My name is Akatosh,

Finally got me one.

—4E, 201, Moon of Fire, 10th, 8:43 a.m.

Marcus City is one of the most special cities in Skyrim, as it was built by dwarves rather than humans, and the only areas that the empire can control include surface buildings and shallow underground, and deeper are ancient ruins that are still functioning despite being abandoned for a long time, and only adventurers and forgers dare to investigate deeply.

As this continues, there have been rumors in Skyrim that Marcus City will be a bridgehead for the dwarves when they counterattack the surface, so those who dare to settle here are those who are fearless or unable to stay in other realms for various reasons, as well as mine owners and miners they hired to mine for silver.

After decades of rebellion against the Oathbreakers, a family called the Silverblood rose to prominence, helping the Empire's sent lords to quickly stabilize the situation and take control of the largest silver mines in Marcus City, as well as a number of industries that were temporarily untouched, including the only inn in the entire city, the Silverblood Inn.

Squeak –

Illya pushed open the huge bronze door of the Silver Blood Inn, and the various gazes that were projected in an instant made her subconsciously shrink.

The inhabitants of Marcus City are mainly composed of Brightons with sparse hair and beards, and they are relatively short, and even the occasional Nord is not the traditional image of blonde hair and blue eyes, high eyebrows, and a young girl with silver hair and red eyes is quite striking - even if she wears Jeanne Darke, no, the dark purple thick dress that Sister Joan of Arc has chosen for her, which is relatively uneye-catching, does not help.

Silver hair is generally the symbol of the High Elves, and red eyes are the symbol of the Dark Elves, and Illya, who combines both characteristics, is clearly a Nord, and this strange appearance of uncertain status is easy to attract attention, but it can also discourage the unscrupulous.

"Sister Joan of Arc, what am I going to do now......" Illya muttered to herself as she walked through the market in front of the inn.

"For the time being, visit the city as you wish," a clear voice came to his ears, "neither our target nor Gallus can be found by grabbing a random person on the street and asking. ”

This is the strategy they set before entering Marcus City, because Cicero himself is too weird, and Joan of Arc's aura is too strong, if they come forward to collect information, it is likely to attract unnecessary attention, in contrast, although the appearance is a little special but quite amiable Illya is the best candidate for investigation, the two of them just need to remain invisible and follow nearby.

In addition to this, Joan of Arc also uses some kind of magic to tie together the verbal communication of the three people, even if it is a whispered whisper, so that the other two can hear and respond clearly.

"Hey, hey~" Cicero made a meaningless sound, but after that magic, the strange pattern in the words would not appear, and I don't know if Mr. Clown would strongly ask to add it back.

Honey the butcher Red Arm, Banning the beggar, Lisbet the peddler, and Illya whispered a few names in the market, and although she found a few butchers and beggars, she couldn't just ask for their names, could she?

According to the innkeeper, the city of Marcus has a sloping staircase and no place where merchants and shops can be housed, so there are many scattered small bazaars throughout the city, and the location of the fixed shops is a matter of luck, because there are no good places for tourists at all.

"Girl, give me a gold coin for this old man......," said an old gray-haired beggar as Elijah passed by.

"Hmm......" Illya thought for a moment, and took two gold coins from her pocket and put them into the beggar's broken bowl, "Do you know a beggar named 'Banning'?" ”

"Go and go, give the money and leave quickly." The old beggar waved his hand: "Don't bother the old man. ”

"Huh?" Illya froze.

"Poof...... Why do you think you can ask for information from any roadside beggar," Joan of Arc said with a smile in her ears, "The most well-informed person in a city is usually the innkeeper or tavern. ”

"Hey, hey, hey~ If I go to be a beggar one day, I won't care what other beggars in the city call ~" Cicero also let out a strange laugh.

"From, from those adventure novels, after all, I rarely go out." Illya hurried away as the old beggar looked at the fool.

"It's all Gallus' fault." "Yes, yes, yes~" Joan of Arc and Cicero are still talking in the air, so where are they hiding invisible......

After Illya left the market, she turned to a fork in the road that led to the heights, and since she could not ask in the inn or the market, she had to go to the lord in charge, at least the merchants should have a record of paying taxes.

——9:17——

"Wait, this lady."

As Illya reached the end of the ramp, looking for another path to the main fortress, she was stopped by a man in a white robe and hood, who looked resolute but not very confident, and carried a one-handed sword with a sheath at his waist.

"My name is Tiranus, and I'm a vigilant." He introduced himself.

"Hello, what's the matter?" Illya asked, confused.

This man seems to want to make people understand what he means by relying on those two sentences, how is it possible?

"We, the Vigilant, are the blades of Stendhal, the god of justice, who swear to destroy all evil from the Otherworld." Seeing that Illya seemed completely incomprehensible, Tirenus frowned and began to explain in detail.

"I've heard that someone is performing an evil ritual in this house and is preparing to break in to investigate, but there is still a lack of a powerful adventurer to support," he raised his hand and pointed to a stone house behind him, "I can sense that you have great power, and you can be kind enough from the generosity of giving money to beggars, and the lack of revenge after discovering that you have been fooled." ”

"Hmm......" Illya tilted her head, and the market platform below could indeed be seen very clearly from here.

"So, I invite you to join the investigation into this abandoned house, and I hope you won't refuse." Tiranus said, "Of course, he will be paid satisfactorily for this. ”

In Marcus City, the internal environment of each house is different, and some houses have been closed by the lord's order because they lead to the ruins deep below, and there is no punishment if you have to enter, but you are responsible for your own safety.

