2 - A bet?

Arcane Academy, Eastern Planes

Then I turn towards Kane and hug him. “Goodbye ~mother~! I hope

you will do well. We may not see each other for a while.” Hehehe. I

know he hates that.

“Let go! You are creeping me out idiot!” He pushes me away and

waves his hand and me. “Be sure to send me a letter when you

settle down. I hope to hear from you soon!”

I pat his shoulder without saying a word and turn towards the

opposing side of the plaza. While I walk I start to skip a little. New

life here I come! Even if I get assassinated, so be it! From now on I

will work on doing what I want.

In front of me on the other side of the plaza is a circular portal. It's a

teleportation device which connects important places throughout the

whole world. The fee to use them is expensive. But it would also be

costly to make a long journey by conventional means.

As I reach the Gate I flip a coin towards the magician who is

controlling it. Those devices need constant guidance by a qualified

person. Otherwise you could end up somewhere you don't want to

be. “The Norfolk Capital! And fast! I have an appointment!”

That's not entirely true, but at least the magician starts to wave his

hands at the gate with complicated gestures and some glyphs start

to glow.

Even though technology is despised, some artefacts are tolerated

because of their practicability. And if they can be only used by noble

magicians it's all the better. Something like my amulet which works

for everyone would get me into jail asap.

The Gate glows up and a snowy city comes into view on the other side. I nod towards the magician who is controlling the Gate and

step through.

Cold! Brrr! I cast a protection spell against the cold by mumbling a

few words. Something like that is children’s play.

The architecture of the Norfolk capital is very different from the

Arcane Academy. The overall height of the locals is a little higher

than in Mislow but I guess it's okay. The ethnical differences on this

world are very subtle.

The greatest differences can be seen between people of different

noble bloodlines. I don't want to call it inbreeding, but marriages

between closely related families are seen very often. Anything to

keep the heritage pure and attain the strongest magicians.

The houses here are big and made of wood. There are very frilly

and complicated designs on the roofs. I guess it isn't much of a

problem to build a city out of wood up here in the north. The threat

of a big fire isn't that big. There is snow everywhere so water is

close at hand.

I start to walk through the snow and towards a carriage. Well, it's

more like a sledge with skids. It has no wheels. I guess that makes

sense in a country with eternal snow. The gate is located on another

open area inside the city. But there are always carriages waiting

close to them. Only people with money use the Gates.

So it's logical for carriage drivers to wait close to them. After arriving

at the carriage, I jump onto it and pat the shoulder of the sleeping

driver. “The Jarl's Hall! Pronto!”

The sleepy driver nods and swings a whip at the big and sturdy

horses. They are fat monsters with long hair. I doubt that they feel

much of the whip through their fur.

Yet it seems like the driver is working really hard to keep them

going. He is whipping the lazy animals during the entire trip because

they stop as soon as he ceases to motivate them.

After twenty minutes we arrive at a big round building with multiple

floors. The driver stops while panting and with sweat on his forehead. Actually the whole trip seems to have taken a greater toll

on the driver than the animals.

“Not a fun job, is it? Wait here. I will need you later.” I smirk at him

while I press a coin into his waiting hand which is actually enough for

an entire day of working.

He nods without saying a word. It would be hard for him to speak

properly anyway. Well, he has time to catch a breath until I come

back.

I hop from the carriage and walk towards the building.

Then I take a closer look at the big building. It's the first one which is

made of stone. Maybe other people besides the Jarl aren't allowed

to build with stone? The decorations are nice and there are many

fighting scenes with mythical beings on the walls.

As I arrive at the big gates, two guards are blocking my path. “The

Jarl doesn't give audiences at this time.”

I arch my eyebrow. “So when does he give audiences?”

“When he wants to.” The guard snorts at me.

Hah... I see. So they probably have commands to let nobody enter

who isn't known to them? I sigh. “Could you inform the Jarl of my

presence and that I want to offer him something valuable?”

The other guard shakes his head. “We aren't allowed to leave our

posts for minor disturbances.” He gives me a stupid grin. It's clear

that they don't want me here.

Then my eyes fall onto a big golden bell at the wall besides the left

guard. “What's that thing good for?”

The guards grin vanishes. “That's to be used when important people

arrive to call an escort. Don't dare to....”

But I already tipped the bell with telekinesis and a loud *gong* is

heard. So much for that.

One of the guards draws his sword. “What do you think you are doing!?”

“Calling the escort?” I ask them with an innocent expression.

The guard steps forward when the door opens and a guy in very

expensive clothing takes a look outside. His eyes sweep over me for

a second and then he snaps at the guards. “What's wrong? Who

is that? Have you guys forgotten your orders?”

I take the lead before the guards can answer. “My name is Ascathon

Asceron. I came here to see the Jarl. There is something I want to

offer him. I circumvented your guards after they told me about that

bell. There isn't much a commoner could do against a noble

anyway.” I bow a little.

“So you are that Arenzien..... want to plead for protection here? You

are still from Mislow. Why do you think that we want to trouble

ourselves with you.” The expensive guy snorts.

“I see that this information travels faster than I had imagined.” My

smile doesn't waver.

“It's only common sense to watch the graduation ceremony of the

Academy in order to identify future allies and enemies.” The

expensive guy opens the door and waves me in. “And if someone

has a full score, you should at least hear him out.”

I step through and the door falls shut behind me. But not before the

expensive guy threw a final remark at the guards. “And you two

idiots! Don't brag about the bell! Otherwise every roaming magician

will tap it to disturb the Jarl! I will cut your payment today!”

