Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.54 (169) (Patreon)

Arch-mage Jennings was sitting at his desk, his shoulders slumped in defeat. In front of him were printouts of correspondence he had to deal with concerning his life-time of connections. All of which were being called upon to aid in the Tower of Magic’s efforts to publicize and demystify the science around fate prediction.

As it was technically his plan, he couldn’t very well tell them that he was too busy to participate. So, here he was, up to his elbows in paperwork, trying to remember when throughout his long life he’d ever met any of these pretentious, self-important nobles. It was times like these that he regretted not filling the office of director of the Tower of Magic with personal aides when he’d had the chance.

For the past few hundred years, he’d preferred to treat the council of mages as his aides. He had figured that they’d be doing everything they could to avoid talking to his aides, and coming to him directly anyway, so what was the point of surrounding himself with more people that he had to deal with on a daily basis. Besides, if every time one of the council contacted him with a problem, it ended up with them receiving more work from him, eventually they’d all stop bothering him.

It had worked wonderfully. Arch-mage Mathers and the council dealt with everything, and they only came to him when they didn’t have another choice. But, now that he was in Dorchester, away from his center of power, he had no busywork to assign anyone. As a result, he’s slowly but surely getting inundated with projects that only he is suited for.

Looking up from his messy desk, he saw Mage-adept Newbanks standing there with a dissapointed look on her face.

“What?” he asked testily.

She took a deep breathe, silently begging for patience. “I asked what you wanted me to do about the Lord Walker situation?” she said again, realizing that the arch-mage in front of her hadn’t been listening to a single thing she’d said since she’d come into the room.

Frowning, the arch-mage tried to figure out what she was talking about. “You mean the unique thing? I already took care of that. He’ll be around to deal with the kobalds and figure out how to get them through the density shift. I mean, he’s here, right? Might as well get stick to the plan,” he said.

Raising a singular eyebrow in surprise, she asked, “And how exactly did you deal with it? I just told you that the young man refused to comply with the evaluation team, and somehow got the team leader written up for abuse of power, threatening a new noble, and interference with a house head’s growth. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t comitted to staying in Dorchester, nor has he developed any kind of loyalty to the city at all. Do you want him to leave these people to their fate? You and I have both seen the predictions. Without intervention, the city is doomed, just as Tower of Fate predicted.”

Arch-mage Jennings waved a dismissive finger at her, replying, “No it is not! The Tower of Fate predicted that the density shift wouldn’t happen for decades, and the kobalds aren’t nearly as large a threat as they predicted. The Cosgraves haven’t been replaced, and the army is still at full strength… more or less. It is entirely possible for them to get through this without any outside intervention. Using Nero is just the most effective means to do it. There are plenty of mages here capable of figuring out the kobald’s essence-echo technique.”

Mage-adept Newbanks folded her arms in front of her chest, giving the arch-mage a look of disregard. “I’ve been working with these idiots since I’ve arrived here in Dorchester. If you’d bothered to speak with any of them, then you’d know how pathetic this Tower is. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get them to look up the relevant research in order to finally them on the right path to figuring out how to scry through the essence disturbances, all without actually just telling them how to do it? I had to remove Mage-adept Melkins from his position, and lock the man in his chambers in order to stop him from taking over the entire scrying department!”

The arch-mage looked at Newbanks with confusion and asked, “Who the hell is Melkins?”

Mage-adept Newbanks stared at the arch-mage, her normally composed face slightly frowning in anger. “He was the director of applicable magic for Dorchester. As a citizen on loan from Pleetings, he’s not allowed to do anything other than advise during city events,” she replied icily, not knowing how the arch-mage could spend the past few months here and NOT know who was heading the different departments.

Not admitting to anything, the arch-mage waved away the subject, saying, “Right. That guy. Good job. I knew from the moment I saw him that he was too emotional. You did the right thing.”

Mage-adept Newbanks said nothing, just stared at the man.

The silence got a little awkward, and Arch-mage Jennings asked, “Is that all?”

Dropping her hands to her sides, her voiced raised a little louder than necessary when she immediately replied, “No, it’s not. You haven’t told me how you’re going to handle the Lord Walker situation!”

The arch-mage nearly flinched at the woman’s tone. ‘All of the heaven’s above! I really hate administrators,’ he said to himself.

Straightening up in his chair, he said, “I already hinted to those who needed to hear it. Lord Walker won’t be going anywhere. I’ve also looked over the application the army put in for his citizenship upgrade, and despite it being obvious that the young man qualifies as a unique, I don’t think anyone will require his immediate presence in Hennings. Rest assured, I’ve taken care of everything.”

Right after he said that, the communication orb connecting his office to Hennings lit up, and a scry window appeared with Mathers’ face taking up the entire hologram.

