Chapter 120: Emergency Situation

"What?"

The group was stunned.

The Corrupted were not inherently terrifying; what made them truly dangerous was their ability to retain rational thought. A while back, evil corruption had caused a massive uproar throughout Sevin, leaving every household suffering significant losses. Everyone had assumed the matter was settled, yet here it was, resurfacing.

If Anderson and his cohorts were corrupted, there was a high probability they had maintained their consciousness. As spellcasters, their powerful mental fortitude would be sufficient to resist the madness brought on by the corruption. The fact that the perpetrator had fled after killing Kelly demonstrated at least a basic sense of self-preservation, as well as the cunning to hide and stalk for over a month, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Instantly, the faces of the Arcanum members darkened. If there was anyone Anderson hated most, it was them, followed only by Bourne. Based on their assessment of Anderson, after Kelly's death, he would inevitably launch a campaign of vengeance against them. Now that he was also corrupted, his strength would be even greater. If they were singled out, Kelly’s fate would surely be their own.

"Should we take the initiative and strike first?" Daliana asked aloud.

"The problem is that we can't even find a shadow of them. How can we strike first if we can't even locate them?" Beron replied, sounding rather agitated. Clearly, no one would be in a good mood knowing they were being targeted by a pack of monsters.

The group fell silent. The air instantly grew still.

"Hmm?" Bourne looked up and noticed everyone staring straight at him.

"Uh... what?" Bourne was also feeling a bit irritable. He didn't think much of Anderson; what concerned him was that there seemed to be some connection behind all of this. It felt as though there was a thread, flickering in and out of view—so close, yet impossible to grasp.

"Think of something! Find these damn snake-folk and wipe them out!" Daliana said excitedly.

"..." Bourne remained expressionless, looking at her with a gaze reserved for the intellectually challenged.

"Argh!" What kind of look was that! Daliana was nearly driven to madness. If she weren't sure she couldn't defeat Bourne, she would have engaged him in a real-life showdown right then and there.

"Bourne, alright, stop provoking her. If you have any ideas, just say them so we don't all sit here and panic," Kook said, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

"Have you all been reading too many knight errant stories? Do you really think you can solve every problem on your own?" Bourne felt a bit speechless. It seemed that no matter what happened, the first instinct of those in the academy was to handle it themselves. With such privileged backgrounds, why was their first thought always to roll up their sleeves and fight head-on?

The Arcanum members were stunned, clearly unable to pivot their thinking so quickly. Bourne didn't provoke them further. He understood this was a cultural trend. The aristocratic education and upbringing in Netheril were akin to raising venomous insects in a jar. The older generation rarely intervened in the affairs of the youth; failing to overcome one's peers only meant one wasn't talented enough, and being unable to devise a solution only proved one was foolish. This was how their ancestors and fathers had been raised.

This was one of the key factors that would later allow Netheril to soar. The nobility of this era were truly formidable. Their elitist education ensured that every generation's patriarch or leader was the most outstanding individual in the family. Look at Anderson: had his plan succeeded and he become the president of the Arcanum, he would have become the first-in-line heir to his family.

Did people really think others were unaware of what he had done? Even families like Kook’s knew as clearly as a mirror. These were all trials. If they couldn't even outperform others in the academy, they would amount to nothing once they left, becoming mere dead weight. Thus, after Anderson failed, his family didn't even hesitate to purge him, casting him out with nothing. Even the students who had been with Anderson suffered, becoming marginalized in the academy and losing their family's favor—essentially becoming stray children with no one to look after them. That was why it had taken over a month to realize they were missing.

Under this educational mechanism, nobles were forced to be excellent. Commoners had it even tougher; unless they were truly brilliant, it was incredibly difficult to get ahead. Hussein was a classic example. If it hadn't been for the later ascension of the floating cities, leading to a life of ease and a lack of ambition, it was quite possible that Netheril could have unified Faerûn.

"Even the academy's magical array has been infiltrated, which means the situation is far more severe than what we can see. This is no longer something we can handle."

"Sevin has undergone several expansions, and its underground sewer system is incredibly complex. If I'm not mistaken, there is at least an entire tribe of snake-folk hiding in the sewers of Sevin, and their food supply must be nearly exhausted. Even the rats have been eaten."

The group finally realized the implication. It wasn't just that there were no rats on the streets; even small animals had all but disappeared. At first, they had assumed it was just the arrival of winter and that the animals had hibernated, so they hadn't paid much attention. Now, they suddenly realized how abnormal it was. Hibernation was one thing, but they hadn't seen a single one—especially the rats, which seemed to have gone extinct!

A cold wind blew outside the house. Inside, the Arcanum members felt the clothes on their backs turn damp with cold sweat.

"Then... we must report this to the academy immediately," Beron said.

"Hey, you two heard that, right? If you did, go report to the Prince and the Emperor immediately," Bourne shouted, raising his voice.

*Click.*

The door opened from the outside. The two court mages looked slightly flushed, but this was no time to dwell on such things. If Bourne's hypothesis was correct, this was an emergency. Corrupted snake-folk were not merely simple "corrupted ones." Last time, merely polluting the lower-class commoners had caused such immense damage; if these snake-folk, who possessed a degree of consciousness, were to surge to the surface, the horror would be unimaginable!

The two court mages bowed to Bourne—a standard mage's salute. Even if they didn't like him, they had to admit that Bourne's deduction would save countless lives.

"Lord Bourne Iolum, thank you for providing this intelligence. We will notify His Highness the Prince immediately and report to the Court Mages' Council." With that, the two court mages turned and left.

The group fell silent. Though they felt a lingering sense of resentment, they knew that what Bourne had done was the most correct course of action. Only by having the court mages report it directly would the upper echelons of Netheril respond with the greatest speed. It just felt like letting them claim the credit so easily was too generous.

As for whether the court mages or the Prince would try to swallow the credit, they weren't worried. Netheril granted titles based on military merit; anyone daring enough to hoard such a massive credit for themselves would have to face the consequences. Not to mention Bourne’s Iolum lineage, the families of everyone else present would not sit idly by.

"President, you might want to touch base with your grandfather. It’s likely the military will need to be mobilized for a purge; the city defense system of Sevin alone probably won't be enough," Bourne said, turning his head. Then, recalling something, he added, "While the news hasn't spread yet, you should go to the Temple of the Lord of Morning and purchase a batch of holy water. The price is certain to rise in a couple of days."

After saying this, even Bourne felt a bit speechless. Whenever anything happened now, his first thought was how he could make money from it.

*Oh!!!*

President Lyspell was caught between laughter and tears. How could he still be thinking about money at a time like this? The others in the Arcanum, however, had their eyes lit up. In reality, they were all quite poor, relying on family stipends each month to barely cover their studies and experiments. Someone like Bourne, who didn't worry about money and could even generate his own wealth, was the anomaly.

However, Bourne's ability to make money was clear for all to see. That plot of land and his alchemy workshop alone were worth more than the accumulated wealth of a major family over a hundred years. Their own families, in particular, had been inquiring about their relationship with Bourne, intentionally or otherwise, during this time. Bourne's speed at making money was so terrifying that even the older generation looked on with envy.

...

(End of chapter)