Warlock of the Magus World – Redux

The sounds of a busy castle made for a somewhat comforting sound. Hallway chatter, the hooves of several mounts going in and out of the inner courtyard, orders being relayed amongst the patrolling guards.

The birds were also chirping happily outside, signifying that it was early in the morning.

It was then that Viscount Jackson opened his eyes. He moved his head around to try and get a hold of his current situation. "Am I… still alive?"

What entered his vision was a luscious bed with several blankets and his usual nobleman's bedroom. But what caught his attention the most was the sealed letter placed neatly on his side table.

As he made to reach the letter with his left hand, Viscount Jackson discovered that he couldn't move at all. Looking downwards, he saw that his entire body was bandaged, which showed that the healing procedure applied to him had been extremely professional.

He spent minutes trying to move even one of his fingers, to no avail. He quickly began to feel desperate, and after the seconds turned to minutes, his feelings manifested themselves in the form of a vociferous groan.

"WHY CAN'T I MOVE??!! DAMN IT ALL!!"

At that instant, a squadron of maids equipped with buckets of hot water, clean towels, and a cart full of delicious food, stormed into his chambers.

"My Lord, let us help you." -The head maid said with her most caring tone, as she tried to get her lord a glass of water.

"I don't want to drink your silly water, I want to read that letter over there! But I can't even fucking grab it!" -Jackson was completely frustrated and they understood his condition, but his servants were still taken aback by his aggressiveness. He had never behaved like this in front of them.

Jackson quickly noticed this and rested his head back on his pillow with a thud.

"I... forgive me... Just... read the letter out loud."

"But, my Lord, it is a sealed letter from Lord Leylin Farlier..." -The head maid all but whispered, as she was well aware of the position this man currently held in the city. If he got word that she had violated the secrecy of his sealed missive, who knows what he might do to her.

"Leylin?! You mean to say, I am not the only survivor! Who else?! Who?!" -Jackson suddenly felt ecstatic. He was hopeful. Oh, how much he wanted to see his old scholar friend again, and have dinner together with the other surviving acolytes. Maybe try to get over this tragedy with their support.

There was silence. None of the maids could bear to look him in the eye, and they attempted to blend in by setting up a small coffee table with the breakfast they had brought.

That is until the head maid worked up the courage to break the news to the Viscount. "No one else, my Lord..."

"What happened yesterday? I want to know what you know. QUICK!" -Jackosn felt that his sanity was beginning to slip again.

"It's... been four days since you rode out into Dark Night Woods, my Lord." -Another maid decided to assist her boss.

This prompted the head maid to give Jackson the details.

"Lord Leylin came back three days ago, carrying you on the back of his horse. Both of you were covered in dried blood, and as soon as he got clearance from the men on the gates, he rushed you into the castle. He then summoned the best doctors in town, mainly his employees from the herb store he owns. It took him eight hours to finish the surgery, but he succeeded in saving your life. Unfortunately, you had suffered greatly in the battle... Nothing else could be done despite his best efforts..."

Jackson looked at the distant scene out of the paned window next to his bed, and his eyes quivered. Finally, two streams of tears flowed. This also moved his maids to tears, but they hid it well.

"Do you still want me to read the letter to you, my Lord?" -The head maid told.

"No. I want you to summon Lord Leylin and do so with haste. The rest of you, bring the captain of the guard and the castle steward to my chambers. And take these stupid buckets and cart away from my sight." -Jackson's voice threatened to break.

"Y-yes, my Lord." -Answered the head maid, as the others simply bowed and did as they were told.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

Thirty minutes passed, and at last, the two people Jackson wanted to see before Leylin, stepped into his room with a feather-like stride.

"Lord Jackson, it is good to see you have regained consciousness." -A fat man with golden clothes said.

"You asked for us, Lord?" -A man with leather and chainmail armor told.

They both spoke in a hushed tone as if they were walking inside the room of a sleeping baby.

"I am in no mood for the pleasantries. Just sit down, and explain to me what the hell is going on in my city." -Jackson declared in an exacerbated voice.

The two men looked at each other with dubitative expressions, but then they nodded.

The fat man was the first to speak. "After my Lord's reconnoiter group had perished almost completely, it became the talk in everyone's lips. News of our Viscount Jackson - a proud Grand Knight - having been seriously injured caused a big uproar in Extreme Night City and the nearby settlements right away."

"I can imagine it did, but want I need to know is this: what were the consequences of the turmoil?" -Jackson demanded.

"Even after it was known that you had survived, the unrest did not subside. Instead, it spread even further throughout the area. And then several groups began to try to destabilize our city. Old enemies of yours, my Lord." -The captain of the guard informed.

