Chapter 634: Conscription and Plundering

Seeing the Jieti vanish, two identical figures immediately stepped out from Suweilisi's body; one flew toward the east side of Konnifila City, and the other flew toward the Elf gathering place on the south bank of the Taisha River.

Seeing this, Kezimo subconsciously looked at Haruisi: "My lord?"

"Send word into the city; tell them not to come into conflict with the Elves."

After saying this, Haruisi looked at the original Suweilisi, who was still standing not far before him, and praised, "Lord Suweilisi, what an exquisite Projection Spell. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought that was Lord Suweilisi himself."

Even though Elves often looked down upon the simple and crude nature of Netheril Magic, there was no distinction of beauty or ugliness in power itself; if you had it, you had it.

Being able to receive praise from a Spellcaster who also stood at the pinnacle of Magic, even if the one praising was a human, Suweilisi still couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth tilt slightly upward.

Just as he was about to say a few polite words, Suweilisi's expression suddenly changed; at the same time, Haruisi also noticed that a strong Magic Aura had suddenly erupted on the south bank of the Taisha River.

He couldn't help but look at Suweilisi. Without a doubt, only this person could unleash a spell of such magnitude, and since the south bank was full of Elves and not a single human, out of respect for Suweilisi, Haruisi did not take the initiative to Scry.

Facing Haruisi's gaze, which clearly carried a questioning tone, Suweilisi's expression grew even worse. He had originally disagreed with letting Cormanthor Elves enter Netheril territory to take refuge, and the Crown King had been unwilling as well, but after various parties were involved, this was the only outcome.

If it had just been that, it would have been fine, but he had not expected that there would actually be Cormanthor citizens who refused the Crown King's conscription.

Conscripting Elite Mages from among the refugees to fight on the front lines was the result of a compromise between the Crown King and the various Upper Families. If it weren't for this force, he would never have come here, only to be made a laughingstock by a human!

"This is an internal affair of Cormanthor; I hope Lord Haruisi will not interfere!"

Haruisi took another look at the chaotic scene on the south bank. Since Suweilisi did not want to talk, he simply called for Kezimo and returned directly to Konnifila City.

Being in such close contact with a High Mage still made him feel somewhat uneasy, and he truly did not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Elves. With this time, it would be better to go and check the status of the first use of the Magic Jieti.

……

Konnifila City.

The moment the Jieti opened, many Merchants, not caring what had happened, immediately signaled their subordinates to prepare to leave. They had already packed everything up beforehand, just waiting for this moment!

The Konnifila City side did not stop these human Merchants from leaving; one Merchant could often take a whole group of people with them, which just happened to free up space for the Elves.

And in the east of the city, many Elves had already passed the High Mage's inspection and were entering the Konnifila City area in turn. Only a few Elves remained in place with pale faces; the Magic ability they had once been so proud of had now become the thing that would cost them their lives.

Although the High Mage had not killed them directly, once they heard they were to go to the front lines to fight the Drow, how was that any different from suicide?

They had the heart to try and see if they could run away in front of the High Mage, but the riot on the south bank that had suddenly erupted and then been suppressed made these Elf Mages immediately extinguish any small thoughts. Fighting the Drow might not necessarily mean death, but challenging a High Mage would only lead to a faster death.

……

South bank of the Taisha River.

The atmosphere was deathly silent. A Statue with a twisted face, constantly emitting painful wails, appeared where many Elf Mages had previously been huddled together. And around the Statue, a dead zone seemed to have appeared; apart from a few Elf corpses, there were no other living things left.

Further away, there was another, larger "dead zone"; apart from the lack of a Statue, the number of corpses was actually higher.

The nearby Elf refugees, one and all, kept their heads down, just like quails that had been scared out of their wits, trying their best not to look, not to listen, and not to think about the scene over by the Statue.

All the Elves present hated the Patriarch of the small family who had just tried to run away to death. It would have been fine if their own family had just disappeared, but he had to go and implicate them as well.

The High Mage's fury naturally could not be easily quelled; all refugees had to suffer a major loss, and even Commoners were required to leave behind a few Xiermaier (Cormanthor Gold Coins).

If it had just been being fleeced of some wealth, it would not have been what pained these Elves the most; from the moment they made the decision to flee, they had been mentally prepared.

If they were lucky enough to flee to the Inner Land, perhaps safety would not be an issue, but the retention of wealth might not be as good as those of them who had failed to flee to the Inner Land.

Even after the High Mage's plundering just now.

What truly pained these Elf refugees was the Crown King's conscription, requiring all Elite Mages to go to the front lines to fight the Drow. Wealth could be accumulated again if it were lost, but if a family lacked powerful Spellcasters, then how were they any different from Commoners!

But on one side was the total destruction of the family, and on the other was sending the family's Elite Mages to the front lines. This decision did not seem hard to make; those who harbored thoughts of luck had already set an example, but why did it feel harder the more they thought about it!

No matter what the low-level Elves thought, it would not affect the high-and-mighty High Mage. After Suweilisi had finished his ruthless plundering, the fire in his heart finally subsided.

Apart from a few rare treasures, the collections of these small families were quite rich, to the point that he even considered whether he should stay here for a few more days, wait for the refugees who hadn't arrived yet to come, and plunder another wave.

However, he quickly abandoned this idea. Most of those who would come later were Commoners who had survived the Drow's sweep; plundering a thousand Commoners was not as good as plundering one small family.

Moreover, he had more important things to do. If it had just been plundering while he was at it, that would have been fine, but if he were really made to do this kind of thing specifically, and it reached Kemansuoer, he didn't know how those guys would mock him!

"There are already 50!"

After counting the number of Elite Mages at the two gathering points, Suweilisi knew that this was probably all there were. There might be a few hiding, and if he searched again he might find them, but it was no longer necessary.

The gains were not proportional to the time consumed.

Since he had already made his decision, Suweilisi did not delay any longer. He forcibly formed a team with these 50 Elite Mages and jointly cast Teleportation, leaving the Konnifila City area.

……

After the High Mage left, the remaining Elves who had not entered Konnifila City immediately surged toward the city, and Haruisi, who was in the main tower of the city, also happened to finish his inspection of the Magic Jieti.

Upon learning that the Elves were desperately surging into the city, he couldn't help but laugh out loud, but then he restrained his smile and instructed Kezimo, who was accompanying him: "Keep the towers on alert, do not stop the Scrying spells, keep an eye on the movements of the Elves at all times, and also be careful not to come into conflict with the Elves. If there are any who are willing to migrate to the Inner Land, try to provide convenience."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Ask those Elf refugees about the war situation over in Cormanthor!"

"Yes."

Just after responding, Kezimo then revealed a look of hesitation: "My lord, do creatures like the Drow really exist? They aren't something fabricated by Cormanthor?"

"Heh, you have been in Konnifila for too long. After this mission is over, go back to Seventon. Badijiaer from Gustav Tower has already brought back a live Drow from the Lowland Trade Route. Although it wasn't brought back from the Cormanthor side, it has already been confirmed to be the same species, though it has not yet been confirmed whether it belongs to the same faction as the one on the Cormanthor side."

As he spoke, the two had already arrived at the Teleportation Room of the main tower. Haruisi gave Kezimo a few final instructions and then walked quickly into the Teleportation Room.