The Crimson Magister Chapter 13: V1-C13: King's Forge

Read chapter 13 of The Crimson Magister by Okram on NovelPedia.

After finishing their meal, the women left the inn and began searching the city for information about Sheira, or at least any clue that could point them toward her. Wandering aimlessly was far from ideal, but none of them knew where to start. Even after questioning several citizens about Golden Rose activity, they found nothing; most had no clue what the women were talking about, and the rest seemed to think they were insane. It was almost like Golden Rose never passed through this city, and yet there was no way for Laura to lie after all her memories were read by Aqua. And so for Azure, it was clear. The leader of Golden Rose had surely lied to his men and, judging by Laura’s devotion, perhaps to his lover as well. He and his escort had never come to this city. They had gone elsewhere. It took them some time to reach the giant statue in the middle of the city, but from there they would be able to navigate the city. "This might be a bit much, isn't it..." Aqua said with her eyes focusing intently on the statue. "It's a statue that honors the God King of this kingdom, Lady Aqua. Leaders of the duchy spared no expense in making sure he is glorified." Azure stepped closer to Aqua while speaking. "They wasted so much bronze just to make a statue," Azure said softly. "A powerful kingdom like this one can afford to spend excess resources to honor their god," Laura said with a hint of pride in her voice. Aqua shook her head. The statue itself wasn't the issue. What Aqua was referring to was the amount of divine energy emanating from the statue. It was like a powerful demigod was standing right in front of her eyes. The sheer power dwarfed even Azure's Blessing. Why would it be necessary for anyone to create a statue so saturated with divinity? The better question was how. It seemed almost like the statue had a soul, and yet Aqua couldn't recognize even a trace of anything resembling a soul in the construct. Perhaps a defensive automaton, Aqua crossed her arms as she inspected the statue. If it was indeed a defensive automaton, then it was the most powerful one she had ever seen in her life. And yet the way it was constructed, it was like it was chiseled from a solid block of bronze. Joints did not exist, nor could she notice any mechanism that would allow this construct to move, and so it wouldn't be possible for such a massive statue to move by normal means. While she was curious about how this thing would act as a defender, it wasn't something she could easily examine without drawing attention. She sighed as she noticed Laura and Azure slowly walking away before running after them and catching up. *** While finding clues about Sheira's whereabouts was a top priority, Azure wanted to get new equipment in case she needed to fight. So they closely followed Laura, and they were led toward the eastern commercial district. After passing through the residential area, they reached rows of general shops and artisanal workshops. Each shop was filled with nonhumans working on selling or creating new products, with their human masters either close by or missing completely. It wasn't long until they came to a blacksmith workshop. Various bladed weapons were displayed proudly, from mighty greatswords and longswords to daggers and stilettos. Truly a specialized workshop, forging blades no matter the warrior's preference. Laura turned toward Aqua and Azure before proclaiming, "This is a workshop that supplies many of the weapons for the Golden Rose. I can guarantee their quality, Miss Azure!" As they pushed the heavy wooden door open, they were greeted by rows upon rows of bladed weapons, each neatly ordered by material and quality rating. In the middle of the store, a male elf bowed deeply and, with a mechanical tone, greeted the trio, "Greetings... Valued... Customers... Welcome... To... King's Forge... Please... Browse," his lifeless green eyes looking through the trio as if they weren't there at all. In the corner of the workshop, a bulky li