Mathers did not look happy. Not even bothering with a greeting, he asked, “Why am I being bombarded by requests for temporary leave, each one making it clear that they intend to take up teaching positions at the Center-point academy in Hennings? Every one of them is requesting a letter of recommendation so that they can be assigned the mentorship of Lord Walker. It’s been less than five minutes, and I’ve received over 60 of them already! I thought you said you were planning on keeping him in Dorchester for the time being?”

Arch-mage Jennings looked at Mathers with a shocked look on his face. Not knowing what to say, as he had no idea what the man was talking about, he just matched the man’s stare in silence for a few seconds.

“Oh, yes. You’ve got it all handled. I believe you,” Mage-adept Newbanks said, her voice filled with as much mockery as was humanly possible for her to convey without sarcastically calling the man a ‘genius’.

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“So, provisionally, I’m already a unique? And therefore, I can create my own personal group which no one will object to me calling ‘my adventuring party’? Then all I have to do is sign a few papers, and then you’re allowed to take over the running of my house, while I fuck off and do whatever the hell I want?” asked Nero, not believing for a second that it was as simple as she made it sound.

Nodding, Vera replied, “Yes, technically that’s true. The evaluation team will follow you wherever it is you choose to go. They are not allowed to limit your decisions, and are required to work with you to complete their evaluation at whatever pace you decide on. However, if for some reason they believe you are avoiding the evaluation, then it is another matter entirely.”

Nero nodded, his mind moving a thousand miles an hour. The recent revelations about what it meant to be a unique were filling his mind with all sorts of delightful possibilities.

Although he was pretty sure he wasn’t a mutant, and his ability to ‘see’ essence was entirely due to his abnormal stats, according to Vera he still qualified as a unique. Furthermore, his ability was so impressive, that everyone in power should already be trembling at the thought of what he might do after the paperwork finally went through.

From what Vera said, it seemed like he was no longer under the nobility’s control. No more trials, as they were put off indefinitely. No more threat of assassination from the locals because he now had zero power to affect their position. If anything, Vera was now in more danger than he was, as she was the ‘de facto’ head of his house in everyone’s mind (a fact she didn’t seem to care about in the least). No more elite training. No more monsters and kobalds trying to kill him. No more camping in the woods, or getting his ass ‘trained’ by Cathleen.

He could do whatever he wanted.

A thought popped into his head, and he asked, “Could I go to magic school?”

Vera’s face was calm, her personal opinions completely hidden. “Yes. As a unique, any school would be more than happy to have you as a student. The kingdom would even pay for it. I imagine that they would go so far as to personalize your curriculum if you asked them to,” she said.

Nero nodded while pressing his fist to his chin in thought. Everyone could tell that Nero was no longer paying attention. It was clear that he needed time to process what he’d just heard.

‘I could… just leave. I could go to magic school, cash my checks from my investments while Vera runs all my businesses. I mean, other than Vera and Nick, I don’t owe the nobles here anything other than a middle finger as I head off into the sunset, do I?’ he thought to himself.

After several minutes of silence, he stood up and walked a little away from the couch in order to pace a little while he continued to think through everything he’d just learned.

His mind raced through all the various routes his future might take. He could leave, go back to school and focus completely on his magic. Or he could apply for some kind of tourist visa and have the kingdom sponsor him traveling around Oglivarch while seeing the sights, studying at whatever pace he felt like. Maybe he could get a job with the Tower of Magic and do some kind of internship study program.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the three ladies were all patiently watching him. Rose looked mildly interested in what decision he might ultimately come to, and Cathleen looked like she didn’t care one way or another. But Vera… she looked too calm. In fact, now that he thought about it, she’d been acting weird all day. Something was different about her.

Like always, she was calm and collected. But now that he looked closer, it wasn’t the same kind of calm and collected.

He’d thought it was just how she taught, but now he wondered if there might not be more to it. As he looked at her blank expression, which was completely devoid of any hint of what she was thinking, he decided that he was once again missing something. Her demeanor seemed fake, as if she were pretending to be as in control as she usually was.

Before he could verbalize what he was thinking, the essence in the air to his left started churning.

Taking a step back, he instinctively raised his hands as if he were preparing for a fight. Less than a second later, a golden flash caused him to blink before he opened his eyes to see an irate Arch-mage Jennings standing there with a furious look on his face.

Glaring at Vera, the arch-mage didn’t give anyone any time to breathe before he barked, “Are you trying to get him out of Dorchester? Is that it?”

Nero didn’t know what the old man was talking about. The abrupt arrival and outlandish accusation had made his brain stutter to a halt.

Vera, however, was made of sterner stuff, and matched the old man’s glare with one of her own. “I hear what you’re implying, and I while I appreciate that there are matters that I am unaware of, I choose to act as proxy and friend to Lord Nero. I thought about what you said, and I decided that neither your nor anyone else’s feelings or desires should influence his decisions. Not even mine,” she spoke with determination, squaring her shoulders as if she were preparing herself for a futile fight against an unimaginably strong opponent.

