Chapter 62 — In which they have plans (1)

“That’s our best option then. If our assumptions are wrong, we will change this plan accordingly.”

“Yes!”

Saffra’s ladies in waiting agreed energetically.

Mimosa just silently nodded. A slight smile danced on her lips.

Saffra then turned to the only person, who didn’t move.

“Sir Citrie? Are you okay?”

“… I’ll be fine, Young Lady. I’m sure my sense of taste will return in a few years…”

Citrie mumbled helplessly, as he stared down at the empty plate as if staring into a dark abyss.

‘Oh dear, was it too much?’

The curry did have quite a lot of chillies, but Saffra didn’t think it would deal Citrie that much damage.

‘It’s decided then.’

“Then let’s get going. Miss Craya, Sir Citrie, you please follow me. Miss Apric, Miss Tangeri, I’ll leave that matter in your capable hands. Mimosa, you…”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

Mimosa shook her head as her slight smile grew a bit wider.

Then she lightly grabbed Saffra’s arms and said:

“Please make sure to worry about yourself, okay?”

“I will. Thank you.”

Then Saffra turned again to the two of her today’s attendants.

Citrie seemed to barely stand, and Craya was covertly supporting him.

Saffra announced her next step in her grand plan:

“Let’s go! We’re going to find the best sweet shop in this town!”

Craya’s eyes lit up, and Citrie immediately seemed to regain some energy.

‘You like sweets too, huh?’

Entertaining some useless thoughts, Saffra turned around and let everyone out.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

*-*-*

“Is it okay to leave ‘that matter’ to just the two of them, My Lady?”

Craya asked in the short moment in-between when she finished chewing on dried plum in white chocolate and was picking up another.

“Miss Craya, do you remember when that— sir spilled a champagne on my head during a party?”

“Of course.”

Craya’s face turned dark, and she put two plums in her mouth.

She ground her teeth so hard it was almost audible.

“Yes, Miss Craya spent the entire night keeping me a company. That must have been very hard.”

“It wasn’t. I only did my duty. The little duty I could do.”

“Naturally. But Miss Craya, do you remember what happened the next day? That sir apparently was woken up by a bucket of sewer water. A curious installation found its way above his bed during the night. And similar installation was in his office, his meeting-room and even his favorite spot in the library… Everyone wondered who did that, but no one could figure that out. Culprits left no evidence behind.”

“… I see what My Lady means.”

“I’m glad. Sir Citrie, do you want more of lemon tassies?”

“Thank you, Young Lady, but those cranberry cookies with orange glaze are more than enough.”

Citrie, who about an hour ago looked like someone dragged out of the grave, was happily crunching on sweets without worry about the world.

The man truly had a sweet tooth.

‘And yet you still chose dark coffee.’

While she tried to figure out if Citrie’s choice in pure black coffee was the result of his workholism or preference, she looked around the newspapers scattered on the table.

Citrie monopolized most of the technological and science related magazines, and Craya was clearly drawn to a bird magazine.

So Saffra choose the newspapers which interested her the most without hesitation.

Skimming through them, while sipping her ice passion fruit tea, she caught a few snippets that caught her attention.

[Analysis of Purplus’ saint’s ‘Reassurance speech’. What is Purplus’ agenda behind it?]

[… Strange flyers with ‘The rain of light is coming. Hope. Believe. Pray.’ spread across Purplus. A new cult?…]

[… The latest ‘breakthrough’ in the Rubrun’s magic community turned out to be a hoax! Great depression and madness spreads like a plague…]

[… Eternal Happiness Foundation announced a new relief program for mages who fell for the ‘Eternal Fire’ fraud…]

[Dark omens surround the next throne candidate Orche like a swarm of flies. The next throne candidate, Mimosa, took her baby sister Saffra on a ‘vacation’. An attempt to escape the curse?]

[… Worrisome symptoms of weakness among residents of the river-valley at the border with Gemma Republic worsen…]

Saffra made a mental note about each one and then took the last sip of her tea.

It was time to make the next move.

*-*-*

“Archmage Crimo.”

The seven grandmasters of the biggest guilds in Rubrun sternly welcomed Crimo, who just entered.

The proper form of address was ‘Lord Archmage’, but those seven people seemed to forgot about it a long time ago.

‘Well, perhaps this will refresh your memory.’

“Yes, hello. Sorry for making you wait. I didn’t expect for all of you to appear together like this…”

That was a lie.

Both Crimo and Vern expected them to appear like this.

As if the guests detected the lie, or they didn’t like the clearly casual tone with which Crimo was treating them after daring to make them wait, their faces turned dark.

Crimo didn’t pay them any attention as he sat down and gestured for them to also sit down.

“What is the matter?”

Some of the people’s lips twitched.

Crimo obviously knew why they were here.

“We’re here in concern about the fraudster running loose on our land.”

The elderly women, the one who made a deal with Vern first, spoke up with a gentle smile.

But she put a particular emphasis on ‘our’.

‘So I was reduced to a mere manager of ‘your’ land?’

As Crimo sneered inside, he spoke with an equally gentle smile.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what grandmaster Pomegra means.”

“I’m talking about ‘Crow’ who tricked our poor mage community with his fraud of ‘Eternal Fire’, preying on our hopes and dreams.”

“Oh…”

Crimo controlled his expression with all his mental strength, as he said:

“I see. But I don’t understand why grandmaster Pomegra says it was a ‘fraud’ . Out of curiosity I purchased that ‘Eternal Fire’ spell myself, though perhaps ‘purchase’ isn’t a good word for this case, it’s sold so cheaply these days… Regardless, I took a good look at it, and it’s truly an engineering masterpiece. I see a great potential in it.”

“Archmage Crimo, you don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation.”

“Oh, no. I understand the gravity of this situation perfectly. You were tricked with the promise of ultimate weapon and are now faced with extreme disappointment and anger. As an Archmage, it’s only my duty to soothe your fiery emotions, but you see I’m faced with an even greater matter right now and cannot sadly spare a thought to your… mental health.”

“What are you saying, archmage Crimo?”

“Dearest grandmasters, you see, a few nights ago a curious bird that didn’t look like a bird paid me a visit and sold me something that was only less curious than the bird himself.”

Crimo’s smile was cold and beautiful like a moonlight, as he moved to the second phase of Vern’s plan.

*~*~*