Henry held a book under his arm and knocked impatiently on the door.
He wanted to know who owned the house. It is located on the outskirts of Haudemoor and is believed by many to be abandoned, with its absentee owner who said she had only rented it for a period of time. Thorns and weeds had taken root in the garden and stone walls, while the shutters remained tightly closed. No matter how scary it was outside, he ran over as soon as he saw the invitation.
"Professor Henry." A charming young woman greeted him and opened the door creakingly. Her beauty was not uncommon, her long black hair was tied with white roses, but her dark eyes shone with keen intelligence. To top it off, she wore the black and gold wizarding robes of the Royal Garden University. "It's so nice of you to come see me."
"When you told me about your visit to our beloved Haudemer, I could not miss the opportunity," replied the scholar. "It would be an honor to meet you in person, Miss Lovely."
"Please call me Lucie," she replied politely. “I may represent Royal College, but I have never forgotten my humble roots.”
In fact, it makes her academic success all the more remarkable. She published two papers, one on the effects of the Red Death on base attributes, and another on the synergies of the spellcasting profession. She is young and smart, and once studied under the famous royal headmaster and the famous wizard Nostradam.
Henry uses his class expert Pe
k checked her class.
(Lucy Lave
e; Scholar 15/Unknown Caster Class 22]
The unknown rank means she has a prop that prevents him from clearly identifying her rank. The coffee shop will completely hide this information. "Why hide your spellcaster class?"
"College politics," Lucy replied calmly. "I am working on a new area of spelling that is not yet recognized by the school, and I may get into trouble before I can publish my paper. Many people covet my apprenticeship under Nostradam, and they are willing to destroy it in order to accept the opportunity. My reputation."
"At your age, reaching level thirty-seven...most adventurers retire at level thirty-seven. That's very kind of you, Miss Lavery."
"I am a bright student and I learn from the best," the young woman replied politely, before inviting him in, "Come in."
Henry did so and found that the house was more welcoming inside than outside. The two walked into a long corridor with a red carpet and illuminated by five elements in a glass container placed above their heads. While the place lacks decoration or any kind of personal touch, the owners have taken care to keep it in pristine condition.
It also looks much bigger inside than outside. "A spell that changes space?" Henry asked in surprise. He has never seen it.
"I have to say, the real owner did it." Lucy replied, closing the door.
That must be a powerful spellcaster. "I wonder what a scholar of your caliber is doing at Hardmore, especially in these dark times."
"Study," Lucy replied. "One of my mentors asked me to travel with her, which of course was a secret between us. She was a very private person."
"I didn't tell anyone," Henry replied. He understands that scholars of her caliber wish to remain anonymous, especially because the Jiao Men may target them for ransom. "I thought you'd be interested."
He handed her the notes and the woman began to read rapidly, reading almost a page a second. "Monster Squire," she noted. "I've never heard of this class."
"For a class without advancement, it's a nice, balanced growth, with very interesting perks," said Henry, eager to impress another academic. This could be his chance to publish his research and eventually gain recognition. "An entire class of unknown monsters. And that dragon, Vaquil, has leveled up."
"I saw this dragon, Vaquier, lying on the beach outside of town. He wasn't the first example of an intelligent monster upgrading, but it was certainly the first example of a dragon. Even the legendary Eastern Jade Dragon didn't have his own level."
"I hope to study him further," Henry said. "Mayor Lynette told me that the Crusaders of Radiance will send a team of knights to kill him as soon as possible"
Lucy giggled as he told her what had happened recently, amused by the passage where Winkle asked for a lava bath. "I wouldn't count on your crusaders for this mission," she said, pausing in front of a wooden door. "We can discuss it in my study. I believe your research has great potential."
"Thank you, it warms my heart to hear you say that," Henry said, opening the door and walking into the dark study.
Finally, after spending years studying the course, he was about to have a breakthrough. If Lucy confirmed his discovery, Royal University would publish his research; he would be credited as the discoverer of a new set of monster classes and skills, and his name would live on.
At first, he could see nothing, although his nose picked up a strong smell. The study doesn't smell like paper and ink.
Smells like rotting meat.
The room suddenly lit up and Henry screamed.
