NoLifeNeeded
patreon
Interlude 9: Bad Start To A Hunt
🕑 Added 2025-05-26 21:34:58 +0000 UTC///I realized that I forgot to mention in the heist chapter how Heart got to the vault without raising alarms. Since this chapter revisits that, I decided to edit the chapter and add it in. Just so you don’t have to go back and search:
Edith coming here first was very helpful since I didn’t need to search like a madman. I was able to pinpoint the room and dig straight into it without anyone else figuring out, thanks in part to my refined earth magic.
Roland felt only dread as he approached Baron Glozko’s domain. He was riding together with his cousins, but they were accompanied by Count Bajor’s men, who despite outranking him, were apparently under his charge. He did not know why the Count decided that he should be put in this position, but now he was responsible for two knights and two sorcerers on top of his relatives. The knights were both well trained and experienced, but first generation, so little better than capable of slapping mana into an attack and calling it magic. Meanwhile the sorcerers, probably somewhere far down the line of succession for lesser titles, rippled with power that would prove very much needed considering their task. One of them even had two elements to his name, like Roland, though significantly more mana to boast about, as well as items of focus, which he himself had none of anymore.
After he told everything down to the last detail, Bajor decided that he wanted to catch these “dangerous rogues” and find out exactly what their deal was. In Roland’s opinion, it was the ravaged corpse of the revenant that truly got his attention. He himself wanted to do anything aside from following the ones that almost killed him, but the Count hired a priest to heal Kasia and even promised very much needed resources if they accomplished this, so despite the danger, they had no way of saying “no”.
And so they were met by the guards, who quickly let them into town after he showed the order from Count Bajor. He would have quietly strutted to meet the Baron, but the mumble of a sorcerer unnerved him.
“Something happened recently…” he said. “... the village is too rowdy. Inn looks cramped.” he whispered, receiving nods from the others.
This was the sort of insight Roland frankly lacked. Had he been as observant maybe he would have noticed that the girl was way beyond their abilities. Still, now he had the chance to fix everything, he just had to hope that seven people was enough to deal with this. Theoretically they only had three people they needed to find, but there was no way to be certain. Hopefully the Baron had information about them.
“Welcome, welcome…” Glozko personally ushered the men into his home, bringing them to a pleasant parlor, where everyone found their seat. “I am a bit surprised at the visit. Rarely does Count Bajor send men out of tax season. And the change in personnel is equally surprising.”
The Baron was not the only one surprised. Roland at least noticed some strange things himself. There were a lot of holes in the decor, places where things used to be but simply weren’t anymore, discolored patches on the walls and floor. Even the food that was brought ended up being less than what he’d expect from a mostly independent border baron. Of course, it was still an old baron, a man that could squash him like a bug if he was so inclined.
Roland cleared his throat, trying to pretend courage. “We are on official business but it has little to do with your lordship. Count Bajor ordered us to find a certain party of rogue mages that likely passed through here. We had a run in with them close to two weeks ago, so we were hoping they would still be here, but we did not notice them on the way here.”
The man frowns, head tilting to the side, before looking over at his personal knight, an equally aged and powerful man, before replying. “I apologize, but no group of mages passed through my town since a while back. They must have gone a different way. I apologize for being unable to help with information, but feel free to fill up on needed supplies before you leave. As a sign of good will towards the good Count.” The Baron smiled and drank from his cup, seemingly rushed.
It was one of the sorcerers that clicked his tongue, clearly picking up on it, but before he could say something, Roland spoke up first. “What about a singular girl?” That made the man look at him, expression fully neutral. “A singular girl that used fire, had dark hair but with vibrant red eyes and came into town wearing peasantly clothes. Came to claim the bounty on Lech’s gang and on the songstress over at Silverpond.”
There was a moment of silence, before the man was forced to sigh and lean back. “Lady Edith Feur, yes. She came in, got her reward, stayed in town for a while, then left. She did not come in with anyone else, so if you are searching for a group, they may have disbanded before coming here.” It was clear from the tone that the man would rather not talk about her.
Roland, seeing this, wanted to push further, but to his chagrin, Kasia spoke up first. “She was no lady! A witch pretending herself sorceress while having that disgusting arm… How could you let such a who-” the wind was knocked out of her lungs and it almost mixed with her breakfast, something that both Roland and Jakub experienced at once.
