It was a dimly lit chamber, an underground archive. The only light source in the room was a trio of candles of varying height in the middle of a rectangle wooden table. Aaron Weber was here by the table, seated. He had several stone tablets in front of him. Truthfully, he did not show everything to Kamil when he visited the town. Where he was in was an archive where stone tablets of the old were stored. This place was a secret and only the head of the Weber was allowed entry. No one else was permitted.
On each wall, there were shelves made of stones. Because the stone tablets were heavy on their own, wooden shelves would have not withstood the weight over years. These stone tablets contained knowledge of the old. The majority of them were unreadable due to having written in a different language.
His visit had a goal; He wished to find out how Kamil was able to use magic without chanting. He was aware of the fact that his elemental affinity was five which was just the bare minimum to become a mage and not enough to enable chantless magic. An affinity of at least seven was required for that. With that in his mind, he was reading a stone tablet aloud.
“Every object in this world has an elemental connection. There is no exception although the connection may be too weak for any tangible benefits.”
The tip of his index finger followed letters on the tablet.
“Plants have a general connection with the elemental Earth. Fishes have a general connection with the elemental Water etc…”
He mumbled on for a while until his finger paused.
“When a mortal is able to communicate with fairies directly…, the connection becomes moot…?”
He narrowed his eyes and read on.
“The elemental connection is one-way. The fairy are always interested in mortal affairs because they were once mortals themselves…? If a mortal is capable of communicating with the fairies, it means two-way, thus opening a possibility of amassing elementals under one banner…?”
He stood up at once, casting a stoic expression on his face. Turning around, he fanatically searched through tablets after tablets. He had never really spent a long time in his archive because quite frankly he had no reason to dig into the records. That was until Kamil came along.
After a while, he had a stone tablet in his hand. It was written in a foreign language. That didn’t seem to deter him, and he sat down with it. He took out a small notebook, a dictionary. With it, he carefully began to decipher what was written.
“The …?” He paused and looked at the dictionary for a while. He went back to the tablet a moment later. “The cosmic elements … are required … to access advanced magic? Only when one can …” He looked at the dictionary one more, his eyes trying to find a similar word fanatically. After flipping pages for a while, he nodded along and went back to the stone tablet. “Only when one can befriend the cosmic elementals shall be granted either light or dark magic…”
Rubbing his eyes, he took a deep breath. After taking a short break, he continued on.
“Light and darkness are…,” He looked back at the dictionary. “Like a coin?” He went back and forth between the tablet and the dictionary. “They cannot exist without either? Light and darkness are … essentially the same?”
He went back to another shelf and searched for another tablet. He sat down with another tablet and began deciphering it.
“Right and wrong…, those are … arbitrary? definitions created by mortals. The Gods won’t care? What they care about is one’s conviction?”
He crossed his fingers and mused, “Why should Gods care about it in the first place? Do they judge us or something?”
He mumbled as the tip of his index finger chased a letter after a letter.
“I believe that, in order to … establish a connection with the fairies…, one needs to … be a mortal but … not a mortal?” Frowning, he blurted, “What does that even mean here? A mortal but not a mortal?” He continued to read on but couldn’t quite get a handle on further text. “This part is way too hard for me.”
What seemed to indicate was that, in order to be able to communicate with elementals like Kamil was able to, something was required, something unusual.
“A mortal but not a mortal…,” He repeated the words, trying to rack his brain to come up with an answer to the riddle. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “Undead? Nah, they aren’t mortals to begin with…”
After another moment of silence, he spoke.
“Am I right to assume that Lord Fenchel has something common with the fairy queen Maco?”
The founder of the Kingdom, the holy queen Maco, was known to be a person with omni-affinity with elementals. More importantly, she was a life mage who was able to repeal the darkness and was able to defeat the undead that dominated these lands. After studying the stone tablets, he came to a likely conclusion that the holy queen may have not had four affinities. Rather, she may have been able to communicate with elementals directly, thus bypassing the affinity restrictions. Like one of the tablets indicated, an elemental affinity was one-way. The strength of how much elementals favored a mortal, that was an affinity. It was a one-way affection. No mage he had known was able to talk to elementals; They simply borrowed their powers via chanting. Thus, being able to communicate with elementals was a different kind of connection. A two-way as one of the tablets indicated.
“But how?” Folding arms, he mused aloud.
There were more stone tablets he simply could not read, and he was certain that one of those tablets had an answer to his question.
