Supreme Magus

Chapter 4424: A Friend in Need (Part 2)

’Nice move. A surprise visit will make it harder for Jadon and Keyla to send you away, while requesting an audience instead of demanding it shows that you are not pulling rank on them and are here as a friend.’ Solus said.

’Thanks.’ Lith replied. ’And just a few years ago, you’d have scolded me for being a manipulative jerk.’

’Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for that.’ She grunted.

"Count Lark welcomes you, Magus Verhen." The captain said after listening to the whispered answer of the still-panting soldier. "He apologizes for making you wait for a few minutes, but there is important business that he must conclude before he can receive you."

"Tell the Count he has nothing to apologize for. I’m at fault for showing up to his doorstep unannounced." Lith’s fake contrition seemed so genuine that the soldiers gasped and Solus retched.

"Also, please tell Count Jadon that I’ll wait for him and Countess Keyla in front of the statue of the late Count Lark. I miss Trequill very much, and I’m going to pay him my respects."

The mention of the old Count was enough to make the guards jump to attention. His death was their failure, and none of the survivors of that night would ever forget it.

"It shall be done." The captain gave Lith another salute and ordered another soldier to relay the message. "Allow me to accompany you, Magus Verhen. I’m not much of an honor guard, but it’s the least the Lark Household can do for you."

"It will be my honor." Lith nodded, walking towards the park of the mansion with the captain and two more soldiers marching two steps behind him.

It took them a few minutes to reach the site where Orpal had arranged Lark’s corpse like a scarecrow. To forever delete that image from their minds, his children had built a statue of their father, depicting him while he painted.

Jadon had given instructions to the sculptor so that the statue wore Lark’s old gold-rimmed monocle, but with a metal wire replacing the blue silk string to make sure he wouldn’t lose it ever again.

Lith stared at the serene expression of the statue for a while, reminiscing about his fondest memories with the old Count. From their first meeting during Lutia’s Spring Maiden festival to the test drive of the DoLorean.

It was at that point that the images of the ruin that Orpal had wrought on the Lark Mansion cast a shadow over those happy images. Lith could still smell the burned flesh and see the blood spatters cover the pristine snow.

For a moment, corpses littered the area, and Lark’s dead body replaced the statue as past and present overlapped.

’And this is what makes you a manipulative jerk.’ Solus read his thoughts about how to convince Jadon and Keyla to open up to him and sighed.

’I know, but if I do that, I’ll do it for them.’ Lith replied. ’I’ll do it for Trequill, not because I have something to gain from this.’

’And just a few years ago, you’d have never gotten involved in something like this without a lot of gold lining your pockets.’ Solus said. ’You’ve gotten better, Lith.’

The statue of the old count was maintained regularly, but Lith cleaned it from the snow with water magic and got rid of weeds with darkness magic.

By the time Jadon and Keyla arrived, the statue looked brand new, and the old count seemed to be attempting to capture the tranquil beauty of the park during winter.

Lith felt their hearts throb and smelled the salt of the tears misting their eyes, but he neither turned around nor said anything. He just stuck a finger deep in the ground, using magic to make a single flower bloom.

He picked it up, brought it to his heart and lips, and then set it atop the statue’s pedestal. Solus didn’t say anything either, because this wasn’t a calculated gesture Lith had performed to manipulate his friends.

He was showing his old friend Trequill a new magic trick that would have made Lark’s monocle pop out of his eye socket if he were still alive. When nothing happened, the pain in Lith’s heart was no less than Trequill’s heirs.

"That was amazing." Jadon said as soon as he managed to compose himself. "A flower blooming in winter."

"Dad would have loved it." Keyla sniffled. "He wouldn’t have asked you to do it again only because he loved his garden too much to let it wither and die after a single day."

"He was indeed a wise man." Lith turned around. "Jadon. Keyla. I’m sorry for bothering you. I promise you this won’t take long."

"Don’t mention it." Count Lark said. "We always have time for a friend."

"Thanks." Lith nodded. "Do you mind sending the guards away? I would like to discuss something in private."

"Not at all." Keyla dismissed the soldiers with a wave of her hand. "Please leave, Captain, and make sure that no one disturbs us unless it’s an emergency."

"Yes, your Ladyship." The man rapped his fist over his chest and walked away.

"What’s this about?" Jadon asked. "Do you need help dealing with the citizens of Lutia? We heard about how they treated your friend and his family."

"Thanks, but I didn’t come here because I need your help." Lith replied. "I’ve come because I think you need mine."

Before they could answer, Lith replayed the conversation between Locrias and the bandaged man with a hologram. Then he told the Larks about his conversation with Brinja and what had emerged from compiling the information from the reports of Ghishal’s local lords.

"I don’t know what’s happening yet, but it would be easy for me to find out." He said. "Before you say anything, I want to be clear about something. I trust your judgment and your skills as the rulers of Lustria and Ghishal.

"I’m not here to question your decisions. Hearing that news about one of your counties worried me, and Keyla’s attempt to minimize the issue hurt me. I’m your friend, and if you don’t want me to poke my nose in your business, you just have to say it.

"Yet if you treat me like an idiot and try to hide things from me, I can only assume that you don’t trust me with the truth. I’d understand if you blamed me for Lark’s fate or the sudden migration of Lustria’s underworld.

"Your silence, however, is worse than any accusation you might raise. I’m willing to do everything I can to ease the pain that I’ve caused you, but I can’t do it if you don’t talk to me."

"It’s not that, Lith." Jadon shook his head. "We never blamed you for what happened to our father. Gods, if it weren’t for you, he would have died at the hands of his crazy ex-wife, our mother, years ago, and we with him.

"Dad loved you like a son, and it’s only thanks to you that Lustria and Lutia have developed so much over just a few years. We don’t blame you for the trouble in Ghishal either.

"Sure, the criminals left Lustria in droves, but most of them moved to other counties and became someone else’s problem."