Is This What They Call Enemies Meeting on a Narrow Road?

After the bard sat down, "Toad" immediately let out a grating laugh:

"I suspect you moonlight as a ranger and mark married women as your favored enemies. Otherwise, why does your charm only work on women over thirty but have no effect on young girls?"

"Scumbag" knew that a rogue's tongue was sharper than his poison. He did not argue, merely said irritably, "That Eruien probably thinks he's Unther's divine king, entitled to take every beautiful girl he fancies as a concubine.

"I merely greeted three beautiful ladies in a friendly manner, and that was enough to make him unhappy.

"If I hadn't been injured, would I be afraid of his threats of violence? I'm an outstanding graduate of Sword Dance Academy!"

"Enough, stop putting on a brave face. You can't be like that young man, driven by blind confidence and raging hormones," "Slicked-back Hair," the team captain, advised.

"Though they seem difficult to deal with, I believe anyone will become kind and agreeable in the face of gold coins."

The priest of Waukeen got up, preparing to try communicating with the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad again.

Not long afterward, he returned with a livid face, looking no less angered than "Scumbag."

"Unreasonable, arrogant bastard! Does that Eruien really think he's the protagonist of some adventure novel, with women throwing themselves at him everywhere he goes and gods forever watching over him?"

Even the ever-smooth "Slicked-back Hair" had been rebuffed. Marvin felt that not approaching the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad earlier had been an extremely wise decision.

"What do we do if we can't get the latest intelligence on Blue Creek Valley? How about you just set off like this? I refuse to believe you'll be unlucky enough to run into an accident you can't handle," the bard suggested.

"Marvin, what do you think?" Ignoring the bard, the priest captain looked at Marvin.

Under normal circumstances, the Goddess Body Fragrance Squad, with an average level of three, could explore a low-risk area like Blue Creek Valley as easily as taking a stroll.

But in Faerûn, there were simply too many things that defied common sense.

By all reason, how could more than a hundred adventurers fail to deal with a tiny goblin tribe, leaving a duke's daughter imprisoned to this day?

"Actually, we don't necessarily need to deal directly with the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad to obtain intelligence."

Marvin explained his plan. "Yesterday, I ate a delicious and rare dish of apple-braised dire wolf liver at Friendly Arm Inn.

"Can you guess who supplied the gnome owner with that dire wolf liver?"

"The Sacred Eternal Sun Squad?"

"Correct."

"You mean we can work backward by investigating the loot the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad has recently sold, figuring out what enemies they encountered in Blue Creek Valley?"

"Slicked-back Hair's" eyes immediately lit up.

The bard, who had looked dejected moments ago, suddenly perked up. "Good idea! Tomorrow, I'll ask at every shop on Waukeen Street!"

To heal the injury below his waist, "Scumbag" gave it everything he had.

The next day, just as he had said, he visited every shop on Waukeen Street. Using his social skills and outstanding charm, he uncovered a great deal of useful information.

"The butcher said that some of the boar meat the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad sold him was contaminated with a strange stench. It smelled like sulfur and had to be sold at half price."

"The owner of Eric's Curios said that the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad once sold him three coin-shaped magical containers that could store souls."

"The dwarf owner of Mithril Hammer showed me a barbed trident sold by the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad. It contained searing fire energy."

As he spoke, the bard cast the [Minor Illusion] cantrip and displayed the trident's appearance.

Marvin recognized it at a glance. It was a weapon used by spined devils.

They had enough intelligence now. He had his answer.

In fact, he was not the only one. As a priest well versed in fiends, "Slicked-back Hair" had also reached the correct conclusion.

"Devils have appeared in Blue Creek Valley!" the two said in unison.

"Devils? Great! Let's see if they can withstand an axe from me!" the dwarf warrior shouted.

For this fellow, there was nothing to fear except running out of alcohol.

Marvin shook his head. "Cellar, devils are naturally immune to fire. Your Searing Strength, with its added fire damage, will probably be far less effective."

"My poison won't work on devils either." "Toad's" tone also became somewhat subdued.

As a rogue, nothing was more satisfying than plunging a poisoned dagger into an enemy's heart from behind.

Yet the traits of devils happened to counter his specialty.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" As a priest, "Slicked-back Hair," whose skills were perfectly suited to fighting fiends, stood tall with his chest out, looking extremely dependable. "Before we leave, I'll stock up on as much holy water as possible and copy several offensive divine spell scrolls with radiant properties."

"If possible, everyone should prepare silver weapons. Cold iron weapons would be even better," Marvin added.

Though he would not be picking up a sword to hack at devils himself, he planned to exchange several silver trade bars at the bank to make silver bullets.

Firearms normally used lead bullets, which were fine against ordinary creatures. But against devils with physical damage reduction on their skin, they were woefully ineffective.

Although using silver for bullets was extravagantly wasteful, Marvin had to spend the money to strengthen their combat power and increase the mission's success rate.

The Goddess Body Fragrance Squad spent three whole days making the most thorough preparations for the mission.

On the seventh day after accepting the mission from Miss Wuke, when Marvin left Friendly Arm with the others, the mission panel showed that the success rate had reached 430%.

That meant that he and his teammates would suffer, at most, minor injuries during this mission.

After walking for about an hour, the terrain around them gradually began to slope downward, and the rolling hills became more numerous.

Soon, following the murmur of running water, the squad entered the Blue Creek Valley region.

As long as they followed the stream upstream, they would reach the druid's herb garden.

"Though Blue Creek Valley's terrain is winding, it isn't complicated. A mile ahead is the only fork at the valley floor. But whether we go south or north, we can reach our destination."

"Toad" stood atop a massive boulder. After surveying the lay of the land in the distance, he reported to the squad.

As a rogue, he also served as the group's scout and guide.

"Good. Keep moving." The priest nodded, then gave Marvin a rather surprised glance.

They said mages were physically frail, and that even the exertion of traveling on foot was difficult to sustain for long periods. That was why all sorts of transportation spells had been invented to ease the burden on their legs.

But now, it seemed Marvin's physical condition was quite good. After walking for several hours, he showed no sign of fatigue.

Needless to say, this was the effect of Marvin's [Robust] feat.

Since even the mage, who should have been dragging the team down, had displayed excellent endurance, "Slicked-back Hair," as captain, increased their pace.

At eleven in the morning, the group reached the fork in the road. By sheer coincidence, they discovered that the Sacred Eternal Sun Squad was there as well.

"Is this what they call enemies meeting on a narrow road?" Marvin and his teammates looked at one another.