Chapter 371: Plan and Arrangements

On the first floor of Night Wind Tavern, Ron sat on a table with his feet propped on a stool, one hand holding up the *Weaving Introduction*. The pages of the Magic Book flipped rapidly with his Casting.

Many people had come and gone from the tavern in recent days, a good number of them Casters, making it difficult to find any arcane trace of the kidnappers. But as the pages of the *Weaving Introduction* slowly came to a halt, the Magic Book projected a group of figures in silver hooded robes for all to see.

"Are those... Messengers?" Although the image was so blurry that not only were their faces impossible to make out, but even their races were difficult to discern, Victoria recognized them instantly. Hearing the name, Quest’s eyes flew wide open.

"Messengers? You mean those assassins the Religious Order specially trains?"

"That’s a rather rude way to put it," the Priest said, rubbing her temples in exasperation. "Generally speaking, they’re like any other Priest; their goal is to spread the faith. It’s just that their methods aren’t exactly...’conventional.’"

"I can’t believe it. It really is the Religious Order." Aive’s face was a blank mask, but the bulging veins on the fist she had planted on the table betrayed her true feelings. "Ron, can you see where they’ve taken my parents?"

"Unfortunately, no. It would help if the image were clearer," Ron said, shaking his head regretfully. "But since we’ve confirmed it’s the Molten Iron Barrier, why don’t we start by checking out the most suspicious location?"

Ron was, of course, referring to the spice merchant’s home. The man’s butler had ties to the Religious Order; as his employer, the merchant himself could hardly be uninvolved.

"Let me go first," Constance said, rising to her feet and gently taking her cousin’s fist in her hand. "I’ll go and ask. Maybe this is just a misunderstanding. We might be able to get my aunt and uncle back through more peaceful means."

"Aren’t you afraid your adoptive father and Sred will kidnap you too?" Aive snorted. "Your house is probably a giant trap right now, just waiting for us to walk into it!"

"He wouldn’t! My father loves me. He would never agree to something like that!"

Ron glanced up at her. "Even if he had to choose between you and his Deities?"

"I..."

"It’s alright. No one can be sure about something like that; I doubt even Mr. Hendrix himself knows for certain. And while sending you home alone is risky, I think it might just spark another idea."

"Over the past two days, we’ve scouted every church in Rose City with a possible connection to the Molten Iron Barrier. So far, there hasn’t been any significant movement of people at any of them," Ron said, hopping off the table. He unfurled a map of Rose City, on which all the churches and abbeys had been marked. Several had been heavily circled. "Quest, these circled locations are the ones with close ties to the Molten Iron Barrier or are close to Constance’s home. There are five in total. Two of them fit both criteria, so we need to pay special attention to them."

"The Religious Order knows we’re onto their plan, and they’re likely tracking our movements as well. Therefore, the moment we head for the spice merchant’s estate, they’ll probably make a move from these locations to completely surround us and force us to submit."

"So your plan is for us to stake out these churches?" Quest asked, catching on. "That’s easy. I’ll warn you the moment they make a move!"

"A warning won’t be enough," Ron said, shaking his head. "If that was all, we wouldn’t need such a grand setup. I didn’t sneak a Ghost Witch and a Pollution Worm Demon into Rose City just to have two more alarm systems."

"I still think this isn’t a good move..." Victoria sighed. "Bringing a Ghost Witch and a demon into the city? This—"

"Otherwise, what would make them abandon their current mission?" Ron grinned. "Ordinary chaos won’t be enough to alarm them, let alone change their priorities. But a demon and a Ghost Witch are a different story—and what if you add a Black Dragon to the mix?"

"Quest, I need you to pass this plan to them and strictly require them to execute it," Ron said, handing the Spy a letter—a plan he had written on the road and perfected over the last two days. "Warn and supervise them. Even though their mission is to create chaos, they absolutely cannot be allowed to run wild according to their natures. The level of commotion is strictly planned, unless they intend to attract the attention of some bigwig and get themselves killed."

"As for your kinsmen, they will listen to my command. We will find clues at the estate to where Legislator Daniel and his wife are being held. After we head there, I’ll have to trouble your people to deal with any interference along the way."

"You can rest assured on that front. We definitely can’t beat those Priests in a head-on fight, but we can manage to delay them," Quest nodded. "But I don’t understand—how are you so sure you’ll find clues to Legislator Daniel and his wife’s whereabouts at Hendrix’s estate?"

"Simple. Because their ultimate target is Ron!" Delaford said with a slap of his hand on the table. "Prey will rarely fall into an empty pit. But it’s a different story if you put some bait inside!"

"Exactly," Ron nodded. "They might not understand why we’re so pointedly heading straight for Hendrix’s estate, but if they want to capture me, they’d be best served by planting a real clue."

After Ron gave a few more instructions, the Martial Monk melted back into the shadows. When he reemerged a street away, the Tiffling had already changed his appearance and was swaggering toward the "caravan’s" encampment.

His chosen route "happened" to pass by Night Wind Tavern. The Shapeshifter paused in front of the building he had just left, eyeing the sparse, untended climbing plants as he grumbled in a Rose City-accented Common Language about why this tavern he frequented had been closed for so long.

Of course, Quest received no answer. But as he muttered to himself and walked away, a robed man—with a corner of silver showing beneath his hem—immediately emerged from hiding and darted after him. When Quest turned a corner, the man hesitated for a moment, then followed.

This particular Messenger was responsible for monitoring Ron and his group. Seeing a former patron of the tavern making comments about it, he strictly followed his orders, briefly tailing the man to confirm he wasn’t suspicious. However, the instant he rounded the corner, his intuition screamed at him—danger. The person he had just watched turn this corner had vanished!

The Messenger immediately tried to pull back, but with a whoosh of wind, he saw—in his last moments of consciousness—a humanoid creature with no distinct facial features save for its eyes descending from the sky like a great bird. Then, a hand chopped down on his neck!