It was not a study, but a dungeon; a cold, dark, death-filled room filled with wooden operating tables and shelves filled with surgical tools. Two zombies hang in the middle, suspended from the ceiling by chains. Henry recognized the faces of a pair of fishermen whom he had often seen walking near the pier.
The door closed behind him.
Henry turned around, expecting to face Lucy.
Instead, a knight two heads taller than Henry blocked the entrance, holding a sword to his throat. The metal giant facing the scholar had shoulders comparable to those of a bull, and his thick plate armor exuded a strong sense of threat. His horned helmet obscures his face, making him look like a janitor from hell.
Henry immediately recognized him from the wanted poster, even in his Pe
before k is activated.
Gustave la Muriel; Knight 20/Heavy Knight 4]
A cool leader.
"Ah, Lucy brought us a friend." Another voice, cheerful, came from behind the chained zombie.
A man walked into Henry's sight. He was elegant, black-haired, a descendant of the Hamon people, with a kind face and a pair of beautiful amber eyes. He wears the white and gold garments of a Mithraic priest, but proudly displays the evil raven symbol of the murderous clown god of death in the upper left corner. He wielded a long sword at his belt, though he had not yet drawn it.
(François Vilmai
;Fallen Bishop 13/Desperado 3/Mercenary 7]
"Hello, my dear guest. My name is François, François Wellman." said the fallen priest with a smile. "I am the captain of what you call the 'Scorch Team', along with my comrade Gustav. I am sure you have heard many horror stories about us, and they are all true."
"What did you do to Miss Lovely?!" Henry asked, and Gustave grabbed his shoulder with his other hand and kept him in place. Due to his lack of fighting ability, Henry was unable to fend off these two enemies.
"Lucy?" Wellman said with a smile: "The house belongs to her owner, and he agreed to let us live there as long as we help her students do empirical research."
A wizard. The Headmaster lying with the Scorcher and the Necromancer? Henry froze, petrified, before realizing they were talking about "her" students, and that the Archmage Nostradan was a man.
"Take a seat, Henry," Wellman suggested, waving toward the wooden bench next to the restrained zombie. Before Henry could react, Gustave grabbed him hard with his free hand and forced him to sit down with inhuman strength. "Let's chat."
"People will notice my disappearance," Henry pleaded, trying to buy time.
"Oh, don't worry about us, we'll help you," Gustave replied.
Wellman cleared his throat. "Contrary to what you might think, Henry, Gustave and I, and even Ogren, were not bandits to begin with. In fact, we fought for Gadmani during most of the Century War. war; at that time, the king granted adventurers and mercenaries an order allowing us to raid enemy towns in his name. Unfortunately, as the war ended, our decent occupation of slaughtering people and burning their villages became politically unacceptable Couldn’t be more correct.”
"We are asked to retire and farm like farmers, or to engage in the more dangerous work of hunting monsters," Gustav said in disgust.
"Fortunately," Wellman said with a smile, "the Dark Majesty of Ishfania, Brandon More, has promised us a very handsome pension and asylum as long as we burn the countryside of Eskal to the ground. Ashes, to keep the Crusaders busy and allow him to retake his fortress of Rochefulde. Unfortunately for you, Henry, Hardmer is among them. Do you understand?"
The poor scholar nodded and peed. Wellman glanced disdainfully at the soiled pants, then continued his story.
"But you see, we have a very big problem. Apparently, you have a dragon guarding the city, and it eats our people for breakfast. When we sent people out to check on these people, he killed more of us of people. Finally, the Royal Army is on us, and for important reasons we cannot skip the destruction of Haudemer. This situation is not good for our financial future."
"So we caught these two," Gustave pointed at the zombies. "Who says dragons have masters?"
"Of course, we have to beat them up before they say their names. In other words, this master 'Victor' often meets with you."
"That's wrong," Gustave replied. "We roughed them up. One of them spoke up when he saw you turning the other one into a zombie."
"Ah, yes, but if I remember correctly, you later had your outlaws stab him to death."
"It's about helping him level up. I take care of my guys."
"He got a level out of this civilian?" Lucky newbies, they don't have to burn the midnight oil like the rest of us. "
It's relatively easy to get into the double-digit range by killing low-level people, or even level 20 professional killers. Later, increased experience requirements made it necessary to fight those who could fight back on fair terms.
After this horrific episode, Wellman returned his attention to Henry. "So, my friends, I am confident that we can find a solution that we all agree on."
