Winter was starting. Moger, under his new identity as Garland the Red, met Jaffar in his mansion; things went well for both of them. Garland supplied a continuous amount of basilisk blood and other items that Jaffar sold on the black market at a good price.
'Here's the blood and the other materials you asked for, Jaffar.'
'Excellent. Here are the profits, according to our agreement' Jaffar smiled putting a bag of gold on the table. 'But we will have to control the distribution; there are rumors that regulators are starting to sniff around the citadel.'
'Is there no other choice?'
'My dear Garland, you are being too greedy,' replied Jaffar.
'Don't give me moral lessons,' replied Garland with his coarse voice.
'Well. There are other business options. I just got in touch with a friend who's in the slave sale business. Although it is a business that attracts the attention of regulators, if limit yourself to attack villas in other kingdoms no one will care, if they cant catch the culprit they almost always blame monster attacks or warlocks to calm the population.'
'We have in sight a couple of villages of the kingdom of Veldat and the dynasty which we will attack once winter comes and they are isolated. We will transport them to the south of the Dynasty to the clandestine ports and from there they will be sold to the Nu empire.'
Moger was ruthless with his victims. He never left witnesses or survivors, destroyed the villages and burned everything in his way. The most fortunate had a quick death and became his dinner. The less lucky served to entertain the men of his gang. Others were sold as slaves.
'But it is not enough. I need more money, I know you should know of some extra work'
'Well, there's a couple of jobs. But...'
'Spit it out, Jaffar, you know I have no patience,' said Garland, holding the arm on the chair where he was sitting, with such strength strength he made the wood crack.
'There is a job that pays very well, but it is very dangerous,' replied Jaffar to Garland's impatient gaze. 'The lord of Farpas citadel wants to get rid of the leader of a family of mercenaries.' Jaffar noticed that this job caught Garland's attention.
'How much do they pay for that job?' asked Garland.
'Five hundred gold coins'
'Why would they pay so much for killing the leader of a mercenary family?' asked Garland, feigning ignorance.
'Have you heard that the dynasty has obtained two new fire titled magicians, right?'
Garland nodded.
'Well, it turns out that these two young magicians belong to the mercenary family De Vonder. Apparently, a low rank dual magician, Xavier de Vonder, controls the two young men and they follow him like sheep's. They even rejected their titles, refused to attend Liev's Tower, and even refused to visit the royal palace.
'Well, I imagine the royal family didn't take that very well.'
'That should be the case. But the third prince seems to have good relations with the De Vonder, and there are rumors that he is planning to establish himself as the next heir to the throne with the help of the two titled young magicians. Although the Vonder retain much autonomy, they are considered de-facto members of the third prince's faction.'
'Then why do they want to kill this Xavier guy?'
'Control. The boys don't follow anybody orders except their uncle. The lord of Farpas or the prince don't like that at all. The problem is that no group wants to take the risk of turning into the enemies of two titled magicians who are able to make Master Robalt to flee.'
'Yes, that would be very stupid. I accept the job'
'Of course you don't want... Wait, what did you say?'
'I have said that I will take the job,' replied Garland.
"Don't you understand that they are titled magicians?"
Garland shrug his shoulders.
'Tell the Lord of Farpas that I want a thousand gold coins. Five hundred in advance.'
'I don't think he will accept that price.'
'Don't worry, he will accept, coordinate a meeting with the lord of Farpas. Tell him to bring his best knights, I'll show him what I'm capable of'
'Fine then,' replied Jaffar with a smile. He also planned to join the group, he was curious to see Garland in action.
A week later, Tamalor met in secret with Jaffar in the most peripheral part of Eltinar. Right on the edge of Morr's jungle.
'So you are Garland the Red,' said Tamalor, seeing the man in front of him. He was covered from foot-to-head in clothes.
'Are you the one who wants the leader of that mercenary family dead?'
'I don't know what you're talking about,' replied Tamalor.
Jaffar cleared his throat to get Garland attention. 'Garland, Lord Tamalor, is here to evaluate your skills and see if it is worth hiring you.'
Garland raised his right hand. His men came out of the trees. The Tamalor's knights gripped their weapons.
'What are you doing?' asked Jaffar.
'Relax, Jaffar.' They're only here to take care of our client in case something happens,′ Garland replied.
'That's what I have my knights for. Your men are not needed,' replied Tamalor.
'First I will fight your knights. Then we will go into the jungle'
Tamalor laughed. 'To face my knights. You know they have enchanted armors, don't you?' "Garland may be a legendary criminal, but he seems to overestimate his abilities in the end."
In less than a second, Garland appeared in front of one of the knights and held his hand before he could unsheathe his sword. Then he moved at full speed, placing himself behind Tamalor before his knights could protect him.
'I advise your knights to activate their armor. I will try not to kill them, but I do not make promises' 'That will not be necessary,' replied Tamalor with cold sweat. "He moves like the De Vonder boys, maybe even faster." 'Are you a magician?'
Garland replied with his head in denial. Of his men only Theo knew about his magic.
'It is a pity,' replied Tamalor.
'Let's go to the jungle,' offered Garland.
'Sir, the jungle is dangerous, we should not...'
Tamalor interrupted the knight by raising his right hand in a sign that he should keep silent as he followed behind Garland. Jaffar and the others followed him. After getting deep into the jungle, Garland's men began to distribute the contents of several bags around. The smell of rotten meat, mixed with guts, was nauseous. Half an hour later, a giant beetle like monster appeared.
'Well, we're lucky,' said one of Garland's men. 'That's about four or five gold coins,' he valued the giant insect. The beetles shell was a good material for making light shields; it was more effective than metal. The stings of the legs could be used to make poisonous arrows, among other uses.
'Beetles are the monsters with the highest defense and vitality in the jungle, even half-dead, they can continue to fight for hours, let's see what you do now, Garland." Tamalor noticed that Garland's men were too relaxed.
Garland threw himself against the giant insect alone, his speed and physical strength were frightening. Instead of using his swords, he grappled the insect's legs and broke them through the articulated area using pure brute force. Ten minutes later, the insect lay on the ground with all its legs and antennae broken. Garland borrowed a long sword from one of his men and plunged it into what was supposed to be the mouth of the insect.
'Can you do such a thing?' asked Tamalor to the captain of his escort of knights.
'No, my lord, among all the knights here maybe in a day or two we could kill that insect,' admitted the gentleman ashamed.
'I don't know who the De Vonder are, nor what they have done to you, and I don't care. If you pay me, I will kill them,' said Garland, turning to Tamalor.
'You are hired,' said Tamalor with a smile. Meanwhile, Jaffar smiled with a mixture of admiration and fear.
'It is not yet the time.' We need a few months to win the boy's confidence. Then we'll give the Vonder a mission. Xavier never enters the miasma areas. He sends in his nephews, take the opportunity to kill him,′ Tamalor informed Garland of the plan as he handed him over the five hundred gold coins.
A few days later, Moger informed Xavier and his brothers of the plans the prince and the lord of Farpas had. Xavier took the news with a smile.