Volume 6: Lords of Dalaran
Chapter 63: The Visit of the Hand of Justice
Inside the enclosed carriage sat the five-member squad of the Hand of Justice.
“We’ve confirmed it! Lord Bantrey’s information was accurate—this new baron is none other than the young mage we met at the Inn in Shining Gold Town!”
In the quiet carriage, Priest Wayne spoke to his companions.
“Is it him?”
The older warrior spoke in surprise.
“It seems your plan to recruit that young mage, Wayne, might come in handy after all!”
The young warrior beside him snorted and muttered, “Hypocritical nobles!”
The older warrior immediately frowned and scolded, “Dodge, I know you hate nobles, but don’t let personal feelings interfere with the mission. If you fail to complete the task assigned by the Archbishop himself, you’ll end up guarding the dungeon of heretics day and night!”
At these words, Dodge shuddered at the thought of spending years in that dark, filthy dungeon watching over heretics. Though still resentful, he dared not speak further.
Seeing the young warrior become subdued, the older warrior nodded in satisfaction.
At that moment, another slightly older warrior said, “Let’s finish the mission and go back as soon as possible! I don’t want to stay in this place another day. We move around like rats, always under surveillance. It’s better to leave the work of expanding the church’s influence to the missionaries from the Doctrine Department!”
It was just a casual complaint, but upon hearing it, the priests and the others paled.
“Braun, I’ve also sensed what Karl described, but neither telepathy nor divine magic detection shows any signs of us being watched!”
The older warrior said seriously,
“You feel the same? Then my suspicion must be correct too. We’re indeed being watched. It could be someone powerful above the rank of Gold, or someone using other methods from afar! Either way, it’s not easy to deal with!”
After saying this, all five of them, except for the knight who had remained silent, felt a sense of worry.
“We’ve passed Redmap Town; we’re almost at our destination. There’s no need to worry about those unnecessary things. If they want to watch us, let them. Our goal is to capture heretics—there should be no conflict with them. Just be careful!”
The knight’s deep voice rang out, and Wayne, the most thoughtful priest among them, also figured it out at that moment.
“Samuel is right! The mission is important. Instead of guessing around here, it’s better to complete the mission as soon as possible. Then all problems can be solved!”
Just as the carriage of the Hand of Justice was about to reach Darknight Manor, a guest suddenly appeared before the manor’s villa. Hearing the servants’ report, Donald came out and exclaimed in surprise, “Master Chris?”
Donald was somewhat surprised by this eccentric mage’s sudden arrival early in the morning, but since his thoughts couldn’t be reasoned through, he was merely puzzled.
The middle-aged mage didn’t explain anything and simply said impatiently, “You’ll have guests arriving soon. I’m in the villa. Don’t disturb me unless necessary!”
With that, he went inside one of the guest rooms at the back of the villa.
Donald wasn’t upset by Chris’s tone. He knew the mage wouldn’t act without reason; clearly, something had happened. So he immediately sent a few owls out to investigate.
Since returning from the capital city a few days ago, everything had started to get on track. Originally, there was only the manor, but now they had acquired a vast territory. The natural barrier of the Tree of Life clearly couldn’t cover such a large area, so he placed several Ancient Guardians throughout the territory and permanently summoned five owls to stay in the manor, fed by the servants, to patrol the area twice a day to prevent any dangers. Apart from their inability to fight or fly long distances, owls, with their natural stealth abilities, were more suitable for reconnaissance in the territory, and their creation cost was also very low.
Before long, an owl that had flown in the direction of Redmaple Town sent back a report through its vision. Indeed, it spotted a strange carriage heading toward the manor. “Who could it be? Someone who deserves such attention from Chris, a bronze-tier peak mage, who even came personally to oversee things—definitely not an ordinary person!”
Unfortunately, the owl’s vision couldn’t penetrate the carriage, so it couldn’t see what was inside.
Donald also couldn’t guess the identity of the visitor. Shaking his head, he said, “Why am I overthinking here? Whatever they are, once they arrive at the manor, it will be clear whether they’re friends or enemies!”
With that, he ordered the butler and William to tell the servants and farmers to stay inside temporarily, then arranged his guards and, along with Uther, followed by attendants like Clinton and Eric, waited in front of the manor.
