The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

"What makes this mythallar different?" Anser had already decided to give up on it.

He had already come up with another plan: bring the Magic Research Society into this and have them purchase the mythallar.

As a full member, he would then be able to participate directly in its research. Presumably, the Society wouldn't refuse.

"It's conscious!" Seeing that Anser was losing interest, the Queen grew a little anxious.

"It calls itself Sakkors, an archmage from the late Netherese era. It possesses an inexhaustible wealth of arcane knowledge, knows ancient secrets, can control the weather, create golems, and even upgrade the mythallar on its own..."

"If it's that good, why trade it for Artifacts? Why not gather the materials and build a golem army?" Anser asked, puzzled.

"The royal family has always treated it with extreme caution. Heirs are strictly forbidden from coming into contact with it. I only learned about it recently myself." As she spoke, the Queen glanced at the three elderly men beside her.

"Turning knowledge into tangible benefits takes too much time and is too difficult. The royal family has never produced any particularly outstanding spellcasters. My daughter is already considered somewhat talented, but she's nowhere near you."

"We don't have time to wait. Our enemy is still hiding in the shadows, and we don't have many options." She looked at Anser plaintively.

Anser agreed with what she was saying, but he still thought they were all excuses.

It all came down to one word: fear!

Bral's royal family didn't dare openly possess a mythallar. They couldn't even keep their crown prince alive, so how were they supposed to protect a mythallar?

"Why not choose the Magic Research Society or Waterdeep? They're much more powerful." He didn't quite understand.

The Blackstaff was a Chosen of Mystra, but for the sake of her reputation, she couldn't possibly confiscate someone else's family heirloom. Providing protection or conducting a normal transaction shouldn't be a problem.

"I don't trust them. You're powerful enough that people will always treat you with goodwill. We're different." The Queen rejected the idea outright. "If we have to mold ourselves to suit someone, why can't that someone be you?"

Anser fell silent.

The Magic Research Society and Waterdeep did indeed treat their own people well, but they were undeniably hard-line toward outsiders. How else could they have endured for over a thousand years?

Cozar was being pretty ridiculous too. They wanted to protect themselves while still remaining independent and autonomous, yet they simply didn't have enough bargaining chips to pull that off.

Anser was somewhat torn, so he decided to put the matter on hold for the moment. "First, I need to see this mythallar before I can make a decision. Second, the Magic Research Society is currently helping me deal with these two Artifacts. Both personally and as a matter of principle, I need to discuss this with them."

"Don't worry. I won't reveal anything about the mythallar."

"You can tell the Magic Research Society about this. A three-party transaction would be fine as well. I urgently need the two Artifacts in your possession." The urgency in the Queen's eyes was impossible to hide.

"Mm. I'll give you an answer today. Most of the guests still haven't left. Do you know who was behind it? Thay?" Anser considered Thay the most likely suspect.

Perhaps the moment Saeljor saw that the coronation ceremony hadn't taken place as scheduled, he already knew the plan had failed. His attempt to stop Anser might have been because he was worried Anser really would reach some kind of agreement with the royal family.

"I don't know." The Queen shook her head.

"Does what happened to the Crown Prince need to be kept secret?"

"That... won't be necessary!"

Anser turned to leave, then suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back. "Who's going to use the Artifacts?"

A girl in a black dress stepped forward and looked steadily at Anser. "Me. Veronica!"

"Mm. You've got guts," Anser praised.

The die slowly turned, and the target's information appeared:

[Veronica, Crown Princess of Bral, Human, Level 15 Wizard (Gravity Magic)]

'Uh, a high-level Wizard in her twenties, and that only counts as somewhat talented?' Anser froze for a moment. The Queen was seriously humblebragging.

He had worked so hard, and he was only Level 15 himself.

"She's very impressive." He turned and headed out.

The royal steward was waiting outside. Seeing Anser leave, he hurried forward to lead the way, occasionally stealing discreet glances at him, but he couldn't read anything from his expression.

Anser hurried out through the palace gates and immediately spotted Evan and the others waiting anxiously.

"How did it go?" Evan came forward to meet him.

"Where are those people from Thay?" Anser swept his gaze around and found that quite a few of the guests were gone. The bald man in red robes was nowhere to be seen either.

"They teleported away." Evan looked somewhat embarrassed. "They were guests invited by the royal family, after all. I could only detain them temporarily, but they caught us off guard and teleported away."

Anser was helpless. Evan really was far too indecisive.

What was the point of observing etiquette and rules with evil people? He could have simply detained them on the grounds that the case was still under investigation.

"The Crown Prince's soul was replaced. Someone nearly stole the Rock of Bral right out from under its royal family!" He deliberately raised his voice so that everyone could hear.

The crowd immediately erupted in disbelief.

But after thinking it through, many of them felt chills run down their spines.

If even the royal family could end up in such a state, what about ordinary nobles like them? Who could guarantee that something like this hadn't already happened within their own families?

"Think about it, everyone. Who could manipulate souls this skillfully? This is nothing less than a grave challenge to the order of the world," Anser declared in a grave voice.

"It has to be Thay!"

"No wonder they ran off so quickly..."

"..."

Only then did everyone react, launching into furious denunciations of Thay.

Quite a few people remained silent, however. With the situation still unclear, offending Thay based on speculation alone would be unwise.

Anser nodded in satisfaction. He wasn't trying to pin the blame on Thay. He wanted to instill a sense of danger in everyone.

In a couple of days, he would gather people to purge the Mind Flayers from the Rock of Bral. His greatest concern was that the locals would try to stop him.

After this incident, the locals would probably support the operation with both hands.

Most forms of soul replacement fell under necromancy, and there was a good chance Truesight would reveal something amiss.

Just then, Stoll lightly nudged him and teased, "They didn't try to arrange a marriage with you?"

"They did. I recommended you instead. You'll stay at the palace for the next few days. Pick whoever you like and hold the wedding as soon as possible. They're in a hurry," Anser said with a perfectly serious expression.

Stoll's eyes went wide as he rubbed his bald head in astonishment. "You... How could you... What do you mean, pick whoever I like...?"

"You're actually considering your options?" Anser burst out laughing, unable to resist teasing him.

Iris giggled nonstop. The others could tell Anser was joking as well, and smiles spread across their faces.

"Hey, you think everyone's like you?" Stoll didn't care in the slightest.

With his looks and appearance, he'd never had much luck with women. He had always quietly paid to take care of his needs.

Still, the royal family was in mourning, so everyone quickly stopped laughing.

Anser instructed Evan to keep an eye on Bral's royal family. Divine authority also needed stable royal authority.

Then he had Stoll, Iris, and the others remain on the Rock of Bral for the time being and inspect the commercial outpost to see what it still needed before opening.

Anser himself teleported with Nefis to the Magic Research Society's headquarters, heading straight for Nasti Mage Tower, where the Executive President was based.

The two had barely teleported into the hall when they ran straight into Executive President Gordon, who was hurrying somewhere.

"Haha! I was just looking for you. I found an Artifact that should satisfy you!"

"Huh?"

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