The air tingled with energy, mana pouring out of the man and drowning the young ones. The knights in their retinue also seemed affected but less so, and it was only the sorcerers that could still keep their impassive looks. After the pressure faded, their hair was still standing straight, signaling danger even as the man casually took a biscuit and ate slowly, almost to let them catch their breath. Once they did, the Baron spoke.
“She barely reacted to that.” Roland could only stare at the man. “She seemed very much unlike the noble ladies I am accustomed to, but she handled that and even had fire aimed at my throat within a fraction of a second. I don’t know which arm is supposed to be disgusting, as she was a rather beautiful woman especially when put in a fine dress, but that is not what I should be talking about, as a happily married man.” The Baron joked, but he had little amusement in his tone.
Roland eyed Jakub, who put a firm hand on Kasia’s shoulder, silencing her for now. “Indeed she is competent…” Though not enough to handle such a thing. His own sight let him know that her mana reserves were much smaller than his own, so he didn’t understand how that worked. “Still, it is true that she was a strange case and that she was part of a group that hid in the woods. We had an altercation and while she simply watched and spoke for them, two powerful mages attacked me and mine.”
This caught the man’s attention. Roland could see how pieces were falling into place in Glozko’s mind, an understanding forming in his gaze. The door to the room opened while he was still in deep thought and a young man joined silently. Going by the face it was clear that this was Jan’s son, though he did not remember his name. He was likely a competent man, but he did not have much fame, having only done well at the academy and then returned to this town, not even joining a monster hunting campaign or a mercenary group.
The Baron finally spoke up. “Was one of the attackers an earth mage? That would explain some things…” His words even startled his son, who looked at him with a sort of accusatory glare, whispering something about a promise.
“An earth mage and a sound mage. We did not even see them, so we cannot say if they were sorcerers, witches, particularly strong knights or whatnot. Still, they attacked from out of sight, with precision that crippled my cousins. They are strong and dangerous, and we do not even know if there were just those two. They robbed us and one of the Count’s men of all we had, so he wants the thieves to pay for their transgression.” Of course, this was a lie, but one that Bajor allowed him to use.
“Yes, that does put things into perspective and explains a lot. Very well, join me, if you will.” without warning, the man got up and began walking off.
His son followed right after, having some heated words in hissing whispers. “Father, you gave your word. What happened to not tempting fate?”
His father merely waved him off as he went down into a secure basement. A brush of his hand disabled a security enchantment, and the door opened to an empty vault. A look to the side, at a completely demolished wall that led into a long and wide tunnel explained things relatively well.
“If it is a group, then the deal is off. Plus, it means that she’s at least partly responsible for the theft. As much as I understand her reasons, I can’t just roll over after this.” The man then cleared his throat and turned to the other people around. “As I was saying, she passed through and I hired her to do a job. She did not seem happy with the payment and robbed us secretly. I was unsure how she did that, since I was with her during the time of the robbery, but if an earth mage was involved it would explain this.”
Roland was listening, but he was also looking on at the tunnel. It was absurdly large for something that would normally be kept as secretive as possible, it was also long enough to end clear of the mansion’s walls. Certainly a simple spell could have such a result, but it meant that the mage was not only precise with his magic, but also had a lot of mana to use on something like this. The walls were unnaturally smooth too, packed tightly by force in a way his own projectiles weren’t. He clicked his tongue as he turned to the Baron. It’s clear to him that Jan tried to extort her in some way, but he didn’t care. They were nobles, she was a lucky peasant girl, letting things slide like this would be a stain on their names.
“So they stole from your lordship while she kept you distracted. Typical. Any information on where they might have gone would be appreciated. We need to bring these thieves to justice, now even more so than before.” Things were growing bigger than he wanted. Wiping his mistakes was one thing, but dealing with a group that can steal straight from a noble… He feared that the Count’s reinforcements were not enough.
“That is right. She rode away in a heavy wagon dragged by two horses. The problem is that she rode towards Count Bajor’s city. If you miss her, then I am afraid we have both lost her trail. I wanted to pursue her when I came back and saw the theft, but the rain dissuaded us. I can only hope there is still a chance, but it has been a week or so since she left.” The man shook his head, leading the way back to a more hospitable room. “I can only wish you luck…”
“A week… We expected that, but still, it is a pity that she and hers might escape again.” He was thinking to himself, when suddenly the Baron went up the stairs, instead of going into the room. He followed, though he was confused. “Is there something else you would wish to tell us before we depart?”
