Chapter 113: Neck wide open

“You called me, Father?” Janice asked as the door to Father’s office shut behind her.

“Yes. Report on your dinner yesterday.” Father indicated the chair across from him.

Janice hesitantly walked over and sat down, swallowing heavily before she spoke again. “He has a scroll with several Rank 4 Runes on it. I suspect it is Dayton’s grimoire.”

Father nodded. “Logically. We never put a time limit on when he had to turn it in. The demon seemed pleased with his success?”

“Yes, Father. He was uncomfortable when I pressed on what it might be. I believe he thinks he has outmaneuvered you.”

Father chuckled. “He’s welcome to the grimoire. I have no need for that fool Dayton’s Runes. Did he give anything else away? Does he still believe that I have more in store for him?”

Janice shook her head. “No, Father. And I am unaware. He did not speak of anything you assigned him. His focus seemed to be on the scroll.”

“Then he’s unaware that he’s already accomplished the main goal I needed him for,” Father said with a wry smile. “Demon or not, he’s just like every other human. Give them something to look for and they’ll leave their neck wide open as they stare at the sky.”

“What would you have me do now?” Janice asked.

Father grunted. “Begin by spreading the news of Dayton’s retreat. His cowardice will be a powerful lever for someone whose entire platform ran on strength. What a waste of resources. His parents were fools. After they were accepted to the main branch, they should have cut ties with the idiot instead of pampering him with supplies and dragging him up to Rank 5. With this, it will be easy to undermine him. Bring the members of his family into ours and remove the rest discretely. By the time he returns to the Linwick Estate, there will be nothing left to save.”

“And what of our other plans?” Janice asked.

“With Dayton out of the way, we should have little opposition from the rest of the Linwick family,” Father said, a smile stretching across his weathered face. “All goes according to plan. Soon, we will be the only remaining option to be chosen to join the main branch.”

Janice inclined her head. It had been a very long time since she’d last heard Father actually excited about anything, and the emotion scared her more than just about any other one he could have shown.

She remained silent, waiting for Father to give her the next set of orders.

“We will need to handle the demon,” Father said, turning back to his desk and looking out at the scrolls covering it. “I would have liked to get much more out of him, but this one is too clever. It would be too great of a risk to continue our relationship.”

“Would you like me to do it?”

“Absolutely not,” Father replied sternly. “You will ensure that not the slightest trace of discord arises between you and the demon’s party. This must be discreet. The demon must not be killed publicly. It must vanish. There can be no connection between us and it.”

“I could–”

“Dayton was a fool, but not a completely delusional one,” Father said, cutting Janice off. “You are not to engage the demon in combat. It is more cunning than it should have been, and no plan is foolproof. I will allow for no potential risks. We will not be associated with the demon’s death.”

“Poison, then?” Janice asked.

Father’s eye twitched. “I suspect that will lead nowhere. No. I consulted the scrolls in search of an efficient way to remove the demon, but the only news of demons with functional immortality are archdemons. If that is what we face, then there is no way for us to remove it silently.”

Father turned, walking back to his desk and picking up a small crystal orb. He held it up, watching the light reflect off its glossy blue depths. His fingers tightened around the orb. There was a crack as it shattered, cascading into a pile of dust on the floor.

A gust of wind from the holes lining the bottom of the office blew the dust away as if it had never been there.

“I have called in a favor with a group of Demon Hunters from the edge of the kingdom,” Father said, brushing his hands off and returning to his seat. “They will handle the situation efficiently and without any tie to us.”

“Of course, Father,” Janice said. “What would you have me do, then?”

“The demon stated it planned to remain here for – two weeks, was it?”

Janice nodded.

“That will be sufficient time for the hunters to arrive. They will eliminate the problem when they head back to Arbitage,” Father said, his cold smile not even getting close to reaching his eyes. “Take no extra action with the demon and his associates. His hourglass runs out. Let it expire on its own. Maintain your current activities and focus on ensuring the proper rumors about Dayton spread.”

“I will do as you ask.” Janice paused, then swallowed and spoke again. “What of his students?”

“What of them?” Father tilted his head to the side. “You mean the stolen runes you detected?”

“Magus Allen confirmed he had given the girl a Rank 1 Greater Stone Rune due to a lost bet,” Janice said. “But the boy possesses a Rank 1 Greater Fire Rune that he should not have. The demon shared–”

“It matters not,” Father said. “Bringing it up would put the demon’s guard on edge. The most important thing we can do right now is ensure that he does not change his pattern. Let him focus on the scroll like I planned. Do not bring up any mention of the student’s Runes.”

Janice gave Father a stiff nod. He chuckled.

“It is important to always leave ourselves another angle,” Father said. “What if the demon hunters fail?”

