How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 96 Multi-faceted Strategy

Inside a three-story building in the fourth district.

Jasper and his wife Eleanor sat in the living room, watching their daughter squat on the floor playing with dolls.

The firewood in the fireplace occasionally crackled and popped, sending up a few sparks.

Eleanor gently grasped Jasper's hand, her voice filled with worry:

"Darling, the war ended a month ago, why do you still look so gloomy?"

Jasper shook his head, his gaze lowered:

"Something's strange...the actions of the ruling council this time."

Moreover, they used bewitching and necromancy mages to control the demons summoned by rituals—even attacking the drow for this purpose…”

Before he could finish speaking, Eleanor's fingers tightened slightly.

Jasper took a breath, suppressing the surging unease in his heart.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The two exchanged a glance.

Jasper got up, walked to the door, paused for a moment, and then opened it.

A tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man stood outside the door, wearing an unassuming gray-brown travel jacket with dew clinging to his shoulders.

"Who are you?"

The newcomer smiled slightly, his voice calm:

"Remember that saying? Spells are just tools."

Jasper's pupils contracted, then he suddenly realized.

He immediately took a half step back, adopting a respectful posture.

"Lord Kane? You... weren't you missing?"

Kane shook his head: "Let's go inside and talk."

He went inside and closed the door behind him.

The faint glow of the disguise technique faded from his face, restoring his original appearance.

To disguise himself, he even padded his shoulders and back before finally relaxing.

As for the two Drow sisters, he left them deep inside the cave, where there was plenty of food and water.

The city of Drow has now been reduced to ruins by the city guard legions' sweep and fire, and the Nord army has retreated.

The two sat down in the living room, and Eleanor poured two cups of bitter root tea before leaving with her daughter.

Kane skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the question:

"What did they say about me?"

Jasper lowered his voice:

"Lord Rufus of the ruling council has publicly claimed that you have colluded with the enemy... but this matter has been suppressed by the chief judge of the Night's Watch."

Finally, you have been determined to be missing.

Kane nodded, then asked about Talia and the others, and learned that they had all returned safely to the Night's Watch headquarters.

"Captain Jasper."

Kane leaned forward slightly. "Don't you think there are many strange things about this war?"

Jasper's face darkened as memories flooded back.

The illogical orders on the battlefield, the treatment of prisoners, the hasty and almost perfunctory post-war cleanup...

Kane continued, "Remember those adventurers who were conscripted? Their bodies...where did they go?"

Jasper frowned. "Wasn't he buried in the cemetery in District 7?"

"Really?" Kane smiled. "Why don't we go take a look?"

Jasper frowned even more deeply, but still nodded.

……

A light rain was falling at night. In the seventh district, a public offering was taking place.

Rainwater flowed down the broken tombstone and seeped into the freshly turned soil.

Several figures were elongated in the dim light of the lantern, and the sound of shovels scraping against the soil was drowned out by the sound of rain.

A fat man, accompanied by two of his men, was carrying a wooden coffin out of a dug grave.

Jasper and Kane stood behind the crowd.

Jasper couldn't help but mutter, "This...isn't that inappropriate? It's blasphemous to the dead."

"We need to confirm first that the deceased is really here."

Kane's voice was calm.

"Do you think three people could lift a coffin containing a corpse so easily?"

Jasper looked closely and, sure enough, the coffin felt weightless when it was lifted, as if it were just an empty wooden box.

By this time, the people over there had already put the coffin down.

Kane emerged from the shadows, and the fat man looked up, letting out a sigh of relief: "Lord Kane."

"Fogg, open it."

Jasper hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not stop him.

Fat Fogg used a crowbar to pry open the gap in the coffin lid—bang! The coffin lid slid open.

Jasper stepped forward, looked inside, and suddenly froze.

empty.

There was nothing inside the coffin except for the coarse cloth lining the bottom.

"this……"

Kane turned to Fogg: "Tell me, what else do you know?"

Fogg wiped the rain off his face and spoke quickly:

"The coffins of the adventurers who died in this sweep of Drow were mostly empty."

Because the city guards' bodies were buried in the soldiers' cemetery, our people couldn't get in... but the fact that they did it so discreetly means that the other side had a great need for the bodies.

"Maybe even the city guards..."

Kane was not surprised.

To verify his suspicions, he hired Fogg and deployed multiple underground informants to investigate, with no exceptions.

The coffins were all empty. Although it cost a lot of money, it was enough to confirm his guess.

"Do you know where the bodies ended up?"

Fogg shook his head.

Kane had anticipated this: the matter was handled so discreetly that it would naturally remain unknown to outsiders.

Things that happen inside the city are difficult for people outside the city to know.

If the ruling council hadn't treated adventurers like dirt and hastily buried them in the most dilapidated cemetery in the Seventh District, they would probably still be in the dark.

