Chapter 21: The Baron’s Trap

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The Baron’s Trap

The banquet had gone silent.

Allan stood at the table’s center, his hand resting on his plate, gazing across the room at the knights surrounding him.

He was aware the Baron would do something, but this, this was something else.

Calling the Imperial knights. Typical.

Normal knights weren’t the issue, but the armored knights before him were something else entirely. Their breastplates bore the Empire’s insignia. Each one was a formidable fighter. With a single swing, any one of them could level the nobles present here.

That might have been true in a game, but in real life, he didn’t know.

Allan turned his attention back to the Baron.

The smile that appeared on his face was something new for the evening, something almost warm.

"Lord Oakwood," the lead knight announced, his voice carrying as if he had rehearsed the words carefully. "You are under arrest by order of Imperial authority for breaking the law of conduct and merchant fraud."

A murmur swept the hall.

Allan did not move.

"For what, exactly?"

A thick stack of papers was pulled from a leather satchel and set down on the table in front of Allan with great fanfare.

"Fraud. Illicit commerce. Falsified noble titles. Smuggled restricted goods. Conspiracy against the Empire. Unauthorized purchase of military equipment, and so on."

Allan picked up the top document.

It carried his name. His seal. His signature. The crest of House Oakwood.

But he had never seen it before.

He read. Contracts to traffic forbidden magical materials through House Oakwood. Payment schedules for the discreet elimination of rival traders. Shipment records detailing illegal cargo. Signed documents from nobles ordering the purchase of the Empire’s forbidden supplies.

All of it looked authentic under magical inspection.

Very good forgeries, he thought.

Allan looked at Emberwind.

The Baron steepled his fingers together, watching Allan with quiet satisfaction.

"Was this one of your pieces to work on for weeks or even months? I wonder if your hand cramped when signing my name."

Emberwind’s smile widened a fraction.

"I prepared nothing. I am a baron of the Empire. I would not and could not carry out such orders," he spoke plainly.

"Then these appeared out of moral outrage, I take it. I know you are a smart man, so something must have happened for you to conduct this charade."

"Perhaps your crimes simply caught up with you. That is all."

Allan’s hand tightened into a fist around the paper. He could have the throats of all the knights cut before their swords were even unsheathed from their scabbards.

He had experience dealing with knights, but he had to remember, he was not in a game and could not respawn.

The knights were Imperial, not just ordinary guards, and most men would be put off by their presence. But that wasn’t a problem for Allan.

The problem was what came after. The problem was the story.

The story would be simple: the bastard lord of Oakwood had murdered Imperial knights at a noble banquet. Emberwind’s attempt to frame him for his crimes would be of little consequence to the story of the blood that had been spilled.

Allan set the papers down carefully.

"Okay, I’ll give it to you, it’s clever," he said. "Almost impressive."

The lead knight stepped forward. "Raise your hands. Lord Oakwood, you will be put on trial as is your noble right."

Allan’s expression did not change. "Convenient that the evidence arrives from the man standing behind you looking rather pleased with himself."

"We have orders. That is all we follow."

"From whom? And how much did those orders cost?"

The knight glared at him sharply, but his voice remained level.

"That will be addressed at trial."

"After the ropes are already on my wrists, yes."

The knight drew his sword. "Don’t be a fool, Lord Oakwood," he said.

Allan’s hand inched toward his hilt as he weighed his options to deliver maximum harm in a very short time. He was waiting.

While Emberwind had these knights, he was waiting for his own backup.

Come on, Kael, where are you?

Then the banquet doors opened again. This time, the people who entered were not knights.

Adventurers, donning the coats of arms of their various guilds, poured into the room, cutting through the line of Imperial troops and drawing their swords as they went.

"Who are you and what do you want here?" demanded the captain of the knight guards.

An adventurer shouldered past him. "You’re arresting the wrong man, sir knight."

The hall erupted into overlapping voices. Allan looked toward the entrance, feeling slightly relieved.

