Chapter 186 - Stalking
writer:翔炎      update:2022-07-29 14:48
  Aruslin knew very well that Moon Shadow was on the brink of destruction. If his chairman was too distracted by the party to notice the messages on the Internet, things would be very bad.

  Thankfully, what he feared didn’t come true. A few minutes later, he saw Cedarnik’s reply on the homepage of his guild.

  “All guild members, whether you’re souls or hiding, go to the town ten kilometers to the northeast of Isnas. There’s another Temple of Life over there. You can resurrect and gather there. The temple in the city has been occupied. Don’t resurrect there, or you will lose 10% of your EXP points after each death.”


  Aruslin was relieved to read the post. He crawled back into the cabin and rejoined the game.

  About fifteen minutes earlier……

  Seeing that Li Lin, Raffel, and Brazil had everything under control, Roland was relieved and walked east along the city wall to descend via the stairs at the corner. But he saw a team of soldiers waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs after he took a turn.

  Under the cold moon, the fifty soldiers were wearing gray leather armor and holding long spears.

  The tips of their spears were particularly chilling in the night.

  Roland’s first reaction was that those soldiers were ambushing him at Moon Shadow’s instruction.

  Subconsciously, he was going to cast Ice Ring, but he soon dropped the thought, because all the soldiers moved their heads aside when they saw him, not daring to make eye contact with him.

  Also, the commander of the soldiers was obviously the captain who led him to the top of the city wall earlier.

  So, it’s them…… Roland was relieved.

  “Why are you still here?” Roland asked as he walked down to them.

  The captain behaved normally when he spoke to Roland earlier, but his eyes held much more fear now. “It’s our turn to take a rest.”


  You call this a rest?

  Roland raised his eyebrow, but unwilling to meddle in other people’s affairs, he said, “Please enjoy your rest. I’m leaving.”


  “Suit yourself,” said the captain with a smile.

  Then, Roland left.

  The captain sighed a long breath of relief when Roland was gone, and the other soldiers did more or less the same.

  Looking at the crimson fire not far away, they were all frightened.

  After descending from the wall, Roland recalled the map and walked to a remote crossroads that was surrounded by tall weeds. He sat on the ground, and the weeds perfectly disguised him.

  If Cedarnik were to return to Moon Shadow’s base, he had to pass this spot.

  Roland snapped his fingers, and four transparent magic spiders the size of ping-pong balls emerged among the weeds and dispersed. Three of them stayed on alert near him, and the last one rushed to the rich neighborhood along the road.

  The magic spiders were small but quite fast. Also, they were transparent and hard to notice at night.

  Roland sat in silence. A few minutes later, he saw still images in his head every five seconds.

  The chairman of Moon Shadow and his deputies left the manor of the minor noble and went east to the city gate.

  Cedarnik gave the guard who was defending the gate a gold coin, and the gate was slowly opened to let them through.

  After they passed the gate, the gate was slowly closed again.

  At the critical moment, the magic spider dashed out through the gap right before the gate was fully closed.

  Roland stood up and sent a message in the guild system. “Cedarnik is out of town.”


  Li Lin: “Just like you expected.”


  Husseret: “It’s Tom the Big Belly who guards the gate tonight. He won’t refuse anyone as long as you’re willing to pay.”


  Roland: “Got it.”


  Roland quickly walked to the city gate. He happened upon several groups of soldiers who were patrolling. They shouted on the street and asked the civilians to stay in their house, but they fell into silence when they saw Roland and his magic robe. They simply ignored and passed him.

  Since the Guild of Rogues established their base here three hundred years ago, the local nobles, the Guild of Rogues, and other forces had reached an unspoken agreement after decades of fighting.

  In the day, the city belonged to the royal family and the nobles, but at night, it belonged to the Guild of Rogues and other professionals.

  So…… a lot of miserable accidents happened at night, and the nobles were happy to see the professionals attacking one another as long as they were not involved.

  Roland walked fast. Very soon, he reached the city gate.

  All the soldiers who guarded the gate were greatly alarmed when they saw a mage at night.

  After all, they saw an enormous fireball launched at the northwest corner of the city.

  However, they did not have the courage to challenge a mage.

  Though nervous and scared, they did not draw their weapons.

  When Roland was close, he took out a gold coin and raised it high to show his intention.

  The fat commander was greatly relieved. He wiped off his sweat with a handkerchief and said, feeling lucky, “It’s great that this esteemed spellcaster is willing to abide by our rules.”


  Then he shouted, “Open the gate.”


  After that, he ran down from the top of the city wall.

  He was surprisingly fast for a man as obese as he was.

  When he ran to Roland, Roland finally realized why he was named Tom the Big Belly.

  His belly was truly big, not only because he was fat, although it was definitely one of the reasons. But it was also because his belly was disproportionately huge even for a fat man.

  Looking at the gold coin in Roland’s hand, he said with an adulating smile, “Sir, I can’t accept a gold coin from someone as honorable as you. It would be an insult to your identity and position.”


  Roland was briefly stunned. “Then why did you take Cedarnik’s gold coin just now?”


  Tom seemed to have realized something, but he then pretended he didn’t. “You’re different. Cedarnik is just a barbarian. He can’t compare to a spellcaster like you.”


  Well…… Warriors were truly pitiful. By logic, Cedarnik was an Elite and the leader of a minor force. He should be a powerful man, but those nobles still disrespected him.

  Roland, as a strange spellcaster that Tom had never met before, was actually more revered.

  Although he refused it, Roland still put the gold coin into Tom’s pocket. He smiled and walked out of the slightly open gate.

  Tom asked his men to shut the gate and returned to his position on the top of the city wall. He said to the soldiers near him, “Did you see? That’s what a noble gentleman should be like. That Cedarnik just now was only a barbarian. His gold coin reeks of mud, which I don’t like. I’ll ask my deputy to buy a few goats for you so that you can enjoy some meat.”


  The soldiers cheered in delight.

  On the muddy road, Roland freed the three magic spiders again. They crawled near him and stayed on alert.

  Now and then, pictures were sent from the magic spider that was stalking the targets.

  Cedarnik was quite fast…… A ten-kilometer journey would’ve taken two hours on foot, but because of his anxiety, it took him only forty minutes to reach his destination.

  It was a town without a wall. Around eight people were already gathered on the road outside of the town.

  They were all talking to each other loudly, making the night noisier than usual.

  Cedarnik and his deputies drew their attention upon their arrival.

  “They’re here! The chairman is finally here! We can go back for revenge now!”