Nero blinked a few times, trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about.

The arch-mage ran a hand through his hair, as if he were overwhelmed with frustration. “I reviewed your so-called explanation of society, and I think I understand what you were trying to do. However, I regret to inform you that you are going about it all wrong. Your trying to impart a moral foundation on the young man as if he were a child. You don’t seem to grasp the concept of him already having a moral foundation that is completely alien to us. Don’t you see… your lesson plan is inherently flawed! You’re practically driving him off!” he shouted, his tone becoming increasingly angry the longer he spoke.

Vera didn’t back down from the shouting powerhouse, despite the fact that the essence in the room was vibrating in tune with every huff of angry air that billowed out of his mouth.

Gripping her hands in fists at her side, Vera replied, “I don’t agree at all. Nero is a good man. He’ll do what’s right in the end. Nobody has the right to dictate his path, least of all you. Sitting up there in your tower, playing games with the mortals below you. How dare you accuse me of influencing Nero!”

The young man in question was completely lost, and he didn’t like the way this conversation was going. He saw that Rose had somehow disappeared when he hadn’t been looking. Cathleen had taken up a flanking position, and now had a look in her eye that promised violence, her intention to side with Vera was more than obvious.

Before things escalated any further, he shouted, “Hold up! What the hell are you two talking about?”

After tossing a final glare at Vera, the arch-mage turned to Nero and replied, “Nero, there is a lot more going on than you are not capable of understanding at the moment. Vera here, while having noble intentions, is steering you toward a decision that you should not be making.”

Nero’s eyes bounced between the arch-mage, who was looking at him like a child in way over his head, and Vera, who was glaring at the arch-mage as if she had been mortally offended at the accusation.

All the sudden, Nero recalled a lesson he’d learned a very long time ago. His mind brought up a memory of an unenthusiastic college professor telling the class that everything they would learn in his class would only represent his opinion on the information, and if they really wanted to study philosophy, they’d better come to their own conclusions. However, if their conclusions were stupid, or poorly defined, then they shouldn’t bother complaining when he failed them.

It had been an introduction to philosophy class which he’d taken because it was supposed to be an easy general studies credit. Honestly, the only thing he remembered from the class was the singular lesson that every piece of information someone offered usually came with an agenda attached. For the most part, the conclusion you were supposed to reach was included in the information presented if you bothered looking for it.

Right as he was about to respond to the arch-mage, a voice interrupted him. Coming from the hallway behind him, Nero felt Nick coming into the room.

“Hey, Nero, are you feeling something weird going on with the essence arou-,” Nick started to say before trailing off when he saw the tense situation along with the unexpected guest.

After taking a second to gulp in fear, Nick said, “Greetings arch-mage, what seems to be the problem?”

Arch-mage Jennings rolled his eyes and replied, “Your wife is trying to instill a lifetime of values into a foreign soul without any regard for the extenuating circumstances! Why in all the hells did you rely on a politician to disseminate any information to the boy!”

Nick’s eyebrows rose in surprise, his eyes immediately going to Vera and starting the type of silent conversation that only people who had been married for years could have.

Nero took this opportunity to interject, “Seriously! Stop talking about me like I’m not in the damn room. Someone better start making sense before I take off my shoe and start beating you all to death with it!”

Nero could only assume Nick and Vera were having a conversation over their link, as their faces were going through a variety of expressions in less than a few seconds.

Nick took a deep breathe, then turned to look at the arch-mage and with his voice absurdly calm, he asked, “Arch-mage, perhaps you could start over from the beginning. I’d like to understand your grievance and see if I can alleviate any of your concerns. Please take a seat.”

As he spoke, Nick made his way over to the couches and sat down.

Almost immediately, the tension in the room seamed to disappear and everyone took their seats. Meanwhile, Nero remained standing, not understanding how a few words resulted in everyone calming down and the atmosphere completely changing in an instant.

“What the hell! Are you people bi-polar or something?” he screamed, his adrenaline still pumping from the almost-violence he’d just suffered through.

Vera’s voice sounded like a patient parent trying to placate a child who was currently in the middle of a tantrum. “Nero, this is a perfect example of what I was trying to explain to you concerning how nobles interact, and the various methods through which they can resolve conflicts.”

Narrowing his eyes, Nero stared at the woman while slowly taking a seat next Nick.

Currently, Cathleen and Vera were sharing a couch opposite them. While off to the side, Arch-mage Jennings had taken a couch all to his own. They were sitting around the coffee table in silence, as if they had all silently come to an agreement to discuss everything with civility and logic.

Nero’s mind started working again as his heart rate began to calm down.

It was obvious that Jennings had once again been spying on them, and something he’d seen had caused him to lose his shit. Was it something Vera had said that he disagreed with, or maybe some agenda Nero hadn’t noticed? Could Vera have betrayed him in some way?