Chapter 82 Simple Or Easy
“I figured you would.” Isaac replied and leaned back in his chair while taking a sip of tea.
“Firstly, you cannot ask questions about anything pertaining to Marie.” Sera began and nodded towards her maid. Isaac nodded for her to continue. “Secondly, no one can ever know that I helped you.” Isaac nodded again. “And thirdly, when Lucius takes power I want you to publicly say that you do not wish to run the territory and that you support him.”
Isaac’s brows furrowed. “Those conditions are acceptable.” He replied slowly. “You only want me to publicly support him?” He asked. The possibility of Isaac actually supporting Sera’s son was left unsaid but implied enough for it to be recognized as something that could happen in the future.
Sera smiled. “The deal must be fair. I would prefer it of course but I have a feeling that you will request my aid again in the future.” She explained.
Isaac smiled and offered Sera his hand. “Lady Arbencroft, I accept your terms and look forward to working with your maid during this endeavor.”
Sera took his hand much more daintily than Isaac was used to. “I look forward to watching it happen, Lord Wexler.” She said with a mischievous grin.
“Sera!” Marie, the maid, said abruptly. “Who will protect you if I’m not there?”
“But you will be, old friend.” Sera replied. “What reason do I have to not share my private box with Lord Wexler?” She questioned with a twinkle in her eyes. “Maybe I will invite my brother and son along? Izen is much too busy but those boys do not have anything better to do.”
Marie froze and then sighed. “Fine.” She relented.
“Speaking of my husband,” Sera continued. “I believe he wishes to speak with you.” She said to Isaac.
“Oh?” Isaac questioned. “Do you know what about?”
Sera smirked. “Yes.” She replied but did not elaborate. Her eyes focused in on Lenna like a hawk targeting a snake. “A little birdie told me that Isaac made due on his promise from when we first met.” The words were directed only at Lenna and the paladin’s face flushed.
“I don’t remember any birds down here.” Lenna deflected, poorly.
“There are plenty of them if you know where to look.” Sera replied. It was obvious that she was having fun teasing Lenna. “I thought something was up with you two the last time we had tea but watching you both at the ball confirmed my speculation.” She explained.
“As did, let me guess, Celeste?” Isaac cut in.
Sera shook her head. “A Lady must not reveal her secrets.” She countered. “So? How did it happen? Dance practice turned hot and heavy?”
“Sera!” Lenna felt like a heat haze was going to soon be visible coming off her collar. Sera’s giggle was from the heart and had the ability to remove any residual tension from their previous conversations.
A little while later Sera had managed to get far more information about their relationship than Lenna would have liked out of her. She had this almost magical ability to cause one to open up about something that they would usually keep to themselves. At some point Marie had left to get ready. Once the conversation moved on from their relationship to other things Isaac decided it was time to give Izen a visit.
Isaac closed his eyes and felt the shadows around him. He moved and connected them to each other until they reached the entire way from his foot to the wall of the house. He could feel where the shadows were so he could guess at where things like windows and doors were. “Isaac?” Sera asked, almost causing him to lose focus. “What are you doing?”
“Which window is Izen’s study?” He asked with a grin. He was burning a small amount of mana to keep all the shadows connected as they went up the exterior wall.
Sera’s eyes widened. “Other side of the manor, third from the back, seventh from the front, top floor.” She told him easily. It was probably not a good idea to tell someone as violent and powerful as Isaac where her husband spent most of his time but she hadn’t realized that until it was too late. “You never answered my question?”
Isaac was starting to sweat as he tried to find and count windows based solely on the shape of the shadows on the far exterior wall. “This is a lot harder than expected.” He conceded.
“Are you working through the wards?!” She questioned in shock.
“Huh?” Isaac’s brows furrowed as he tried to talk while not losing track of which window was most likely Izen’s. “No. The wards are fine. Trying to feel where the windows are, and maintain a connection, the whole way there is the problem. I think I found it. A ceiling light and a lamp on a desk with someone sitting at it?” Sera nodded absently. “Sera?”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Um, yes.” She replied and was snapped out of her trance-like state of trying to comprehend the fact that her manor’s wards meant nothing to Isaac. The wards alone were worth hundreds of thousands of gold. No teleportation or invisibility was allowed inside and if any of the doors were picked all hells would break loose. That wasn’t even taking into account the resurrection runes that would work as long as any of the family members were brought there within a minute of their deaths.
“I’m in.” Isaac said with a grin. “I’ll leave you two to have a girl talk without me.” And with that, Isaac was gone.
“How does he do that?” Sera questioned and looked at Lenna.
Lenna smiled. “I could tell you and I doubt it would matter.” She replied. “Even so, his abilities are his to share.”
Sera stared at where a black puff had been a moment ago. Every time Isaac teleported a black fog was left for only a moment as the shadows quickly dispersed. “Is he entering the shadows themselves and leaving them at another location?” Sera questioned. “That would get around the teleportation ban.” She looked to Lenna for answers but Lenna only smirked at her.
“He talked to The Reaper like a casual acquaintance, met my goddess and didn’t bow, has never truly lost to anything,” Lenna went on. “and you want to know how or why he does something? My guess is better than yours, but not by much.”
—
Izen was reading over a summary of the Ori-Masa incident written by the adventurer Wo Lu. Edward had put great stock in the words and advice from the elf so Izen would as well. He was approaching the end when something, someone, appeared a few feet in front of him with a thud. Izen jumped to his feet only to see a certain dark mage sitting in the middle of the floor.
