Chapter 228 Magic Weapons Research (28)

"But still, what are the odds that a fire erupts right when I plan on coming here? Talk about perfect coincidence," Lucius whispered to himself, as he continued moving deeper into the forest.

It was times like this when he truly felt like a main character.

Though this little event made him aware that there were others who wished for the downfall of the council.

Even if the guards somehow found out that fires could be put out using water, the wall was bound to take some serious damage. And unfortunately for the council, that very same wall would act as a guide for the fire, taking it as far along its length as it would be allowed.

~If the wall separating this section of the forest and the green forest goes down, then the necromancer will be able to advance its units through,~ Lucius realized.

He wasn\'t certain whether to be happy about this or worried.

Sure he wished for the council\'s downfall, but if the necromancer was even the slightest bit competent at strategy, it would take up as much space as it could before the council could get another wall back up.

And unlike everyone else, its army didn\'t need food or rest, so if the council wanted to keep them back like the golems were doing, they\'d have to expend a lot of resources.

~Resources they have enough of... for now,~ he thought.

The more he thought about it, the more curious he became about the arsonist\'s identity.

Whoever they were, they had access to information that even the seemingly high-tiered guards didn\'t have access to. What with them acting like it was the first time they had ever seen a fire even though they had cruxs at their disposal.



~Are they working independently like me... Or are they part of an advanced group?~ he pondered. Sure, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to claim that having knowledge of fire made a group advanced.

However, most scientists would agree that humanity\'s most important discovery was that of fire. Most, if not all of humanity\'s later advancements were built on the foundations that the discovery of fire had built

And if this group had hoarded such information, for who knows how long, then perhaps they had access to equipment that this side of the forest had yet to see.

Still, though, this was all merely speculation. For now, he would focus on what he came here to do; Find any signs that his children may have been around, and collect as much material as possible.

At this point in his journey, a lake was coming into view in the distance. He recognized it as the lake where he had done his first trade.

It felt, nostalgic somehow.

The creatures gathered there were all staring off into the distance behind him, no doubt at the giant smoke plume that now filled a great section of the sky.

~Regardless, whoever they are, they\'re too reckless. Starting a fire in the forest should be a last resort, and they started it in areas with a lot of wildlife too,~ he thought, before moving to join one of the groups of creatures close to his size.

They were a group of humanoid deer, with horns just a little shorter than his. The language they were speaking contained a lot of bleating.

[Processing...]

[Creating database for... 『New Cervus Tongue』.]

[Adding 『New Cervus Tongue』 to 『Encyclopedia』...]

[Complete. 『New Cervus Tongue』 has been added.]

When he finally got to the group and tried squeezing into the discussion, they all stopped talking and stared at him.

"I wonder what it is," he said, ignoring the odd stares he was getting and looking off toward the smoke plume.

The creatures seemed to relax once they heard him speak in their tongue and continued their discussion.

"It\'s probably those night monsters again. Just a few days ago they planted that same red flower in one of the council members\' dens," one of the creatures said after a slight pause.

"You think it\'s the same guys who poisoned Councilor Eikthyrnir?" another asked, to which all the others slowly nodded their heads in response.

If what these guys were saying was true, then whoever these guys were, were quite organized. In fact, the mention of poison made him ponder whether it was his children doing all this.

~Though it\'d be very unlike Hannibal to use fire as a tactic,~ he thought to himself. Before quickly remembering who his child actually was.

Sure he wanted to believe that Hannibal was a mild-mannered and generally good person. However, he had to remember that that same Hannibal had sacrificed half the initial commune to guarantee the safety of the others.

When need be, Hannibal could be cruel.

~But let\'s not jump to conclusions just yet,~ he thought to himself, as he continued to listen on.

"I wish they would just leave. The council already has enough to deal with as it is. Those Forsaken Forest bastards. I still can\'t believe they\'re attacking us like this," one of the other creatures said.

There was a slight pause at this, as if no one wanted to speak on this topic.

"Well, it was only a matter of time. What\'d you think would happen when we don\'t even allow any of them a seat in the council," Lucius said.

Perhaps remaining quiet would\'ve been the safer option, however, he would get no information by doing so. And besides, based on what he had heard so far, it seemed they were under the impression that the dark forest denizens and the necromancer were working together.

It wasn\'t a surprise that propaganda like this was being spread around, after all, in times of great distress, the governing body of the area would risk being blamed for everything if they didn\'t find scapegoats.

"Pfft, you\'re one of those guys, huh? It isn\'t our fault that they don\'t have a single high-tiered creature amongst them. If we let just anyone join in, then even the low-tier creatures might think they have a chance," one of the creatures replied, some hostility present in their tone.