Tantan was an ancient settlement. It existed long before any kingdoms existed. Due to its secluded location, humans were able to exist here even during the age of darkness where dragons dominated the sky and undead ruled the land. Elders of the town left records of what they had learned during their lifetime. Sadly, they were mostly written in ancient languages. His great grandfather was an avid scholar and spent a lot of his time translating the ancient languages. The dictionary was a direct result of his decades of research. Aaron was a bit of a scholar himself but he never found the value in studying the stone tablets. He was more interested in expanding and developing the town.
“Enough for today. I need some fresh air.”
Grunting, he stood up from his chair and carefully navigated his way out after killing the candles.
“Father, you’ve come back.”
Alban was the first one to greet his father who was emerging from a dark stairway. He was Aaron’s son from a mistress who was a local to these parts. He treated both of his sons equally. Thus, Alban fully respected his father for doing so. In fact, he had yet to name his successor, an indication that Alban was in the race. Regardless, the two brothers got along very well and had no hard feelings toward each other over the succession. Alban knew, from deep down, that Aloise was likely going to succeed Aaron because of their current roles. Aloise was in charge of diplomatic matters while he was in charge of fishing. Still, he had deep respect for his father who refused to marginalize a mistress’ son.
“Alban, any wind while I was away?”
“Yes, we have a guest.”
“A guest? That’d be a second one after Lord Fenchel.”
They rarely received guests due to their distant and secluded location.
“He said his name was Gregor.”
Aaron narrowed his eyes immediately. “What good timing,” He said weakly with a grin.
“Sir Gregor!” Aaron welcomed him with open arms. Gregor was a man with full gray hair and a beard. He wore a brown robe and looked more like a monk. He looked to be well past middle-age, and wrinkles dominated his rugged face. They were in the same living room where he received Kamil.
“Sir Weber, how long has it been? A decade?”
“Over a decade, you crook!”
Gregor laughed. “I’ve been hiding. Sorry, old friend.”
“You don’t need to hide any more?” Aaron sat down and called a maid to bring tea.
“Could I get some seafood as well?” Gregor asked cheekily. “I really miss oysters.”
“Certainly, old crook. You heard him.”
“Yes, master.” A maid bowed, and Gregor rubbed his hands and drooled a bit in anticipation of a wonderful meal he was soon going to eat.
“So, you’ve been hiding. I can see why. You are here now though? Why?”
Gregor had been hiding in case the king sent assassins after him. He had been successful apparently.
“The airship, my man. I wouldn’t have been able to get here without it.”
“Ah-ha!” Aaron slapped his knee out of amusement.
“That’s something right there, the airship. Who’d have thought?”
“Indeed.” He had to smile. Without it, this town would feel like a literal graveyard. More than 500 refugees arrived and settled down. For the first time in his life, the town felt rejuvenated. With the new blood, new culture also entered. The stagnant feeling progressively vanished therefore. The new migrants were shocked at the level of cuisine the town offered. They were also equally appalled at some of things the town was way beyond.
“I shall have to thank the lord of Laufeld, Lord Fenchel,” He said.
“Ah, the hero of the realm, the vanquisher of Evil Goss,” Gregor said with glee. “Was he the one who invented that thingy?”
“Aye.”
“You know, Aaron, when we won the reunification war and I left the king, I did not think the future would turn out like this. Even back then I saw the king preparing to fight the Siwen. I expected him to win that war but also expected the nation to be engulfed in internal conflicts shortly afterwards. The latter is yet to occur which should have occurred already.” Then he chuckled. “This shows how little I know.”
“Sir Gregor, you are a genius tactician. Without you, we’d have never defeated the invasion.”
Gregor beamed a smile. “I should have been correct in my assessment but I wasn’t. That means something I did not foresee happened.” Then he slowly pointed at the window. An airship had landed on a platform afar.
“That happened,” He said.
“True. Without it, I may have raised the flag of rebellion along with several other houses.”
“Tell me about this lord of Laufeld. My access to outside information has been severely limited.”
Aaron went on to explain: How Kamil came into the picture. His performance during the war, and how he introduced the airship into the world. Gregor nodded along.
“Nothing too remarkable,” He said, looking unimpressed. “Except for one event: How he killed General Goss.”
“I am sure the story has been exaggerated.”
