Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress of Ashtown Interlude II

Many people often said that he pushed himself too hard. Most of these individuals ran under the misguided belief that he worked hard because he was trying to cope with the loss of his family. They couldn't have been more wrong―not that he would ever let them know that. Sympathy had its uses, after all.

He sat behind his desk, leafing through the many papers sitting on top of the polished wooden surface. Even though the nobility were nothing more than figureheads these days, no thanks to Sylvia disbanding the monarchy several hundred years ago, there was still a lot of work to be done. Most of the tasks were mundane: Reading through documents, signing those that were unimportant, then delivering those that were important to the Sorceress who oversaw whichever city the noble in question was stationed in. They also occasionally oversaw city affairs if the Sorceress was too busy with other matters, but that was rare these days.

Generally speaking, there were normally anywhere from five to fifteen noble houses in each city, sometimes less or more, depending on the size and population. Each noble had duties that dealt with a specific jurisdiction that kept the city running smoothly.

Callisto lived in Casadina, the capital city of Arcadia, located within the Temarian province. This city, which had a population of over 550,000 people, contained 56 noble houses, each one varying from low to high-class, and each one responsible for a very specific duty.

His house's jurisdiction was the lawful distribution of MagiTech.

Magical technology was a relatively new creation. It had only been two decades since the first piece of magical technology had been created by Karen Hildegarde, one of the more prominent Sorceresses on the Sorceress Council. Since the invention of magical items such as the MAFTs, Arcadia's economy had thrived. Economically speaking, Arcadia was more powerful than Terraria's other four nations combine.

Yet Callisto was still dissatisfied with the way things were. Their nation may have been strong, their people may have been strong, but it was due to the strength of their Sorceresses, not the nobility. He longed for a return to the old ways, where those who had the lineage, the pedigree, and the right to rule, were the ones in charge-not those who'd stolen that right through unnatural powers beyond those of any mortal.

Deciding to take a small break from his work, Callisto spent a moment looking around his office. Like all members of nobility, his office was fit for royalty. The carpet was a dark purple, royal and grand, the white walls were covered in expensive artwork and various pieces of the latest MagiTech. A bookshelf stood off to the side, up against the wall, its shelves lined with scrolls and books, each one ancient and containing much wisdom-as well as costing more than a small manor. Even his desk was an expression of opulence; carved from red-wood with a lacquered finish, intricate motifs colored in silver and gold running along the front and legs.

Being someone who enjoyed the finer things in life―finer things being an euphemism for expensive and exquisite objects be they paintings, artwork or artifacts―Callisto had spent a good deal of time, effort, and money acquiring many different items that interested him. His office, his entire mansion, in fact, reflected this.

The soft beeping of the intercom installed into his desk―one of the newer MagiTech inventions-alerted him to the fact that he was being called. Pressing the red button, Callisto leaned forward and spoke into the device.

"Yes, Alice?"

"Lord Genitore, there is someone here to see you."

"I see, and do you know who they are?"

"No sir, they are wearing a cloak. However, they told me that they have a very important matter they wished to discuss with you. They even brought a letter of authentication with your signature on it."

Ah. So, it was one of his contacts, then. But which one? He supposed he would just have to invite them in if he wanted to discover who they were and why they were meeting him in person.

"Very well. Send them in."

Callisto looked up as the door to his office opened. A man walked in, his bulk and gait giving him away. The cloak they wore, black silk that shimmered in the light, was removed to reveal the man's identity.

The buttons of his glimmering purple shirt looked ready to pop off his front, while the seams of his long-sleeved shirt appeared ready to tear. His corpulent gut hung over black pants. Several chins wobbled as he moved, jiggling and wiggling as if they were alive.

Giovanni Gorossolaine, a rather disgusting man that few could put up with. It wasn't just his rotund frame that caused others to turn away in disgust. The look in his hazel eyes, which spoke of lust and greed, shown through so powerfully that everyone who made eye contact with him became uncomfortable.

Callisto was not everyone. While put off by the man's unsightly appearance, he was more than capable of dealing with this decadent slob. All he had to do was remember why he'd partnered with Giovanni in the first place and everything else became a secondary concern.

As long as it brought him closer to his goals, he didn't care who he dealt with.

Of course, calling them partners was a complete misnomer. It was an outright lie, even. They were not partners. Callisto was Giovanni's superior in every way.

"I take it you have a report to deliver?" Callisto made it sound like a question, but it really wasn't. "One that was important enough to come all the way here, rather than simply send it to me via carrier pigeon."

While the newly developed delivery system was only installed to work on the scale of a single city, making city-to-city delivery impossible, it would have still taken much less time to deliver something via messenger bird than it did to come in person.

