Unlike what Siegel envisioned, Fezak did not have the ability to influence Count Maxim's plans. When he was helped out by Siegel, the identical one-eyed face surprised everyone—not the alchemist, perhaps, who had always had a very calm expression on his face, but he couldn't have expected it.

After more than two days of recuperation, the one-eyed father was barely able to stand firm, and moved slowly with his crutches.

"Are you wounded?" asked Count Maxim.

"No, my lord, I'm just poisoned. "It's a misunderstanding, Mr. Soss's self-defense toxin has made me what I am now." ”

The bald Count turned to face Siegel, his stomach still aching. Now he could see that the man who had punched him was no more than a young man, in his early twenties at most—he had added as much age as he could—and that he was just a fledgling at any rate. If he was a royal baron, he must have inherited it from his father. Count Maxim did not believe that such a young man could rise to the rank of baron by virtue of his military exploits, and the royal tournament had not been held for several years, and the previous champion was certainly not this kid. He found a reason to convince himself to ignore Soth's words, and decided to kick the disrespectful young man out of the credit book.

"Fezak, so Soth isn't one of your spies?" the Count asked casually, taking a glass of ale and drinking it to hide the expression on his lips.

"Uh......" Fezak hesitated, he could only tell the truth: "He's not an agent." But without Thos's help, I wouldn't be able to get a few adults into the city. The time was too rushed, and there was no time to gather the two thousand gold coins. Fortunately, he helped. If a few adults are bought by orcs......"

"Just break the neck of the orc who dared to buy me, and leave. The earl swallowed the ale in his mouth and looked around: "You don't have any good things here, no wonder you can't make up two thousand gold coins, and you need help from outsiders." Tell me, how much did it cost?"

"Two thousand five hundred gold coins. Siegel crossed his arms and said categorically. Since the Count wanted to treat him with such an attitude, Siegel was reluctant to give him a good face. "If you could be as honest as alchemists and gnomes, you wouldn't have spent so much money. ”

"There will be no shortage of money for you, Mr. Baron. Maxim: "Waterdeep is happy to pay this small amount of money. ”

"Little money?" Siegel frowned. More than half a year ago, Siegel was still living a hard life of counting copper plates, and he would not forget the kobold ears of two silver coins each, and the "selling fee" he paid as a knight at that time was only 5 gold coins. "I wonder if there are dragon tooth daggers in Waterdeep City, or do you have such treasures in your family, Earl?"

"Dragon's teeth, are you sure?" the Count tapped his knuckles on the table, as if to dig up gold coins, "Waterdeep will pay for it." ”

But who will pay for your arrogance and stupidity, Siegel thought to himself. He was more convinced that the idea of getting in as a slave did not come from Count Maxim, and he was too proud to come up with such a solution. Only alchemists or gnomes may have brains smart enough to understand the current situation.

"Fezak, do you have anything to eat here? Also, find us a set of weapons that we can use. It's full of orcs, and it's not safe without weapons. ”

"Yes, sir, yes. Fezak walked slowly on crutches.

"Are you going to do it?" Siegel glared at Maxim, his eyes unblinking. The Count looked at him as well, and both of them felt their eyes dry, but neither looked away. This would not help the task, Siegel thought. So he looked away, looked at the alchemist and asked, "Do you have a way to burn down the dock?"

"There is a way, but I need time to prepare, and I also need some alchemy materials. ”

"Don't say more. The Count exclaimed in a low voice.

"Lord Earl, this is the only one who can go out and buy the materials he needs now. The alchemist's mind was clear, and he bowed and said, "We are not familiar with this city, and the orc language is only barely usable, which is not enough to deal with emergencies. ”

"What do you think, Mr. Baron Soss?" said Count Maxim with a smile, "would you like to assist in this glorious mission?"

"Have I been playing around the city before?" said Siegel, waving his hand, deciding not to meet the pesky Earl. The Phudens of the Mage's Federation once commented on Maxim's prudence and stoicism, but never mentioned that he was so proud, and this pride could hurt. The damage to self-esteem may heal in a few days, but if the shipyard of Makabuda is allowed to escape destruction, that damage could be the collapse of the entire battle, and I don't know how many people will die as a result. Siegel inhaled deeply, it always took a sane person to choose to back down, and he was unfortunately the one who was sane. "Well, I'm willing to help. ”

Except for the Earl, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

The alchemist spread out a long sheet on the table, on which were written more than a dozen different materials, most of them ores, others of various plant materials. Siegel stood by and watched, taking the form to heart. Fezak prepares a simple meal based on fish stew with turnip roots as the main dish. Count Maxim was not picky about what he ate, and swaggered away.

