“High Priestess Sephira, the war is over. My army officially occupied the goblin main nest today.”
“The casualty numbers from this battle are still being tallied, but a rough estimate suggests that the corpses left in the mountains by both sides are enough to satisfy the final round of sacrifices and allow the ‘vessel’ to complete its incubation.”
“However, a variable has arisen: the ‘vessel’ has disappeared. My men searched the cave for half the day and found nothing.”
Count Nigel finished writing these words, set down his quill, and secured the parchment onto the reading platform of the transmission magical device.
The magical device let out a low hum. Several rings of runes lit up in sequence on the brass base, and a dark red light slowly swept across the paper, converting the text into a magic signal to transmit to the other side.
A few minutes later, another quill fixed to the magical device's stand stood up on its own and began to write on the paper:
“Before your army entered the field, who went into the cave?”
Nigel wrote:
“A scouting unit, jointly formed by the Golden Falcon Group and Baron Raymond's forces.”
“According to the Golden Falcon Group's battle report, they only had time to scout one branch on the left, where they discovered an alchemy workshop and captured an alchemist who didn't have time to evacuate. Afterward, they encountered pursuers and had to withdraw from the cave, failing to reach the core chamber.”
“The two mercenaries hired by Baron Raymond stayed behind to cover the retreat and were trapped in the cave after the defensive spell was triggered, but they weren't killed by the mutated creature guarding the vessel. Furthermore, that mutated creature has also gone missing, leaving only traces of a battle at the scene.”
“Raymond's battle report also only mentioned that they waited for rescue from beginning to end and went nowhere. But they are obviously lying; the mutated creature could not have spared them.”
The other side quickly replied: “What are the names of those two mercenaries?”
Nigel wrote on the paper: “Rodney and Nelson.”
This time, the quill on the stand quickly wrote out the other party's reply:
“The mutated creature and the vessel are missing, yet two people trapped in the collapsed area managed to survive. No matter what that Baron's battle report says, these two cannot escape suspicion.”
“There is a high probability that the mutated creature was killed by the two of them working together, and the vessel is very likely in the hands of one of them, who possesses some means to make the ‘vessel’ and corpses disappear.”
The quill stopped writing. Nigel did not write a reply immediately, intending to wait a few minutes instead.
A few minutes later, the quill dipped in ink and continued writing on the paper:
“Sargon also likely died at this person's hands, otherwise there is no explaining why there is no trace of him, dead or alive.”
After reading this line of text, Nigel quickly wrote: “I will send someone to investigate right now. These two should still be in the camp.”
The other party replied: “Continue acting as your lord. Before receiving new orders, do not do anything that raises suspicion. In case they were sent by the Church of Iveta, you run the risk of exposure.”
“There will be specialized people to investigate them.”
After waiting a few minutes, the other party's next message came through:
“The plan has suffered a slip-up, but not to the extent of affecting the general direction. The second phase will be launched in Parmenia, where the seeds have already been sown, only waiting for the right moment.”
“All our investments in the mountains were merely preliminary preparations for the royal capital's plan. Before the plan is completed, there must be no mistakes on your end.”
After reading this text, Nigel let out a sigh of relief: “How should we handle the eldest daughter of the Stuart family? She is still in my medical camp.”
The other party replied:
“You only need to keep an eye on her; someone will take her away when the time comes. Also, after returning to Orland City, tell Liz to set off back to the royal capital. The second phase requires her assistance.”
“You have made great sacrifices in this mission, even taking the initiative to use that Rank Five Mage as sacrifice material. I have always been clear about rewards and punishments and will not mistreat those who have contributed. After this transmission ends, someone will deliver the reward you deserve into your hands.”
After the quill on the stand finished writing this sentence, there was no further movement, and the runes on the transmission magical device extinguished one by one.
Nigel removed the parchment filled with communication records and burned it to ashes over the candle flame.
