Baator Hell Promotion

"What's in this bottle?" Yaron asked.

"Holy water!" Hopper slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, "I understand. Now is the time of sunrise. The morning light contains the power of the God of Dawn, which will make the holy water doubly active, making it a catalyst for the reaction. That's why this bottle of liquid bubbles when it is exposed to the sun."

"This also explains why the other sheriffs didn't experience any pain from their wounds. It's because the way you were treated was different."

Aaron seemed to understand what she meant. "You mean, the residue in my wound would have been purified by holy water. In order not to delay treatment, Edim brought me here for potion treatment, so there are residues?"

Hopper nodded and poured the liquid from the bottle onto the sunlit countertop. The increased surface area exposed to the sunlight made the liquid's reaction more pronounced. After a faint, visible puff of green smoke, the liquid ceased reacting. This green smoke reminded her of the green glow from the cross-section of the shackles she had seen just hours before.

"If my guess is correct, not only holy water, but any injured person who has been treated with divine power should not have sequelae similar to yours. This can also explain why my potion failed to relieve the pain, while the other sheriffs did not respond accordingly."

"Then what's the reason?" Yaron asked. "Is the weapon poisoned? Is there a strange enchantment, or is there something else?"

"Do you remember what that weapon looked like?" Hopper didn't answer his question immediately, but asked, "Or is there anything special about the enemy?"

Yalong frowned and thought hard for a long time, then shook his head painfully and said, "No, I don't remember. It was at night, and the orc who attacked me attacked from behind. If it weren't for Edim covering me, that blow would have cut me in half."

"In that case, I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Hmm?" The knight raised an eyebrow and smirked at her sudden joke. "It sounds like my wound isn't serious? Then I choose to hear bad news."

"The bad news is, I still haven't figured out what caused the severe pain in the wound. Judging from the reaction, the orcs did something weird." Hopper shrugged and began to clean up the messy desk.

"Then I guess the good news is that you can still treat the aftereffects. Correct, my lady?"

The herbalist smiled confidently, and the morning sun shone a dazzling brilliance on the smile, dazzling the knight. He watched in fascination as Hopper's wet lips moved, his throat rolling, and he almost didn't hear what she said.

"Of course. Since it can be purified by divine power, it's easy to solve. Prepare a jar of holy water and pour it over the wound when the sun is at its highest. Also, when washing, remember to pray to the Eternal Sun. It hates evil and will be willing to help you expel the pain."

However, Hopper did not tell the knight that she did not care about his wound. She was happy that Knight Yaron had brought the clue to her door.

There is a saying in Gemini Continent: “Every unexpected encounter is a reunion of the past.”

A special torture device and a special weapon have the same performance. Hopper doesn't believe it's just a coincidence, especially in a place like Emerald Harbor, where items containing evil power cannot be traded openly. How could there be so many daring bandits who dare to forge various illegal items?

Even if the two are really unrelated, traders doing illegal business will always know some information about their peers. It is more convenient to start the investigation from here than to blindly check the blacksmith.

Thinking of this, she pretended to casually continue the previous topic and said, "Speaking of weapons, I thought of another thing. I noticed that when Edim brought you here that night. Orcs shouldn't be able to inflict such a deep wound on you unless their weapons are extremely sharp. Now it seems that there may be some connection with the strange reaction just now. Do you know where the orcs' weapons came from?"

Knight Aaron shook his head like a dog, trying to stop paying attention to Hopper's lips and fingers and concentrate on listening to her.

"I'm not entirely sure about that." To avoid being influenced, he simply turned around and stared at the window, pondering the issue. "Anyway, it couldn't have come from Emerald Harbor. The entire weapons trade is controlled by the Westerling family, and they haven't sold weapons to the North for many years."

The succubus was a little surprised. She had indeed used some magic power to influence the knight, but she didn't expect that although he didn't notice it, he still had a way to resist.

"Could it be possible that this was a private transaction between the blacksmith and them?"

Knight Aaron found it funny. As expected, no matter how smart a woman was, she would always be adorable when it came to weapons and casting.

