Chapter 5: Traces of the Devil
The businessman who is not angry achieves what he wants.
He is not only regarded by Charlotte as a friend who has insight into the world and is skilled in human affairs, but also affectionately called by Lolita and Elle as "an overworked uncle".
Although the beautiful girl with long black and straight hair is a bit difficult to handle, at the end of the journey, Vivien, who is worried about Nell, finally stops blocking his topic with obscure content such as "The Methodology for Constructing Spell Models" and "The Origin of Life in the Multiverse".
She began to be willing to listen to merchants talk about the western customs of Valcam, was curious about the political system of the city-state alliance, and was interested in the parasitism of the Far West, a specialty of the city-state.
The merchant promised her that the next time the Traveler would go to Icewind Castle and bring the highest quality of the Extreme West Pavilion to Vivien. The beautiful girl with long black and straight hair smiled rarely, thought about it, and took out her own token from her arms.
"You can come to Icewind Castle with this in the future, so that you can reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble. ”
It was the inner ring of Icewind Castle with a V in the center, and on the back was Vivien Raphael's full name and a tall tower with Charlotte's runi script written on the bottom. This meant that Vivien belonged to Icewind's exclusive Mage Tower for Charlotte, and the symbol of the inner ring was believed to be a descendant of the tower's owner.
The merchant did not know the obscure Runi script, but he always knew what the tower meant. So he was even more sure of his guess that the mage who was traveling with him was not a high-level mage at all, but a real Earl of Winterhold.
A merchant named Sharp Grindelwald unexpectedly gains friendship from Vivien, who he thought would be the most difficult to deal with, and soon after entering the war-torn city of Rosente, he turns south to part ways with Charlotte.
Before leaving, Hu Sharp hesitantly pointed to his hair that was about to go bald, and said stumblingly, "I don't know whether to say it or not...... But Lord Earl Winterhold, I suggest you try to cover up your hair color, I think that will save you some unnecessary trouble. ”
Charlotte realized that Sharp had long been aware of his true identity, and also learned from the side how famous he had become in eastern Valcam since the water capital.
After the breakup, Charlotte used Eleni's fraudulent mask to change her appearance and traveled northeast from Rosente to the city of Fagado, the capital of Rosente. The deeper you go into Lotsente, the more you feel the scarf of the country.
Along the way, I saw the ruined city walls full of desolation, black ash and bloodstains, the abandoned mountain villages with thick smoke, and the crooked neck trees with corpses hanging......
Hostent's soldiers interrogate every suspicious character, and peasants who can't survive leave their homes and flee the war with their meagre possessions, leaving the people hungry and the country in tatters. The looters and ***) took advantage of the chaos, which also made the Hocente army, who was the aggressor, very nervous.
The information I heard was extremely bad. In the Battle of the Fagadobj River, his uncle Herbert led the elite troops of Rosente to engage Hocent, but he was defeated on all fronts due to misestimating Hocent's strength. Not long ago, Hocente besieged the city of Fagado, and the situation was precarious.
According to the delay of the information, I am afraid that this news is only the information of half a month ago, and what the current situation is, Charlotte really has no bottom in her heart.
In order to rush to the city of Fagado as soon as possible, he decided not to take the official route of strict interrogation, but to go straight to the city of Fagado from the plains.
"According to the map, there should be a city 90 kilometers ahead, and when the time comes, we will try to avoid it and get in ....... ”
Charlotte pointed to the parchment map, which Sharp had left for herself. This businessman got such a map from somewhere, and judging from the fineness of the map ruler, even if it is not up to the top-secret military information, it can definitely be called contraband.
The disciples didn't respond, and Charlotte looked up from the map, only to notice Vivien and Lolita's tired faces.
Although Charlotte can use the convenient mansion technique to build a luxurious house comparable to a villa, she is quite tired of sleeping in the wilderness. And although the two women are now mages who are about to arrive at the Fifth Ring, as a woman's physique, they are not as good as Charlotte, who has the quality of a three-ring warrior, and they have been exhausted by the food and sleeping in the open these days.
Charlotte rolled up the map in silence, and he temporarily changed his mind, "Hold on, tonight with the mansion will be for one night, and tomorrow we will rest in the city for a day." ”
Vivien's eyes widened and she shook her head like a drum, "You don't have to worry about us, teacher!
"yes! Nell is in danger......
Charlotte interrupted Lolita, "I'm the teacher! I'll have the final say! ”
The mage who took pity on his disciples did not want to risk his disciples' bodies, and there might be a fierce battle in Fagado City, and if the disciples were exposed to increased risks because of physical fatigue, Charlotte would really regret it.
Setting the tone, Charlotte stepped onto the traveling horse given by Sharp and was about to hurry, but she saw the stupid young girl crouching intently in the corner of the wilderness, as if she had become very curious about the habits of some creature.
"Let's go, Elle!"
"Oh!" Elle replied reluctantly, remembering something again, and shouted with her eyes shining, "I'll be the one to drive the horse this time!"
"No way!"
"Hey!?Why is this so! Guy who doesn't talk much, I'm worried that I'll bite you!"
"That's just a kid's gossip! Don't you look at your little short hand, you can't even hold the reins!"
"Whew-"
"It hurts, you idiot!"
After some daily stupid noise, the group finally started to hurry. Charlotte held the reins in one hand and flipped her bitten wrist with the other, thinking about her thoughts alone.
"Hey, Charlotte, guess what I just saw!"
"Ants moving?" Charlotte replied perfunctorily, barely thinking about it.
Ignoring the contempt from the horses on both sides, Elle replied confidently, "I am like that! I am not a child again!"
"What did you find?" teasing Elle was almost the only pleasure Lolita had during the trip, "Ants fighting?"
Elle glared angrily, she felt that as a top-notch artifact, she had a tendency to be underestimated by her disciples. She spread her hands and triumphantly displayed the scarlet mushrooms in her hands.
"No! I found little devil dung!"
"Oh!wait!What are you talking about!?" asked Charlotte, who reacted.
Little devil dung is not demon dung, but a treasured material for fungi. But this material is generally grown in areas rich in negative energy in the abyss, how can this precious material be found in the wilderness of Lotsunt?
"Little devil dung!"
Elle smugly shook the scarlet mushroom in her hand.
The mage scrutinized it for a moment. That's right! It's the little devil dung! Although the fungus that lacks the energy of the abyss does not grow well enough, it has already become quite valuable.
Ignoring Elle's protests, the mage handed the little demon dung to the glassy-eyed Vivien. With a wave of his left hand, he unleashes a spell that detects evil. The ring-shaped perceptual spell spread around the wilderness with the mage as a circle, and after ten seconds, Charlotte opened her eyes.
"How's it going? Stupid Charlotte has figured out something is wrong!"
When it comes to perception, Elle and Charlotte are not in the same dimension at all. El's triumphant expression confirmed the mage's probe, and there were indeed signs of abyssal demonic activity here.
The perceived range did not deviate much from the original route, so it ......
"Sorry, the plan changed, and I had to work hard again today. ”
The mage made a decision on the fly.
Everything about Gerald must be taken to heart, because the other party is a terrible king who knows some of the secrets of the Clayderman brothers.