At this time, the archer Manna dared to walk over slowly and bowed deeply to Siegel: "Thank you for saving me." I was almost scared to death when I was pulled away by the orc, thank you. ”

"No thanks, I just did my best. Siegel waved his hand and helped her up. "After all, you are on a mission, you are my comrade-in-arms, and I can't die without help. ”

"Don't dare to be a comrade-in-arms, I'm just a mercenary. Manna replied, "And a mercenary of the count's son." I beg your pardon for the Count's temper, which he was not like before. ”

"What happened?"

"The third son of the Earl, an apprentice mage, is with us this time, and he is my employer. Manna lowered her voice and said, "As a result, he contracted frostbite on the way, and he had to risk flying back to Waterdeep. The Count's temper became strange because he was worried about the life and death of his child. ”

"How did he get chilblains?" Siegel asked, "If he's a mage's apprentice, he should know how to make antifreeze grease." Even if he really wouldn't, wouldn't any of you notice this? I think that the third son of the earl, even if he does not have the right of inheritance, is likely to acquire the castle territory, and you, as his mercenary, can make him suffer from the common disease of chilblains?"

Under Siegel's questioning, Mana's lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped it with her hand, then looked at her tears in amazement. "Why am I crying? Knight just flew back south, and although it was hard but not certain to die, why should I cry?"

A red ring flickered from the periphery of Mana's pupils, catching Siegel's attention. He was about to take a closer look, but the female archer wiped the tears from her eyes with all her might, causing the ring to disappear completely. Siegel felt strange, and he became alert. When confronted by Count Maxim, he had an unnatural feeling. Even if the Count really had some kind of arrogance that was far beyond ordinary people, the way he behaved was too straightforward, not like an old nobleman.

Mana's behavior was just as unusual, and when she mentioned the third son of the Earl and chilblains, the inexplicable tears were clearly the result of her true feelings. Siegel thought about it and found that there were a lot of holes in the whole thing. The Count was the leader of the mission, and he should have been well aware of the daunting nature of the mission, but he had brought his own child, was it brave or rigid? What kind of secret is hidden in this?

Thinking in this direction, Siegel recalls the auction when Tim threw the orcs with a wooden knife. Being young and impulsive may be a valid reason, but stupidity can't explain it. The team seemed to be behaving abnormally except for the alchemist and his silent gnome, and in this case, the most normal performance was more likely to be problematic.

Siegel's thoughts raced, and he decided to make peace with the Count's team, never revealing his real name or mage's identity. It just so happened that Fezak didn't know these two secrets either, and he wasn't afraid that he would accidentally reveal them.

The Raven Pet is still to be hidden, he is the eye in the darkness that helps the mage see the threat behind it. But the most important thing at the moment is to pretend that you don't see anything. No, Siegel thought about it carefully, and he should treat this matter with an attitude of doubt but not wanting to delve into it, so that it can seem natural. Just like the elven martial arts, they move with the wind and move with the momentum.

"You guys, just don't delay important things any longer. Siegel shook his head and said in a tone of hatred: "Now we must recognize the danger of the situation, we are all surrounded by more than 100,000 orcs, and there are surveillance eyes everywhere, even darkness cannot stop their observation. Put on your slave collars, keep your mouth shut, and don't look at the orcs with any expression other than fear or sluggishness - the orcs have always looked at human slaves this way, and there is no need to teach them the truth. Once you have learned this, you will be able to go out and complete the Count's orders. I'm going to talk to him, at least not to escalate the conflict until I'm done. ”

Alchemist Eric threw the quill back into the inkwell and blew the ink on the paper with his mouth: "See, there are twenty-seven materials in total, and the quantity, quality, and characteristics are all on it. How long will it take you to get ready?"

Siegel looked down at the list, and each material was clearly written in delicate and beautiful words, with a different kind of compositional beauty. Siegel had a manifest in his hand and had the feeling that he was looking at a magic scroll. 'He's so normal,' Siegel thought to himself, 'it's too normal to be normal.' ’

"Congratulations, keep reading this far, unlock the achievement: please join the readership 421416434. The password is the number of the book. ”