Pirate Town, Southeast Shoreline, Alastall Woodland.
A small town stood on the southeast shoreline of the Alastall Woodland and was bustling full of life. It was a Port town once but now was controlled by two infamous pirate groups.
At that moment, a two-storied mansion-like building stood on the northern side of the town and dominated the nearby small houses and huts.
Inside the mansion house, a middle-aged man sat on his chair in his personal room and gazed at the letter with a seal of 'two-winged sun' placed on it.
He had light blue eyes, short blonde hair, an oval face, and trim eyebrows. He wore a brown linen shirt, old leather boots, an ugly dark cap with a drake symbol engraved, and breeches.
He was the Captain of the Drake Pirate group, Brink!
"Unseal it." He ordered in a rough voice and grabbed a brown-haired young woman's waist, who sat on his left lap.
On the other hand, the brown-haired woman picked up the letter, unsealing it using her long fingernail, and read it aloud.
Soon, Brink's expression turned into a mocking smile as he realized Baron was asking for help to kill the necromancer!
'Hohoho, he is a pitiful fellow, isn't he? The king must be despised him before his death.' He snickered inwardly. Who would be willing to choose this territory otherwise?
It must be the Late King's decision. No, punishment should be the right word for it.
He thought.
"What do you think of this letter, Lavada? What is his aim?" Although he didn't think anything out of the ordinary, he chose to ask his women.
"From what we have learned from the adventurers' guild so far, he is a nobody who luckily got the noble title, My darling. So why are you so worried about him being a threat to us?" Lavada adjusted her slim curvy ass, moved it towards Brink's crotch, and said in an alluring voice.
Although he felt relieved when hearing her words, one thing made him hesitate.
"But I heard that he is a mage, my love." He said while slithering his hand inside her long skirt. Letting out a pleasure moan, Lavada slowly kissed him on his cheek and put her fingers on his lips to stop him from talking further.
"Don't worry, my dear. You are a fifth-tier warrior already. So, why are you so worried about a single mage?" She unbuttoned her half-sleeved black shirt and added.
"You are the king of this jungle!"
Brink's eyes brightened.
'Yes, he is just a single mage like that necromancer. Also, he is willing to pay me 10,000 white gold coins as a reward.' Greed appeared in his heart.
Knock! Knock!
Lavada frowned as she covered her right melon with her hand, clicked her tongue in annoyance, and asked.
"Tsk, who is it?"
Meanwhile, Brink also let out a frustrating groan and retracted his hand from her skirt.
"Sister, it's me. Gibson." A calm voice appeared from outside.
"Oh? Why are you here? Come in; the door is not locked." She didn't move an inch from Brink's lap and spoke.
Click!
A second later, a guy with a muscular figure and wooden eyes entered the 10x10 ft room and gazed at both of them.
But as he saw their half-naked appearance, he blushed in embarrassment, looked at the Brink, and stuttered.
"C-Captain, that bandit Keith has returned from the Tower and is waiting for you in the main hall." His reply made both of their eyes sharpen.
"So soon? Tell him to come here." A sly smile appeared on Brink's face. Meanwhile, Lavada stood up from Brink's lap, buttoned her shirt, and stood behind Brink like a protector.
"Yes, Captain."
Meanwhile, Gibson quickly dashed out of the room and returned with a guy with a bald head.
"I didn't expect to meet you so soon, Mr. Brink." Keith walked in with an ugly smile and sat on the chair placed before the wooden table.
On the other hand, Brink poured the ale on the cup in front of him and passed it to Keith.
"Haha, how are you, my friend?"
"I am fine. Did you find any information about that girl?" Keith picked up the ale cup and asked while taking a sip.
Lavada, who stood silently behind Brink all this time, suddenly said with a smile.
"We found some interesting things about her, Mr. Keith. Do you want to hear about her secret?" Her voice appeared more like a medusa's whisper, tempting Keith to open his mouth wider.
"Who is she? Why didn't you tell me about her?" Brink also frowned as he didn't hear any report from his lover and looked at her in puzzlement.
Without minding Brink's gaze, Lavada quietly took the 'winged-sun' sealed letter and asked another question.
"Before that, can you tell me where she is now?" Lavada's question startled Keith. Quickly, he turned his face solemnly and asked in a deep tone.
"Miss Lavada, do you know who she is?"
'There must be some deep secrets behind her origin.' He was eager to hear Lavada's answer.
"Well, you can see her wanted poster in every Light Church and adventurers' guild all over the southern mainland, Mr. Keith. I don't know why the Light Church is after her, but they seemed to be searching for this girl during the past two years." She said in a calm tone.
