Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 200 - 55: The Left Behind Clue_1

Chapter 200: Chapter 55: The Left Behind Clue_1

(263...084...458... Book buddies, feel free to join the group. Ps: passing by friends, I’m asking for a collection and recommendation. Your support is my greatest motivation. Also, could you guys give more suggestions? Thanks. ps2: book name change, please see related works)

"Everyone, please be seated." Pannis pulled out a chair beside the long table and gestured for everyone to be seated. "We can’t always be standing. It’s not easy to have a decent place that is not as harsh as the environment in the forest. We should rest properly."

"Pannis, you’re not really..." Catherine was visibly shocked, "You are not really planning to eat, are you?"

"Why not?" Pannis spread his hands, a look of innocence on his face. "Mr. Sandy has invited us so cordially, how could we possibly reject his kindness? Don’t think too much about it. If we’re already checkmated, there’s no point in being tense. Instead, we should relax and consider how to turn the tables. If defeat is inevitable, then let’s be frank and just surrender, waiting for the next round to recoup our losses. So, at this moment, instead of brooding, let’s relax and have a seat. Please."

Catherine was bewildered by Pannis’s words, but still sat down, her brow still furrowed as she asked, "But what if something’s wrong with the food?"

"Haha, impossible," Pannis shook his head, laughing. "You saw it too, from the way he acted in the video, he was nothing but courteous, always observing aristocratic manners. This kind of fool values nobility above all else, such a man would never stoop so low as to tamper with food, undermining his dignity. And don’t underestimate a competent explorer’s ability to detect poison. If he’d tampered with the food, I would have detected it the moment I stepped in."

"That’s not right." Catherine suddenly narrowed her eyes at Pannis. "Isn’t the ability to identify poison a thief’s skill, what does it have to do with explorers?"

"Uh, part-time, I do it part-time, haha." Pannis scratched his head, laughing awkwardly, then turned and said loudly, "Everyone, stop standing around. Please have a seat."

Truth be told, the banquet prepared by Mage Sandy was not lavish. Compared to the feasts hosted by human nobles and affluent individuals, it could only be described as meager. However, the timing and location instantly upgraded the level of the banquet. After all, there are probably not many among humans who can manage to prepare a fitting banquet in the heart of Shining Forest.

Pannis poured each person a glass of fennel wine, still giving off a cool vapor, without the slightest hesitation. Except for the three caster profession ladies who firmly refused to drink, the others found the idea of enjoying a banquet prepared by the enemy on a battlefield somewhat amusing, and followed suit by picking up their cups. For a moment, the anger and oppression caused by Sandy’s mockery were greatly alleviated and the faces of the group relaxed into smiles.

Catherine took a delicate sip of the fennel wine, aroma-rich, golden and transparent. A sigh of relief escaped her almost imperceptibly. As a descendant of the Northern Falar people with a fondness for alcohol, a love for wine is almost inherent in her blood. After more than a month of rushed travel and adventures, being able to sit down to a relatively hearty meal and sip a truly authentic Cornial fennel wine brought her some relief — while it may not do anything for her physically exhausted body, it had a soothing effect on her equally wearied spirit. After letting out a sigh, Catherine leaned back gently against the backrest of the chair while maintaining her manners and turned to Lina, who conducted herself with the most decorum at the dining table among the ten. Lina was not usually like this and often did things that were quite out of line with dining conventions. It is clear that Jane Mapple’s old-fashioned influence had rubbed off on her. Catherine smiled helplessly, whispering, "Lina, if Miss Mapple is available, please ask her to chat with everyone and share what problems she has found."

Lina didn’t immediately respond; instead, she put down her cutlery, readjusted her posture, and wiped her already clean mouth and fingers. After making all the necessary preparations, she finally asked, "Do you want her to say it in person?"

"Uh... No need for that." Catherine shook her head. "It’s not necessary. You can paraphrase."

"Okay." Lina opened her mouth to say something but then paused. After a few seconds, she said dejectedly, "Never mind, I can’t remember all of it, let her do it."

The very next moment, several mercenaries on Dora’s side and even the three adventurers almost jumped in surprise. Under the gaze of the group, Lina underwent a fundamental change. Unlike before, when to the three members of the adventure group, Lina’s transformations seemed only to oscillate between different youthful female dispositions, now Lina, despite no changes in her movements, posture, facial expressions, not even a slight change in the minute positions of her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth, gave people a distinct feeling — like they were facing an old person.

It was unrelated to appearance, even with Lina’s beautiful features of a 20-year-old, and vitality, even with Lina’s youthful vigour of a 20-year-old. The only change was in her eyes. The sparkling, clear eyes were faded, replaced with wise and aged eyes.

