Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 219 Thief

Fire Maple City's intricate, labyrinthine sewer system recently underwent a thorough inspection. Scavengers tirelessly traversed the pipes, meticulously inspecting every nook and cranny to ensure no omissions. Furthermore, incredibly strong, heavy-duty magic steel fences studded with sharp spikes have been installed at all sewer exits. These barriers, like a fortress of steel, securely block the exits, deterring anyone attempting to enter or escape. Furthermore, to ensure complete safety, Fire Maple City has dispatched a dedicated group of highly trained soldiers to maintain a constant watch around the clock.

Despite such rigorous precautions, the crucial sewer blueprints remained elusive. Even the well-informed Hawkeye could find no clues that could aid the investigation. Fire Maple City, an ancient city with a rich history, had undergone numerous reconstructions of its above-ground buildings, but its subterranean drainage system had undergone only partial repairs. Those sewer blueprints, dating back thousands of years, remained largely unchanged from their current state.

This incident resulted in a massive number of casualties in the inner city. According to incomplete statistics, the death toll reached several thousand. Even the almighty Emperor was frightened by this sudden change. Faced with such a dire situation, Fire Maple City was forced to further intensify its inspections, leaving no suspicious individual unpunished, in the hope of completely eliminating spies from the Saint Laurent Empire from infiltrating the city.

The once powerful Duke of Barton was stripped of his glorious name and demoted to Earl of Barton due to his negligence in maintaining the Duchess's tomb. Along with this demotion, his domain was divided in two by the House of Lords, with the western portion temporarily placed under the control of the Third Legion.

From the moment he was stripped of his dukedom, he changed back to his original surname, Rudolf. The once glorious earl sadly left Fire Maple City and returned to his territory in the east of Fire Maple City.

At this moment, in the magnificent castle of Fire Maple City, only the Countess, the loyal butler, and a handful of a dozen servants were left, silently guarding this somewhat deserted castle.

In the stillness of the night, the entire world seemed to have fallen asleep. In the small living room on the third floor of this three-story building, the magic lamp illuminated the somewhat lonely figure of Caesars.

At this moment, Caesars was sitting quietly by the window, slowly flipping through a yellowed book. Outside the window, on the street beyond the courtyard wall, the city guards marched in orderly and steady steps, patrolling again and again. The flashing torches in their hands dispelled the surrounding darkness.

Time slipped by quietly. After an unknown amount of time, Caesars gradually felt a sense of weariness set in. He gently closed his book, stretched, and rose to prepare for bed. Just then, a shrill, extremely frightening scream suddenly pierced the night sky, shattering the tranquility.

Caesar's heart tightened, and all sleepiness vanished instantly. He hurried to the window and peered in. In the center of the courtyard, a thin figure was struggling and twisting desperately. A closer look revealed that the figure was tightly wrapped around its body by three pitch-black, golden-eyed, black demonic snakes!

Seeing this, Caesars did not dare to delay at all. He quickly opened the window, grabbed the dark red puppy, performed the levitation technique, and landed steadily in the yard like a light feather.

"Damn dog, look around quickly to see if there's anyone else lurking in the yard!"

As Caesars said this, he dropped the puppy, and the other walked around sniffing on his short legs.

With the faint moonlight and his darkvision aiding him, Caesars finally got a clear look at the uninvited visitor. He was a thin man, probably in his forties, wearing a suit of soft black leather armor and two short swords dangling from his waist. Judging from his attire and stature alone, Caesars judged him to be an experienced stealth operator.

"Hey, my friend, you're so unlucky! You were bitten by three golden-eyed black snakes at once. You can only stay conscious for two or three minutes at most. While you're still conscious, hurry up and tell your last words!"

Kaisas crossed his arms, staring with interest at the man before him whose life was hanging by a thread. To be attacked by three golden-eyed black snakes simultaneously, it had to be said that this man's luck was truly terrible. The female snakes were wrapped tightly around him, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Hearing Caesars' words, the trapped man struggled against the snake and cried out with difficulty, "Please save me! I... I'm not an assassin. I just came here to steal something!"

"Steal? What are you planning to steal here?"

Kaisas asked curiously.

"Steal a rock from you!"

"I have more than one stone on me!"

"Steal a grayish-white stone that glows slightly!"

Hearing the other party's description, Kaisas suddenly became alert. The man was talking about the Soul Gem. He had just returned to Fire Maple City during the day, and this man came at night.

"Who asked you to steal the stone?"

"No one asked me to steal this. This is the most rewarding mercenary mission in the Saint Laurent Empire, with a commission of one million gold!"

During the conversation, the other person's skin turned gray-black, his tongue seemed to be out of control, and his speech became unclear. The venom of the golden-eyed black snake had taken effect.

The Cavill family also noticed the movement, and the magic lamp in the living room was already lit. The puppy returned to Caesar's side and hummed in response.

Caesars took out a bottle of potion and fed the daring thief half a bottle. The magical tentacles began to explore the other party's body, looking for traces of necromancy.

After a few minutes, Caesar stopped casting spells. There was no trace of necromancy on this man.

"You three, let him go. Otherwise, he might be killed by you instead of being poisoned to death!"

Caesars had only given the man half the antidote; the man wasn't dead, but he was incapacitated. Interrogating prisoners wasn't his specialty, so he turned to the spy chief for help.

"Kaisas, who is he?"

The upstairs window was opened and Avril asked loudly.

"Just a little thief, it's all right now, go to sleep!"

Several windows upstairs were lit, and people stood in them, no longer sleepy. As the golden-eyed black snake released the man, he saw him rolling his eyes and twitching violently. Caesars removed the man's storage ring, stripping him of his leather armor and dagger.