As the city lord of Extreme Night City, Viscount Jackson always used his status as a Grand Knight to suppress many dark factions. However, when the news of him being injured spread, it caused several ripples and undercurrents inside the city and the region as a whole.

"For a moment, the strength of the city guard was waning. They took us by surprise, and several detachments went missing in action beyond the walls... The Black Iron Guard was gone, and the few acolytes who were allied to your Lordship had died as well. It was total chaos. Stores being looted, violence in the streets, merchants and caravans fleeing the city..." -The fat steward adjusted the collar of his doublet when he said that.

"But then, Lord Leylin and his Roran Hawks appeared." -The captain added, as he stole a nervous glance at the steward like he was searching for approval to go on.

Jackson was not shocked that Leylin's name had popped up in the debrief, but he was very curious about what part the Baron had to play in the aftermath of his failed mission to stop that giant monster.

"He got the other three Barons to lend money to pay for the reparations for any traders affected by the riots, maintaining a good level of commerce in the city. Furthermore, he used his own private mercenary forces to supplement the City Guard in policing your territory. They also bolstered the patrols along the walls to prevent a bandit incursion, and dealt with any criminals within our populace." -The steward talked as if he were repeating a list he had memorized previously.

Within the past months, Leylin had made sure to recruit more men into the Roran Hawks. From the initial 20, now there were around 300 soldiers in Leylin's army. At present, the mercenary forces outnumbered the Viscount's guard by 180 men. They were also remarkably better trained and equipped. Once the Black Iron Guard was out of the equation, Jackson's military fell pretty short.

"How did he resolve the civil unrest problem?" -Jackson directed this question at his captain of the guard.

"He commanded us to round up the criminals in the town square and then cut off their limbs in accordance with their misdeeds. Thieves and those accused of property damage lost their hands, those who assaulted others with violence lost their legs, rapists had their genitals removed, and murderers were decapitated. But traitors of my Lord's regime got the worst of it; they were forced to eat red-hot nails until they died..." -The captain seemed a bit traumatized by the way he narrated the events.

"You mean to say, that you took your orders from Lord Leylin, captain?" -Jackson inquired, scrutinizing the man in chainmail and leather.

"Not exactly, my Lord. It was his own captain of the mercs, one man named Fayern, who gave out Lord Leylin's instructions to us. They may have been cruel, but they were quite effective regardless. And you have also done things of this sort, my Lord."

"I am not questioning his methods. He did what he had to do to keep the peace, you all did."

"Thanks to Lord Farlier, in less than a day, everything went back to normal. Or as normal as can be. Moreover, there are rumors that the woods are already recovering, and that the fauna is returning... I humbly suggest that maybe, my Lord's expedition was not a complete failure." -The fat man said in a low tone.

"I would desire nothing more than for your words to be the truth. But there is only one person who can confirm if the beast has been slain... Now leave, both of you." -Jackson said, making his servants rapidly leave his chambers without looking back.

//

"Do you think Lord Leylin will become the new Viscount?" -The captain whispered to the fat man as they turned the corner of the hallway.

"Didn't you hear? He has the Viscount's son under his tutelage now. Things are no longer the way they used to a few days ago. We are lucky that he was gracious enough to... include us in his plans for this province..." -The steward noted with a sly grin, as his eyes flashed with avarice.

//

"Murphy... I am sorry for my weakness... I am so sorry I couldn't protect you, dear friend..." -The Viscount sighed deeply, as he once more stared out the window.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

It was late in the afternoon when a particular black 4-horse carriage escorted by eight Roran Hawks and two enigmatic cloaked individuals made its way into the portcullis of the Viscount's castle.

Last week, this group would have been required to pass an inspection and present credentials. Nowadays, they opened the gates immediately when the watchmen saw the Farlier banners in the distance.

Leylin slowly made his way to the Viscount's chambers, and as he passed the halls still accompanied by his two Knight bodyguards, everyone made sure to bow or outright kneel. In the course of two days, the scales of political and economical power in Extreme Night City had tilted heavily towards Leylin. He essentially owned the other Barons, the local bourgeoisie, and the City Guard, all through a healthy mix of intimidation and bribery.

Leylin was now going up the stairs leading into the main tower, where Jackson had his solar and private chambers.

"My Lord, he is expecting you." -The head maid said with a delicate voice as she bowed, earning a wave of Leylin's hand when she clutched the bedroom door's pommel and turned it.

"Thank you, Maria. Now, if you would be so kind to leave the Viscount and me alone. We have much to discuss." -Leylin ordered, as he entered the chambers and smiled warmly at a blank-faced Jackson.

The maid was a bit surprised that he knew her by name, but quickly recovered and wordlessly closed the doors, locking them behind her. Outside, Greem and Fraser stood by either flank of the hallway leading to the staircase.

"Did you happen to read my letter..." -Leylin was about to engage in his usual manipulative speech but was interrupted by the Viscount.

