Chapter 33 Would you like to join us,
Isaac and Lenna had just finished eating an early lunch when they were intercepted by a ducal guard. He wore full plate armor with a chainmail hood resting behind his neck. The young man’s tanned skin and sun bleached dark brown hair marked him as a native of the region, and not a noble from the northern edge of the continent like the Sasstons and Arbencrofts. Over his armor was a pure blue vest with gold trim and a golden set of scales embellished on the front and back. In his hand there was a letter and at his hip a mace hung through a steel loop. His armor was mildly enchanted which came as a bit of a surprise until Isaac pieced together what the enchantments were. Based on what he could see, and the general feel he got from it, the armor was enchanted with a resizing enchantment, a hardening enchantment, and a self cleaning enchantment. Everything set into the guard’s armor told a story of knights whose armor had a longer history than they themselves did, not the other way around.
“Lord of Darkness, Lady of Hellfire, I am here to deliver this to you, from his grace, Duke Arthur Von Sasston.” The ducal guard spoke curtly before Isaac and Lenna could even assure him of their identities.
Isaac took the offered letter and opened it. “He postponed it to this evening.” Isaac spoke dryly after reading it. “Guardsman, tell his grace that if he does not wish to meet with us then he should say so outright. We will wait until this evening to hear from him again.” Isaac spoke directly and clearly to the guard, exactly how a nobleman would have.
The guard nodded once. “Very well, I shall take my leave then.” He replied and turned on his heel and marched off.
“Are we actually going to wait?” Lenna asked her mate.
“Yes.” Isaac replied. “If for no other reason than the fact that the shadows will be longer at dusk.”
—
Isaac and Lenna had decided to waste their afternoon by exploring the slums. They had passed by countless beggars and run down buildings but it had taken them the better part of an hour to find a building that more people entered than exited. “That one.” Isaac spoke with utter assurance. They weren’t entirely sure where the entrance was to the underground of Sapphirestone but now they knew where to start. “Let’s come back tonight.” Isaac told Lenna and she nodded in reply.
“Yes, when it’s easier to see and the sun stops boiling your shadows.” She agreed.
The pair had only made it two blocks back towards their inn when a woman appeared in front of them. She wore a simple but flattering one piece dress that left almost her entire legs free and exposed even though it fell nearly to her ankles. The front was low cut but not quite low cut enough to reveal her corset under the dress. The shoulders of the dress were slim but solid enough that there wasn’t any fear of the dress tearing in half. It entirely lacked sleeves which was normal for the area but not the time of year. The sides were laced together tightly which caused the entire thing to hug her figure as snugly as possible without restricting blood flow or movement too much. As nice as the dress’s design was, what really stood out was the unmistakable color of it, topaz.
The woman was gently tanned but her complexion matched closer to the color yellow than any of the other natives of the region Isaac and Lenna had seen. Her eyes were emerald green and almost seemed to glow. Her hair was what truly stood out in a crowd however, it was a pure, natural, undyed vibrant blue. “Welcome to our city, travelers.” She purred as she sauntered closer to Isaac and Lenna down the street that was suddenly suspiciously empty. “I trust you are enjoying it?”
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“Not quite.” Isaac replied while slightly narrowing his eyes on her. She was a strong sorceress but not as strong as Fen, she was damned close though. Isaac could feel the mana around her and, based on her passive rate of intake, he put her at level eighteen to twenty. She was much too high a level to be hiding out ruling the underworld of a city. She could have married into almost any noble family, used her reputation to start a global trade organization, or become a double platinum ranked adventurer and be hailed as a celebrity everywhere she went. She could have even joined the mage corps of the royal army and been instantly promoted to the rank of vice general, the entire world was open to her and yet she had chosen ‘criminal queen’ as her career path.
“Aw, that makes my heart break. We’ve tried ever so hard to make it as welcoming as possible.” She told them with a pout. “Is there something that we could do better, for the future?”
“Yes, actually.” Isaac replied.
“You could start by taking care of the orphans. They shouldn’t be forced to sleep out in the cold. Not to mention they look half starved to death.” Lenna told her.
“Also, someone tried to hold up our wagon for an ‘extra entry fee’.” Isaac added.
“I see, I see.” The woman that could only have been Topaz nodded sagely then smirked, her sapphire blue lipstick shone in the afternoon sun. “I will keep that in mind for the future, thank you, it is always nice to get feedback from other powerful people. Most of the common folk just don’t see the world the same way that we do.”
“I agree.” Isaac told her. “But there is one other thing that has been bothering me.” He waited a moment and she motioned for him to continue. “A few of my servants have informed me that, before they became employed by my house, they had been abducted and sold into the slave market. A slave market that stopped somewhere here, in Sapphirestone. You don’t happen to know anything about it, do you?”
Topaz hummed in thought and placed a finger with sapphire nail polish up to her mouth on her chin. “I have heard rumors about it, but who knows if it is real. If I may be so bold, why might you be looking for such, ‘ruffians’?”
“Well you see, though I have no sympathy for those that are willingly enslaved to ensure that their lives last a little longer, I do have a problem with stealing children in the night and selling them off to the highest bidder. I would simply like to ensure that nothing of the sort is going on.” Isaac explained and felt the static in the air start to rise. “That is all, once we are done, we will meet with his grace and then be on our way.”
“You intend to meet with his grace?” Topaz questioned curiously as if she wasn’t charging a lightning spell of some kind.
“Of course, we have a meeting with him this evening. Would you like to join us, Topaz?” Isaac asked her with a grin.
Static snapped as a lightning bolt was created in mid air between Topaz and the duo. A dozen crossbows fired from behind and beside the pair immediately after but they were too little and too late to do anything. Lenna exploded like a torch doused in far too much oil. Isaac stepped even further between Lenna and Topaz.
Topaz’s lightning bolt snapped from her to Isaac in a blink before it was redirected down into the ground harmlessly. Isaac’s sword was already in his hand and formed a sword shaped void off to his right. Lenna batted the crossbow bolts out of the way and then pulled a handful of throwing spikes out of her Bottomless Bag. Before any of the crossbowmen could reload, she had impaled three of the six with blazing rods of pain and death that lit their clothes aflame while burning them from the inside.
Isaac was about to move in on Topaz to keep her from escaping or being too much of a pain when lightning coursed down her arms. With a flick she sent a lightning bolt towards Lenna while she launched up into the air. Isaac intercepted it with his arm but was surprised when it just went around him and slammed into Lenna’s shoulder. Lenna had felt it coming so she wasn’t taken by surprise but that didn’t lessen the muscle spasms or pain in the slightest.
Another lightning bolt flew at Lenna before Isaac could reorient on Topaz. This time, however, Isaac was not just going to take it. A wall of shadows reached up from beneath him and devoured the lightning whole. Isaac spent dozens of times as much mana as Topaz had to neutralize the spell, but it had worked and the sudden bout of shock that flashed across Topaz’s face was priceless. Isaac was about to make a move to go after her when suddenly, she exploded. It was not blood and gore that shot in every direction but water, ice, and violent winds. It appeared that Topaz was starting to get serious.