Release that Witch

...

”So, you’re going to help him?” said Marl Tokat as he knitted his brows. ”To help a remnant church member?”

After Sean sent Joe away, he immediately sent for the emissary of the City of Glow and told him the whole story. He did not believe the three noble families would try to keep the treasure for themselves, because none of them knew what it was used for. If the treasure was really something extremely powerful, they should not have had it smuggled out of the Kingdom of Dawn in the first place.

”I don’t make the call as to whether I should help him or not,” said Sean indifferently. ”My instruction is to find the treasure as soon as possible. Now, I’ve finally obtained a clue that sounds reliable, so naturally I should further confirm its credibility. As for what comes next, I’ll leave it to His Majesty.” He paused for a moment, rested his eyes on Marl and asked, ”So, do you have any good plans, Mr. Emissary?”

The First Army was invincible, but their unparalleled power would be of no use if there was not an enemy to compete with. Since the First Army did not have expertise in searching for cunning spies, it would be better to place the matter in the three noble families’ hands.

”To be completely honest, I wish I had never listened to this story,” Marl said, shrugging. ”Lady Quinn was expelled from the Kingdom of Dawn because of the church. If there were no church, she would probably have married my brother now... Ahem, but since you’ve asked, I’ll try my best to assist you. Although there have been many visitors to the town recently, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a particular group of people.”

”A particular group of people?”

”Yes, as the passage to the Cage Mountain is blocked, the fastest way to get here from the Kingdom of Wolfheart is via sea. People have to go through Coral Bay, a port city in the northeast of Thorn Town,” Marl replied as he counted on his fingers. ”We are going to look for fleets coming from the east, with around 10 to 15 crew members, probably with a little Wolfheart accent, and dressed up like Wolfheart citizens. Based on these criteria, we’ll be able to narrow our target down to only several fleets. I reckon there are less than five that meet all these criteria.”

”Is this because Coral Bay... is the only big city in the east? Once we circle out these people, are we going to detain and interrogate them all?” Sean asked thoughtfully. The situation was pretty similar to that in Neverwinter. Many people came to Neverwinter from the east but none the west, except the demons. ”

”That’s right,” Marl answered with a nod. ”The spy you’re looking for is very likely among them.”

”But who should do all this work?”

”Is there anyone else who knows better than the town than the local Rats? A problem that can be solved with money isn’t really a problem,” Marl replied smilingly as he placed his hand on his chest. ”To show the sincerity of the three families, the Tokats is willing to bear all the expenses incurred.”

...

In a residential house in the suburb of Thorn Town, the butler of the Earl of the Archduke Island, Hagrid, was fanning impatiently, trying to keep the buzzing mosquitos away from him.

”What an awful place this is! There’s not even a mosquito net here,” thought Hagrid irritably. How was he supposed to live here two months later when summer started?

Hagrid still had no clue as to why the Magic Ceremony Cube illuminated.

He was not even sure whether the King of Graycastle was really coming for the treasure in the Temple of the Cursed.

”Maybe I should go and see what he is doing at the moment?” Hagrid thought.

Based on the information collected by his men, the Graycastle Exploration Team had arrived at Thorn Town two months ago. It appeared that they were planning something extraordinary. First, they had built a road in the mountain. Then, they had started to recruit death row prisoners. They had also turned the temple on the mountainside inside out. Every day, they shipped bricks and stones from the mountain and piled them up in an open field constantly guarded by the soldiers.

It made perfect sense if they excavated the ground to search for the hidden treasure. However, Graycastle seemed to be more enthusiastic for stones than the treasure itself. Hagrid had once watched them work from a distance. He had seen the soldiers air slabs and bricks in the sun before shipping them to Coral Bay in the east via carriage.

Hagrid did not understand what the King of Graycastle used these black stones for.

He had also managed to obtain some of the stones from the port and asked his men to send them to Earl Lorenzo. As he had expected, the stones did not help the Magic Ceremony Cube recover its legendary power.

