Chapter 171: Ragged

Contessa couldn’t remember the last time she’d been run this ragged. She was pretty sure that was because it had never happened before. Her hair hung flat around her face, the careful coils ruined by sweat from the sweltering sun. The back of her shirt was soaked through and her legs ached.

Ever since the sun had risen that day, she’d been running around Arbitage’s campus, trying to find Moxie. There had been no sign of her in her room and Emily was also nowhere to be found.

None of the teachers Contessa pulled aside had any idea about where she was. She’d been forced to visit the Office – where the waiting room was closed for renovations. The secretary had made Contessa wait outside while she finished her meal. That had taken four hours. Every time it looked like the food was about to run out, another worker showed up for just long enough to deliver an extra set of plates and leave again.

Contessa’s eye had been twitching so much that she’d started to worry it might get stuck in a permanent squint. Of all the places that her Torrin influence extended, the Office wasn’t one of them.

Arbitage ruled itself with funding from all of the noble families, which meant it was functionally a neutral ground. Anyone that worked directly for the school was untouchable. And so Contessa waited, ignoring the stares of the students and faculty that passed her.

But, when she finally got inside, Contessa didn’t even last a minute. The secretary heard her request out and promptly shook her head.

“Oh, you should have said. Magus Moxie came by not all that long ago. She went to speak with the Enforcers. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Contessa’s teeth ground. Her hands clenched at her sides and she drew a deep breath, letting it slowly. “And where are the Enforcers?”

“Building right across from us.”

Contessa just barely managed to overwhelm the urge to put her foot through a wall. She turned and stormed out of the Office, trying to slam the door behind her. Even that small measure of satisfaction was taken from her as runes along the bottom of the door activated, automatically slowing it.

The door closed silently, leaving Contessa standing outside once more. Her face had taken several steps toward a remarkable rendition of a tomato, but after all this time, she finally had a lead.

A quick trip took her up to the door of the Enforcer building. Contessa raised her hand and rapped on the door. No more than a second later, it swung open. She jumped, surprised that something had actually moved quickly for once. A short man arched an eyebrow at her, then frowned.

“Did you fall in a lake?”

“I did not,” Contessa snapped. “I am here from the Torrin family on official business.”

The man’s nose scrunched and he tilted his head to the side. Clearly, Contessa’s current appearance wasn’t doing much to convince him. Contessa pressed her lips together and counted to five in her head before letting out a huff.

“Well, come inside, I guess,” the man said, stepping back. “I’m Blake.”

Contessa followed him in, and Blake closed the door behind her. Blake saw her eyes flick to a chair at the back of the room and he cleared his throat.

“Please don’t. You’ll soak the wood and ruin it.”

“I was told that a mage by the name of Moxie came through here earlier,” Contessa said, grasping onto her composure with the last strands of strength that she had left. “I need to speak with her urgently. Do you know where she is?”

“Moxie? I think someone like that passed through. She left Arbitage campus for a month.”

“A month?” Contessa exclaimed. “Where? I need to speak with her today.”

“Keep your voice down,” Blake said irritably. “We got people working here, you know. She spoke with Neir, but he’s busy right now.”

“He’ll make time for the Torrin family. This order comes directly from Evergreen.” Contessa crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Even if you aren’t beholden to our family, the Torrins have contributed significantly to Arbitage. Ignoring us will not go well.”

“I’d tell you to take a soak and cool off, but…” Blake shrugged, then snickered to himself. Before Contessa could even finish processing his words, Blake strode over to a door and knocked on it. “If you piss him off, it’s on you though, lady.”

There was a muffled swear from behind the door. It flew open, revealing a very irate bald man. He stood two heads above Contessa and one of his eyes had a jagged scar running straight down its center, starting on his forehead and ending halfway down his cheek.

But it wasn’t the bald man that caught Contessa’s attention. It was the man that stepped out from behind him. A glistening silver leg thunked as it hit the wood. It belonged to a gray haired man with streaks of white interweaving throughout his beard.

Contessa swallowed, her back prickling.

“Silvertide,” Contessa said as she took a step back. “I – I didn’t realize you were here.”

“I didn’t realize I needed permission to be,” Silvertide said, running a hand through his beard with a frown. “Should I know you?”

“No. We’ve never met,” Contessa stammered.

“Ah. You’ve got a fan,” the bald man said. “Another. What is that, the fifth one today?”

“Fourth. Your lack of attention to detail is why this case is still going, Neir,” Silvertide replied. He turned his gaze to Contessa. “I’m not doing autographs, I’m afraid.”

“I’m not here for that,” Contessa said, finally finding her verbal footing. “I was told that you spoke with Magus Moxie recently. I’m a representative of the Torrin family, and we urgently need to speak with her. Where is she?”

“Moxie? Name doesn’t ring a bell,” Silvertide said, shaking his head. “I think you’ve come to the wrong location. We’re rather busy right now, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Contessa gaped at him. She sent a desperate glance toward Blake.

“The cute redhead,” Blake said.

