As the onlookers in the valley looked on, someone threw a large amount of burning debris from the top of the Mage Tower, some of which flew to the woodshed next to the house, and some others flew to the crowd.
"He's starting a fire! Go get water!" A raspy voice yelled.
Soon, the guards gathered on the second floor of the Mage Tower.
They stood in line on the staircase that only allowed one person to pass and tried to work together to push the iron plate.
However, the wooden treads could not withstand the strength of a few strong men.
With a "click", several steps of the stairs were broken.
The guards fell to the floor.
"Lord Jone, the iron plate is locked back."
"It's also possible that it's pinned down by something heavy.
We can't get to the top floor."
"Can't you bend your minds like sausages? Go up from the balcony XX! Stupid! Use the rope!" The gruff voice ordered.
Keane wanted to escape while the crowd below was in chaos, but when he heard the name, he couldn't help but remember his list.
One of the clues recorded a strong arm and a mutilated face.
So he lurked again.
Several guards burst through the balcony and into the top floor.
On the floor lay the body of Frostfire.
After searching around in vain, they moved the cabinets and bed couch that were holding down the iron plates.
A burly man carried a torch to Frostfire's body."It looks like someone cracked this archmage's ribs and punctured his lungs with them." He leaned in closer and noticed the gap between the left and right lungs, "The guy also took his heart."
"This is a teeth chattering way to die.
Even slaughtering a mammoth doesn't take this much trouble.
I'd rather believe it's some kind of evil ritual." A guard on the side said.
"It might give the person performing the ritual the power so he can get away before we get here." The other guard responded.
He looked to the lord, "What should we do now?"
"You report the situation here to the lord of the city.
And you-" the lord handed the torch to another guard, "go and inform the city gate guards to send more men.
I will lead the others in searching the city."
Keane wanted to follow the lord named Jone to make sure his face was not wounded.
But with the lights now on outside, he had to stay and wait for the crowd to disperse to avoid exposure.
He went to the bottom of the mage tower, looking for a corner where he could hide and rest.
As he passed a carpeted area, Keane felt the emptiness below him through his feet.
This indicates that there is something like the entrance to the cellar.
He lifted the carpet and tapped a few times to determine the location of the secret passage.
The stone slab covering the passage was as regular as the rest of the slab.
He used his dagger to pry open the slab.
A few steps away, there was nothing to be seen below.
----------
After hovering in the air for a long time, Sela never found her companion's figure.
So she blended into the crowd to talk to the locals.
"..."
"I heard that the lord's palace is on fire?!"
"Nonsense! Only the Mage Tower is on fire!"
"You're the one who's talking nonsense! Didn't you see the woodshed at Winter's mansion burn up?! The flames also reached Lord Moore's chicken coop."
"..."
"The beard of Killian (the Wissane world's god of martial arts and war)! Burn that wretched mage and avenge my child!"
"..."
"The mage must have been hiding in the room to do experiments, so it set the room on fire."
"But I heard the guards say that a burglar broke into the Mage Tower."
"Hmph, that guy's helmet must have been too tight.
What kind of thief would think his life is too long to steal something there!"
"..."
"The city is under martial law.
I hope the guards catch the thief sooner rather than later."
"I'd rather they catch the guy who set the fire as soon as possible so the lord doesn't set me up to clean up the mess."
"We'd better go back to bed.
In the morning the lord will tell us what has happened."
"..."
----------
At the end of the secret passage is a downward spiral staircase.
In terms of orientation, this is below one of the houses near the lord's palace.
Walking down the spiral staircase, Keane came to a room illuminated by FluoMush.
The smell of embalming agent permeates the place.
The sight in front of him makes one wonder if this is a morgue, not a cellar.
The vessels on the shelves contained various organs, some from the human body, and some in a morbid state.
Several of the test benches were fixed with humans, who had long since died.
A few dried bodies lay in the corners.
A female apprentice was trapped in an off-site room by icy energy; she was the only living thing here.
Noticing the arrival of someone, the woman looked up and drew a backward breath.
Horror, disgust, and hostility filled her eyes."What?! You're not Frostfire! Please, let me out!" She swallowed and pinned her hopes on the stranger."Whoever you are, you're supposed to be here for the money.
It's dangerous here! Frostfire will be here any minute.
Please, let me go.
I'll repay you!"
It is not difficult to surmise that this woman is the specimen the mage has yet to process."Frostfire is dead.
How do I save you?" Keane asked.
"Dead?! Unbelievable." The woman surveyed the visitor, noting the blood on the other man's body."You killed him?! Can you cast a spell? Destroy that ice in the corner with a tongue of fire and you can release this magical cage."
"I'm just a farmer.
Show me another way."
"If Frostfire dies, no one will recharge this cage, but it will be a while before this icy energy is depleted." The woman pointed to the broom in the corner, "Light that up, or go find some torches.
I don't want to stay here for a moment."
The torch melted the ice and the magical cage, which had lost its energy supply, disappeared.
The woman walked impatiently to the spiral staircase."Come on, let's get out of here."
Keane stood his ground, "I can't go out there.
I'm an intruder."
"Not anymore.
Leave everything to me.
My name is Wintinie and I am the eldest daughter of the Winter Family.
The guards know me.
I will tell the guards that you killed the evil mage and then saved me."
