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"My name is Elizabeth Langdon, and I am the third daughter of Duke Langdon. In other words, I am the third in line to this territory." The girl held the king's hand.
Wang suddenly realized that the hand was softer than he expected, as if it would melt at any time.
Chapter 2: The Disciple of the Man from the Legendary Story
After letting go of Elizabeth's hand, Wang looked at the girl's hand with some reluctance.
The tavern owner and the mercenary looked at each other, as if they knew exactly what had happened.
Then - then the king asked: "You seem to know what happened to me very well, so what happened to me just now? Is this some kind of spell that works on contact?"
Elizabeth frowned slightly: "What?"
Wang recalled and described carefully: "When I touched Elizabeth's hand just now, I mean Miss Langdon's hand, it felt very special. I felt that it was as cold as snow. More importantly, I wanted to hold it in my hand for a little while. Is this some kind of spell? But I didn't detect any magical aura?"
The mercenary once again put his arm around the king's shoulders: "This is called the throbbing of youth."
Wang: "I see. I read it in a book. It turns out that I have developed a desire to mate with Miss Langdon."
Elizabeth's face turned pale and her eyes widened. She had been receiving etiquette training since she was seven years old, so that she could maintain the composure and behave properly in the face of a mountain collapse. However, at this moment, all these trainings seemed to be ineffective.
Wang didn't notice Miss Langdon's condition at all. He looked at the oak cup of bee beer on the table and continued to mutter, "I have never been very good at enchantment spells. The teacher said it was because I knew too little about human emotions. This experience will be of great benefit to me in casting enchantment spells."
Elizabeth had regained her composure as a duke while he was mumbling. She cleared her throat, attracted the king's attention, and said loudly, "Let's get back to the matter of the missing cats and dogs."
Wang nodded: "Okay, go ahead."
Elizabeth pulled out a ledger from beneath her cloak and opened it to reveal the densely packed records.
Wang leaned over to take a look and said, "This looks like some kind of visit record."
"Yes, I sent servants to inquire a large number of residents in Landon City. This column is the inquiry location, and this column is the residents' residence. The main content of the inquiry is whether they have seen wild cats recently.
"Most residents said they had never seen any, and some said that even the wild cat calls that used to bother them at night have disappeared.
"The residents marked here are those who usually feed stray cats. Without exception, they all said that the cats that often came to beg for food have disappeared recently. However, these people did not care, after all, they were just stray cats."
Wang nodded: "I see. With so many inquiry records, even if some of them are deliberately false, it is enough to prove that the number of wild cats in the city is indeed decreasing significantly."
"Yes, so..."
"Where's the dog?" Wang interrupted Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: “What?”
"We're looking at a large number of feral dogs and cats going missing, so you should have evidence that dogs are also going missing in large numbers."
Elizabeth: "Oh, this. Wild dogs are different from wild cats. Wild dogs can hurt people and spread rabies. So there is a special department in Langdon City to kill wild dogs. This department has not killed a single wild dog in two months."
Wang: "Have you seen the records of this department? They didn't falsify the records to cover up that they were not working?"
Elizabeth was surprised and asked, "You actually knew that they would falsify the records?"
"Why wouldn't I know? My teacher's apprentices often cheat and slack off. If he finds out, he will hang them up and beat them in the punishment room." Wang spread his hands.
Elizabeth nodded. "Okay, I understand. Looking at the records, it is true that the dog extermination department is still working diligently. However, my father has spies responsible for monitoring whether each department is working. The spies said that they have not been open for two months. But they are not slacking off and are still patrolling very diligently."
Wang: "I understand. The wild cats and dogs in Langdon City have indeed disappeared on a large scale."
Elizabeth: "I suspect there might be a necromancer..."
"No, it's impossible." The king interrupted Elizabeth again. "Necromancer is the art of controlling death and souls. The death and souls of cats and dogs are too low-level. Even if you gather all the stray cats and dogs in the city together and kill them, you can't cast any powerful necromancy. At most, you can only summon a lot of animal skeletons."
