As Nox lay down on a couch in Thorian’s living room, his new partner joined him and sat next to him.
“So you said that you’ve defeated 500 humans in that attack,” Magnus, Nox’s direwolf partner, asked with incredulity. “That is a truly hard number to comprehend. I’ve seen those humans; they were certainly not weak.”
“I was just much faster than them,” Nox replied nonchalantly. “Yeah, they were a bit powerful, but they were uncoordinated. Plus, they were just mad, trying to kill and destroy everything. I don’t think even half of them noticed me approaching in their berserk state.”
“Still, that is very impressive,” Magnus responded. “At first, I agreed to become your partner just because you’re the king’s best friend. But it seems you’re fairly strong too.”
“That was in the past,” Nox shook his head. “I will need to work hard if I want to catch up to my friends. They’ve been growing strong while I was recovering.”
“Then we’re in the same boat,” Magnus smiled. “It took me three days to recover my strength, and by that time, all of the strong officers of the village had already been contracted. As the son of Harald, it would have been shameful for me to partner up with a greenhorn.”
“Then we can grow powerful together,” Nox chuckled.
Hearing that, Magnus smiled before he rested his head on Nox’s shoulder. The two stayed like that for a few moments before Magnus broke the silence. “Since we were talking about humans, I really don’t understand them. Those people who attacked the village before were so insane that I thought their whole species was just mad savages. But now the king has brought others that are docile and reasonable. If I didn’t already know they were humans, I would have thought they were from a different species.”
“I can’t fault you for that,” Nox chuckled. “When the humans attacked our village, I really hated them. I wanted to kill them all. But after talking with Tristan and those two kids, I find it really hard to hate them. I actually want to be their friend.”
Hearing that, Magnus chuckled, “You’re a bit too innocent. But I don’t dislike that about you.”
As they were talking, the door suddenly opened, and Thorian entered. “Seems like you two have already become partners; that’s good to see.”
Seeing Thorian coming, Nox sat up in excitement. “So, will I finally get to go to Locksley?”
“You will,” Thorian responded. “But your task has slightly changed. For now, I just want you to contact Oswald and tell him about his family’s relationship with Nalia. Warn him that things might get ugly if we cannot resolve these matters discreetly.”
Hearing those words, Nox sighed in disappointment. “And here I thought it would be an actual dangerous mission. This is not exciting at all.”
“From the information that I have just gotten, the mission wouldn’t have been just dangerous; it would have been outright suicide,” Thorian responded with a serious voice. “You will still have the chance to infiltrate the Strongheart estate, but you will just need to wait a few hours for that. Nalia and her major officers will enter the dungeons at noon, and that will be your opportunity to rush in.”
“Are they that powerful?” Nox asked, still unconvinced. “But even if they are, as long as I just sneak in without them noticing, it wouldn’t matter.”
“That’s the issue; you cannot sneak in with them present,” Thorian responded with a sigh. “They can sense everything that happens in the mansion. So the moment you step in, they will pinpoint your location.”
Nox’s heart skipped a beat at that revelation before he bit his lower lip. “Now that would have been a big problem.”
“Yeah, it would have,” Thorian responded before gesturing for the two to follow him outside. “Now let’s go. Alacritas is waiting for you, and time is running out.”
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Nox nodded before he followed Thorian alongside Magnus. The group then quickly left the village and rushed toward Locksley, where they found Alacritas waiting for them near the gates.
“Boss, I have been waiting for this day with impatience,” Alacritas walked toward Nox with a wide smile on his face. “Doing missions without you has felt strange. I’m so glad you’re back with us.”
The two hugged each other while Nox heartily laughed, “Sorry about that. But look at you, you’ve grown so big and strong. You’re practically the boss now.”
“No, that was just temporary,” Alacritas shook his head. “Once we challenge the abyss, you’ll catch up to everyone else in no time.”
“I can’t wait for that,” Nox chuckled before looking at Locksley’s gates with a determined look. “But we have a job to do first.”
Nox then looked at Thorian, who gave him a nod. With this confirmation, he followed Alacritas into the city.
As they rushed from one building to the next, Alacritas began his explanation. “Nalia’s men are usually concentrated in the inner citadel, but thankfully, we don’t have to go there yet.”
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“Do you know where Oswald is?” Nox asked with interest. The red-haired young man was his target, and he needed to talk with him first.
“He should be near the town hall, registering his quests,” Alacritas responded. “Usually, this is the time when he begins some expedition outside of Locksley, but today is different. With Tristan gone, the city is basically under lockdown.”
“That makes sense,” Nox nodded. “They have lost their lord and Tristan at the same time; it’s only normal that they’re scared.”
“They’re supposed to elect a new lord very shortly,” Alacritas added. “Most of the nobles are supporting Johannes to become the new lord. It seems that Nalia had a hand in that.”
“I see, so that’s why Thorian is so pressed for time,” Nox stroked his chin in thought. “He doesn’t want Nalia to spread her roots in the city, or else it would be hard to destroy her without waging war on all of Locksley.”
“If that happens, there is no doubt in my mind that we would win,” Alacritas responded. “But I think our lord wants William, Tristan, and the ruling family of Locksley to be indebted to him. This way, they could become our vassals without shedding any blood.”