He patiently replied, "That's even more impossible. All blacksmiths are managed by the Westerling family and accept orders from them. The blacksmiths don't have the time to go out and work with the orcs, nor are they likely to have stable channels to ship weapons out. After all, weapons trading and maintenance are long-term businesses, and it's difficult to keep it secret."

"Does this mean that orcs also have their own blacksmiths?" The information revealed by Knight Aaron helped Hopper eliminate the wrong options bit by bit. She was very satisfied, but it also meant that she needed to continue to guide the knight to reveal more information.

"I've never heard of that. Even if there are orc blacksmiths in Eagle's Nest, their skills haven't been able to forge elite weapons in the past few decades." Aaron thought for a moment, then smiled and denied Hopper's words. "Unless a skilled blacksmith travels across the mountains and rivers to Eagle's Nest to teach them, and he's not afraid of being eaten by them."

Then, he stopped scratching his head, and the sunlight through the window illuminated his stiffly smiling face. In the silence of the early morning, his breathing was particularly heavy.

The knight swallowed hard, turned around and said to Hopper, "My mission on the day I was injured was to help escort the blacksmith apprentices from Galena Castle to Emerald Harbor for an exchange. The reason they came was because a few months ago, a group of blacksmiths from Galena Castle were ambushed and killed by bandits."

"What if not all the blacksmiths died? What if some blacksmiths were captured by the orcs?"

"Orcs don't change their ways for no reason. They used to capture live people as backup rations," the knight continued, his expression growing increasingly serious. "Madam Merchant, can their new leader really do this? Or is there someone else involved?"

The knight jumped up from his chair and hurriedly buttoned his clothes. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to Hopper. He just said, "I must see Sheriff Edmund now," and hurried out the door. The door frame creaked under the huge force, and the footsteps quickly disappeared outside the door.

The Devil smiled with satisfaction. It seemed he would need to go to the Eagle's Nest as soon as possible to check out the situation.

Chapter 127 Land Acquisition

Martial law lasted a full week, but it could only last a week.

Even Lord Westerling couldn't stop the Emeralds of the North from turning forever. Every day they stopped, a vast amount of gold disappeared silently into thin air.

Captains, desperate to make as many trips as possible before winter set in, visited the Chancellor's home almost daily. Their wives, bearing cartloads of gifts, went to comfort the poor, frightened Lady Westerling. Eventually, even the Mendes family, from which the Chancellor's wife came, began to hint to her that since the dark elves couldn't be captured, there was no point in forcing everyone to continue.

Under such a passionate offensive, even a powerful figure like Lord Westerling was forced to declare in Parliament that martial law would be lifted and a curfew would be imposed. However, everyone, from nobles to beggars, knew that this was merely the Speaker's last-ditch effort to save face.

This brief period of martial law not only did not affect commercial activities in Emerald Harbor, but even after it was lifted, market trade reached a new peak. Amid the loud cries of long-awaited merchants and customers, amid the pungent aroma of fish and spices, and amid the sweetness of oranges and budding flowers, coins clattered constantly from hand to hand.

Even Hopper's small herbal shop welcomed over a dozen customers on the first day after the lockdown was lifted, nearly selling out her usual supplies. What concerned her was that the customers included gnomes, dwarves, halflings, orcs, and even a dragonborn, but not a single human. And the remedies they bought were largely the same: common remedies for injuries, diarrhea, and fevers.

"Is it because of the fear of martial law?" Hopper wondered, until a shrill voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Standing at the counter were two elderly dwarfs carrying backpacks.

The male dwarf didn't seem to be in good health, his body tilted unnaturally, one hand on his wife's shoulder. As for the female dwarf, Hopper recognized her as someone who had bought tonics from him before.

"Mrs. Kaji Shinso, right?" Hopper dug out the name from his memory. The dwarf's originally uneasy face instantly broke into a smile, as if it was a very pleasant surprise to have a human remember her name. "Then this must be Mr. Prue Shinso. Are you feeling better?"

"Thank you, kind lady Tallman." The dwarf's already shrill voice became even sharper due to his excitement. "Your tonic is very effective. Look, he can now walk around with me."