“Almost certainly, but every tale has a grain of truth in it. What he did wasn’t something a mage should be able to do. It sounds almost as if he was able to communicate with elementals…”
Aaron hesitated at this moment. Should he tell Gregor what he had been wondering about? Gregor was an earth mage with an affinity level of nine; He was the most powerful mage in the kingdom if not the world. If anyone knew more about being able to communicate with elementals, that would have been him. At the same time, he wished to protect Kamil. While he did not see Gregor as an enemy, he did not see him as an ally, either. He was a mutual friend. There was certainly a possibility that he could be working with someone else at this point. After all, the man appeared out of nowhere literally. He had been gone for over ten years. His allegiance was not something he could no longer be certain.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Let us not talk about gloomy stuff,” Aaron said, having decided that Gregor could not be trusted fully at this point. “Where have you been, old dog?”
“Here and there. As soon as I left the king, I had to leave the country.”
“I would have done the same. Karsten is a vengeful person.”
Gregor chuckled, “That’s an understatement, Weber. I see that my pupil is still working for him. Poor lad, I bet he wants to leave his side if able.”
“He has been doing a good job. Not quite as effective as you were though.”
“He has good talents to be a mediator. He is the type of an advisor the king needs exactly. He won’t be let go easily.”
“He became a lord. Did you foresee that?”
Gregor laughed pleasantly. “Of course. He had eyes on a maid. He was trying to hide it, but I saw their relationship blossoming. Marrying a maid while he was a scholar would have been a foolish endeavor.”
Maids were properties of their owner. Maids in the royal castle were essentially the king’s property. Marrying them was possible but they were often chosen as mistresses, not as a first wife. It would have been heavily frowned upon if Isaac took a maid as a first wife. The social stigma would have carried over even if she became a noble with her husband. What Isaac did was that he requested the king to gift him a maid upon being selected as the lord of Rokk; He would need a few, so it was a reasonable request. Afterward he forged a new background for her and then married her. On the surface, he married a noble lady from a fallen house, which was again a reasonable event since the Knell was a minor house. He wouldn’t have been able to marry a woman from a reputable house.
Gregor chuckled and said, “I am sure Isaac racked his brain to make it work.”
The maid returned with two cups of tea on a plate and placed them down. “The dish should be here soon,” She informed them.
“Thank you,” Gregor responded while tilting sideways to look at her ankles. Maids wore a long skirt. Ankles were the only thing men could ever hope to get a glimpse at.
“I see that you haven’t changed,” Aaron remarked with a chuckle.
“Men will always be perverts, Weber. And young women will always be tasty to look at. Neither will change, ever. How old is she by the way?”
“Seventeen.”
“Can you send her over to my room this evening?”
“No way in the hell, Gregor. She has a boyfriend as far as I know.”
Aaron allowed his maids to be free and even allowed them to marry if they desired. No other noble houses in the kingdom allowed this amount of freedom for maids. Consequently, this meant that a lot of maidens in the town volunteered to become maids at the Weber manor since doing so would earn them free education in etiquette.
Clicking his tongue, he complained, “I should have gotten a bitch when I could.”
Aaron retorted, “I am glad that you never married. You treat women like shit.”
“They are playthings, Weber.”
“No, they are companions of life. I dearly love the two women I chose.”
“Even when they get old?”
“Especially when they get older, Gregor. Do you really think they know sex techniques from the get-go? It’s all about experiences, old man.”
They stared at each other, looking amused for different reasons, and then laughed at each other pleasantly. When their casual laughter died down, Aaron asked.
“Now, tell me, old crook. Why are you really here?”
When Gregor was about to make a reply, a pair of maids entered with dishes of oysters. Tens of well-seasoned oysters were releasing delicious steams. They were clearly expertly cooked.
“About time!” He exclaimed joyfully. “Bring on drinks as well!”
The maids glanced at Aaron for a confirmation to which he gave them a nod. He heaved a sigh, realizing that he’d need to wait.
It was after Gregor was carried out. He drank like a thirsty bull, and it wasn’t long before he passed out completely. Aaron had a few cups and was only tipsy. Aloise and Alban showed themselves to help with cleaning.
“Aloise and Alban, we need to keep an eye on that man.”
They glanced at each other.
“He looked rather harmless to me,” Aloise remarked.
“He is a master of deceit. I am very positive that his visit has a reason. Have our scouts told us anything?”
Tantan was a border settlement. While the town had strategically no value, it didn’t change the fact that it bordered Atra by land and Estana by land and sea.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4269/ugJ4fk.png]
As a direct result, the town had an extensive scouting network.
“No movements from Atra. There have been some movements from Estana, but nothing too alarming,” Aloise reported.
“Movements from Estana?” Aaron wondered aloud. “Can you give me a detailed report on that?”
