Chapter 172: Baroness von Rosenkram
A single strike, and the thief Sloor fell dead — the cane itself giving off no visible spell-light at all. For a moment, silence fell over the street, a chilling stillness settling in, and the nearby houses had already shut their doors tight.
The leader raised his greatsword with a hum, faint yellow light flaring along its edge, and advanced on Evan carefully. Just then, a gunshot cracked out. Evan's body flickered and vanished from where he stood, and a scream sounded off to the left — a man holding a pistol collapsed into a pool of blood.
A pistol was a formidable weapon against an ordinary person, but against an ability-user, it posed little real threat — less, even, than an enchanted arrow.
Evan reappeared exactly where he'd been standing. The leader shouted, "Get him!"
The others surged forward at once. Jessica moved from the side, and a ball of electricity flared outward in a rapidly expanding sphere, crackling lightning tearing through everything it touched.
The leader's body flared with the same faint yellow light, warding off the current, but the rest of his men fared far worse, limbs jerking uncontrollably, mouths twisted, collapsing to the ground.
Evan's rapier flashed, sword-force surging as it cut clean through the leader's greatsword, knocking it from his grip, the blade's edge settling coldly against his throat.
In moments, the whole group lay subdued. Evan questioned them and found none of them knew anything at all about the gemstone vein on Shrimp Peninsula — not that Evan had any intention of mentioning it himself. This confirmed the vein's existence remained known only to a small circle.
"Get out of here," Evan said, driving them off. He walked over to the two bodies, collecting their weapons and searching them, though both men turned out to be poor, yielding only a few silver coins. By then Xiaoshuang had dropped her invisibility. Evan smiled at her. "Come on, let's find somewhere that buys weapons."
They found a proper weapons shop — not one of those places mixing blacksmithing with arms dealing, but a dedicated shop, evidence enough that a steady stream of adventurers passing through had its benefits.
Evan haggled at length with the shopkeeper and sold the whole pile of weapons for two gold coins and six silver — less than half their real value.
He handed the gold coin to Xiaoshuang, who watched wide-eyed, reclaiming her jewels and the coin with visible reluctance, muttering, "Wang's the worst. Didn't even pay a full coin upfront and now he's making over a coin's profit off it. Should've asked for three — no, ten."
"Little miser," Evan said. Jessica gave a small, amused smile.
"Let's move on. We've confirmed what we needed here — seems the word's only reached a handful of people, hasn't spread far at all," Evan told Jessica.
They hired a carriage and headed east, passing through several more towns along the way, changing carriages more than once. Ten days later, they finally reached the place Mikoyan had entrusted to them — the small city of Uplansa, in the Kingdom of Dahl, home to the Turgus people. They disembarked there. Baron von Rosenkram's estate stood somewhere in this city.
After asking directions, Evan and Jessica arrived at the baron's residence, only to find it had fallen into real disrepair. The grounds still covered a couple of acres, but the lawn had long since given way to wild overgrowth, the ornamental trees untrimmed for who knew how many years, grown shapeless and unkempt, the surrounding wall weathered and patched — a noble house barely clinging to its own dignity.
At the gate, an old doorman dozed. Evan rattled the iron door-ring, and the old man startled awake, his uniform faded nearly white with washing. He rose. "Who's there?"
"Good day, sir. We've come on a friend's behalf, to see Baroness von Rosenkram," Evan said with a warm smile.
Peering through the gate, the doorman took in Evan and Jessica's fine clothes and unmistakable bearing, recognizing at once these were no ordinary visitors — the kind rarely seen around here these days. He opened the gate. "Honored guests, please, come this way."
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They followed him toward the grand old building. A maid spotted them and asked, "Grandpa Lap, who are these people?"
"Little Osa, distinguished guests for the mistress. Go fetch her at once," Lap said.
Osa dashed upstairs, and shortly after, a lady appeared on the spiral staircase in the great hall — dressed in a nobly fitted bodice, a full skirt, a high collar, an elaborately embroidered hat — clearly aged garments, though genuinely lovely still, the years having left surprisingly little mark on her. Beside her, the maid Osa wore a black dress with a white apron, similarly worn with age.
Evan removed his hat, pressing it to his chest with his right hand, and bowed. "Noble and lovely madame, I am Evan Wang. This is Jessica. We come from Hollingburton. A pleasure to meet you."
