Vol 1 Chapter 24 (1/2)

Chapter 4

Thefloated on the air With few pedestrians out and about, it was even quieter than usual

Woodchuck walked unsteadily through the city, avoiding thetheir customs, he’d just run afoul of the local thieves

He earing a light brown shi+rt and pants of the same color underneath a worn set of leather armor He also wore black leather boots The soles wereabout They also had good traction

These clothes and arers and a few coins in his pouch were all he had to his name

“The Guild is too da at the city of Alan for the first tih He’d lived in Alan forhe’d been able to see fro cell and the timeworn face of its elderly occupant But Woodchuck, too, was no longer young

All that, just for one little theft Thinking of that rekindled his anger Twenty-two years earlier, he had broken into a rich ht Woodchuck had had a trial at the royal palace, but in those days the king of Alania, Cadlance at Wood’s face and sentenced hi to his pleas Due to that sentence, Woodchuck had spent what ought to have been the best years of his life rotting in jail

Even after being pardoned and leaving early, Woodchuck’s resent to revelers toast to the new prince and the future of the kingdo the festival had made Wood want to throw up Instead, hethem of the contents of their purses

He’d succeeded, but he realized his skills were not what they used to be Not only had he gotten out of practice between the gray walls of the dungeon, but the passing years had also stolen the reflexes of youth from him

He had reluctantly set out for the thieves’ Guild, asking about officer jobs But in twenty-two years the head of the Guild had changed, and he told Wood that the new price was 10,000 gold pieces Woodchuck bitterly reflected that if he had stayed out of prison this whole time, he probably would have become an officer, perhaps the head of a local division

Wood was angry, but realizing that it was not worth starting a fight with the Guild, he had laughed weakly and left

Perhaps out of pity, the Guild leader had given hile piece of valuable information Unfortunately, it would be hard to do the job on his own

I need a partner Not another thief, but a tough fighter Wood had made up his mind He saw no other way to s first - I need food

Wood entered an inn in search of breakfast On the sign, it said ‘Crystal Forest’

Due to the lingering effects of the previous night’s bender, Parn didn’t feel like eating He’d ed to s only a small piece of bread and a little water With a little fruit juice htly sater seemed to settle his stomach

Eto wasprayers Left to his own devices, heforever

Ghim was the only one who had yet to finish his meal He was on his second loaf of corn bread and his third tankard of ale

Deedlit was doing her level best not to watch Ghim eat She had eaten so at Parn’s miserable face with a bored expression

While sipping a cup of ht’s conversation with the elf girl She had claimed to have left the elven woods out of boredom with the monotonous life she had lead there He’d found her deep frustration with the elves’ lack of action against their people’s slow decline a curious viewpoint for an elf The very almost-heretical views that had set her apart fro humans Embarassed by her outburst, Deedlit had immediately turned to the innkeeper to reserve a room and headed up to the second floor to sleep

As Slayn was pondering her tale, the front door swung open with a clank Slayn glanced in the direction of the door, and his expression changed completely when he saw the person who had entered The man was dressed like a thief If he was a thief he , Slayn watched the newco his eyes off him until he sat down at the counter

“Giveat the counter, his voice carrying across the room

With that, the tension broke Slayn bent over his old texts oncehis hair

“You’re a hed Deedlit

“That’s right Slayn, hoas it at the Acade at last filled his sto a pile of the empty plates

“The Academy was in a pitiful state” With a sad face, Slayn lifted his eyes fro his book, he put both elbows on the table and folded his hands before beginning to talk

Entering the Acadeer in use The grounds were in such disrepair that they were no longer fit for huul, was still living in the building, watching over the place

Master Jagul had told Slayn why the Academy had fallen to ruin It was because of the death of the Acadereatest e known as Wagnard three years earlier

Slayn knew Wagnard by reputation When he had enrolled in the Acadeot top e But he had wanted to push his talents to their absolute limits That aics, drawing on the power of de to the Acadeood causes, and so the study of evil ic was harshly punished

Learning of Wagnard’s forbidden studies, Ralkas had visited a severe punishical taboo on hiic again, Ralkas’ taboo would send waves of crushi+ng agony throughout his body

But a genius such as Wagnard was able to resist even the pain of the taboo Though waves of pain coursed through his body, Wagnard was able to focus his th froainst Ralkas and the rest of the Acadee su for Marmo Once there, he joined forces with Beld, one of the Six Heroes of Lodoss, who had just finished conquering Marnard becae did not co Ralkas’ lifetinard’s evil schemes slowly closed in on the Acade Acadehout Alan The Academy took any number of measures to halt this massacre, but without success

As if to add insult to injury, monks who officiated ceremonies at the Academy were murdered as well, and the library was ransacked Priceless books and ancient relics were stolen, while one-of-a-kind artifacts were burned to cinders