Aloise pulled out a small rolled piece of paper. “This is directly from the scout, father.”
Taking it, he read it. The scout reported that there had been a few military drills by Fort Tebovo. Additionally, an unusual amount of grain had been making its way to Kuka. It may have looked like they were preparing for war, but this wasn’t abnormal. Whenever an army had drills, they had to be fed. Normally, he would think nothing of this. However, the timing was a bit odd. The fact that they were having military drills when Gregor visited him set off a few alarms.
“He may be working with Estana,” Aaron concluded.
The sons looked at each other again.
“What shall we do about him then?” Alban asked, cracking his fingers.
“Nothing. He hasn’t revealed the purpose of his visit.”
“Could it be that he is wanting your support in case of war?” Aloise wondered to which Aaron let out a chuckle.
“We can barely muster an army of a few hundreds. Our stance won’t matter in war. What he probably wants is my connections.”
“Are we certain that the old man is working with Estana?” Aloise asked.
Aaron replied, “No, we are not. That’s why we let him be, for now.”
The sons nodded. “I will have someone to keep an eye on him,” Aloise said.
“No, let him be. He is here. He wants something from me. He will eventually reveal his purpose.”
The sons nodded once more, understanding their father’s reasoning.
Historically, the Kingdom of Egra and Estana never really had a diplomatic relationship. With different languages and culture, both determined that conquering each other was too much work. Thus, Aaron didn’t believe that Estana was going to invade his country. It must be something else they were after. Seeing Gregor arrived via an airship, it was likely his objective. Nevertheless, he observed Gregor casually indulging seafood and alcohol for several days. It was the fifth day when Aaron decided that he was overstaying his welcome.
“Gregor, it is about time you tell me why you are here.” He told Gregor whose mouth was full of boiled shrimp. After he was done eating, he burped while caressing his belly.
“What if I told you that I visited an old friend for no particular reason?”
“If we lived in such a simple world, it would have been nice, wouldn't it?”
Gregor beamed a crooked grin. “Very well, I suppose it’s time to spill the beans.” He glanced at a maid who was standing by, discreetly asking Aaron to clear the room.
“Leave us be,” He told the maid who bowed and left. Once the living room was clear, Gregor stood up and walked around as if making further sure that no one was eavesdropping. Once done, he sat back down.
“The king of Estana wants the airship schematic,” He declared.
“I expected as much. Why are you visiting me though? You do know I am not the inventor.”
“Because it goes further than that. The king considers himself a visionary. When he received reports of the airship the first time, his mind was blown. It was exactly what he needed to bring a different future and embed his name in history books.”
“And you are here… why?”
“The king wants the lord of Laufeld.”
Aaron titled his head, not quite realizing what he meant. “Excuse me?”
“The king wants to bring him into his country. He is willing to grant him a much bigger fief, in fact a major city within the kingdom. In return, he wants the Fenchel to produce inventions after inventions.”
Aaron placed his hand on his forehead while frowning. He was beginning to understand why he visited him. They needed a middleman. They couldn’t just send a letter to Kamil and simply ask him to come over. That would never work.
“So, do you work for Estana now, old man?”
“I am on their payroll. A man has to make a living, you know. My rank isn’t even that high. But I happen to be from Egra and therefore fluent in the language. So, I was chosen.”
In the Kingdom of Egra, Tantan was the only settlement that regularly traded with Estana. This was why Aaron was chosen since he was the only one who’d receive shady diplomats from Estana and not expel them right away.
“Am I correct in assuming that the king is willing to go pretty far?”
“Oh? Why would you make such a statement?”
He threw the scout’s report to him. Gregor didn’t even touch it.
“I see,” He curtly said, assuming the content. “Well, he desperately wants technology. And, yes, he is willing to go pretty far.”
Essentially, Estana was willing to go to war to bring Kamil Fenchel to their country. Laufeld was not that far from the border after all.
“The king has even prepared a princess for him. So, you can assume that he is quite serious.”
Folding arms, Aaron heaved a heavy sigh. This was not a simple matter.
“It is not a simple matter. I am sure you know that too well, old man.”
“It could be simple. All Lord Fenchel has to do is travel to Estana, and that is it.”
“Could be. But it won’t be.”
“Weber, all I ask you is to talk to him and attempt to convince him. And you will be rewarded.”
“What is my reward?” He was just curious.
“You have two choices. 100 gold coins or you, too, can come over to Estana and be granted a better fief. Let’s face it, Weber, you are too good for Tantan.”
It was at this point that Aaron realized the gravity of the situation. The king of Estana was quite serious.
