Chapter 1155: Chapter 947: Guests from Shadow Valley

Upon hearing Hill’s question, Lansendel swiftly stood up and leapt to the edge of the garden, peering down below… A group of mages in gray hooded robes stood in front of the port inn.

“They indeed come from Shadow Valley, and it’s clearly under Hillen’s will,” Lansendel said with a tilted head, “They all bear the emblem of the Twisted Tower on their chests!”

No one would find it strange for visitors from Shadow Valley… Although Hillen Silverhand and Storm Silverhand don’t openly rule Shadow Valley, these two sisters are indeed its uncrowned queens.

After all, one is the wife of the former valley lord who heroically sacrificed himself to protect the people, and the other is Elminster’s young flame.

And Laila, who stayed in Luskan, couldn’t possibly not inform her sisters of the recent events.

If it was previously just a suspicion Edna would be involved in the Path of Destiny, but upon setting out, she ran headlong into the conflict between three powerful divine entities and the Lady of Pain, then there would be no need for further doubt.

Although the Tablets of Fate didn’t engage in a dramatic mess this time… Perhaps it’s due to the presence of the Undead Tribe, which stops things from getting overly dramatic.

Helping at the cost of one’s life certainly can’t be too obvious, right?

Once or twice is understandable, but with the Undead Tribe constantly guarding front, back, sides, even above and below, one can’t possibly keep having a stone smashing Edna’s head day and night?

Though it seems ambiguous, the beginning of the Path of Destiny is still very clear. As the Chosen of Mystra, upon discovering potential information from the Goddess, they must send someone over even if they don’t appear themselves… Hill was surprised that the mages of the Twisted Tower chose to come to Agleya, instead of waiting for Edna at Kelben’s Tower of the Black Staff.

Hill was always skeptical about Laila and Kelben’s falling out, not in the sense of Laila pretending, but rather he felt that the lady would eventually forgive the father of her twin sons… Their life-saving, existential bond couldn’t possibly vanish suddenly because of Kelben’s scheming, right?

The reason he let Laila become the municipal officer of Luskan wasn’t because he trusted her, but because… Edna was by Laila’s side at the time!

Laila came to him proactively, not because Hill was meddling… The temptation to watch an annual drama unfold without doing anything made Hill choose to let events develop as they would.

He finds the current outcome quite satisfactory… Edna is so intriguing!

She and the orthodox deities of Toril might just be short of a Lansendel!

Such a Goddess of Magic… AO will have plenty of entertainment to watch in the future.

Hence, Hill doesn’t care if Laila regrets it later.

Kelben has done too much; it’s impossible for him to salvage his image in the eyes of the new Mystra.

He did so many things, Hill glanced at the crystal ball still spinning in his study room… The Deepwater City chronicle with the Deck of Many Things hasn’t been touched… How arrogant Kelben was when he sent this card back then!

With powerful divine support, he indeed had confidence.

Unfortunately, he just wasn’t that lucky.

Hill showed a slight smile, looked down again: the people from Shadow Valley actually skipped Deepwater City and came straight to Agleya.

Is this a public breakup between the Seven Sisters and Kelben?

He couldn’t help but tug at his golden hair, a bit confused about the situation: “Did Kelben do something again?”

“Laila left Deepwater City with the children years ago,” Celene said leisurely behind them, “Kelben only wrote two letters, expressing his helplessness. Then, he crazily sent people worldwide searching for Mystra’s reincarnation.

He even fought directly with the people sent out by Twisted Tower and Silver Palace of Silvermoon City over some suspected targets.

If his Moonstars have always been incompatible with the Harpists, then what did Twisted Tower do to offend him?

Shadow Valley under Hillen’s rule has always been neutral, not fond of meddling in those matters… She wants to find a trace of Mystra due to her responsibility as a Chosen, rather than seeking anything from Mystra herself.

Even if her people discover Mystra, they would definitely inform the other Chosen.

Yet Kelben still couldn’t tolerate it, what does he want?

Laila has always had a strong character, she once chose to leave Kelben to wander alone for freedom, how could she lower her head to such a husband?

Luskan’s obtained information has been directly sent to Shadow Valley, without any contact with the Black Staff Tower for two years.

Kelben doesn’t think highly of Edna, he believes that only after she becomes transcendent she might encounter Mystra, and that would take some time… He and a portion of the Preaching Mages believe the Goddess of Magic has been reincarnated as a baby.

Twisted Tower probably doesn’t want to miss any opportunity and doesn’t wish to be seen as a whole with Kelben, so they specially came early to meet Edna.

