Sorcerer’s Handbook
Chapter 166: Three Words to Willingly Surrender Ashe

“Everyone, don’t be afraid.”

Kibbott, the Goblins, gazed at the restless crowd, having anticipated this reaction. With a gentle clearing of his throat, the entire camp fell silent, leaving only his voice echoing clearly.

All sorcerers aspiring to politics master the art of sonic magic. Voice is power; even if not interested in silencing political foes, one must be able to defend their own voice.

“I understand your worries, so I’ll skip the pleasantries. If we were to use all adventurers here for target practice, innocents would suffer. But selectively executing every other one means missing some culprits,” Kibbott said, his contempt for the fearful adventurers below growing. They seemed like stray dogs to him.

The mayor was right — dogs can be used but not allied with, as they’re easily lured away by someone else’s bone. Only by collaborating with wolves, exploiting these dogs to the fullest, will they become strong enough to turn against their masters once satiated and sharpened.

The Blood Moon Realm has too many dogs and too few wolves.

Therefore, the combat competition must go on…

Recalling the mayor’s teachings, Kibbott’s expression grew colder as he continued, “But rest assured, this festival is of great importance. Compared to the offerings needed by the Blood Moon Supreme, your crimes are trivial. Even if the Death Maniac Swordswoman goes berserk, I won’t allow harm to come to our valuable forces here.”

“Relax, Secretary Kibbott,” Gerard said, arms crossed, eyeing the adventurers with interest. “I value this festival more than anyone here.”

The crowd sighed in relief — of course! The Heresy Court and the war zone never interfered with each other. Plus, with this being a festival against foreign invasion, why would Gerard come here to arrest people?

But many were still uneasy. What was Gerard doing here if the festival had nothing to do with the Heresy Court? Was he just out for a stroll because he couldn’t sleep?

“However, the Death Maniac Swordswoman is indeed here to pursue criminals,” Kibbott continued. “But it has nothing to do with the majority here, nor with the adventurers. She’s only looking for fugitives disguised among them.”

Ashe and his companions felt a sense of doom.

“The ‘Corpse Lover’ Archibald Harvey, ‘Carrion Crow’ Ronat Wade, ‘Trickster’ Igor Bukin, ‘Death Eater’ Langna Qios, ‘Demonic Saint’ Ashe Heath.”

Gerard announced loudly, “I’m here only to pursue these five. They’ve just escaped from Shattered Lake Prison and removed their Miracle Chips from their necks, so they are definitely not part of the war zone adventurers, and I’m not overstepping my jurisdiction.”

The adventurers relaxed.

Not only were the five escapees unrelated to them, but more importantly, they were not ‘adventurers.’ This meant Gerard hadn’t broken the unspoken agreement between the war zone and the Heresy Court to arbitrarily arrest criminals seeking refuge in the war zone. This was what truly reassured the adventurers.

If Gerard had arrested criminals among the adventurers, they would not resist, but they would soon flee the Lakeview War Zone for other zones. After all, if even the war zone couldn’t guarantee their safety, why stay and become political achievements for the Heresy Court?

Ashe and his companions exchanged silent glances, nodding subtly. Without needing words, they knew they had to cooperate sincerely; otherwise, they couldn’t escape the pursuit of the Tri-Wing Sanctuary Sorcerers.

Alright, it’s time to ignite the fire—

“By the way,” Gerard added, “While theoretically I’m after five escapees, I have a particular interest in Ashe. So, beyond the bounty posted by the Heresy Court, I’ve set a personal reward for information on Ashe Heath. Anyone providing concrete details about him will receive a reward of 100 Gold Coins. And if the other four escapees are willing to divulge information about Ashe, I’ll represent the Heresy Court and halt their pursuit, granting them three days to flee.”

Ashe turned to look at his companions, and they all turned to him.

“…You’re not seriously considering betraying a friend just to save your own skins, are you?”

Harvey scratched his head, “Are we friends…?”

Ronat shrugged, “What’s wrong with scrambling to survive?”

Igor spoke coldly, “If it wasn’t for your recording that enraged Gerard, would he be relentlessly chasing us? Whoever causes the mess, cleans it up. Any problem with that?”

With just three sentences, Gerard had managed to sow discord in this already shaky team, true to his reputation as a master manipulator and Blood Mad Hunter.

Just as Ashe was contemplating distancing himself from these untrustworthy individuals, Langna calmly said, “We don’t have the Chip, eventually, we need to find a way off Blood Moon. Unless Gerard is willing to let us pass, betraying Ashe offers us no benefit—even with three days to run, Blood Moon offers no sanctuary.”

Ashe couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, “See, Langna’s making sense. You guys are falling for the enemy’s tricks so easily. You should learn from him—“

“But if we can’t find any other leverage, we might have to trade Ashe for a chance to breathe,” Langna continued, “Better one of us than all five.”

Igor looped an arm around Ashe’s neck, “Thanks, Ashe. Didn’t expect you’d sacrifice yourself for us—you’ll grant my wish, won’t you?”

Ashe’s face fell, but it was hidden behind his mask. He had no choice but to play it by ear now. Despite Igor’s possible betrayal, Ashe had to admit that sticking with these four was currently the best strategy.

After all, they shared a common goal, and wrongdoing was right up their alley. If he were with strangers, his only option would be to hope for a Miracle.

Gerard waited a moment to see if anyone would step forward to snitch, but not surprisingly, no one did. He gestured to a Goblins to continue speaking.

