The next day, Jonn was back in Littlewood after a night of observation at the Yeoman Ferry estate.
He had thoroughly checked the estate, using [Analysis] to understand the terrain, probe for weak spots, assess the strengths of the enemy terrain, and gather other useful information for his plans.
Back in town, he rested for a few hours and, around mid-morning, left his room to continue his investigation of the local mages.
He secretly moved around the wealthier area of Littlewood, searching for the other two mages—excluding the alchemist and healer—that he had yet to analyze.
Early in his search, Jonn came across something surprising. While trespassing on the estate of one of the local mages, he saw the town’s mage healer, an old white-haired man named Nicol, arrive at the estate accompanied by a young woman who appeared to be his apprentice.
Nicol and the red-haired girl by his side wasted no time in greeting anyone and soon entered the estate, arriving at the main room of the manor house.
Jonn climbed one tree in the area and peek through a window, seeing part of the interior of the room where the healer stood in front of a bed.
There appeared to be someone lying on that bed.
“Guymar, how are you today?” the old man asked Jonn.
Unfortunately, Jonn couldn’t hear Guymar’s reply, the man behind the property, one of the local Acolytes.
But by looking through the Celestial Magnifying Glass, risking his position while seeing only the feet of the person lying on the large bed, Jonn could see some information appearing on his artifact.
Guymar is injured! Is that why he’s not helping to protect Yeoman Ferry’s property?
Little by little, a smile appeared on Jonn’s youthful face.
Could that be the case with the other local mage, Wilmot? Is he also injured from the previous fight with the Riverash Family?
Until this moment, Jonn knew what the guards and citizens of Littlewood knew. He had observed the town and made some connections that put him ahead of what some storytellers in the area had been saying, but his knowledge was still limited. Seeing Guymar’s situation and hearing the healer talk about the man’s recovery, Jonn better understood what few knew.
I see… The city talks about the confrontation of mortals. Obviously, they know little about the mages or how the mages clashed in the last incident.
The major battle wasn’t that of the mortal guards, but of the mages. But if that’s the case, then the Riverash Family mages must be injured too! Even if they’re stronger, they’re probably not in their best condition, or Yeoman Ferry’s head would have rolled off by now!
Jonn retreated when he discovered it, making his way through the garden of the estate.
I’ll have to check Wilmot. If the man is carrying wounds as well, it’s almost certain that my theories are correct.
Jonn felt his blood flow more strongly through his body, his temperature rising as he sweated slightly. He left the property of one of the local mages without a problem, enjoying his improved movement, speed, and reflexes.
He didn’t need to enter Guymar’s house, nor did he try to steal anything from the man, so he didn’t worry about security devices that might get in his way. As for the guards around the estate, they weren’t many and couldn’t compare to Jonn.
Guymar was a combat mage and didn’t have many guards on his property. Who but other mages would challenge him? And against mages, ordinary people could do almost nothing.
Jonn encountered a similar scenario at Wilmot’s estate, evading guards and staff to reach the roof of another opulent residence that starkly contrasted Littlewood’s poverty.
I was right!
Through the Celestial Magnifier, Wilmot’s bodily information materialized before Jonn’s eyes.
Unlike Guymar, Wilmot wasn’t bedridden. However, the man Jonn observed slowly traversing the garden and gingerly settling into an armchair to read was far from healthy. Internal injuries, minor fractures in his arms and ribs, along with bruised muscles and ruptured tendons, evidenced lingering combat damage.
Yet Wilmot fared better than Guymar. His apparent good condition suggested a quicker recovery, possibly without lasting effects.
Although Wilmot looked well, he had suffered a lot. Guymar was surely on the verge of death to take so long to recover and still be bedridden. I imagine that the Riverash Family mages are the strongest in the city, but they didn’t come out of it so well.
Something prevented the Riverash Family mages from killing the two wounded mages during the fight or in the aftermath. Either Count Javis hasn’t been able to deal with them so far, or he just doesn’t want to.
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Maybe both.
Jonn turned his eyes toward the Count’s family headquarters, imagining the situation of the mages commanded by Javis Riverash.
Count Javis only wants to eliminate Yeoman Ferry and not the local mages. That doesn’t mean, however, that he won’t come close to eliminating those in his way. Guymar’s situation clearly shows this.
But the fact that he hasn’t acted again shows an inability that I can’t ignore. Somehow, the Riverash Family and Yeoman Ferry are at an impasse.
I’m gonna mess things up!
Jonn moved to the opposite side of the roof, spotting a guard with his back turned. In one fluid motion, he descended, landing near the man distracted by street activity.
Moving cat-like, Jonn concealed himself behind a pillar. He waited for the guard to continue his patrol before fleeing Wilmot’s estate 11 minutes later, undetected.
This morning’s reconnaissance yielded more information about the city’s situation and confirmed that he could use the Celestial Magnifying Glass near mages without revealing his mana control.
Jonn avoided dangerous elements for the rest of the afternoon, focusing on reinforcing his traveler's identity. He purchased travel items and ensured local gossips knew of his planned departure that evening.
