In the castle of the local lord, earl Desset, several influential people gathered. The spacious meeting room was beautifully lit by chandeliers and many candles. There was a green carpet on the floor of an unknown, but obviously not cheap material. There was a long table on the carpet, on which there was nothing but wine in case someone needed to get their throats wet. The walls were decorated with various weapons and paintings. The windows are decorated with beautiful frescoes.

The lord of the castle, earl Desset, sat on his honorary throne as ruler of the castle and examined his subjects. Despite the fact that the earl was not the loudest title, his authority was not in doubt. Unlike some of the earls who did not even have their own estate, he ruled the city of Rent and many territories around. The moderate share of his success was his personal strength and achievements.

At the table sat the deputy head of the Mages Guild, McCain. Chief Minister Rennac. High Priest Oren. The head of the warriors guild Nestor. Adventurer guild leader Thess.

The meeting was urgent, so these people were more than enough to discuss the issue. McCain got up and read the message. There was silence for a while, then he expressed his opinion.

- Summoned Balor is a consequence of the 9th circle Gate spell available to the Sorcerer class and some Wizards. Moreover, to use spells of the 9th circle, you must be at least 18th level in the corresponding class. Since there was no trace of the summoner, we have no idea if he is a human or a member of another race. As well as we don’t know for what purpose he attacked the village. Even our prodigal mages guild leader is a level 14 Sorcerer. As far as we know, there is no one in the territories under our control who could use this spell.

McCain was on fairly good terms with the head of the mages guild, who often disappeared and still strived to become stronger and see the world. So no one was surprised by his statement about his boss. Those present pondered over the information received.

Despite the fact that earl Desset was the local lord, the people present and not only those present shared many spheres of influence. He could not use personal knights or troops in order to deal with everything that happened in his territories. So this meeting was also a message to those present that they should take certain measures.

- Forgive me earl, but I think that we are powerless here. There is nothing we can do with a creature of this level, at least until this creature itself comes to our borders. We should inform the king of the incident, that's all we can do. - said Minister Rennac.

If earl had to constantly ask for help from the duke or the king, he would not be sitting in his place now. In any case, this information will get to them, but he was definitely not going to send an official request for help. He just frowned slightly at the minister's statement and glanced at the rest of the audience.

- I can offer a corresponding mission in the Adventurer's Guild for reconnaissance and any information about the intended target. But I'm not going to hide the threat of such a mission, so I doubt this approach will be effective. In addition, I hope that the funds for the reward will be provided by you, the minister, the amount will be significant.

- No missions are needed, your adventurers will do more harm than good. - objected the minister, naturally he was not eager to pay.

- Here I agree with the minister - said the earl and again looked around those present in anticipation of their proposals.

- I propose to start a war ... - Nestor wanted to continue, but the earl himself interrupted him.

- Yes, Nestor, I heard you, sit down for now - Desset said, slightly irritated.

Light chuckles were heard in the hall. In fact, many of those present were not at all against the war. It carried in itself quite a few opportunities and various benefits. For many young knights and nobles, this was an opportunity to stand out and jump from rags to riches. In addition, it perfectly resolved the issue of resettlement, if any. However, the earl himself was quite pleased with his position and the current territories, without a good reason for that, he would not have muddied the waters. Moreover, there was little in common between the attack on the village of Balor and the gathering of an army for the war, for example, with the orcs. Although of course, if you wish, you can blame anyone for this as a good reason.

The audience continued to voice various speculations and conspiracy theories. The fate of the village itself did not interest them too much, if the inhabitants present there die, they can simply drive out the local beggars there, and the city will also become cleaner.

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Suddenly, the doors to the meeting room swung open and a beautiful woman burst in. She was only 25 years old, long blonde hair and blue eyes. Even in full armor, apart from a helmet, she moved swiftly and easily, as if she were wearing a dress. Apparently the armor was rather unusual and accentuated its beauty rather than hiding it. Her name was Jane, the captain of the local Order of Knights.

Jane was one of the strongest Paladins in the entire kingdom. She was originally a commoner, a native of one of the nearby villages. However, she was a little insane and was rapidly gaining strength fighting all kinds of evil creatures and beasts. Gradually, she began to stand out more and more from the rest and received many achievements. The king himself decided to grant her the title of knight and the title of captain of the order. Initially, the king wanted to take her to the capital, but Jane did not want to leave her native land and she was not at all interested in titles and positions. Although she was in the rank of captain, even the head of the local order of knights had no choice but to consider her captaincy nominal and he did not try to tell her what to do. She inexorably continued to exterminate the evil around her, both in the city and beyond.

