The Kingmaker System-Chapter 41 - 40. A Mage And A Knight (3)

I returned to my room in the inn and lay down on the bed contemplating the next step. The information that I had gotten from Darren was regarding the hint that Silas had given me when we were talking about me improving my Magic.

I asked Darren and he ended up telling me that the thing on Silas’s mind lately was the request that the Mage’s Tower had received from the North Duchy.

I managed to coax it out of Darren that the North requested a Mage to go to North to help them subdue the monsters. I had an underlying thought that they might also be thinking of looking for a way to locate the Grand Duke and Duchess, Davian might be hoping to get help in looking for them.

There were two clear possibilities: the Grand Duke and his wife might have been caught up in the blizzard and froze to death and their bodies might just be buried under the snow or fallen into the crevices that formed when avalanches happened. Or, they might be alive somewhere but their time might just be limited.

I didn’t want to think about any of these possibilities as getting entangled in it meant I would have to do extra work than what was meant.

Marquis Fairisles, my Grandfather had agreed to help me shelter Prince Eric and get involved into the royal family business only on the condition that I would become his successor. I agreed to it since I could always use more power and wealth for the future purposes.

It was a request from him that I look into the matters of North and help Davian if I could, and I couldn’t say no because I knew I had to gain more strong allies for the future when I would need them.

The morning appeared quicker than I thought and after cleaning up and changing into a navy blue shirt and black pants, I was about to leave my room when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called as I stretched my arms up hearing the satisfying pops as I turned checking my pocket watch and spoke up, naturally thinking that none other than Lyall was allowed to come to me at seven sharp.

"Bring me my tea and some light breakfast, also, how are your wounds?"

I turned to look at the door and found the grey-headed knight from the previous night standing there.

"Oh, I thought it was my attendant."

"May we talk now?" He asked.

I heard another set of footsteps and Lyall appeared beside the knight.

"Master, I’m here."

He already had a tray with my breakfast and tea in his hands.

"Great work." I smiled and he walked in, I looked at the knight who still stood at the door.

"Would you like to have some tea, Sir...?"

"Calix Adler." He said and I nodded.

"Sir Adler, please come inside and have a seat."

I sat down on the edge of the small bed and Sir Adler sat down on the chair while Lyall kept standing.

"How are your injuries, Lyall?"

"I got them treated," He showed me his bandaged arms and I hummed lightly before picking up the sandwich that he had brought.

Lyall poured the tea for me and Sir Adler while I eyed his arms, getting hurt would end up costing his performance but I couldn’t keep healing him all the time he got hurt.

"What is your name?" Sir Adler asked and I looked at him.

"I’m Ocean and this is my attendant Lyall." I gestured at Lyall.

Sir Adler seemed slightly on edge as he eyed me. He was dressed in a thick tunic with layers of clothing, brown trousers and black boots with his short dark grey hair tousled messily over his head and his sharp blue eyes assessing me.

"Did you come from the Mage’s Tower?" He asked and I smiled.

"I work on my own." I answered and he frowned.

"Are you from the Mage’s Tower or not?"

I sipped the tea as I eyed him, "I’d rather not answer that."

"Why is that?"

I cleared my throat as I asked him instead, "So, what was that yesterday? I only heard that there are frequent monster attacks that happen in the forest or in the mountains but they happen in the towns as well?"

"It’s wintertime so the monsters tend to come into the town looking for food." He said, "We are always on standby in case such a thing happens but we happened to get late last night, I am thankful that you helped save everyone."

"Are there usually casualties because of that?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"It’s troublesome," Lyall mumbled.

"It indeed is. But if you are not from the Mage’s Tower then why are you here?" Sir Adler looked at both of us with a suspicious look.

"Is it a rule that travellers can’t come to the North?"

"It’s not that but..."

"Well, we’re here for our personal reason anyways so maybe us running into each other was going to happen someday."

"Pardon?"

