Chapter 1.35

Louie de Brian sat in the carriage and saw with his own eyes all of Mike's actions in the street. The speed with which he took out four of Tirel's men surprised him unpleasantly.

"Boss, isn't it time we got out of here?" Asked a subordinate sitting next to him, who had also seen everything.

"Don't you dare move," Louie stopped him. " We sit and wait for now. We don't know yet what's happened to our main target. Besides, we're not in any danger yet."

"As you say, boss," the man calmed down a bit.

"Interesting weapon he did use," Louie returned to his observation. "This Michael de Graaf turns out not to be as simple as we thought. Hmm… It's obviously not his sword on his belt."

Louie turned to his man.

"Look at his sword," he said. "It's the same that Colonel Tirel had on him?"

His man took his binoculars and began to examine Mike closely.

"Very similar, sir. Same scabbard and same sword hilt."

Louie sighed. It looked like his target was dead, or at least badly wounded by Michael de Graaf. This means the colonel won't be able to fulfill his end of the bargain, worth three-quarters of a million gold.

"For now, we wait."

There was blood gushing from the man's severed leg. Mike had to stop it, or he would lose a valuable witness. He leaned over to the leg and used one of the spells to freeze the limb. This should have given some time to find a longer solution.

Soon Mike heard the whistle of the city guard and in the distance, a mounted patrol appeared from around the bend in the street. Four riders immediately noticed what had happened and headed in Mike's direction. As they approached, the captain who led them shouted.

"Stay where you are and don't move."

Mike had stood motionless for some time now, waiting for the approaching patrol. He had to somehow explain what had happened and not harm himself.

"Major Michael de Graaf, Internal Investigations Division, Ministry of Foreign Intelligence," Mike shouted back. "I can provide a magical signature to confirm it."

He had no identification on him, though he had dressed in a captain's uniform.

"All right," the patrol captain reluctantly agreed. "Just don't make any unnecessary moves."

The captain gave the order, and two of his men drew their firearms. Just in case. Mike unhurriedly without too much movement, began creating a magical signature. The captain recognized it immediately.

"Good. That's enough," the captain of the guard said. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"An attack on me and my house," Mike pointed to his house with his hand. "One of my servants is dead. All the attackers are dead except this one," Mike pointed to the man lying on the ground with his hand.

The captain and his men dismounted. He ordered one of his men to check on the wounded. Another went to check on the dead.

"Do you know who did it Major?"

"Unfortunately, I do, Captain," Mike sighed. "This is going to be a very public case. I need you to send a messenger to Madame General Catherine de Graaf's estate and call her here. If she is not there yet, she is at Colonel Tirel de Graaf's estate."

"And what is your relation to her?"

"Great-grandson."

The captain, hearing that answer, went a little pale. This was going to be a resonance case indeed.

"All right. As soon as more of our men arrive, I'll make arrangements."

Catherine de Graaf was finishing her conversation with Aireen de Graaf in the guest room when a worried servant entered. He bowed to those present and then addressed Irene.

"Madam, there is a lieutenant of the city guard at the gate."

"And what does he want?" Aireen asked in surprise.

"Mr. Lieutenant wants to see Madame Catherine de Graaf urgently."

"Well, if he wants to, let him come here," shrugged Catherine.

For some reason, she had a bad feeling that something bad had happened.

After a couple of minutes, a young tall lieutenant came into the guest room. He bowed to those present, and when he saw Catherine in her general's uniform, he turned a little pale.

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"Speak, Lieutenant, why you have come," she told him.

The lieutenant coughed a little, gathering his thoughts.

"An hour ago, Major Michael de Graaf was attacked in his home."

"What?!" At the same time, Aireen and Catherine jumped up from their seats and stared at the lieutenant.

"Is he alive?" asked Catherine.

"Yes, he is alive. But I don't know much about his condition. I was sent to you as soon as I arrived on the scene," the lieutenant told them. "But that's not all. They counted six bodies there. Among them are Colonel Tirel de Graaf and Captain Eric Shtof."

"No!" Aireen shouted, and tears streamed down her cheeks. "No, no. This can't be."

She sank heavily into a chair and wrapped her arms around her head. Aireen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father was dead. She had seen him leaving the mansion this morning. She had no idea that it was the last time she would see him alive.

As soon as the lieutenant named Colonel Tirel, Catherine understood everything. Tirel had gone to Mike's house before he departed. He was probably hoping to demand something from him, perhaps money or information. But obviously, something had gone wrong.

She looked at the crying Aireen and sighed. She hoped to marry her and Michael in the near future. Irene had agreed during their conversation to consider the possibility. But now, with the death of her father, and most likely at the hands of Michael, those plans were unlikely to come to fruition. The only thing Catherine didn't know was how Michael had managed to defeat Tirel. There was, after all, a three-rank difference in magical power between them. Besides, Tirel wasn't alone.