The succubus smiled a flawless smile. If necessary, she could act more like a nice person than she really was. "You're very kind. What can I do for you today? Another tonic potion?"

"Yes, but in addition to the tonic potion, I also need to buy some woad to stop bleeding and treat dysentery. If you have ready-made medicine that is easy to carry, that would be even better."

Another one? Hopper repeated the same action he'd already performed a dozen times today, asking nonchalantly, "What's going on today? Is this a special custom of the Stone People? I feel like all the little people in the city have made an appointment to crowd into my shop."

This made Kaji's smile fade. She said tentatively, "Ms. Hopper, didn't you hear?"

"Did I miss something important?" Hopper was a little confused. It shouldn't be like this. If something big happened, how could Sheriff Square not react at all?

"There are more and more long-legged people outside the city walls. I don't want to say anything bad about them, but quite a few of them have taken advantage of their height to bully us low-key people and big-foot people." Mrs. Kaji bit her lip. "Prue and I both love Emerald Harbor, but now everything has gone against the original reason for living here. So, when Eichmann's pastors came to us with gold and talked about buying our land, we didn't hesitate."

Hopper quickly grasped the key point: "Is Lord Eichmann buying up your land? I remember that the villages below the city walls are mostly inhabited by Bigfoots and Low-key people. It's not like he's preaching among you."

"Let's sell it halfway," Kaji shook her head, clearly still a little unwilling. "The orcs are coming more and more frequently, and the land is simply not selling for a good price. Many low-key people like me think that instead of waiting for the orcs to completely overtake us, it's better to cash in and leave early. After all, the priests pay us in cash, and they can also provide the Speaker's documents as a guarantee. We don't know what will happen in a while, and we can't be sure that the orcs will really only harm the long-legged people."

"As for its use, I heard from the priest that it will be used to accommodate those long-legged people who have lost their homes. Oh, those humans who were scared by the orcs and ran to the city walls."

Hopper handed the wrapped herbs to the dwarf and watched them leave in a hurry. Through the open door, she could see many other demihumans shopping on the street outside, looking just as hurried as the Flashes and his wife.

It seemed that Archbishop Eichmann had finally persuaded the Speaker, Hopper thought. It might also be that Lord Westerling could not stand Lord Monte coming to discuss the resettlement of refugees with him on time every day. Perhaps the dark elves' raid also prompted him to make up his mind to reduce the number of non-humans in Emerald Harbor.

On the streets outside, it wasn't just the subhumans passing by that caught people's attention; there was also a noticeable increase in the number of Perfect Human priests wearing lemon-yellow scarves on their arms. These priests used to stay at the Golden Dome Church, but it seemed that Kaji was right; they were all out.

And among a group of low-level priests, Hopper saw an acquaintance.

"Hey, Master Edim, would you like to come in and have a glass of water?"

All the priests looked up, and Edim's face flushed instantly. The leading priest whispered something, and the other priests burst into teasing laughter before leaving the knights and setting off.

Edim crossed the street in two steps, practically bounding up the steps of the herbalist's shop, his breathing only slightly heavier. Hopper guessed that the blush on his face was most likely from embarrassment rather than strenuous exercise.

"Good day, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

Hopper leaned against the outer wall and glanced around, noticing that many passersby were glancing at him, either blatantly or secretly.

She smiled even kinder and sweeter, and asked in a girlish voice, "What orders do you need? Aren't we friends? Seeing that you're sweating profusely, I invite you to sit down."

The knight looked even more uncomfortable. His upbringing would not allow him to say no to a friendly lady, but he really didn't know how to deal with an enthusiastic lady.

"Thank you for your generosity," Yidimu thanked him dryly, took the cup handed to him by the herbalist with both hands, sat down on the wooden railing of the corridor, and decided to pretend to drink a few sips and leave.

To his surprise, the cup contained not beer or water, but herbal tea with honey and ice. The knight, who had spent half a day on duty under the scorching sun of late summer, could not withstand such a test and drank the cup to the bottom in one gulp.

"Thank you so much." This time the knight's gratitude was much more sincere. The coolness transmitted from his stomach made him feel refreshed all over.