In the time it took to finish a meal, the simple carriage arrived at the entrance of the manor. Donald frowned upon seeing the attire of the five people getting off the carriage—they were all highly skilled professionals, which raised a hint of concern in his mind. Yet he quickly regained his smile and went to greet them. “Welcome to Darknight Manor, guests who have come from afar!” The five members of Justice Hand were somewhat surprised that the manor’s owner knew of their arrival in advance. But then they realized he must have received the news from the Mage Association; otherwise, a low-ranking blacksmith mage and a minor local noble certainly wouldn’t have the ability to predict their arrival in advance. Since the host was welcoming them so warmly and they hadn’t come with hostile intentions, the five, led by the priest, exchanged a few polite words before following the host into the manor. In the manor’s hall, Wayne got straight to the point. “We five are a mercenary squad sent by Theron to chase down fugitives. This time, we’re pursuing the sorcerer Gorman, who has committed many serious crimes. We heard that the baron once met such a sorcerer, which is why we dared to disturb you!” Initially, Wayne planned to proceed gradually, trying to gauge the target’s limits and see if he could win him over. For such a young and talented mage, if he could be persuaded, the Church could easily extend its influence to this untapped land in the north. He himself could also achieve great glory and restore his former reputation. That’s why Wayne hadn’t given up since leaving Shining Gold Town. But now, sensing the underlying tension in the manor, though disappointed, he resolutely abandoned the idea. Donald could easily tell that their words were untrue—something about a mercenary squad was just a cover to disguise their true identities. Their demeanor also didn’t resemble that of adventurers; instead, they seemed to have received systematic training, somewhat different from army soldiers. It was more in line with what the priest had described about mercenaries. However, a priest, three warriors, and one knight—such a combination was quite rare among mercenaries. Almost no knights would choose to become adventurers or mercenaries, as, unlike ordinary warriors, knights were a noble profession. Besides their combat skills, knights were also symbols of nobility. Even a destitute knight without land or a manor had much easier access to wealth and a comfortable life than commoners. Joining the army or serving another noble lord were good options—why would they degrade themselves by mixing with adventurers and mercenaries?
The combination of these five people reminded Donald of a very famous organization in the eastern part of the continent: the Priests of the God of Dawn, the Holy Warriors of the Gods of Justice and War, and the Inquisitors of the God of War. Weren’t these exactly the joint forces under the Church of the Three Radiant Gods, tasked with hunting heretics and evil creatures—the infamous Hand of Justice in the mage community?
To Donald’s surprise, the sorcerer he had fought twice turned out to be a fugitive wanted by both the Church of the Three Gods and the Solon Alliance.
“What kind of grave crime must that guy have committed to draw an organization like the Hand of Justice after him, tracking him from the southernmost tip of the continent all the way to the northernmost parts of human territory?”
“And those religious fanatics somehow learned that the sorcerer had fought against them, so they came looking for him. The Mage Association must be aware of this, which is why they sent Mage Chris here to take charge!”
Based on his past experiences, Donald quickly figured out what was going on, and his guesses were mostly accurate.
Although he disapproved of these members of the Hand of Justice, who acted like an inquisition, he maintained the courtesy befitting a noble and mage. He simplified his own story and told it to them, emphasizing that the sorcerer had been acting on someone else’s orders when he tried to assassinate him.
“As for the sorcerer’s whereabouts, I’m sorry I can’t offer much help. When he fled after being injured, I was unable to chase after him. I had to rush to the northwest battlefield right away. By the time I returned, he had vanished without a trace. All I know is that he likely left North County and went south to hide in the kingdom. After that, there was no trace left to follow! After all, North County is far from the south, and the situation in the Six Southern Towns is chaotic with complex terrain, making it easy to hide someone there!”
Priest Wayne sighed upon hearing this. “It’s a shame. We had hoped Lord Baron could give us some clues, but now we’re disappointed. It seems we won’t be getting that large bounty after all!”
“You shouldn’t be discouraged. Although the southern regions of the kingdom are vast and chaotic, if we can find someone local who knows the area well, there’s still a chance to track down the sorcerer!”
“Then we rely on Lord Baron’s kind words. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly, and we’ll capture that evil sorcerer. We don’t have much time left, so we should take our leave!”
Hearing the priest’s concise words, Donald pretended to hesitate for a moment before sending the five of them away from the manor. In fact, he was eager for them to leave as soon as possible!
Upon returning to the villa, he found Mage Chris already out of his room, sipping the black tea brought by a maid. “Do you know who these guys are?”
At Chris’s question, Donald immediately confirmed his earlier guess.
He replied coldly, “Lackeys of the Hand of Justice. No matter how obvious their disguise is, a mage should be able to see through it!”
In the Land of Dawn, mages who weren’t registered with the church were considered heretics. Years ago, there had been widespread purges of mages—countless judges from the Church of the Three Radiant Gods had broken into mages’ homes, captured them, tied them to stakes, and burned them at the stake.
Those judges were the predecessors of the Hand of Justice, and this was the main reason why mages and other spellcasters harbored such hostility toward the Church of the Three Radiant Gods and its organizations.
Hearing Donald’s answer, Chris forced a stiff smile and nodded in satisfaction. “Good to know. These guys do indeed have genuine intentions, but their motives are probably not pure. It seems they’re very interested in you. If it weren’t for me backing you up, they would have tried to recruit you by now!”
“Does the Hand of Justice also recruit mages?” Donald asked, puzzled.
“Hehe! Of course. Among mages, there are weaklings and scum who defy the truths of magic. The Church of the Three Radiant Gods has recruited many mages with weak wills over the years. In every region under their control, any child shown to have magical talent is tightly controlled by the church. If they don’t attend the church’s schools, learn from those fanatics who reject the true path of magic, and remain under the church’s supervision for life, attempting to flee elsewhere will result in them being labeled heretical rebels and executed along with their families.”
Hearing this, Donald exclaimed in disbelief, “So in places like Sendel, having magical talent isn’t a blessing at all—it’s a disaster!”
Indeed, no world is a pure utopia. Where there are people, there are conflicts, even the true gods in the stars can’t avoid it!