Soon after, there was a knock on the gate. It was Hawkeye's men approaching. Caesars told the three golden-eyed black snakes to stay put and walked over to open the gate.

"Deputy Commander, where is the daring thief?" asked the eagle-eyed man.

"He's on the ground right at your feet. Take him back and interrogate him thoroughly. I want to know everything about him. Take this half bottle of powerful antidote with you. Don't let him die. If this guy is really a thief, he must have hidden a lot of wealth!"

Caesars gave Hawkeye's men a few instructions, then waved his hand gently, signaling them to take the people away.

After Hawkeye took the people away, he closed the gate and took out some monster meat to reward the three black snakes. After returning to his small room, he began to fall into deep thought.

Besides the Elven Elder, the only people who knew he had the Soul Gem were Sandro and Old Roman. This so-called mercenary mission was for the Saint Laurent Empire, and the commission was a whopping one million gold coins, a price only Sandro and Old Roman could afford.

The next day at noon, Hawkeye's men brought a thick stack of papers. This was the complete record of the interrogation. The prisoner's name, age, birthplace, and even his parents were clearly stated.

This man was from the Roland Empire and knew a secret route to the Saint Roland Empire. In short, this guy was very unlucky. He didn't see Caesars returning with the golden-eyed black demon snake, but only saw a fat puppy.

"This mercenary mission has been going on for three years?" Caesars asked the Hawkeye man.

"Yes, not long after the deputy commander left the burial ground, this mission appeared among the mercenary missions of the Saint Roland Empire. The Roland Empire's mercenary guild originally wanted to issue this mission, but you are the deputy commander of Hawkeye, so this mission was suppressed!"

Caesar nodded slightly. He guessed that his affairs in the Cavill family were probably related to old Roman.

"Tell Lord Carlos that since this guy has agreed to exchange half of his collection for his life, and Hawkeye has also agreed to give him a chance to live, he must give me a share. It's not that I'm greedy, but the great magician has consumed too many training resources!"

After reading the interrogation records, Caesars knew that Hawkeye wanted to find the secret path, and they were preparing to give the Saint Laurent Empire a "big surprise".

"The commander-in-chief said that this time, you will get 30% of the profits!"

Carlos agreed to give him a 30% profit, which was a bit beyond Caesar's expectations. He returned the interrogation record to the other party and signaled that he could leave.

"Lord Caesar, the map marking the secret road is still in your storage ring. I want to take it back!"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Kaisas took out the thief's storage ring, searched inside, and took out a piece of animal hide map. Seeing the path drawn with dotted lines on the map, Kaisas immediately took out a blank piece of magic animal hide and copied the map.

The dotted line represents that the road is underground, probably a cave or something like that, and the road is in the northeast of the Yellowstone Mountains.

After the eagle-eyed man left with the map, Caesars leisurely strolled to the center of the courtyard, basking in the warm sunshine. His second magical talent was fire, and more exposure to sunlight was beneficial to his fire talent.

At this time, Old Joey, who had not left his room for several days, finally emerged into the courtyard, carefully supported by the maids. Although time had left deep and shallow marks on his face, leaving it covered with dense age spots, considering he was over a hundred years old, he looked very healthy.

"Old Joey, how about I cast two buff spells on you? I guarantee you'll feel comfortable for the next half hour!" Caesars proposed to Old Joey enthusiastically with a smile on his face.

However, Old Joey was like a frightened rabbit, waving his hands repeatedly and saying, "Kaisas, please don't do anything rash!"

In old Joey's impression, so-called spells are those dangerous means used to attack targets. He has been afraid of those spells for decades. He began to fear spells since Joanna became a magic apprentice.

Facing Old Joey's rebuff, Caesars was not discouraged. Instead, he patiently consoled him, "Old Joey, close your eyes! I'm going to cast a spell!"

Caesar stretched out his hand, and a faint magical light gushed out, covering Old Joey directly.

Seeing this scene, Old Joey couldn't help but be shocked. He subconsciously closed his eyes and tensed his whole body, fearing that something unexpected would happen.

The magical rays of the buff spell descended one after another, landing precisely on Old Joey. As the last ray of light faded, Caesars finally completed the entire spellcasting process. He let out a long sigh, then reached out and gently patted Old Joey's shoulder, who was trembling slightly beside him.

"Old Joey, now try to stand up on your own!" Caesars said encouragingly with a smile.

Hearing this, the old baron, who had been keeping his eyes tightly shut and looking nervous, slowly opened them. He stared blankly at Caesar, as if waking from a long dream. After a long moment, he finally came to his senses and turned to the nearby maids, shouting, "Hurry up and help me!"

The two maids, not wanting to delay, hurried forward and carefully helped Old Joey up from his chair. At that moment, the several buff spells cast upon Old Joey began to take effect. Old Joey felt a powerful, warm energy instantly spread throughout his body, bringing him an unprecedented sense of comfort.

At that moment, Old Joey suddenly felt a surge of strength, as if he had suddenly become decades younger. The heaviness and weakness he'd felt before vanished without a trace, replaced by a wonderful feeling of lightness and agility. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his once-stiff joints had become incredibly flexible, even allowing them to move effortlessly. The aches and pains that had plagued him were completely gone.

"Caesars, I feel like I can run several laps around the yard now!" Old Joey said to Caesars excitedly, with excitement flashing in his eyes.

However, Caesars quickly stopped him, saying, "Old Joey, please don't do anything rash! In your current condition, just walk slowly or take a stroll. Don't run, or your old bones won't be able to bear it and will break!"

Kaisas looked at Old Joey with a worried look on his face, fearing that he might impulsively do something dangerous. After all, although these buff spells were effective, for the elderly Joey, excessive exercise still posed certain risks.