Chapter 7 "The king of the night"
Before entering Gentin's parents' butcher shop, Mark prepared himself mentally. He recalled the role he'd assigned himself and made sure everything was in place.
“Hello, welcome to the laughing boar, what can we do for you my dear sir.” Gentin, whose appearance as a wealthy customer had transported him with joy, recited cheerfully. He'd already sworn to himself that whatever these requests were, he'd meet them, as long as he had the money and the requests were within his power, of course.
Mark didn't say a word in return. He merely observed the meat to be purchased, quietly. Then, with extreme assurance, he said. “I've heard that your humble shop has an abundance of wolf meat. I happen to be a trader myself. It might be possible for us to do business together”, he said, as he approached the counter.
Lautrant was present at his friend Gentin's side, but he opted to let the young hunter, who was far more experienced in haggling than he was, handle this kind of opportunity. So, with Lautrant's approving silence, Gentin added: “Oh, so you want to buy back our entire supply of wolf meat, is that it?” he asked playfully. For his part, Mark remained cold and distant. “I'd like to test the quality and freshness of the product first, and if I'm satisfied with your meat and you give me a discount on the quantity, then yes, I'll take it all off your hands.
Gentin was absolutely delighted with everything he'd just heard, deep down inside. He was careful to let go of some of those emotions, without becoming an open book. He'd learned this technique from watching his mother hold the cash register. By being too cheerful, you inform the customer that it's a very good deal for you and therefore a very bad deal for them.
“This is where we store our meat. Uh... sir?” Gentin indicated to him, as they entered the butcher's tack room. “My name is Mark. he replied without much ado. Inside the tack room, Mark could see dozens of wolf carcasses hanging from the ceiling on hooks. The corpses had already been butchered but not emptied of their organs, and the remains of these poor animals had been more or less evenly spread across the room, so that it was impossible to contemplate them all at a glance.
“You haven't emptied them?” asked Mark. Gentin was quick to answer, while pointing out the freshness of his product. “No, we hadn't had time yet. They're all fresh from yesterday afternoon.”
After carefully skinning them one by one, Mark noticed something completely adherent. The wolves' bodies had various mutilations and wounds, which in itself was totally innocuous. What was far less so, however, was that none of these wounds had caused the animals' death, Mark was sure of this, for in the manner of a forensic scientist, these observations showed him that the blood had already coagulated when the open wounds had been inflicted.
And no matter how meticulously he searched them one by one, he never found the slightest mortal wound. “If they died without fractures or open wounds, it means that only the magic of an initiate could have caused their deaths. Mark thought to himself. “Then someone saw fit to injure them after their deaths, probably to get hold of their meat.” He continued inwardly. “And these two young men are clearly not initiates, they wouldn't behave like that, they even denied it. So I'll be able to take out my compass in complete safety.” he concludes. In truth, Mark hadn't felt any 'danger' from them all along.
As for Gentin and Lautrant, both felt quite proud of themselves, as proud as if they'd unearthed a precious stone. They could never have imagined that Mark was just a spy. After all, not only was he taking his time to assess the quality of the pulp, but he was doing so with such meticulous attention to detail, that it was obvious to both men that he could only be a man with great experience in the field.
After a moment, Mark stopped and turned to warn them that he needed to write something down in his 'lost mirror'. Putting his money where his mouth was, he grabbed his 'lost mirror' from the inside pocket of his jacket. But what Gentin and Lautrant didn't notice was that, in the same movement, he had also grabbed his compass with his other hand. The needles of the compass froze with celerity on the larger carcass, like iron attracted by a magnet.
After registering a couple of things in his “lost mirror”, nodding his head in all seriousness and professionalism. He tucked his compass into his sleeve and his mirror into his jacket, then faced the two young men and said: “The quality of your meat is A+, according to my observations, but I'd still like to buy this one from you as a sample.” He said, indicating the largest carcass with his finger. “You don't mind, do you?”
A delighted Gentin was about to accept when Lautrant cut him off with a wave of his hand and said to Mark: “No, you can take any of them, but not that one in particular, we're keeping it as a trophy.” Gentin glared at him, but Lautrant ignored him as if hypnotized. At the same moment, Mark felt a vibration run through his body, coming from the floor just above him.
“My opponent must be on the floor directly above me,” Mark thought. “And that man is in a trance,” he thought, mentally pointing at Lautrant. “I think it's wiser not to force things here. Even a mighty eagle can't kill a snake in its own burrow. I'll stick to the plan and lure him out and let Janine take care of the rest.”
Mark wore a big smile on his face, worthy of the greatest merchants. “Okay, that's fine with me, I'll talk it over with my associates and come back with an offer tomorrow.” He said to the two young men, then Mark left the butcher's shop having bought nothing.
