Chapter 19: Blade Wolf
“Can we go now?” Bald Bill gave a dry laugh.
“Able to bend and stretch, but unfortunately lacking in discernment.” Anse said indifferently.
“You’re right.” Bald Bill smiled obsequiously, but couldn’t help ranting wildly in his mind:
‘Why don’t you look in a mirror first? You’re all dirty and ragged, the one behind looks like a wild man, the one in front is a laborer, the weapons look very old, and the three of you together can’t even scrape together a suit of armor…’
How could Anse know what the other was thinking? He had always felt good about himself.
“Let me ask you something. Have you seen a magic apprentice from Fabian’s Mage Tower, also coming from Brampton District?”
“Uh,” Bald Bill thought for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No impression.”
“Then who did you hear say that mages can’t cast spells?” It would be strange if there wasn’t something fishy about someone daring to provoke a mage.
“It’s spreading everywhere. There’s a cult recruiting people, saying the world is changing greatly, a blue storm that sweeps everything is coming soon, and as long as you join them, you can gain the legendary blessing: holy curse scars, mastering the power of some kind of magic…”
“Blue Flame Cult?”
“Seems like that’s the name.”
“You can go now. Hope we don’t run into each other again.”
“No, no…”
Anse scanned the area, and the people around all avoided his gaze.
“Let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
The three quickened their pace to leave. Someone had already noticed here, and staying longer would easily cause trouble.
Brat’s expression wasn’t great. If he hadn’t been soft-hearted just now, letting the other think they were easy to bully, the conflict might not have happened.
“It’s not your fault.” Anse walked a few steps to his side. “Some people have noses sharper than dogs. With us carrying so many things, conflict was inevitable. It was just right to use the chance to intimidate the others.”
“Mm.” Brat responded.
Now that they formed a small team, he inevitably had more things to consider.
“What is the Blue Flame Cult?” He changed the topic.
“An evil cult organization that rose during the Arcane Cataclysm. With the return of the Goddess of Magic, it had long disappeared from history. It should be some people with ulterior motives impersonating them to profit.” Anse explained briefly.
“Oh.” A strange smile appeared on Brat’s face. “Never thought spellcasters would one day become soft persimmons.”
Anse chuckled and fell silent.
Mages had always been high above, synonymous with nobility and wealth. Now fallen into the mud, many people wanted to step on them.
But he knew this was only temporary. The mage community never lacked geniuses.
——
Rivertown District isn’t large. A main road extends south from Dragon Bridge, running through the entire City District, straight to the coastal highway outside the city.
This street is the most prosperous in Rivertown, also called Middle Street. The buildings on both sides are tall and grand, with constant patrols for vigilance. Public order and sanitation are much better than elsewhere.
Brat led the way, taking them to the distinctive gray-white stone building on the east side of the City Center main road.
The stone building has five floors, covers thousands of square meters, has a backyard, and behind the backyard is an even larger warehouse.
“I’ve been here before.” Anse recalled.
He was a local and knew of the place but had never gone in, because those adventurers with knives and swords looked quite dangerous.
“This is the Watchers Guild branch. Headquarters is in Sea Tower District. It’s one of the most famous adventurer’s guilds in Faerun…” Brat explained.
Toril is vast. Almost all guilds are local organizations. Even the strongest guilds can’t cover the entire Faerun continent; communication alone is a big problem.
Baldur’s Gate has many adventurer’s guilds, and Watchers Guild is the largest. It mainly operates in Sword Coast, with dozens of branches, covering an area of over a thousand kilometers around Baldur’s Gate. Among all adventurer’s guilds, it ranks in the top ten, quite strong.
Like other adventurer’s guilds, the core business of Watchers Guild is accepting commissions, including adventure, exploration, escort, procurement, and so on. It also offers intelligence transactions, equipment and materials sales, accommodation, food, medical care, and skills training.
Essentially, it’s an adventurer service institution aimed at profit.
“Lots of people.” Finn looked at the bustling crowd, his face returning to that stiff expression, a textbook social anxiety youth.
Anse patted Brat: “It’s up to you next.”