The key to activating this ancient treasure must be something else.

”Sir, the person you’re looking for is here,” reported a man who lifted the curtain and came in.

”Send him in,” Hagrid said as he straightened up and turned up the collar of his coat.

”Yes, sir!”

A villager-looking man was pushed in. He knelt down on the floor, looked up at Hagrid gingerly and said, ”Sir, my name is Knaff. Do you want to climb up the mountain? As long as you don’t intend to cross the mountain, I can take you anywhere you want...”

”You were the guide for the Graycastle men when they arrived at the Cage Mountain?” Hagrid talked over him.

”Y-yes... sir.”

...

Hagrid tossed him a small pouch and said, ”Here’s 20 gold royals. If you can give me information that would interest me, they’ll be yours.”

”Of, of course, sir. I’ll tell you everything I know!” Knaff said hotly.

”Tell me what happened in detail. I want to know everything,” said Hagrid as he swept the villager with a disdainful look and reclined against his armchair.

When Hagrid heard the exploration team climb up the Cage Mountain, his eyes snapped open. He asked, ”Hang on, what did you just say?”

”The witch called Azima —”

”No, after that!”

”Um, she said, ’this way’, with a coin in her hand.”

”A coin?” Hagrid pursued. ”What does it look like?”

”It looks pretty plain, neither like a silver royal nor a bronze royal,” Knaff replied after a moment of contemplation. ”Right, the coin isn’t patterned. It seems to be a thin slice of polished metal.”

”Was the witch holding it all the time?” Hagrid asked, having a vague feeling that this was probably the key.

”Most of the time she was,” The guide answered with a look of dawning comprehension. ”Now I remember that this group of people followed the witch. Every time they took a turn, the witch would place the coin in front of her and gaze at it for a while.”

”Damn it! So it does have something to do with witches!”

Hagrid clenched his fist and asked, ”Where’s that witch... called Azima?”

”I, I don’t know,” Knaff said while shaking his head vigorously. ”She left Thorn Town immediately. Perhaps... she returned to Graycastle?”

If the witch had stayed at Thorn Town for only a few days, then she must have departed the Cage Mountain before he had left the Archduke Island. However, The Magic Ceremony Cube had been illuminating since his departure, which meant... she had left the coin here. Hagrid resolved a multitude of thoughts in his mind. He came to realize that this particular coin was probably a ”key” discovered by the King of Graycastle from the ruins. Since it was so important, he speculated that it must be in the custody of the leader of the Exploration Team.

Hagrid had learned who the leaders of the Exploration Team were a long time ago. The personnels of the highest rank of the exploration team were the commander-in-chief, Sean, and the emissary of the three families, Marl.

He thought the king’s guard might be easier to deal with compared to the second son of the Tokat family. Like the old saying went, fortresses always crumbled from within.

How many gold royals did he have to prepare in order to pry open the guard’s mouth?

500... or 1,000?

Hagrid knew Earl Lorenzo would pay whatever it required to know the secret of the Magic Cube.

Once he managed to touch base with that commander, he would soon be able to learn the answer.

Hagrid was thrilled by his plan.

If he could get the ”key” to the treasure, Earl Lorenzo would definitely rely on his counsels more. Perhaps one day, he would even become a lord. After all, anyone could use the Magic Cube. It did not have to be a lord necessarily.

While he was fantasizing about his bright future, there was a pattering of running feet outside the door.

”Wait a minute, who are you —”

”Aargh!”

With clinks and clanks, the door was forced open. Before Hagrid realized it, a group of patroller-like men rushed into his room and prostrated him to the floor.

Hagrid yelled, struggling, ”I, I’m a law-abiding merchant. You can’t do this to me! I can offer you as much money as you want —”

”The lord of Thorn Town suspects that some church dregs are hiding among your crews. We request your full cooperation with our investigation at once!” The men said firmly. ”Save all the talk for his lordship!”