As the flames caused by magic continued to spread all around, the entire house was soon engulfed in flames.

Some nearby residents were alarmed by the fire and woke up from their sleep, carrying buckets of water to try to put out the fire.

But unfortunately, it was too late.

All they could do was dig firebreaks to prevent the flames from igniting other houses around them.

Looking at the panicked crowd on the street not far away, Zuo Si, who was standing in the darkness, immediately asked without turning his head: "Have all the valuable goods and commodities in the underground warehouse been transported out?"

"Don't worry! They were all shipped out before the fire spread. Most of them are valuable spices, silk, and sugar. According to my estimation, the value is between 48,000 and 60,000 gold coins. If they are shipped to Amn or Baldur's Gate further north, the profit can be at least four times that. If they are shipped to Waterdeep and Neverwinter further north, the profit may even be eight times that."

Bernard is indeed a shrewd businessman. He can tell the value of the goods stored in Muk's warehouse with just a glance.

The most important thing is that these in-demand goods are free. You don’t need to spend money to purchase them, and you don’t need to worry about large-scale purchases causing price fluctuations.

At the same time, after witnessing with his own eyes a secret pirate base occupied by a large number of armed personnel, which was easily eliminated by Zuo Si, his confidence in arriving at Ascatla safely increased greatly.

"Good! I'll leave these goods to you." Zuo Si gave the merchant an approving look.

Little did he know that he was complaining inside at this moment. Such a large pile of goods was only worth 50,000 or 60,000 gold coins in the end?

They are not as valuable as the "trade bars" and magic items packed in the dimensional bag.

No wonder some people say that the world in the eyes of a spellcaster and the world in the eyes of ordinary people are completely different things.

In the eyes of most people, "huge" wealth that is enough to allow them to live a comfortable life, for spellcasters, especially high-level spellcasters, may only be a few light and weightless high-level spell scrolls, a magic item, materials for making a golem or construct, or the cost of a few experiments.

Bernard quickly put his hand on his chest and saluted: "Thank you for your trust. I will make a list of these goods later so that you can check them at any time."

"You two, I must remind you that the city guards should be here in about ten minutes.

If they had discovered a large number of charred and desecrated bodies in the house, they would surely have commissioned the temple to investigate.

When those nosy paladins come, they will definitely interrogate and search the surroundings."

A thief wearing leather armor and shrouded in a grey cloak couldn't help but interject.

As someone that Apke had assigned from the guild to help with surveillance, the last thing he wanted to encounter was a paladin.

Because these stubborn guys are naturally hostile to crime, as well as all people and organizations related to crime.

"Let's go. We've been busy all night, it's time to go back and rest."

After saying that, Zuo Si glanced at Yelnia who was hiding in his own shadow, and those guys who were transformed into shadow creatures by her. After a while, they disappeared at the end of the intricate streets of Kalin Port.

…

About two hours later, when the fire was completely extinguished, two holy warriors wearing the holy emblem of Ilmater, the god of suffering, finally appeared near the ruins.

They first talked to the soldiers to learn about the situation.

Then one of the men, who was about 40 years old, immediately inspected the severity of the burning of the main building, and then squatted down to look through the remains that were burned beyond recognition.

After several minutes, he spoke with a serious expression: "There are traces of negative energy! Although it has become very faint after being burned by the fire, this body has definitely been desecrated."

"Blasphemy? You mean... undead creatures, necromancers, and demons from the lower planes are involved?"

Another young woman who looked to be in her early twenties widened her eyes in surprise.

An experienced older paladin leads an inexperienced younger paladin, a practice widely practiced by many temples of good gods and paladin orders.

Because young paladins carry out missions alone, it is easy for them to make irreparable mistakes due to their impulsive personality.

Or they may be schemed by the evil camp and eventually fall into depravity due to various reasons and temptations.

But if it is paired with an experienced older senior, the situation will be much better.

Through instruction and example, young paladins will quickly grow into solid shields that protect and defend the innocent and the weak.

“I don’t know! But I think this matter deserves further investigation.

First of all, what we need to do is to understand the background and origin of this chamber of commerce.

Especially in the black market that specializes in buying goods of unknown origin, is there anyone selling stolen goods in large quantities? "

The older paladin made a quick decision.

Because he had learned from the guards that almost all the valuables in the house had been taken away.

Especially the warehouse in the basement, it is cleaner than if it had been licked by rats.

This means that the attacker was most likely motivated by money.

"Got it! I'll go around and ask around for information about this Chamber of Commerce."

The young female paladin seemed eager to show herself, and without saying a word, she began knocking on doors from house to house, patiently asking for clues from merchants, shop assistants, servants and slaves.

It has to be said that as a representative of lawful good, she behaved quite restrainedly.

Even when they saw with their own eyes the existence of slaves, which was completely contrary to the doctrine, they did not immediately draw their swords to kill people, or demand that the slave owners release the slaves.

Just the opposite!

She only maintained a minimum of sympathy and compassion.

After all, this is Port Calin, where the slave trade is most prosperous.

In addition to kindness, the paladin also has the attribute of lawfulness.

Being lawful means that the existing order cannot be easily disrupted and local laws and regulations must be observed.

Unless the law is hopelessly bad, a paladin cannot do anything that is illegal.

This naturally included forcing slave owners to hand over their "property" - slaves.

After an hour and a half of investigation, the young paladin quickly ran back to the older paladin and said excitedly, "Agor! I got some unusual clues."

"Oh? What is it?"

The older paladin known as Agor raised his head.

“It’s the number of armed men.

According to the numbers obtained from several neighbors, there were more than sixty armed men stationed in the house.

There are even spellcasters who are hired for hire.

Maintaining this number and quality of armed personnel all year round obviously requires a lot of money.

This is in stark contrast to the way most businessmen are profit-driven and try to save costs as much as possible.”

Miss Paladin spoke out all the suspicious things she had discovered in one breath.

After hearing this, Agor immediately smiled with satisfaction and praised softly, "Very beautiful investigation and inference.

As expected of the chief apprentice who completed basic training with first place.

It seems that we should talk to the merchants who have business dealings with this chamber of commerce next to see if they know anything. "

"Now?"

The young lady of the holy warrior raised her head and glanced at the night sky filled with stars.

"No, of course not now, at least until daybreak.

Remember, Eloline, no matter what happens, you must remain patient.

Don't let impulse dominate your reason, otherwise the consequences will be serious. "Agor warned solemnly.

In this way, the two holy warriors who were invited to investigate the arson case obtained some clues and quickly returned to the temple to report.

(End of this chapter)