Chapter 49: The treasure map

Dominaria City, Mage Tower Keep, Main Building.

Elena entered with a man and reported, "Baron, Randy Reed is here.

"Greetings, Baron," Randy Reed greeted with a bow.

Although he was the second son of a noble, he was a commoner, so Christine did not have to respond to Randy Reed's bow.

"You said you had a treasure map to give me?" Christian asked directly.

"Yes, it's the one the thief stole," Randy Reed said, pulling out a map drawn on a monster skin.

"Since your brother was willing to hire a thief to steal it, I assume this treasure map is very valuable and you are willing to give it to me?"

It turned out that the thief was sent by Randy Reid's brother, but as a wild professional, he did not fully realize the power of the Mage Tower like the Thieves' Guild, and thought he could escape immediately after killing someone.

"My Lord Baron, even though my brother failed to steal the treasure map this time, I don't think he will give up. Since I cannot decipher the secret of this treasure map, and I might lose my life if I keep it, I would rather offer it to you."

This treasure map has been passed down in the Landry family, but no one in the generations has been able to figure out the secret. When Landry left home as an adult, his father gave him this treasure map. Since no one could solve it, it was better to leave it as a memento for the child.

In theory, Landry's older brother should not have put so much emphasis on such an unusable treasure map. After all, it is not cheap to hire a third-level thief to go to Domina City and steal things.

But for whatever reason, it no longer mattered. Elena took the treasure map from Randy Reed and handed it to Christine.

Christine looked at it and said, "Randy Reed, this treasure map really seems to hold some secrets. Are you sure you want to give it to me?"

"Yes, I am sure."

Randy Reed had also thought about it carefully. Not to mention that he would not be able to decipher it, and even if he did learn the secret, he would not be able to dig up the treasure. It would be better to present it to the lord to make a good impression, after all, he was living on someone else's territory.

"Then let the priest of the great God of the Order testify," Christine said.

The reason for this was to prevent the treasure map from not being what Randy Reid said his father had given him. If it was stolen from him, it would be reasonable for his brother to take it back.

And with the priest of the God of Order as a witness, Randy Reid could not lie, which would save trouble. After all, Christine would not have used the lie detection spell on Randy Reid for no reason. He had come to offer a treasure, and if you did that, it would damage your reputation.

Soon the priest of the God of Order arrived, and in his presence Randy Reed dedicated the treasure map to Baron Stewart, and Christine also gave him fifty gold coins, which made the other party very happy.

After returning to the Wizards' Tower, Christine went to her room to get a book and took it to the lab, where she followed the recipe in the book to make a potion and apply it evenly to the monster's skin.

The reason she said earlier that the treasure map seemed to have some secrets was because she recognized the origin of the monster skin. It was used by some people in the ancient Gnostic Empire of Magic to keep records, and after special processing, it has survived to this day without being damaged. However, this type of monster has been extinct for a long time.

Randy Reed's family was just a field lord. Not to mention, the family treasure map would not be shown to just anyone, and even if it were shown to a magician, it would probably only be a low-level magician who could find the origin of the beast skin.

The Stewart family had a long history, and their ancestors liked to explore the continent and collect many ancient books. Christine also saw it in this book, which also contained the recipe for a special developing agent.

Originally, the treasure map was a map, but the whole continent was huge, so it was impossible to find the treasure's location based on this extremely abstract map. However, after using the developing agent, it was different. Next to the map, several lines of Nethriel's magical text appeared, indicating that the treasure on the map was actually a laboratory on an island at the northern end of the continent.

During the era of the ancient Necseril Empire, in addition to the floating cities built by the Grand Archmages, countless magical towers and laboratories were built by many archmages. These ruins are scattered across the continent, and every few years adventurers discover one, but they are all abandoned or their contents have long since become obsolete. However, some valuable items are bought by the Mage Guild at high prices, and it is true that some adventuring parties have become rich overnight.

Although it is not known why this treasure map exists, judging from the material of the monster's skin and the text, it should be authentic. After all, it is impossible to forge it with today's technology.

For any mage, a laboratory from the ancient Gnosis Empire era is unmistakable.

After all, the map shows the north of the continent, and some ancient place names are different from today's. All this requires some research, which is not a problem for Christine.

Normally, it costs 500 gold coins per person to use the teleportation array from the Mage's Guild in Raine Castle to the capital, the Mage's Guild in Frank Castle. But since she has her own Mage Tower, the cost of using the teleportation array to go to the capital is only 100 coins.

She didn't go to Frank Castle before because it was too crowded and she wanted to see the scenery along the way. Now she can just teleport directly to the capital and go to the Mages' Guild Library to look up the information.

As for the teleportation f*e to return from the capital, it can't be that cheap, but since the receiving party is her own Mage Tower, 400 gold coins will do.

The collection of the Wizards' Guild Library in Frank City really allowed her to find what she was looking for. This laboratory is located on the island of Roskilde in what is now the Duchy of Wendel.

The Duchy of Wendel is located in the far north of the mainland and consists of four islands with an area roughly the size of ten vassal states. The entire country, including Grand Duke Ledric, believes in the Goddess of Winter.

The Wendish principality is separated from the cold northern land, where the orcs live, only by the Öresund Strait. It can be said that in summer the orcs can simply build a raft and cross over. Therefore, not only are they harassed by the orcs all year round, but they will definitely bear the brunt of the orcs when they move south in large numbers.

This is also the reason why the gods have tacitly allowed the entire principality to believe in the Goddess of Winter, so that the whole country can unite to resist the orcs. Of course, if the orcs ever make their way south, other countries on the continent will have to come to their aid to ensure that the orcs do not occupy fertile land for development.

Roskilde Island is the closest island to the orcs, and because it is constantly harassed by the orcs, it is basically full of military personnel and their families.

Of course, if you want to go there, you will need at least a ship that can travel far.