Cordyceps Forty-One
Cordyceps Forty-One
There was a hush after the news came, then a sudden spark as the nobles and busybodies started to chatter between themselves.
One ran over to the staff member that had called for help, then they both darted out of the room. “Will he be okay?” I asked.
“That was Lord Gills,” Milo said. “He’s a doctor, so he should be able to take care of Baron Erspell.”
“Oh, that’s good to know,” I said. It really wasn’t. I hadn’t considered it before, but it was entirely possible that a doctor from this world could mitigate or stop the effects of my poisons outright. A doctor from Earth wouldn’t be able to do anything, not without access to a full medical suite, but here? There were probably spells and skills that could work against a poison. “We should go see what’s up,” I said.
Milo blinked, then looked at all of his toys and the devastation he’d left in his wake as he opened them. “I... guess so, yeah,” he said.
That was enough to encourage all of the others to follow suit. Not that it would take much to convince them. Watching Milo open his gifts was probably not nearly as fun for them as it was for him, and whatever was going on upstairs was much, much better gossip.
As one, we filed out through the room, then Milo gestured to the side and out into one of the corridors away from the stairs. “There’s another staircase up,” he said. “For the staff. No one will be guarding that one.”
That was nice to know. Milo led our little group of gossips and troublemakers through his home, then into the staff quarters which were, unsurprisingly, full of house staff and contracted help. They didn’t seem ready to stop the lot of us from climbing up a much tighter staircase up to the second floor.
Once at the top of the stairs, Milo opened a door and peeked his head out. “It’s clear,” he hissed back.
This had suddenly taken on the airs of some sort of spy fiction. The bad sort. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as the boys snuck out of the stairwell and into one of the corridors deep into one of the wings of the house.
“The smoking room is this way,” Milo said.
We moved back towards the centre of the mansion, but came to a stop by the next corner. There were voices deeper in, men talking to each other in frustrated tones.
Milo came closer to the corner, then leaned in. The rest of us squeezed in closer. I would have rather not been stuck in the middle, but that’s where I ended up anyways.
Since I didn’t feel like being squished, I stepped out to Milo’s side, then crouched down onto one knee and stuck just enough of my head out so that I could see around the corner with one eye.
There were three men arguing out in the corridor. Milo’s father, Lord Gills the doctor, and Count Coller. Behind them were the open doors leading into a study, and more men milled within. From the downcast looks and the number of drawn brows, it seemed as though no one was happy.
“This is a travesty,” Baron Milo said.
The doctor shook his head. “It happens more often than you’d think. We’re just fragile creatures in the end.”
“Are you certain there’s nothing you can do?” Count Coller asked.
“I’ve told you already, I can’t bring back the dead. Call a coroner, or a brother of Dearil. Maybe try not to let the children and the women see this.”
“Better do that sooner rather than later, Milo,” the count said. “Wouldn’t want old Erspell stinking the place up.”
“Be civil, Coller, he was our friend.”
Count Coller sighed. “Yes, he was. Dammit. We have to tell Cecile.”
Baron Milo groaned. “She’s going to be loud.”
“She’s always loud. But yes, she will make a scene. Are we sure she didn’t poison him?” the count asked.
Baron Milo sniffed. “No, I’m certain she would have done that twenty years ago. His kids... ah, we’ll need to let them know as well.”
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“They’re not here, are they? We’ll figure that out later,” the count said. He turned to Lord Gills and patted the man on the shoulder. “Thank you for your help. Do you think you could go down and wait for the coroner? We’ll try to be discreet about this.”
“Of course,” the lord said. “I’ll stay here for a while though, I’m used to dealing with the... dead, more so than most.”
“Thank you,” Baron Milo said. He pressed a hand to his chest, and the count turned his way.
“Are you okay, Milo?”
“Fine. The stress is giving me heartburn. I’ll go to the kitchen and grab a glass of something from there, you two stay busy.”
The baron started our way and Milo and I slipped back in a hurry. “Quick! Back downstairs!” Milo hissed.
The boys hurried back towards the entrance to the staircase--which happened to be in the middle of a wall, the door was designed to be nearly invisible once closed. I followed them for a ways, then moved to the side and into an open washroom. I pulled the door quietly closed behind me and activated all of my stealth skills. Hopefully no one would notice that I was missing for a moment.
One target was down and dead, and it didn’t seem as if anyone was suspecting foul play. That was... actually, pretty darned good.
If the rest of the mission didn’t amount to anything, then I’d still be in a pretty good spot. I could tell the Union that the opportunity to take out the other two didn’t come up, and I’d be able to leave without raising any suspicion.
Baron Erspell was an old man. I didn’t have his exact age, but he was at least in his late seventies. He’d been married for well over forty years, and that was with his second wife. He was part of the old, old blood.
His keeling over mid-party wasn’t all that surprising. Sure, there were magical items and potions to keep one healthy for longer, but there was only so much they could do against ageing, and judging by the shape of the man, he was a fan of drinking and eating his fill.
People died at unfortunate times, it happened, and hopefully that alone would be enough to disperse any suspicion.
That the doctor hadn’t caught on to anything was good too. Maybe his skills relied on healing the living, and those who were dead, and therefore beyond healing, were beyond their ability to do anything about?
Maybe the coroner would figure something out.
I pressed my ear against the door and listened to the boys scampering down the stairs. They were far from stealthy. Then Baron Milo came down the hall. He was moving at a much slower rate, and I thought I heard him grunt.
Had the poison reached him too?
The door rattled, and I stepped back and quickly pulled on the chain of the toilet. “One moment!” I called out. I took my time washing my hands, aware that the person on the other side--the baron, obviously--hadn’t moved.
“There, all done,” I said as I unlocked the door and opened it.
Baron Milo was looking a little pale, pale and sweaty. “Ah, thank you,” he said. “What are you doing upstairs?”
“Needed to use the washroom, sir. There’s a line of ladies downstairs. You know how women are.”
“Heh, yes, I imagine, go on now.”
I slipped past him, then paused to watch the Baron move on by. He was not well.
I wasn’t sure what the effects of my [Dead Mage Agaric] would be on an adult human, but I imagined that it would kill rather rapidly in most cases.
The baron, with his familial blessing to resist poisons, wouldn’t be the ideal case.
The door shut, and I glanced around. There was a bench nearby. I moved over to it, then carefully, slowly, lifted it up and brought it down before the doorway.
It was a last-minute thing, but if the baron never left the washroom, that might stall anyone from discovering his corpse for that much longer.
With a quick check to see if I still looked presentable, I made my way down the corridor and around the bend, walking as if I had every right in the world to be there. Being semi-familiar with Milo’s place helped.
On passing by the entrance of the smoking room, I slowed my steps and looked within.
The men were all to one side. There was a cloth draped over a body sitting on a lounge chair to one side of the room. A small table sat next to it, two glasses of alcohol resting on it.
Two?
I searched for Count Coller and found him talking to the others, looking as hale and hearty as ever.
So, I’d only gotten two out of three. Somehow that was more frustrating than getting one in three.
Maybe I could do something about it?
***