Meanwhile, Keith got deeply startled inside.
He never imagined that the Light Church itself put a bounty on Aliza!
"So, that's why the Necromancer is hiding her in that old tower, huh?" Keith finally understood the puzzle.
"Oh? Is she the one that necromancer is hiding in the tower?" Brink asked in seriousness.
"Yes, I too had some suspicion, but I never did expect that the Light Church is after her head." Keith gulped down the ale in one go and said while placing the empty cup on the table.
Meanwhile, Brink also showed a surprised look and spoke.
"Oh, that's a piece of great news, my friend." He paused for a moment, looked at his lover, and asked.
"How much is her bounty, Lavada?"
"50,000 White Gold Coins," Lavada licked her pink lips and said while showing her five fingers.
The next instant, the room went silent all of a sudden.
"Are you serious?" Brink blinked his eyes and asked in a deep tone.
"Do you have any plan to capture her?" Gibson, who had kept his mouth shut all the time, also got interested in the bounty amount and asked while glancing at Keith.
In the meantime, Keith pondered for a moment and soon answered with a nod.
"In truth, that necromancer plans to send all our bandit gang members to lure the newly titled Baron to the Magic Tower. To control our bandit gang, he will also send Aliza to oversee our gang members. I will use that opportunity to capture her and bring her here."
"Good."
Brink nodded in approval and thought of revealing the information about the newly titled Baron's letter, but Lavada stopped him.
After exchanging a few more information, Keith left the building with a wide grin.
...
Front yard, Viscount Gauvain's Mansion, Main Street, Nobles' Borough.
It was around 5 P.M.
A puppet Raven flew from the eastern direction at high speed and circled above the main building. After a few circles, the raven slowly descended from the sky and soon landed on the grassy yard.
At that moment, a black-haired young man held a long sword in his hand and was in the middle of practicing sword arts. From time to time, red elemental energy would appear around his body and dance under his sword movements.
After some time, he also noticed the Puppet Raven's arrival and stopped his movement. After sheathing his sword, he moved near the puppet raven and grabbed the letter from its mouth.
"It's a letter from Lord Murius!" Watson opened the letter and started reading.
"Hmm? Is it about Baron Abium? Even Lord Murius is after this elf, huh? That makes our job easier." His black eyes glinted coldly.
With a smile, he grabbed the puppet raven, turned around, and started walking towards the three-storied mansion house. Unlike Baron Auguinare's villa, Viscount's villa was almost two times larger and looked elegant.
Once he entered the main hall, Watson went directly to the right side and arrived in front of a luxurious decorative wooden gate. If someone looked closer, they would find all those flower-like structures carved with real gold.
He looked at the door for a second and knocked on it twice.
"Come in." A cold voice came from inside.
With a click, Watson pushed the door mantle and opened it quietly.
Once Watson walked in, he quickly looked at the 10x10 feet room and then at the middle-aged man, who was now seated on the other side of the wooden table. He was a slightly obese man with blonde hair, a round face, and olive skin. He wore a simple silk robe and golden rings on all his ten fingers.
Upon noticing Watson's arrival, Viscount stopped what he was doing and asked with a frown.
"What is it?"
Meanwhile, Watson walked closer to the wooden table and gave the letter to him.
Viscount furrowed as he opened the letter and started reading it.
"Lord Murius is in Alastall Woodland? Why is an Order of the Dead's elite member hiding in that land?" He felt something was amiss.
"I don't know, My Lord. But from what Necromancer Murius said in this letter, I think this elf might affect their plan to undo the seals." Watson said solemnly.
"Hmm, what should we do now? Killing that elf is not an easy thing. After all, he had already become a noble of the Peral Kingdom." Viscount felt troubled. If someone found out he had a hand in this assassination, the Royal Family might dispatch a Mage to teach him a good lesson.
"My lord, why not ask help from Count Tibal?"
Viscount's lips curled upward as he heard Watson's suggestion.
In the past two-three weeks, he had also heard a report about Count Tibal.
Count Tibal had already dispatched his soldiers to monitor Abium's movement and appeared to be causing troubles for Baron Auguinare through various means. After Viscount asked the other nobles, he found out the reason.
'That old bastard hasn't given up on that fairy yet. Count Tibal will certainly go and try something to get that fairy during their journey.' Viscount Gauvain's smile widened.
"Watson, send a letter to Count Tibal. Tell him that we will cooperate with him to finish off this Baron." Without any hesitation, he made up his mind to cooperate with Count.
...