As for the evil rituals...... Like you did a few days ago? Is there anyone here who wants to summon the Dark Brotherhood too? There were three members of the Brotherhood at this time, and they could ask each other what they wanted—if the person performing the ceremony hadn't already left.

Illya waited for a moment, and Joan of Arc didn't raise any objection except that Cicero was still hehehehe, so she nodded slightly.

"Lead the way, Mr. Tiranus." She replied.

"Great, I don't dare to—ahem, I mean, if it's big, I can't search it myself." Tiranus coughed, and stepped forward to push open the haphazardly closed brass door.

"Well, it's really abandoned, and it doesn't look like it's been used recently." Entering the ruined house, Tirenus scouted ahead with a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, carefully checking the ground for human footprints or anything else.

"Since you haven't been in, why do you know that someone is performing a dark ritual here?" Illya followed him, observing the dusty furniture and barrels around her.

"Because there are such rumors in the city, and the duty of the vigilante is to investigate all possible places where demons may be infested—ha! Really! Tirenus turned a corner, and immediately found a deep cavern entrance in the wall.

"The vigilantes don't chase and kill the demons, they come to investigate the strange stories of the city, it's really amazing." When Illya heard Joan of Arc say this, she agreed with her judgment.

"Look at this door! There's an evil pattern carved on it, and there's got to be something behind it! Not far after stepping into the cavern, the voice of Tiranus was heard again.

Illya followed the prestige, and saw that the blacksmith bronze door in front of the vigilante was not carved with meaningless patterns, but melted and twisted into a skeleton pattern with huge double horns, and there were three clear vertical scratches on its "face", which made those who saw it subconsciously associate it with fire and death.

"Hell, that's Molag Bal, my mother's enemy." Illya felt that the madness in Cicero's voice seemed to disappear for the time being, and her tone was a little anxious: "Leave that hapless watchman alone, get out of here as soon as possible!" ”

"No, that guy is taking care of himself right now because of something else, and it can't be his essence here, so we can take the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on him." Joan of Arc repudiated Cicero's arrangement.

"Enemies of a demon god? You are crazy? "Are you qualified to say that?"

As Illya listened to Joan of Arc and Cicero's argument, Tirenus reached out and pressed the door, and then trembled as if he had been burned.

"[weak, strong. A low, strange male voice with a buzzing echo sounded: "[The strong must kill the weak]." ”

"Get out of my head! Devil! Tiranus hugged his head hard.

At the same time, all the furniture, jars, barrels, and other movable objects in the cave and the stone houses outside flew up and crashed in all directions.

"In the head?" Illya looked suspiciously in the direction from which the voice had come - behind the brass door with its strange skull.

"The strong must kill the weak," the voice continued, "or you will all die!" 】”

There seemed to be some kind of coercion in this sentence, but Illya was only slightly trance-conscious, completely unaffected.

"Nope! I don't want to die! Tiranus was not so lucky, he drew his sword and turned to Illya with a dull gaze: "I ......"

"You'd better think clearly before you speak~ (Spades)" Cicero, dressed in a clown suit, appeared behind Tiranus, his fingertips holding a sharp psionic poker against his throat.

"For example, who is strong and who is weak." Half a step slower than Cicero, Joan of Arc, dressed in pitch-black armor, also appeared beside Illya, grabbed her, and snorted coldly at Tiranus.

So they followed up a long time ago? Illya was inexplicably happy.

"I ...... I ......" Tiranus shuddered.

"I'm ashamed of Lady Cassiti," Joan of Arc said, saying a name Illya had never heard of, and stepped forward, "Leave that little devil alone, come and tear down this door." ”

"Hey, hey, hey~ (Cube)" Cicero pushed Tiranus away: "You're so lucky, your mother didn't order you to kill you~ (hearts)"

Click!

Cicero's poker and Joan of Arc's sword slashed through the door at the same time, and it collapsed in pieces almost instantly, revealing an octagonal altar behind it that looked mysterious, and directly above the altar hung a terrifying hammer with a dark green body.

Whew-whew—some kind of "power" that had been protecting Illya fluctuated, and "it" gathered in front of the girl into a blackened longbow, and after Illya tentatively reached out to hold it, it mounted the arrow on its own and pulled it to the fullest.

Due to some inexplicable induction, Illya learned its name, the Nightingale's Bow.

"Yo?" Joan of Arc glanced at the bow and sighed meaninglessly.

"[Mephalah! Noktunal! Poyesia! The hammer on the altar made a sound very similar to the one before, but it didn't seem so stupid, and it sounded full of anger: "[How dare you—]"

"Rotten Apple ~ Hey Hey Hey ~ (Spades)"

"Roar! My anger! ”

Buzz!

No one tried to communicate with Him, and Cicero's flying poker, Joan of Arc's stride, and the black arrow from Elia's longbow slammed into the hammer

"[Damn—I remember—" The voice stopped abruptly, and the green glow on the hammer flew away like shattered ice, and then fell off the altar with a thud, and the octagonal altar instantly became much more dilapidated as if it had lost something, and no longer seemed to be inexplicably mysterious to those who saw it.

"Oh," Joan of Arc walked over and picked up the hammer and handed it to Tiranus, who had no time to react because it was happening so quickly, "Go back and give it to Lady Cassiti, she will know what to do, and if you ask us, just say 'Scholar Shino' to say hello to her, and as for you, don't run out to brush up on merit until you get Tolan's approval." ”