Vol. 2, Ch. 89: Mind Your Manors!
Hadley saw the distortion of her target before the arrow even loosed, and was already searching the tree line again as the arrow bored into a harmless log.
As she expected, a decoy. She hasn't seen that ability used in a while; it was a basic ability, an oldie but goodie, when used strategically. She saw the observer, blending with the forest underfoliage and brushing past it as though the forest itself was moving to accompany them.
She slung the bow over her shoulder and sprinted toward the target, with Jurik trailing behind. She could just make out matted, dirty hair covered in leaves and vines, the vegetation continuously changing depending on what they were closest to. They also wore a tight-fitting tunic similar to what she’d expect from a hunter or someone who needed to move quickly with good weather protection.
[Decoys], plus [Chameleon Camouflage]? Definitely a hunter or a stealth expert. But no offensive capabilities.
The person stumbled over a root, slowing down and swerving through a narrow path through densely packed trees. Hadley slid through with a leg-first slide, feeling scratchy branches tug at her arms and hair, but she was gaining on them.
Hadley could hear the ragged breathing and a higher-pitched voice–this person was practically a kid or a teen, with the way they kept glancing back.
They stumbled again, ricocheting off a tree trunk. Hadley took one of the alchemical arrows Neska had prepared for her, her aim snapped at that one window of opportunity, and fired ahead of the figure, embedding into a tree just as they passed by.
The arrowhead exploded into a cloud of foam, drawing a shout of surprise from the figure, too late trying to avoid it, and ran into the rapidly expanding foam, the strands tugging and slowing them down. They stumbled into the foam, scrabbling as it hardened and arrested their movements.
“No, no, let me go!” a female voice cried out. “I didn’t do anything!”
Hadley crossed the distance, confident that the person wasn’t able to free themselves from the foam, and their torso and legs were currently encased in it. They clawed at it, trying to free themselves, panic strength proving insufficient.
“Hey, hey! Slow down! You get that gummed in your hair, I’ll have to cut it off. That’s going to be pleasant for no one,” Hadley said sternly, marching up to the prone figure. The girl with tangled brown hair and dirt-stained cheeks stared back at her, bewildered.
“You shot at me! With arrows!”
“Well, yes. But if I wanted to hit you, I wouldn’t have hit the decoys to reveal your true position. Or used an alchemical locking foam,” she said, slinging her bow over her shoulder. The girl stopped trembling, looking at her wild-eyed. “I just need to ask you a few questions.”
“You could have just asked me!” she snapped. “Why are you digging up a griffin corpse?”
“Why are you skulking around like an assassin, and how did you know it was there?” Hadley asked sternly, hands on her hips. “Look, I am not going to hurt you. You can cut through that foam with any runic dagger, or with great difficulty using any ordinary blade.”
The girl tilted her head to the side, no longer heaving for breath. She still looked slightly apprehensive. “Who are you?”
“We’re soldiers. We’ve been assigned to the academy in recent days, and we’re conducting an investigation that happens to involve the griffin you just mentioned.” Jurik approached so silently that Hadley almost missed him, except for the slightly labored breathing. He had his weapons stowed away, and he knelt by the girl. “What’s your name?”
The girl looked at them, her flighty expression on her face becoming calmer, less animated. “Rose. You two?”
“I’m Hadley. He’s Jurik,” she introduced the two of them. “What are you even doing out here?”
“Hunting?” the girl pointed at the dead rabbits now tossed in the dirt. The girl tugged at the foam, then let out a groan. “Look, if I tell you what I saw, can I go?”
“Do you have a place nearby? Hell, where are your parents?"
“W-well, you see…” she trailed off, clicking her fingers together anxiously. “Our home is a cabin, me, pa, and mama, down the road in that little village by the path branching off to the manor. We’re uh…not supposed to be here. It’s Lord Marisano’s land, which means he could skin me like I would skin these rabbits for the audacity of hunting for food.”
Hadley’s brow furrowed. Animals of the wild didn't belong to anyone. It was such an arrogant assertion that she couldn't stay silent. “Is that so? Wow, I have even less of an–”
“Hadley,” Jurik said in a stern tone. She took the hint and chose to stop. “Rose, did you happen to see what happened? Did you see the griffin in flight? Did you see anyone riding it?”
“No. I was hunting two days ago, crack of dawn, maybe a little before. I was up there in a tree, looking for rabbits or even some game hens," she said, pointing to a large gnarled tree visible through a hole in the canopy with numerous branches to climb. "I heard a scream like something dying. I froze, because, ya know, the Varadur hunt and eat little girls, so I stayed hidden."
"They eat anyone, sadly," Jurik said with disgust. "What happened next?"
"When I was up there, 'fraid to move, I saw two big blokes in leather armor bring the griffin into the clearing with a cart. It was already dead. One was cut and bitching that his arm would fall off.