"I’m Jane Mapple." The voice speaking also became slow and elderly, yet the tone was precisely the same as Lina’s throughout the day: "I am old and do not wish to take up too much of your young people’s time, so, I will simply summarize what I know, hoping it may help you."

The same tone, the same demeanor, but compared to Lina’s previous mimicry, if Lina demonstrated stiffness and solemnity, then the real Miss Mapple showed seriousness towards things, attachment to etiquette and rules, and understanding of life.

"Let’s talk about this person first," Miss Mapple stood up and pulled her chair back a few steps and sat down again. Even while seated in a chair, she kept her body upright, her movements were as careful as a queen receiving her subjects: "Judging from his behavior, he places enormous importance on his identity and takes pride in being a noble. From his conversations with you through language and etiquette, he continuously emphasizes this point. He likely behaves the same way in his daily life. This is a characteristic of people educated by traditional noble families. This aligns with his original identity, a noble who is a legendary mage."

"But he is a man wanted by the Mage’s Guild, he has been on the run for thirty-seven years. Even if he’s from a traditional aristocratic family, after hiding his identity for thirty-seven years, his lifestyle should have affected his habits. Now it seems that he still retains these habits. This can only mean that these thirty-seven years were not spent in destitution, but rather, he continued to live a life comparable to his original status, leading to his current situation."

"Now let’s analyze why he could still maintain such a lifestyle while being on the run. Initially, I believed he might have been provided for by a wealthy noble family, but I quickly discarded this theory. The mages provided for by family always stay hidden, whereas his habits can only be maintained on the stage. Hence, such sponsorship couldn’t be the reason."

"Then I thought of another reason. Could he have forsaken his identity as a mage and disguised himself as a pure noble? But this is also impossible. Only a mage could disguise his face with a hood without arousing suspicion. If he were a simple noble, he couldn’t hide from the world forever. Someone would eventually see him. Since no one has ever seen him, I ruled out this possibility."

"However, in the end, I reconsidered the second possibility I had initially ruled out and found an issue. He could wholly maintain his identity as a mage while disguising himself as a pure noble. I initially thought this wouldn’t be possible as it was too obvious. A high-ranking mage who is also a major nobleman would draw the attention of the Mage’s Guild, Mercenary Guild, Adventurer’s Guild that issued the arrest warrant, who haven’t given up the pursuit even after thirty-seven years. But then I realized that there is only one place where a high-ranking mage becoming a nobleman would not arouse the suspicion of these three guilds."

"Butte?" Pannis asked hesitantly: "Mage Country of Butt?"

"Correct." Miss Mapple answered affirmatively. "A single drop of water is safest hidden in the ocean. Thus, where would be the safest place for a noble high-ranking mage to hide? Nothing is safer than hiding in the Mage Country of Butt where all the lords and the nobles are mages. We can now almost confirm that his roots are in Butt. It is the best direction to start our chase."

"Having discussed the man’s origins, let’s consider where he came from this time." Miss Mapple stood up, walked back to the table, looked at the things on the table, and painted a graceful and slightly proud smile. "If he didn’t purposely leave these items behind to mock and provoke you, he would not have left so many traces for us to investigate. First, let’s consider the tableware. Pay careful attention to all the utensils on the table; each piece is very carefully crafted and expensive, and the styles are also very similar. But here’s the thing, these utensils look like they belong to the same collection, but they are not. Even their places of production are different. For example, Mr. Pannis, the utensils you use, you should know where they’re from, right?"

"They should be produced in Ferrellrogard, the city at the westernmost end of the Neville Federation. The patterns on them are directly pressed on them using a unique embossing method." Pannis answered.

"That’s right." Miss Mapple turned to Catherine. "Miss Catherine, your cutlery."

"Local specialty of the Elven City Bodu’an, patterns are made using Elven engraving." Catherine answered without even glancing at the plate on the table.

"Yes, that’s it. The plates on the table come from at least four to five different regions far apart." Miss Mapple said: "Most of these items are indistinguishable to most nobles unless he is an appraisal expert who knows his field incredibly well. It would be very normal to miscategorize it as a set and use it incorrectly."

"I think I understand what you’re getting at." Pannis gently tapped the desk with his finger and said thoughtfully: "He was summoned here at the last minute. He couldn’t have predicted that he would run into us beforehand, so he must have put these items together at the last moment from a place he is very familiar with. That’s why he would think about going there to procure these items. This means that if we can find this place, we might be able to trace him. So now the key to our problem is - where is this place?"