"You're going to kill me anyway," Henry said. "Why should I tell you?"
"Of course we're going to kill you," Wellman replied calmly. "The only question is, do we have to beat the crap out of you first?" Unlike my fellow Gustavs, I'd rather have it be quick and painless. I'm not a savage, Henry. "
"Says it from Deathclown's priest," his companion replied in a mocking tone.
"I am the holiest man in the world," Wellman protested. "I worship the God of Sin, and he loves my work."
"Whatever," Gustav replied, brandishing his weapon. "Is it you who speaks, scholar, or should I chop off your leg?"
"No, no, Gustave, wait," Wellman held up a hand to reassure his accomplice, while Henry trembled in pure, unadulterated fear, "I tell you, I'm no barbarian .While you will certainly die so word of our presence will not get out, I believe we will honor your final request. If you tell us the truth, the whole truth, the whole truth."
Henry knew his life was over and he figured he might as well try to bargain. "If I speak, can you let someone go?"
"That depends on who it is," Wellman replied. "No matter what happened, we were going to kill that guy named Victor. I'm sorry. Professional pride."
"No, Mayor Lynette." He'd had a crush on her for years, even though he'd never dared to take action. "And please don't burn my house down. The research inside is my life's work."
"You're asking for too much," Wellman replied cheerfully. "Lynette, that's the innkeeper, isn't it?" I heard she was beautiful. Also very smart. do you like her?"
"Yes, I like it."
"Ah, good. If you ask, we will spare her life. If you tell us where your home is, we will leave your home unscathed. I can't guarantee that, sometimes the fire will spread." Maybe I'll find a way to sell your papers to Ishfanian scholars if they're really that valuable. Now, tell us everything."
So Henry spoke.
He briefed them on his discussion with the dragon, including his general character and level; then, to his great shame, he betrayed Victor, betrayed his rank, betrayed his privileges, betrayed everything he could gather.
He would lie if possible, but a bishop like Wellman could see through the lies. "Nightblade?" Deathclown's priest raised his eyebrows. "Interesting." "
"Can Night Blade control dragons?" Gustav asked worriedly.
"Of course not," Wellman replied. "I really want to know why a career criminal would protect a village."
"He said he left," Henry said.
"You can never leave the Night Blades. No, technically you can leave them, but life leaves you first. No matter. Is he as greedy as this Winkle?"
"I do not think so……"
"He must have a weakness. Honor, reputation, women..."
“Mayor Lynette asked him to do something for her,” Henry recalled. "I noticed he glanced at her instead of looking into her eyes."
"Ah, yes, of course, no one can resist breasts, any kind of breasts." Wellman laughed at his own sexist joke, but Gustave did not. "what else?"
"I...I don't know. He's a nice, helpful guy."
"A good man with a kind heart?" Ah, that's interesting. Gustave, what do you think?"
The cruel knight's fingers twitched on the hilt of his sword. "There's no way we're going to defeat that dragon in combat."
"Yeah, I don't think so either."
"But he's stupid."
"But he's vague." Wellman nodded. "We have to distract him first, then burn the town to the ground, get the apples back, and escape in a stolen boat. As for Victor, he's easy for us to deal with. We're all twice as good as him , good hearts are easily misled. Is that all, Henry, my friend?”
"I told you everything," replied the scholar, weeping in shame at his cowardice.
"Did he lie?" Gustav asked his companion.
"No, he is an honest man, though not brave." Wellman shook his hand, and smiled reassuringly at his prisoner. "You must not know that my friend Gustav has three levels in 'Traitor'. The first skill of the class, [Hypocrisy], hides the traitor level from being scanned by skills such as yours. The second is called ‘Traitor’s Joy’. I’m sure scholars like you know what it does.”
Henry clenched his fists in shame. "Every time you break a promise you gain an experience point boost."
"I told you he was a savage," Wellman said, pretending to be sorry. "Poor Lynette."
"You said it, not me." Gustav answered, raising his sword.
"Wait," Wellman again raised a hand to stop his ally, "not yet."
"What?" Gustav complained, "He's of no use to us."
"We can hold him hostage for now. Knock him out. I swear you'll get his head in time, my friend."
Gustav muttered, and hit Henry with his saddle from behind, and the poor scholar's world went dark.
