Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 837 - 102 Countermeasures

Chapter 837: Chapter 102 Countermeasures

"It’s a pity that during the time in the Crying Cave, we only saw them through the Eye of the Mage," Pannis sighed and shook his head. "If we could have met them in person, I definitely could have recognized them when they reappeared. But observation through the Eye of the Mage makes the image too blurry to distinguish. If it weren’t for His Highness’s help in exposing their deception, I’m afraid I would still be unable to connect the two incidents."

"It seems the likelihood of the third speculation has become greater," Catherine clenched her fists tightly. In fact, the knight girl’s heart was not at peace, nor was there any joy in guessing the answer. As soon as she thought of the third possibility, she had already considered that the massacre, with a death toll exceeding eight hundred, might have been specifically prepared for them, simply to redirect the attention of the adventure team towards the borders of Neutral Land. Clearly, the opposition had calculated the team’s response well, knowing that once they heard of the incident, they would definitely rush to the scene to investigate, thereby leaving Butte Plateau far behind. As such, amidst her anger, the knight girl also felt a vague sense of guilt. Although she was fully aware she had done nothing wrong, the knowledge that nearly a thousand people had perished for reasons related to her was bound to stir even the strongest of hearts. With several emotions intermingling, the knight girl’s expression became very strange, and she spoke in an ice-cold tone, "Moreover, if we continue considering the third possibility, the timeline also matches up almost exactly."

"Four days ago, they orchestrated a massacre. At almost the same time as the massacre, they used a misunderstanding to affect bilateral trade between two countries, forcing His Highness to rush over in haste. His Highness arrived three days ago, which means he set out within a few hours of receiving the news, so the local officials here must have been aware of his arrival four days ago. Therefore, they placed an early order to control the transportation of goods, to ensure that no cargo would accumulate outside the city after your arrival," Pannis said as he took the pen from Freya’s hand and drew a line on the paper, marking time nodes and saying as he drew, "The preparation for the event then paused temporarily. Then, two days ago, two days ago, we arrived at Third Flame City. This was our first entry into a city since leaving Barrow City. Before that, besides wandering in the swamp, we were in a hurry on the road and they had no chance to approach us. However, after we entered the city, their opportunity finally came. It was two days ago that news about the massacre began to spread to the surrounding powers, and it was also that same night that two impostors conveyed the news to us."

"Next was one day ago, which is yesterday morning when we confirmed the news and left Third Flame City," Catherine also leaned in, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Pannis, heads touching as they drew on the paper, "At the same time, the representatives sent by the two lords of Butte arrived at Mountain Watching Fortress and began dealing with diplomatic affairs. The misunderstanding between the parties was resolved last night, and the trade of goods could continue. You must have held a dance last night, Your Highness, if I remember correctly, it’s a diplomatic tradition of the Falar Empire."

"Yes, a dance was held last night," Nicholas said. "It has become a routine part of the Empire’s foreign affairs activities. If it takes place within the Empire’s territory, then following the official business, a dance is held, and a farewell ceremony takes place the next day."

"Hmm, so it could easily be part of their scheme. Therefore, the next step is this morning, Nicholas, when you bid farewell to the two representatives from Butte territories," Catherine sighed and said with a wry smile, "After seeing off the representatives, in theory, you should immediately set off to return to the capital to report the situation, and then from the capital to the scene of the tragedy. But what followed was out of their plan, you didn’t set off right away, and then we met. Okay, up to now, all the time points match up, but there’s one most crucial timeline that doesn’t add up, and if we can’t solve this issue, perhaps all our assumptions will have to be overturned."

"That point is not a problem," Pannis shook his head. "It actually does match up."

"The key point she’s referring to, is it about the timing of the tragedy they created?" Muir asked. "Indeed, four days ago, you hadn’t reached Third Flame City, you hadn’t even left Whispering Swamp, no, you had left the swamp by then. You had just entered the territory of Butte, and aside from yourselves, few would have known that your destination was Third Flame City, but they had everything prepared, just waiting for you to appear."

"Who says nobody knew, didn’t you know?" Pannis shrugged and retorted, "You could deduce our whereabouts and wait for us in advance at Third Flame City, so why couldn’t they?"

"I could guess it based on my understanding of you," Muir responded. "But as for them... well, since you’re already enemies, they must have also carefully studied your past, at least your recent years to guess that you would go to see Master Fila isn’t so difficult."

"Right, they could deduce that, and verifying our arrival time is not difficult for them either," Pannis added. "Remember what Felic said before? Don’t underestimate the control mages have over their own territories. Within their domain, it’s very easy to confirm the whereabouts of a few people, so basically, as soon as we stepped into Butte territory, the tragedy occurred. The timing was incredibly well aligned."

"All right, now that we have a concrete speculation," Muir inquired, "how do you plan to respond?"

"Everything is conjecture; we can’t be certain of the truth, nor can we confirm that the mastermind behind those two impostors is really Sands of Time," Pannis argued. "However, I have a principle when dealing with similar issues: the more the other party wants us to do something, the less we should do it; by the same logic, the more they don’t want us to do something, the more we must do it."

"On the surface, they seem to want us to leave Butte Plateau," Catherine continued. "So, we will set off tomorrow, heading back to Butte by the same route, and not to the scene of the tragedy anymore."

"Are you not worried?" Muir asked doubtfully. "What if it’s the second possibility you’ve conjectured, that someone actually wants to help you from behind and used this method to inform you?"

"It’s simple," Catherine said with a faint smile. "We’ll just have to disappoint his kindness this one time. No matter what, now that we’ve found a loophole, there will be more and more things to investigate. I think we’re going to be very busy." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)