Magicis Mercator

Chapter 21: Let the trading begin

The Emperor marched with some haste, leaving the meeting he just had with Aexia. The spell he had put on her meant she could not lie to him. Which made what she had told him even more troublesome.

"Whatever you do, do not cross him. It would spell our undoing."

She then had the gall to not answer any of his further questions. She was still useful, he couldn't simply decide to be rid of her. The backlash from such a move would also cause much harm to the kingdom.

Changing his thoughts from the events that transpired, another meeting awaited him. This time he hoped for some good news from his spymaster. Kneeling beside his desk, his spymaster was panting hard, her chest rising and falling deeply with every breath.

"Elise, what news do you bring?"

"I have followed the Exalted and bore witness to most of their encounters."

"And, what did you learn?"

"It is difficult to describe the new mage's powers. It is as if he can create things that he then uses."

"Hmmm, so like an enchanter creating magical items?"

"Something along those lines. The variety of it was quite something however. I am not sure how they reached the city so fast, I could not keep up with them at all."

He waved it off.

"Tell me more about this weapon."

"After examining the body, I found an arrowhead embedded in it." She presented it to him. "My best guess would be that the magical weapon threw it with great force. It penetrated the barrier that the necromancer had raised. They could not deal with the summoned hydra however. "

"What about this hydra?"

"We will need to dispatch forces to contain it. I'd recommend a squad of mages and a regiment of soldiers."

"Make it so. We still have other operatives following them for the time being?"

"We do. The problem is they sometimes speak an unknown language. We have found no records of it, it is as if they created it for themselves."

"Mhmm, read their body language. Make due with what you can. What about our other problem?"

"There has been another victim by Zankas Orel. We are covering it up but soon there will be panic."

The emperor dismissed her with a wave of his hand. We certainly live in interesting times he mused.

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Krajek checked his funds again, lamenting about how he would have to break that gold coin in order to pay for the ride to the town of Lanzhou. Krajek made a mental note to keep more in the local currency around, seeing as how he was close to running out. In retrospect however, he needed to convert it initially, in order to equip himself properly. The gun, body armor, the Jeep; it all added up. True, he had some extra cash from the gold and silver coin sales, but he wasn't sure if there'd be at first.

The thought of using the Jeep to reach the city crossed his mind but these roads were too well traveled for that. If he was but a simple merchant, he would have to act like one.

The carriage ride went along smoothly and it was later during the evening that they reached the city. Leaving the main gate by foot, the two headed for the market district. As Krajek looked around trying to remember where the smithy was, a deep voice spoke out loudly from behind him.