Before nightfall, he returned to his inn room, preparing to leave around sunset.
He ventured into the forest with Windy, delivering his last instructions to Ice—crucial for the evening’s plans. Then, he approached Yeoman Ferry’s estate, where the previous mage still guarded the area.
The best way for me to weaken the Riverash Family and facilitate my search for the family’s {Spell} books is to make their two mages, or at least one of them, move. Under the current circumstances, they would only move if Yeoman Ferry showed some weakness.
We’re going to have a big fire in these woods today, I’m afraid!
He looked down at the dead leaf-covered ground, where he now had with him two cans of firewood oil, a torch, and some stones.
He waited crouched close to Yeoman Ferry’s estate, waiting for the signal to act.
The signal was not long in coming.
“Ow!”
Suddenly, a distant and powerful howl arose to the north of the area, attracting not only the attention of the guards patrolling the grounds of the beautiful estate in the middle of the forest. Even the mage, sitting in front of the entrance to the main house, stood up and looked in the direction from which he heard the call.
“A wolf?” The man narrowed his eyes. But there was something else on that call. There was mana, and the mage didn’t take long to recognize it. “A beast!”
The guards in the vicinity heard the word and became concerned, some turning pale with readiness.
“What shall we do, Senior Adri?” asked a strongly built man dressed in leather armor and a fur hood.
The torches and fires illuminating the surroundings punctuated the apathetic expressions of the men, each glaring at the mage Adri.
Adri pointed out two of the guards and said, “You two will come with me. Wolves rarely walk alone, so we can’t ignore it. Let’s get this wolf away!”
Jonn listened to the muffled voices of the men talking hundreds of meters away, enjoying seeing his plan work.
In fact, wolves were animals with well-known habits. The presence of a single one near the estate could be really worrying, even more so if there was mana involved.
Adri remembered the terrible situation Eldoria’s neighbor was currently experiencing, where beasts were threatening to take over Arcanis, one of the states least affected by the calamities of the post-Third Magic War.
‘Is this a sign that the beasts of Arcanis are coming south?’ Adri worried as he advanced with the two best warriors from Yeoman Ferry’s estate.
As soon as he saw the men moving, Jonn spread his whale oil where [Analysis] and [Projection] showed him he would have the best result in setting the place on fire.
All set. Ice will take the mage away for as long as it takes me to get to Littlewood. Windy will scare the guards and residents of this estate in the meantime.
When he had finished surrounding the enemy’s property, Jonn took one last look in the direction of the beautiful wooden house built in the area, wondering what would happen later.
Whether they would die or escape didn’t matter to him today. They had only one use tonight.
I hope that even if you stay after today, it will make you forget about the Barren Hills of Deepshadow. Otherwise, I’ll have to go back and finish what I started.
He used two stones to create the spark he needed, starting a fire in a small pile of straw at the furthest point from his enemies.
The sparks from the stones in his hands reached the whale oil, multiplying the fire, quickly burning the dry brush, bark, and other perishable items that Jonn had gathered to ensure the strength and spread of the fire.
He set off running towards Littlewood without looking back, putting his [Stamina] and speed to good use.
His speed was limited, however. Even though he had superior attributes to his animals, for example, he was no faster than Ice or Windy. Jonn was pretty sure there were breed bonuses that made his animals’ attributes higher than the base values he could see in their statuses.
But despite losing out to the fastest horse and wolf from the Eternal Village, he wasn’t slow. Just a few minutes after leaving Yeoman Ferry’s estate, he saw the entrance to the city, from where one could easily spot the column of smoke rising from the fire in the area he had left.
The glow of the flames was illuminating part of the horizon. When Jonn entered the town, local groups were already moving towards the area, so he didn’t even have to try very hard to turn the attention of the local forces to the forest and Ferry’s property.
Nevertheless, as he passed a group of Riverash Family guards, Jonn pointed to the forest and said, “Yeoman Ferry is in trouble! His estate is on fire!”
Cries of surprise from the onlookers and questions from the guards came in succession as, with a smile on his face, Jonn disappeared into the crowd of over 100 people already gathered at the entrance to Littlewood.
The smell of smoke was gradually reaching the town, some of it brought to the area by Jonn himself.
[Air Palm] helped me a lot at the beginning of my plans. Starting a fire like today’s wouldn’t have been easy without it!
Before any guards could identify him and make him explain his words, Jonn was already inside Littlewood, making his way to the Riverash Family estate. Meanwhile, the people who heard him spread the word, and in less than five minutes, the story had grown from a warning to a rumor that Yeoman Ferry was under attack.
Jonn didn’t listen, nor did he care which direction the rumors developed. When he arrived near the estate where he thought the Riverash Family {Spells} were, he saw that only one mage had stayed behind and the other wasn’t there, probably having already left with some group of guards to check on their enemies.
Everything has worked out so far. One mage left, but that’s not bad. I might get in and out without having to worry about him.
Jonn moved forward with the Celestial Magnifying Glass in hand, seeing in his way the mechanisms he would have to pass through to reach the interior of the estate.