"How did your matriarch, Zola Fou Bartfort, come to be 'lost during air travel,' Leon Fou Bartfort?"
The boy paused, then said, "Mysteriously, Sir Royal Investigator."
I lost my nerve at this sort of attitude. "People. HAVE. DIED! Your half brother and half sister as well!"
"That's what people do."
I could not believe the nerve of the brat. First, he runs away at the first whiff of matrimonial duty, then he gallivants about, playing adventurer, and a couple of months later, he comes home with his tail between his feet, having archived absolutely nothing.
Yet he learned nothing from this pathetic experience. The head of his family dies in an unfortunate accident, but that country bumpkin does not even know how he should behave in front of authority.
Well, it is not like this kid could know anything of value. This interrogation was pure formality. I gave him stern talking and dismissed the rascal and started filling out my report.
-
Holfort Academy was abuzz with rumors about the new teacher. He set a new record by securing the position at the age of 15.
Everyone was debating what contributed the most - his brilliant book about ancient history and technology or the favor that The Queen showed to the young scholar.
All kinds of wild speculations were discussed, but the boy himself turned out to be a disappointment. Always soft-spoken and mildly boring, he was ever willing to provide a sympathetic ear or a helping hand.
Some stuck-up nobles tried harassing him, but he was very lucky. After Stephanie's cronies got food poisoning four times in a row, despite all kinds of precautions, everybody received a message from divine forces.
After all, who else but the gods themselves could provide this kind of protection to him? Some invisible avatar? Such things can be found only in a poorly written fiction book.
-
A month ago, I made a deal with the devil. I asked for the impossible - to give me a way to distinguish myself. He provided me with all the details about the planned Fanoss fleet attack on a cruise liner and how I could defeat it.
Then it was time to repay my debt. One small favor after another, and every time I got the short end of the stick. Well, it always benefited me - I uncovered an elven conspiracy and conquered a dungeon. But it always turned out that I acted against the interests of my friends or the Crown in some way or another, and he had all the evidence.
Step by step, I turned into a puppet in his hands. But now that he trained his sights on my beloved Marie, it was time to cut my strings.
I walked into my favorite restaurant. All the tables were busy, but I easily caught sight of him. He already waited at the table with a teacup, and a commoner student, now his loyal sidekick, stood behind him.
A waiter came to take my order, and I recognized him. "Can you replace the teapot? Thank you, George."
For some reason, Bartfort smiled his adder's smile at my precautions. "The necklace, Jilk?"
"It was taken. Marie took it, and I could not act without raising suspicions."
"How unfortunate. Did you imagine, Marmoria, that something would happen to you because of this failure? Is that why you chose to meet here in a public place?"
The blond mage behind Bartfort tapped a spoon against the cup of tea three times. High-pitched sounds reverberated through the room.
As on cue, everybody present, including the waiters, stood up and orderly left the room. I recognized some of the patrons, but they avoided eye contact with me.
Leon went on. "It's been apparent to me for quite some time than you had succumbed to your feelings for Marie. And this isn't the first occasion Mrs Lafan has inconvenienced me in recent months... The question is... what to do about it? But... that's my problem to solve now. I no longer require your services."
My head felt light. I guess it was a relief. He only meant to give me a lesson. I made a beeline for the door, but for some reason, my legs refused to serve me.
I stumbled over some furniture, and my vision went dark.
-
"I want to tell you about Leon Bartfort, Chairman."
"Never heard about him."
"Yes, of course. There are three kinds of sociopaths. Some do not try to hide their nature, like Black Knight. Some only pretend to be secretive, like Masked Knight or that edgy teen from Empire, Cid Kageno. But those who really appreciate the power that secrecy provides... you do not even know about their existence until it is too late."
The guy with black circles around his eyes and a crazy eye glint went on with his rant. "The man pervades the Kingdom of Holfort and owns Fanoss, and no one has heard of him. Except for some history fans that think he is a one-hit wonder that wrote a single interesting book and now bores his students to tears. But now he is interested in expanding to the Alzer Republic, so you had better pay attention."
I was not even pretending to do that, but that did not stop his nonsense. "He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Wham! And the Flute of Fanoss disappears, and the princess of the Principality discovers proof of conspiracy among her advisors. Bam! And his favorite student is recognized as The Saint. And it goes on and..."
I excused myself and went to my private cabinet. There, I turned on the ancient device.
"Angelica! Good to see you! The crazy guy that you warned me about showed up. You have no idea what kind of convoluted theories he's got."
"Of course, Albergue-dono. Insane people are often very meticulous about their rationalizations."
"No problem. I will detain him until you send somebody to pick the poor fellow up. Are you and Leon visiting next month? Louise is really looking forward to it."
