Aozaki Aoko Case File [495] (Patreon)

Thus, Aoko collected the three most valuable books and an artifact staff from the Ramazith's tower, leaving without any obstruction.

Logically, Ramazith Flamesinger, the legendary mage, would have placed divination alarms on important items and books—once anything left the tower, it would trigger an alarm and tracking signal.

But with the goddess of magic as her backer, and her imaginary-space pouch able to block most tracking methods in Faerûn, this method of storage operated on principles entirely different from Faerûn’s spatial magic.

Even if opening and closing imaginary space consumed tons of mana—so what?

She was Aoko Aozaki! Mana was no big deal!

As they say: foreign goods are always the best.

Aoko swaggered out of the mage’s tower and blended in with the locals enjoying Baldur’s Gate’s nightlife, leisurely returning to her inn. Upon receiving the signal, Stark promptly opened the window for her, and with a leap and a jump spell, she landed precisely in her room.

She carefully checked all the divination and protective spells she’d set in her room, made sure nothing odd had been triggered, then washed up and went to bed in the mansion conjured by her Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion spell.

That night, Aoko did not meditate in place of sleep. Or rather, she was never the ascetic type—she worked hard in her early years only because Touko was watching her. Once that issue was resolved, she returned to her true self.

…

The next morning, Aoko followed her routine: meditation, spell prep, a delicious breakfast, then strolled through the lower city of Baldur’s Gate with her new Midnight staff.

She intentionally circled past the Flaming Fist mercenaries several times. After confirming they had no reaction, she bought a newspaper from the street urchin and headed straight for the Elfsong Tavern.

After greeting the tavern owner, Aoko sat at her usual spot, placed her staff beside her, ordered a coffee, and spread out the Baldur’s Gate Daily on the table for a careful read.

First, she skipped all the gossip about nobles, ignored the praise for the city lord, and focused on news about spellcasters.

She found nothing about the theft at Ramazith's tower. Considering the mage’s carefree nature and his obsession with his nymph lover, it was probably too soon to expect him to notice the missing staff.

…

Such days passed for three days. On the fourth day, two Flaming Fist guards finally approached Aoko, saying they had a few questions.

But it wasn’t that her crime was discovered—Flaming Fist had simply received orders from Ramazith Flamesinger to question all high-level spellcasters in the city.

The reason?

Ramazith had finally noticed the missing artifacts and books, but the detection device he gave the Flaming Fist couldn’t sense the staff right beside Aoko.

That device was calibrated for Kreska’s divine signature and Markoheshki’s magic. Aoko’s artifact staff, Midnight, had nothing to do with Markoheshki.

Even the divine power inside the staff had been changed to Mystra’s—it was a new artifact altogether.

Once the Flaming Fist confirmed Aoko was a powerful archmage unrelated to the theft, their attitude became extremely friendly.

No matter their semi-official status, the Flaming Fist was still a mercenary company, and in Faerûn, every company needed strong spellcaster support. Even if they couldn’t recruit Aoko, they’d do their best to befriend her.

Ramazith ran himself ragged searching the city for several days, but found nothing. In the end, the matter was dropped.

Perhaps Mystra had seen enough fun, for about a week later, she contacted Aoko again.

“Go to the Sanctuary of the Storm Coast. I’ve arranged everything there,” Mystra told her.

“What’s going on?” Aoko asked, puzzled. “Is there a problem?”

“I just remembered there’s something there that suits you,” Mystra said. “No point letting it gather dust—better you put it to good use.”

Sounds promising, Aoko thought with anticipation. But what treasure could possibly be in the Storm Coast Sanctuary?

She racked her brains but couldn’t recall any loot there. Well, she mused, she never played the Baldur’s Gate games expecting to transmigrate, so it was normal not to remember.

…

Moments later, Aoko arrived at the sanctuary’s entrance. She looked up—the temple’s style was reminiscent of Greek architecture, with beautifully carved columns and archways, grand and majestic.

“Excuse me, are you Cleric Aoko Aozaki?” A rock gnome with a Mediterranean hairstyle opened the temple door and greeted her warmly.

“That’s me,” Aoko nodded. “And you are?”

“I’m Vicar, resident priest of the Storm Coast Sanctuary,” said the gnome, smiling. “The Lady has granted me a revelation—please follow me.”

With that, Vicar led the way inside, and Aoko followed, closing the door behind her.

“Please wait here a moment,” Vicar said. “I’ll go fetch the item for you.”

Aoko nodded, and while she waited, she took in the sanctuary’s interior.

This temple did not worship a single deity, but four statues of good-aligned gods: Mystra, Selûne, Helm, and Tyr.

Apart from these four, the temple’s center featured a statue of a hooded figure in robes, holding an open scroll—the face obscured.

According to the inscription, this was not the statue of any specific deity, but an Avatar of the Gods. When praying to it, worshippers could think of any god, and their faith would be offered accordingly.

Very pragmatic, Aoko thought.

She glanced at Mystra’s statue, noticing it looked different from how Mystra appeared to her. Was it an illusion, or did the statue just wink at her?

While Aoko wondered if the goddess was joking, Vicar emerged from the basement carrying a box, covered in dust—apparently not visited in ages.