dry and uncomfortable, just like you would feel the same way if you lived in a scorching desert.”

"I see," the woman said with a look of sudden realization. "So, Weiwei, what brings you here this time?"

"Find a guide, Tasia, the kind that goes through the Black Forest."

"This is a bit tricky. A few months ago, it would have been easy; I had a whole bunch of candidates. But now... I don't know what happened in the Black Forest, but even a lot of the Imperial survey team members have turned back. I doubt there are many guides in the city who would dare to take on this job."

"Besides, as you know, winter is just around the corner, and once winter comes... even in normal times, not many guides will dare to rush in."

"It's precisely because winter is coming soon that we must go in now, otherwise it will be too late." By next year, Tallinn City might be putting on a show of the Sin Demons besieging the city.

"Do you really have to go?" Tasia asked seriously.

“We don’t necessarily have to go,” Vivi shrugged. “If we really can’t make it, we can just go home. But what you do is beyond my control.”

"I see..." It's best not to use riddles when talking to the Rock Tower people. These guys hate two kinds of people the most: unscrupulous merchants and riddle tellers.

"Then you'll have to wait two days. By the way, do you have a place to stay in the city?" Most of the Rock Tower people are good friends, after all, these guys are simple-minded and would never stab you in the back. But they are also the least suitable adventure companions—because it's hard to explain to them when you need to negotiate and when you need to pull out a big knife.

Unless your adventure team is purely a combat group, ignoring all that ruin exploration and map drawing, and you just buy the location of monster lairs from various information brokers, then storm in through the front or back door, kicking down any doors you see and killing anything that moves, and finally carrying the bloody monster heads to the lord to exchange for money.

"No need, we have accommodation outside the city."

"Outside the city? Are you crazy? Don't you know it's almost winter? The area outside the city is full of ferocious beasts and high-level monsters that come out to fatten up at this time of year!?"

Otherwise, why would the Rock Tower people, a robust and cold-resistant group, spend most of the autumn, winter, and spring seasons hibernating? Of course, it's because those creatures in the wild are even more brutal than them.

"It's alright, we have very capable doormen."

"How strong are they?" Tasia's interest was piqued. As a people who believed "fighting is awesome!", they were wide awake upon hearing this.

"I guess I could take on ten of you?" Vivi said uncertainly.

“Twenty,” Alessina, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “If we include Master Roch, a hundred wouldn’t be too many.” Of course, few members of the Rock Tower Clan had magical talent. Against a combination like Roch’s rapid-fire cannons, pre-set positions, and minefields, a hundred of them charging in would indeed be suicide missions.

“Master Roch…” Tasia wasn’t angry. For the Rock Tower people, it was just bragging. What did you think they did when they gathered here in winter? Bragging, chatting, and boasting that they could take down ten adult dragons were considered relatively realistic types here. The Rock Tower people’s bragging skills were comparable to those of fairy tales. Both were entertainment projects that required brainpower. The more mindless they were, the happier they were.

"Alchemist" Roach pulled out his professional badge.

I thought you were a knight.

"No, it's just an illusion caused by this armor," Roach said. He explained that the armor was made by Livia and was much lighter than it looked, but its defensive capabilities were not strong. It was more like a robe made in the shape of armor.

“Then I really can’t beat him,” Tasia nodded. Alchemists are the enemies that the Rock Tower people least want to fight. Against mages, who have a long wind-up, they can rely on their combat skills and the increased magic resistance after going berserk to rush up and kill them. They also have special combat skills such as battle cry to disrupt the surrounding elemental and spiritual energy sources, making it difficult for mages to cast high-level spells.

However, alchemists are a different story. Besides using simple arcane spells, they also have various enchanted alchemical weapons and alchemical bombs, which are truly unbearable. The Rock Tower Clan doesn't have the habit of wearing armor, so even if they are unharmed after being hit by a bomb, it's still quite painful.

Of course, alchemists don't want to fight the Rock Tower people either, because after fighting them, you usually can't find any loot except for their clothes, while you need a lot of magical traps, magical items and alchemical bombs to defeat them.

“But I don’t believe I can’t even beat a gatekeeper, let alone 20 of me.” Tasia was eager to try.

"Here's what we'll do: go and fight that horse by the gate. If you win, I'll acknowledge you as the greatest warrior of Rock Tower."

"It's a deal!?"

"A word is settled!"

So Tasia bravely went, and five minutes later returned with a bruised and swollen face. "Fine, I believe you. You live outside the city, so you're really not afraid of any monsters."

