The book was smaller than I had expected but what was inside was gold. My intuition had really been right this book was going to change a lot of things.
The author had written in many different languages from different species. I did understand some of it, but the remaining languages were either unknown or extinct since I had never learned them.
Maybe the world was much bigger than the one provided by the books. It didn’t have a shred of mana, unlike the other book, and it seemed to be a journal.
"I also found this master."
Luna was holding a small glass container; inside were what looked like pupae moving around. I took the container and studied it. I had never seen the creatures inside it; they were a completely new discovery.
"Do you know what this is?"
I asked the kneeling woman. Her blonde hair was now matted with blood and dust the earlier luster disappearing.
"Just kill me, you leech, but remember I will wait for you in the underworld."
I burst into laughter at her absurd claim; she was always entertaining.
" Then you’ll wait for eternity."
I plunged my hand into her chest pulling out a beating heart. She tried to move with the little energy she had left but life drained out of her faster than she could race it.
"Look Luna, she promised me her heart."
I showed the still beating heart to Luna. I crushed it blood spluttering everywhere.
"Why did I do that, look at all this mess."
I stood and took my bloodied gloves off. I picked the glass of pupa from the table the body was leaning on, and that was when I noticed they were more active than usual.
When Luna brought them, they moved listlessly, but the moment they got near blood, they became more vigorous, hitting the glass with their tiny heads.
"It seems they respond to blood."
Luna said having also noticed their reactions. I nodded and moved the container closer to the dead body. The little things started to hit against the glass.
I handed them back to Luna.
"Take them back, they might be useful," I said and turned to leave," take everything in here we might just find something helpful. I’ll go have tea with the countess."
" Yes, master."
Luna’s soft voice followed behind me. Maybe the detour wasn’t a waste after all. The only thing on my mind now was how to tell mother I had just killed her vassal.
’Let’s arrive in the capital first.’
The countess was still seated where she had been. I walked to her and touched her forehead, it was freezing cold. What fascinated me was how her dead body was able to move and perform without breaking down.
She seemed to have been given minimal orders but it was still incredible.
’Maybe I should take the body.’
I shook my head at the thought. She was already starting to decompose, destroying her body, and burying her would be more than enough. I was sure the method might be in one of the scattered papers in the laboratory.
A commotion came from upstairs where Luna was, I was just about to go and see what was happening when Luna appeared while pulling a struggling boy behind him. The boy looked emaciated and he seemed to be barely alive.
It was a wonder how he was still alive, probably magic. I could feel him releasing them unconsciously a sign of lack of training.
"Who’s this?"
I asked Luna the moment she came to a stop in front of me. She pushed the boy in front of me without saying a word. The child’s eyes widened in fear the moment they met mine.
I just could not understand why people showed fear whenever I was around, when I had done nothing but be polite. Except for my enemies who were countable, I was always friendly.
"I found him in one of the closets, he tried to run the moment I opened the door."
I studied the boy carefully, under all that grim, I could see a glimpse of blond hair with the familiar blue eyes.
"Are you the count’s dead son?"
I asked directly. The boy flinched then nodded. Count Julian had a son who had an unimaginable magical aptitude and was meant for greatness; however, the son went missing just the day before the academy’s admission.
That had been three years ago. Guess he was still in the house.
"What were you doing in there?"
He still didn’t talk. I didn’t have the time for games, turned around, and started to walk back to the duchess.
"Kill him."
What was the use of him if he wasn’t going to produce any information? It was better for the Count’s bloodline to end there.
"I ..I know what those insects do?"
The man muttered roughly. I came to a stop and turned around, he was useful after all.
"What is it?"
The man tried to stand up but failed.
"My sister placed on in my mother, I don’t know where but it’s the thing controlling her. That’s all I know. I heard her talking with someone about it, but I was too tired to even concentrate."
I felt my heart skip. I had really found gems in this backwards place. I turned to look at the duchess; it was clear she was already dead, but to an untrained eye, she would not see it.
"Luna, rats seemed to have sneaked in."
Just after saying that, a dagger shot out of the shadows aiming for the count’s son. Luna slashed her sword downwards, a clash of metal against metal rang out, and sparks of fire shot out as the sword intercepted the dagger.
’ice’
Four glowing magic circles appeared in front of me, and shards of ice shot out, aiming in the direction the dagger had come from. The shards shattered the glass windows and destroyed the flowers as they sliced through the assassin’s hiding in the dark. There were several small groans before the sound of a body hitting the ground came.
"You find a place to hide, if you die it was a pleasure meeting you."
I said to the count’s son and walked back into the house. The four assassins had been distractions; there were more. It seems they weren’t here for me but the count.
Luna led the way as we went back to the laboratory. I could detect all the foreign presence that had gone there.
"Well! well! well! Shouldn’t you be going to the academy young master?"
A rough voice said the moment I entered the laboratory, they were clearly waiting for us. Luna came and stood in front of me, ready for attack. I could see the tension in her body.
"What can I say, the count was kind enough to invite me."
I said sarcastically. The man burst into laughter at that. Four more assassins appeared behind him, all of them had their faces covered.
"The count who is dead?"
The man asked seriously.
" Really, that’s unfortunate," I shook my Head, then added," What do you need from the count?"
"You asked too many questions, child. Just hand over what you took ."
It was my turn to laugh. How ridiculous. This was the first time I was threatened, and the experience wasn’t as I had imagined it.
"No."
The four assassins behind the man lunged. A fire magic circle appeared in front of one, while another disappeared into the floor. The remaining two raised their daggers and aimed for Luna.
’Freeze ’
Ice shot towards the assassin, activating the fire spell, breaking through the spell, and freezing the man fully. He died without a struggle. The second assassin appeared in my shadow clearly aiming for a sneak attack.
’Flash’
I appeared behind him and kicked him on his back, I could hear his backbone breaking. His body hit the wall on my right and slid down, leaving a trail of blood on the wall.
Small groans escaped as he lay on the floor, unable to move. I stepped on his neck, breaking it; it was better to end his misery.
I turned to Luna, who had already defeated her enemies with their decapitated body parts scattered around her. She didn’t have a single drop of blood on her uniform.
"Would you mind telling me who sent you here?"
I asked the remaining assassin. The man was clearly shocked. He leaned against the wall and sighed.
"I just got hired from the adventurers’ guild, every one of us did."
The man said clearly resigned. I found him intriguing. If they were all hired from the guild, then he had basically used his teammates as testers by how easily he gave up.
"What did you need to get?"
I asked him.
"Some insects and a book. The employer was anonymous, and we got the request from a fourth party. We got paid a hundred gold to retrieve them. You weren’t supposed to be here."
He rambled on. From the looks of it, the book and the insects were pretty valuable. That just made me want to study them more. I walked towards the man and stopped in front of him. He took a step back.
I pulled off the mask he was wearing. He was older than I had expected; he seemed to be in his mid-thirties. His face was framed by a neatly trimmed brown facial hair, and his purple eyes, filled with fear, looked up at me.
"You have not introduced yourself?"
I said. The man’s pupils widened a fraction before running his hands through his hair.
"Donovan Smith."
I patted his shoulder and turned to look around the laboratory. I turned to Luna who was standing behind me.
"Can you bring the future count down here and placate those guards, they’re getting noisy."