Chapter 145: Wizard Barbarian
Quentin pulled the shop manager into the room for a brief interrogation, and the events of the past two days became generally clear.
Graham’s son somehow discovered a parasitized adventurer, but he did not report it, instead secretly hiding him in the secret room.
The shop manager could not be kept in the dark about this, but the manager did not understand the situation and did not dare to ask too much.
He would probably never have imagined, even if he racked his brains, that this matter was so serious.
To be reasonable, the Federation high-ranking officials were well aware of the horrific state after being parasitized by a Mind Flayer tadpole, including Graham and his son.
The previous captured parasite was still being held in the dungeon.
But Devon did not stop his dangerous behavior until he lost his life.
He might not have been entirely willing, but now there was no need to discuss that.
Anse beckoned to Quentin and said calmly, “Seal the Iron Crown, send people to search all their shops and residences under their banner, do not overlook any suspicious people or items, especially a kind of purple jar.
Once Councillor Graham calms down, send him home to rest, and temporarily… prohibit him from going out.”
“This… I’ll go do it right away!” Quentin gritted his teeth; this matter allowed no fence-sitting.
If not for the president’s “stroke of genius,” in a few more days, the Iron Crown might have turned into a demon den.
Illyas sat on the flying carpet, quietly watching all this, her eyes carrying a bit of melancholy.
“It seems the Iron Crown should have nothing to do with the Iron Throne.” Anse walked to her side.
“Heh, there must be cooperation; if you don’t believe me, go ask Graham.” Illyas was very certain; she never said anything without basis.
“Tomorrow.” Anse nodded toward the courtyard, “Does he have no other relatives?”
“Probably not.” Illyas seemed unwilling to discuss this and proactively changed the topic, “Didn’t you say Mind Flayers are very smart? How were they spotted by you right after making a move?”
“Couldn’t it be that I am even wiser?” Anse tapped his temple with the gem on his scepter, a smile on his face.
“Speak human.” Illyas rolled her eyes at him.
“A guess.” Anse shrugged, “Someone wants to stir up the situation, confuse the public, or force me out; besides the Amn people, it seems the Mind Flayers benefit the most.
That Mind Flayer will soon enter the complete form state; at that time, in the entire Dulag, only the two of us could threaten it.”
“Only you.” Illyas sighed; mind blast ignores most protections, and aside from wizards and paladins, other spellcasters really can’t withstand it.
Her heart stirred, and she asked doubtfully, “How did you discover that secret room?”
True sight and detect evil and good would both be blocked by earth and stone or metal; finding a well-hidden secret room was almost impossible.
“Arcane eye.” Anse replied casually.
“Don’t you know shield of fire?”
“Oh, I know quite a few.”
Illyas immediately lost interest in talking, whooshed into the sky, and soon disappeared from sight.
“Is it necessary?” Anse shook his head slightly.
But he knew part of it was due to today’s events; Illyas was in low spirits.
At this time, Quentin trotted over small steps and handed him a palm-sized purple olive-shaped jar.
“There really is one.” Anse’s heart skipped a beat, “Where was it found?”
“Right in the hidden compartment of the secret room.” Quentin looked puzzled, “What is this?”
“Young Mind Flayer.”
“Hiss…” Quentin sucked in a breath of cold air, then his face darkened, “Destroy it!”
Anse focused his mind on the jar:
【Brain Fluid Jar, rare, Young Mind Flayer: 5/10】
“I’ll handle it properly.” He put the jar into the dragonhide pouch.
Quentin hesitated to speak but ultimately said nothing, commanding the guards to clean up the site.
When the guards carried away the brain-eating monster, Mind Flayer corpses, and bags of headless skulls, the onlookers exploded.
“Councillor Graham usually seems quite upright…”
“Don’t talk nonsense; clearly his son pitted him!”
“You know all about it…”
“Don’t make me punch you.”
“…”
Anse left first to reduce exposure, leaving everything to Quentin to handle.