Just after Mark left, Gentin and Lautrant started arguing. Gentin cursed Lautrant for his missed opportunity, while Lautrant simply replied that he'd made the decision for Margot's sake, to which Gentin retorted that any of the animals would do as souvenirs.
Upstairs, Margot meditated cross-legged in the living room, her face calm and her heightened senses aware of everything that had happened on the first floor. Margot knew that a mercenary from the Motont family was probably on his way here.
“There's no doubt this man knows about the pendant,” she estimated. “I've managed to scare him off, but he's bound to come back with reinforcements, or else he just wants to lure me out. Either way, I already know who his accomplice is.” she mused. “If I'd wanted to free myself from his grip I could have at the time, however I needed to play my part, even so, this memory is irritating!!!”
Just remembering that humiliating moment yesterday, when her accomplice had taken her from behind, made her boil with rage inside. She'd simply been too naive, thinking that yesterday was her last day of rest, she'd completely relaxed her vigilance. Today, however, the same thing would not happen again, as she had made sure she was at the top of her game and fully alert to face any eventuality, and probably also to exorcise her frustration.
“In any case, the boss wants anyone with knowledge of the pendant before it's destroyed to be eliminated, so whatever happens, I can't let it get away.” mused Margot. She stood up and went down the stairs. Before leaving, she had just one last instruction to give Lautrant. Already, during her meditation, she could hear the verbal jousting between Gentin and Lautrant, but now that she was descending the stairs their racket was becoming harder and harder to ignore. “They're so noisy and vain”, she thought.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Just then, Margot entered the meat storeroom, and the two men fell silent, turning to stare at her. “I'm going away, probably for a few hours, no more, I'm going to do some shopping, if by chance this other dreadfully boring man comes to see you, take good care of him.” she told him, looking into his eyes while fiddling with her hair. With that, she left exactly as she had come, like a gust of fresh air.
About 2 hours before all this happened, Forsance woke up very tired and rather late in the morning for the peasants. Although for Forsance this was no problem at all. He had no intention of spending his day outside, in this crowd of problems and people. No, Forsance wanted to spend the whole day at home, resting, and that's why he'd made the matiné grace.
After eating and going through his morning routine, including the breathing exercises he'd learned the day before, Forsance sought out his “Lost Mirror” for entertainment. Even today, he intended to visualize scenes from his past through his “Lost Mirror”. This nostalgia bewitched him. “How much better it was before”, he said to himself. By recalling certain events from the past that he particularly liked, it gave him motivation to face his future.
But no matter how hard Forsance tried, he couldn't find his precious “Lost Mirror”.
Forsance tried to recall the events of the previous day to understand what could have happened to his mirror. He remembered that Lautrant had been waiting for him in front of his house yesterday morning, then that he had run off after hearing that Margot was in danger. He also remembered that he had locked his door before leaving that morning, yet by the end of the day, the front door was open.
A flash of genius passed through him, “So that's it!” he thought. “Lautrant must have broken into my home to get hold of my 'Lost Mirror', to blackmail me, perhaps? How paranoid of him!” thought Forsance. “As if I give a damn about fame and honors.” To Forsance it made sense. And he couldn't think of any more tangible hypothesis.
Forsance felt betrayed and so angry, so enraged by this revelation, as if his intimacy had been violated, that he decided to confront Lautrant and demand an explanation. For what he had just done, Forsance would never forgive him.
Before leaving, Forsance took with him what few valuables he possessed, such as the money he had saved and the book the apothecary had entrusted to him, for fear of being robbed again.
Once he'd stuffed these treasures into his coat pockets, Forsance braved the crowds to settle accounts with Lautrant.
On the way, he heard many rumors about the saint who was currently present not far from here. That she had performed countless miracles, was blessed by the heavens and had a special fondness for the poor and the less fortunate. Of course, Forsance remained dubious about all these statements. Wouldn't it be better to teach the needy to fish rather than give them fish? If she really was capable of creating miracles, perhaps she could deign to explain her method to others.
In the village forge of Taunelr, Forsance didn't find Lautrant, only his father. The latter informed him that his son had gone to play with his young hunter friend at the village butcher shop. Forsance was a little disappointed to have come all this way for nothing. He didn't mention his “Lost Mirror”, which Lautrant's father had missed.
He took his leave, simply announcing that in that case, he would visit his son at the butcher's shop. Forsance then set off in the direction of Gentin's butcher's shop.
On the way, he reached a crowded street, so crowded that you could only walk for fear of bumping into someone around you. The high human density was explained by the presence of stalls on both sides of the street. Forsance thought about coping and endured his discomfort, but soon realized that he couldn't go on like this for much longer and took the initiative to take a longer route instead.
To his great surprise, this alley was in fact a cul de sac, whereas according to his memory, this road led to a crossroads. “Maybe I've taken a wrong turn,” he thought. Just as he was about to turn around, a voice from the ground interrupted his movement.
