Chapter 1775: Meeting Iolum

After ending the communication with Xierdalanna, Xia Duo considered it for a moment and ultimately decided to personally head to Seventon to discuss it with Iolum in person.

Afterward, he gave Niya a heads-up and then left the Tower of Time.

……

Seventon, Arcane Union.

Xia Duo arrived outside Iolum's study with practiced ease, but before he could contact Iolum, the door opened and Haichenisi walked out with a somewhat anxious expression.

Seeing Xia Duo, Haichenisi was clearly stunned for a moment; he obviously hadn't expected Xia Duo to suddenly appear here at this time. However, as someone who had served two generations of Presidents, he regained his composure in almost the blink of an eye, bowed slightly, and asked:

"Lord Xia Duo, are you looking for the President?"

"Yes, is the teacher not in?"

Xia Duo had already seen the scene inside the study through the gap in the door; Iolum was not in his line of sight, and besides, if he were there, it stood to reason that he would have already called him in by now.

"The President went to Gustav Tower this morning and hasn't returned yet."

Of course, Iolum's whereabouts were not something an ordinary person could know, but Xia Duo was no ordinary person, so Haichenisi did not hide too much.

"Then do you know when the teacher will be back?" Xia Duo asked again, immediately adding, "I have a very important matter to discuss with him."

"A very important matter?"

Haichenisi hesitated for a moment, "Could it be that Lord Xia Duo is looking for the President because of the assassination of the Evereska Elder not long ago?"

"It is related to that matter, but it is not that matter."

Seeing that Xia Duo's business was related to the assassination incident on the Elf side, Haichenisi had a rough idea. Although he didn't know exactly what it was, it was already worth using an emergency contact, so he said:

"Then let me help Lord Xia Duo contact the President!"

"Good, then many thanks, Councilor Haichenisi."

Although Xia Duo could contact Iolum himself, Iolum had gone to Gustav Tower and hadn't returned since the morning, so he was clearly discussing some important matter with the people from the Seven Towers.

He wasn't sure if his Sending would be received by the other party, but if it were through Haichenisi, there would be no problem.

Afterward, Xia Duo did not go anywhere else; he went straight into the study, found a place to sit down, and waited intently for Iolum to return.

Of course, during the wait, he also sent a message to Iolum, briefly mentioning that it was related to the Nether Scroll, but he did not go into detail in the Sending.

……

After nearly half an hour, the Magic Net inside the study suddenly fluctuated, and immediately after, Iolum's tall figure appeared before Xia Duo.

Upon meeting, before Xia Duo could even offer a greeting, Iolum threw a series of questions at him: "You said the assassination incident on the Elf side is related to the Nether Scroll? What did you discover? Is it those original thieves?"

Xia Duo was a bit dazed by Iolum's head-on barrage of questions, though it was no wonder Iolum was so agitated.

When that set of Nether Scrolls was stolen, although the direct responsibility lay with the Watcher at the time, as the President of the Arcane Union, Kangjienio had to bear a certain amount of responsibility, more or less.

Presumably, when Iolum took over, Kangjienio had expressed regrets such as failing to retrieve or recover the stolen Nether Scrolls.

This made Iolum care about it immensely, and at this moment, hearing news related to the Nether Scroll, his emotions clearly shifted immediately.

"Teacher, listen to me slowly."

"Good, speak—"

"First of all, I do indeed have news about the set of Nether Scrolls that were stolen back then, but—" Xia Duo hated riddlers, but he had to admit that sometimes this method was quite useful.

He gave the key information first to let the concerned party ease their emotions slightly, before providing further explanation, "This news is still just news; it hasn't been truly confirmed yet."

"Where did you find out?" Iolum asked.

"Xierdalanna, a High Mage of the Moonhorn Family of Yierlan."

"Xierdalanna?"

Iolum frowned instantly; whether it was the Moonhorn Family or Xierdalanna, they were not strangers to him—one could even say he was very familiar with them.

Of course, this familiarity was not in terms of personal friendship, but rather that in the past and even now, most of Netheril's High-Grade Mithril was obtained through trade with the Moonhorn Family.

It was just that Xia Duo—

Iolum couldn't help but be a little suspicious, "How did you get to know Xierdalanna? By the way, I remember you previously discovered the Mage Tower ruins of Yinuosen; could it be because of that?"

"Of course not. Xierdalanna might already know that I discovered her nephew's Mage Tower ruins, but she has never mentioned it. My acquaintance with her was due to an accident."

Let's call it an accident for now. Seeing that Iolum seemed to have the intention of digging deeper, Xia Duo continued to explain: "This matter is actually not suitable for public discussion. I am currently smuggling spices into Cormanthor with the Thunder Mage, Lord Collins, and Xierdalanna found out. Not only did the other party not report it to Cormanthor, but she actually got involved herself."

Even now, Xia Duo and Collins were still using some channels provided by Xierdalanna. Although he very much wanted to break free, these were things that could not be shaken off in the short term.

Furthermore, if he and Collins decided to unilaterally cut ties with Xierdalanna, who knew if the other party would be shamed into anger and expose the smuggling, which would not be a good outcome.

Regarding the spice smuggling, Iolum did not probe further, but continued to ask about the details related to the Nether Scroll: "Did Xierdalanna tell you she knows where the stolen set of scrolls is? Or does she know who the thieves are?"

To this, Xia Duo nodded very seriously, "Both!"

"Both?!"

Hearing this answer, Iolum actually calmed down, and then asked: "What does she want?"

"She wants me, or you, Teacher, to cooperate with her in carrying out a surprise raid."

"A surprise raid? Raid where?"

Xia Duo did not answer directly, but asked another question: "Did you, Teacher, just go to Gustav Tower because of the assassination incident on the Elf side?"

"Yes, the sudden death of the Evereska Elder has cast another shadow over the Northland situation, which was already favorable to us. If not handled well, it might be the beginning of a chaotic war in the Northland."

Speaking of this, Iolum seemed to have just reacted, "By the way, didn't you tell Haichenisi that you wanted to tell me something related to the assassination incident? Is Xierdalanna also involved in this assassination?"

"She is involved, but not in the way you think, Teacher. It is Yierlan who is the mastermind—at least that is what Xierdalanna believes."

"Then what exactly is her connection to the assassination incident?"