Without warning, the red ball of lightning struck.
Where before two men stood, now stands a foul char smelling disembodied pair of legs and a human statue of flesh with the entire right side of its body gouged out. The remaining onlookers witnessed as both simultaneously collapsed to the floor and spilled out their seared innards. The mess of melted fat, blood and chunky black goop crawled along the flat ground.
Even Walter stepped back at the scene, not out of shock, but from fear of steppng in the biological soup. Fortuantly for Walter the projectile had missed its target. Albeit not so fortunate for the now dead Helen and even less so for the fellows the ball had struck.
Although it should be said that no fool would sacrifice their very life to unleash an attack relying purely on luck. No, this immense congregation of element was indeed originally on course to collide perfectly with its target. The almost curved trajectory in fact indicated some form of tracking was at work. If not for Walter redirecting the spell, the disfigured flesh heap on the ground would indeed have been the mage himself.
While the four other individuals surrounding him panicked, each jumpy enough to sprint due to a light gust, Walter simply looked at his right hand and sighed. The back side of each finger is covered by a pure white wrapping and each tip is ended by a centimeter long pointed crystal. It looks as if he is wearing half a gauntlet that only covers the back of his hand and arm up to the elbow.
"Still not at an acceptable level" the mage muttered to himself.
From the corner of his eye, the mage observed another speck of oncoming light. As Walters accompanying party prepared to flee once they too noticed the light, a recognisable voice echoed out as if from inside a cave.
"No need to fear, gentlemen. The issue has now been dealt with although I must apologise for how poorly it was handled. Certain...unexpected circumstances arose that delayed my reactions"
Everybody present now turned to the much closer light and saw the town watchman standing before them. The watchman raised his hands and lifted off his helmet to reveal a somewhat fine black haired man.
The mans threatening aura from his hooded eyes and incredibly short hair is almost palpable. Yet his rugged face and sharp jawline are almost welcoming, as if he is a welldoing noble knight or handsome prince. Clearly this man could present himself, with very little alteration, as anything he wishes.
But under this dim light nothing but the most prominent features are noticeable. From what can be seen, one thing stands for certain - this man is the figure Helen met at the tavern.
"What exactly happened?" "Where are the guards?" "This is the second time this month, what are you watchmen doing?" "Poorly handled? Tell that to the poor sods on the floor!"
The cacophony of questions from the still panicked group bombarded the watchman and left him with little time to answer. Luckily, Walter was of clearer mind thus interjected the babbling men.
"Enough!"
The group fell silent. Walter then continued the questioning in their place.
"Ehrhart, would you be so kind as to explain exactly what happened here. I'd also like to hear what this unexpected circumstance is"
"Its a strange story, my lord" the watchman replied as he rubbed the back of his head, seemingly somewhat embarrassed, "While I was doing my usual um...scout duty at the tavern, I met a strange man who started asking about you. I asked around a bit and noticed his story didn't fit - he said he was from artistadt but the caravel he arrived on were only ferrying people fro.."
"Get to the point already, Ehrhart" Walter interupted.
"Skipping the details, then, I followed the man as he slipped out into the streets and found him at the...fa..fact...the area with the odd buildings. He was holding an odd glowing item. I asked him what he was doing, he attacked me, I disarmed him. As I was heading to find the item, it seems the assailant had slipped past and picked the item back up. What happened after..."
Erhart pointed towards the blackened mass on the floor.
"Let me get this straight. Ehrhart, the kings finest spy master, was decieved by a common assassin?" Walter smuggly replied.
"At least its over now. Considering it was your mistake that lead to this predicament, I want you to safely escort these four gentlemen back home then YOU can inform the deceased relatives what happened. Oh, I also would like you to write up a report telling what exactly was so important that an unarmed man was able to slip past you undetected"
The mage paused to catch his breath. Walter didn't show it on his face but the nights events had exhausted him mentally and the appearance of this watchman only made it worse.
"I will do as you say, my lord, although about that report..."
