Death Notice Book 8: Chapter 55: Mage and Knight

“President Hulan, you didn’t tell us there were outsiders in the merchant caravan!” Robin and Stark looked displeased as they found the young nobleman at the rear of the caravan. The beautiful team leader pulled him aside and softly questioned him, “Who are they?”

Yesterday, both sides had felt very satisfied with the cooperation. But today, after the mercenary group joined the caravan, an unexpected situation arose that the Apostles hadn’t anticipated.

There were actually three “outsiders” in the nobleman’s caravan. These three were not the originally hired mercenaries of the caravan. Those mercenaries had suffered heavy casualties and, upon arriving here, lost the ability to continue guarding the caravan. After the caravan paid compensation and partial fees, they were sent away.

These three outsiders were a Red Robe Mage, his apprentice, and finally, a Female Knight. Although everyone kept their distance from these three, just from their attire and demeanor, one could tell at a glance they did not belong to the caravan.

“Oh, that’s Mage Angelo and his apprentice Elr. As for Idria…” The nobleman glanced at the Female Knight across from him, lowered his voice, and spoke with a very strange expression, “She is a trainee knight from the Loviatar Church, out traveling this time!”

“What about the Red Robe Mage and his apprentice? Who are they?” Robin frowned and asked.

Learning that the Female Knight was a church knight made her immediately lose interest. Church knights were mostly firm in faith and didn’t gossip. As long as they weren’t followers of the God of Murder, they basically wouldn’t threaten the envoys’ secret.

“Robin, wait! President Hulan, what did you just say the Female Knight was a trainee knight of?” Stark blinked and suddenly interjected.

“Idria is a follower of Lady Loviatar…” The nobleman, however, seemed to find Stark’s question natural.

Loviatar was an extremely special goddess: cruel and calm, domineering and arrogant, yet bold and fearless. She guarded all the tormentors, sadists, and masochists on the Faerûn continent, also known as the Maiden of Pain.

Her followers could be cruel to others and cold to themselves. Among the many gods and churches on the Faerûn continent, Loviatar’s followers were exceedingly rare; almost every one was an extreme case.

“Mage Angelo and Elr are members of the Red Robe Mage Association. They are also heading to Baldur’s Gate this time. As for their purpose, they didn’t mention it, and I think it’s unrelated to us!” the nobleman said awkwardly.

“President Hulan, you didn’t mention them before we signed the contract. Can you explain why?” Robin secretly looked over at the Female Knight once more, then turned back and questioned him seriously.

“Well…” The nobleman opened his mouth. He really hadn’t considered these three people in the caravan.

“You two, I believe this does not violate our employment contract!” The Old Butler, who had been silently standing beside the nobleman, finally stepped in to smooth things over, smiling. “Whether it’s Mage Angelo and Elr, or Miss Idria, they haven’t requested protection from the caravan. They are merely traveling with us, sharing the carriages and tents.”

“Yes, yes! In fact, these three haven’t caused any trouble for the caravan in the previous journey. Moreover, there were several times when the original mercenaries managed to repel those plain bandits thanks to their help.” The nobleman finally snapped back to reality and chimed in.

Robin and Stark helplessly exchanged a look. With things put this way, what more could they say? The mercenary group didn’t need to protect those three, but in times of danger, they could rely on their strength. Besides, they had already traveled a long way with the caravan, proving they meant no harm. The caravan probably wouldn’t send them away.

“It has to be this way. Dissolving the contract now would be too suspicious,” Stark discussed with Robin via the Team Channel.

…

While Robin and the others were negotiating with the caravan, Qin Lun and his group were also secretly observing the three individuals. The follower of the Loviatar Church was a beautiful Female Knight. She wore a custom-fitted sleeveless breastplate and a combat skirt inlaid with copper plates. Silver-white bracers and leather gloves covered her hands, and she wore high-toed, steel-tipped combat boots.

The Female Knight had a slender figure and fiery red wavy hair. Her nose bridge was somewhat high, her eyes and brows slender, and her pretty oval face had a healthy tan. Her expression was somewhat aloof as she focused on feeding her mount, completely ignoring the Apostles’ gazes, as if long accustomed to being stared at.

Thinking about it, it made sense. A young girl in her prime becoming a knight was quite rare already, and being a follower of Lady Loviatar on top of that was even rarer than the number of Faerûn deities themselves.

Of course, apart from being a Loviatar follower, the main reason the Female Knight firmly attracted many male gazes like a magnet was her own outstanding demeanor. The only flaw on her might be her flat chest, further constrained by the steel breastplate, making it almost completely level.

Even Iristin, after looking her over, couldn’t help but straighten her own chest, feeling much more confident. Lately, the young Elven Druid had already felt somewhat overshadowed in front of Kelly, Nicole, and Robin.