Then the expensive guy leads me inside towards a throne room with

a fat monster on a big stone-throne. He is fed with snacks by

several blonde beauties. Whoa! What a life! I wonder if he can roll

down a mountain if someone manages to carry him up.

There are several guards to the walls and the expensive guy walks

up to the Jarl and whispers something into his ear. Despite being

someone who loses easily to his desires, the Jarl thinks a long time

while looking at me before he starts to speak.“So what does a noble from Mislow want from me?” He waves a

hand and the blond beauties pack up and leave.

“I want to buy a principality from you.”

The ridiculous proposal silences the room for a few long seconds.

“BWAHAHAhahahAHAHAHAR. Who do you think you are! Why

should I sell my property to a foreign noble!” The Jarl snaps.

“I am a very powerful magician who cut his ties with his past. And I

want a place where I have my peace and can be alone. You happen

to have many such places. So I came to you with the money to buy

one of them.” I grab one of the magical pouches out of my coat and

toss it towards the expensive guy.

Then I draw a map out of my folder with documents and unfold it to

show it towards the Jarl. “I want this place. The mountain valley

which is located close to the great Sea. And the whole area with the

mountains around it. I want full reign there. In fact, I want to be left

alone as much as possible. I would even pay taxes for that.”

The expensive guy tilts the pouch and a flood of platinum coins starts

to pour out of the pocket dimension. They are the hardest currency

that's available in this world. It doesn't stop until a sizeable pile of

them is on the desk besides the Jarl.

“One thousand platinum coins in exchange for full rights over that

area.” I wave the map at the expensive guy who comes towards me

and grabs the map from my hands to give it to the Jarl.

The Jarl arches his eyebrow at the map. “Even if I could sell you the

property of my people. What do you want with that place? There are

less than a hundred thousand inhabitants in the whole area and just a

few small run down villages. The whole area would need two

lifetimes to pay that much money in taxes.”

“But it's huge and the only access to those valleys is by the river

from the great Sea or a few mountain passes. Perfect for someone

who wants to be alone. And less people to govern means less

trouble! If you are still concerned about selling your country to an

outsider, I will make a bet with you.” I produce another document from my folder.

The Jarl gives me an inquiring look.

“We will sign this buying contract. I get full rights and the area

belongs to me. But in case of the death of my noble house,

everything I own will go back into your possession. It's a really nice

bet for you. Think about the hordes of assassins which will be after

me soon enough. My old family will send them, the enemies of my

family will send some of their own. And those who want to harm you

will send their assassins too!” I take a long breath.

“Why should my enemies send assassins for you?” The Jarl looks a

little perplexed now.

“Think about the situation! How will it look if you sell that area to me?

Wouldn't it look like I am your ally? You would never sell that much

land to someone you don't trust. Even if it's worthless. You can only

win in this bet! And even if I manage to survive and establish a

thriving household, there is more money than you could ever hope to

get from that land within your lifetime.” I wave both of my hands at

the pile of money.

The Jarl tries to change his position but fails miserably. “You are a

devious one. You forget to mention that I would have to pretend that

you are my ally too. I wouldn't be able to talk bad about the one

whom I sold my country's land. Otherwise people would start to ask

questions.”

“Of course I would always ~honour~ my new homeland and the Jarl!

Someone should never bite his benefactor.” I bow deeply with a

smile.

The fat Jarl looks at me for several seconds. “I know that you have

something in mind with that land. Don't think of me as an idiot just

because I am fat! I just can't hold back while eating. You probably

thought about a way to use it to great benefit. And you throw me

these peanuts in the hope to snatch something valuable from under

my nose!” The Jarl waves his hand at the pile of coins and my face

crumbles a little. But just a little.“But you know what? As long as it's worthless to me I may as well

sell it to someone who can use it to great benefit? Who knows.

Maybe your future taxes will be more than what I collect now from

that land.” A contract appears in the hands of the Jarl.

The expensive guy takes the contract and brings it to me. Then he

points towards the door and two guards grab me from both sides to

pull me outside.

“Thanks for the audience!” I call out while the guards drag me away.

After leaving the throne room I hear the Jarl's voice who is calling

after me.

“Don't die too soon! I want to get an idea how to use that area

at least!”

A minute later the guards have me at the front door again and I am

thrown outside in a high arc. Fortunately the landing is soft because

of the high snow. It still hurt my dignity though.

The two guardians at the Gate watch me with malicious-joy.

I ignore it and take my first look at the document which I got from

the Jarl. It's a letter of attorney which makes me the owner of the

area which I specified. In addition it's a certificate of nobility for

Norfolk which gives me all rights and responsibilities over the

specified area...... including paying taxes.

“~Strike!~”

By jumping up and screaming I surprise the guards at the gates.

Then I kneel down and grab a little snow from the ground to form a

snowball.

I swore to myself that I will do whatever I want in this life! And that's

something that just came to my mind! Nobody points a sword at me!

*Patsch*

A skilful throw and the guard who drew the blade against me earlieris hit directly in the face. I turn and run while I hear the hard

wheezing of heavy armoured men behind me.

The carriage driver who brought me earlier sees the armoured men

behind me and starts to whip his horses. He has good instincts and

knows when it's better to be somewhere else.

I get a grip on the carriage by a hairs breath and let myself being

pulled with it. The heavy breathing guards behind me give up their

pursuit and can just listen to my laughter while I disappear in the

streets of the Norfolk Capital.

“MWAHAHAHAHAHA!”.

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