"You are not talking your way out of it this time, spy master"
"I wouldn't dream of it. No, I simply think it would be better if you saw what occupied my attention for yourself. I believe it may have something to do wth the shaynaij"
"That does indeed change things"
The mage stroked his bearded chin in deep though, then refocused his eyes back onto the watchman.
"Do as I originally asked, then collect whatever it is you wish for me to see and bring it to the manor. It is much too late now and it would be better if we reconvene after I have dealt with tomorrow's afairs. You are all dismissed for now, so Ehrhart...get to it"
Morning soon came and the events of the night prior has long since left Walters thoughts. As he awoke and headed for his new manors study, all his minds attention was focused on the concern of the days proceedings.
A young man carrying a large book greeted Walter, with a bow, while he entered the room. The mans attire implies he is not of low birth or wealth. Curly shoulder long brown hair reach out to his shoulders from underneath a black flat-cap with upturned rims.
His bodies coverings are not the usual, simple wear. A neck-long black shirt lies below 2 layers - a laced black doublet, with a short, sleeveless, red robe over the top. Black hosen cover his legs while similarly black leather boots stretching past the ankle adorn his feet. Even the mans face is fancy, with two deep blue eyes set between a large nose and a mouth extending to his large cheekbones. His clean shaven flat chin lightly juts out from his jawline.
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He raised both bushy eyebrows to an outwards sloped position and tapped on the outside of the book, once Walter sat down behind his desk.
"I don't like that look, Johannes. You only give that look when there is a problem" Walter exclaimed.
Johannes, the dukes clerk, shook his head and apologetically replied, "Im very sorry my lord but there is more than just one problem"
Walter placed his elbow onto of the desk then lay the side of his head on his fingertips. He raised both eyes towards Johannes and sighed.
"Well then, what are they."
"Where exactly would you like me to begin, sir?" he answered.
"The beggining"
Johannes started cradling the book in one arm and began turning the pages. He stopped roughly a quarter of the way in and placed his finger half way down the page.
"Firstly, the architect are refusing to work at night until conditions are safer. They complained to me that the attack of last night was the 10th since they started and this time the casualities are much too severe"
"That can't be helped. Tell them to pause their other duties. Have the town guard escort them during their usual working hours to continue planning - it will soon be time to begin, there's less need of privacy"
"Yes, my lord. The next concern is the rising civil unrest in the peasants working district"
Walter rolled his eyes. "What exactly are their issues? Aren't I providing them with enough?"
"Of course, my lord. The conditions here are already several fold greater than any town or city i've witnessed! Yet, this is not without issue"
Johannes turned the books page and began summarising from the notes.
"Many are complaining about the lack of a chapel to the crown gods. Without a place of worship, they fear that they may suffer devine retribution. Others are concerned with the people who have starved from the poor distribution of food or frozen as they have not yet been allocated living space. To top it off, jobless vagrants who came here seeking jobs, and thus far been unsuccessful, have mostly turned to petty crime which is, of course, committed against their peasantry peers"
Johannes paused, expectantly waiting for the dukes reply. With little thought, Walter, clearly disinterested in the subject, gave his solution.
"Take some of the vagrants and assign them to the warehouses and to construction. Have anybody not needed in the main construction force build temporary wooden accomodation for those not yet given housing. Is that all?"
"Im not sure it will be so simple, my lord." Johannes dismissively replied. "Those who have turned to lawlessness will surely not turn over a new leaf now that they have tasted the temptations of evil! Further, the crown gods will never let them live easily without repent. It would also be much cheaper to construct a chapel and have them provide alms and shelter to the people than building temporary housing and providing more food"
"I've said it many times before, but I will not have a member of the church in my town to contradict my rule. Have the church provide alms? Are you saying you want the people to think their duke cannot do anything!!" Walter barked. "Do as I said. If there are issues, just send the town watch to deal with them. If those peasants want to worship the gods, have them do it themselves"
Johannes submissively lowered his head and quietly acknowledges his lords command. "Yes, my lord"
"Any other bad news?"