The three female Apostles each had their merits. Kelly had the largest chest, and while her personality was fierce, she had a queenly aura. Nicole was mature and sexy, Robin rational and intellectual, and even Lace, who used the Beastmaster Hunting Bow, had a cute, moe-like charm. Plus, most female Apostles had slightly adjusted their looks and figures, so Iristin really had no advantage to boast about in front of them.

The male Apostles appreciatively observed the Female Knight for a while before finally turning their attention to the other two. Mage Angelo and his apprentice Elr were sitting under a large tree by the lake. In the shade were two purple oak wicker chairs and a matching tea table with a tea set on it.

The Mage seemed to know how to enjoy himself, sipping tea and resting with his eyes closed in the spring breeze. His apprentice Elr, however, was holding a thick, hefty book, reading it earnestly, occasionally frowning in deep thought and muttering to himself as if no one else was around.

Elr was dressed in typical apprentice attire: a white shirt paired with a gray woolen vest. Because of the long journey, his hemp trousers were tucked into his riding boots. He had soft, shiny blond hair and some freckles on his face, looking like he was still a youth.

In fact, his teacher, Mage Angelo, wasn’t very old either, also a young man. He had a thin face, smooth black hair falling over his forehead, and when he opened his eyes, they revealed deep, dark pupils.

However, after observing this Angelo for a while, the Apostles involuntarily glanced toward Philip in their team.

“Why are you all looking at me?” Philip certainly knew why everyone was looking at him. He couldn’t help but blush, then grew annoyed and snapped at everyone in a low voice.

“Both are Mages, so why is the difference so big?” Nicole covered her mouth and snickered. Others didn’t dare tease the fiery-tempered Philip, but the beautiful Divine Caster didn’t care at all.

The difference Nicole spoke of wasn’t about their abilities, but their outward image.

Also a young Mage, Angelo’s crimson robe wasn’t the traditional hooded, wide style. It had been tailored into a form-fitting noble attire with a waist-cinching design. Two rows of neat copper buttons adorned the front, the cuffs had folded fur trim, and it was slit open below the waist.

The Mage’s collar was tied with the frilled lapel of a white shirt, a white silk handkerchief peeked from his chest pocket, and he wore straight-cut black leather trousers. His whole outfit made him look dashing and elegant.

In comparison, Philip, who wore a large black robe that practically swallowed him whole, looked somewhat old-fashioned. If he put the hood up, he would look exactly like those gloomy, evil old wizards.

One was like a noble among Mages, fashionably dressed, a model of the new era, a spokesperson for Mages. The other seemed like a stubborn, conservative, dark, and evil Mage. No matter how you looked at it, Philip seemed to lose this image battle.

“What are you looking at? The most important thing for a Mage is power, power, understand?” Philip ground his teeth, turned away, and stopped paying attention to these friends who sided with outsiders.

The keenly perceptive Apostles didn’t sense a great threat from Mage Angelo. Unless he had an artifact to conceal his presence, he likely hadn’t reached the level of a High Rank Mage.

There was a big difference in how magic manifested between native storyline Mages of this world and Apostle Mages like Philip. At the same Mage level, a Faerûn storyline Mage possessed more spell slots – from an Apostle’s perspective, that meant having more usable skills.

More skills meant more magical combinations and the ability to handle more combat situations. In this regard, Faerûn Mages were stronger than the Mage profession of the Apostles. Apostle skills were very precious; it was impossible to have more magical skills than a Faerûn Mage. Even a Second Order professional like Philip wouldn’t have more than twenty magical skills, usually only around a dozen or so.

Whereas a mid-level Faerûn Mage, even just at the lowest threshold of mid-level, would have, combining spell slots from zero to fourth order, no less than forty to fifty spells – two to three times that of an Apostle.

However, Philip spoke truly on one point: as a Mage, one’s strength always mattered more than appearance. In a real fight, the Apostles still favored Philip over Angelo.

The reason was simple: No matter how many magical skills Angelo possessed, his mana was limited. Philip had a Law Body and recovery items. As long as Angelo couldn’t defeat Philip quickly, Philip would eventually wear him down.

The Apostles soon left and set up their tents again near the edge of the caravan’s camp. Unlike them, the caravan needed a day to gather personnel and pack goods; they couldn’t set off today.

After everyone left, Angelo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked toward the direction the Apostles had gone, frowning deeply.

“Elr, remember not to provoke those mercenaries from earlier!” the young Mage turned and warned his apprentice.

“Huh? Teacher, is there something wrong with any of them?” Elr was slightly taken aback. During their previous travels, his teacher had never commented on any mercenaries before.

Angelo glanced toward a certain corner. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Female Knight, who had been nonchalantly feeding her horse, was now also frowning in thought. He curled his lip, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided he should explain things more clearly to his disciple.

“It’s not about one person being problematic, but all of them. They are strong. It’s not strange for there to be strong individuals among mercenaries. But the problem is, this entire group of mercenaries actually has such powerful auras…”