Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 2125: Shadow War

"Leto Morgan?"

Adam couldn’t help but frown hearing that name.

He knew the man, of course. Even met him once. Twice, actually.

Leto Morgan was a famous author and explorer who traveled the worlds, chronicling his journey. He was especially well-known on the West Coast.

Many years ago, Hannibal had introduced Adam to him. In fact, Adam had even read several of his books.

But the great explorer’s halo disappeared, and he came crashing down from the heights of fame and adoration when it was discovered that he had helped the former Known Lord, Nigel Norwood, embezzle a vast amount of money directly from the city’s coffers.

Though the great deceiver, Nigel Norwood, had seemingly vanished into thin air and managed to escape justice, the same couldn’t be said about his accomplice, Leto Morgan.

The explorer was tried in the courts, and the justiciars had sentenced him to Fortune’s End.

Genevieve had once said to Adam that because of Leto Morgan’s network of influential friends in the city, the man’s sentence had been significantly reduced, and he didn’t even have to pay any damages to the city.

Still, being sentenced to Fortune’s End was quite bad as it was and spoke volumes. The most heinous criminals of the Free City Alliance were imprisoned there. The worst of the worst.

Murderers. Monsters. Criminals so dangerous that even execution was considered too merciful. No one had ever escaped from Fortune’s End since its inception. Not one.

Once someone entered those walls, they never came out again. Not until their sentence was over, or their corpses were thrown out into the cold seas.

As its name implies, it was where one’s fortune came to an end.

"This item that the Night Guild is looking for is related to Nigel Norwood!" Adam grunted. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Esmond’s eyes gleamed with a merchant’s slyness. "I am not doing anything, my dear boy. The decision to accept this mission rests upon you. You may choose to refuse. You may accept. I am not compelling you."

Adam snorted. He thought with ridicule. You wouldn’t be able to cast that spell on me even if you tried.

He fell silent for a long time. There were a lot of risks involved in this mission. After all, it included the likes of Nigel Norwood. No one knew how powerful he was. He was an enigma. And even the Night Guild was involved.

Looking toward Sandra, he said, "Last time you mentioned the Iron Covenant, and that they are secretly at war with the Night Guild. Any missions related to that?"

Sandra nodded. "We do have quite a lot of missions involving the Covenant. And yes, the two factions have been engaging in a shadow war for a long, long time."

Noticing that Adam had lost interest in the mission related to Leto Morgan because of the sheer risks involved, Esmond sighed and didn’t push further. He knew how risk-averse the youth was. And if he tried to press harder, Adam would begin to suspect him.

The truth of the matter was, Adam had already begun suspecting Esmond. He believed that whatever item that the Night Guild was looking for was extremely valuable. And in retrieving this item, Esmond would receive a considerable commission fee.

Adam sneered inwardly. Trying to make money at the expense of my life? You sniveling coward.

"On the surface, the Iron Covenant is a powerful mercantile and mercenary organization," Sandra continued.

"But of course, that is merely a facade. They deal in mercenaries and trade, yes. But they also deal in weapons, information, smuggling, assassination, espionage, among others. They are basically a thieves’ guild trying to come across as a legitimate organization."

Sandra’s eyes narrowed. "And that, in my opinion, makes them more dangerous. We don’t know what their true goal is."

Adam contemplated her words, not showing any clues on his face. He then asked, "So why are they at war with each other? Control?"

"Indeed." Sandra smiled. "They can be considered a direct competitor to the Guild. They are encroaching upon the criminal underworld, which the Guild has had control over for who knows how many years."

Adam squinted. "But is it as simple as two criminal organizations not liking each other?"

Sandra shrugged and gave an honest reply, "Your guess is as good as mine. Esmond and I only recently joined the Night Guild. And we had no option but to join them."

Esmond nodded. "To flourish in Dark Port, you have to be connected to the Guild. For the Port is the Guild. And the Guild the Port."

His expression turned serious. "The Iron Covenant is an outsider faction. We Davosians don’t take kindly to outsiders coming to our home uninvited and eating our food."

So you’d rather enslave people by yourselves than have others scoop in and take them off your hands? Adam sneered inwardly.

Esmond has changed considerably since I saw him years past. Not surprising, considering he has already stepped past the undead transformation.

That’s what transforming into an undead does to a person. A few centuries later, Esmond will have become considerably colder, with no regard for life.

Just look what happened to Aldo Wagner. If a man as honourable and righteous as he could turn into the evil leader of the Cult of Bones, then why couldn’t Esmond?

Undead creatures were generally foul and cold. It’s why Adam did not like their company.

"What missions do you have related to the Covenant?" Adam asked, leaning back into his chair.

Since he had decided not to dig into the Leto Morgan mission, he felt quite at ease. Factions and figures more powerful than Adam surrounded Morgan. It was wise to stay as far from that mission as possible.

Sandra went somewhere and returned with a stack of parchments. She handed them over to Adam and smiled. "See which one you would like. The rewards and risk parameters have been written at the bottom."

Adam went through the parchments. He immediately discarded any missions inside Davos. He specifically looked for ones beyond the city walls.

"I’ll take these," Adam said, grabbing a handful of mission leaflets.

"All of them?" Esmond blinked.

"Sure." Adam casually shrugged. "I’ll return in a few months. We’ll discuss remuneration then."

With that said, he made some final arrangements with Sandra while Esmond sat like a statue, wondering if Adam had gone mad.

After half an hour, Adam bid them farewell and ascended to the surface.