Chapter 729 - You Can’t Study It
Chapter 729 You Can’t Study It
Locating a lich’s phylactery?
That was a little bit hard.
Roland heaved a sigh and said, “Not that I don’t want to help you, but I’ve not even gotten in touch with the phylacteries’ mechanisms yet. I don’t understand them at all.”
“We’ve taken that into consideration.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady picked three pieces of vegetables with a fork and chewed them, before she said with a smile, “Our clan has kept a phylactery for years.”
“One that does not have a lich’s soul anymore?” Roland’s eyes glittered.
The liches’ soul maintenance technology was very interesting, but none of the major Magic Towers had it.
It was not because they couldn’t study it, but because they despised it and dared not study it.
They were afraid that they would become addicted to its power and try to seek eternal life with evil means.
But that was not a problem for the players, who were already immortal in the game.
The Winterwolf Holy Lady picked up a piece of fresh and succulent meat. “No, there’s still a soul in it.”
“Why didn’t you kill it?” asked Roland curiously.
He knew that the Frostwolf Clan used to be the world’s saviors and instinctively loathed evil things.
Although they were usually peaceful, they would attack and kill anyone who had foul power or mind.
It was hard to imagine that they would keep a phylactery in their clan without destroying it.
“He killed several of our clan members,” said the Winterwolf Holy Lady. “Then we figured out a way to find the phylactery. It wasn’t easy at all. We even asked for the Winterwolf’s help.”
The Holy Lady was bummed again when she mentioned the Holy Lady. Even the food no longer tasted delicious.
Hearing that, Roland smiled. “So, you’ve been keeping his phylactery in your clan and imprisoned him inside the tiny, dark phylactery forever as a punishment?”
The Winterwolf Holy Lady nodded quickly. “I’m told that he often roared or begged for mercy with his mental power. He’s been quiet for a while, but I assure you that his soul is still in there.”
“You were told that? How long has the lich been sealed?”
“Probably more than five hundred years. He was caught a dozen generations ago.” Tsk… The Frostwolf Clan was truly brutal. It was certainly not the best idea to piss them off.
“You’re scared?” The Winterwolf Holy Lady glanced at Roland with a faint smile and continued, “We can give you the phylactery. We don’t care if you can develop a technology to locate any phylactery.”
“You trust me so much?”
“You’re already the liches’ sworn enemy.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady grimaced. “Every time before we attack a camp, we’ll shout ‘by the order of Roland the Great Mage, we ask you to die!””
Roland was drinking the fruit wine when he heard that. He almost spat it out. Fortunately, he managed to hold back.
But as a result, his throat was quite comfortable, and he coughed nonstop.
Seeing Roland’s awkwardness, the Winterwolf Holy Lady smiled. “Since we’ve been hired by you, we have to spread your name for you, don’t we?”
Roland actually didn’t care. After all, it was already impossible for him to make peace with the liches.
However, what the Frostwolf Clan did was truly like a practical joke.
Roland couldn’t help but ask, “How many lich camps have you cleared so far?”.
4,
“At least a hundred.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady thought for a moment and said, “Anyway, we’ve cleared all the lich camps in the northern border. We’re chasing them down to the south.”
Hearing that, Roland took out five bags of coins from the system Backpack and put them on the table without hesitation.
“This is your payment that we agreed upon.”
So much money… Delight appeared on the Winterwolf Holy Lady’s pretty face, which bordered between adulthood and immaturity.
But she was a Holy Lady; she couldn’t demean herself by appearing too greedy.
So, she said to Roland with a fake smile, “But we haven’t caught a real lich yet.”
“What you’ve done is already impressive enough,” said Roland sincerely.
Same as the Mages, the liches had to do research.
It meant that a lich’s growth could be costly. Unlike the Mages who could buy anything they wanted, the liches could only make those things, as they were public enemies.
They had to seek materials and make magic potions on their own.
They even had to create the daily necessities for themselves too.
Fortunately, they had a lot of undead creatures in their service, so their life wasn’t too hard.
When the liches’ camps were razed, their logistics would be severely disrupted, and they might even completely lose their sources of income.