“Let’s go, first check the latest intelligence.” Brat stepped onto the stairs, heading straight to the hall. Anse and the other hurried to follow.
The first-floor hall spans two stories high, with three walls covered in various commissions, divided into five areas by color.
The wall opposite the entrance has a row of windows, specifically for providing various services to adventurers.
Brat scanned around, familiar memories surfacing in his mind, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
He led the two straight to a row of bulletin boards in the center of the hall: “This is the announcement area, with all public information. You can quickly learn about recent events…”
Anse glanced around and saw mostly major events around Baldur’s Gate, arranged chronologically, covering key news from the past three years, though the content was too brief.
“About the same as the Baldur’s Gate Gazette.” He shook his head.
“Haha, basically all excerpted from the gazette.” Brat laughed. “Truly valuable intelligence isn’t free.”
Anse’s mouth twitched. He hadn’t expected this kind of operation, wondering if they paid copyright fees.
He walked forward along the posting dates and found the latest few announcements.
【 Valley Reclamation Calendar 1699, Month of the Summer Tide, Magic Net Instability, causing endless calamities. Baldur’s Gate City District fell, connecting to Underdark…】
【 Duergar invaded Baldur’s Gate, Flame Fist suffered a great defeat…】
“No useful information.” He shook his head, somewhat disappointed.
He wanted more to know the reactions from other parties in the Lord’s Alliance, if there was aid? Were there other disasters in Faerun, like the band-shaped storms of the Blue Flame?
This world’s news was too closed off. You could only have a rough idea of your local area; other regions were a fog, only hearsay, which he wasn’t used to.
“You can pay for intelligence, but it’s expensive.” Brat smiled. “Come on, let’s settle in first.”
“Good.”
He led the two to the north window area, then along a corridor on one side into another small hall. A banner hung on the wall, reading Adventurer’s Home.
The small hall had a counter, behind which sat a halfling playing with a few dice.
Brat took a silver shield-shaped badge from his bosom and placed it on the counter: “One large room.”
The halfling looked up at them, picked up the badge, and started registering: “Knife Wolf, number 0071-02-05-237529, intermediate adventurer, one large room, 5 silver coins per night, room and water only. How many days?”
“One day first.” Brat ignored Anse’s odd gaze, pulled a large money bag from the bundle, counted out 60 copper coins, and placed them on the counter.
Seeing all copper coins, the halfling was somewhat displeased, leaned over the counter, and counted for a long time with his hairy little hand. Confirming 10 extra copper coins, his face immediately lit up.
“Right, right…”
He muttered as he pocketed the 10 copper coins into his own money bag, swept the rest into the drawer, grabbed a key from under the counter, and tossed it to Brat:
“You’re in luck, just two rooms left. Yours is third floor, room 28, sunny, clean, has washroom. Stay easy, lose something and we compensate.”
“Thanks, thanks.” Brat took back his adventurer badge, beckoned to Anse and the other, and headed up the stairs in the corner of the small hall.
Anse watched silently the whole time, letting Brat handle everything.
They went up to the third floor. Seeing the corridor empty, he couldn’t help asking: “Knife Wolf? Is there such a species?”
He’d almost lost it hearing that name earlier. If not for transmigrating, he’d think Brat was a fan of that singer too.
Brat gave an awkward laugh: “There is. Because I have green eyes, and as a kid my canine teeth stuck out, companions all said I looked like a knife wolf, so… haha…”
“Haha…” Anse smiled faintly. Brat’s canine teeth were indeed distinctive. “There are actually empty rooms here. I thought it would be full ages ago.”
“Adventurer’s Guild only provides accommodation and food for intermediate and above adventurers. Each person can have at most one room, but can bring two others.” Brat explained.
“Mm, without the threshold, we probably wouldn’t have a chance to stay.” Anse thought gratefully. “How are adventurers ranked?”
“Adventurers and adventurer groups are divided into levels 1-5.” Brat replied. “But everyone habitually calls them beginner, intermediate, advanced, master, legendary.
Some guilds name them by badge material: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, arcana…”
Prices reference the official handbook, with possible minor adjustments, but not much change.
Thanks to all reader lords for your support and suggestions!