Kibbott announced, “Next, the Cleric team will bestow the Blessing of the Miracle. Please line up by teams. The Blood Mad Hunter will guard the clerics and scan your Chip information. Information about the foreign realms across the portal has been sent to everyone at this camp. Please read it promptly.”

Ashe and his group pretended to summon a hologram—without the Chip, they couldn’t receive the mass-sent junk, but they had to maintain appearances.

The Cleric team approached the stage, each exhibiting some canine traits, nearly all of them sporting a fluffy tail. Ashe couldn’t help but glance at Langna, who silently pointed to the looming Blood Moon above.

Unlike the Moonshadow blessed by the Blood Moon’s grace, Langna could only transform in shadows, showing no Moonshadow traits otherwise. The difference between him and the others was as stark as living off bread versus off scraps. No wonder he was considered a heretic and left to die at the shattered lake.

As the adventurers began to line up for the blessing, Ashe witnessed the new age ceremony—the five clerics had each adventurer extend their right arm, located a vein, and then injected them with a steel syringe.

The acolyte Kira took out a radio and pressed a button, filling the camp with sacred prayer chants. Soon, the adventurers underwent a transformation as the wandering moonlight, like light smoke, materialized into layers of gossamer garments draping over them.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

“I can feel the strength surging!”

“Praise the Blood Moon!”

“Damn!” Ashe couldn’t help but comment, “Isn’t this just like getting an injection with some music hypnosis?”

“Blessings have always been like this,” Ronat explained nearby. “Priests prepare the blessing potions in advance. When needed, an injection accompanied by holy music activates the miraculous effects of the potion. Though not as potent as a priest’s direct spellcasting, it’s faster, convenient, and even portable. You can’t easily buy these priest-made potions outside the war zone.”

It was apparent that the adventurers had never experienced such luxury before. They were so exhilarated that they seemed ready to burst with energy, making Ashe wonder if the potion contained Moon Sugar… or perhaps it was the other way around, with Moon Sugar containing elements of the blessing potion?

But this blessing was practically a curse for Ashe and his four companions. The blessed adventurers all wore a thin, bright red gossamer garment, making them very conspicuous.

In other words, it was easy to tell who had received the blessing and who hadn’t. They couldn’t sneak by unnoticed. If everyone else was illuminated by the blessing and only they were not, the only difference from outright surrendering was that they would be resisting to the end, aggravating their situation.

They were at the back of the line, and the priests were blessing people quickly. It would be their turn in no more than ten minutes, so they had to make a decision fast.

“How about we just wrap things up?”

“Better to deal with it and then turn it in to show our sincerity.”

“Leave it to me. I’m a pro when it comes to handling bodies.”

Watching Igor discuss seriously with Ronat and Harvey, Ashe shivered: “I’m starting to regret why I broke you bunch of scum out of jail…”

“What are you talking about? We’re just discussing how to cook Lala Fatty…”

“Alright, stop scaring Ashe, our little cutie,” Langna said, looking at Harvey. “Necromancer, can you pull off the same trick again?”

“I could.”

Harvey looked up at the night sky. “But the prison is a special structure, so it had strong constraints. Here, without even a ceiling, the only enchantments I can guarantee are ‘attack restraint’ and ‘movement restraint’.”

“As for Gerard, don’t get your hopes up,” the necromancer said, not daring to look directly at the hunter captain, only glancing quickly out of the corner of his eye. “Ignoring his power enough to counter the restraints, just his authority level probably exceeds that of the ‘Chip Processor.’ Any restraint command issued by the processor won’t work on an Enforcement Captain.”

Indeed, Harvey had come fully prepared for this life-or-death challenge, though it was pointless—the greatest threat to them here was Gerard. If they couldn’t use the chip processor to restrict Gerard, the examiner, their prison escape exam was doomed to fail.

Ashe asked, “Can’t we cause a chaos and then break through? Isn’t it said that the virtual gateway only allows entry to those with two wings or less arcane energy? Gerard shouldn’t be able to chase us there, right?”

“You might be underestimating Gerard’s combat power,” Igor said, spreading his hands. “Not even the most reckless gambler would bet on a Tri-Wing Sanctuary Sorcerer showing a weakness that we low-level sorcerers could exploit… Wait, Gerard’s main target is you, which means we could hand you over to distract him, then slip through the gateway. There’s a good chance we’d escape.”

Ashe glanced sideways at him. “What do you think I would do in that situation? Desperately run away to buy you guys time, or just surrender and let Gerard catch you all, so we die together?”

“Jeez, Ashe, you’re such a refreshingly awful person.”

“Thanks for the compliment, I’m flattered.”

Jokes aside, Igor’s concerns were unavoidable—Gerard was like a mountain, firmly blocking their path of escape. No matter how many fancy tricks they had, if they couldn’t deal with Gerard, it was all just empty talk.

“I agree with Igor’s plan,” Langna suddenly said.

Ashe looked at Langna in surprise, not expecting this burly, bald guy to give in to his survival instincts and betray them at the drop of a hat.

Damn it, give me back all the emotions I felt for you!

However, Igor’s eyes lit up, and he slapped Ashe on the shoulder, realizing something. “Exactly, given our current situation, this is indeed the plan with the highest chance of success.”

“Ashe Heath, we have to hand you over.”

Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.

It helps the website and helps people find this novel!

Advance Chapters:

If you'd like to support our translations with a one-time donation, you can do so via Ko-fi. For early access to chapters, 10 days in advance, consider subscribing to our Patreon.

• Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hoxionia
• Patreon: https://patreon.com/hoxionia

Discord:

.gg/pCWPSD3bWA

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.