The appearance of the Mind Flayer made him uneasy; if it turned into an aberration paradise right after he became president, that would be too embarrassing.
‘Why do I feel like I was tricked…’
Back at the Federation, he went straight to the guard barracks and had the on-duty personnel bring the investigation report on Matthew.
According to the confessions of those adventurers, their group fled from Silver Scale Bay without stopping, running southeast, passing through the edge of Cloak Forest and the coastal highway midway, spending most of their time traversing the wilderness.
The others were not close to Matthew; several had joined midway and did not know when Matthew became “chatty.”
‘High probability it was that night when Silver Scale Bay had its incident; who knows how many such people there are.’ Anse put down the report, feeling a large net spreading toward Faerun.
He entered the dim dungeon, confirmed those adventurers had no issues, and had them released.
The adventurer Fulga, parasitized by a Mind Flayer tadpole, was marked with the Paradise Seal by him and teleported directly to the second floor of the Black Tower, then personally sent into a sealed cell.
Fulga was still in the mutation process, with gray-purple skin and a slightly deformed head; it looked like tentacles would grow soon, but he was currently helpless with no ability to resist—even an ordinary person could kill him.
But a few days later, he would fully become a Mind Flayer mastering psionic power!
‘Just seven days; what a magical race.’ Anse stood at the prison door, observing Fulga inside through the one-way transparent black stone door.
It was said that Mind Flayers were a group of mentally ill with self-destructive tendencies, entirely led and controlled by the elder brain through the psionic network; this “hive mind” could suppress or even strip away individual Mind Flayer thoughts.
The elder brain was a gigantic brain-like creature with terrifying psionic power, floating in a heavily protected brain pool, rarely moving.
‘Isn’t this just a central server?’ Anse suddenly thought of the internet from his previous life, ‘So Mind Flayers are all netizens.’
Fortunately, the elder brain’s psionic network generally did not exceed ten kilometers; if it were dozens or hundreds of kilometers, that would be truly terrifying.
He put the newly acquired brain fluid jar together with the previous one, then teleported back to the Federation.
Directly experimenting on people was too cruel and dark, and might break an oath, but Fulga was already parasitized, perfect for familiarizing himself with Mind Flayers.
——
The aberration parasite incident implicating a Federation councillor was the talk of the town, with streets, alleys, and taverns buzzing; most adventurers were hearing about monsters like brain-eating monsters and Mind Flayers for the first time.
This was not gossip but a regional disaster involving their own safety; many adventurers felt like retreating.
But some had full confidence in the new president; hidden dangers were not scary—what was rare was solving them in time every time.
At least the former president Stol, rumored to be dead, could not do that; he always waited for things to explode before acting, dealing with potentially problematic people.
Approaching evening, several people in cloaks emerged from Toothed Forest and entered Dulag from the west gate.
One of them wore a gray robe, with a frail body, bald and beardless, pale skin, looking sickly.
He overheard snippets from passersby, and his dead-fish-like eyes moved: “Song, go ask what happened.”
“Yes.”
A tall figure left the group alone, hand to his waist, pulling out several iron coins that clinked.
Moments later, he caught up again and leaned close to the bald man: “Mentor, Dulag changed presidents, and Mind Flayers and brain-eating monsters appeared; one councillor’s son was parasitized…”
“Hm?” The bald man paused, a glint in his eyes, “Interesting, did they catch any alive?”
“Seems not; heard the corpses were blasted apart by magic missiles and shoveled away with iron shovels.” The tall apprentice added softly.
“What a waste, a bunch of spell barbarians!” The bald man looked disgusted, then turned his steps, “Let’s go, to Jacqueline Castle.”
“No need, mentor.” The apprentice looked troubled; last time they were thrown out right at the door, probably the same result this time.
The bald man’s expression stiffened, and he forcibly twisted his body back: “So late, indeed not polite; tomorrow then.”