"Are all the Rock Tower Clan like this?" Leslie approached Vivi, who nodded with a distorted expression. "They're all straightforward people. Don't try to beat around the bush with them; their brains don't support that function."

"Sigh~"

"But their muscles support them in living in this low-intensity mode."

"Yes, that makes sense." After all, it took five minutes for the dark horse to come back with a bruised and swollen face. Even if the old horse was probably just slacking off, it was still quite an achievement.

Chapter 85 The Rock Tower Clan is Like This

Now that they had arrived in Tallinn, the matter of how to reinforce the seal had to be discussed. Roach, Livia, Leslie, and Vivi sat around the table in front of the fireplace on the first floor of the cabin, while Alessina chopped wood outside the door with a blade of grass in his mouth. The wood was cut from the nearby forest.

Although the forest theoretically belonged to the lord and could not be cut down without paying the logging tax, who would talk to the witch's subordinates about it? Therefore, the travelers, merchants, and patrolling guards wisely ignored Alessina's actions.

"Tap tap!" Livia tapped the table to get everyone's attention, then spread a large scroll from her lap onto the table. It had a hand-drawn map, cute little figures, and simple text descriptions.

“To be honest…” Leslie carefully examined and looked at the entire scroll, and said seriously, “I don’t understand it at all.” Then the little witch hit her on the head hard with her cane.

"All I can see is that this is some kind of new sealing and diversion scheme?" Luo Qi looked at it from all angles and could only see that the original 7 nodes were further dispersed into dozens or hundreds of smaller nodes. Although the nodes' load-bearing capacity was reduced and the sealing structure became more complex, the pressure on each node was also dispersed as a result.

Even if some of the nodes are destroyed or damaged, the remaining nodes can still share the functions, and can even repair themselves without being damaged to a certain extent.

“The dragon clan’s sages have already considered this plan, but it’s not very feasible.” Vivi pointed to the drawing. “The main problem is that the workload of these hundreds of nodes is enormous, and coordinating them is extremely difficult. This isn’t how you release pressure. Besides… the methods used during the sealing were quite aggressive, and such a crude diversion is prone to causing problems.”

"What do you mean?" Roach looked at Vivi, who shrugged. "I don't know either, I just know this much."

"Hmm~" Livia rested her chin on her hands, looking intently at the scroll. Her emerald eyes under her golden bangs were dull and lifeless, as if she was simply daydreaming. After a while, she suddenly raised her head, her small mouth slightly open, as if she wanted to say something but stopped, and then lowered her head again to think.

"Snap!" The little witch clapped her hands together, her emerald eyes gleaming as she looked at Roach. "It exploded!"

"Huh?" Roach looked at the drawing. "Where to blow it up?" Livia waved her hand, and the scroll stood up like a screen. She pointed to the locations of several sealing nodes on the drawing with a small wooden stick in her hand. "Here."

"We're here to reinforce the seal, right?"

"Mmm!" The witch nodded vigorously.

"Although my rune knowledge isn't very good, these nodes are confluence nodes, the kind commonly known as load-bearing pillars, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Then didn't we just blow up the entire seal?" Roach looked suspicious. Did she even know what they were here for? Wait, are we playing the villain?

"Blow them up," the witch repeated. "Use this..." She grabbed a quill and drew back and forth on the drawing, quickly sketching out a series of chibi-style little devils to represent the concept of original sin. Then she used an explosion to turn them into a pile of fragments, and then concentrated the fragments on the node near the hut in the Black Forest.

"So you mean you plan to break the seal, and when the original sin magic is released, extract that part of the magic and send it to hell?" When there is a flood, there are two options: the first is to build high dikes to block the flood, and the other is to blow up the dikes and let the flood flow to other people's homes. As for whether other people's homes die or not, that's not my problem.

Livia shook her head, then traced a completely new array along the nodes. This time, although Roach didn't understand it at all, he understood what the little witch meant: "It means to convert this magic power into spiritual magic power of the same concept, and then form a new seal. In this way, the sealed object itself is the energy source of the seal, so it won't be afraid of being destroyed?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Then I have a question... How did the person in charge of this get out?" So everyone looked at Old Ma outside the door, clearly the Nightmare Demon was the one with the best chance of escaping.

“This plan is feasible. Even if Old Ma can’t do it, we still have other options.” Vivi said after thinking seriously for a few minutes. “We can hire adventurers to do this kind of thing. As for the problem of them not being able to come out, consider it a necessary sacrifice.”