Giovanni shifted uncomfortably. His hands wrung themselves together in a manner that suggested nervousness. How odd. Giovanni rarely became nervous. One of the reasons Callisto had partnered with him despite his grotesque appearance was because of how hard it was to unsettle him.

"It's about the assassination of Erica Angelo."

Ah.

The hands that had been idly moving about their assigned tasks stopped. Callisto, now with his full attention focused on Giovanni, frowned. "Explain."

And Giovanni did explain. He spoke of the first failed attempt, along with the second, and how they had lost both elves in the ensuing battle at Dorehan Tower. The disgustingly large man also gave some interesting information about a swordsman, a young man in his teens who'd been running interference. Apparently, this swordsmen was the reason their assassination attempt had ended in failure.

"Interesting."

Callisto narrowed his eyes. As Giovanni shifted again, sharp irises landed on him, causing him to freeze. Setting his elbows on the desk, hands linked together, and his chin resting on his hands, Callisto gave the man a smile that belied his cunning disposition.

"Tell me about this 'red-haired academy student' who managed to foil our plans."

Callisto's smile was like that of a predator who'd just found his prey. Giovanni shivered.

"I wish to learn more."

The evening was late, but not so late that the real festivities, the Sorceress Festival, had started yet. The sky had grown dimmer, yet plenty of light still remained. The sun had yet to pass beyond the horizon.

Callisto sat within a small room that contained a long, rectangular table. Made of worn wood and covered in stains, he would've normally never chosen this as a meeting place. Circumstances dictated that he put up with it, however, thus he was left with little choice.

He near the head of the table. On his right was Giovanni Gorossolaine. To his left, sitting at the head of a table, was a young woman wreathed in crimson, a cloak that hid all but her glowing blue eyes from view. Even with all of her features hidden, everyone could tell that she was short of stature. Her legs didn't even reach the floor.

Other people sat around the table as well. He knew them all, which made sense, as they were his colleagues. There was Baron Gerosso, a man who worked underneath Earl Giovanni. Sitting next to him were the Marquis Hunington and Nivan. Although there were more, these four, along with Duke Tristlethane, who sat at the other end, made up the core of his network.

These were the men who controlled the majority of the nobles. They ruled the lesser nobility with an iron fist. Men lived and died by their words. Of course, these five individuals were, in turn, ruled over by him—even if they believed themselves to be his equal.

While the sorceresses held all the power, they were still a minority. There were barely fifty sorceresses in Arcadia, but there were around 1.3 billion people. That being said, most of those people were peasants, the commonwealth. The nobility was a small faction as well, though it was still larger than the sorceresses.

In Arcadia, there were 124 noble families located throughout the various cities and regions. Each family ranged in wealth and title, from low-class to high-class, baron all the way to duke. While that number was, indeed, insignificant, it was more than enough for what he had planned.

The sorceresses may think themselves wise and knowledgeable about the people who live underneath them, but in truth, they only knew what I and the other nobles tell them.

Standing up, Castillo surveyed the others, making eye contact with each one of them. "I am pleased to see that you were all able to make it. Now our meeting can officially proceed.

"Good. Then perhaps you can enlighten us as to the reason we were called here, Duke Genitore—and on such short notice. I know not about the others, but I, for one, have many duties to attend to back home and do not appreciate being torn from them without just cause."

The man who'd spoken was Marquis Hunington. He hailed from the port city of Dorumhold, a high-class noble whose lucrative business on imports and exports was used to mask his slave trading operations. Being an older gentleman, his graying hair gave him a distinguished appearance, and he wore his mustache well.

"My apologies, Marquis Hunington." Castillo smiled unpleasantly. "I forgot about how busy you were with your slave trading business, and that you like to... sample your goods before selling them. It must be difficult being asked to leave when you still have so many slaves to break in. Why, your business must have stalled simply because you came here."

Marquis Hunington looked put off by the sarcastic response. "You should know very well how difficult it is to ensure that the quality of my products meets the high standards of my clients. After all, you've bought several from me in the past."

"That is very true. However, as I recall, the ones that I bought had been unsullied. I do believe the quality of the slave is devalued when they've been used by another, don't you?"

"Do we really have time for this?" Marquis Nivan asked. "If you two wish to take snipes at each other, then please do so on your own time. We are here for a reason, are we not? So, let us get down to that reason."

"Very well," Castillo switched tactics easily enough. "Everyone, before we begin, I would like to present our benefactor to you." He gestured to the young woman clad in a cloak. "This is Cleo, the one who will bring us victory over the sorceresses."

"Who? This kid?" Baron Gerosso asked, looking at the young lady with eyes that were both incredulous and leering. "She doesn't look like much."

Castillo was about to respond—

"Shiva, freeze thine enemy with your icy hold."

—when young woman spoke.