"I and my attendant are here for training and what would be better than the wilderness of the North where the rogue shifters run wild?"

Sir Adler’s eyes grew sharper at my words and he spoke, "You think just because you defeated a few wolves you could stand a chance against those beasts? We risk our lives every day to make sure that these monsters don’t attack the people and most of my men have ended up dead or crippled."

"I apologise if that sounded offending but I don’t have any intention of condescending you or your men’s efforts."

Sir Adler sighed and I pushed his teacup to him, he quietly picked it up and started drinking it.

"Are you the Captain of the Knights of the Seraphs?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I’m the Vice-Captain."

Vice-Captain, that would be close to the position I had in my past life.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Sir Adler asked and I shook my head.

"Just recalled something," I answered, "Besides, what did you want to talk about so desperately? Was it only regarding me being from the Mage’s Tower or not?"

Sir Adler licked his lips once before he said, "I assumed you might be sent from the Mage’s Tower so, I asked that and if you two are here to fight the monsters then..."

"Then?"

"Would you like to aid us?"

"Aid you?"

"Yes, we are looking for a Mage who could help us during the situations like the one that happened last night." He said and I nibbled on my sandwich as I eyed him.

"And, what do I get for that?"

"You will be paid accordingly."

"How much?"

"Approximately 1, 000 gold in total."

1k gold was a great amount, but then again, I earn three times that much at Oasis and my pocket money is 100, 000 gold so, I didn’t know if it was good or bad.

"Approximately?"

"Yes, I can’t guarantee you since you will be paid by the Lord of this place."

"The Grand Duke you mean?"

"Yes."

"What do you say, Lyall?" I asked making Lyall look at me with slight surprise in his eyes.

"Pardon?"

"Would you like to go ahead or do you want what we are doing?" I asked him.

"I’d go with whatever decision you make, Master."

"I guess it doesn’t hurt to make some money then," I spoke with a smile, "but, I’d like to talk with your Lord before that and correct the approximate amount into something solid."

"All right." He agreed and then stood up.

"Please prepare to leave, you will be going with us to the Frosthail castle."

After a few minutes, Lyall and I stepped out of the inn and were met with the people of the small town that had gathered to bid us a farewell.

"We are really grateful for your help last night." The head of the town Tom said.

"You are our saviours." freewebnøvel.com

"Thank you so much for saving us."

It was kind of awkward to listen people express their gratitude like this as I wasn’t used to praises or hearing thank yous. Besides, it wasn’t like I did something huge, Lyall was there for help too and he’d gotten hurt while I was unscathed.

[Defender of Divine Glory finds your humility endearing.]

"Stop it, you’re embarrassing me even more."

[Goddess of Wisdom laughs and calls you adorable.]

"Are you two babying me right now?" I asked.

[Defender of Divine Glory clarifies that in presence of them you are indeed an infant.]

[Goddess of Wisdom asks what kind of toy do you like.]

"I like a gun." I answered her.

Just then the kid whom I had seen last night ran up to me holding bun in his hand.

"S-Sir, I ma-made this for you." He stuttered with his face flushed and a huge grin lighting up his round eyes.

There were some burn marks on his fingers and I could see that he had worked hard for it.

I ruffled his brown hair and took the bun, "Thank you, Pel."

His grin grew even more radiant as I remembered his name and further ate the bun which tasted quite soft and tasty.

"It’s tasty!" I smiled and kept noticing the burn marks on his hands.

I didn’t like anyone else getting hurt for my sake, let alone a child.

After finishing the bun, I held his hands in mine and casted the healing spell as I smiled at him.

"Take care of yourself and your mother." I said.

"Let’s get going now." Sir Adler called and I let go of Pel’s hands.

He looked at his healed hands and then at me, I gave him a wink before I started walking towards the horse that I was going to take.

"Tha-Thank you, Sir!"

I got on my horse and waved back at him before we started moving.

With that, I set out to see Davian again.