Every lich camp had been founded with great effort and cost.
Losing one of them would’ve been painful enough; losing a whole lot of them was almost critical.
Roland could totally imagine how the liches hated his guts at this moment.
“Then should I take it?” asked the Winterwolf Holy Lady prudently.
“Please.” Roland made a gesture. “Boss, you are truly generous.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady took a weird red rope out of her clothes and tied it around the money bags. The bags then vanished.
Roland was stunned. “What kind of magic device is this?”
“The Winterwolf Holy Rope.”
“It looks very similar to the rope that you wear.”
“It’s exactly the one on me.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady laid her hand on the first button on her clothes and said with a charming smile, “Do you want to examine or study it?”
Well… Roland was actually quite intrigued, purely in an academic way.
But in the end, he waved his hand.
It was just a special spatial method that was probably related to divine skill. He might as well pass.
If he had time to study that, he could totally spend it on studying Mystra’s Mansion. Wouldn’t that be even better?
Of course… the more important reason was that he was in the middle of a refractory period.
He might have been tempted if he were in his normal state.
After all, the Winterwolf Holy Lady had big boobs and fairly long legs.
The Winterwolf Holy Lady wasn’t bothered by Roland’s refusal. She said with a smile, “You abandoned the opportunity. Don’t blame me for that. Okay, just wait here. I’ll fetch the phylactery for you.”
After that, the Winterwolf Holy Lady ran off with a piece of meat in her mouth.
She truly looked like a wolf.
Come to think of it, she and her people were wolves in the first place.
Roland continued eating.
About ten minutes later, Beatrice walked out of the kitchen, sat down next to Roland, and asked shyly, “Roland, how many days will you stay here?”
“I don’t think I’ll stay. It won’t be good for your reputation, will it?”
“That’s all right. I don’t have any… men anyway.” Beatrice twisted her fingers nervously.
Roland was no longer an innocent boy. He completely understood Beatrice’s implication.
However… He couldn’t help but ask curiously, “You’ve been in Wetland City for a long time. Have you never found any man interesting?”
“I… I belong to you as long as I live here.” Beatrice’s face completely turned red after she said that.
Then, she covered her face and ran upstairs before Roland replied.
Roland shrugged.
Then, he continued enjoying the food.
A moment later, the Winterwolf Holy Lady returned, breathing heavily.
There was a cold wooden box in her hands.
The box was made of Green Tender Wood.
The Green Tender Wood was common in forests and not anything special. However, it had a special feature. The longer it lived, the harder it would be and the less likely it would be to rot.
Furniture made of Green Tender Wood that had existed for more than a hundred years was said to be incorruptible, though it didn’t smell very good.
But the liches couldn’t smell anything, so it was perfect for them to make phylacteries with the wood.
The Winterwolf Holy Lady put the box on the table and said, “The teleportation magic arrays are really useful. It only costs several silver coins and half a minute to travel between the south and the north. The Goddess of Magic’s wisdom is unparalleled.”
Roland smiled and echoed her.
Few people knew that he was the inventor of the teleportation magic arrays.
In fact, Roland had guessed that the Winterwolf Holy Lady didn’t really leave to fetch the phylactery. Her real purpose was to hide the five bags of gold coins. After all, she’s never had so much money before.
Of course, Roland would not speak it aloud. He wasn’t that inconsiderate.
Half a second later, he fixed his eyes upon the wooden box on the table.
The moment he saw the box, he sensed a chaotic mental power wandering inside it and slowly spreading
The vintage magic stripes on the wooden box looked like flowers but carried the features of words. They were clearly interesting magic arrays.
“It’s yours.” The Winterwolf Holy Lady smiled in relief. “We’ll continue hunting the liches. Roland, I have a question.”
“Please go ahead.”
“How much money will you give me if we can kill a lich?”
“Two hundred gold coins for one lich,” replied Roland without hesitation. “You can come to me and ask for twenty gold coins every time you destroy one of their camps.” Hearing that, the Winterwolf Holy Lady quickly stuffed food in her mouth and stood up. “You’d better honor your promise. I’ll lead some men and personally get the job done for you.”