Just then, the tent flap was lifted from the outside. Nigel looked up vigilantly, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of the dagger at his waist. When he clearly saw the newcomer's face, his tense posture relaxed.
A guard walked straight to the Count's desk, placed a box next to the transmission magical device, and then opened the lid.
On the red velvet lining inside the box lay a bottle of deep purple potion.
“How much of a boost is it?” Nigel asked as he picked up the bottle of potion.
“Enough to raise you to Rank Five, my Lord,” the guard replied respectfully.
Nigel held the potion bottle up to the candlelight, watching the purple liquid slowly swirl inside.
He remembered when he first inherited his title, he was still just an ordinary noble who had never awakened extraordinary power. And Awakening Elixir was expensive and scarce; he had sought it desperately, but always in vain.
Then the Purple Sun Sect found him. There were no threats, no demands for an oath of loyalty; they only asked him one question: “Do you want to possess power?”
Since then, he and the Sect had maintained a lukewarm cooperative relationship. The other party needed him to provide cover and resources in the border region, while he needed their power to awaken.
In a ritual arranged by the Sect, he drank the first bottle of enhancer, leaping directly from an ordinary noble to a Rank Three extraordinary warrior.
And now, the method to bypass Rank Four and reach Rank Five directly was contained within this small glass bottle. The cost was the turmoil of a county, his own chief mage, and thousands of human lives.
But the return was the power of a Rank Five extraordinary warrior. He had calculated this cost countless times in his heart, and every single time, the answer was the same.
Nigel carefully placed the potion bottle back into the box and closed the lid.
“I understand. You may leave.”
The guard bowed again, turned, and walked out of the tent.
Nigel locked the box into a hidden compartment at the very bottom of his storage chest. Then, he picked up the quill again and began to review line by line an administrative document spread out before him regarding post-war compensation and territory reconstruction.
...
Not even half a day after Irene left, Roger also chose to slip away.
He did not choose a fixed destination, simply picking a random direction and stepping away from the main camp.
The sun sank in the west and rose in the east, and the noble coalition's camp was completely out of sight.
Roger ducked into a patch of woods by the roadside, found a spot with relatively soft soil, exchanged for a shovel in the system shop, and dug a hole several meters deep.
Then he took the mutated goblin's corpse and the destroyed “vessel” out of his system inventory and threw them both into the hole. Then, just as he had done with Sargon's corpse, he threw a Fireball.
Watching the flesh and blood in the pit gradually burn beyond recognition, Roger filled it with soil, found a few large stones to weigh it down, and then recycled the shovel back to the system before starting to head back the way he came.
A day later, he returned to the location where the noble coalition had previously camped. The nobles' army had already struck camp and departed, leaving behind only some unimportant clutter.
A few crows perched on the abandoned wooden stakes, tilting their heads to observe him, a lonely traveler.
Roger stood at the edge of the camp for a moment, looking around to confirm that no one remained nearby, and then turned to walk into the mountains.
...
Character Panel:
【Name: Roger
Level: Life Energy Lv2, Magic Lv3
Current Status: Normal
Held Items: Leather Armor, Protective Rune Plate, Windwood Bow, Fine Steel Sword, Basic Healing Potion * 6, Rune Ring, Short-Range Teleportation Amulet, Azure Ring
Martial Techniques: Iron Wall Lv4, Empowered Shot Lv3, Sword Qi Slash Lv2, Parry Lv2, Weakness Detection Lv1, Flash Step Lv1, Unbalancing Strike Lv1
Spells: Heal Lv5, Arcane Hand Lv3, Fireball Lv3, Windwalk Lv3, Water Control Lv3, Chain Lightning Lv2, Scout's Eye Lv1
Passive Skills: Danger Sense Lv1, Croft's Meditation Method Lv1
Specializations: Bow and Crossbow Lv5, Alchemy Lv1, Swordsmanship Lv2
Current Points: 6,800】
Rate on N.U.