Kael walked through the crowd, her practical gear making her stand out from the more ceremonially dressed adventurers and citizens of Red Haven. The noise of the room seemed to thin as she passed through it.

The Imperial knights stiffened. They knew who the woman before them was, one of the rare S-rank adventurers. The captain’s expression shifted.

"Guildmaster Kael."

She turned to him first, her eyes locking onto his for a moment before turning to the group of knights standing behind him.

"Was I late?" she asked.

Allan let out a breath. "Thirty seconds later, this conversation would have turned very, very ugly."

Kael nodded, completely unfazed. "A pity, though. I dislike missing the opening of such discussions."

"Guildmaster, this is an Imperial matter. Stand aside," the captain said, his voice rising above the din of the crowd.

Kael looked at him.

"No."

The single word landed like a door closing.

"You are obstructing an Imperial arrest."

"An illegal one," Kael said. "Keep this up, Captain, and it will be the Guild versus the Brotherhood."

She raised her hand. An adventurer came forward and placed a large, heavy-looking wooden case on the table. He was followed by another with a bundle of bloodstained swords and by a third who lugged a large stack of papers.

Kael gestured. "Open it."

The heavy case creaked open to reveal several scrolls, each one wrapped in black cloth. As soon as the cloth was pulled back on the first scroll, several of the mages present in the room suddenly recoiled in horror.

This also felt wrong to Allan, as though he had stumbled upon something he was not meant to see.

"Necromantic formulae. Blood-binding. Soul extraction," Kael said evenly to the captain. "We found these this afternoon in an Emberwind warehouse. I imagine someone was busy arranging all these documents while others went to look for these."

Emberwind’s smile finally slipped.

"Absurd! What is this nonsense? This farce!"

Kael didn’t even glance in the young noble’s direction. Instead, she unrolled one of the black-covered scrolls and allowed it to fall open on the table in front of her.

Allan looked back at the documents. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble here. They hadn’t just forged his signature. That would have been easy enough to detect and illegal in many ways.

No, someone had used a banned binding to ensnare the forgeries so that they would register as completely genuine under magical scrutiny.

Emberwind’s eyes flickered once before he shut them down. Allan had seen it. Kael had seen it.

She smiled, sharp and brief.

"Bring the rest."

A few more members of the Adventurer’s Guild arrived. Two of them brought in the swords of two fallen men, their Adventurer’s Guild badges affixed to the table in front of them.

Allan recognized the bladed steel of his fallen friends from the Hollow Root guild hall, though it was now coated with dry, hard blood. The man who had brought in the pieces had taken great care in preserving the remnants of the combat.

The badges for the eight adventurers were laid out on the table, one by one.

"Eight adventurers entered the Hollow Root," Kael continued, stating it to the room. "None of them ever left that place. We found their remains later. The leftover magic had clearly been the work of an Emberwind professional. Obviously and deliberately done."

A merchant’s hand rose to his lips. A whisper of a prayer escaped someone’s lips.

The Imperial captain stared at the evidence.

Kael continued without raising her volume.

"Eight counts of murder. Prohibited magical objects. Illegal blood magic. Alteration of evidence. Conspiracy to obstruct the Imperial investigation. And the fabrication of evidence against the noble Lord himself, conveniently for tonight’s proceedings, isn’t it?"

She nodded toward the forged documents.

Emberwind’s voice had sharpened now. "Commander knight, take her away. This blasphemy!" he said. "You can’t prove that was me."

Kael’s expression cooled.

"We already have."

With a snap of her fingers, a large, sealed ledger was dropped onto the table with a loud thud by one of the adventurers.

"Found in a hidden chamber beneath the eastern warehouse of Emberwind Castle: payment ledgers detailing who paid how much for what, orders that were given, the names of the men responsible for moving materials, and the route that the adventurers took to the Hollow Root, including the inns they preferred to stay at along the way."

She looked at the Baron.