Such a character was both a blessing for the local lord and a curse. Once she personally hacked the baron to death right at one of the banquets, having learned and personally witnessed how he dealt with small children. Naturally, this could not go unpunished, but to the surprise of everyone around, the king himself issued a decree on her pardon. But with this he made himself a lot of problems, many vassals were extremely unhappy with such a situation, which is not at all surprising. A commoner who executed a nobleman with impunity and publicly is something completely unheard of. However, the facts were that she was extremely powerful, possibly level 16 or higher.

Seeing who showed up in the hall, all those present had various grimaces. No matter how influential they are, this woman should not be in direct confrontation. The earl facepalmed. Apparently, someone from those present gave Jane news about what had happened in the village and she rushed here to find out the details and go to "punish the evil." The earl himself often used her to his advantage under various pretexts of cleansing evil and not only he was doing that. The earl was glad that his lands were protected by such a strong warrior who was always ready to rush to help the suffering in his territories. However, both he himself and those present were far from without sin, so they had to be extremely careful in the presence of this person. It was like walking on thin ice. It is also sad that both his son and many other nobles could hardly resist such a beauty, this only exacerbated the situation. At the same time, there were rumors that Jane was not interested in men at all.

Jane burst in like the wind and after examining those present proclaimed. - Where is the message?

The earl should have reprimanded her, accused her of disrespect, and so on. But he had known her for a long time and did not once again spit against the wind. As long as she is useful and not too problematic, those present would rather ignore it. Everyone knew that no matter how strong she was, she was never interested in things like influence and wealth, so she was not a direct threat to them. Fortunately, the case with the Baron was isolated. Although she had a reputation for being an insane woman in noble circles, she actually held back enough if her behavior could be described that way.

- Hehe, beauty show some respect for your elders. - said Nestor.

Everyone turned their heads to him in unison, someone still decided to spit against the wind. In the next instant, Jane pulled one of the swords from the wall, took it with both hands and pointed the blade up in front of her, continuing to calmly look at Nestor. After a couple of seconds, many divine circles formed around her, blinding with their sunshine, after which they disappeared, and Jane herself was illuminated by a white flash, which for a moment hid her from those around her. Then the sword in Jane's hands began to radiate holy power. Holy energy covered the sword and gently enveloped it along the entire length of the blade. A unique and powerful spell of the paladins Holy Sword.

But Nestor himself was a Barbarian, even if he was weaker, he didn't show a sign of it. Rising, he tore an ax from the wall and prepared for battle.

- Are you freaking insane ?! Stop immediately! Return the weapon to its place or there will be no place for you on my territory! - Seeing that the idiots froze, he added - McCain give Jane the scroll now! - the earl shouted, he made a note to remove all decorative weapons in this room. But then suddenly he thought that this would hardly help, they would just tear off parts of the chairs and tables, or they would take on something else. He started having a migraine.

Jane returned the weapon to its place, after which Nestor did the same. She took the scroll and began to read it carefully. Then she looked around those present.

- Whom did you decide to send in the village?

Silence ensued. Of course they will send someone there to replace the previous caretaker, but that's all.

“I see, I'll go there on my own and try to find this Sorcerer. At the very least, I can provide temporary protection to the local people and make sure that there are no more threats.

The earl, of course, was against it. Despite Jane's problematic nature, she was one of the important pillars of security and the reason for the dramatic decrease in corruption in Rent. But in any case, she rarely stayed in the city for long and often tortured various evil creatures in the area, which she could reach. He even felt a little sorry for them.

- Captain Jane, your aspiration is commendable, but I must warn you that the perpetrator is at least level 18. It is likely that he has a Time Stop spell. I hope you will be prudent and careful. - said McCain, he was not going to dissuade her directly, but preferred to simply remind her that the enemy might well be too tough for her.

- It does not matter, I am always ready to return to the hands of the Almighty, if that is his will.

It sounded, of course, majestic and beautiful, but those present only again had a thought. "How is she still alive at all?"