Elizabeth looked at the king seriously, "You are familiar with necromancy? Are you from the necromancy school?"
"No, I am from the School of Divination. But I am familiar with spells from all schools on a lore level. Even the abjuration spells that I cannot use."
Elizabeth: "You can't use a protective spell? Not even a shield spell?"
"Yes."
"Then aren't you at a huge disadvantage in a spell duel? Aren't magic missiles guaranteed to hit?"
Wang smiled confidently. "At home—I mean in the tower—my winning rate against spellcasters of the same level is 100%. As a mage of the school of prophecy, I can always strike before my opponent."
Elizabeth: "But actual combat is not a one-on-one duel in an arena. What if the magic missile has already been launched?"
"Magic missiles will not harm objects, so they can be blocked with a shield. Theoretically, I can even use the throwing knives created by the conjuration system to shoot down each magic missile." Wang paused, "I am very good at conjuration."
Elizabeth's face was full of disbelief.
So the king continued, "Well, it's a bit far-fetched to use spells to counter magic missiles, but Bigby's protective palm can definitely block most of the magic missiles."
Elizabeth: "Isn't that a five-ring spell?"
Wang raised his eyebrows and said, "Ah, yes, that is a fifth-ring spell. But there are other ways to deal with it, such as using invisibility. As long as the enemy can't see you, they can't launch magic missiles at you. But...well, I have to admit that for me who can't use shield magic, dealing with magic missiles is a hassle."
Elizabeth: "Then you shouldn't have said anything about it."
Wang: "Uh... you're right. I won't say that next time. Let's continue talking about cats and dogs."
Elizabeth: "Okay, you've disproven my necromancer theory. What's your theory?"
Wang: "How is it different from making assumptions based on just these few clues? Maybe he is just a glutton who likes to eat cats and dogs. Or maybe the goblin tribe underground is storing food. Maybe even a group of druids came to the city to take these poor little animals back to nature."
Elizabeth's ears turned slightly red, probably because she had just expressed her speculation about the necromancer with great certainty.
Wang: "But we can investigate. There are a whole city of stray cats. Even if the Duke set up a special stray dog killing department, he still couldn't completely eradicate the stray dogs in the city. To make them extinct... either magic or a large number of manpower would be used."
Wang glanced at the tavern owner and added, "It may not be manpower."
The tavern owner told Elizabeth, "Last week, the lord mobilized the city defense forces and adventurers to wipe out a fairly large goblin tribe underground."
Elizabeth: "I know. You mean, this might be related to the disappearance of cats and dogs?"
The tavern owner shrugged. "The municipal government of Langdon City has never really controlled the city's sewers. Anything can be hidden under there."
"Wait a minute." Wang raised his right hand, pointed his index finger back and forth at the boss and Elizabeth, "Why do you two look so familiar?"
Elizabeth: "Use your clever brain, Master. How could the Duke's third daughter appear alone in an ordinary tavern in the slums?"
The king looked at the tavern owner, then at the mercenary who had returned to his companions in the distance.
"These are my servants," Elizabeth continued. "This is my base in the slums."
Wang said "Oh", then gave a thumbs up: "Makes sense! So what happened before you came in was a screening test for me?"
Elizabeth: "Yes, I was actually observing you on the second floor. After I was sure that you were not my brother's spy, I went around and came in through the main door."
Wang: "So you suspect your brothers...the first and second in line to the Duke's throne are involved in this matter?"
"I have tried to find out," Elizabeth said. "I'm not sure about my second brother, but my eldest brother should have nothing to do with this. To be honest, I can't figure out what earth-shattering conspiracy could be carried out by taking away the cats and dogs in the city. I'm just sure there's something fishy going on here."
The tavern owner whispered: "When something evil comes to your house, there must be something evil."
Elizabeth nodded. "Of course, my goal is to build a trustworthy team through this incident. After all... my father's health is not as good as before."