"You should burn your papers more carefully, Lord Emberwind."

The hall had gone completely still.

The Imperial captain turned to Emberwind.

"Baron Emberwind."

The Baron said nothing.

"You are under arrest."

Emberwind’s face turned hard. "You don’t understand who you’re dealing with," he said.

The captain’s expression hardened, his voice dripping with contempt. "I understand perfectly," he declared. "And right now I’m dealing with a man who is about to learn the difference between mere influence and real power."

He gestured to the other knights. "Take him."

"No, no, no, no! Everything should have gone according to my plan," the Baron murmured. "I...I won’t be going away like this!"

The Baron stood straight, his hands spread before him. In a flash of sharp, sudden magical aura, the air pressure changed and several of the merchants cried out in pain, blood spilling from their nose, eyes, and ears.

Swords cleared scabbards as Kael watched the man. He seemed to grow larger as the knights rushed to seize him.

Kael didn’t flinch as their eyes locked. Her eyes glowed for a second, an indication of a skill being used.

Whatever was in that look made the Baron’s aura collapse instantly.

The knights seized him.

As they were dragged out of the hall, Emberwind turned to look at Allan once more, hatred blazing in his eyes.

"You...I will surely—"

Allan didn’t smile, though. Because this wasn’t the end of the game, and he had won this round only because the Baron had mistaken a temporary victory for the final one.

"This is not finished!" Emberwind’s voice rang out from the corridor.

The cell he was in would be a very sad place for the Baron when this was all over. All the other guests had now departed. Several other barons approached Allan, coming close and slightly bowing as a showing of respect.

After a while, the venue was now deserted, with only a handful of adventurers remaining.

Allan stood at the table, gazing at the pile of forged documents. Kael walked up to him.

"Well?" she said.

"Well, what?"

"I felt a surge of mana when I entered. You were going to do something there," she asked, coming closer.

"Something you didn’t do on your rank exam."

Allan took a short breath. "For dramatic effect. I was working out how quietly I could take out the rest of the knights."

Kael studied him. "Hmm. You know they are beyond level eighty? And they are Imperial."

"Yeah, I could still take them. Except for the commander—I feel like he’s beyond a hundred."

Her expression softened slightly. "So you do understand restraint."

"Guildmaster, I understand consequences. Not restraint."

He looked towards the doors, scanning the empty hall for a moment before turning back to her.

"He’s not going to stay in a cell, is he?"

Kael was silent for a moment. That was answer enough.

"How long?"

"A week. Maybe less, and he might be freed."

Allan stared at her. "Eight dead. Forbidden magic. Forged Imperial documents. Murder. Blood rituals. And he walks in a week?"

"That’s the advantage you nobles have," Kael said. "With connections, money, and people who owe him favors. The trial will make a lot of noise, and lots of people will testify to what he has done.

And then after a while, the same people who are now smiling and taking photos with the Baron will stand up in court and say that he should only get a fine, a reprimand, or a letter saying how very sorry they are for what he’s done."

He took the document he had been examining and folded it once, tidying it up.

"So that is how this world works. Same as mine."

Kael watched him. "You’re learning."

Allan smiled faintly.

"No."

He looked towards the doors of the banquet hall. "That’s not my role. My role is to invest. That is all."

Kael’s eyebrow rose. "And there’s something else."

"Hmm?"

"I didn’t show it because I don’t want another house coming at me, but we also found these," she said, throwing a single paper on the table.

Allan took the paper, his eyes widening. "No...this can’t be."

"We are not sure if this is another forgery. But I say you be careful. My instincts tell me many things about her."

Allan read all the words. Of course Kael would be suspicious. If the words were true, the dots connected very well.

Blood stones. Blood ritual scrolls. And many other tools for forbidden magic, delivered to the Barony of Emberwind by...

Amelia von Arclight.

Allan took the paper and threw it in the fire.

"Are you sure?" Kael asked.

"..."