Can't Kill a Dead Man (1/2)
Moments later, Ria is kicking her feet and squealing at the top of her lungs in joy. "I'm flying! Let's go faster!"
Meanwhile, Galla is looking at the ground dozens of feet below him with a face that looks like it wants to carpet-bomb the forest with vomit.
All the while, Haalfrin is flying beside the two of them. He just looks over and shrugs, "Well, the boy's uncomfortable, the girl wants us to go faster, and I have things to do. Mind as well speed things up.
The next instant, Haalfrin, and the children zoom past the forest at twice the speed.
At this breakneck speed, it only takes a few minutes to get back to their village, and only a moment after that to land safely at Randel's house.
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Lia is still at home, anxiously cleaning things that don't need to be cleaned as she waits for some news.
Randel, however, is calmly beating a carpet on the front porch. On the inside, Randel certainly feels a lot more level-headed than his wife.
In his mind, getting more anxious than you need to be is a terrible idea. Fear makes you muddle-headed, and being muddle-headed gets you to make horrible mistakes. Making horrible mistakes while your children are in danger is unforgivable.
This is the real reason Randel chose to stay behind while Haalfrin went off to rescue his children for him. He knows he'd get in Haalfrin's way not only because he's not strong like a mage or trained in investigation like Hanalee, but he's also a potential liability with his emotional instability at the moment.
Since Randel is outside, he's the first to hear his little girl screeching out, "Again, again!" from the garden on the other side of the house. He and his wife both run out and sees their two children… tied up to a spear.
The parents don't know what the ropes were for, but at least the children are here. "Galla! Ria!" Lia calls out as she runs towards them.
Haalfrin nods at the parents really quick, and Randel extends a handshake with tears in his eyes. "Thank you."
Seeing that everything's fine, Haalfrin knows that it's time to make use of those confession letters he made Borin write before his death…
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Haalfrin makes sure to enjoy a full, hardy meal before he sets out towards the baron's estate again; he needs to replenish those calories and his mana reserves as fast as possible.
Despite eating the rest of the buck Randel hunted the other day as well as resting for an hour, Haalfrin's mana reserves haven't quite replenished yet. No matter. It's time to get this business with the Syndicate over with.
Upon arriving at the baron's estate again, Haalfrin is surprised at how clean the place looks. The blood splashes on the walls are all gone and… 'Wait, where did the bodies go? Was she really able to move them all?'
Haalfrin walks a little further and looks to the side. 'Oh. She just moved them to the side a little behind the bushes.'
He walks inside the doors and sees Hanalee lounging on a couch with her arm over her dead tired face.
As Haalfrin approaches her, she points to a pigeon cage on the other side of the room and says, "I got that from the Baron's room. That's the messenger pigeon he uses to talk to the syndicate. Probably didn't want to use magic to eliminate traces."
Haalfrin walks over to the messenger pigeon, which already has the baron's confession letter rolled up on its leg. "Oh. Good job… Also, you should probably rest up in the basement or something; it might get loud up here."
"Sure…"
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Unless it's time for a meeting, most of the Algori Syndicate shareholders won't be in the same place.
And so, when the carrier pigeon arrives at its designated location, one of the mage lackeys is there to receive the letter, then give it to Halban – the shareholder stationed at the safe house near the border.
The Algori Syndicate needs one of its chief decision makers at this hideout just in case they get a message from the baron. After all, despite being active in other provinces, Baron Borin is their chief tool in getting across the border safely. Communication with him is very important.
Thus, it only takes a few minutes after the pigeon arrives for Halban to tear open the letter. As he reads it, his eyes go wide with rage. "You!" he shouts at the bandit beside him, "Go gather the men! Get them armed and ready!"
Just before the man runs off, Halban stops him. "Wait!" he corrects himself, "We don't have enough time. Just get all the mages and make sure the horses are fed and ready to go. If there aren't enough horses, then leave some people behind."
Obviously, with Borin having the threat of another confession letter to the Alasta royal family, none of them can afford to waste time!
Once the young bandit scampers off, Halban reaches into his pocket and pulls out 4 far speak medallions – each linked with each of the other shareholders. They have to know of Baron Borin's betrayal!
As Halban notified each of his colleagues about this emergency, they all choose to stay silent and defer to Kirst, as he's still their leader.
