CHAPTER 264: WHERE DID THEY COME FROM

Dominic kept up the friendly chatter as he followed Baron Keith around his new property, and explained how things were set up before the area was abandoned.

Unlike the estate closer to the river, this one was all open fields, with an irrigation canal that was filled using a magitech pump. Not fancy, but that single canal ran in a loop around the Barony, and as long as the river was still flowing well, they could get enough water to irrigate the entire thousand acres.

The issue was that large portions of the irrigation network, which had been made up of magitech sprinklers at the corners of fields, had been damaged.

It would take time and money to repair them, so until that could be done, they would have to be tested, and most of the fields would survive on natural rainfall.

They were about to enter the rainy season, or the winter season, depending on how you looked at it. So, the work could be delayed for some time, but half a year at the most. Just enough time for them to get a full round of crops out of the fields and earn some coin to do the work.

Baron Keith chuckled as he listened to Dominic’s concerns about the irrigation.

"Well, according to the record books, this region gets more rain in the dry season than we did in the east, so I reckon that we should be fine.

At worst, only some of our fields will do as well as we hoped. But I don’t see it turning into a disaster." He replied happily.

Dominic nodded. "In that case, I will leave you to it. Most of what you need is already in the house, though a few rooms need to be cleared and everything needs a good deep cleaning."

Ella came over to join them, and gave Dominic a positive gesture that he assumed meant that the Baron’s family was hard at work getting the house ready, and that he hadn’t missed anything important during his cleansing.

"Well, that is our cue to head back to the house. Good luck with the morning’s work, if you need anything from town, the shops will be open in a few hours. The bakery is already fired up, so give it two hours at the most and there will be fresh bread.

I know it’s a fair trip, but you’ve got some horses with you, it shouldn’t be more than ten minutes each direction." Dominic reminded them.

"Oh, good point. We will have to clean the kitchen before we even try cooking, and it would be best if we could find a cook right away, before the Baroness gets protective of her burnt pans."

Ella’s laugh echoed a little in her helmet as she tried to stifle the sound, but the Baron just smiled and turned to return home.

Dominic fell in beside her as the Royal Guard set a loping jog back toward the Manor, then motioned for John to join them.

"What did you find on the bodies of the wizards? Were they human? Any identifying marks?" Dominic asked.

John shook his head. "Human, yes. Definitely classically trained mages, I know that magical signature anywhere. But not locally. If my guess is right, they were from somewhere in the deep south. Mourish, perhaps Arenzania.

There is a chance that they were trailing the carnival, but given recent events, it seems more likely that they were actually hiding in the wilderness and looking for targets."

Ella nodded in agreement. "The way that they led the attack on the Baron was familiar. That mindless aggression isn’t something that they train at the mage towers, but it’s how the ones that the Royals faced all reported during the assassination attempts.

They might be aiming to get revenge for messing up their plans in Albroles."

John frowned, then nodded. "That makes sense. If my sources are right, the Prince was never there, only a duplicate. So, whoever is backing him knows that the two of you had a hand in ruining the coup.

Or was the Royal Guard at home? I have heard conflicting versions about who was with the Princess."

Dominic chuckled. "The Royal Guard was providing cover for her in the Capital, while the Natural Sons were with us."

John took out a small cloth bag. "This the only surviving object that might give us any sort of clue, with the damage they did to themselves to prevent capture. But all that’s in it is a bunch of Dagos silver and copper."

Ella took the bag from him and hefted it in her hand.

"It’s not enchanted, but the bag itself is a clue. It’s made from indigo dyed velvet." She noted.

"Indigo is native to the Kinewen region, and this isn’t particularly high quality. But still, that is a good clue as to where the mages were living." John agreed.

"And to their actual wealth." Dominic noted. "Your money pouch isn’t something that you often replace, unless it has been stolen. This one has been well-worn, and it was never expensive. So, they’re probably not from a more prestigious background, or a well-known mage academy."

Ella nodded. "I will look into any academies, either near here or in the south, that use indigo as their uniform colours. It might have been issued, if they were younger mages."

"They were. Not more than twenty-five." John agreed.

"Then I will inquire and scour the records that we have. There is bound to be something that we can use as a lead if there were no identifiable marks on them or their belongings." She muttered.

John shrugged. "Their self-immolation was pretty thorough. The coin purse was dropped when I cut through a sash and coat."

The Royal Guard turned to Dominic. "Why is there never a moment of peace? You were supposed to bring us to a nice remote area, where I could lounge around on shift, drink my evenings away, and then retire to become that spinster who hits on all the young guardsmen in the tavern."

Dominic chuckled. "I’m not sure if I should admire your dedication to debauchery, or chastise you for the things you’re planning to do to our future guard recruits."