"W-what the—what is this?!" Baron Gerosso yelped when ice slowly crawled up his pant legs. It traveled higher and higher until his entire lower half was covered. "G-ga! Y-you're a—"

"Indeed," Castillo said before anyone else could speak. "My companion is a sorceress. However, she dislikes the current regime, and feels that we nobles would do a much better job of ruling than the decrepit sorceresses, who remain out of touch with the world around them. To that end, she has agreed to lend us her power."

"A sorceress would be a boon," Duke Tristlethane admitted, though he seemed reluctant. "The powers of a sorceress are not to be scoffed at."

"Indeed," Marquis Hunington agreed. Like his compatriot, he didn't seem to enjoy the idea of relying on one of their enemies. "A single sorceress can wipe out an entire battalion, and sorceresses on the level of Sylvia de Floresca can annihilate entire cities. If we decide to go through with our plans, then having someone of comparable power can only be a boon to our cause."

Everyone else agreed with the assessment, and Castillo knew that it was time to move this along. "Now, then, our main goal right now, and the reason that I have called you all here, is to discuss what we should do about the newest sorceress."

"Hm, I have heard rumors about this sorceress, but I do not know much," Marquis Nivan murmured. "Supposedly, she has been living with Sylvia de Floresca since a young age, but that witch has been very tight-lipped. Information about the girl is scarce."

"Fortunately for you, we have acquired a bit of information about her from Earl Gorrosalaine's youngest son," Castillo said.

At the mention of the count's youngest son, Baron Gerosso shifted uncomfortably.

After receiving a look from Castillo, Earl Gorrosalaine stood to his feet. "According to my son, the newest sorceress, Elincia, is enamored with the peasant boy that Sylvia de Floresca has allowed to attend Arcadia's Knight Academy. She and the boy are apparently very close, and my son has mentioned in his letters that the two appear as lovers whenever they are together."

"What?!" Marquis Hunington slammed a fist onto the table. "You mean to tell me that this sorceress's favored knight is a peasant?! That is absolutely outrageous!"

"It undermines the nobilities authority," Marquis Tristlethane added.

"This peasant," Earl Gorrosalaine continued, "is apparently the same man who was sent to temporarily replace Erica Demonica de Angelo's knight a little over one month ago. He is supposedly favored by both the headmaster of the academy and Sylvia de Floresca herself."

"What is that woman trying to pull?" asked Marquis Hunington.

"Does she wish to destroy the very foundations of our society?" Marquis Nivan wondered out loud.

"It has long been known that the sorceresses are not fond of us nobles," Baron Gerosso all but snarled. "It was they who originally stole our power, they who took away our spirit given right to rule. What's more, they allow that foul, loathsome creature to attend the academy! Sorceresses are a blight upon this world!"

"Hold your tongue, boy," Castillo said, glancing at his cloaked companion. "Lest I rip it from your mouth!"

"W-what was that?!" Baron Gerosso blubbered. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"Calm yourself, child," Giovani said.

"But Fa—I mean, Earl Gorrosalaine!" Baron Gerosso said, sounding aghast.

"You are speaking out of turn," Earl Gorossalaine spoke calmly. "Calm yourself and remain silent."

Baron Gerosso looked ready to protest, but he eventually sat down with a sulky expression. "Yes... Earl Gorossalaine."

Count Gorossalaine turned to Castillo and, with droplets of sweat rolling down his face, he coughed into his hand and said, "I apologize on behalf of Baron Gerosso. Being new to the ranks of nobility, he is a bit impetuous. Please forgive him, Duke De'Falco."

Castillo knew the truth behind the baron and Earl Gorossalaine's relationship. He'd done some information gathering and discovered that Baron Gerosso was formerly Gorossalaine. An incident at Arcadia's Knight Academy had resulted in his expulsion. He had attempted to uncover what had happened, but information on the incident was scarce. All Castillo knew was that a student had almost been murdered by, back then, Jeremiah Gorossalaine.

Glancing at his companion, he noticed her minute nod and turned back to the baron and earl. "It is fine. Our benefactor is not that fond of the current regime either, so insulting their kind is not an insult to her."

While Baron Gerosso sulked, and Earl Gorossalaine sunk into his chair in obvious relief, Marquis Hunington asked, "I take it you have a plan to deal with this new sorceress?"

"I have several," Castillo admitted. "Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Would you care to hear them?"

Marquis Hunington and Nivan, and Duke Thistlethane glanced at each other, as if silently conferring. Castillo could see the spirit crystals lighting up inside of their heads.

"We're all ears," Duke Thistlethane said after their silent deliberations.

Had it not given him away, Castillo would have smiled. Everything was going according to his design. These people were but sheep, following him as he led them along like a shephard. Even if their goals were the same, he had no intention of allowing them to take any of the glory for themselves.

When all was said and done, only one person would be standing at the top, and that person was going to be him.

Chapter end