"No.
Don't tell anyone that I killed Frostfire."
"Why? You saved me and killed that evil mage.
You should be rewarded by the lord."
Keane did not want to reveal the truth, but he really could not think of how to convince the other side.
After a moment of silence, he finally came up with a vague reason."Things might not be that simple with Frostfire."
Wintinie was startled by the comment and then winced."That sounds somewhat plausible.
This chamber, and his experiments.
Maybe he's even complicit, or maybe this is just part of his evil experiment.
All right, I know what to do.
Let's get out of here.
You just keep quiet."
----------
After dismissing the guards outside the mage tower, the lord's daughter led the farmer toward the mansion.
"I didn't even know it was dark." Wintinie took a big breath of air.
As she passed a ditch, she stopped and washed her face as if no one else was there, but that didn't keep the lord's daughter from enjoying herself.
When she got up, she once again noticed the blood on the farmer's body."How did you kill Frostfire? He's an archmage, and he's evil."
"Use a dagger and a candlestick."
"Candlesticks?!" The woman cried, "You're not kidding, are you? Don't make a fool out of me."
"It was the candlestick.
How did you get caught?" Keane, unwilling to let the other man ask too many questions, turned to start asking them.
"That evil Frostfire, if he's not dead, I'll feed the bear!" The woman gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling with rage."I was originally his apprentice and stumbled upon some sort of experiment he was doing with civilians in his basement.
He found out and sneaked up on me and held me captive there.
I thought I was dead, but luckily I met you."
"You're an apprentice?"
"Yes." Wintinie pooled a trace of magical energy at her fingertips."If you want, I can teach you some simple magic.
Like the fire vector, which you can use to make a quick fire.
Or a tongue of fire, no, that would be too hard for you."
"Yes.
That's too hard."
In front of a large house, the woman stopped."Come on, you have to meet my family.
They'll be sure to treat you with great hospitality.
I can't wait."
Keane looked at this female member of the lord's family.
Her bright blue eyes were set in a goose egg-like soft face.
Brows, nose, cheeks between the fine freckles like a swan on the wing.
Golden hair braided into a thick wheat ears past the shoulders to the chest.
The hand and foot carry an uncommon temperament.
"Wintinie Winter, I-"
"Call me Winnie.
what's your name?" It was then that the woman thought to ask the other man his name.
"My name is Keane.
winnie, I have something to say to you."
"What is it?" Winnie felt that the other woman's words were not quite up to snuff.
Normally, people didn't need to say things like that in private, but she didn't care to think about it.
"I can't go to your house right now.
I have to go to my-"
Before the words were out of my mouth, a woman's complaint came from next to me."So there you are, my love.
Something's happened in town, you know?"
----------
The tavern was as cold as ever, except for Josephine leaning back on a bench and dozing.
When he returned to his room, the fatigue he had accumulated over the past few days poured out of him, and Keane sat down on the floor, his mind still thinking about his next goal, until Sela interrupted his thoughts by dropping a few coins on the table.
"Before you left, you dropped the coppers to keep them from making a sound when you moved.
I was almost fooled by you." Sela said indignantly.
"He was strong and cunning.
Just thinking about the stone Betty clutched before he died makes me want to crack his head with a candlestick.
But I need him awake and suffering, just like that man in the tavern." Keane pulled out a cloth bag stained red with blood, "He was still casting spells to disrupt my vision when I sliced open his body until I snapped the veins attached to his heart one by one."
Sela took the cloth bag and pulled out the seemingly warm heart from inside."Are you trying to impress me with this, or is it my inner blood-hungry vampire?" She brushed aside the mage's heart with mixed feelings inside."After only a few days, you've forgotten that we're companions again.
It makes me regret having saved you in the first place."
"I'm sorry, Sela.
i couldn't contain that eagerness." Keane closed his eyes."Ever since I stepped into this city, it's like I've been pulled by something.
The closer I get to the mage, the more I can't think about anything else." He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes."Just now, my head filled up again with that Jon guy."
"That's it.
Let's get this over with as soon as possible and get out of here.
Let's hope that's a cure and not a curse." Sela didn't want to say any more.
What she was sure of was that her companion would remain driven by hatred until she killed everyone on the list.
Footsteps come from outside the door and Sela is alerted.
Keane discerns the footsteps and takes off his blood-covered clothes."A man, it's Josephine."
The door to the room opened and the tavern owner snorted and handed over a letter."This was just delivered by someone from Winter Family.
It's hard to believe that a friend of Winter Family would live in a place like ours."
"What do you know about Winter Family?" Sela took the letter.
"Since a mage came to town, the Winter Family has gradually lost its power, but is still an important family in town.
The old lord Gerritsen Winter is very handy.
His daughters are beautiful, just like you."
"So, which one of us is prettier?" Sela handed over a coin.
"What? You ask me? For an old lady like me," Josephine hefted the brass plate in her hand, "it's prettier."
Sela handed the letter to her companion, "It's obviously from that little girl to you.
The envelope smells like lavender.
I guess she just got out of the shower.
What a lady."
Keane soon gave up reading."I can't recognize all the words on it."
"The Winter Family invites you to the Lords' Palace tomorrow as a witness.
And then--" Sela folded the letter, "Winnie has other plans for you."