“Right, same position as when I left.” Isaac grumbled to himself and used the shadows to push him up to his feet. He turned around to look at Izen. “Izen, been a while.”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d think that you were trying to bring me to an early grave.” Izen replied coldly.
“Good to see you too.” Isaac grumbled and sat in one of the expensive velvet and oak chairs that were sitting across from Izen. “I’m assuming you have a job for me.”
Izen sat back down. “Yes.” He replied and grabbed a stack of papers held together with a metal clip. He handed them across the table to the waiting dark mage. “With the leads acquired by you in the past we were able to crack down on a few of the more unsavory organizations. There is one that we have been having trouble with. I want you to fix that.”
“A few questions.” Isaac began while looking through the papers before he stopped on a name that looked familiar. “How much are you offering? How messy do you want this? Do you want anyone to know that you put me up to it? And finally, do you want this to be a normal thing?”
Izen’s face looked like it was stuck in a perpetual frown. The only time Isaac had ever seen him smile was in the presence of his wife. His frown deepened. “Ten thousand, no collateral damage but otherwise do what you have to do, and I’m not sure yet.”
It was Isaac’s turn to frown. He tossed the papers to the side and they vanished in a blink. He slowly rose to his feet and put his hands on Izen’s desk. He leaned over to close the distance between them and locked eyes with Izen. “Izen, I think that you are a good enough man to rule this city. I like you, honestly. I want you to keep an image of a righteous ruler of an immoral city. Follow truth and justice. If I am the darkest thing in town it’ll get boring but I think you know what line’s I believe shouldn’t be crossed. I want you to get rid of the people that have crossed those lines but I want you to do it right. Investigate and have the guard bring these people in. Have a trial with Micheal and a truth spell. By the book and proper. Understand?”
Izen was silent for a long moment but he never broke eye contact with Isaac. “I would prefer that too.” He eventually agreed. “Will you take the job?”
Isaac grinned and slumped back into the chair he had previously inhabited. “Ten thousand would be fine if this was a normal target.” Isaac explained. “Hells, if I didn’t like Edward then ten thousand would be enough for him.” Isaac pulled the stack of papers back out and thumped in into his other hand. “But not this one.” He shook his head. “This is way deeper than you think.”
“How deep and how much?” Izen questioned.
Isaac sighed. “This goes the whole way from Outpost Charles to wherever those mortals were getting shipped to if I’m understanding the situation properly.” He flipped through to the page with the name he recognized on it. He set the packet on the desk facing Izen and poked the name. “This is the problem.”
“Mr. Nobody.” Izen read aloud. “What do you know about him?”
“Enough to start the job and enough to know that I need to be careful.” Isaac replied honestly.
Izen’s eyes went wide for a moment before he schooled his expression. “How careful?” He wondered.
Isaac shook his head. “That’s the problem. I don’t know.” He took the packet back and returned it to his Inventory. “Fifty thousand. A hundred if my suspicions are proven correct.”
“What are your suspicions?” Izen questioned. “A hundred is far too much.” He added.
“High level wizard. Higher than Alexander and who knows how long they have had to set up traps and rituals.” Isaac explained. “A hundred is fair if I have to walk into a hidden wizard tower packed into a smithy downtown.” Isaac sighed. “Or worse if it’s a drow plot.”
That got Izen’s attention. “Thirty thousand to get rid of them, another thirty if it’s a high level wizard, and another thirty if it’s a drow plot.” Izen offered.
“And an extra ten thousand up front for keeping quiet about your involvement, even to my associates, save for Lenna of course.” Isaac countered.
Izen sighed. “Fine.” He grumbled. “You are going to make me sell my desk if you keep this up.”
Isaac grinned. “It’s a nice desk. I might buy it.” He joked and rose to his feet. “I trust you can just deposit it to my account.”
Izen nodded. “I can.”
“Good.” Isaac replied. “Actually while I’m here I have something else I want you to spend money on.”
Izen narrowed his eyes. “What money?” He asked. His voice was serious but it was clearly sarcasm.
“The treatment to make drider silk fireproof is around five hundred gold for enough to treat a hundred yards. Sera’s birthday present is going to require around thirteen hundred yards. You can ask Jessica Silverstrand for the exact number if you want.” Isaac explained. “Lenna’s will require just as much. Drider silk runs around a hundred gold per yard so I think ordering enough of the treatment for both of their gifts is fair.”
Izen eventually nodded. “That is fair. Edward informed me that you had come across enough of it to buy a small country. I would recommend gifting the queen something of at least equal value once her birthday comes around. The last thing you want is the king breathing down your neck.” He explained.
Isaac shook his head. “It’s not the king I’m worried about. He may run the country but he isn’t the one in charge. There are too many demigods in this country for that.” Isaac told him. “But I will keep your advice in mind regardless.”
Izen’s eyes went wide at the treasonous words coming from Isaac at the beginning before he realized that there might be truth in what he said. “If there is nothing else.” Izen said with a nod and tapped the papers that he had been reading.
Isaac shrugged. “Not unless you want to watch Lenna kill a platinum adventurer in the arena in a few hours.”
“Please tell her not to kill him.” Izen replied evenly. “The rest of the territories need them.”
“No.” Isaac replied and vanished.
Izen leaned back in his chair. “Nothing is ever simple or easy anymore.” He said aloud and then chuckled. “What am I saying? It’s never been simple or easy.” He rose from his chair and walked over to his cellarette that he had been visiting more and more recently, mostly because of Isaac, and grabbed a glass.