Kane's gaze swept over the grave.

A bunch of wildflowers, wet with rain, lay before Russell's tombstone.

It was very clean, probably because someone had been here in the last couple of days—perhaps his mother.

She will probably never know that her child's body has long since disappeared.

Jasper's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, veins throbbed on his forehead, and anger blazed in his eyes.

"How dare they...!"

Kane looked at him quietly.

During their previous collaborations, he could tell that this captain genuinely cared for his subordinates.

That's a perfect reaction.

"Captain Jasper,"

Kane's voice was steady.

"We now need to distinguish who our friends are and who our enemies are."

First, I need to know who the opposition is within the city guard's high command during this war against the Drow—collect their names, the more detailed the better.

"Who...is the enemy?" Jasper asked gravely.

Kane raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the First District.

Jasper followed the gaze, his expression darkening.

Kane knew very well that no organization could be monolithic.

Opponents are the ones he might try to win over.

Meanwhile, he was also making plans on the side of the Night Watchmen and the Lanternmen.

"I will investigate this secretly," Jasper said in a deep voice, "and then inform Commander Arthur, who is the one who opposed this."

Kane suddenly realized that he remembered the officer he had seen at Alvin's funeral.

He nodded, turned and disappeared into the night rain.

……

Outside the Night's Watch headquarters.

Reed boarded the carriage and instructed the driver to return to his lodgings.

Inside the carriage, he leaned against the wall, looking somber.

"Kane...where have you been...?"

The carriage headed towards the fourth district.

As he walked, Reed suddenly realized something was wrong—this road did lead home, but it was a longer route.

He calmly placed his hand on his waist, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

Just then, a familiar voice came from the front of the carriage:

"Reed, it's been a long time."

Reed looked up abruptly, both surprised and delighted:

"Kane?! You weren't missing—no, since you're back, why aren't you showing yourself?"

The driver turned around; his face was unfamiliar.

Reed instantly understood: this was a first-level Disguise spell.

"If I were to appear in public now,"

Kane turned around, his voice lowered.

"The ruling council, which has been infiltrated by the demon cult, will probably send people to arrest me immediately."

As for the reason... just make one up.

Reed was taken aback, then gave a wry smile:

"I knew something was wrong... then you shouldn't have come back!"

"Leave."

He said, "I have two hundred gold coins at home, you can use them first."

Go to the Elven Court of Susas, where relations with the Nords are tense. If you escape there, they won't—"

"No need," Kane shook his head.

He still has tens of thousands of gold coins on him, and although he will use a lot of them for his future plans, he is not short of them yet.

"Reed," Kane suddenly asked, "do you think... the presiding judge is trustworthy?"

Reed frowned, but said without hesitation, "If there's only one person in all of Nord that I can trust, it's the Chief Judge. I can guarantee it with my life."

Kane silently cracked his whip.

He understood the saying, "You can know a person's face but not their heart"—but some risks had to be taken.

"Please give this letter to the presiding judge."

The mage silently cast a spell, and a letter gently floated into Reed's hands.

"If he needs to verify its authenticity, he can ask Ms. Zhiwu to testify; she knows the inside story."

The carriage stopped.

"You're home."

Reed clutched the letter, about to speak again, but Kane had already driven into the depths of the night.

……

Fourth District, Alchemy Workshop District.

The streets were deserted in the dead of night, except for Kane's carriage, which stopped in front of an unnamed shop.

Inside the shop, only Ms. Zhiwu was present.

She stood behind the counter, her figure appearing old and weary in the candlelight.

"Where's Zeya?" Kane asked.

"I've sent her to the Free City, where it's safer."

Lady Weaver paused. "After all, it's no longer safe here."

Kane nodded and went straight to the point: "Madam, are the supplies I needed prepared?"

Zhiwu remained silent for a moment, then walked to the back room and pushed open a hidden door.

Inside were ten wooden barrels neatly stacked, heavy and emitting a faint smell of gunpowder.

"Ten barrels of gunpowder could even collapse an entire manor."

Zhiwu turned and stared at him, her gaze sharp as a knife.

"But are you sure you want to go by yourself? You'll die, kid."

Kane shook his head:

"Everyone must die eventually. I hope you won't tell Zeya about this... she doesn't need to know."

"Your identity is sensitive. If you personally kill him, it will trigger a dispute between the Nord royal family and the school behind you, and even a war between the two countries."

He calmly said, "It's best for me to handle this."

What he didn't say was that only by personally finishing off the enemy could he maximize his experience gains and complete the main quest.

Weaving Mist gazed at him intently, and sighed after a long while:

"I'll see when the time is right... Have you set a time?"

"Next Wednesday during the day,"

Kane turned and walked towards the door, his voice echoing in the rainy night, "When the clock tower chimes the ninth time..."

He closed the door, and the rain outside poured down harder and harder...