"Oh, plenty my lord. There was a major collapse in the underground facility you ordered, a small fire broke out in the forest and killed 10 woodsmen, a smaller merchants vessel collided with one of the caravels and is demanding repayment, there was..."
Two hours passed. It was clear Walter had little intention of taking his clerks advice, as many times during the period of back and forth discussion he forced his own solutions. Of course, Johannes issues were not with the solutions themselves.
No, they were with the dukes lack of consideration for common sense or tradition. His refusal to construct a chapel or allow a priest into the town, his dissaproval of assigning land so that nobels may take over some of the administration and his tendancy to allocate large funds to abnormal products, among other things.
As much as he understood the major problems the lords governance may bring, he could do nothing about it. He was just the son of a minor nobel, a role he could not inherit, that had taken up work as a clerk. Knowing how little he could do, he instead focused on the positives.
"My lord, there is some good news. A letter from the king arrived this morning. It contained sincere appreciation for the elemental accumulator plans you provided to the mages council 2 months ago. His highness even wrote that, now they have finally grasped the use of the devices, they already have many projects under way. As thanks, he is sending one hundred more of the kingdoms finest smiths"
Walter had mixed feelings about this news. Although ecstatic about the smiths, which were vital to his plans, he was concerned about how rapidly they had applied his accumulators. For starters, where did they get enough aewer to begin experimentation? The mage had only written about the basic operation of the gadgets, so it would take them a lengthy period of time to understand their usage.
On top of that, there were already projects underway. This meant the aewer supply was enough for not only prototypes to be built, but large scale construction as well.
"Then we must hurry with the construction of the brightstone mountains mine system and its connecting road. All of the most important projects hinge on this, not to mention our limited timeframe to capitalise on the kingdoms need for aewer"
"It seems I indeed do have some more good news then, my lord", Johannes said while showing an uncommon smile, "The road was finally finished this morning. Transporting people and ore to the mountains will no longer be an issue. On top of that, among the 18 potential identified mining sites, 10 of them have finally struck the mineral veins and can begin extraction immediatly"
"Fantastic!" the duke exclaimed ,"Have two large warehouses constructed near the industrial district and have all ore taken to that site. Only start selling aewer. Also, call for the head of masonry and smithing"
"You do not wish to begin selling the ore, my lord? We do not have enough smelteries to process it ourselves"
Johannes concerns were not unjustified. The smelteries the town currently had were just about able to keep up with the demands of construction. Attempting to use them to smelt the vast quantities of ore would be impossible. In fact, some of them required specialist facillities to process, so the town would just end up with vast quantities of unusable rocks stored away in the warehouses - the costs would completely outweigh the benefits.
"Ah, don't worry about that. I already have plans I can now put underway"
Another one of his pricey project, Johannes thought. Has the king gone mad, putting a mage in a ruling position?
"If there is no other news, then I want you to send the carriage back to the capital to pick up my personal maid. Its about time she came here. She needs to witness the dragons corpse for herself"
The clerk raised one eyebrow in confusion. He wants to send that exquisite carriage for his personal maid. For a corpse? Johannes began considering quitting before the town burns, but the pay is much too good.
"Yes, my lord. Will that be all?"
"You are dismissed"
Johannes closed the large book and held it in one arm. He once again bowed to the duke and turned to leave the room. Suddenly, the duke called for him to stop.
"Wait! Before I forget, find Ehrhart and tell him to wait for me in the laboratory. Also, tell him to bring whatever it is he wanted me too see. That will be all"
Johannes bowed for a final time and left the study.
A short while later, Walter departed the study and arrived at the laboratory. This laboratory was no different from the room behind the closed black wall at his capital abode, yet it was much easier to access. No black wall, no corridor. Just a basement room locked behind thick iron doors.
What awaited for him behind the doors, though, was surely unlike what he expected. His nose was bombarded with a foul stench eminating from the center of the room. Walter almost reflexively gagged out of shock - he could almost taste the smell.
"Erhart! What in the 4 elements have you brought!"
Standing in the corner of the room was the unfliching spy master. He calmly directed his gaze towards Walter, and pointed to the table in the center of the room.