“After all, the relationship between Elminster and Azuth is still decent; how could he possibly give up Edna for Kelben?”

“The matter with the Haber Family, hasn’t it affected him?” Hill tilted his head to ask, “Old Haber used some good things given by Kelben to deal with Edna, right?”

“That can only be handled after Mystra is reinstated; only then can this loyal believer who sold the divine artifact bestowed upon him be dealt with.” Shaer laughed coldly, “Such loyalty! Loyalty that even the heavens and the earth find laughable.

How are your adorable little dogs doing, Celene?”

Celene spread her hands helplessly, “What else can I do besides withdrawing my favor? I can’t just let them die because of it, right?”

Hill couldn’t help but glance at the Maiden of the Moon… For those werewolves who could transform at will thanks to Celene’s favor, this must be a very terrifying thing, right?

Previously, they could appear freely in the human world because of Celene’s moonlight blessing, which prevented them from transmitting the lycanthropy virus through bites, and their children were innately able to transform without losing their humanity.

Celene was very fond of these black wolves back then… because of their unity, mutual assistance, and care for the young.

However, these werewolves were only loyal to their own kin, completely indifferent to the layer of silver-blue moonlight that enveloped them… Celene’s biggest flaw is that once she likes something, she lavishes her favor excessively.

The chosen ones who betrayed her back then were like this; these wolves are also like this… However, the people she cherished all vividly illustrated what it means to receive favor by the ounce and repay it by the bushel.

Yet this Maiden of the Moon, her feelings are always given quickly and retracted just as thoroughly. Once she deems someone unworthy, she offers no chance for explanation or redemption.

This renowned werewolf mercenary group in The North is probably soon going to disappear from the public eye.

Hill has always had no interest in those seeking their own demise, so he merely smiled as he gazed at the mages below… Edna didn’t appear in person but sent Devis instead.

Devis and Luca, in the previous battles, couldn’t be said to have hurt any feelings of Edna… What feelings could one have upon first meeting?

Unlike Leonard, who naturally stood on the same side as Edna due to the relationship between Agleya City and the Undead Tribe… Their commonalities are numerous, so their mutual affinity is quite high.

Just like Devis and Luca, their attitude towards Edna is a bit different… In times of danger, Luca would definitely run away, while Devis, upon ensuring his safety, would attempt to lend Edna a hand.

After all, Edna is his teacher’s child.

And Edna’s father didn’t expect them to have deep feelings upon meeting… He only hoped that as their friendship deepened, facing and resolving dangers would cultivate mutual goodwill.

His notion could be discerned from Devis’s attitude, yet all these hopes turned to bubbles with Edna’s awakening.

But in Edna’s eyes, Devis was still slightly better than others, though nowhere near Leonard… Even though Lynn entrusted his brother to Edna, he hadn’t said much to Leonard.

The choice to stand by Edna when facing danger was Leonard’s own… Lynn merely understood his brother better.

He might not have expected his brother to perform so well, but Lynn knew well that kind-hearted, soft-hearted yet resolute Leonard would never err.

Devis, standing at the inn’s entrance, didn’t feel the gaze from mid-air, but merely smiled, mentally welcoming the sudden visiting mages from the Twisted Tower on behalf of Edna.

The Twisted Tower amusingly sent pupils of Hillen’s disciple… Counting from Elaströ’s side, Edna and they are of the same generation.

But in reality, these mages are already near-transcendent powerhouses, with two or three Ein Stones revolving above their heads… indicating they are at least Eighth Ring Mages.

Speaking of age, they are young and remarkable, definitely not over 60 years old.

But to call them young… 16-year-old barely Edna has no topics for exchange with these individuals at least a dozen years older than her.

The Shadow Valley noticeably chose mature and stable messengers and had no intention of establishing other relations with the possibly still-childlike Mystra.

The Northern Seven Sisters, as mature and independent women who have interacted with the previous Mystra for a long time, understand best what divine love really entails.

Kranvo’s specialty for Midnight lies in the fact that this Grim Reaper was killed by Cyric while protecting her in his mortal life, engraving an overly deep mark on her heart, not because Midnight was fond of him.

Otherwise, how could Midnight and Kranvo quarrel so much that Kranvo almost ended up dead in the Bottomless Abyss again?

When the life of the loved one is secure, thinking about something like “I wish I could see them again” is a trivial matter.

Demonstrating loyalty as a Chosen before the Goddess is the best course of action… it’s uncertain whether Kelben understands this.