Rose drew her finger across her throat in an ominous gesture. “I saw the thing, its throat cut from one side to the other. I didn't dare move. So there I was, hiding in a tree because I’d heard the poor thing die. Then the two of them started digging a hole and buried the griffin. I heard the man still cursing about his injury.”
The girl looked at both of them, head snapping back and forth. “Why would someone do that to their mount? It looked like a Lord’s mount or a city griffin. Please don’t tell the lord, sir. I’ll be good–”
Jurik knelt and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Rose, you’re okay. No one is going to hunt you down for what I view as a nonsensical rule that says you can’t hunt. But why here? And why come back?"
“Game hunting is good here. You’ve got the stream and the transitions between forest and meadow. Lots of game animals to be had. Plus, the rabbits eat the wild berries in summer, easy pickings,” she said, gesturing to a small thorny bush filled with red and black clustered berries.
“Can you tell me what the two men looked like?” Jurik pulled out a parchment pad and a nub of charcoal.
Rose took a slow breath as Hadley cut the foam away. “The two men who were here? They were humans. One man with dark hair, ratty-looking, thin face, almost gaunt. He’s the one who got his arm ripped. I couldn’t make out who it was, because they took off in a hurry after they finished digging and excavating using some spell wizardry. Not just that shovel they had.
Jurik kept writing, but Hadley saw his eyes narrow as he did. "The second guy was a big barrel of a man, strong, he could almost lift the whole griffin on his own! He had tiny beady eyes and short blonde hair. Looked more ogre than man,” the girl said. “All scarred on his face, too, like he’d fought a bear, one big gouge going over one eye.”
“Have you seen them before?”
She scoffed. “No. But the lord has people going in and out all the time, all hours of the day. Hell, all I know is that the Lord is big like a boar. Haven't seen him in person though. Lords rarely visit town, think it's beneath them."
“So, none of the tribal clans? No reptiloids or drakeans?” Jurik pressed. “Any uniforms or insignias?”
Rose glanced around the forest, leaning forward while Hadley finished cutting the sticky strands on one leg. She had to commend Neska; this foam was a great non-lethal option…if somewhat messy.
Rose continued. “One man had the Lord’s insignia on his armor. Really prominent that one, it looks like a monstrous boar, mounted on their leather armors. Kind of ironic, innit, that Lord Marisano is described like a big, fat boar!” she let out an anxious titter of laughter, then clapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was bad, I shouldn’t have said that. Its just what I've heard. I also heard he's smart tho, invents things when he isn't doing lording things. That ain't lordly at all, being a creator!"
Hadley turned her head to avoid giving away the grin threatening to emerge on her face. “It’s okay, we’re not judging. Though the boar is a common family crest. Annnd…that’s it. You might need to put solvents on the rest. According to our witch,” she said as she got the rest of the strands free.
Rose let out a disgusted sound, wiping her hands. “Pa is gonna kill me when he sees this mess. I should go. I only tripped because I panicked, and I got my class two months ago. One day I’ll be a proper ranger, fleet of foot and a ghost of the wilds!” She declared proudly.
“Hey, thank you. Rose, if you see these men again, act like you don’t recognize them. I think they may be dangerous,” Jurik cautioned. He pulled out a few coins and held them out. “If anybody asks, you didn't see us out here, and if you see them, definitely don't interact with them. I fully plan to get to the bottom of this."
She took the coins, eyes wide. “Sir, these are gold pieces; this info can't be worth that! I can't accept this.”
“It's worth it to me. People who display cruelty to such beautiful creatures need to face consequences for their actions,” Jurik said firmly. “Stick to the woods. If we have time, we'll visit on the way back.”
“Okay. T-thank you, Sir Jurik,” she said, bowing slightly before picking up her rabbits, brushing them off, and making her way through the forest. Within a minute, she was out of sight.
“You know, she's lying about something,” Hadley said sternly.
"I know. I think she's scared, but not sure of what, yet. By the way, those coins are a small magical item of mine that I used from time to time. If I'm within a mile of them, I can hear what anybody is saying on the other end; it's a one-way arcane relay, miniaturized,” he explained.
"What'd you use those for?"
Goblins, to listen in when I was behind the frontlines. They're greedy little things. I may have also filled some of the coins with a powerful explosive that blew their hands off when I left it lying around."
Hadley frowned. “Damn, you are savage, Jurik. Anyone ever tell you that?"
"You, apparently. Don't worry, I want to see if I can listen in later."
Jurik’s gaze remained on the patch of woods the girl went toward. “I held off telling you because I needed to see that her reaction was genuine. In the meantime, let's head to the manor.”
“What's our plan now? There's enough here to suggest that Marisano is aiding and abetting the assassin.”
