Chapter 221 : Chapter 221
Chapter 221. Investigation
After the Church of the Goddess of the Currents entered the city, Blake specially arranged a batch of houses for them, driving the original residents away to other areas.
Bishop Gillian, meanwhile, stayed in a warm room. The room had been specially designed so that the heat from the fireplace could easily spread throughout the entire space.
There were not many decorations in the room, and Bishop Gillian sat in a wooden chair, thinking about what to do next.
A rhythmic knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
A church knight of the Church of the Goddess of the Currents stepped in from outside and respectfully lowered his head.
“Your Excellency, Bishop, the inquiries you ordered us to make have all produced results.”
“First, tell me about the situation ahead. Why are all those mercenaries still stranded within Snow Bear Territory?”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The church knight cleared his throat, then continued,
“According to the information we gathered, a beastman tribe from the Northern Frontier is blocking the roads that continue west and north. Every road has a squad of at least thirty men standing in the way.”
“That is why those mercenaries cannot get through, and why they still believe those thieves are somewhere inside Snow Bear Territory.”
“So that means those thieves are still inside Snow Bear Territory, correct?”
“Yes. If those thieves are clever enough, then they will know that nearly all the roads ahead are blocked, while more and more people are arriving from behind.”
“There is no way forward and no way back. That is why those thieves have been trapped in Snow Bear Territory.”
“Their best choice would be to hide in the mountains and forests, leave markers behind, and wait for a while...”
“But they cannot travel through the forests. There is not a single astrologer in their group.”
Without the guidance of roads, no team could maintain the same direction all the way to its destination.
In this otherworldly land, the forests were an extremely hostile place. The trees there could change direction, and the magical creatures there were even better at hiding themselves.
An ordinary team would most likely lose its bearings in the forest and then die at the hands of those hidden magical creatures.
An astrologer, however, was the solution to that problem.
In the forest, the terrain could change, the roads could change, the magical creatures one encountered could change, and even the magnetic needle used to indicate direction could change. Every point of reference became unreliable.
But there was one thing that would never change: the stars in the sky above.
If someone had the talent and could use the most basic Observation Method, then they would basically never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their life.
Originally, the Observation Method had been a monopoly of the Alliance, but the surrounding powers had long coveted this means of determining direction with certainty.
As early as the era before maritime trade had flourished, other powers had already stolen the Observation Method and used it for navigation.
By now, although the Observation Method could be purchased in almost any somewhat larger city, whether a person could actually use it still depended somewhat on talent.
And with the rise of maritime trade, long-distance ships had an even more urgent need for astrologers.
So even though astrologers had become more numerous, the increase in demand meant they were still a rare breed.
Even apprentices within the Alliance who learned the Observation Method never had to worry about finding work after graduating from an academy. This skill was simply too sought after.
Even inside the Alliance, there were always people recruiting apprentices who knew the Observation Method.
The room fell silent for a while, with only the fireplace still crackling.
Gillian tapped the armrest of her chair and continued,
“Go tell those priests that later I will draw up a search roster and carry out a full search of Snow Bear Territory.”
“As for those beastman tribes, hehe... I knew they would obey the orders of that city lord. They have always had dealings with him, so it is nothing strange for them to help in this matter.”
“Let part of our people handle the search. My guess is that those beastman tribes may have been arranged to attack us directly.”
Gillian immediately thought of the best choice at present: remain in Snow Bear City and wait for those beastman tribes to attack.
The Northern Frontier was the home ground of those beastmen. If she led her people out there, they might be wiped out by the beastmen in a matter of minutes.
It would be better to remain in Snow Bear City instead. Those beastmen would definitely choose the simplest method in such a race: eliminate their competitors.
She knew very well why those beastmen all lived in places such as icy wastelands and deserts. They were irritable, simple-minded, and impatient, so they were only fit for rough work.
If they were told to conduct a carpet search of Snow Bear Territory, even the beastman chieftains themselves would probably not believe their subordinates could search the whole territory without missing anything.
When it came to fighting, those beastmen were very capable. But when it came to finding something, any random mercenary dragged in from White Dragon Harbor would do a better job than they would.
So the beastmen would do nothing more than guard the transportation routes and play to their strengths: eliminate their rivals.
Rather than sending everyone out to search for those thieves, it would be better to remain in Snow Bear City first and prepare for the attack that might come.
After all, whoever brought that item out of the Northern Frontier would be the final victor.
It was not only Gillian whom the Church of the Goddess of the Currents had dispatched here. The lord of White Dragon Harbor had hired almost all the mercenaries, so the Church had naturally mobilized a large number of believers as well.
It was just that the Church’s believers usually traveled with the ships and did not all remain in one place. The force she had brought was already the closest group to this location.
Along the route they had taken to get here, there should already have been a large number of believers of the Church of the Goddess of the Currents lying in wait.
As long as that item had not left through the beastman tribes’ side, there was no way it would not end up in their hands.
Gillian tapped the armrest again and asked,
“And what about that mage who may be from the Alliance? Did you find out anything clearly?”
By now, she more or less understood some of the arrangements made by the lord of White Dragon Harbor. At present, none of that posed any problem for them.
But there was still one major variable on this battlefield: the mage at Blake Snow Bear’s side. She could not see through the other party’s origins or intentions.
“We looked into it. Almost everyone said they had never seen that mage before, and that her first appearance was at the city gate of Snow Bear City.”
“At that time, she told the guards, ‘I am a battle mage of the Northern Society. I came here to carry out a task for the lord of Snow Bear Territory.’”
“And as for that Northern Society...” The church knight hesitated for a moment, then went on,
“Some of the commoners said the Northern Society really does exist, and that it is a paradise in the Northern Frontier. Once you enter it, you will never again suffer the bitter cold...”
“Some said it does not exist at all, and that the knight-lords told them so.”
“Others hemmed and hawed about it, as though they were worried about something... As for the mercenaries, only a few of them said that the Northern Society really does exist, and that it lies to the south of Snow Bear Territory...”
“So does the Northern Society truly exist?” Uncertainty colored Gillian’s voice, but the church knight, head still lowered, gave her no answer.
The pace at which Gillian tapped the armrest quickened slightly, like the irritation now rising in her heart.