"You're welcome. We're friends after all." Hopper continued smiling and said naturally, "I've thought carefully about what you said the other day. After all, Judith and I have experienced the orc robbery together. I really should care about her. Do you have any recent news about her?"

Chapter 128: Debt Collection

Even in the cool northern continent, the late summer sun was fierce. Shortly after leaving the city walls, Edim felt his shirt soaked with sweat. The knight couldn't help but feel lucky not to be wearing armor today, thus avoiding the torment of heat-absorbing metal.

Thinking of this, he bent his index finger to wipe away the sweat that was about to drip from his rough eyebrows, and looked deeply at the "culprit" riding on the rented mule next to him.

The knight was convinced that this herbalist must be a bad woman, even if she was pretty. With just a few words, she successfully convinced him to accompany her to visit Judith, who lived quite far away, in the scorching sun.

Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Hopper, why are you so eager to see Judith? I remember that your relationship with her didn't seem that harmonious."

The woman on the mule wore a long veil and hood to shield herself from the harsh sunlight, so Edim couldn't see her expression. However, from the tone of her voice, it seemed she was in good spirits.

"I received at least twenty guests today, all of whom are what the noble Church of Perfection calls 'inferior races.' Without exception, they all intend to leave Emerald Harbor."

Hopper didn't look back at the knight, but turned to look at the green farmland and the towering farmhouses in the distance. Even under the scorching sun, many farmers were still working hard. The low farmhouses didn't match the farmers' statures at first glance - it was probably either halflings or dwarves who once lived there.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this. It's just that any drastic social change is bound to cause chaos and violence," she said, the implication clear. "And Miss Judith lives in the farthest village. If I don't visit her soon, I'm afraid I'll rarely have the chance to travel alone to visit her again."

Knight Edimu fell silent. He knew, of course, that the demihumans were all moving away, and he had even participated in assisting them. Of course, some conflicts were inevitable during this process. But the knight could say with a clear conscience that he had not harmed any of the demihumans, and that the price he offered them was quite fair.

"Are you thinking this is the price you have to pay for establishing a new order?" Hopper saw through his thoughts and pointedly pointed out, "However, in my opinion, since the old order has not caused any problems, hastily changing it will ultimately be aimed at seizing power, not improving the order."

The knight looked up with surprise and suspicion. He had never imagined that a country woman could express such profound insights on the subject of order and change.

Hopper realized she had exposed herself somewhat. In Baator, a hell steeped in conspiracy, this knowledge was just basic common sense. But as a herbalist who had never been to school, she shouldn't have been able to say such a thing.

"That's what the poets say," she shrugged, trying to justify herself. "So, I'm also looking forward to hearing Ms. Judith's opinion. After all, this concerns my own safety as well."

The knight opened his mouth and finally said in a muffled voice, "Don't worry about your safety. We will protect you."

Hopper turned around and saw that the knight was looking away from her, as if avoiding the sun. She whispered, "Oh, is it 'you' or 'you'?"

The knight didn't respond, and the ear on the side facing Hopper gradually turned red. He shook the reins, urging the horse to speed up, and only said in the wind: "Let's speed up, it's really too hot."

-

The village where Judith was settled was quite far from the city walls. Hopper roughly estimated that it should be at the foot of the mountain, not far from the peak where she and the sheriffs had first met.

However, this arrangement was not difficult to understand. After all, the order to expel Judith was personally issued by Lord Westerling, the Speaker of Emerald Harbor. If she lived too close, it would easily cause trouble for him and even the knights who protected her.

In fact, if it weren't for the orcs' raids, Judith or Knight Edim wouldn't have been able to afford the rent of a house here. Ironically, because the village was too close to the mountains where orcs often appeared, the halflings who originally lived in the village had already begun to leave long before Archbishop Eichmann acquired the land.