But she would find out soon enough.

"Pack up," she told Aireen. "Let's go to the site. Let's find out what happened there."

After a while, the street outside Mike's house became crowded. The guards blocked off the entire street, setting up a cordon of several men and not allowing anyone to pass.

Three bodies were already removed from the street. An emergency carriage picked up the wounded man and took him to the nearest hospital.

Louie de Brian turned to his man.

"When I say, we get out of the carriage quickly, and pretend that we just approached it."

"Okay boss," nodded his man.

"Then you get in and pull away slowly. If they stop and ask you, you tell them you were picking up your master, that is me, from a friend."

People from the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence began to arrive. From the other side of the street, Louie noticed a horse-drawn carriage approaching with the emblem of the de Graaf clan. He sensed a very strong magical energy emanating from inside this carriage. Apparently, there was a very powerful mage in it. Beads of sweat appeared on Louie's forehead.

"It's time," he told his man.

They both quickly left the carriage. Then they looked around. Louis stepped back a little, and his man took the coachman's seat. They were lucky; no one in the street noticed their appearance.

Louie slowly approached the carriage. His man stepped down and opened the door in front of him.

"Where are we going, sir?" The man asked him, making him look like a servant.

"Let's go downtown," replied Louie. "I'm a little hungry."

"Very well, sir," replied the servant and bowed.

In a minute he was already turning the horse-drawn carriage around in the street. The guards noticed this, but to Louie's surprise, they took no action. They did not even stop the carriage to ask who they were and from where they were coming.

As they drove off down the next street, Louie said to his man, "We need to establish surveillance on Major Michael de Graaf."

"As you say, boss," the man replied.

The first thing Aireen saw when she stepped out of the horse-drawn carriage were puddles of blood beside the road. The bodies were no longer visible. They've apparently already taken them away. But the sight of fresh blood gave her a tight lump in her throat and made her stomach clench. Near the second puddle, she saw some bits stuck to the door of the horse-drawn carriage. She had to hurriedly turn her head to the side to keep from throwing up.

Guards were bustling around. Most of them were chasing away the assembled onlookers and the reporters who had arrived.

The front door to Mike's house had been kicked in, and Aireen saw more blood on the doorstep.

This was the first time she had been to Michael's house. Even when Michael's parents were alive, she had never been to their house. It seemed a little strange to her. But now there was no one to ask. Her father was dead.

The hall of the house felt crowded. Aireen noticed the healers and the city guard. There were also more people from the ministry here. When she and Catherine de Graaf stepped inside, everyone stopped their business and bowed in greeting.

Aireen noticed a large pool of blood next to the huge pentagram. On the other side of the pentagram lay two bodies. One belonged to a middle-aged man. She didn't know who he was. An elderly woman was sitting next to him on the couch, sobbing softly. She seemed vaguely familiar to Aireen, but she could not remember who she was. She took a closer look at the second body. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was her father.

She ran to him and knelt down. Tears streamed down her cheeks. His body was unusually skinny. It was as if he had been starving for a long time, though the last time Aireen had seen him this morning he was normal. But what struck her most was the expression on his face. An unnatural grimace of horror that made Aireen uncomfortable.

After recovering slightly, she wiped away her tears and looked around again. She spotted Michael lying on the floor, with two healers at his side. Catherine de Graaf was standing beside him. Michael's outer garment had been removed. Aireen stepped closer to them and almost stumbled over the armor and helmet lying on the floor with the removed clothing. When she got close, she was able to get a better look at Michael's condition. He was alive and conscious, but he was also hurt. His entire chest was one big blue bruise.

"How is his condition," Catherine de Graaf asked the healer.

"If it weren't for his armor, he'd be dead," the healer replied, "but it's only a bruise, though rather unpleasant. He took three hits in practically the same place. He helped himself first by relieving the pain. And now we've patched him up a little bit. But as you can see the damage to his health remains. He needs to be in the hospital for observation for a day or two. But overall, the prognosis is favorable."

"I'm fine," Mike replied in a hoarse voice.

"If the healer says hospital, then hospital," insisted Catherine de Graaf. Mike wanted to object more, but she gestured for him to stop. "Objections are not accepted."

"All right, then send me to Central one," Mike reluctantly agreed.

"Why there? There's ours not far from here," the healer wondered.

"I'll have to go there because of my work. So, not to run twice…"

Catherine de Graaf shook her head. Even in his condition, the first thing he thought about was work.

"All right. Whatever your wish," the healer agreed.

"Michael, can you tell me briefly what happened here?" asked Catherine.

"All right, but there are a lot of outsiders here," Mike looked around at those present and separately stopped his gaze on Aireen.

His gaze made Aireen's heart ache. She saw regret and determination in his gaze. She guessed, of course, that the corpses were his doing. There was a small hope that her father's death was not his fault. But after looking at him, Aireen realized she'd been naive. The reality was far more painful.