"Tell me, is it dead? Is the Mankestre Snake really gone?" -Jackson looked at Leylin with pleading eyes. He needed to hear him say it. To know that somehow, his friends did not perish in vain.

"Naturally, my Lord. It was thanks to Murphy's and the others' sacrifice that my spell was capable of penetrating the Mankestre's defenses... It took all of my Mana Energy, but we came out victorious. Even if our casualties were substantial..." -Leylin sat down on a padded sofa behind the coffee table, and he took one of the treats that had been accidentally left behind by the maids before.

"I don't understand. How can you be so cheerful and just eat cookies? After what we've been through..." -Jackson frowned visibly. He was suspecting his newest Baron.

"You don't have to overthink about such petty matters. We must go on and think forward. It's our responsibility as members of the peerage. Well, in your case, your only focus should be to make a full recovery, Lord." -Leylin spoke with a positive attitude, as he ate a couple more of the soft vanilla cookies.

"Are you mocking me?! I can't fucking move anything other than my neck! And it is your damn fault!" -Jackson couldn't help himself, and the tears flowed out. Anger, fear, and impotence combined.

'Look at this pathetic wretch. Is he crying on his first day of being a cripple? Pfft.'

Leylin stood up and then walked close to Jackson's bed.

"When the fight was over, I found your shattered body under two meters of rubble. The cave nearly collapsed on top of us when I launched my final spell... I dug you out, brought you here, and used all of my rarest elixirs just to prevent your death... You are correct, it is my fault that you are still breathing and in the perfect use of your mental faculties..."

Leylin then shifted his position to stand next to the window, just to add more drama to his response. "I lost friends down there too, Viscount."

Jackson averted his sight from Leylin and gulped down. He had completely bought his act of feeling offended by that accusation.

"You're right, Lord Leylin. I apologize... I was being unfair to you... Even after you killed the monster, saved my life, and then rescued the city in my absence... Instead of condemning you for things that were out of your control, I ought to be rewarding you for your virtue and perseverance!" -Jackson yelled, thinking that he could still redeem himself in his best servant's eyes.

"What? No, please, my Lord. Helping the city that has given me so much is my duty as your vassal. Lending a hand when you needed me most was only part of my obligations as Baron." -Leylin did a gentlemanly bow.

"Nonsense! I usually appreciate your modesty and etiquette, but now is not the time for that! For what you did in that cave, healing me to the best of your abilities, and fixing the problems in the city, I will reward you with every last magic crystal in Extreme Night City's coffers. It should amount to roughly 1000 crystals!" -Jackson declared, thinking that he was definitely doing the right thing. His honor compelled him.

"Alas, as much as I would be delighted to accept, I cannot bear to let the treasury be strained to that critical point. Especially now that I was going to put into action a 6-year project to revive the herb production and trade." -Leylin revealed with a grave posture.

Jackson's eyebrows went to the top of his forehead. He couldn't fathom how the man in front of him could be so visionary, yet so selfless and compassionate. Any other nobleman would've taken the Viscount's reward without a second thought, but here was Leylin, putting the needs of the people before his personal gain.

'Having this man arrive in my city has been the best that could've happened to us. Without him, the withering crisis would still be affecting our economy, the lizards would still be terrorizing our peasants...' -Jackson had convinced himself that Leylin's intervention had been a miracle.

"If you won't have my magic crystals, then you can have my most prized possession! Look over your shoulder, you see that cupboard? Open it." -Jackson indicated with his eyes to an aged ebony fitment.

Leylin just nodded, as he kept his expression unreadable.

When the creaking wood gave in to Leylin's touch, it uncovered a metallic safe with strange markings on its surface.

[Arcane runes. This is an acolyte-made safe.] -Aralis noted.

'One of Murphy's shitty jobs, I imagine. The craftmanship on this thing is laughable. Even a non-magician could crack it open if given the time and proper tools.'

"The password is integrity, excellence, loyalty." -As soon as the Viscount recited the words, the runes began to glow in dim blue light, until a click could be heard.

Leylin opened the safe, and what he saw made him want to chuckle in satisfaction.

"An ancient scroll, my Lord?" -Leylin asked, playing along.

"It has been in my family for 7 generations. What you're looking at is my Grand Knight Technique. Inside the texts, the method to my Strength-enhancing Secret Skill can also be found. They're yours now, Baron Leylin Farlier of Extreme Night City!" -There was a bountiful amount of pride in Jackson's voice, but near the end, it wavered with the regret of not being able to pass it on to his son.

"You honor me, my Lord." -Leylin dropped to one knee, his head down to the floor, presenting himself as a meek and grateful servant.

Under his mask, however, Leylin smirked. Everything was going precisely as he had devised it.