Wang: "You need the ability to protect yourself."
The girl looked at the king with sincere eyes: "Mister Mage, are you willing to join this team?"
Before the king could answer, the cat-man sharpshooter in the corner shouted, "Of course he is willing, Miss, he wants to mate with you!"
Elizabeth's ears turned slightly red again. She turned her head and scolded, "I know your race is so unrestrained, Miss Catman, but please respect yourself in the human city."
After saying that, she looked at the king again.
Wang: "To be honest, this is just my instinctive impulse. I don't have this idea in my subjective will."
Elizabeth was a little disappointed for a moment, but she suppressed the expression of this emotion: "You mean joining the team?"
"I mean my desire for you. As for the team, yes, the purpose of my coming here is to join a team. After all, this is where the adventure begins."
Elizabeth: "You... could it be that your teacher's tower is actually inside the Landon Territory? If you came from outside the Territory, you must have been traveling for a while. It's not common to see mages traveling alone."
Wang smiled. "Well, the teacher used a portal spell to throw me to the city gate. The soldiers at the gate can testify for me today. The teacher said that this was the starting point of his adventure, so I should start from here too."
Elizabeth thought for a moment and asked, "What's your teacher's name?"
The king stared at Elizabeth and slowly uttered a name.
Elizabeth paled again and had to cover her mouth with her hands to keep from crying out.
The tavern owner was much calmer. He muttered softly, "The last time I heard this name was in a bard's ballad. The story of him destroying the lich Sadara is one of my favorite stories."
Wang was carefully observing Elizabeth's reaction. When the girl regained her composure, he said, "My teacher said that after his name is announced, people will be so shocked that they will forget to question its authenticity. He turned out to be right. Damn it, he fooled me."
Elizabeth: "So, you are the disciple of that one?"
"I think I should be the teacher's most proud student. You can call me the chief disciple."
Elizabeth: "How old are you?"
"Eighteen years old"
Elizabeth: "You are the same age as me... Are you out here to gain experience?"
"I've already said it. My teacher dropped me off at the city gate and said this is the best place to start my adventure."
The tavern owner interrupted, "An eighteen-year-old third-level spellcaster is already a genius. Many mediocre people in their fifties and sixties can only cast fourth-level spells. But young lady, he only has experience playing house in the tower. You may need to recruit a spellcaster with rich practical experience."
Elizabeth then withdrew her gaze from the king: "Indeed."
Wang: "Stray cats and dogs are not a big deal. Organizing a reliable team is the real problem. Am I right?"
Elizabeth: "Stray cats and dogs are also a big deal because it's so abnormal. My intuition tells me there must be a conspiracy behind it. We have to find the person who made the stray cats and dogs disappear and find out what he is doing.
"But you're right. Both of my brothers have their own trusted teams, and I want one too. It took me two years to build this tavern and gather a few trustworthy people, but I still couldn't find a spellcaster I could trust."
The tavern owner added, "Spellcasters are in high demand, and most people don't want to play house with the young lady. Those who come here are basically scammers who can only perform magic tricks."
Wang: “No wonder you said that at the beginning…”
Just as he finished speaking, Wang suddenly jumped to the side from his seat, and at the same time made a series of gestures with his hands, accompanied by the chanting of short and powerful spells, six mirror images appeared in front, behind, left and right of him.
Then Wang quickly moved, and the mirror image also danced along, and soon it became impossible to tell which one was the real him.
Someone applauded.
The figure who appeared at some point stopped clapping and pulled down his hood, revealing a dark female face. Her pointed ears and dark skin revealed her race.
"My lady, this wizard has a very fast reaction speed. I thought he wouldn't notice my presence until I put the dagger to his neck. The choice of spell is also correct. Mirror Image is the best choice in this situation."
The king carefully examined the newly emerged figures, and his illusion faithfully replicated his movements. "Drow, Miss Langdon, your team is really diverse. Cat-people, drow, should dwarves and tieflings appear next?"