42 – The Man From Ilgard
I left Haita and Mikan to their own devices, curiosity and fear compelling me to follow after the Iudex as he and the foreigner took the road west of my land.
I kept a comfortable distance from the small group, but even from afar I had a decent look at the newcomer. He was wealthy, clearly, the quality of his clothes and cloak unlike anything one would see on a member of the Shadow Caravan. Beyond that, however, the man was a stranger to me.
This didn't absolve him of any suspicion, of course. Novos had a vast network of spies, many of them I had obviously never met. And, supposedly, he even had a few skinchangers in their ranks.
The possibility that this was tied to the Emperor was not one I could wholly discount. Whatever I said, whatever I did, I'd need to be careful.
The group pulled to a halt by the roadside and the Iudex spent several moments gesturing to the land. All the while the other man nodded, occasionally posing a question.
Until, finally, the two men agreed to a handshake.
I frowned, slowly making my way over. It was Ryuga who noticed first, and there was no joy in his eyes as he looked upon me. "Ah. It seems you are a trendsetter, Master Amon," he said.
The bespectacled man blinked at me. "Oh. I was told I was not the first westman to want to move out here," he said. His accent was... strange, when the Babel stone got to translating him. Not from any Novosian land, or even Rhondian.
I stared up at him, racking my brain for a moment. "Ilgardian?" he asked.
The man chuckled, adopting a bashful smile. "Most astute, good chum. By the grace of our empress, this humble Asquith Gillow now stands before you."
Far west, beyond even the rim of the Rhondian lands, stretched an archipelago of islands which stood loosely united as the Oceania Commonwealth. Ilgard, being the biggest of the bunch, held the most power and sway, and so most folks from those isles were just called Ilgardians by most.
Though I had known a few mercs from the isles who got damn crabby to just be called that.
They were a decent enough people, all the same, if only because they disliked Rhondians a fair bit too.
"Never thought to see an Ilgardian all the way out here," I said. "Call me Eamon." Accents could be faked, I reminded myself, and mercenaries could come from all corners. Nothing so far ruled him out as a threat.
The man hummed, rubbing briefly at his chin. "Well that accent of yours has that coarse Novosian twang to it, even with that magic translating for you. Ha! I ruddy well had to learn my tongues the hard way, but that's what an upbringing in the imperial archives gets you." Or education as a spy, I noted. "Done a runner on that emperor of yours?"
I kept my face level, fought back the spasm of anxious anger that swelled inside of me.
"Not that I could blame you. Hear things are a touch dire in Novosia these days. But, ah, what else is to be expected when your man named the entire landmass after himself, eh?"
I frowned at him. "Why are you here, Asquith?" I asked, trying to sound more politely curious than murderously inquisitive.
"Hm? Ah! Well I am what you might call an alchemist. I work closely with the Shadow Caravan, making droughts and potions to sell on. Now the goal is to open a shop here and sell my wares to the locals, and the sailors. It's quite fascinating, eastern alchemy. We in the west primarily sell potions and oils but they do most of their alchemy as pills of all things!"
His tone made it clear that he did indeed, somehow, find all of this very fascinating.
"But why here, specifically?" I asked.
"Oh, well, close to the coast old chum!" Asquith grinned broadly. "The goal was originally to set up shop a little further north, in the port town of Tsaile but er... well the place was sacked by demons, if you can believe it."
"Yokai," Ryuga said calmly.
“Of course, of course,” the Ilgardian replied. “Nasty business, truly, and a damn shame that we lost out on such prime land. But no land is without its qualms. Why, when the fog rises up in the Commonwealth, it means the Lurks are liable to raid our shores!”
I frowned. I’d heard a few mariner’s tales about the waters of the Commonwealth, and the queer misshapen fish people who occasionally rose up from the mire. I’d probably prefer demons to such critters any day of the week.
“At any rate, the land here is just as good. Particularly with more merchants now braving the southern roads. Heard some madwoman killed the bandits and monsters.”
“Madwoman is right,” I muttered. But I did have to respect Yomi just a bit. “So, that’s it then? Just... spreading the strands of business?”
Asquith’s grin broadened. Then he flicked his hand up in a magician’s flourish, and suddenly he had a gin wedged between each of his splayed fingers. “Indeed. I’m here to serve a force more powerful than any magic, more potent and widespread than any deity... I am here in service to almighty Capitalism.”
I grunted. I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but... so far I had no reason to doubt him. Even so I would be keeping an eye on the man. If he really was all the way from Ilgard, it was possible he knew little about the Wight beyond tales and songs, none of which could have been seen as wholly accurate. So long as a person wasn’t Novosian or Rhondian, it gave me some measure of comfort.
But I’d watch Asquith like a hawk, and at the first sign of trouble from him I’d... well I wasn’t sure how I’d do it, but I’d remove any potential obstacle to the life I was building out here.
“We did have need of an apothecary, and you certainly had an abundance of coin with which to buy this land and the materials for your shop. I can supply labourers, though that shall cost you a little extra,” Ryuga said, shifting about in the saddle. His bird leaned low, pecking curiously at the dirt. “A new farmer, and now an alchemist... I trust you will be a responsible resident, Master Asquith.”
“Surprised you’re so fine with another foreigner moving in,” I said, sparing the older man a glance.
He shrugged, his eyes betraying nothing. “There is no law against it, and he paid adequately. Particularly when he was only interested in a piece of roadside land. Besides... he strikes me as a man who will not be particularly troublesome.”
Unlike you, was the unspoken part of the statement. But I held no grudge against the man for his unease. Doubtless I’d nearly given him conniptions after that incident with the Snake Flower, and even killing Inumi had probably earned me some measure of relief from his initial annoyance.
“Well then,” Asquith said, chuckling and dipping into a low bow. “Seems the two of us shall be neighbours. Two outsiders living on the outside of the village, ha!”
I grunted, turning and slowly making back for my farm. “It was good to meet you.” I could only hope he wouldn’t give me reason to kill him.
I still wasn’t sure what to make of him, being totally honest. Maybe it was nothing, just some random outsider wafted to Tiode on the breeze. I would hardly call his story an implausible one. But that was part of being a spy, wasn’t it? Making some compelling, believable lie for whatever fake identity you had chosen?
Subtlety had never been my speciality, but I understood it.
Whatever his story was, I’d learn the truth of it.I had to hope that I was being merely paranoid, and that Asquith was everything he said he was.
Why had the gods conspired to make my life a nonstop chore?