“I thought you said–”

“No man is infallible, and we cannot risk calling Rank 5 hunters. That will draw far too much attention. There must always be alternative paths. If your entire house stands because of one beam, then a single well placed blow will bring it down. Remember this, Janice. Plan for failure but prepare for success. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Father. I was simply worried about the consequences of disobeying a Blacklist. I have been following your orders to ignore it, but if the other noble families discover we housed them, it could cause trouble.”

“Allow me to worry about the other noble families,” Father said. “Your purpose is to execute my commands. The benefits exceed the drawbacks, and this will be another piece of leverage should we come to need it.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Then go,” Father said. The door ground open behind Janice. “Begin your tasks. We have much to accomplish. Oh – bring the demon the clothes he requested once they are completed. He should have something nice to wear to his grave.”

***

Noah was having a fantastic time locked up in his room reading, though he’d never admit it to anyone. Father seemed to have completely forgotten about him, and there was only so much training he could do every day.

The first few days after getting Dayton’s grimoire, he’d been expecting a knock on the door at any point. Noah had been certain that Father would realize he’d kept the grimoire and Dayton hadn’t brought it with him when he’d ran, but the knock never came.

Noah wasn’t going to complain. He spent the morning training with Isabel, Todd, and Lee, then the rest of the day poring over the Runes within the scroll. He didn’t want to waste a single second and risk losing anything useful.

In his spare time, when he wasn’t training or reading, Noah meditated to fill his Runes. It was slow, but progress was progress. And, just like that, a week passed. The sparring lessons were starting to make fantastic progress and he could feel both Isabel and Todd getting better at fighting – not just alone, but together as well.

And, in the hours that Noah spent pouring over the Runes, he realized something horrifying about himself. He was actually having fun researching. Despite his initial hatred of doing literally anything that involved sitting still and studying, he’d slowly realized that trying to learn was fun

.

Of course, that did mean that he’d gotten himself into significant amounts of trouble for what now amounted to absolutely no reason. He pushed that particular fact to the back of his mind.

Technically, I’m having fun learning about Runes, not just learning. If the library actually had books on Runes, then I’d be reading those. Totally. I wouldn’t have just run out and tried to wing everything – oh, who am I kidding. I’m an idiot.

That particular revelation had stayed within Noah’s mind, precisely where it belonged. And, just like that, time ground on. The dreaded moment where Father showed up to take Noah’s hard-earned runes from him never came, and the week stretched on into the next.

Noah’s research wasn’t just theoretical. After he finished cataloguing all the Runes in Dayton’s grimoire – he set about finalizing his plans for reaching Rank 3. He’d jotted all his notes down in English on a dozen pieces of paper, brainstorming until he’d condensed everything down into just a few points.

I need a new form of Wind magic at Rank 2. The Rank 3 Rune – Bleak Howling Maelstrom – will be perfect for my purposes, as there should be a Rank 2 Wind component of some sort in it.

Sundering Bleak Howling Maelstrom might result in losing 6 of the 7 Rank 2 Runes. I can try to absorb multiple Rank 2 Runes, but I don’t know if it’ll work.

Even if I can absorb multiple, there’s a flaw somewhere in them, so I’ll need to figure out where the flaw is and repair it. Luckily, I have a fair number of other Runes that contain Wind aspects.

Noah finalized his guidelines just a few days into his research, but he spent considerably more time cataloguing the potentially useful Runes and preparing himself. But, finally, on the fifth day of the second week, he was prepared.

After their training was done for the day, Noah locked himself in his room and got to work. He started by Imbuing his Greater Wind Rune within his grimoire to make extra room in his soul. Noah was hopeful he wouldn’t have to split the Bleak Howling Maelstrom all the way back down to its Rank 1 components, but he didn’t know where the flaw in its composition was.

Noah laid all three of his grimoires out – Dayton’s, Evergreen’s, and Vermil’s – on the bed. There was a good amount of space on Dayton’s scroll and a few spare pages in his own book to work with when he needed to Imbue anything. Noah took a deep breath, gathering himself, then placed his hand on the Rank 3 Rune. It sparked against his touch, warning him that there was too much energy stored within it for his soul to contain.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A determined look took hold of Noah’s face and he called on Sunder’s powers. His veins turned a dark greyish black as the Master Rune’s power filled him. Moving carefully, Noah tore off the portion of the paper that the Bleak Howling Maelstrom was drawn upon.

Nothing happened. He touched it again, then yanked his hand back as the Rune sparked. It was still intact.

“Right,” Noah breathed, placing his hand on the Rune once more and allowing Sunder’s power to flow out of his hand and into the Catchpaper. “Let’s get this started.”