Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 232 New clues
It certainly can't be as simple as an ordinary club.

The tip of the pole is a sphere made of metal. The pole itself is tough and flexible, and the round end is hard. When struck, it produces a metallic sound.

Lawrence, being a professional, wielded a long pole and tapped around, looking just like a mine-clearing engineer.

Zhang Yuan, who was watching from the side, also noticed something. The seemingly random and aimless tapping was based on the principle of judging whether there were gaps or intervals by the aftershocks of the sound.

It's easy to say, but to truly master it and understand its intricacies is not something that can be explained in a few words. Only the person involved knows how much effort and sweat they've shed behind the scenes.

Zhang Yuan and the other two did not urge them, but waited patiently, listening to the symphony composed of various sounds such as tinkling, thumping, and banging.

I tapped on every spot in the study repeatedly, and it wasn't until I tapped the bookshelf a second time that I noticed something amiss.

Lawrence tapped on the bookshelf while listening to it, then stopped and looked at the mage: "Move this bookshelf."

Zhang Yuan, who possessed the strength of a giant, naturally had no choice but to do so. As the captain who commanded a total of eight people, he condescended to push aside the large wooden frame.

There was nothing behind the bookshelf except a brick wall. Amid everyone's puzzled looks, Lawrence continued to tap on the wall, gradually pinpointing an area. He pointed to the captain and said, "There should be a hidden compartment here, but it's been disguised and is very thin. Just carefully knock it open."

Zhang Yuan nodded, took a few steps forward, and without using any tools, he held his breath, circulated his internal energy, bent one finger into the shape of an eagle claw, and suddenly thrust, hooked, and pulled.

A brick slab, only one-third the thickness of the rest, was pried out, revealing a hidden gap behind it—sure enough, there was another secret!

First, Zhang Yuan cast an admiring glance at the seasoned thief in the team. Instead of reaching in, he first set up a detection trap. After confirming that there was nothing wrong, he then reached in and rummaged around for a while.

The blank space contains only a letter, a badge, and a roll of parchment.

He carefully took it out and gently placed it on a desk. His teammates gathered around and examined it closely together.

Needless to say, the origin of this badge is obvious at a glance. Green vines entwine on both sides of the red shield, and a sword-wielding arm is depicted on the shield surface. At the end of the arm is a pure white wing. Above the shield is a full-coverage knight's helmet, surrounded and embraced by vines.

It is the coat of arms of the Manuel family, which also appears on the title page of the diary of Liszt, the tragic Romeo.

We've found the right person!
Opening the parchment at random, one finds only lines and symbols of incomprehensible meaning, chaotic and without any discernible pattern, making it impossible to understand.

It's a coded message.

Seeing that everyone was shaking their heads, the mage put the badge and the item into his storage bag.

With only this letter left, Zhang Yuan's gaze turned serious, but his hands remained steady as he slowly and resolutely opened the envelope, took out the paper inside, unfolded it, and began to read.

The reading took nearly fifteen minutes. The letter was quite thick, with many pages. The monk held the letter in his hand and read it quietly, while his three teammates stood quietly to the side, watching their captain sometimes show joy, sometimes frown, and sometimes fall into thought.

With a glance up, Zhang Yuan temporarily broke free from his reverie, handed the letter in his hand to Lawrence beside him, and then returned to his absorbed state.

Lawrence read it once and pondered for a moment, while Bard, who followed, was somewhat puzzled and did not understand its meaning.

As for Telinda?
She didn't even bother to look at it and handed it back to Zhang Yuan directly.

Without saying much, Bard tried to ask a question but was stopped by the monk's gesture, as this was not the place for conversation. The group left the study, politely bid farewell to Madame Düsseldorf, declined her invitation to tea and snacks, and headed straight for the inn.

After returning to the team, Zhang Yuan gathered all his teammates again and held a second meeting in a small room, with Rick and Morty still in charge of keeping watch.

The letter was handed to Nancy for a look, and then passed around to everyone. The expressions of the people who read it varied, with the female thief's expression being the most vivid. Her face seemed to be a stage, with joy, anger, sorrow and happiness taking turns on stage.

Captain Zhang looked around and saw that no one spoke, which didn't surprise him.

Those who don't understand the nuances of the letter will naturally be completely baffled, while those who do understand will still be pondering and remain silent for the time being.

This letter is actually two letters combined into one, but they all talk about the same thing: a business deal.

A horrifying and disgusting human trafficking operation.

Behind any glamorous facade, darkness inevitably breeds, especially in Faerûn, a place where the slave trade was commonplace and all sorts of despicable acts were rampant. Such a thing was not a world-shaking event.

However, it's one thing for a powerful nobleman in Neverwinter to get involved in human trafficking, but it's quite another that he has the shadow of Neverwinter's mortal enemy behind him.

The two letters are a document from the Deszel family to the Manuel family. The latter is a plan of action that details how to identify and select specific target groups, how to lure and kidnap them, how to handle the aftermath, and how to transfer the people to their destination.

The previous letter, however, was sent by one of Luskan's "leaders" to Deszel, and the destination of the trafficked people was none other than Luskan!
Speaking of this leader, Luskan, he's an old acquaintance—oh, an old acquaintance from the game in my previous life, Captain Kurze.

Tsk tsk, things are getting more and more interesting. Zhang Yuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and looked at Nancy, who had already composed herself.

The latter did not refuse, cleared his throat and said, "Ahem! I believe this letter points to the truth of what we are investigating. What happened back then was not just infighting between noble families, but betrayal and treachery."

"So what?" Lawrence was quite calm. "You think you can accuse two powerful aristocratic families based on just this letter? How could that be?"

“I’m not saying this can be used as evidence, but it gives us a direction, a flaw that can make them reveal their true colors,” Nancy explained.

"Don't forget, Deszel and his group have a potential connection with some evil god. If we mess with these crazy cultists, it'll be a huge problem." Lawrence wasn't so optimistic.

"Then let's be careful and not provoke them."

“Easy for you to say. How can we possibly decide such a thing?” Kagan joined the argument.

"So we're just going to let such a good opportunity slip away?"

"What I mean is, don't rush things, let's take our time."

"Cough!" Thump! Thump! Everyone looked at the person who spoke.

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(End of this chapter)