“That would be amazing if it happened,” Nox chuckled. “Having all of these humans join us would be nice. Plus, we could actually become friends with Tristan and the rest.”
“Your thinking is always so simple, boss,” Alacritas chuckled before he noticed something at the edge of his sight. “Also, it seems we’ve reached our destination.”
As they stopped on top of the roof of a building, they could see Locksley’s plaza below. After looking around, Nox located Oswald coming out of one of the guild buildings that surrounded the town hall.
“Let’s wait for him to go to a less populated place,” Alacritas advised. “It would be too risky to contact him now with so many people around.”
Nodding at Alacritas’s words, Nox waited as Oswald made his way through the plaza. The two assassins then closely followed him as he went through one street after another. The moment he entered an empty alleyway, Nox knew it was time for action.
Jumping into his shadow, Nox immediately appeared from behind Oswald and covered the latter’s mouth with his hand. As Oswald let out muffled sounds and struggled, Nox shushed him. “Stop making noises, I’m not here to hurt you.”
Oswald’s terrified face turned confused at Nox’s declaration.
“Listen,” Nox started. “I will now just be explaining the situation to you. I will not take off my hand because I know you’ll go around screaming. So just listen. If you understand what I say, nod your head; if you don’t, shake it.”
With a nod from Oswald, Nox began his explanation. “First of all, Tristan is not dead. We had to fake his death because all of you dummies were being followed by Nalia’s assassins. You were all going to die there if we hadn't come in time to save you. Do you understand?”
Before Nox could even finish, Oswald shook his head violently. His eyes were full of a mixture of disbelief and suspicion.
Seeing this, Nox sighed, “Well, that is to be expected. It’s a lot to process in one go,” he then furrowed his eyebrows in thought before an idea struck his mind. “Oh, I remember, Tristan told me to pass you a message. Remember the day you spent with him at Jasmine’s restaurant, and that it’s important that you protect the peace you’ve created. I’m not sure what he meant by that, but hey, that should tell you I’m not lying at least. Do you understand?”
There was a moment of silence as Oswald’s struggles stopped. He then slowly nodded his head.
Seeing this, Nox smiled, “Seems like we’re good on that first part. Now, time for the second part. Your family is a bunch of traitors. Nalia’s men protect your mansion more than they protect their own stronghold. We need you to—Ouch!”
Before Nox could continue, Oswald bit his thumb and freed himself from his grasp. “What the hell do you mean that my family is committing treason? Do you understand the weight of your words? My father might be cowardly, but he would never betray Lord William. Not after all the wars they had gone through together.”
While Nox was licking his bitten thumb, Alacritas rushed down from the rooftop, ready to strike Oswald before Nox stopped him. “Wait! Let's just talk.”
With a grumble, Alacritas halted his offensive. “As you wish, boss.”
Nox then looked back at Oswald, who was still on guard against him. He then sighed and said, “Okay, let’s take it slow. Lord William has disappeared, and Tristan was about to be assassinated by Nalia. Now tell me, who is the most likely candidate to become the new Lord of Locksley.”
Hearing that reasoning, Oswald raised his eyebrows and looked down in shock. “It’s my father. All of the nobles are pushing for my father to become the new lord.”
“And why do you think that is?” Nox pressed. “By all accounts, James should have been the one nominated as the new lord.”
“That’s… because James has disappeared too. Sir Robert and Little Roo are nowhere to be found as well,” Oswald responded, his voice tinged with dejection.
“Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about them,” Nox reassured him. “We anticipated that Nalia was going to strike at them next, so we took them to our village. They’re safe.”
“Can I see them?” Oswald immediately asked upon hearing this. “I want to believe you, but I need to see that they’re truly alive and well. I couldn’t sleep last night, worrying about them.”
Hearing this plea, Nox scratched his head, looking troubled. “I really don’t think we have the time for that. I don’t want to rush you, but we’re going to war with Nalia today. There just isn’t enough time for us to bring you to the village to see Tristan and the others, and then for you to come back so we can finish our job here.”
“What do you need done?” Oswald asked, his expression one of confusion. “If you’re going to war with Nalia so soon, surely the matters with my family can wait until after.”
“That’s the issue; they can’t,” Nox explained. “We suspect that Nalia is hiding something very terrible in your mansion. If we go to war with her without knowing what it is, we could be blindsided and lose. If that happens, you can kiss Locksley goodbye. There would be no one left to protect it.”
Oswald closed his eyes, his expression contorting into a pained grimace at this revelation. He then let out a sigh and said, “I’ve decided, I will trust you. Everything that has happened in the past two days has been so confusing, but your explanation cleared everything for me. Or at least, it has given me hope amidst this bleak reality. But I must ask you first, what will happen if we do indeed find something terrible in my mansion? Will you attack it?”
“There is a high chance we will do that. Tristan knew about it too, and that's why he told me to pass you that message,” Nox nodded, his expression one of resignation.
Calming his breath, Oswald took a few seconds to think before looking back at Nox. “I think I understand what Tristan wants me to do. Just give me one hour, and I will bring you the information you need. You'll know exactly where to look in my family's mansion.”