“Leave me now,” He told Gregor. “I need some time to think it over.”
“Of course, of course.”
As soon as he left, he called his two sons over and briefed them over what went down. Needless to say, both of them had their jaws dropped.
“A, A hundred gold coins…?” Aloise just couldn’t quite comprehend the amount. “We had to break our entire savings just to build two airships.”
“A better fief, just how better?” Alban wondered aloud.
“Anywhere is better than here, brother,” Aloise said, and Alben ended up nodding a few times while blinking, ultimately agreeing that his brother was right.
“Lads, it’s not decided. Do you really think it’d be that straightforward? First of all, I don’t expect Lord Fenchel to agree.”
“Why not, father? The offer seems too good to pass,” Aloise argued.
“The grass is not always greener on the other side, my boy. If the man is happy where he is at, there is no reason to disturb the peace, especially when he was the one who built it from the ground up.”
Kamil was building Laufeld from the ground up. It was his town. He was one of few lords who could actually claim that.
“Then… war?”
Aaron had to chuckle at Alban’s remark. “I’ve read of nations going to war over a pretty woman, but I’ve never read of any case where two nations would enter war over a boy.”
Aloise and Alban looked at each other, slightly confused.
“I don’t believe war will occur. The king of Estana is simply flexing his muscle,” He explained. “He does seem serious, though, and will probably do whatever he can get what he wants. Still, that reward…, it’s just ridiculous, isn’t it.”
“What are you going to do, father? Are you going to fly over to Laufeld?”
“No, I will not take part in this. Remember, lads, if I am to do this, we will have to leave Tantan regardless of the results.”
“Why, father?”
“Because it can be seen as treason against the crown. I will be acting against the nation’s interest. If that’s not treason, what is? Gregor is trying to override common sense with a ridiculous reward. Lads, remember to keep a cool head no matter what.”
Both Aloise and Alban nodded along, agreeing and feeling awe for their father’s wisdom. Aaron was indeed correct in his assessment. Acting blinded by the sheer reward was a trap.
He added, “Also do you really think Estana nobles will accept us? They may accept Lord Fenchel since he has merit. But us? Why should they accept us in the first place? We would be the ones that betrayed his country for some petty rewards. Alright, say we take the hundred gold coins then. Where do we go from there? You cannot really purchase nobility with coins, lads. Nobility is all about recognition from people and the crown. You cannot buy those.”
The lads opened their eyes wide in shock. They certainly didn’t think that far.
“Then what should we do about Gregor now, father?” Aloise asked.
“Nothing. He said his piece, and I won’t respond. He will eventually take his leave and that is it for us. I am sure he will make contact with Lord Fenchel in his own way. Regardless, we shall take no part in this.”
Aloise, out of nowhere, bowed deeply toward Aaron. “I am sorry, father. I was completely blinded by the reward. If I was the lord, I would have fallen for the trap.”
Alban followed the suit, bowing. “I was no better. For a moment, I imagined myself as a lord of a large city.”
Aaron chuckled. “I, too, was blinded by the sheer amount of reward. Lads, here is the thing. When something feels and sounds too good to be true, it usually is. When someone approaches you and presents you a ridiculous amount of reward for a deed, don’t do it. That’s my take on it because it will always have a hidden dagger underneath.”
Aloise and Alban nodded firmly. “Yes, father,” They replied in unison. Aaron was pleased that he was able to teach his sons an important lesson. Freezing common sense and logic with an insanely high reward was a common trick from ancient times, yet people fell for it easily.
On that night, he was back down in the archive once more.
“I wish I could ask Gregor for help, but he is not on our side anymore,” He lamented. But he couldn’t blame him for working for another nation. Just like he said, a man had to make a living regardless. As the king’s former advisor, he wasn’t going to get a job within the kingdom. He was perfectly justified in going to another country.
As he sat down on the table, he had to snicker.
“Still, going to war over a boy? That’s unprecedented, huh.”
At the same time, it wasn’t very hard to see why. In Estana, traveling across the desert was harder than anything else. In the Estana desert, there were giant spiders that were monstrously large. They roamed the desert, killing anything in its path. If any traveling group encountered such a spider, they’d be done for, no exceptions. The airship would completely change that. In comparison, traveling on foot was relatively easier in Egra. At least, werewolves and great bears could be dealt with. Those giant spiders were forces of nature. A whole army was required to kill it.
“It is out of my hands. I shall not get myself involved.”
And so he dived into his research of deciphering the stone tablets.