“What we have is that two men buried a griffin that belonged to the academy, though they removed the saddle. We don't have a direct link to the assassin.” Jurik frowned and glanced back at the body. “I need your dagger. And the most watertight pack you have.”
Hadley grimaced. She knew where this was going. “Tell me you're not bringing a piece of that thing back with us.” She didn't hesitate to hand him her hunting dagger, however.
Jurik looked resigned to his ghoulish task ahead. “The corpse is about two days old, a little less. Neska or another witch could use it as a focal for another diagnostic or to commune with the dead. Little bits of souls get left behind that don't make it to the Umbral Shoal.”
Hadley shook her head as he began his gruesome task. “You bring our lamia the nicest gifts, Jurik, truly.”
“Bag, please. Before this stench makes me nauseous.”
Hadley had her hands on her hips, looking up at the display of opulence and wealth that this Lord still maintained, even in the middle of an existential crisis.
She'd grown up poor and couldn't imagine having a house with two floors, let alone three. The tan brickwork looked immaculate, with a small cylindrical tower on one side topped with a domelike structure. Several shell-like doors formed one portion of the dome. If her memory served her…it contained a scope to observe the stars.
“This guy has his own observatory. Rich bastard,” Hadley muttered.
“To be fair, I think it's been here a while, and I can't fault scientific curiosity,” Jurik said in an assurance she felt wasn't needed. She was more focused on the overall appearance, which dripped with splendor. A brick and iron rail fence surrounded the entire estate, with a heavily reinforced gate leading out. Small green hedges served as a deterrent against visibility from the outside looking inward. She could make out a barn filled with horses, along with what she swore was a dracoranth.
Nope, her eyes didn’t deceive her. The roughly half-dragon, half-bird creature with batlike wings was parading about in the pen, with a handler training it and occasionally tossing bits of meat to it, which it greedily gulped down. This mount was highly prized and highly valuable, owing to its carrying capacity and intelligence. If well cared for, they could outlive their owners and handlers.
She also noticed two armed men approaching the gate, one of them coming out an access side door that could fit a single person through at a time. He was square-jawed, clean-shaven, and definitely not like the two people Rose had described, nor was his fellow guardsman, with ashen blonde hair and a lighter frame. “State your business, please. Lord Marisano is not seeing guests at this hour,” the man said stiffly, as if he'd said a lot lately.
Jurik leaned in, wearing a polite smile. “We're here on business from the academy. We'd like to talk to Lord Marisano about his son. You must have heard that there was an attack on one of the professors, did you not?”
The guard squinted and peered at him closer, as if trying to discern a lie. “Yeah, I might have heard about it. I thought it was handled. So why are you here?”
“We're currently on an investigative effort to assure all the significant contributors to the academy that all is well. We're also investigating a missing mount. A griffin, specifically. It happened to fly in this direction, last we checked. Though we lost sight of it in the nighttime hours.”
The guard shook his head. “Don't know anything about any griffin. Who sent you?”
“Headmistress Resalio insisted that we come in person to offer assurances and that we were looking to inquire with the Lords and determine if there were any grudges held against them, or their children.” Jurik handed him the handwritten notes from Resalio, cosigned by Gorovich. “Her line of thinking was that if a professor was attacked, students could be next. I understand that Marisano’s son Trevor is attending at present.”
The man rolled his eyes at the mention of the student's name. “You know, the Lord has two sons and two daughters, and Little Lord Travor is only one of 'em. He’s got his head stuck in the clouds. He says, ‘I'm right off to the academy to become a wizard.’ Ten gold says he dies in five minutes of facing a real monster, that one.”
Hadley coughed softly to get his attention. “I presume that's your opinion and not, say…” She trailed off.
The man shrugged. “Nah, that's the words right out of the old boar's mouth. I ain't saying anything that he hasn’t said about a dozen times a day. He worries about 'em more now. Years ago, you couldn't get him to come out of his tinker shop to do actual lording stuff."
The guard handed back the papers, seemingly satisfied, then turned to the gate and unlocked it. “Well then, I suppose you should come in, considering you came a long way. Do you need to stable the horses? I’ll get the errand boy to take care of it.”
Jurik glanced at his pack, and Hadley inwardly shuddered. She very much preferred that they did not handle the horses, and her [False Scent] ability wasn’t infallible, yet. That severed head wouldn’t smell like pack feed for the horses indefinitely, and if anyone opened that pack, that would raise questions. Jurik had successfully argued they should take the head before anyone could return and destroy evidence.
She wondered why they hadn't burned it or used acid. She also noticed something else: there were several stable spots, including one for the draocranth. She also and spotted a few errant white feathers in the stable area. They did match the dracoranth's feather color, but their size was larger.
Interesting. Our griffin, maybe? She'd taken a few of the feathers; maybe she could compare them.
“I can do it on my own. But thank you, I appreciate the hospitality. I’m just used to being self-sufficient.”