Jessica stepped her left foot back, gathered her skirt, and dropped into a curtsy. The baroness returned the gesture.
"Honored Mr. Wang, are you a mage?" the baroness asked.
Evan nodded, glancing to the side. "Is the baron not in?"
"He and our son have gone fishing. Please, sit, my lady, sir," the baroness said, and everyone settled in.
Osa poured coffee. Evan took a sip — his sense of taste hadn't fully recovered, but even so he could tell this was quite ordinary coffee. "We're merely passing through," he said. "Senior Mage Mikoyan asked us to bring you something."
At the mention of Mikoyan, something shifted visibly across her face, and she let out a sigh. "Why bother with it? What's the use in dredging up the past?"
Evan smiled. "This belongs to you rightfully. Mage Mikoyan says you once lent him money, and with interest accumulated over the years — he's recently gone into the jewelry trade, as it happens, and asked us to bring you this in repayment."
He set the box down and opened it, revealing a dazzling array of jewelry within. Osa gasped, hand flying to her mouth, eyes wide.
"How much is here?" the baroness asked. Her expression stayed composed, though her eyes flickered.
"Somewhere around two or three hundred thousand gold, I'd guess. Not a great sum by Mage Mikoyan's current standing — simply what your original loan, with interest, would amount to," Evan said, knowing full well this was a fabrication — but seeing the baroness accept the explanation without objection, he let it stand as truth.
"How is he these days?"
"Doing quite well, though the distance is considerable, and he's tied up with duties that keep him from visiting in person." Evan produced a smaller box separately. "This is a magic gemstone. Mage Mikoyan asked that this be given to you specifically."
The baroness didn't open it, simply taking it and turning it over gently in her hands. "You've traveled a long way. Do stay for a meal. Osa, tell the cook to prepare something."
Osa withdrew, leaving the three of them alone in the sitting room. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a young woman came down. Evan noted the strong resemblance to the baroness — her daughter, surely.
"Jenny, come meet Mage Evan Wang and Mage Jessica," the baroness said. "This is my daughter Jenny, my youngest. She has three older brothers — the eldest passed away some time ago, the second's gone fishing with his father and some other nobles, and the third is a mage and knight both, currently traveling."
Jenny greeted her mother, then offered curtsies to Evan and Jessica, her eyes drifting to the jewelry in the box. "Mother, whose is this?"
"An old friend of mine sent it, brought here by Mr. Wang and Miss Jessica," the baroness said.
A light flickered in Jenny's eyes as she stared a moment longer, then, seeming to catch herself, said with some embarrassment, "Mr. Wang, you're a mage — like my third brother. I've asked him to teach me, but he won't, says I have no talent for it. Is that true?"
Evan glanced up, a flicker of green in his eyes. She wasn't without talent — just not especially strong. He said with a smile, "You do have some talent for magic. Just not a great deal of it."
"Really? Then my brother's been lying to me. Is that a fairy on your shoulder?" Jenny brightened at once, delighted by the sight.
Xiaoshuang, who'd been dozing on Evan's shoulder, blinked awake at the sound of a strange voice discussing her, opening her eyes to find a girl of about sixteen. She studied her briefly and said flatly, "Wind and fire dual affinity. A bit late to start training, though — you might reach fifth-tier mage at best. Getting any higher would take extraordinary circumstances."
The light dimmed in Jenny's eyes. The baroness spoke up. "Forgive us — our family has fallen on hard times. I wonder if you might take Jenny along to Mikoyan."
She hadn't said it outright, but Evan caught the meaning in her gaze — something in her eyes seemed to speak on its own, and a vague understanding surfaced in him: perhaps this girl was Mikoyan's own daughter. Jessica's voice reached him through their mental link. Wang, could she be Mikoyan's daughter?
Possibly. If she is, we should agree to it. Why don't you take her on as a student for now, and settle the rest once we see Mikoyan, Evan replied the same way.
Fine. I'll take her as my student. Even if she's not Mikoyan's daughter, it doesn't matter much — talent's only part of it. Hard work counts for a great deal too, Jessica answered. The baroness had no idea her daughter's fate had already been decided between the two of them, mind to mind.
"All right. I agree. I'll see her brought safely to Mikoyan," Evan said, nodding, then turned to Jenny. "We'll be leaving this afternoon. You should go with Jessica for now."