Chapter 13 : Departure

When one of Maynor Rhemott's lookouts spotted the city lord and her mother drawing close to the manor's gate, he carefully timed his appearance, as if just happening to bump into the pair. Once they were out of his hair – or rather lack thereof – he could perhaps breathe out, process and consolidate.

"Ah, if it isn't the city lord and her esteemed mother. I was just heading out to personally check up on the status of your travel carriage, but it seems to be in top condition."

The city lord however looked distracted, squinting at something off to the side for a moment. Then she walked up the the rotten wooden floorboards piled up beside the manor's gate. Was she displeased that the junk was still left there? He had meant to get rid of it, but there just hadn't been time.

She hefted a stack of planks to the side with a clatter, then reached down to grab a rusty iron bar with a big lump of corrosion on one end.

"Oh I'm taking this.", the city lord stated simply.

"Ah, well please feel free to any of it.", Maynor responded in befuddlement.

It wasn't as if he could refuse, but why did she even want the thing? Her next words made him pale.

"Hmm... says it's the 'Mace of Breccon'. Ooh, like on the banner, with the snake? It has some inactive enchantments. Venom Bite, and Momentum."

Maynor almost fell over. He had assumed it was just some junk cleared out with the floor renovations. The mace was the symbol of the city, lost nearly three centuries ago and dating even further back. Supposedly the founder of the city, Lord Aram-d'brec himself had wielded it. But he couldn't ask to get it back now.

And, she somehow has Identify? Unlike gauge, identify is an extremely rare ability which can give detailed information on items. Having it is the dream of merchants, along with owning a high grade dimensional storage item. Maynor had a few items in his collection he immediately wanted her to take a look at, but unfortunately this wasn't the time nor place to hold them up as the carriage stood ready with two restless black horzes and a perturbed coachman.

––o––

It had been three days since the two women left. Maynor's scout had checked out the shed they had been seen entering, but the place was empty. No secret trap door leading to an underground hideout. Very very strange.

As for the identity of the women, he had gotten curious and paid the 4 silver to query the central population registry office in the capital via tele-scroll. One of the clerks working there was an old classmate from his academy days and the guy had looked into the matter for him. The return scroll perhaps asked more questions than it answered.

Entirely focused on the scroll, he slowly sank into his comfy chair. With each new revelation he leaned further forward, face turning pensive.

19 years ago there had indeed been a young Thama Garnet living in the capital. She had married a notable city guard captain named Deth Dakulyan. However, he had taken Garnet as a family name – the reason being that while Thama had a commoner status she was nevertheless listed in the Zachroum Garnet estate's succession record, though only near the very bottom.

Hold on- that Garnet? Of the legendary ZaGa merchant company?

Maynor remembered the incident. The Gorrun & Garnet company had risen from the ashes of a rather suspect fire which had killed most of the Garnets, including the great Zachroum himself. The official story was that there had been an accident involving a dangerous inferno stone at one of the family's auctions. Were an inferno stone to be grossly mishandled by an amateur alchemist – or perhaps a clumsy auctioneer in this case – it could erupt and cause a highly persistent and violent inferno.

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Maynor's contact had been pretty thorough in digging through the Garnet records, perhaps curious about the matter as well. There had only been one other Garnet left aside from Thama, and that was her cousin Stola Garnet. Despite being at the very bottom of the succession record, just below Thama, it had been him who partnered up with the notorious noble Gorrun Lethrask to create the ZaGa successor company Gorrun & Garnet, or G&G as it's more commonly known.

To Stola's great fortune, Deth Garnet had been vaguely accused of selling state secrets to the neighbouring Drecht Empire – this soon after the great fire. Practically this lead to Thama and Deth being ostracised and stricken from from the succession record. An angry mob had even set their house on fire, destroying it completely.

Maynor's eyes narrowed at that. Another inferno?

The couple had apparently disappeared entirely after the fire. Turned to ash? Vagabondery? Captured and sold?

Now, if Thama had survived and was as powerful as Maynor suspected – somewhere currently around, well, normal city lord level – why choose this moment to act? If she had been powerful enough back then to set up the ZaGa disaster to gain control of the company, then why get thwarted so pathetically by Stola?

And if she had been weak back then, then it seemed unlikely she could have grown so much, even if it had been 19 years. In Maynor's experience, talent and fortune usually manifested at an early age leading to steady progress.

More importantly, why had Thama shown up here in Breccon, with an adult and very strange and powerful child? Would Deth also re-emerge, equally powerful, and cause further upset?

Maynor sank back in his comfy chair with a thoughtful expression. He had heard rumours about fairies and magical springs which bestowed the lucky finder with sudden great powers. Supposedly one such spring could be found somewhere in Breccon's forbidden mines – a blatant fabrication used by black-miners to trick hopeful paperless people desperate for work.

When it came to levelling there were no known shortcuts. People with resources have tried creating monster and people farms, but the all knowing system always seem to nip these attempts in the bud. Experience also gradually diminishes in certain situations, like on battlefields with lots of killing, or in repetitive jobs. On top of this, the amount of experience needed for each level grows steeply. Average people who are able to put in great effort might just reach level 20 to 25 in their lifetime, but most commoners are busy with basic sustenance sit somewhere just above level 10 for much of their adult life.

No, it seemed more likely that the Garnet couple had died in the house fire and these two women had taken the Garnet name in some elaborate scheme or theatre beyond his understanding. But what would happen when officials in the capital found out that it was Maynor who had issued their new identity papers and recommendations? Regardless of whether they were real Garnets or not, he could get in trouble just on account of the recommendations.

Or would he? Well, he wasn't too worried; raw power can settle such matters and Zhoey was practically a monster. What was he, but a mere pawn? They'd have to take it up with her, see how that goes.

Suddenly he smirked. G&G had been a thorn in his side in the past. If Thama Garnet were to... re-appropriate the trading company, wouldn't he have a better standing with it?

As for why Zhoey Garnet had so convincingly played the role of "The Wretch of Breccon", then spectacularly disposed of the two city lords, only to immediately abandon the city, he did not know. The posters had all been quickly and spontaneously disposed of after the incident to minimise any possible offence.

Gossip surrounding Zhoey's identity had only gotten wilder over the last few days. Many claimed she was a creature which had always lived at the fringes of the city. She was in fact a shapeshifter taking the form of beggars and cripples lurking in the shadows, eager to cause minor mischief when affronted. When caught by the guards, she had finally shown her full power and displeasure. As a result of this rumour, people have since begun to treat the vagrants of the outer city with cautious politeness.

A few scholars were absolutely sure – with only an ancient portrait of dubious likeness to back it up – that Zhoey was the long forgotten vengeful deity Ushembrahel, a herald the end times. Well, she's a herald of something, that's for sure. Maynor could sense it in his guts.

Then there was the man in the diner in front of the manor just across the street. With slurred drawn-out whispers he told a tale of a powerful female spirit he had seen crawling out of an empty wine urn just the other day. While its face had been hidden by a mass of tangled black hair, maybe it could have been the city lord, eh? She had forced him not to speak of it, though whispers didn't count.

Not to be left out, Maynor had spread his own little rumour, too. Zhoey was clearly an agent of a top secret royal organisation which dealt with problematic people in power. The fact that Zhoey had quickly left and Maynor seemed to many like a better option than the previous city lord helped the theory along...