Chapter 65: Assassination

On the way back, Xia Duo recalled the entire process of the soldiers killing the Orcs while pondering how many Orcs he and Dien's squad could handle at once, and how many more if they counted the Scrolls?

Traveling to the edge of the Green Pearl Forest, beyond which lay the southernmost part of the Savile Territory, several villages were scattered in an orderly fashion between Savile Town and the Green Pearl Forest.

From the Green Pearl Forest to the town area, the closer one got, the denser the traces of human activity became; for the past ninety years, the Savile Territory had been pioneered from nothing in just this way.

When Xia Duo first crossed over into Netheril, the place he appeared was to the west of Savile Town, past the Wolfburg River and further west, in the wilderness between the villages.

That was another direction of the Savile Territory's expansion.

Half of the Savile Territory's population was in Savile Town, and the other half was distributed among the villages.

Once an Orc Tide arrived, there was a Mage Tower in the town, which was enough to cover the entire town area, but the people in the villages were in danger; Yidimu and the others from Xia Duo's squad had chosen to join the Territory Army precisely so their families could enter the town area to take refuge.

Xia Duo sighed in his heart at how difficult it was for ordinary people in the Savile Territory to survive, while also very much wanting to know what the core area of the Empire was like; if he had the chance, he definitely had to go out and travel.

While longing for the future and discussing spellcasting techniques with Dien with great interest, although Xia Duo's understanding of the essence of Spells exceeded Dien's, he only had a few months of experience in concrete "hands-on practice."

Yet Dien had already been in the Mage Tower for over two years, and in terms of spellcasting practice, he could always bring Xia Duo some new thoughts and new insights, which even had a certain effect on Xia Duo's understanding of the essence of Spells.

After all, practice is the foundation of theory and has a decisive effect on theory.

Of course, Dien's spellcasting techniques had not yet reached the level of being decisive.

While passing by a village, the two were in the middle of a lively discussion, talking and laughing; clearly, both sides were very satisfied.

"Careful, there's an assassin!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo barely gave it any thought, instantly entering a state of Spellcasting Focus, and took large strides toward Jibu, who was a few steps ahead.

Along the way, he also pulled Dien, who was looking somewhat dazed, and at the same time, a ball of light, slightly smaller than a standard Light but significantly brighter, appeared at his original position.

Regardless of whether the assassin was targeting him, Xia Duo very naturally chose the course of action most favorable to himself.

Jibu's reaction was also quite fast; the moment Xia Duo pulled Dien closer, he and Wuke turned back with their shields, guarding Xia Duo and Dien from the left and right.

Just as Xia Duo was feeling relieved that the assassin hadn't attacked him, a crossbow bolt shot out from a residential house on one side, hitting exactly the spot where he had just been standing, burying itself into the soil with only a small section of its tail feathers trembling slightly.

In that instant, Xia Duo felt a chill down his back, and his heart couldn't help but pound rapidly; after the lingering fear, a burst of anger suddenly erupted—someone wanted to kill him!

Xia Duo was not the type of person easily overwhelmed by anger; as the squad members began to stir, he hurriedly shouted, "Aiwa, take them alive!"

In his heart, although Aiwa was very mysterious, he was also very powerful; it was Aiwa who had first discovered the anomaly just now and given a timely warning.

The commotion on Xia Duo's side was also discovered by the Sami and Dewan squad, who were less than 50 meters ahead; Sami even sent an inquiry directly via Sending.

"There was a small incident, we can handle it, you go on first, saving the wounded is the priority!" Xia Duo replied using Sending as well.

In the short moments of this conversation, the people in Xia Duo and Dien's squad also completed a defensive formation; what had just happened was too sudden, and no one had expected that someone would launch a sneak attack while passing through the village.

"Captain Jibu, have you ever encountered something like this before?"

"No," Jibu said firmly, "Who would dare to attack the Lord's soldiers within the Territory!"

However, this remark drew a sneer from one of the soldiers; Xia Duo remembered him, Azida, who had been recruited from the Adventurers, nicknamed "Xiaohuzi," whose small, neatly groomed mustache left a deep impression.

"Azida, what is your take on this?"

"Mage Xia Duo, what take could I have? It's nothing more than a vendetta. You should think about whether you've offended anyone lately—of course, I'm not talking about the two Mages, but some other people."

Azida glanced unobtrusively at a soldier next to him who had also been recruited from the Adventurers, seemingly implying that this person had brought the trouble upon them.

"Xiaohuzi, don't talk nonsense!" This fellow had a strong survival instinct and immediately blurted out that he had once had a financial dispute with Azida, "I knew it! That time you made a mistake on a mission and I deducted your pay, you said you weren't dissatisfied, but I didn't expect you to be waiting for me here!"

"Laosuotou, you're full of it! If you hadn't always been deducting the squad's money, would we have had to change so many members? I think someone is dissatisfied and hired an assassin to kill you!"

The one nicknamed "Laosuotou" was just about to argue, but Xia Duo raised a hand to stop him; he really didn't want to listen to this kind of infighting among Adventurers.

That arrow just now was clearly aimed at him; if he hadn't used the modified Light to dazzle the opponent at the critical moment, he might have been hit by the adjusted crossbow bolt before Jibu could protect him.

And the other reason he didn't want to listen to their nonsense was, of course, that Aiwa had returned.

But he had actually returned empty-handed; did he fail and let the assassin escape? Or—

"Aiwa, where is the assassin?"

"The situation is a bit complicated, Mage Xia Duo, come with me." Aiwa signaled for Xia Duo to go with him alone.

Xia Duo didn't understand what Aiwa meant, but he still ordered the others to stand guard in place and followed Aiwa to a house not far from the road.

"Mage Xia Duo, I don't know who you've offended, but I think you might be in big trouble." Aiwa rarely said this much, and just as Xia Duo was about to ask—

Aiwa had already walked inside, and Xia Duo hurriedly followed.

As soon as he entered, Xia Duo smelled a dilapidated, decaying scent, mixed with some strange, indescribable odors, which made Xia Duo frown.

The furnishings in the house were quite simple; the only furniture was a bed placed in the corner, a row of pottery jars piled against one wall, and a few wooden boxes on the other side.

And on the side opposite the bed, there were actually two sheep being kept!

In the center of the room, a pottery jar hung from the roof beam, with traces of a fire underneath, and half a piece of air-dried meat from some unknown animal hung from the beam, quite full of the atmosphere of daily life.

This was the first time Xia Duo had seen the house of an ordinary Netherese person, or more accurately, the home of an ordinary Netherese farmer.

The big trouble Aiwa mentioned should be right here; Xia Duo looked around and discovered a person covered in a black robe near the window, with a crossbow fallen to the side.

Presumably, this was the murderer who had just fired the arrow, and the murder weapon.

Xia Duo stepped closer and took a careful look, greatly shocked, "This—"