Xavier and the boys arrived at Fuera de Mola in the middle of the day. Two knights guarded the little house, standing on both sides of the door. Tamalor laughed, while Xavier and the boys showed annoyed faces.
"You are making a fool out of yourself, Fillode, although I would also do so if the situation were the other way around." Tamalor thought as he said goodbye to his new "friends". 'I'll see you later, gentlemen,' he said, laughing. Seconds later, he disappeared in the Tumulos carriage.
'Welcome home, your honor,' greeted one of the knights.
'What are you doing here?' asked Xavier with a voice of dissatisfaction.
The knigths sweated when they heard his tone of voice.
'The lord of Duero has assigned us the protection and custody of your house, your honor.'
'Well, we're here now. You can go,' said Xavier, pointing to the dusty road.
'Your honor, we have been assigned to be here permanently. In a couple of hours, our relief will come. The Lord of Duero wants you to have a permanent line of contact at your disposition,' replied the knight.
'Oh, for all heavens!' Xavier put his right hand on his head. He had the worst of all possible hangovers—the wine and this wasn't helping. 'All right, go tell your Lord we'll meet him tomorrow morning.'
'Immediately, your honor,' one of the knights ran away.
Xavier kept staring at the other knight.
'I will follow him to make sure that he delivers the message correctly.'
Xavier smiled. 'And don't come back!' he cried to the gentlemen who ran as if their lives were at stake.
Xavier took a look around him. The children of the village were hidden among the bushes without losing sight of them.
'There is no changing it. They won't go away,' he said, heading towards the jungle.
Temma and Uruk followed him, and the three disappeared among the trees. They traveled to the cave and waited for a few hours until Moger appeared. After the brothers had roughhoused for a bit and rolled on the ground all over the cave, they sat down by the fire.
'Have you enjoyed your time among humans?'
'I have taken control of the operations base of Garland the Red. It has not been difficult,' Temma replied, throwing a heavy bag full of gold coins at Xavier. 'I've only been among humans for a week, and I already know of all sorts of betrayals, lies, secrets, and conspiracies.'
Moger told Xavier and his brothers things that he had heard from the mouths of the nobles or rumors that ran among the criminals of the area, dirty secrets of the nobility of Orphen, the dynasty, and the kingdom of Veldat.
'In the end, it seems that in the dynasty there could be any kind of conflict between the royalty. The king's firstborn died in a hunting accident. There are rumors that the princess and the king had something to do. Apparently, the first prince wanted to seize the throne without waiting for his father's death. It is possible that the king and the princess ordered his death; now the princess is the future heir to the throne.'
Temma and Uruk found all this matter repulsive.
'There are also rumors that the third prince has been trying to gain supporters among the nobles of the highest class. In the last war, Veldat's invading forces murdered his mistress, who was also his bond of union with an important family of the court.'
"I wonder what face the prince would put on if he knew that he just drank and laughed with one of those invaders." Xavier thought of the massacre of the citadel of Mennor, in which he participated, and the outrageous abuses committed against Dalila before hanging her at the entrance of the Citadel.
Xavier took a look at the boys around him. 'In this world, only power and money work; nobles have money, magicians have power. The third prince will try to use us as a tool against the king and the princess if he ever tries to take the throne. We can use that to our advantage.'
'For now, we have to play this game with the nobles; we have no choice,' said Temma.
'By the way, what impression did Master Robalt gave you?' asked Xavier.
'His magic is powerful, but it has some weaknesses that we could exploit. Although our biggest advantage is physical, if they manage to cover that part as the knights do, we could have a lot of trouble,' Temma replied.
"As far as I know, only knights have enchanted armor. But some magicians also wear enchanted clothes, especially regulators and academy masters. Furthermore, the quality of the individual's armor or enchanted clothing will increase with his importance. Don't take your advantages for granted,′ Xavier recommended.
Xavier, Temma, and Uruk returned to Mola. Moger returned to the Tabern "the Down Low" in Eltinar.
The next day, at dawn, a carriage appeared at the door of the De Vonder. Without further delay, they climbed into the carriage wearing their hunter's clothes.
'Remember what I told you about the Oculis glasses. Avoid the regulators, the royal castle, and the academies. If you approach those places, it's a matter of time before they discover you. Under no circumstances should an invitation to such places be accepted,' Xavier reminded them.
The carriage entered the citadel and stopped at the lord's mansion. Like all the mansions, it was an ostentatious building, painted in green with white and golden on the edges and columns. The entrance to the mansion followed a narrow corridor full of statues wearing golden crowns.
'Doesn't this place remind you of Tamalor's mansion?' said Uruk.
Xavier looked around; in fact, everything was similar to Tamalor's mansion but exaggerated. The rivalry between the two lords was well known. Xavier's lips twisted in a macabre smile. They entered the mansion, and Clerence Van Fillode was waiting for them.
'The De Vonder family, it is a pleasure to see you again,' greeted Clerence.
'The pleasure is ours, your Excellency. I'm sorry we didn't attend the meeting yesterday, but His Excellency Tamalor kept us busy all day and night. That man doesn't know the meaning of the word moderation,' commented Xavier as he watched the eyelids and the border of Fillode's mouth twitch. "I got you." The rivalry between nobles would be useful to him.
'Bah! I found the lord of Farpas to be an unpleasant man, and I highly doubt that he can surpass what my citadel has to offer' refuted Clerence.
'Your Excellency, I suppose you have not called us to talk about entertainment.'
'That's right. I heard rumors that the two young men would not attend Liev's tower, and they even rejected the offers of the tower masters. Is that true?' asked Clerence.
