Side Story 3: Capturing Jerome Foryl

In the frozen north of the Chinebar Republic, a small village stubbornly settled down amid the icy forests. This late in the night, most were bundled up in their homes. Chatting happily with their families, they cooked warm food over open flames. Smoke lazily floated up through their chimneys.

The villagers had met many strangers recently. From them, they had heard about the chaos in the south. However, they felt safe in their small village. No invaders in their right minds would come up here. All that they had of value were magic beast pelts and medicinal herbs. The war shouldn't reach up here. That's why all the strangers came.

One stranger was a bit more secretive than the others. He was fairly average looking but had some skills with magic and a bit of a scholarly air. The man was polite and well-liked for his silver tongue. A few of the households less wary towards outsiders even considered him a possible husband for their daughters.

However, the hunters and the few wizards in the village felt uneasy about him. They could never explain it, but this feeling went beyond mere wariness towards an outsider. To them, what they saw merely felt like freshly fallen snow. Beautiful to look at, but often deceptively deep and concealing danger.

As the stranger lived with them for several months, this wariness was slowly forgotten. The stranger was distant at first but slowly grew closer to the villagers. Out of all the outsiders, this one had the largest voice among them. Everyone would listen when he spoke.

Outsiders would often leave, but the stranger seemed prepared to settle down in the village. The elders were secretly pleased. Another wizard in the village was a good thing, especially if the wizard was helpful and trustworthy. The stranger seemed too good to be true.

The villagers became more determined to keep him there by the day. They even built him a house in the middle of the village for him and always offered him the best food. Whenever someone spoke ill of him, they would banish them from the village. No slander was allowed, even when the banished person was a native village wizard.

Earlier that day, the hunters had come back with prey. The bounty was a bit thin, but it was enough to refill up their food stores. That day was long and hard. After eating dinner, everyone went straight to bed. They didn't even notice the shadowy figures surrounding their village.

Moving swiftly, the figures crept through the village. They didn't even bother looking at the houses they passed as if they already knew what was inside and didn't care. The homes they passed by suddenly fell silent. The villagers had all fallen asleep while eating their meals.

Once in the middle of the village, the figures surrounded a recently built house. When all of the figures gathered, a small group carefully approached the door. Just as they touched the handle, an explosion tore the house apart.

The shadowy figures were pushed back. Despite the chaos, their line held. A slim figure shot out of the burning building. The figure blew into a silver whistle, and a shrill noise shook the village. Surprised, the shadowy figures focused on their enemy.

The figure desperately tried to escape. He blew his whistle several times, but nothing happened. The enemy was simply too numerous and he was quickly captured. Forced to the ground, the figure was held firm. The light from the burning home revealed the face of the stranger.

Two more of the shadowy figures approached and one put their hand on the stranger's face. After a short chant, the stranger's face morphed into a familiar one matching wanted posters all over the world.

"Jerome Foryl. The face and mana signature match. We've caught him, Sir."

"Excellent. What is an elitist snob like you doing a frozen wasteland like this living with some 'backwater country hicks'?" The leader asked. Jerome spat at the leader and refused to answer. The leader frowned in disgust.

"You know what? Never mind. I'll have plenty of time to chat with you about this later. Jerome Foryl, you are under arrest for the crimes of terrorism, sedition, treason, murder, and other charges. You have no rights to speak of. The villagers are asleep, so your petty mind-control trick won't work. If you resist further, I'll gladly kill you myself. Gentlemen, cuff him."

Jerome Foryl sneered. The Prophet of Truth had blamed him for the failure to capture Daren Forolan at Nafriton University, who then played a key role in stopping the Prophet's master plan and in the death of the Prophet of Terra. Jerome was thus labeled a great sinner.

In short, the True Order had abandoned him. The Prophet of Truth used him like a scapegoat. Jerome had lost his real identity and his one in the True Order. He had lived life on the run ever since. The borders were locked down tightly by all nations, so Jerome went to the most remote places in the republic.

These stupid bumpkins were too weak and easy to manipulate. Yet the federal government still protected them. That's why he settled down here. The villagers would protect and serve him. When they couldn't, he still had a few tricks left from his days in the True Order.

Roars of magical beasts nearby disturbed the quiet of the night. The roars came from all directions and got closer by the minute. The leader instantly realized that Jerome Foryl had done something. He sharply the captive Jerome.

"What did you do?! Wait, it was the whistle, wasn't it?"

Jerome snickered while ignoring the pain on his side. "You didn't think that the villagers were my only defense, did you? Those weak fools? You must have forgotten what the True Order has been working on all these years. By the way, those beasts only care about protecting me. Everyone else will be torn to pieces."

The leader sharply kicked him again before cursing and turning around.

"You two cuff our prisoner and tie him to something. Outside. No need to fetch something warm to wear. Let's see just how well these beasts will treat him."

The shadowy figures wasted no time. They roughly forced him into mana restraining shackles and briefly searched him for weapons. As soon as the figures tied him to a random post, they left in a hurry.

Jerome began to shiver soon after they left. He didn't have the time to properly prepare for the shadowy figures' arrival. They were too close before one of his alarms was tripped. Fortunately, those imbeciles didn't search him that well.

Even before he joined the True Order, Jerome had been preparing a variety of means to survive. Unlocking mana restraining shackles was one of them. The man carefully and subtly moved to take a thin, small artifact out of his boot. With a small click, the shackles were temporarily unlocked.

The man quickly took his hands out and untied himself when no one was looking. The magical beasts attacked the village within minutes. Then Jerome Foryl was free once again after sneaking away in the chaos.

After sneaking out of the village, Jerome ran quickly to his hidden emergency supplies. He could easily freeze to death soon if he didn't get something to warm himself. Running through such thick snow was difficult work. Added to restricted mana usage to avoid detection, he would barely make it to his hideout.

Jerome forced himself forward until he arrived at a large rock formation. After placing his hand on an oddly colored patch of stone, a hidden doorway opened to reveal a cozy interior. Jerome quickly moved inside and began to light a fire in the fireplace.

A sudden voice spoke from behind him.

"See, ma'am? I told you that he would come. He thinks too highly of himself to even think that someone else could find this place."

The strength left his body the moment Jerome turned around. Standing in the doorway were two very familiar, very angry faces accompanied by heavily armed guards. Jerome sighed in resignation and disgust. There was no way he could outrun the woman in front of him.

"How unpleasant. It's Christopher Vear… and Ramona Heston."

"That's Dean Heston to you, you traitorous dog. Unlike you, I deserve some respect."

Her attack was smooth and fierce. Jerome did not expect her to attack so suddenly. He blocked the first one but was suddenly blown away by an attack from the side. When he looked up, Chris was standing on top of him with a sword pointed at Jerome's neck.

"Tsk. Tsk. Did you forget about me, former professor Foryl? How disappointing."

Shock colored Jerome's face.

"Oh, you must be wondering about the ambush and double-teaming, huh? Well, Dean Heston and I have several questions. It would be bad if you died or lost your mind after all. We're also rather impatient."

With Ramona's arrival, the operation to capture Jerome Foryl successfully concluded.