Mage And Wolf
Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Chapter 137

Ten minutes run away is a noble town, in chaos because of the explosions in the distance. We change into fancy robes and enter without challenge, headed straight for the nearest inn to get news.

"Night seating is for guests, we’re not a pub" The grumpy innkeeper snipes at us.

"Then we’ll take a room" I reply with a raised eyebrow and flick a grade 1 monster core at him. "That will suffice, yes?"

He nods his head rapidly and returns with two mugs of cheap red wine and a room key. "My apologies, tonight has me a bit unsettled."

"That’s fine, that’s fine" I smile at him. "It happens to everyone. We too will be waiting down here a while to see what the news is after that frightening sight in the distance. Staying outside the city walls tonight seemed a poor choice even if we’re just passing through."

Nothing sensible comes in for about two hours, then a young boy comes in the back door at a run "Master, as you suspected, that was at the Golden Fields Sect, all their cultivators have withdrawn from the city and gone home"

"The peasants couldn’t have managed that. The bombs they’ve set in the city barely get a single building each."

So the knowledge of bomb making has spread, the peasant side of the Civil War must be fairly organized.

"Next up, I’m teaching them Flaming Arrows." Karl whispers. "There’s little infrastructure in these towns, a few roofs set on fire should be enough"

Evil genius, create chaos and disorder and defeat them while they’re weak. Maybe the peasants do have a chance.

We’re about to head upstairs to meditate for the night when a familiar face passes the door, darting from the shadows of the bank across the way.

"Devon just went by" I whisper to Karl "Teach him and he’ll teach the others again"

Karl heads upstairs with a wave, but I can smell him leave and his scent come from outside a few seconds later.

"Left alone for the evening Miss?" A well dressed gentleman asks me.

"Only to finish this fine mug of wine" I wink at him.

We spend the next hour in conversation until a group of armed and angry guards storms in.

"Are there any newcomers here? We found a bomb near the council hall, placed less than 30 minutes ago" the guard demands.

"I’ve been drinking with this lady for some time, and her guardian has retired upstairs for the evening" the Noble beside me informs him. Oh, yeah, women don’t go anywhere without an escort in this country. Just sitting alone in the tavern might have been a bad idea.

"Bring the guardian down. We need to speak to him of duty and his whereabouts." The guard informs the innkeeper who smirks, knowing Karl is going to get chewed out.

And chewed out he gets, when he appears shirtless and barefoot in his silk pajama pants. The Noble looks a bit downtrodden though, Karl is all muscles and tattoos, plus a full head taller than him.

"Very sorry sir, as we’re travelers, we misunderstood the rules and I thought the supervision of an innkeeper would suffice while I slept."

"Where are you two from then?" The guards ask, looking at me critically. There are animal kin nobles here, but not many.

"Drakon City" I inform him with pride and he nods in distaste.

"Ah, that’s it then. Well, be careful, the city isn’t safe tonight"

He has no idea how right he is. Just as he closes the door behind his patrol the bomb that Devon set up at the bank explodes, splitting the door wide open and showering the face of the building in coinage and bricks.

Everyone is running for the money, so I grab a few handfuls in the confusion for Karl to copy later. Easier to move among the non cultivators with coins.

In the morning over breakfast the news comes in that Golden Fields Sect has been attacked by a Demon Sect and must withdraw their aid to protect their home during the upcoming war. The Nobles are heartbroken, their dreams of fully taking over and breaking away from the central government and its taxation dashed in an instant.

That news should be good enough for our employers, it seems the sect learned their lesson. Karl loved the extra power his new staff granted him during the bombing last night.

The run home is highly entertaining. Every Sect in the area is in a panic wondering who the Demon Sect is that took such offense to the Golden Fields actions. Rumors are pointing every which way, but nobody seems to have guessed that it was in fact the neutral stance light sects that ordered the hit.

We make extra sure that we’re not followed when we get near the cathedral. Karl sets proximity spells around the perimeter, so we should know if a cultivator comes within 5 kilometers or so of the boundary, giving us time to react.

I set up a few good fortune blessing inscriptions inside, including all four walls of our basement room. Yeah, there’s bedrooms available now, but that beanbag chair with Karl is still the best spot.

We’ve just finished our evening mediation and Karl is braiding my hair while I cook breakfast when the proximity alarms are triggered.

"Breakfast will hold, I’ll put it into the warn boxes" I tell him with sadness. Nothing worse than having a meal interrupted. I put it away while he quickly finishes my hair and we both don our Official robes, not wanting to change out of our pajamas if its a false alarm.

Jun is standing where we last met him, and I circle behind him Shadow Melded. I’m within 2 meters when he finally senses my presence and turns with a start as I drop the concealment.

"How’s it going? I hear the misbehaving Sect is more than happy to stay home. I hope that satisfies our agreement."

Jun gets a bit paler than usual at that. "Yes, thank you. The Elders are outright terrified. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, you’re not planning to do that again are you? At the moment the Sect Master of every Light Sect in the continent except ours is terrified of the unknown Dark Sect attacking them like that, but not stopping with a warning and wiping their Sect out instead."

"Let me guess, they’re trying to decide if they should band together to take out the threat, or try to bribe the Dark Sect leaders to pacify them?"

"Exactly. I don’t know exactly what happened, but they say that a single squad broke the barriers by force and killed at will within the sect, then vanished without anyone managing to identify them."

"That pretty much sums it up" Karl says, walking into the clearing from the far side. "We used a secret forbidden technique to break their barrier by force and killed a couple Elders, so they’d understand they’re not as great as they thought they were."

"I wish I had more than rumors to go on, that sounds pretty benign and exactly what we asked for" Jun sighs.

"Is that all you came for, reassurance?" I ask "Because if it is, we can have breakfast now"

I pull a rough wool blanket and the food I was making, plus some dishes out of my storage and Karl immediately sits down, fork in hand.

"Join us, you’re already here" he insists.

Jun’s reaction when he tries the food created with mystic cooking is well worth the wait. He’s flushed and moaning, staring at his half empty plate like a long lost lover.

"That good is it?" I laugh

"My compliments to the chef" he sighs. "I didn’t know food could taste like that. Might I meet them? Our Sect would love to have a chef so skilled in the kitchens"

"The Young Miss cooked today" Karl laughs "You’ve already met the chef"

Jun looks at me in shock, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Finally he gathers his wits and concentrates to form a cohesive sentence.

"Marry Me?" he covers his mouth, not intending those words to have escaped and Karl thumps him on the head.

"Get in line punk" Karl growls at him in a half joking tone.