After saying that, she left in a rush.
Roland was stunned at first, but then he vaguely realized why the Winterwolf Holy Lady was so hasty. After walking out of the manor, the Winterwolf Holy Lady felt that a fire was burning in her heart.
She knew the problem of the Frostwolf Clan too well.
They had lost their direction and didn’t know where they should go. In particular, after the Winterwolf ran away, everybody in the Frostwolf Clan was panicked and lethargic.
Since they didn’t have to save the world anymore, the Frostwolf Clan had been living with the Winterwolf as their center.
Now that they had lost their totem, they were naturally devastated.
In fact, the Winterwolf Holy Lady was the most devastated of all. However, as the leader of her clan, she could not reveal her emotions.
Roland was the only one who would see the confusion on her face.
She had to admit that she was actually quite fond of Roland, a man who could see her body.
Roland had always thought that anyone would see the Winterwolf Holy Lady’s naked body during the ritual dance as long as they raised their head.
However, that was a misunderstanding.
The people of the Frostwolf Clan adored the Holy Lady and would not look at her. The males, in particular, would never raise their heads.
As for the outsiders, they couldn’t see anything at all.
The red rope was a piece of divine equipment made of the Winterwolf’s fur. It could block the senses.
The outsiders could see nothing but mist when they looked at the Winterwolf Holy Lady during the ritual dance.
Only Roland, who could look a goddess in the eyes, could see her clearly.
Therefore, it was understandable that the Winterwolf Holy Lady had different feelings for Roland.
All Holy Ladies were proud, no matter which church they were from.
Roland could speak to the Winterwolf Holy Lady as an equal precisely because he could see her real appearance.
They didn’t become friends until they talked and got to know each other.
The Winterwolf Holy Lady had been trying to make the Frostwolf Clan grow strong and even walk out.
However, human beings didn’t seem to accept them because of their special physical features.
The hybrids didn’t like them either and considered them to be half-humans.
The Winterwolf Holy Lady thought that the Frostwolf Clan would live in the freezing north forever in isolation.
However, after Roland took her to Wetland City, she finally realized that they could be accepted and welcomed in some places.
The cat-humans and the succubi were everywhere in the city… Also, she took a few of her clan members to Wetland City to find out how they would be treated without Roland.
They were all excited.
Although everybody in their way looked at them, their eyes were all sincere and friendly!
However, some of the locals did have subtle maliciousness in their eyes.
They didn’t want to hurt anyone; it was more like they wanted to claim the visitors.
She stayed for a few days in the city. Many people hit on her. Nobody attacked them or even cursed them.
Then, after Roland came, he simply offered her five hundred gold coins as payment.
She didn’t think it was a problem to buy a piece of land and migrate her people here.
The Frostwolf Clan was a people that could easily be satisfied. They would feel very happy as long as they had a place to live, some food to eat, and neighbors who weren’t malicious.
“Five hundred gold coins are enough to buy a large piece of land, but not large enough for all my people to live in,” the Winterwolf Holy Lady mumbled to herself in delight. “We can reclaim the land outside of the city. I’m told that the mayor here is very close to Roland. I can ask Roland to talk to him. After I kill several more liches and gather a thousand gold coins, I’ll be able to buy a piece of land large enough for all my people to live next to this beautiful city.”
As she thought about this wonderful life, the Winterwolf Holy Lady’s canine ears swiveled back and forth.
Roland, on the other hand, picked up the wooden box and teleported back to Delpon.
Hardly had he returned home when Andonara and Nia rushed to him almost at the same time.
They were so fast that they almost left blurry shadows behind.
Andonara was relieved to see Roland. “I thought that something unholy dared to break into our place.”
Then, she fixed her eyes on the box that Roland was carrying.
So did Nia.
Roland raised the box, waved it and said, “It’s a phylactery.”
Nia was briefly stunned. Then she walked to Roland and said solemnly, “You’re not allowed to study things like this, or Mother and I will feel sad.”
Andonara: “Huh?”