The village wasn't large. The delicate little cave dwellings and bulging, loaf-shaped, stand-alone cottages, unique to the Halflings, formed an irregular circle around the small central square. Faded wind chimes hung from the round doors of many of the caves, tinkling in the hot wind. Under the eaves, withered welcoming wreaths drooped their heads. A statue of a tap-dancing Halfling was the only decoration in the square. Judith sat on the flowerbed beneath the statue, strumming her harp. Four or five human children gathered around her, listening to her stories, their attention occasionally distracted by the candy in her pocket.

The sound of horse hooves made the poet and the audience look up. Hopper noticed that when Judith saw the knight, a trace of joy flashed across her face, and the joy in her eyes added a bit of brilliance to her ordinary face.

"Oh wow!" thought the succubus. "It seems our little knight has extraordinary charm. From noble ladies to poets, he has admirers."

The demon licked her lips behind her veil. She loved destroying young girls' hearts. After all, a broken soul was a good currency.

"Ah, dear Judith, I'm so glad to see you're safe and sound." Hopper took off her veil and hood and took the initiative to greet Judith. Her sweat-soaked hair shone wetly in the sun, and her bright smile attracted the amazed admiration of the children.

Judith's face darkened. She ignored Hopper, took a deep breath, and softly told her little audience to leave because she had a visitor.

However, the children were clearly reluctant to leave. There weren't many outsiders in the village, and the brave knight and beautiful lady looked like they had just walked out of Judith's story. They were simply too attractive for the children.

The poet finally coaxed the children away with a small bag of candy. Before leaving, a bold girl took the initiative to hand the candy to Hopper and said, "Welcome to the Smoke Village, beautiful lady."

Judith's face darkened even more.

"I don't have the money to pay you back now," Judith said to Hopper unhappily, motioning them to sit wherever they wanted while she lit the fireplace and started to make tea.

The poet's current house must have been owned by a halfling. From the perfectly round door to the quartered windows, everything in the room was ingeniously curved. For a human, the house was more than comfortable but lacked space. The tallest Hopper had to carefully cover his head to avoid bumping into the ceiling chandelier.

"What money? Ms. Hopper, does Ms. Judith owe you medical fees?" The confused knight asked as he groped his way to sit down. The half-orc's chair was too narrow for him.

Judith said nothing, but poured the tea with emotion. Her hand tightened around the handle of the teapot, her knuckles turning white, and the tea spilled all over the table.

"Oh, Judith, haven't you told Edimu about our relationship yet?" Hopper covered his mouth pretentiously, as if he had said something wrong accidentally. "Then I can't tell you, dear Edimu, I'm afraid Judith will blame me."

However, as she said this, she winked at the knight, suggesting that he was just lying.

The poet, seeing the demon's explicit performance, could no longer tolerate her affectation. She slammed the kettle down, along with her tried-to-maintain politeness.

"This pretentious lady is my creditor, Knight of Sassen, if you must know."

Chapter 129 Harvest

Edim looked bewildered, completely confused as to why Judith was so angry. He had spoken with Judith several times before, and while she might be a bit superficial and simple, she was still quite nice to him.

"Do you owe Ms. Hopper money?" the knight asked rashly, completely unaware that Judith was about to explode. "Is the amount owed large? I believe Ms. Hopper wouldn't be so heartless."

After saying this, he looked at Hopper with a pleading look.

Hopper just smiled and said nothing, perfunctorily responding: "Dear Edim, this is between Judith and me, don't ask."

The knight wasn't one to give up easily. His sense of responsibility and compassion for the weak wouldn't allow him to sit idly by. Unable to convince Hopper, he turned to Judith, "Ms. Judith, could you please tell me what happened? I'm sure Hopper isn't too stingy and wouldn't push you too hard. If it's truly difficult, I can help you with some of the burden."

The poet looked up at Hopper, whose eyes were full of mockery. Judith seemed to hear a voice whispering in her ear: "Foolish Judith Green Harbor, if you accept this woman's advances, how will you ever hold your head up in front of her again?"

"I don't owe you anything!" Judith held her head high and looked straight at Hopper, her sharp voice echoing in the small room.

She had only read the contract once and didn't remember much about its details, but she did remember that Hopper could only take one of her most valuable possessions.

"You may take my most valuable possession now. What do you want? My lute? Or my gold?"