“Aye, my good lord, what a fabulous magikolous day, isn't it.” Said the voice bonhomie, with bells ringing in the background, and equipped with a honeyed voice.
Forsance was completely caught off guard. He turned in amazement to see a small man, no more than a meter tall and dressed like a clown or harlequin. From his hat fell bells that went off every time he moved his little head or spoke. And his head was covered by a snow-white mask.
“Oh, fear not, fear not, your lordship. It's only me, the most humble and docile Drystant. At your service.” He pronounced with great frenzy, and in a voice that was meant to be as soft and suave as possible.
'Yep, I'm not staying here with this super-strange dwarf for another second, I'm getting the hell out of here.' Forsance decided inwardly and without a word, he set off back the way he'd come. 'I'd find another way to my “Lost Mirror”.
But as he turned back, the only sight he could see was a landscape devoid of all life and civilization, with only a few brown hills here and there providing any otherness to this flat landscape, and not that of the main street of his village of Taunelr.
However, before he even had time to be shocked, his surroundings changed again and he found himself back in the village of Taunelr. Forsance breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been a bad dream”, he thought. As he caught his breath, he caught sight of Margot in the crowd chasing Mark, walking at a steady pace towards her prey.
Although Forsance had never met her before, he knew at first glance that this was Margot, for he had already heard Lautrant describe Margot's physical appearance at length. Her current attitude, however, was completely different from that described by Lautrant.
Just by catching a glimpse of her from afar, Forsance knew that Margot's simple gaze could kill. In Forsance's eyes, she was that terrifying. In fact, Forsance was so distraught at the idea of attracting her attention, he couldn't help but take a step backwards. And so, he returned to the same spot he'd previously occupied with the Drystant dwarf.
“Aye, Aye, my good lord, can the most humble Drystant be of any assistance to you?” He said with undisguised joy. As for Forsance, he was no longer at all surprised by the sudden change in his surroundings. Rather than trying to communicate with Drystant, this time he simply scanned his surroundings.
He realized that what he had previously thought of as a dead end, was simply a large L-shaped building attached to another, the two forming a U-shape. Both structures were built of stone with thatched roofs. But what Forsance found extremely curious was that both buildings were completely devoid of doors and windows. Instead, simple holes in the stone had been dug to ventilate the rooms and allow entry.
Above the entrance to the smaller building, you could also read 'Regional branch of the Tabularasa company', in very large letters. Apart from this, the whole surrounding area could be summed up as an immense, lifeless wasteland, a desert in short.
“Where am I?” wondered Forsance aloud. “From my point of view, you appear and disappear in the middle of nowhere. So it's as clear as sèvène rock that you come from another space-time. On the other hand, if you're wondering where you are right now, isn't it clear that we're standing in front of my magikalus magistralus atelier de ma Tabularasa compagnie.” exclaimed the jovial dwarf, whose bells were singing even louder and whose face was still concealed.
“Yes, but how is that possible? Besides, there were other people very close to me taking this alley, why aren't they with us right now?” Forsance's voice betrayed his mental chaos. But it was a much fuller Drystant who answered him as if nothing had happened with these words: “it must just be a glitch in the matrix, it happens from time to time.”
To tell the truth, Forsance hadn't understood what Drystant had just told him, but he didn't ask him for any further explanation because his intuition told him he'd understand even less if he did.
On the one hand, he didn't want to stay here in this unfamiliar world, but on the other, he was in no hurry to return, especially if this Margot was waiting for him around the corner.
This inner conflict made Forsance look morose and downcast. Never would he have suspected that the resolution to his dilemma lay so close to hand.
“Aye, Aye, Aye, my good lord, I know that face very well. You must be having trouble with an evil witch, aren't you!” Drystant's words pulled Forsance out of his reverie.
“But how do you know?” Forsance was extremely surprised to be caught out so easily.
“It's nothing, it's nothing, this very old and very humble Drystant just has an enormous amount of experience in the matter. In fact, there was a time when I was exactly like you. However, one day, I learned the trick to counter all the emotional manipulations of those damned witches for sure!”
Drystant paused to create a more theatrical effect. “The trick!!! Is to become 'a king of the night'.”
'A king of the night' repeated in his amazed head, even though he had absolutely no idea what 'a king of the night' could possibly be.
Forsance Stat:
Active quest:
-Finding his lost mirror
Skill:
- Serene mind level 3
- self taught swordsmanship level 4
- self taught hand-to-hand combat level 4
- gathering herb level 4
- breathing skill level 1
- intuitive knowledge level 1
- meditation level 5
Realm:
Qi gathering level 1
Do you think that it's best to add attribute point (like strength, agility those kind of thing) on my character statut list ?
