System Change

Three hooded figures walked out of a warehouse located in one of the city-sized villages outside of the Cydarian Capital. Left behind in the warehouse were two men. One stood tall in plate armor, lingering half a step behind the other.

The other was a middle-aged man with long, flowing golden hair. He had half a smile on his face, almost a smirk. Gerald Torith looked as complacent as ever as he watched his ‘guests’ leave the warehouse.

Ever since his bumbling idiot of a son had stumbled in on one of his meetings, he had been even more careful. It had taken months, but he had finally managed to make a properly concealed teleportation circle connecting from inside the capital to this village outside. The hard part was finding the proper runes to conceal any mana fluctuations both in the village and in the capital.

Then, he had set up multiple teleportation circles within the capital to keep his movements a secret. The whole process was a costly one.

However, since doing so, his meetings had been even more secure. And everything would still be going as planned if not for his idiot of a son once again. Just the thought of his incompetence was enough to cause Gerald’s blood to boil. If that madman, Derek Hunt, hadn’t killed him, Gerald would have done so himself.

Hell, Gerald hadn’t even been able to receive any benefits from the idiot’s death. He ended up embarrassing himself in front of Alanah, and was then suspended from his duties by the King. The suspension was the real killer.

Because of it, he had to speed up his plans. But, he had found out about the dungeon only yesterday, by chance. If he weren’t suspended, the King would have sought his advice on how to handle it long ago, but instead, he had to find out about it from one of his informants who was picked as one of the members of the raid party.

Still, because of it, he was able to get away with moving his plans forward. And if all goes well, Torith wouldn’t be the name of some backwater city at the edge of the Kingdom anymore. No, it would serve as the name of the ruling family of the entire Kingdom.

And as for heirs-the loss of his son and grandson didn’t mean much. There were many potions available that he could easily get his hands on to conceive more. Once he was King, he would have all the time in the world.

“Come on, Cliff.” Gerald said to his bodyguard as he turned to go deep into the warehouse, underground, to a secret room concealed by multiple runes. He needed to get back to the castle before he was gone long enough for his absence to turn into suspicion. He ignored the shouting and crying coming from the cages as he stepped into the teleportation circle and activated it.

He had already set the ball rolling. All he needed to do now was sit back and watch as everything unfolded.

***

“While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t think it would do us well to allow an enemy of the Kingdom to be placed in the hands of someone not of the Kingdom.” The King shot down Derek’s request for Gerald. “But I see the reasoning behind holding him somewhere other than the Royal Dungeons. As we all know, he may have many people behind him that we may not even know of, including guard and soldiers.”

“In that case, might I make a suggestion?” Natalie drew the attention of the room. “I prefer to avoid sticking my nose in matters unrelated to my city. However, I believe there is a good chance that this matter affects Savannah, as well as the rest of the Kingdom. Therefore, it is perhaps something I should see to.”

“Then you…” The King said.

Natalie nodded and adjusted her glasses with her pointer finger. “We shall imprison him here, in Savannah. Then, I will see to it that any and all information he has becomes ours. We’ll start with the blackmail, if any, then work our way through everything else.”

“And you’re capable of doing that?” Derek asked.

Natalie turned her head toward him and smiled. “Of course. It will take some time, but within a few months I will have all the important information, and within a year, there will be nothing about Mr. Torith that I will not know.”

Derek shrugged. “I guess that’s fine, then.”

Natalie turned her attention to Alanah after that. “That is, unless you would like to do it instead.”

Alanah shook her head. “No, that’s fine. Your way will get results and possibly even better ones than I may get. We must remember, Gerald may not be the strongest in the Kingdom, but that is because he is solely focused on his longevity. I am sure he has maxed his Vitality stat by now.”

“Oh? You think?” The King asked.

Alanah nodded. “I may have made him slit his own throat recently, and at the rate that it healed, it’s definitely a possibility.”

Derek looked over at Alanah and sneakily gave her a thumbs up.

“Besides, unless I convert him to a Deathsworn, it would take me just as long, if not longer, to get all the information out of him that I can. And I am unable to get around oaths and contracts as easily as Natalie.” Alanah said.

“I only make it look easy. It is by no means an easy thing to do.” Natalie replied.

“Wait, you both can get around oaths and contracts?” That was news to Derek. Was nothing sacred?

“There are ways.” Alanah said. “They tend to be more trouble than they’re worth, though.”

Natalie nodded. “I can peer into the time when the oath or contract is created. If I am lucky, I may be able to see the reason for said oath or contract. Sometimes, it takes multiple tries, and it is very draining. Which is why I’ll start with information about the blackmail, then information not locked away via oath or contract.”

“The Kingdom will be in your debt.” The King said.

“The Kingdom is already in my debt.” Natalie looked at the King with glowing white eyes. “Please be sure not to default on your loans.”

The King sat back and blushed a bit from embarrassment. “I… ahem… that goes without saying.”

“If that’s so, why do you attend an auction which you know will have bids in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of gold? Shouldn’t you put that gold to better use, like paying me back?”

“Well… the thing is…” The King started, but Natalie waved him off.

“It is fine. It is better for me if you continue your monthly payments, anyway. Interest and all that.” Natalie said.

Derek nodded fervently at that. Interest was something he knew of well. And the fact that Natalie had the King over a barrel when it came to finances made him happy. He was truly beginning to admire the scary small woman.

He couldn’t help but wonder about how much she had seen when she used those glowing eyes on him. Hopefully it was only of the scene where Malcolm was spilling his guts out. That’s how it sounded when she said she had seen it, anyway.

“Alright.” Derek said. “So, the matter is settled. You will capture that bastard, then Natalie will lock him up and extract information. And at the same time, my friends won’t have to look over their shoulders at all times because of him, and I won’t have to do a thing. I like those kinds of plans-ones that allow me to not have to do anything. Though I would still like a piece of the man.”

Natalie looked at Derek when he called her by her first name, but she didn’t protest, so he took it as her allowing him to do so. Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

“Now that we have that matter out of the way, let’s get to the more important dealings.” Alanah quickly used a red crystal and the doors to the room opened, revealing multiple waiters pushing in tons of dishes spread out on carts. “It’s time to eat.”

***

With a flash, Gerald and his bodyguard appeared atop a teleportation circle. They walked over and activated another circle, and disappeared again. This routine happened multiple times before they finally stopped and exited a basement.

The teleportation sequence was a sort of maze that allowed for Gerald to get around without having to worry about being caught.

After the two walked out of the basement, Gerald made sure Cliff properly hid the entrance to the teleportation room. It was impossible to be too cautious in his type of business. After that, the two moved to the lobby of the building, which happened to be a restaurant that many people, including noble, were regulars.

It was a place that no one would think twice about if they saw Gerald or Cliff exiting. Hell, along with Gerald, many other nobles had their own private rooms, so if anyone questioned him, he could just say he was in his room.

When the two exited the restaurant, Gerald nodded to Cliff, and they went their separate ways. Gerald to the palace, and Cliff to his own residence. The man was the first son, and heir, of the third most powerful Noble House in the Kingdom, after all.

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