159: Ira Celes

Angel's pale fingertips dug into her palms, and her lapis lazuli earrings swayed with her trembling breaths: "Is it… really possible?" The crescent-shaped scar on her throat gleamed with a mother-of-pearl luster in the candlelight, an old wound from when she scratched herself during a personality shift.

Holy Knight Randel's silver armor reflected a bloody glow under the fireplace's light. "Duke…" He tried to interject.

"Adventure is the best teacher," the boy interrupted Randall. "Staying in a Mage Tower all the time, unable to put what you've learned into practice, isn't necessarily a good thing. My constantly growing power comes from constantly facing various troubles."

Only Lai'en himself knew that the system prompts floating on his retina were burning his nerves: "Rose Knight's secret unlock progress 42%."

Afterward, the red-haired beauty fully revealed that she could "sense" the source direction of the "curse" tracking her once she left New South City and was more than 500 feet away from Lai'en.

And so, that night, a disguised Lai'en and Randall—or rather, "Ron Weasley" and the somewhat ugly-faced "Big Casimo"—followed the drastically changed Angel, who had transformed from the charming and cunning Angel into the cold and domineering "Captain Carla," to the hall of the Feierde Inn.

In the deep night, the Feierde Inn's hall was dimly lit by pine resin candles, flickering in the occasional draft.

The blonde Lai'en, going by the alias "Ron Weasley," entered the inn, closely followed by "Casimo," whose right hand gripped a common battle-axe.

"Captain Carla" sat opposite a well-equipped woman.

The "curse" the Rose Knight spoke of was actually a woman?

"I believe you were waiting for us," Ron began.

"Why have you been following me?" The red-haired "Captain Carla" nodded slightly to Lai'en and Randall, then asked the black-haired woman opposite her expressionlessly.

Lai'en, however, could hear the tension in her voice, and his peripheral vision caught the red-haired beauty's trembling fingers beneath the table.

"Before your mother died, she swore to us that her unfinished work would be inherited by her daughter," the black-haired woman replied. "Due to the binding of the oath, no matter how far you run, we can find you."

"Who are you?" Lai'en asked.

"That's none of your business. I don't intend to disclose information to those who don't need to know," the woman said. "Although, perhaps…"

"What?" The young man looked at the extraordinary woman before him.

"You can call me Ila Sais," the black-haired woman said. "This big fellow beside you looks like an adventurer. You, child, look like you've just emerged from behind your mother's skirts, but I still see an undeniable spark. I think you might be able to help our beautiful Angel complete a few tasks, and then her 'curse' will be lifted. But asking for help will increase the difficulty of the tasks, mind you."

"Yes, we are indeed adventurers," Lai'en said.

"The Young Duke of South City claims there's a planar rift at Quagmire Fortress, and Gnolls are continuously crossing over from the Abyssal Plane," Ila Sais picked up her wine glass and took a sip. "My sources tell me that a Gnomish Mage named Sisteria might be involved in this matter.

It's just that I don't know where she is right now.

If you can find her for me, or bring back the latest news from Quagmire Fortress, I will acknowledge your ability to lift the 'curse'.

Just be careful not to die miserably in the dark."

After providing this task, Ila Sais went upstairs to rest at the inn.

Watching the black-haired woman's retreating back, Lai'en and the others sat for a while before returning to the Mage Tower.

He told Angel that he would send people to inquire about the Mage.

"I'm sorry, Duke," the Rose Knight said. "This was originally just my personal task."

"It's not just helping you; it's related to the situation at Quagmire Fortress, and I myself am very interested in this Sisteria.

Spreading people out to inquire about someone in the city and its surroundings is much more efficient than having a Bard inquire alone.

Soon, the Halfling adventure party found this Gnomish Mage in the small town of Naskel to the south.

And brought her back to Lai'en's Mage Tower.

It took less than a month in total.

"A few months ago, I was imprisoned by Gnolls," Sisteria was telling her story to the Young Duke on the high throne in the hall. "From here southwest, in their damned fortress.

Honestly, I was sure I was done for, that I wouldn't survive.

I'm not sure if you've been there, but that place is huge, and when you drive away those smelly imbeciles, another batch appears and starts causing trouble again.

What was important to me at the time was to stop them from getting my notes.

Because if I left, I wanted to take my notes with me.

So I opened a small magic portal and threw them into some filthy place…

But as you can see, I survived, and I want my notes back.

However, I must admit, I probably can't get them myself.

And I don't want to see that situation again.

So I need to find some people to go there, find the magical symbols I made, use them to go to where my materials are, and then bring them back to me."

Lai'en asked, "Where exactly did they end up? You mentioned a portal, but where does it lead?"

Sisteria sniffled: "I wanted to throw them—my books and notes—into the most hateful place. So… imagine the darkness of the fortress.

Full of shadows and thick fog, possibly causing people to lose their way, possibly getting trapped until something kills you.

Does that image come to mind?"

"Yes," Lai'en replied.

Sisteria: "Excellent. Now imagine it's much worse than you imagined.

To me—that place is a nightmare mocking this world.

A damned dark place, full of monsters, even more terrifying than Gnolls.

But, if High Lord Ryan Black can send someone to retrieve my notes and return them to me, you will get two things—2000 gold coins I left there before I got into trouble, and a unique magic staff I made."

"This is a map of Quagmire Fortress, Sisteria, mark the location of the magic portal."

"Hmm. Alright. That's the answer I wanted to hear." Sisteria took the blueprint from the guard's hand and made a mark on it. "Go to the Gnoll Fortress and find a magic circle I made on the wall.

I was imprisoned in a small room, in the southern part of the complex, west of the largest one.

Place your hand on the symbol, and it will take your people to that dark plane I mentioned. Don't believe what you see there.

It might look like the fortress, but it's far more dangerous.

It's as if it's mocking the plane we live on.

Find a book and two annotated parchments. I'm not sure if they'll be together, or if some creature has moved them…"

"Mage Sisteria," Lai'en interrupted her, "as far as I know, this magic portal you've marked is the location of the planar rift."

The Holy Knight determined that Sisteria was not lying.

So, was the Druid's intelligence inaccurate?

The situation at the Gnoll castle became even more perplexing.

However, the Gnomish Female Mage's idea of finding someone to help her retrieve her notes fell through.

High Lord Ryan Black ordered her to accompany the Allied Forces on their expedition to Quagmire Fortress ten days later.

She couldn't refuse the Duke's command, but at least going with the army gave her a little confidence in retrieving her belongings.

Tyrantier and the four Mages from Candlekeep had already arrived.

Lai'en appointed this level-six Gnomish Female Mage as a reserve Mage for the sealing ritual.

On the twentieth day of the Month of Winter Claws, DR1335, the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces officially set out.