Black Hearted Mage

Kaisas placed the three dying stalkers together and took out the shimmering grey-white soul gem. He then deftly removed their storage rings and mercilessly stripped them of all their weapons and equipment.

After completing these operations, Caesars began to carefully examine the storage rings. As he examined the items one by one, the slight doubt in his heart gradually dissipated. Among the three stalkers, two were just ordinary assassins, but the remaining one was not—he was a magical assassin.

Among the assassins who escaped, there must be a magical assassin with the ability to sense dark elements. He was able to detect that Kaisas was a dark magician. In this way, everything that happened before could be explained.

The three assassins soon died. The one who was caught in the Death Coil had become a dried corpse, while the other two bodies were intact. After examining the bodies, it was found that these assassins had various scars on their bodies, which showed that they must have undergone brutal training in their lifetime.

The next morning, Liv suddenly received a remote message from the Thorn Flower Trading Company. The message delighted her: the nighthawk eggs she had longed for had successfully hatched the day before! The chicks were crying out for food, and she needed to rush back to personally care for and feed them.

After hearing the news, Caesars couldn't help but show envy. He said to Liv expectantly: "Liv, can you also help me get a nighthawk egg?"

The little nighthawk that Liv is going to raise will grow into her own flying mount in the future. How can Caesar not be envious of this?

However, facing Caesar's request, Liv looked embarrassed. She shook her head gently and replied, "Oh, Caesar, this matter is really difficult to handle! You don't know that this nighthawk egg of mine was reserved three hundred years ago. If you also want to have your own nighthawk, you will probably have to wait at least another three hundred years..."

Hearing that he had to wait three hundred years, Caesars felt it was too long, but if he didn't wait, he wouldn't be able to get the nighthawk eggs. Nighthawks are the natural enemies of black snakes, so if you raise nighthawks, you can't raise golden-eyed black snakes.

"Liv, are you leaving now?" Caesar asked.

"I'll wait until that man picks the fruit before I leave. I want to take some back!"

Caesars looked at the sky, folded up the tent, walked to the small stone house and shouted, "Rodman, get up and pick some fruit!"

There was a sound in the small stone house, and a childish voice responded. It was the voice of little Fili.

"Come right away!"

A few minutes later, the stone blocking the window rose into the wall, the narrow window was opened, and Geralt's head popped out. This guy hadn't washed his face yet, and there was still eye mucus in the corners of his eyes.

"Brother Caesars, are you all right?"

Geralt stretched his neck, but the stone wall was too thick and he could only see what was happening in front of the stone house.

"Geralt, you're such a cruel fellow! The Saint Laurents came to attack us, and you locked us out!"

"Brother Caesars, I was careless. It's difficult to open the door after the stone seal has fallen. Wait a moment, I'll open it right away!"

Geralt retracted his head as he spoke, and Caesars didn't quite believe what he said. This guy must have been too scared to open the door last night, worried that the Saint Laurents would hurt his family.

After a while, the stone sealing the door rose up and was hidden in the wall. Geralt, sweating profusely, also came out. He looked around and finally stopped his gaze on the three corpses.

"Geralt, go pick the fruit! We're leaving this afternoon!"

Caesar knew what Geralt was planning, so he collected the three bodies and took them to Stonehold to collect the bounty.

"Kaisas, how come there is a dried corpse?"

Although Geralt didn't get any advantage, he saw the three corpses clearly and asked quickly.

"This is what happened after being slaughtered by my spell. Geralt, don't dawdle, hurry up and pick the fruit!"

"Kaisas, don't worry! We just need to find a few guys who want to earn some silver coins, and we can pick all the fruits in half a morning."

Geralt talked non-stop, then he walked to a stone house not far away and said something loudly to the people inside. Then, Geralt walked to other stone houses.

It wasn't long before six or seven young men returned with Geralt. Geralt drove his carriage and took the boys out of the village. A few minutes later, several more carriages left.

"Liv, now you can bring back a cart full of fruit. Geralt will definitely bring back a lot of fruit!"

Caesar could roughly guess some of Geralt's little thoughts. Now he didn't care too much. This guy had two daughters, and the dowry alone would require a lot of gold coins.

"But he said yesterday there were only a few thousand kilograms of fruit!" Liv was a little confused.

"You can only believe half of what Geralt says. This guy must have sold us other people's fruits as well!"

Caesars brought out two chairs and a small coffee table, brewed a pot of fragrant Barton black tea, and brought out some puff pastry and cheese, preparing to enjoy a simple breakfast.

When Liv sat down, she saw two little hands grabbing the edge of the coffee table. Fili was standing on tiptoe and stretching her neck to look at the delicious food on the coffee table.

"Little girl, what do you want to eat?" Liv asked.

“Soft and fluffy!”

Liv took two soufflés and placed them in Filidu's hands.

"Little girl, let me ask you a question. Does your father pick a lot of fruit?"

"Yes, father will sell all the fruits in the village to you!" Little Fili answered very seriously after getting the puff pastry.

Yesterday, they had clearly agreed to only bring a few thousand pounds of fruit, but before noon, Geralt had brought back tens of thousands of pounds. He even swore and insisted that all the fruit belonged to them.

It was late afternoon, the sun still blazing. Geralt, looking embarrassed, drove the carriage slowly towards the Stonefort. Sitting in the carriage, Caesars gazed thoughtfully ahead, pondering Geralt's actions.

It must be said that, despite Geralt's somewhat unexpected actions, Caesars generally had a favorable opinion of him. After all, some details revealed that he possessed a certain amount of intelligence, not a completely ruthless villain. On the aristocratic continent of Roland, survival was a challenge for ordinary civilians without the support of noble birth and abundant wealth. Therefore, Geralt's occasional scheming was understandable.

