Chapter 117: Hollewen
In the early morning, bright sunlight passed through the glass, filling the room.
Anse sat up, scanned the warmly furnished large room, and lay back down.
‘Was it a dream? A bit strange.’
Since becoming a professional, he basically hadn’t dreamed, and his sleep quality had gotten better and better.
He rolled out of bed. Everything in the room was as usual, his body showed no abnormalities, and instead he felt energetic, with mana full and in good condition.
‘Could it be that I miss women?’
He pursed his lips, thinking he must have been under too much stress lately.
‘I wonder how the Amn people are doing, if they slept well?’
Thinking of this, he grew a bit impatient, let out a strange laugh, and immediately got dressed, washed up, and went out.
A waiter was waiting outside the door. Upon seeing him, the waiter bowed and directly led him to the dining room.
Breakfast had long been prepared, but he was the only one there; the others were absent.
The old butler said Illyas had gone out early in the morning and, if nothing unexpected, had probably gone to the city.
Anse enjoyed breakfast alone, with the old butler and waiter serving at the side, giving him the illusion that he was the castle lord.
‘No wonder everyone wants to be a noble; this feeling is really nice.’
After eating, he flew to the city wall and set up the telescope to observe the Amn people’s camp.
But it was completely empty there; all the tents were gone, not a single shadow figure in sight, only mess left everywhere.
‘Looks like they left in a hurry.’
The Amn people must have perceived the problem but didn’t know the source, so out of caution, they temporarily withdrew.
This withdrawal was exactly to Anse’s liking.
There was an important city to the south of Dulag—Nascal, bordering Cloud Mist Mountain, a key gateway to the Kingdom of Amn.
This place also belonged to Amn, with extremely high strategic value, a veritable bridgehead for Amn’s northward advance.
Once those cursed treasures entered Nascal, or even circulated, it would likely cause larger-scale panic and chaos, leaving Amn too busy to handle its own affairs.
The vault curse wasn’t fatal, but it was very tormenting.
Anse was in a great mood. The Emerald Kingdom was trouble enough, and now Amn was restless too—perfect time to give them something to do.
‘I must pin the hat of traitor on them too.’ He decided to help properly publicize it for Amn.
At this moment, a black dot rapidly flew in from the distance. Only upon approaching did he see it was a flying carpet with a shadow figure sitting on it, purple cloak flapping loudly.
The flying carpet suddenly changed direction, heading straight for Anse, then hovered in front of him.
Illyas looked at Anse with worry in her eyes, silent for a long time.
“What’s wrong?” Anse felt a bit creeped out by her stare.
“Baldur’s Gate has fallen!” Illyas said softly, as if afraid of startling him.
Anse frowned: “Upper City, or all of it?”
“Except for Livington on the south bank, all city districts have fallen to underground creatures. It’s said… three grand dukes perished.” Illyas raised her hand to tidy her wind-tousled hair, her gaze fixed on Anse.
“What a pity.” Anse breathed a sigh of relief.
The people he cared about were all in Livington: Land, Zahir, Soradin…
The fall of Baldur’s Gate was somewhat expected, after all; this wasn’t any accident, but premeditated.
“Doesn’t Baldur’s Gate have anyone you care about?” Illyas felt Anse’s reaction was abnormal.
Anse looked into the distance, expression calm: “My parents, mentor, classmates all died. The rest of my life is only accompanied by magic; what’s there to lament.”
Illyas fell silent, suddenly feeling she shouldn’t have asked.
Anse had no idea of her inner thoughts; he had just casually spoken from the original owner’s perspective without much care.
“When did the Amn people leave?”
Illyas came back to her senses and replied: “I asked; they withdrew at dawn.”
“Do you think they’ll come back?”
“No!” Illyas said firmly, pointing her wand toward Claw Bay. “Green dragon traces have been spotted along the line from Blue Water City to Candlekeep, along with large numbers of wyvern guard.
Abel’s Emerald Kingdom may launch retaliation, with Candlekeep, Beregost, and Nascal bearing the brunt.
The Amn people are too busy with their own issues to provoke us.”
Though Nascal was south-southwest of Dulag, it lay along the coastal highway, making it convenient for transport and more vulnerable to attack.
In comparison, Dulag’s west side was blocked by Toothed Forest, relatively safer.
“Sounds pretty good.” Anse chuckled. After so much travel, he had finally left the war front.
Constant combat was indeed exhilarating and leveled up quickly, but mentally taxing. Hiding in the rear for a temporary rest wasn’t bad, and he could check Amn’s strength along the way.
Amn was always stirring this and provoking that, acting tough. The fertile Emerald Plains lay right before them; he’d see if they had the ability to take it.
“I posted a task at the Watchers Guild to find resurrection items. If you have channels, help ask around.” Illyas showed some urgency between her brows. “Also, try not to go out unnecessarily.
The Amn people won’t mobilize in large numbers, but they might send elites to assassinate you.”
“Mm, I know.” Anse considered himself always fairly cautious.
After a word of advice, Illyas went to the dining room for breakfast.
But as if going against Illyas, Anse conspicuously flew out of the castle and low over the town.
He did it on purpose, to let Dulag’s people know he came from Jacqueline Castle, gaining some trust to make recruitment easier.
Every town had intermediary-like organizations, and many guilds handled this too—recruiting manpower, procurement of supplies, etc., saving lots of time.
Anse asked around as he went and found the Stonemason Guild.
This guild felt a bit like a talent market from his previous life. It wasn’t just artisans; it could find all the manpower needed for city construction, many being farmers who had lost their land.
As for why not directly approach those farmers, because they had land to till and wouldn’t easily risk it.
Only those with no way out might believe an outsider like Anse.
The Stonemason Guild’s building wasn’t large but very unique, blending various styles. Even the decorative murals, sculptures, and railings changed at every step—both showing off skills and serving as a business card.
As soon as Anse stepped through the gate, a halfling came to greet him.
“Distinguished guest, what do you need?” The halfling wore a custom formal wear; his mustache quivered as he spoke, somewhat comical.
“Recruitment. My territory has vast uncultivated land, absolutely safe, 40% tax.” Anse got straight to the point.
40% tax was definitely not high; most places’ agricultural tax exceeded 50%, plus all sorts of miscellaneous taxes. Many farmers worked a year without enough seeds left for the next.
“May I ask where your territory is?” the halfling asked carefully.
“Hollewen, very far away—hard to return once gone.” Anse didn’t hide it, to avoid anyone unable to accept. “I can guarantee their safety. Ask if anyone’s willing.”
“Hollewen…” The halfling muttered, eyes blank.
“Anse?!” A voice suddenly rang out from the door.
