Chapter 471 - Messenger (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The journey back to the Tower of Dusk from the Blackstone Mountains only took Lin Li a couple of days, but when he returned to Black Clouds Town with Norfeller and Ujfalusi, he realized that a bloodbath had occurred in Black Clouds Town. There were collapsed houses everywhere, and bloodstains could be seen on the streets.

“What’s going on? Where did everybody go?” When he saw this, Lin Li immediately a.s.sumed the worst. He tried to scan the whole Black Clouds Town using his mental strength, only to realize that he could not detect a living soul at all.

He could not be bothered to conceal the fact that his servants were Undead creatures and led them to the Tower of Dusk straight away. Thankfully, there were no signs of an attack on the Tower of Dusk, but when he entered, he realized that the place was empty, and there was no trace of the mages.

“Mr President? The President is back!” Just as Lin Li stood in the center of the great hall, trying to find someone to ask about the situation, a middle-aged mage ran out, looking emotional.

“Beckley?” Lin Li could barely remember his name. There were two kinds of people in school who left a deep impression on others: the kind that topped the rankings in school and those who were at the bottom. Beckley belonged to the latter—he was of mediocre magical talents as he was still only a level-8 mage even though he was in his forties.

“Mr President, it really is you! I’m Beckley.” Beckley was rather emotional that the President remembered his name.

“Oh, Beckley, what happened while I wasn’t here? Where did everybody go?” Lin Li asked curiously.

“You see, Mr President…” As he did not usually have a chance to talk to this young president, Beckley was having a hard time controlling his excitement. “A couple of months ago, just after you left, the Syer bandits attacked Black Clouds Town, destroyed the church at the center of the town, and dug out something from beneath it.”

“The Syer Bandits again? These idiots don’t know any better.” Lin Li frowned as soon as he heard this. The Syer Bandits were getting too bold, weren’t they?

When he heard of their origins, he sympathized with them, but this did not mean that they could do as they pleased. Moreover, after the ambush at the Scar of Death, Lin Li had lost all sympathy he had for them.

It seemed like he would have to go to the Dragon Mountains to finish off every bit of the Syer Bandits…

“They attacked the Black Clouds Town? I pa.s.sed by there on my way back, could it be that everybody…”

Beckley, who knew that the President was close to the people in the Black Clouds Town, hurriedly explained, “Mr President, we rushed over the minute we got the news, but still many people fell victim to them. We’ve only managed to save a small portion of them, and settled them somewhere safe.”

“What about Uncle Salatt and the rest?” The time Lin Li spent in the Black Clouds Town was the most peaceful time he had experienced ever since he had arrived in Anril, and it made him feel as though he was back where he’d been before. The people in the town were like his old neighbors, and were all friendly and amiable. Just like Old Salatt, the friendly old man who opened a small blacksmith shop, and his landlady Aunty Susan, and little Jack who brought him fruits.

Beckley’s expression changed as he stuttered. “M-Mr President, when… when we got there, Old Salatt had already…”

“I got it…” Lin Li nodded his head. The expression on his face did not change much, either, yet the words he spoke felt as chilly as ice to Beckley and made his hair stand on ends…

“Right, what about the rest?” Lin Li looked puzzled as he looked around the Tower of Dusk. Sendros said that his mages had returned two months ago, so why did the Tower of Dusk look so empty?

Even though he knew that it was not aimed at him, the President’s hostile tone still made Beckley break out in a sweat as he hurriedly replied, “President Gerian and the rest returned a month after the incident, and when they heard about it, he said he was going to bring them to settle scores. The rest could not persuade him against it, hence they followed along.”

“Ok.” Lin Li relaxed a bit when he heard this as this sounded like something Gerian would do, but immediately after that, a look of doubt appeared on his face. “When did they leave?”

“They left a few days after they heard about it, so maybe about two months ago,” Beckley said, looking worried himself.

“What, two months ago?” Lin Li was shocked by the news. The boss of the Syer bandits, Vanskore, had ambushed him along with the elites of the bandit group, and they were all killed by him. The Syer bandits had to hardly have anyone left. While the Tower of Dusk was not incredibly powerful per se, they should be more than enough to deal with the remnants of the bandits. When he thought of this, Lin Li quickly asked, “Do you know what happened to them? Why aren’t they back yet?”

Beckley shook his head, and said, “When President Gerian left, he only instructed me to wait for you to return. I haven’t heard from him in the past couple of months.”

“b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l…” Lin Li cursed quietly. Things could not be clearer. Gerian was an Archmage himself, and along with him were a few other Archmages and a group of mages, so how ridiculous was it if they had to take more than two months to get rid of a bandit group that was already on the brink of extermination?

Lin Li was willing to bet his life that Gerian and the rest were not only dealing with the remnants of the Syer Bandits there.

Needless to say, there was a decently powerful force supporting the Syer Bandits!

But who could it be…?

Lin Li was pretty familiar with all the forces that had made a name for themselves around Doland, and there were many who could go against the Tower of Dusk, but not many of them would dare to. The guest list from his inauguration ceremony had spread throughout the whole of Doland, and there was no way that these forces would not consider the consequences of going against a Guild that was becoming stronger every day in order to help a bandit group on the brink of extermination. Who would be so much of fool as to offend a Guild that had good relations with so many powerful individuals?

Lin Li’s expression was unreadable, and made Beckley panic as he was worried that the young president would vent his anger on him. “Mr… Mr President, I asked to go along, but…”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not about you…” Lin Li was pulled back from his thoughts as he watched Beckley stutter, trying to explain himself. He quickly waved his hands to get the less than talented mage to stop worrying. “Keep guarding the Tower of Dusk, I need to go to the Dragon Mountains again.”

But just as he was about to step out of the door, Lin Li suddenly recalled something. Weren’t the Syer Bandits on good terms with the Malfa Family? From what Hutton said, it seemed as though they had good relations and many business dealings, which was why Vanskore had listened to Hutton’s command to ambush him back in the Scar of Death.

Could the Malfa Family be behind this?

Right, he remembered hearing the mention of something below the church from the Malfa Family’s underlings…