Chapter 227: Learning
"Feeding on an ogre?" Stanley asked from where he sat in a corner, a large book on the table in front of him.
Despite the difficulty it was to get candles to the encampment, the mages still insisted on staying up late, sourcing books from other villages or townships, and altogether being difficult to work with because they didn’t trust the knights who didn’t trust them.
Each time they looked upon the knights suspiciously, Irene couldn’t help feeling bad that it was humans who made the mages act in such a way. If she could only communicate to the southerners that acting rude to the mages only furthered their mistrust, then things would likely go on much more smoothly.
When they arrived with their news of what they witnessed on the scouting trip, the knights from Hydrogia seemed hesitant to be forthcoming with what they witnessed.
It didn’t help that Commander Lothian seemed suspicious of mages as well, even though he insisted his men worked well with them.
Even if she couldn’t say something to sway the knights, Irene decided to speak to the mage instead.
"Yes," she confirmed. "They responded to the poison on one side of the valley where they were hiding. When they left the space to go to the other side, a half-eaten ogre was revealed to us. I’ve never seen the monsters eat one another."
When Stanley stopped turning the pages in his book, he pulled a quill from the desk drawer and began scratching down a bit of information.
"And no source of this poison to be seen, I assume?" Stanley continued.
"Nothing like that," Gunnar explained. "There were very few instances of witnessing the poison. In fact, we didn’t smell it the entire time we were in the hills. It’s almost as if this originates much closer to the Duke’s Tower. Of course, I have no proof of that. None of us have been able to get close enough to the Duke’s Tower to say whether or not it’s still polluted with the stuff."
"Then that must be the next objective," Stanley responded with a nod. "The only way we will leave this place is if we cut off the poison from its source."