Ep. 601 Intrigue in Illium Part 2 (Patreon)

Illium, Ash's P.O.V.

Borrik says "So, what should we do next?"

"Well, I would say that you need to sweep the city again. Especially the sewers!"

Borrik says "Why the sewers?"

"Can't you smell it? Those assassins reek!"

Borrik says "I will take your word for it. I have no interest in smelling them!"

"Hm, can you send one of your guards to fetch Lizzy?"

Borrik says "Sure! Can I ask why?"

"Because, her sense of smell is better than mine."

Borrik says "Are you going to have her track the assassins?"

"No, I will leave that to you. I plan to ask her to search the city for any more demons."

Borrik says "Oh, good plan! Demons aren't something my guys can deal with!"

"Don't worry about the demons. Lizzy can handle them. You just focus on the assassins. Until the city is safe Sarah won't be bribing anyone with treats."

Borrik says "The entire guard force will be sent out immediately!"

Borrik doesn't even say goodbye, he just runs off shouting orders, sending everyone running. It seems I found his weak spot, he must really like whatever treats Sarah is using as bribes. Maybe when I get back to the inn I should ask her what she has been using.

Lizzy arrives a few minutes after Borrik runs off, she looks around curiously before coming over to me. With her appearance my thoughts about Sarah's activities get pushed to the back of my mind. Calling Lizzy over, I lead her to the corpses of the two demons.

Lizzy says "Why didn't you just summon me?"

"It's not an emergency so I didn't want to risk catching you napping or something."

Lizzy says "I appreciate that! So, what do you need?"

"These demons, I found them by scent. I want to know if you can also pick up their weird scent or if it is something I can do because of my past."

Lizzy says "You mean the spicy burning scent given off by their magic?"

"Yes! Excellent! Okay, I want you to sweep the city for demons. If they are weak just directly destroy them. If you encounter stronger ones or a large group either get the guards to back you up or come find me."

Lizzy says "Okay, I can do that. Where are you going to be?"

"Right now I'm heading for the cathedral. After that I will visit the mage guild and then return to our street."

Lizzy says "Okay, I will let you know what I find."

"Thank you, Lizzy."

Once she leaves I tell the guards they can clean up the bodies and head over to the cathedral. When I enter I am surprised to find the place is packed, I've interrupted something. My entrance is noticed right away and everyone turns to look at me, most look irritated.

The congregation is unhappy at being interrupted, but they are soon surprised. The High Priestesses lead all the clergy in bowing down and welcoming me. Black and White have someone else take over the sermon and personally escort me into a side room.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt services."

Black says "That's alright, Ash."

White says "We are happy to see you return!"

"Let me get straight to the point. The goddesses are affected by their followers, specifically in regards to knowledge. As their followers forget things they do as well."

Black says "You mean the history that we have lost."

White says "The goddesses have lost as well?"

"Yes, exactly."

Black says "If we recover lost knowledge."

White says "Will the goddesses recover it as well?"

"Yes, and that is part of why I am here. With me I have a teleporter that leads to a hidden library. In order to prevent further loss of knowledge I want you to fill it with everything you can. It has living quarters that I hope you will use for librarians and scholars."

Black says "Absolutely! We will do our best!"

White says "We will not only move the church's knowledge, we will gather all human knowledge!"

"In regards to that, are there archaeologists in this world?"

Black says "I'm afraid that."

White says "We don't recognize that term."

"People who dig up ruins and study the past."

Black says "Oh, yes there are."

White says "But they are very few in number."

"With the goal of recovering lost knowledge, I would like your help. I want you to use the church's reputation to gather as many of them as you can. I will fully fund them, provide guards or hire adventurers, and provide a map of the ancient empire."

Black says "Of course!"

White says "We will send word out immediately!"

"The other end of the teleporter is already active, but you will need someone with mana to activate this end. There are already some books I managed to recover in the library, if need be you can use them to attract people."

White says "We don't have anyone with mana."

Black says "But we can get someone from the mage guild."

"I am headed there next, I will have them send people over. You will need to set up the teleporter somewhere secure and control who has access to it."

Black says "Don't worry."

White says "We will keep it safe!"

"That's good. Oh, can either of you manipulate life force?"

White says "I can."

Black says "I can only steal it."

"Okay, so it does have to do with being a healer. Interesting!"

After that we turn the conversation to less important things and have some tea. It would be rude to just up and leave considering I haven't spoken to them in a while. Besides, they always have good information about the common people.

It is satisfying to know that all the bad dreams ended when I blew up the kingdom capital. Other than that from what they tell me my fame is spreading even faster among the common people. Other than those who are racist, most commoners see me as a hero type.

This of course is referring to the human commoners, even some of the lesser nobles. From what they tell me, if I hadn't been promoted to Duke there might have been a riot. It is nice to know I am appreciated, even though it doesn't affect my plans.

Once I have chatted with them for a while I say my goodbyes and head for the the mage guild. I had planned on just dealing with the front desk but the second I walk in I am escorted to Roddick's office. It would seem that this is now a standing order from the way the secretary acts.

Roddick says "Ash! How can I help you?"

"I need some mages to head over to the cathedral to activate a teleporter."

Roddick says "Sure, no problem! Anything else?"

"I need to borrow a mage for a few days. They don't need to be powerful, just enough mana to spark a ritual. But they need to be tight-lipped."

Roddick says "What does this ritual do?"