They brought the horses in, and stabled them with the guard leaning against a railing, cleaning his nails and not paying attention. Once the horses were stabled, Hadley knelt as if to tighten up her boot and examined the feathers on the ground, pocketing one when no one was looking.
The feather didn't appear to match the griffin feather; she'd have to look at them side by side, later.
The guard brought them to the front door. "Oh, that reminds me, can I see those badges again?"
Hadley and Jurik showed him their lapels. The guard peered at them again, nodding approvingly. “Yeah, I’ve seen those. I know they’re protected against counterfeiting. Alright then, onward! Oh, you'll have to leave your weapons here. You can pick them up on the way out.”
No one separates me from my weapons. Hadley saw Jurik give a slow nod before he handed his sword and bow to them. She reluctantly did the same, but kept the boot dagger. No need to alert the guard to her [Always Prepared] ability, which allowed her to make any single small item effectively disappear, except by higher-level magical detection.
It wasn't as absurd as one of the various [Inventory] abilities she had heard of before, and she was tempted to take one. Unfortunately, they were also only available at Tier three on most classes, or Tier 2 for the rogue.
Lucky them. She could find countless practical uses for a mobile inventory like that.
Soon, they were walking up the steps to the manor, with black and white tiled stone forming the entryway, the walls made of polished wood and molded panelling. Hadley found it distasteful–how much effort and money went into decorating this place? Likely more than she’d ever see in her life. Money that could have been funding the war.
The guardsmen opened the double doors, revealing a large foyer with a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. Large windows were accented at the stairwell landing, with bright sunlight shining through the pristine-looking glass.
She knew magicite glass was hard to come by, and all the windows in this house were made of it–nearly as strong as steel and impact resistant, owing to the multiple layers of transparent resin holding it together between the plates. A housemaid was scrubbing away at something on the floor that looked like mud. She seemed to be quite panicked, as if she wasn't cleaning fast enough.
She couldn’t find it in her to admire the lavish furnishing. Nor the paintings mounted on the wall, or a marble bust depicting what looked to be Ouroboros, snarling as if he intended to devour the world, in the area flanked by the spiral staircase. Fortunately, that monster wouldn't succeed, given his status as a statue. Plush carpet was placed strategically, appearing more comfortable than some of the beds Hadley had slept in. It depicted a geometric pattern of green, blue, and black tessellations.
The guardsmen quickly motioned to the housemaid, saying in a low tone, “Can you inform the Lord? We have guests. From the academy. I didn't get your names, by the way.”
“Corporal Hadley Feywind, and this is Lieutenant Jurik Lorinne,” Hadley introduced the two of them. The servant girl bowed sharply, then hurried into another adjacent room, where Hadley could make out faint discussions between two people. It wasn't enough to make out what they were saying, but she could make out at least two male voices.
The guard folded his arms, looking at each of them in turn. “How come you ain't wearing academy uniforms?”
Jurik pointed to his lapel. “New operating policy. After the attack, Major Gorovich declared that personnel on travel were to wear discreet uniforms when leaving the premises. The assailant may or may not be a Varadur infiltrator, and there are still holdouts of various factions with grudges against Valos. He was concerned that opportunists may target individuals of the academy.” Jurik showed the lapel again. “They act like a communicator. Have you ever seen one of these?”
The guard laughed. "Yeah, I've seen those fancy toys, but I don't personally feel like I need 'em. Lungs work just fine.”
Within a moment, the servant girl returned and bowed slightly. "Lord Marisano will see you now.”
Jurik nodded, and Hadley followed the serving girl into a large parlor filled with the faint scent of tobacco. Fresh, too. A large table set with a few refreshments stood at one end, the table made of dark oak. It was about as expensive as it was durable, which was to say, very.
The girl bowed slightly. “Lord Marisano, may I introduce Corporal Hadley and Lieutenant Jurik.”
Hadley's attention drifted to the two men. The first one could only be the lord himself–a towering man wide around the middle, but also packed with muscles across his body. He had greasy black hair and a prominent, groomed handlebar mustache. He had dark eyes, and his doublet and pantaloons spoke of sophistication, made of durable, comfortable materials, possibly manufactured by magitech or skilled hands. A thinner, darker-haired man who looked quite young and thin-faced stood silently--and looked very much like his father, if she had to hazard a guess.
And, strangely, a bandage was wrapped around his forearm, currently rolled back slightly.
The senior man clapped his hands together proudly, looking pleased. “I see the academy has lived up to its reputation: always business,” he said, his voice sounding rich and rolling, never missing a beat. “I'm Lord Renly Marisano, of Renly and Shrute Magitech Holdings. And you two must be here to ask about my adversaries."
She didn't care about the size of his factory. She cared more for the fact that she'd found their griffin killer, standing awkwardly next to his boisterous father.