Just then, the carriage finally arrived at Gravel Castle. As soon as the carriage stopped, Liv, who had been traveling with them, hurriedly got off and headed west alone.

"Kaesas, she is traveling alone, aren't you worried about her?" Geralt asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry, she's much stronger than me. The consequences of provoking her will be very serious!"

"No way! Kaisas, is she stronger than you?"

“Better than me!”

A few minutes later, the carriage stopped at the edge of the towering rubble fort. Guards stood guard on both sides of the entrance, with spearmen on one side and sword and shield soldiers on the other.

"Geralt, are you going to lead people into Stonebreaker?"

The carriage drove towards the stable in the west. Before it stopped, an old man in leather armor spoke.

"Old Jack, I'm only taking my friends to the top of Gravel Castle. We won't go anywhere else!"

"Geralt, don't walk around once you're up there. I heard the spy chief lives up there. He wears black leather armor and a black mask all day long—he even takes it off when he sleeps!"

Hearing that the spy chief was on the top floor of the Stonefort, Geralt shuddered.

"Kaisas, why don't we not go up there and come back when we have the chance!"

"Geralt, the spy chief is just a skinny old man. What's there to be afraid of? Come on, let's go up and take a look!"

Caesar said a few words, turned around and walked towards the gate of the Stone Fort.

"Geralt, your friend has gone mad, hasn't he?"

The old soldier who was in charge of the stables said this, but he didn't care and Caesars didn't hear it.

"Old Jack, don't talk nonsense. My friend is a high-level magician. I'll help you sell all the fruits at home and get some concentrated feed for my horse. At least five pounds of black beans!"

"Yours is a pack horse, not a war horse. Give it three pounds of black beans at most!"

"Okay, add more fodder!"

Even as Geralt spoke those words, he was actually feeling uneasy deep down inside. The spy chief who controlled the Empire's Eagle Eyes was not someone to be trifled with; he was an extremely dangerous figure.

At this moment, Geralt suddenly shouted, "Caesar, wait for me!" Before he finished speaking, he quickly took big strides and followed closely.

The magical emblem from the North Tower was as useful as ever. When the guards at Stonecrush Castle saw it, they simply glanced at it and let Caesars pass without a word. But when it came to Geralt's turn, the situation was completely different. He was mercilessly stopped and subjected to an extremely strict and detailed interrogation, and finally forced to undergo a body search.

Geralt, filled with confusion, followed Caesars with a touch of disbelief. The other party had only been asked a few simple questions, while he had to answer a multitude of them, practically like having his underwear stripped off.

To reach the highest point of the Stonewall Fort, you need to go to the tallest main fort.

Kaisas looked up at the massive fortress; it was overwhelming. Outside the main fortress stood a uniform army of heavily armored warriors, their magic steel armor branded with the insignia of the Roland Empire.

"Lord Caesars, the commander-in-chief awaits your arrival upstairs!"

A man in leather armor said that Kaisas didn't know the other person's name, but he had seen him several times in the Black Prison.

"Lead the way. This is my first time in Gravel Castle and I'm unfamiliar with the place!" Caesars looked at the other party and said with a smile.

"Kaesas, that's not right. There is no commander-in-chief in Gravel Castle? There is only the legion commander here!" Geralt asked in a low voice.

"The commander-in-chief he's talking about is the spy chief you're talking about. I've known this commander-in-chief for over ten years, and he's just a skinny old man!"

Caesars said something nonchalantly, yet even this casual remark sent a shiver through Geralt beside him, as if struck by lightning. He shuddered involuntarily. Meanwhile, the eagle-eyed man standing on the other side remained expressionless, as if nothing he had to do with was happening around him.

The Rubble Castle before them towered majestically, like an immovable mountain. Not only was it exceptionally tall, but it also had numerous steps. The three of them remained silent throughout the journey, the atmosphere somewhat solemn, as they silently climbed the steps, step by step, towards the top of the main castle.

They reached the top floor. There, a room crafted from shimmering crystal shimmered enchantingly in the sunlight. Inside, a figure stood out—a slightly slender man. He was clad in a suit of matte black leather armor, covering him from head to toe. A mask, equally black, revealed only a pair of deep, mysterious eyes.

In a corner of the crystal room, two exquisite chairs sat a white-haired old noble. He wore a magnificent black and gold robe, the sleeves and collar inlaid with dazzling gems, gleaming brilliantly in the refracted light. The old noble smiled, his gaze gently fixed upon Caesars, who had just entered the room. That smile revealed an indescribable warmth that instilled awe in the hearts of the people.

Besides, there was an old magician standing on the other side of the room. Caesars looked at his familiar face and thought to himself: I must have seen this person somewhere before, but for a moment he could not remember when and where he had met him.

As the old magician nodded slightly, Duke Solomon grinned and laughed heartily.

"Kaisas, I didn't expect you to be promoted to a great magician! If Gad hadn't confirmed it, I wouldn't have believed it was true!"

"Your Excellency, could this be a fabrication?"

Caesars sat on the sofa, legs crossed, and looked at the two important figures of the Roland Empire. The name Gard sounded familiar; he seemed to be from the Royal Mage Corps. Caesars had met him once, more than a decade ago, while exploring the underground ruins of Ludwig Castle.

"Brother Caesars, who is he?"

The spy chief suddenly spoke up, and the word "brother" coming from the other person's mouth made Caesars feel awkward.

"My friend, he was the one who sent me to Gravel Castle!" said Caesars.

"My friend, we have something important to discuss. You can go back first!"

The spy chief turned to look at Geralt and said lightly. Looking at the dark mask, Geralt's face looked even paler.

"Geralt, you go back first!" said Caesar.

"Okay, I'll leave now!"

The frightened old mercenary said with a trembling voice.