Chapter 31: Aren’t You A Local?
The wilderness is vast and open, not easy to hide in.
Anse saw no one from the city following them out, and he felt slightly relieved. From leaving the battlefield until now, he had always felt countless eyes watching him from behind.
The Flame Fist might not have malicious intent and might even be looking forward to his joining, but he didn’t like the word “forced.”
“What happened?” Brat caught up to Anse in a few steps, his tone a bit worried.
“Soradin said the Grand Duke issued a conscription order to form a warband…” Anse briefly explained the reason.
“That’ll offend a lot of people.” Brat looked puzzled. “They still dare to conscript paladins?”
“Elite professionals and clergy are of course exempt; they can only hire at high prices. Land can protect us too, but if we hide in the church and don’t come out, won’t that break us off from the Flame Fist and the Grand Duke? Better not to meet.” Anse explained.
The Flame Fist has elite barbarians; commoners and common professionals probably don’t have the capital to refuse, especially since the remuneration they offer is very generous.
“Makes sense.” Brat nodded slightly. “Joining the warband might not be dangerous, but not going is definitely not dangerous.
It’s a pity about those loot; not handling them personally always feels like something’s missing.”
Anse laughed. “We only killed small fry; those merfolk came empty-handed and left empty-handed, probably with nothing good, at most worth some bounty.”
“The bounty isn’t small either.” Brat seemed to think of something. “That priest’s scepter was nice; it seems Land chopped it up, and it’s in that pile of things.
And those giant crabs—I asked around, they’re edible, taste great, nobles’ exclusive supply…”
Nearby, Finn looked down at the crab legs and crab meat in his hands, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
“The Kuo-Toa High Priest was killed by Land; the loot doesn’t belong to us.” Anse explained. His hold person spell had netted him 385 combat experience, and he was already very satisfied.
He hadn’t expected beforehand that dealing no damage could net so much experience; killing it solo would probably only give a couple thousand experience at most. It seemed harder combats gave more shared experience.
After walking a while, the sun rose higher, the temperature hot and stifling; sweat beaded on their foreheads.
Brat looked back; the city district was getting smaller, almost out of sight.
“Better to leave.” He looked wistful. “If those merfolk sneak attack at night, you can’t even sleep well.”
“The merfolk probably won’t come.” Anse inferred.
“Why? They can jump into the water anytime, come and go as they please.” Brat was puzzled.
“Think from the merfolk’s perspective: they don’t live in your house or eat your grain—what’s in it for them? Is human flesh tastier than sea fish? Everything needs a motivation, right?”
“Then why did they come?”
“Probably the duergar and Kuo-Toa allied. Kuo-Toa dream of returning to the surface world; allying is normal, and the invasion was just to support the duergar.
Merfolk are amphibious creatures, mainly living in shallows, river water, and ocean. Now they’ve achieved their goal—who knows how carefree they are. With Dragon Bridge down, duergar can’t cross, so Kuo-Toa unlikely to fight hard again…”
These were all Anse’s guesses, but probably close to the truth.
If Kuo-Toa really blockade the Chongsa River, disaster would soon follow.
The Chongsa River stretches east to Dragon Lake, nearly two thousand kilometers, flowing through many cities and kingdoms—it’s the economic lifeline. If blocked, who knows how many would go mad.
“Hope your inference is right.” Brat’s mood improved a lot.
Finn suddenly leaned over. “Too hot.”
Anse thought he wanted to rest somewhere, but before he could speak, Finn shoved a pile of crab legs and crab meat in front of him.
“How did I never notice you were such a foodie?”
Complaints aside, he still fired off two rays of frost to freeze and cool the giant crab.
If it goes bad, it can’t be eaten.
“Walk a bit farther.” Anse waved his hand.
“Okay…”
After the heavy rain, the ground was muddy and extremely hard to traverse.
There were many refugees on the road, in twos and threes or in groups.
But everyone kept their distance; when they met, they hurried away, fearing ill intent.
In great disasters come great chaos; under hunger, greed, and despair, what can’t people do?
After walking a while, they found a dry woodland to rest.
Anse pulled out the map, climbed a tree, and compared for a long time, finding the area ahead barren, with the marked pasture nonexistent.
“Old map?” Finn communicated with Greyhawk for a bit and confirmed the map was wrong; they’d left the city district only two or three hours ago, impossible to be off position.
Brat looked at Anse, eyes doubtful. “You’re not a local?”
“Uh…” Anse smiled awkwardly. “You know, I’ve been focused on studying spells for years, haven’t left the city much, barely been to Livington a few times.”
In reality, Baldur’s Gate here differed greatly from what he knew in his previous life from books or games; many memories didn’t directly apply, let alone the wilderness.
A single magic pollution or otherworldly being migration could upend an area’s ecology.
Brat decided to use his ultimate adventuring wisdom: “Follow the sun. Head west all the way, and you’ll reach the seaside.”
“Makes sense.” Anse gave him a thumbs up.
“Heh.” Finn was expressionless, probably agreeing.
“Let’s eat something.”
Brat and the other gathered firewood; Anse used prestidigitation to light the fire.
Finn handled cooking; he often lived in the wild and cooked for himself.
Breakfast was crab legs—no seasonings needed; simply grilled, they were aromatic, chewy, briny-sweet, truly top-tier ingredients.
Giant crabs are medium-sized amphibious creatures, human-sized, can carry merfolk at speed, but not strong in combat; usually trained by Kuo-Toa as mounts.
Finn brought only a few crab legs, some crab meat, and crab shells—thirty or forty pounds. The shells could be smoothed into shields: light and hard, better than common shields.
After a full meal, Anse leaned on his backpack and quietly pulled up his character card.
The silver dice’s third symbol was just short of fully lighting up; he couldn’t help feeling expectant.
Experience at 2067/2700—one battle netting nearly a thousand experience, barely any spells cast, completely safe and effortless.
‘Paladins are really top-tier workers.’
Equipment slot had a new magical item named 「Amulet of Cooperation」, glowing with pearly white light.
‘The holy symbol Land gave me.’
He understood; with a thought, he touched the holy symbol, and the dice immediately showed its details.
【Magical Item: Amulet of Cooperation】
「Type」: Curio
「Rarity」: Rare
This is a platinum holy symbol, sacred emblem of the God of Justice Tyr, once worn and used by a paladin. Creatures of evil alignment cannot use it.
「Evil Warning」: When approached or stared at closely by a creature of evil alignment, the holy symbol warns you.
「Otherworldly Mount」: Summon an otherworldly being as a loyal mount, bind a soul contract, fight or adventure together.
You can dismiss or recall it anytime; if the mount dies, you can summon a new one, but rejection chance increases.
