Chapter 215: Speculation |
“Nathan, my brother, that day I truly did not mean to see your wife naked. The pair of cat ears on her forehead looked so soft, and I just couldn’t hold myself back...”
Fran had already pulled out her short dagger and had even cleaned it once with water elements, yet Jeremy’s rambling still had not ended.
Logically speaking, Jeremy should no longer have been able to feel pain by now. That pain should no longer have been affecting him.
And yet the current situation made it seem as though Jeremy’s mind had broken. He was wildly blurting out all sorts of shameful things that should never have seen the light of day.
“My mental power seems to have become rather strong.” Fran raised an eyebrow and found the real reason.
This was a technique of the Modification School, originally meant to help a subject adapt more quickly to the new abilities brought by a modification. It could also be used in interrogation.
One only needed to inject one’s own mental power and then influence the other party.
But the problem was that Fran’s mental power far exceeded that of an ordinary First-Tier Mage. As a result, when she injected her mental power, it almost seemed as though she had directly “controlled” his mind.
“This isn’t right. Even a Second-Tier Mage’s mental power shouldn’t produce this kind of effect when used against a First-Tier Professional.”
Even now, she did not understand whether it was caused by something within her body, or by one of the traits on her panel.
Still, the result was a good one. As long as she could extract at least some of the reason behind all this, that was enough.
Under these circumstances, she could only assume that there was at least some truth in the man’s words.
With a dull boom, a red light enveloped Jeremy’s charred body. This time, the Dragon Flame reduced the corpse completely into scattered ashes, leaving no chance of life whatsoever.
At this point, that mercenary squad had been utterly erased from the world. Not a single one of its members remained alive.
“The City Lord of White Dragon Harbor had something stolen from him.”
Fran thought of that strange fluctuation she had sensed the moment she first arrived here.
“The aura of the tide, the feeling of the sea.”
Even now, all Fran knew was that the item was probably related to the sea. Beyond that, she knew nothing at all.
What she did know now was that, like this mercenary squad, many others had also been hired by the City Lord of White Dragon Harbor to come here and search for that item.
“What exactly is it?”
Fran was now extremely curious. She truly wanted to know what the City Lord had lost that made him mobilize so many people on such a scale.
She knew of White Dragon Harbor. It was one of the few port cities in the Northern Frontier, and quite a few Third-Tier powerhouses lived within it, most of them having advanced from the Spirit Realm.
And as the City Lord of White Dragon Harbor, that man had to be a Third-Tier powerhouse himself.
If even a Third-Tier Professional was acting like this over it, then it had to be an extraordinary treasure.
“But I’m still too weak right now.”
Although Fran very much wanted to track down that item, her current self simply was not in a position to involve herself in this matter.
The only Third-Tier method she possessed was the spell ring Habos had given her. She had no confidence that Blood of the Furnace could instantly kill a Third-Tier Professional.
If her opponent were only Second-Tier, Fran could still take the risk and try.
But Third-Tier was still too high a level for the current Fran.
So she could only settle her mind, rest for a night beneath the red tree, and then continue on toward Snow Bear Territory.
---
On the evening of the day after Fran left, a large procession followed the map and arrived here as well.
There were nearly a hundred people in total.
Half of them wore blue-gray robes, and the fabric looked exquisite. One could tell at a glance how soft it was.
Of the remaining half, half again were armed with melee weapons and clad in azure armor, stationed around the very outer edges of the group.
As for the last of them, they wore filthy brown cloth garments and clearly held the lowest status within the procession.
They were either driving wagons loaded with goods or using their own bodies to carry heavy items.
“Stop. What’s happening up ahead?”
A woman surrounded by the crowd spoke. The edges of her blue-gray robe were trimmed in gold, making it clear that she held the highest status here.
One of the armored warriors obeyed and went forward. After inspecting the area, he returned and said softly,
“Bishop Gillian, there are traces of battle ahead. Judging by the marks, they should be traces left by a mage’s spellcasting, but I cannot tell whether it was done by mages from the Spirit Realm or mages of the Alliance.”
The armored warrior lowered his head and continued,
“At the same time, I also found some broken weapon fragments there. I believe two groups must have clashed in battle.”
“The victorious side seems to have possessed a strange kind of flame capable of rapidly burning away all traces. I could barely find any evidence left behind by the winners.”
“But I did identify who had fought against them.”
He opened his palm and revealed several shattered badges. They had all been blackened by fire, but by piecing together those damaged emblems, one could still make out a symbol very familiar to them.
“One of the mercenary squads from White Dragon Harbor, the Giant Axe Mercenary Squad. All of its members were beastmen. I heard that all of their First-Tier Professionals joined this journey.”
A man in robes standing at the side spoke to Gillian, supplementing the information about the Giant Axe Mercenary Squad.
“I heard they came with around twelve men. They should have been after that item as well.”
“That is hardly surprising. That’s ten thousand gold coins. Even though they all know it is difficult to obtain, they still came here hoping to try their luck.”
Gillian spoke while tapping her staff twice against the ground before continuing,
“This is only a trivial matter. There is no need for us to concern ourselves with whatever group wiped out the Giant Axe Mercenary Squad. None of them will become an obstacle to our obtaining that item.”
“Even if they are mages... no... as long as we do not run into the Alliance’s Battle Mage Corps, then we absolutely will not lose.”
“And the City Lord of White Dragon Harbor would never let those mages know about that item. Those mages would never allow such a thing to be handed over to someone else.”
“So we need not concern ourselves with it. Rest here for one night. We depart again tomorrow.”
“Praise be to our Lord. May our Lord bless us with victory.”
“Enough. Everyone, begin your work.”
When Bishop Gillian gave the order, no one present dared make a sound, fearful of provoking her anger.
After everyone began moving, Gillian gazed at that crimson tree, and the doubt in her heart refused to fade.
“What exactly is that item?”
From the moment she received the order from her superior, that question had been filling her heart.
Why had her superior sent a Second-Tier Professional like her to investigate this item instead of dispatching an Archbishop? Even the Third-Tier City Lord of White Dragon Harbor treasured it.
And yet the City Lord of White Dragon Harbor had not sent out a single Third-Tier expert. He had shown extreme restraint, hiring only a great many people to search for it. Why exactly was that?
“May the Goddess of the Currents bless me.”
There was too little information for her to reach any conclusion. She could only seek her god’s blessing.
Yet as always, aside from a current of power from the sea flowing through her body, there was no response.