Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 74 Sweeping Away the Trap
Leaving aside Zhang Yuan's cheerful demeanor as he walked, Flame Fist and his group had already arrived at the entrance of the bandits' large tent. According to the prisoners, this was the meeting tent of the Black Claw Mercenary Group and the Cold Blood Gang.

Incidentally, the valiant goblin chieftain, Mr. Adenauer the Conqueror, unfortunately failed to conquer any place before being subdued by a few violent priests who were seething with anger.

While they were helpless against the right mages, they showed no mercy to the goblins. They cast blessings and praise spells in turn, and then added a holy protection to themselves. These heavily armored but swift bald men were simply the goblins' nightmare.

Before the goblin could even make a cut with his sword, his head was smashed into a pulp. Even Adenauer himself couldn't withstand more than a few rounds of attacks from the two priests.

It can truly be said that he died before achieving his goal, leaving the goblins to weep bitterly.

The people who entered the tent were also overwhelmed by the messy scene, which looked like the aftermath of a party.

"Cleaned up."

"Return the items to their original place."

This was a magical trick performed by two army mages. It wasn't even a first-level spell; it was more like a magic trick, but it was surprisingly effective.

As the spell took effect, the stains and trash on the ground were swept up by an invisible force and thrown out of the tent, while the remaining items were neatly arranged and placed on the table and coffee table.

Ska stepped forward and began to look through the pile of letters and scrolls, while someone else slyly looked around to see if there was anything of value to be found.

Isn't scavenging an essential skill for players? Someone thought confidently.

"what?"

Zhang Yuan, whose eyesight has never been very good, was lucky this time. He suddenly spotted a short, red stick that was somewhat shaped like a tree branch.

"Could it be the Staff of Fear?"

Just as I was about to pick it up and take a look, a pair of eyes fell on me from the side; it was one of the two mages.

Their eyes met, and both felt a little awkward. However, being civilized people, not barbarians, they tacitly chose to pretend they hadn't seen each other.

At this point, another mage companion stepped in to smooth things over: "What are you all thinking? These spoils will be distributed according to merit. We're not robbers; whoever sees them gets them."

As he spoke, he walked up to Zhang Yuan and gave a mage's salute: "Fellow traveler on the path of arcane magic, I am William Gast. May I have the honor of getting to know you?"

"So polite?" Zhang Yuan was a little surprised, but he followed suit and returned the greeting, saying politely, "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Gast. You can call me Chanem."

“We were fortunate to have met our opponent this time thanks to Lord Chanem. We didn’t expect that there would be such a mid-level mage among a group of bandits.” William also mentioned, “I thought that backup plan was about to be activated, but fortunately, things didn’t get out of control.”

"Backhand?"

"Yes, Grand Duke Belt visited our teacher, Master Habaser, not only to request several mages to accompany the army, but also to obtain a communication and positioning gem so that in the worst-case scenario, we could call on our teacher for help."

"The Grand Duke is indeed cautious."

"You should always prepare for the worst. Of course, it's fortunate that this situation didn't occur. Otherwise, if we had to ask our teacher for help, the price would have been much higher. Grand Duke Belt will have to thank you properly."

After thanking William, Zhang Yuan was a little puzzled. The other party's initiative to befriend him and the information he revealed seemed almost too polite. Was it really necessary? William's mage level was higher than his own, not to mention that William had Old Harbazar backing him.

When Zhang Yuan noticed that the two mages' eyes were constantly darting towards the Shadow Shaman, he pretty much understood. "So it was Little Y's sorcery that scared them."

Indeed! The two mages themselves couldn't even cast a fourth-circle spell like Possessive Polymorph, yet it appeared in the hands of a summoned creature.

So here's the question: how many levels does this summoning spell need to be? And what level does this mage need to be?

And this troll-like summon isn't on the regular summoning list for spellcasters? Could it be that this guy, who's acting like a newbie, is actually a master spellcaster?

He must be at least an intermediate mage, otherwise such a powerful enemy mage would have been killed by just two summoned creatures, and in such a frustrating way.

The two, who couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss, could only rely on their common sense to deduce the truth, and the result of their deduction determined their way of befriending each other and their attitudes.

Having realized this, the person felt relieved. After feigning humility and politeness, they started chatting idly about all sorts of things, like which archmage in the Sword Bay region they hadn't visited, and whether the other person knew about Tyranitar. They talked and laughed, but kept their own true situation completely hidden.

These two, fresh out of the ivory tower, were completely oblivious to Zhang Yuan's nonsense. Instead, they enthusiastically recounted some amusing anecdotes from their time as apprentices under Old Habasser.

"When the teacher led us to perform our first magic experiment, we were terrified. The lightning bolt flowed like water between the several conducting instruments. We didn't dare to get close, afraid of being electrocuted."

"Exactly. These visible dangers are one thing, but what about that time when the teacher was showing us how to make magical items? That guy Neman just grabbed an inconspicuous ring and put it on, and he instantly became an idiot."

“I remember that, I’ll never forget it in my life, hahaha.” Another mage, Weber Ott, laughed so hard he bent over: “That guy Niman, he’s always reckless and self-important. After he turned into an idiot that day, he was drooling everywhere. Afterwards, the teacher even kept him behind to clean up.”

"Hehe, that ring is called the Ring of Foolishness. It was originally a cursed item, but actually, the teacher deliberately mixed it into the magical items to warn some apprentices, to make them have some awe and caution, so that their impulsiveness and arrogance would not kill them."

Just as Weber and William were chatting animatedly, and Zhang Yuan was listening with great interest, he heard Ska's voice:

"Brothers of Flamefist, our mission is complete. Let's collect the spoils and head back to Baldur's Gate!"

Ska was met with enthusiastic cheers; the moment of triumph had finally arrived.

However, the two mages remained noncommittal. After all, they were just external aids who came to assist, and they were probably still thinking about dividing up the spoils of war.

As a member of the Flame Fist, although he was only an outsider, he was genuinely happy for him. However...

Did Skaar actually find any evidence? Simply wiping out the bandit camp won't fundamentally damage the Iron Throne, Zhang Yuan thought with some doubt.

But since Ska only mentioned it briefly and didn't want to say more, he probably discovered a secret that he couldn't reveal to the public. If he insisted on digging into it, he would be too tactless and make things difficult for himself.

Before returning to the city in triumph, the spoils of war were inventoried.

Money and property were collected and settled, with everyone receiving a share, distributed according to merit, contribution, and injury status. A portion was set aside as additional compensation, and another portion was confiscated and turned over as public property.

As for the armor and weapons, they were to be transported back to the central part of Flame Fist as military supplies, and the captured bandits were used as laborers.

Next up is the main event: the distribution of magical items.

Thank you to s轩辕逸星s and book friend 20200327140805318 for the donations.

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(End of this chapter)