'That is true. We have no interest in attending the Liev Tower,' Temma replied.
'I do not think that these teachers can teach me anything useful anyway, except to run away at full speed,' said Uruk, laughing.
'Uruk,' said Xavier, turning around and winking at him without Clerence seeing him.
Uruk shook his tongue. Xavier turned and looked at Clerence again. 'Sorry about that, Excellency; my boys are still young and somewhat impulsive.'
"Then it is true that Robalt ran away when he treid to face these boys," thought Clerence. He started laughing. 'I understand leader Xavier; I also have young children. I don't even want to imagine how difficult it must be to control such... powerful young men.'
'I have taught them respect and discipline. Isn't that right, boys?'
'Yes, sir,' the young men answered unanimously.
'Amazing,' replied Clerence. 'However, there are a lot of advantages to being trained at an academy; it is a coincidence that in my territory we have...'
Xavier interrupted him by raising his hand. 'I think there is a misunderstanding, Your Excellency. No member of the mercenary family De Vonder will attend a magic academy. Ever!'
'I understand. It is a pity, but nothing I can do about it,' concluded Clerence. 'Let's talk about business then.'
'Excellent; we are a family of mercenaries after all,' said Xavier with a smile.
'I would like to have the exclusive right to request your services.'
Again, Xavier interrupted him. 'I'm sorry, Excellency, but we can't guarantee that.'
'I can double any offer made by Tamalor.'
'Your Excellency, Lord Tamalor, offered us the Van Ferra mansion.' Xavier lied.
Clerence's face was one of surprise, then changed to the face of a resigned man.
"I went overboard," Xavier thought. 'It is a pity that we could not accept,' Clerence's face turned bright again. 'Prince Seigmur would not allow us to do such a thing.'
"Prince Seigmour, not even I can treat the royalty with such familiarity," thought Clerence. 'Oh! I see it. Of course, if it is about His Majesty, nothing can be done. Although I imagine that does not prevent others from hiring your services.'
'That is right, Your Excellency,' replied Xavier.
'Please, drop the titles and honorifics; is that fine, Xavier?'
'Well, let's do it that way, Clerence.'
They both smiled.
'As I said. I'd like to hire your services. I have some problems with the ancient ruins at the northern end of Lake Orto. I would like you to be part of the subjugation mission for that area,' Clerence offered.
'Fifteen gold coins,' offered Xavier.
Clerence's face wrinkled. 'My dear Xavier, it would cost me only ten coins to hire a group of mercenaries and adventurers suitable to deal with this situation.'
'No doubt, Clerence, but' Xavier raised a finger. 'First, it would take at least a week to gather the group,' he continued to raise his fingers as he listed the difficulties of the job. 'Second, it could take them a long time to deal with the miasma area. Third: I have done subjugation misions before; wounded or dead mercenaries and magicians are the norm. We can do the work in a couple of hours and come back without any casualties.'
Clerence had never hired the services of a titled magician; the royalty exercised strict control over them. Besides, he was not a warrior, nor had he seen a titled magician in battle. He still had doubts but accepted.
'I understand. When could you deal with that problem?'
'Right now,' replied Xavier. 'All we need is a carriage to get to the place and back.'
Hearing this, Clerence took out a bag and put fifteen gold coins on his desk.
'We will get our pay after the work is done. It is our policy,' said Xavier, smiling and turning around to leave for the assigned mission.
Clerence arranged a carriage in which the De Vonders traveled, accompanied by one of the knights from Clerance Mansion. As they approached Lake Ortos, the carriage was stopped.
'Stop,' cried a couple of knights. 'This road is closed until they subyugate the miasma nucleus. Turn around and travel to Telasa through Farpas,' ordered the knight.
The coachman and the knights were arguing. Clerence had not had time to issue the documents needed for the mission. Xavier and the boys got off the carriage.
'We are going to deal with the nucleus right now,' Xavier told the knigth.
"Magicians, they all think they are all powerful," the knight thought. 'Sir, unless you have a full subyugation squad, you will only risk your lives.'
'Don't worry about our lives,' replied Xavier.
'Well, I tried,' said the knight, stepping aside. 'If you die, it is not my fault.'
Xavier and the boys returned to the carriage and went forward. Upon reaching the lake, in the ruins of an ancient village, an area of miasma expanded. Xavier, the boys, and the knight came down from the carriage. Without saying a word, Uruk and Temma advanced towards the miasma. They put their hands in front of their faces and exhaled, creating a sea of flames that made the knight, the coachman, and the horses tremble. In the distance, the knights who tried to stop them saw the column of smoke rise. Half an hour later, Uruk and Temma returned. The ancient ruins had been reduced to scorched earth. They climbed into the carriage without saying a word and returned to Duero.
The knights who watched the smoke rise went to see what had happened; they froze in place when they confirmed the nucleus of the miasma had been removed. Later, they would spread the rumor.
Clerence laughed, 'incredible' The knight whom he sent along with the De Vonders had told him a story worthy of those hero novels that his mother used to read to him as a child.
'We are glad that our work meets the expectations of our clients,' Xavier replied, receiving the agreed payment.
'Gentlemen, I will take this opportunity to propose a new job offer and at the same time invite you to the society party for the young magicians of this generation,' said Tamalor, delivering a list of parts of monsters from Morr jungle. 'In a few days, the invitation should arrive. I hope I can count on your assistance.'
It was a rather strange situation. The society presentation party was usually hosted at the mansion of one of the nobles whose children had awakened as magicians. However, Clerence had taken advantage of Tamalor's absence to host the event in order to have more contact with the De Vonders. After completing all their business with Clerence, the three magicians returned to Fuera de Mola.