"Besides, this mess... there's a cause for every wrong, and a debtor for every debt. Since you humans caused this, you humans should find a way to sacrifice yourselves."

“Actually, there’s another great idea,” Leslie started to suggest: “We can capture a bunch of Soul-Binding Corpses to do this. They’re the culprits, especially the remnants of the Kingdom of Gulushe.”

“Good idea. I’ll leave the negotiation to you, and Livia will handle the capture of the Soul-Binding Corpse. But how to persuade them to cooperate is up to you.” The little witch looked at Leslie with sparkling eyes, full of anticipation.

"No, I don't have that ability!" She was joking. If she could persuade these soul-bound corpses of the Ancient Luster Kingdom to abandon darkness and embrace the light, willing to sacrifice themselves for the well-being of humanity, wouldn't it be better for her to go to any church and get a priest's certificate? With that kind of brainwashing eloquence, she could become a bishop in three years at most!

"Actually, it's not that not everyone can escape. This seal is layered, detonating one after another and then sealing it again. Only those who carried out the first and last steps can't escape. Everyone else can leave through the last gap, but the team sealing the gap definitely can't get out."

"If all else fails, we'll submit this proposal to the Sages' Council. As for who gets to do it, that's not our responsibility." Vilandella had also learned the dragons' secret technique of shifting blame. The proposal was here, the plan was here, but who was in charge was none of my business.

"Besides, this wasn't our responsibility in the first place!"

"Oh~" The little witch realized this too, stared blankly at the group, then angrily crumpled the drawing and threw it into the fireplace. She then took out her cane and hit Vivi's head very hard.

"It was you who made us feel like we were here specifically to reinforce the seal from the very beginning."

In reality, they came to visit the sealed and lost capital, to make some money, and to study the various magical items and knowledge that had leaked out of the abandoned capital.

Simply put, if the Black Abyss Cemetery incident was caused by the Little Witch's desire to obtain the ancient texts and the undead, forcing them to take action themselves, then the Lost Capital incident truly had nothing to do with Roach and his group.

The little witch had never seen the scenery of the North, and she had a very strong interest in ancient ruins and the huge seal of original sin. She was just a pure "tourist," traveling and buying souvenirs along the way. Yes, that's what "tourist" means... The intensity was also a bit high. Apart from Roach and his group, normal adventurers probably didn't have the ability to come here for sightseeing.

“If it’s for sightseeing…” Leslie instantly perked up, “I have some really good recommendations.”

"Are you familiar with this place?" Vivi asked Leslie, who replied matter-of-factly, "I'm not familiar with the local area, but I'm familiar with eating, drinking, and having fun!"

"..." An impeccable reason.

Livia is good at everything except eating, drinking and having fun, after all, she lives alone deep in the forest, in a dangerous place like the Forest of Danger.

Roach certainly knows how to eat, drink, and have fun, but the local technology and supply levels don't support his level of indulgence. As for Vivi, don't be ridiculous. As a dragon descendant, a dragon who has reverted to her ancestral form and only has 10 gold coins in savings, she doesn't deserve to eat, drink, and have fun.

In the words of the dragons, "You only have 10 gold coins in your treasury, how can you sleep soundly? You still want entertainment and food and drink?" So after setting the tone for sightseeing, no one was in a hurry to find a guide, and Tasia hadn't found a suitable guide in a short time.

"If we're going sightseeing and buying souvenirs, then we need to prepare something besides gold coins." What was that saying again? It's hard to say whether the poor gold miners made a fortune, but those who sold buckets and shovels certainly did.

Those adventurers and soldiers of the Imperial Survey Corps needed various supplies, and ordinary alchemists would also bring their alchemical wagons to sell things. Even antique dealers who specialized in magical items would go to buy and appraise the products of those ruins.

Although most Sin Demons, except for the Greedy Sin Demon which produces some loot, leave nothing upon death, the Lost Royal Capital Ruins contain quite a few good items.

Moreover, even without considering the output of these ruins, the Imperial Alchemy Society itself can provide a considerable number of trade items to adventurers, who will then exchange these gold coins and potions for more useful items or trade them with other teams for items that are more suitable for them.

Therefore, there are indeed many adventurers and mercenaries gathered at the Imperial camp, as well as a considerable number of civilian or official spellcasters and all sorts of strange groups, all gathered around an ancient post station ruin swallowed by the forest in the Black Forest.