“Yes, yes there is. You mentioned an earth and a sound mage. I would like to add a barbarian from the east to your list.” That raised alarms quickly in the young sorcerer, but Jan seemed unperturbed as he opened a door. “They did not only raid my coffers, but also my personal library. The startling part was coming here and not only seeing this mess, but seeing the claw marks.”
Indeed there were marks. Be it on the books, on the shelves, or even on the floor. Claws punctured, scratched, or outright ruined things. The marks converged, and they did not point to the door, but rather the window. Now this was even worse, at least in Roland’s mind. A strong barbarian was to be feared, especially when backed up by sorcerers that can strike from far away with precision. More and more this seemed like a small, veteran mercenary band rather than some opportunistic ragged brigands.
“Gods above… No wonder they camp out in the woods, out of sight. Before it was the same, the girl was the only one to show her face, the others did not even make a sound as they attacked… If they have barbarians, or worse yet, are barbarians…” Because, as impossible as it seemed, there was a chance of someone born with magical talents to appear inside the nomadic tribes. They were more vicious than the normal kind of beastly men.
“A maid saw this one. And I fear that it might be worse than a common barbarian…” Now that made Roland feel like the fear of earlier this day was but childsplay. “It took days just to make her talk, she would shake and cry that we would all die if she spoke. Eventually she said that she saw a large glowing eye, large wings and heard a guttural voice that could never be mistaken for human, yet it spoke perfect Vernian. She claimed it the size of a bear, if not bigger, which makes me thing that it was either two of them playing with the dark, or a singular one that could not only stealthily fly and climb here, but also make it out without any of my men seeing it, despite having the bulk of a cow. I do not know what sort of monster favors this group, but I would warn against being too conceited. The worst part was that she claimed to hear maddening whispers when the beast hissed her way.”
Before Roland could go into a deep panic at the thought of such a thing being the one to attack them back at the lake instead of its companions, it was the lord’s own son that spoke up. “If you wish to hunt them even after hearing all this… then I wish to join you.”
This wiped away the fear with confusion, something that the sorcerer appreciated. “I… why? I beg no offence, young lord Glozko, but you seemed reluctant to even talk of this. Why would you want to come, especially knowing the kind of danger this group poses?” Roland’s tone turned apprehensive the more he thought on what the boy’s goal might be.
“Make no mistake, I don’t want to steal glory or sabotage your hunt. At first I merely wanted to protect the family’s image, but now that you see all this, if you still have the heart to brave this mission, I want to help so I may reclaim my family’s coin. We were forced to sell off artwork and heirlooms if only to deal with our current holes, especially after that whole fiasco with the drowners… I want to reclaim what was stolen and help bring the thieves to justice.” There was a dangerous gaze in the young man’s eye, especially with lightning glowing and dancing on his irises.
“I see…” His eyes moved past him to the rest of the group, no one seemed to have any strong opinions, aside from Kasia who was nodding for a moment, before her brother nudged her to stop. “Very well, that is something I can understand. Then get whatever you can carry as well as a horse. We don’t have anything to spare.” To his surprise, the young lord nodded and left, seeming rather pliable.
This whole stop turned sour still, now knowing the kind of monsters they were after, but at least a decently strong lightning sorcerer with gear better than his own joined in, while also sharing whatever few resources the ransacked town still had. It was only a matter of time before they would find where Edith went, but what could they even do if they found her and her allies were still hidden in the dark corners? Eyeing their single elemental, light sorcerer made him hope that they would at least be able to reveal them in such a situation.
Comments
NoLifeNeeded
It was hard not to say "Uhm, about that..." when I saw your comment.
Ironfist95
Well I guess a prediction is in order: something which speaks to Heart's and Edith's morals delays them. Or perhaps just a regular setback (lightning beast?). Allowing the pursuers to catch up, though the confrontation is affected by the source of the delay. A Wish would be an updated on Heart's trapped sibling, but my recollection of their situation is weak.
Ironfist95
Lol, the chapter after my wishes are satisfied. I'm glad, and keen to see what happens next.