When Kirst is notified, he replies with silent anger in his voice, "Meet me just outside the baron's gate. Don't go in alone. I'll also tell Rist and Gruda to stay behind. Our opponent is Haalfrin, and those 2 could easily die to that man."
… On the other hand, Rist and Gruda come from wealthy families, so Kirst really can't afford to let them die – otherwise, some important connections would be lost.
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A few hours later Kirst, Falkri, Halban, and 4 1st gate mages meet up in the woods outside the baron's estate. After they all get there, Kirst fills them in on his plan.
"Now," he explains, "All of you people here are mages, and mages are expensive; I'd rather not lose you all here."
One of the young bandits scratches his head stupidly and mutters, "Aw. Thanks."
"So," Kirst continues, "We're going to try to NOT confront Sir Haalfrin as much as possible. That man's too dangerous. I mean, we might be able to defeat him if we all ganged up on him, but that would cost too many lives.
"Instead, us 3 2nd gate mages will distract the man just long enough for you three," Kirst says as he points at the other 3 bandits, "get inside and assassinate the baron. Halban has already checked the premises before you all got here, and the baron's carriage is still here… which means he's still here."
Kirst looks over the other 5 men present. "Any questions?"
Falkri suggests, "What if the baron's not in there, or there's an ambush waiting inside for the others inside?"
"Right." Kirst agrees. He then points to Falkri, "Since us 3 shareholders are going to be together, give up your far speak medallion to your friends over there. Make sure you give them the medallion linked to mine. That way they can keep us updated on the situation inside."
Kirst looks around again. "Looks like we're already. Let's head out."
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The 6 rogues creep closer to the estate, and they spend a few minutes using magical detection magic to check for traps, as well as scouting out to see what kind of defense measures the baron set up for himself.
Of course, during Haalfrin's wait, he and Hanalee had lit the candles all around the mansion come dusk time in order to make it seem like the place is still occupied.
Even still, Kirst feels the place is a little too quiet, and his gut tells him that something is seriously wrong.
To make his instincts scream even harder, they all notice that Haalfrin, clad in full battle armor and an open-faced helmet, is sitting on a rock right in front of the front gate. On his knees is resting a sword, and strapped to his right arm is a shield. Behind the man rests dozens of random weapons impaled in the ground.
Of course, Kirst actually has no idea of the significance of these weapons. Everyone who's seen Haalfrin's tempest of weapons either died to them or chose to never spread the word about it (like Kalastros).
Rather, it's something else about the lone man that bothers Kirst. "Why isn't he hiding?" he wonders. "Wouldn't it have been better to ambush us?"
Seeing Haalfrin openly revealing his location just makes Kirst more convinced there's another ambush waiting inside.
…Even still… the baron HAS to die tonight, or their entire business will be ruined! Finding another border noble willing to bend for them is practically impossible, since the relevant nobles are either straight-laced, or they already have their own syndicates in their pockets… Meaning they have no need for the Algori.
Knowing this is their last shot, Kirst calls for the attack anyway.
Slowly, Kirst, Falkri, and Halban circle around Haalfrin and prepare to strike him all at once. They even take special measures to enchant their clothing to remove body heat.
This is because one of the main ways mages can be aware of their surroundings is by casting a spell over their eyes to adjust the frequency of light their eyes are sensitive to. By lowering the frequency to the infrared side of the light spectrum, you can see hot things (like fire and warm-blooded animals, such as humans) quite clearly in the dark.
Of course… this is a more specialized form of alchemy, and since Haalfrin hasn't gotten his Fel Name yet, he wouldn't be quite ready to pull this spell off.
Unfortunately for the 3 bandits, Haalfrin has been aware of their location this whole time because he's using a lesser-known version of detection; it's a form of spiritual sight that his master learned from the native Beast people tribes on the other side of the world gate.
Since spirit threads are normally invisible to people, Haalfrin, being able to see these threads this whole time, is also able to tell where people are - even seeing through walls and other physical obstructions.
Thus, Haalfrin sees several glowing golden auras sneaking futilely through the underbrush. Of course, live spirits have a golden aura, so Haalfrin doesn't have to worry about these being any left behind ghosts or something instead of bandits.
Just as the bandits are about to leap out, Haalfrin swivels his head towards Kirst and shouts out with a grin on his face, "FINALLY!"