Both Neir and Silvertide stared at him.

“The one traveling with the scruffy Rank 1 Professor? You weren’t there at the time, Magus Silvertide.”

Somehow, that seemed to strike recognition with both Neir and Silvertide.

“Oh! I remember him,” Neir said. “He went with the other professor to train their students. I have no idea where they are. The guy – Vermil, I think his name was – is technically a suspect for our investigation, Silvertide.”

Silvertide tilted his head to the side. “He is? You never mentioned that. Perhaps we’re thinking of different people.”

“I didn’t realize you’d met him. Fairly unremarkable fellow,” Neir said, rubbing his chin. “He only reached Rank 2 recently.”

“The man I met was a Rank 1 professor as well.” Silvertide nodded thoughtfully. “Why didn’t you tell me that he was a suspect?”

“He was Rank 1 at the time, Silvertide. There’s no world a Rank 1 can kill a Rank 2 Great Monster.”

Contessa cleared her throat. Both men looked back down at her, their gazes darkening in annoyance.

“Why are you still here?” Neir asked.

“Is there any way you could track them down?” Contessa asked, her confidence crumbling under Silvertide’s gaze.

“No,” Neir said. “We’re busy. Go find some Torrin professors to boss around if you want help. We aren’t beholden to you. Get out.”

Contessa didn’t get a chance to protest. Blake pushed her out the door, then slammed it behind her. Contessa stood outside the house, staring at the road in disbelief. Her hands clenched at her sides and she stormed off.

If they won’t help me, then I’ll just track Moxie down on my own. I’ve done it before. How far could she have gone?

***

Noah stood atop one of the long, gently sloping hills of Graybarrow. The largely flat landscape was only broken by seemingly random bumps that stuck out of the ground like pimples.

It wouldn’t be long until it was time to head back to Arbitage, and he was determined to hit Rank 3 before they went back. Noah had taken to hunting the most common kind of monster in the Graybarrows at night – a large, horse sized goat creature. It had long, curling horns and uncomfortably gangly legs that always felt like they’d give out from beneath the monster but never did.

The dossier had identified the goat monsters as Bleaters, which fit in with the entirely uninspired naming scheme that was common to the dossiers. Noah did have to admit that the name fit them well, though.

All throughout the night, the Bleaters ghastly screams filled the air. They sounded eerily human, and more than unsettling enough to make Noah feel much better about his slaughter of them.

He’d checked a few of their Runes with Sunder, but none of them had held any interest for him. Their raw energy was far more useful, and that was what he was after. But Noah was interested in doing more than just mindlessly killing the Bleaters.

They had a decent amount of energy, but it was still taking a while to fill his Runes. He’d found that his Runes grew the most whenever he killed a unique monster. The crab that Revin had summoned back in the Red Barrens had given Noah a substantial amount of strength.

And so, Noah hopped onto his flying sword and set off on his hunt. Graybarrow was just as far from Arbitage as the Red Barrens were, and he was confident that there were variant monsters waiting for him to harvest somewhere.

Moxie was keeping watch over camp, and he had several hours until he needed to get back. Tonight, Noah felt optimistic. Something told him he’d get lucky. Wind nipped at his squinted eyes as the dark, uninspiring plains passed beneath him.

Noah wound around a tall hill, spotting several Bleaters perched on it. He didn’t even bother fighting them. The monsters called up at him, but Noah just let the howl of the wind drown them out.

A strangely shaped hill caught Noah’s eye. It looked like something had split it roughly down the center, and it stood open like the maw of the earth. The hill was covered by a layer of thick brown grass that looked completely out of place in the stark gray landscape. Even stranger was the surprising lack of sound in the area around it.

I left my gourd back in camp just in case I found something really strong, but it’s really quiet in this area. There’s a Bleater at the top of one of those halves, though. I wonder why it’s silent – not that I’m complaining.

Noah flew closer, squinting at the Bleater while making sure to stay far away enough to keep from being noticed. A grin crossed his face as he got a better look at the monster. It had streaks of dull red running through its grey fur, and a large horn protruded from its head.

I knew there’d be a variant here somewhere.

Noah angled his flying sword down, dropping from the sky and impaling his sword into the half of the hill across from the variant Bleater. He took several steps to keep himself from falling, then dug his sword out of the ground and slipped it into his belt.

The hill was a bit steeper than it had looked from the air, but Noah still climbed up to peer over it at the Bleater on the other side, preparing to draw his magic.

To Noah’s surprise, it was gone. He was certain he’d seen the monster at the top of the hill, but there was no sign of it anymore. Noah’s eyes narrowed and he shot himself into the air with a burst of wind.

A horn erupted from the ground beneath him and the Bleater burst free from the dirt, its gangly legs scrabbling to find purchase as it pulled itself out of the ground. The crazed monster had moved fast enough to literally throw itself through the hillside.

Noah landed across from it, a ball of churning wind spinning to life above one hand as a grin stretched across his lips.

“Come on then,” Noah said, beckoning the monster on. “Let’s do this.”