Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Second Quest
"Greetings, soldiers. Your Baron asked to meet me. You can go inside and tell him that I am here."
"My apologies. We haven’t been notified that there will be a visit. What is your name, sir?"
"Tell the Baron. The Mysterious Man is here."
All the soldiers stared at him. They didn’t know if Siderius was being serious or if they were being toyed with.
"Go. Your Baron will understand. You don’t think I’m that stupid to come to the front of the Baron’s estate to cause trouble, do you?"
"Wait here."
Siderius was being reasonable and his demeanor was that of a highborn. He was little weird in front of the soldier’s eyes but they all thought all nobles were the same.
The soldier left and returned quickly. "Please come in, sir. The Baron calls for you."
"Stay alert, boys. These are dangerous times." Siderius said to the group of soldiers before he entered the estate.
The estate was a large elaborate house made from ancient bricks and woods. It was the second biggest piece of structure inside Scalize. The largest was the garrison, where all the soldiers stayed.
Jude waited for Siderius in the main hall. His large eyebags were as black as night. The Baron hadn’t had much sleep lately. He had to stay awake to catch this cunning murderer inside his own home.
Then Siderius appeared. A face that was so young and beautiful, Jude thought he was looking at a concubine of those high ranking wicces, the female witches. They loved a face like Siderius, especially that House of Lust, Starcrow.
But this man was no concubine as he was not human. Jude detected very faint energy inside Siderius. The energy that he had always called magic. However, the magic inside was different. It was purer, more primal, even though it was so little.
"Are you a witch, mysterious man?" The Baron said.
Siderius smiled gently. He bowed to the Baron. A noble with authority always deserved his respect. Especially at a time when he had none at the moment.
"Do you want an honest answer?" Siderius said.
"Aye."
"I am not a witch. Never was and never will." Siderius said.
"Hmmm. You really are as interesting as I expected you to be. What is your name?"
"My name is Siderius. I heard from George that you might need my expertise?"
Jude nodded. He stood up from his ’throne’ chair in the main hall. He was very fat with a big belly protruded in the front. The Baron, however, was still strong with muscles mixed in with the excessive amount of fat. He looked more like an old fat bear rather than an useless obese pig.
"I am. For all my life, I have never seen something so utterly impossible in my life. At first, I thought it was some witch trying to mess with me. But there was no magic at the scene."
"No magic?"
Jude nodded grimly. He looked out to the orange light at the horizon, where the sunlight was beginning to fade away.
"Us witches can shape the very will of this world to our whims. We can change rock into water and create golds out of thin air. But still, I always have a feeling we do not know a thing about this world." Jude spoke softly, as if he was speaking to himself.
Siderius observed the Baron carefully. The Baron had scanned him with his power. He didn’t know that Siderius had also done the same to the Baron. His Truth-Seeking Path allowed Siderius to see the world better than any other supernatural power. That was the core power of the alchemists.
We observe. We study. We design.
Golden light flashes in Siderius and he saw inside of Jude, a dormant mana core.
"How long have you been abstinent, Baron of Scalize?"
Siderius sudden change of attitude and the way he addressed Jude so informally caused Jude to be slightly pissed. He turned toward Siderius to glare at him, only to see the deep dark eyes with golden light in it.
"Careful who you’re talking to, boy." The Baron’s words were filled with not so subtle threat.
"It is rare to see a witch given up on their desire." Siderius remained calm. His words made completely defused the Baron’s emotion, causing the man to be shaken to the core.
"How do you know?" Jude’s brow furrowed.
"I can see your mana core. It isn’t active." Siderius said.
The Baron laughed. "And here you told me that you aren’t a witch. A non-awakened witch won’t be able to see my mana core that easily. You must be at least a witchling."
Siderius shrugged. He did not refute the Baron’s words. Rather than kept explaining, it was better for the Baron to think what he thought. Less suspicions toward Siderius.
Jude let out a long sigh. "You are right. I have stopped feeding my desire a long time ago."
"Fascinating. A witch that gave up on his power. May I ask for what reason?" Siderius didn’t hide his curiosity anymore and bluntly said.
"To maintain who I am. As a powerful witch yourself, you must have felt it before. The feeling of corruption... of slowly losing yourself and no longer knows what is right and wrong anymore.
I have a happy life and a happy wife. I am Jude Fisher, the Baron of Scalize. I ask nothing more of this life."
"You regret nothing? Even your immortality?" Siderius said.
"Aye... I’d rather stay as I am until I die."
"What a respectable decision. I do not say this a lot, Jude Fisher. But you have earned my respect."
Jude laughed. In his mind, he thought "Who does this boy think he is?" But then he remembered, appearance was the most depcetive aspect of a witch. A witch that had lived for hundred of years would look no difference than Siderius.
The younger and better a witch looked, the more powerful they were going to be. Jude readjusted his judgement toward Siderius and told himself that this man right here might be even more dangerous than himself.
After all, with a dormant mana core, Jude was not as his best strength.
"Come. I will show you the bodies."
"There were more than one victim?"
Jude nodded. "There were seven. Each was killed after the sun was down and before dawn broke. Nobody saw anything or heard anything.
It was as if they were killed by a ghost.
I arranged my soldiers to guard the estate the last few days. If there was any intruder, we would have known."
"And I guess, the soldiers never spotted anyone."
"You are correct."
Jude led Siderius into an empty storage room inside the estate. This room was temporarily used to store the corpses of the victims.
The corpses were laid on the floor. Each had a large piece of blanket covered over them.
Siderius didn’t enter the room. But he had already seen enough.
"I think I know the identity of your killer."
Jude stared at Siderius with furrowed brow. The man didn’t even see the corpses and he already told him that he had learned everything. Either Siderius was crazy and there was something so obvious that Jude had missed.