“Welcome young mages, we have a lot of ground to cover and not much time.”

Alric along with five others arrived at the residence of Earl Braveheart and was guided by a member of the family.

The man leading them around the villa was Lord Vivian, he was a thin fellow who worked in the municipal court of the capitol. Although he took no pleasure in being the chaperone for Alric nor the other five vassals he carried out the task with understanding.

Afterall, they were reduce to basically buying strength due to the lack of magical talent within the family.

Vivian felt like having these young mages and paladins join the noble name was tantamount to watering down their nobility. Regardless it was either this or be wiped out later on by the other nobles. The politics that surrounded nobility were as deadly as a flash flood in the desert.

“Here is the Braveheart family library. It contains a collection of the most expensive books on magic that the family can afford…”

Lord Vivian spoke as he trotted forward with his head held up high.

“As vassals, you are not only required to fight on the front lines but also represent our household in all aspects.”

Vivian looked at the young kids who were hardly paying him attention with a sense of annoyance.

“You will all be given etiquette classes before you start any form of ceremonial duties..”

Vivian tried to continue but the rowdy lot had already pranced into the library looking at books.

Alric followed the crowd but he felt something was off within the villa.

The entire time Lord Vivian gave them the tour it was as though he was intentionally keeping them away from certain places. Not to mention the more than abnormal number of guards that were walking about the place.

But the final nail in the coffin was the fact that they chose to have six vassals at once. It had to be understood that the other nobles looked down on having vassals, especially ones without any feat to their names.

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For a noble family to take just one was already a stretch but six at once was just too ridiculous. Alric went into the library and looked at a few books and realized most of the material were techniques for paladins and just casually browsed through.

Vivian was hot on their tails ready to pull them from the library when a knight came and whispered in his ear.

Alric noticed the situation and enhanced his hearing to listen in while he pretended to read a book.

“It has been confirmed by the Royal Investigator herself. we have until the next full moon, my lord.”

Lord Vivian gulped as his expression grew pale.

“... Can’t we just escape?”

“The last family that tried that was hunted, killed and their assets seized by the kingdom.”

Lord Vivian’s eyes opened wide hearing this.

“Then… Then… We are just supposed to sit and wait for our death?!”

Vivian was in disbelief hearing what the knight was suggesting.

“Our orders from the royals is to wait it out until the royal guards surround the manor and trap her once and for all.”

Vivian slumped against a vase stand feeling his heart sink.

“... So in the end we are just bait?”

“It… It would seem so my Lord.”

The knight with an equal look of despair tried to return a half hearted smile.

“How many…How many has survived her onslaught so far?”

Lord Vivian asked despite already having a fair understanding.

“Out of the three families… no one, my lord.”

The knight responded feeling the weight of his own words.

Lord Vivian looked over at the other young vassals and now understood why Earl Braveheart had no fear in watering down the noble name and chose to recruit six vassals at once.

Either they were cannon fodder or his entire family was already dead men walking. Either way, he would not feel the effects.

Lord Vivian feeling downcast looked at the vassals in a new light. He had to do his best to make them survivable to hold off the Blackdeath until the army surrounded the villa.

“My Lord, the Earl has also been commanded by the royals to stand his ground.”

Lord Vivian was thrown into a stupor. For the royals to personally command this was tantamount to admitting to rubbing butter on the cat's nose.

Even worse, Lord Vivian realized that if the Earl himself didn’t have the right to flee what says him, a noble several ranks below an Earl.

Vivian nodded in understanding and stepped forward to continue the introductions for the vassals.

Alric's focus sharpened. He pretended to be captivated by the books and their magical techniques while he kept his senses attuned to the surroundings.

He had been long able to feel the atmosphere and perceive subtle changes in the environment.

The villa's atmosphere had turned tense, like the heavy silence before a storm.

Guards seemed more vigilant, their eyes scanning for any sign of danger. As they moved from room to room, Alric noticed the defensive wards etched into the architecture, a desperate effort to protect the family from their impending doom.

Vivian continued to provide information about the villa's history and purpose, but Alric's mind was elsewhere.

He needed to find out more about this Blackdeath and why it was after the Braveheart family.