8 Anger
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!" Monward asked, his eyes fuming with anger.
"L-Lord, w-we h-have been tricked...someone infiltrated into the palace under the disguise of your mother and stole the family heirloom," the Captain stuttered, his back drenched in sweat.
"You fucking idiots!!!" The Baron threw the book he was holding towards the Captain, which the Captain did not dare to dodge.
"L-Lord-"
"Shut the fuck up and get your hairy ass to search for the punk who had the audacity to toy with me!" Monward reached out for a glass of water on his desk and drank it to calm himself down.
"Yes, my Lord!" Shouted the Captain.
"And one more thing, don't show me your face until you capture him," the Baron said whilst greeting his teeth.
Never in his life has he been this humiliated and insulted.
He would lose all his face when people find out that he, a soon-to-be Duke, had been played around by an unknown bastard and even called him his mother.
He even treated the bastard with the best of his hospitality, yet his family heirloom got stolen.
When those rapacious nobles, who covet his wealth and power find this out, they would not let this wonderful opportunity slip by, and try to make full use of it by spreading rumors of how he could not even protect his own palace from being infiltrated.
No matter what, he had to clear up this shame by capturing the intruder, and also take back the heirloom whilst he was at it.
And Monward was smart enough to know that if he was not able to successfully capture the bastard who had infiltrated his palace, then he should might as well forget about rising up in ranks and becoming a Duke.
As the nobles would definitely not let the King make a shamed noble like himself become a Duke.
Although he did not know much about the heirloom, but one thing he could say for sure was that it was not an ordinary sword.
His father had participated in the Battle of Humanity, and was one of the few lucky ones to survive the massacre that had taken place.
He remembered how his father used to brag about how he had secretly brought the sword from the hands of the demon who had massacred almost all of the army. And he also trembled when mentioning that demon.
He had warned Monward to never expose the existence of that sword to the rest of the world, as it would only bring ruin to their family.
So he must recover the sword at all cost.
"M-My lord, please forgive this lowly servant, but isn't the punishment a bit too much?" For the first time in his life, the Captain was trying to haggle with the Baron, and only he knew how much courage it took to speak in the suffocating presence of his lord.
"Oh, is that so? Well, take all those under you to accompany you on this search. None of you is allowed to return unless you guys fulfill the requirement of bringing back that bastard," the Baron said with a calm expression on his face.
Though the Captain knew about the anger that was being suppressed under that expression.
"B-But m-my lord-"
"Say no more. Get out now," interrupted Monward as he signalled the Captain to leave the room with a wave of his hand.
'-the rest of the knights will hate me for that. And it's not like as if you were the one who got molested by a man,' the Captain completed the rest of the sentence in an internal dialogue.
"Yes, my lord!" The Captain saluted and left the room with his tail between his legs.
☯☯☯☯☯
Malazan and Martin slowly rode towards the Common District.
Awhile ago, Martin had asked Malazan as to where they should hide, to which Malazan replied: "Eh? Who said we are going to hide from those bunch of mosquitoes? Like you, I am also new to this town, so we might as well look around a bit. Onward to the Common District, then!"
Martin could not understand how Malazan could remain so indifferent about all of this.
The mere thought of being targeted by a noble made his stomach ache and his heart beat faster.
No sane person would have agreed to perform such a death-seeking task.
But blinded by his greed and some honey-coated words, he had gone ahead and done it.
He was also surprised at how he could still cooperate with Malazan, even after he had gotten him on a noble's wanted list.
"Ugh, what is going to become of me now?" murmured Martin.
"Did you say something?" Malazan asked as he finished the apple he was eating and tossed the core into nearby weeds.
"N-No, I did not,' replied Martin.
☯☯☯☯☯
Although the Kingdom of Cierith had less inhabitants than two of it's neighbouring kingdoms, it was much grander in comparison.
Not only this, due to many years of reform, the Kingdom was currently experiencing the largest surge of development ever recorded in history.
New things were constantly being introduced to society, which increased the opportunities for merchants to explore new markets.
A constant influx of goods and talents had since been seen in the Kingdom. For the citizens living in the capital, it was truly a time of hope and opportunity.
But the thing the capital was most known for was it's Academy of Spellcasters, where those who practiced magic came to study.
Almost all of the Kingdom's spellcasters were in someway associated with the Academy.
It would not be the least bit understatement to say that the Academy was the backbone of the Kingdom's military.
And Francis de Alberto was the highly respected principle of that very Academy. Though based on his appearance no one would think him to be a person of such high status.
He was of middle height and average girth, nondescript in most ways, with short-cropped, light brown hair. He wore a simple tunic and trousers, and woven sandals.
One might even mistake him for a peasant if it weren't for his eyes that radiated immense wisdom.
Currently, he was reading a report he had received from an agent stationed at the town of Barack.
"Hmm, he says he sensed mana radiation inside a baron's palace, huh?" Alberto whispered to himself.
He picked up a sphere-shaped transmission device from his desk and brought it towards his right ear: "Are you free, Lia?"
"Eh? Principle? Ah, yes. I am free. Is there something you want me to do?" A young female voice sounded from the device.
"I want you to immediately head towards the town of Barack and look for someone who is suspected to be a spellcaster and is likely to be unassociated with our Academy. See whether they can be of use or not. If it's the latter, then eliminate them at all cost," Aberto said with a ruthless look in his eyes.
"Oh, and you should first start off your search by visiting Baron Monward's palace," added Alberto.
He wouldn't allow someone who is able to use mana to roam around freely in the Kingdom.
"...I see. I will head there right now, then," the voice replied and the communication was disconnected.
'This is getting interesting,' Alberto thought to himself.
