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Clue 29

The morning fog was denser than usual on the mountain, the men standing guard outside the dungeon entrance could not see the other mountains in the distance, creating a low-spirited atmosphere for the men. Rain softly started to fall adding to the soldier's grumblings. All around the camp scenes of men running back to their tents for shelter and the less prepared ones were scrambling to put the waterproof covering over the tents, because they were too lazy to do it before they thought it was going to rain they were caught unawares by the sudden downpour.

The soldiers guarding the entrance of the dungeon entered the opening to get out of the rain that was starting to become heavier, one of them could be heard complaining "Bastard Jason traded shifts with me, no one told me had the weather predicting ability".  

Soon the guards were forced to go back out into the rain to allow adventures to pass the small entrance, then they moved back under the shelter only slightly damper than before but, after only several minutes they were forced to give way to another small group, and again, and again.

Soon they were more wet than dry and every adventure that passed by received a cold glare. The guards did not even have the diversion of gazing at the adventurer's gear, then making commentary on what that adventurer possibly dose and making bets whether he will come out of the dungeon alive today, because all the adventurers entering were wearing heavy cloaks to ward off the rain.

One of the younger guards was spotted fidgeting more than usual when watching the adventurers pass, the older guard thought he had to piss so he told him to just go already but, the young guard went up to his superior and began to whisper into his ear "I think there is an invasion from the Dutchy going on" causing the officers face to stiffen for a moment then seriously replied in soft tones "you better not be pulling my leg kid cos if you are you'll be executed if your unlucky"

The soldier's face paled but he still continued on in hushed tones "my parents used to run a tannery back in Feldran-" "so" the officer snapped back, the young man jumped a little from the harsh tone his superior used, however the more he thought about it the more certain he became so he continued "the point is the adventurers entering have all been wearing Vale Runner Leather", upon seeing the officers expression he increased his speaking speed and resumed "Vale Runner Leather is only found in the lower reaches of the continent in the Dutchies and my parents complained that they couldn't get any from traders anymore because of all the wars, Look every adventure that had entered has cloaks made of that leather. don't you think its strange? the other soldiers were saying the Dutchies might attack this place, maybe this is it"

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After hearing his subordinates explanation his expression became increasingly grim, he ordered the alarm to be sounded, then to block anyone entering the dungeon no matter their rank until he said otherwise and lastly he commanded the youth to quickly go inform the commander, Wolfram of the situation, because he would be able to explain it better than he would. The youth ran off leaving behind solemn guards and a nervous officer.

When the youth entered the commander's tent he was nearly out of breath, he pushed open the flaps and ran in while trying to speak but, before he could even speak he found himself on the ground with several sword points on his neck.

Several elite men had come out of hiding and captured the boy thinking he was an assassin, Wolfram got off his desk about to question the foolish guard when he heard the alarm bells going off, Wolfram knew they would not sound the alarms just because someone tried to attack his tent.

The captured guard tried to speak but felt a sword start to pierce the neck so he stopped, noticing the boy trying to speak and his guards stopping him from casting any spells he waved his hands to have them back off and asked: "you seem to know something about this, explain". 

He said "I'm the one who started the alarm-" earning a chilling glare from the commander while he continued "i... I m-mean officer Alen called the alarm and umm", Wolfram thought for a moment before recalling an officer he promoted himself of the same name and thinking he would not raise the alarm without good reason. Growing frustrated from the boys stuttering he calmed the boy before getting the full story.

Every word the boy said made Wolfram progressively grim and furious, the moment he had understood enough of the story he ordered for his personal guards to act in his stead and call together the generals and inform them of the situation. Then Wolfram turned around and to the boys surprise just vanished.

In a room lit up by candles Merlin was sitting at the study going over his notes when he heard rapid knocks on the door, wondering who would come at this time he called them to enter. After the door opened he saw Wolfram with an expression even more serious than normal and attempted to ask what was wrong before being interrupted. Wolfram said, "I think the dungeon is being attacked by people disguising themselves as adventurers, I just checked on my way here, the man I was talking about was not at the guild".

Merlin frowned then reached into his pocket and activated a small stone which sent a signal and a short message to all the members of the University and the King. Wolfram was impressed by Merlins Initiative by acting so soon, even he waited until he heard most of the story before making his move, but Merlin only needed a sentence to figure out the correct course of action.

When Wolfram finished the story Merlin gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes and started to send messages to his subordinates, as he expected several members didn't respond causing Merlin's expression to become ice cold. Wolfram asked what the military could do to help, Merlin simply replied "surround the entrance" causing Wolfram to confusedly ask "won't they just take the core then teleport out?", Merlin chuckled then simply put on a mysterious smile and asked Wolfram to follow as they left towards the Entrance.