Book 2 Extra 4: Gestures of Friendship (1/2)
”My Lord, there really isn't anything wrong with the wards.”
”I implore that you inspect them again, just for the sake of certainty.”
The middle-aged artificer, dressed in his usual garbs consisting of a brown apron worn over a business-casual suit and an adjustable loupe strapped to his forehead, gave the owner of the room a dejected look, but at the end of the day, he returned to his task.
Needless to say, the inside of Lord Endymonion's office was filled to the brim with tension, which not even the presence of the school nurse elegantly slurping his tea from a large porcelain cup could ease. At the moment, there were exactly three people inside; the aforementioned portly old man, currently leisurely drinking while sitting on an armchair that certainly wasn't there half an hour ago, the Arch-mage himself behind his desk with a face sourer than a vat of undiluted vinegar, and the artificer, who was busily re-inspecting the walls of the room with a flat hand-held device seemingly made out of glowing blue crystals.
The silence in the room didn't last long, as after pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment, Lord Grandpa let out a groan conveying about sixty percent exhaustion and forty percent frustration.
”I can not help but conclude that I have severely misread the current situation,” he noted, and in response, Peabody put his beverage down with a nonchalant shrug.
”O-ho-ho, it happens even to the best of us.” His encouragement obviously didn't work as well as he hoped, as the man behind the desk lethargically took off his hat, if only so that it wouldn't get in the way when he buried his face in his hands for a second. ”Now, now, Amadeus. Don't be so hard on yourself. Why, even I thought it was Friedrich who took the key!”
The moment he heard that the Arch-mage immediately looked up to send a glance at the artificer still immersed in inspecting the wall, and once he was sure he didn't react, turned to the school nurse again.
”That is still confidential information,” he hissed between clenched teeth before tapping on the bulge on his chest, no doubt the current resting place of the aforementioned Griomire Key, and when he was sure it was still there, he let out a curt sigh. ”More importantly, I am not speaking about your nephew.”
”Oh? In that case, you must mean the young mister Dunning,” Peabody noted with a flat smile, much to the other man's barely hidden chagrin.
”Yes. I have obviously misjudged his capabilities, not to mention his audacity.”
”O-ho-ho. Reminds you of someone, doesn't he?” the portly man commented between two chuckles, and this time Lord Endymonion didn't even bother to hide his distaste and promptly rolled his eyes.
”Spare me your witticisms, Archie. I am really not in the mood right now.”
”Cheer up, cheer up. Things might not have turned out how you originally wanted, but the situation is not that bad, is it?”
”No, but it is also considerably far from ideal as well,” the Arch-mage jabbed back before letting out a huge breath and slouching back in his chair. ”That said, you are certainly correct in a certain sense of the word. While things might not have proceeded along the path I have envisioned, the ultimate result is still something I can utilize. If only he did not take the…” He abruptly paused here, and after sending a glance at the still working man with the glowing crystal slate, he finished in a low voice. ”I only wish we could have reached this point without the confidential item ever being taken. It created an unforeseen opening, and I am afraid the conservative faction is going to try and use this incident against me.”
”O-ho-ho? Are things getting heated up between the Conservative and the Reformist parties?”
”In a manner of speaking, but in this case, I am almost certain that it is Arch-mage Saahira pulling the strings. She had been trying to gain a senior seat for close to a decade, and utilizing the inner conflicts of the Assembly to her advantage is certainly not something below her.”
”Saahira? The tall girl with chestnut skin and braided hair?” Peabody inquired absent-mindedly while reaching for his tea again, and the Arch-mage all but snorted in response.
”She is hardly a girl anymore. As a matter of fact, I believe she has just stepped into her fifth decade a few months ago.”
”O-ho-ho? Has it really been that long since I last saw her? Oh, how time flies by.”
”It indeed does.” There was a long beat of silence while the school nurse continued to sip his tea, and once he finished, Lord Amadeus quietly added, ”She had been a thorn in my side for more than half of those decades, though I believe it is to be expected, considering we are competitors in the same field.”
”Is she also researching artificial life?” Peabody inquired with a curiously raised brow, apparently hearing about this conflict for the first time.
”In a manner of speaking. My School is aiming to create homunculi with artificial souls yet capable of utilizing the mystic arts. As you are already aware, we already had a few minor successes in the endeavor a decade and a half ago, but ever since then our research efforts have been stagnating.”
”If you put it like that, I'm sure she must have had a breakthrough in the meantime.”
”Multiple, even,” Lord Grandpa uttered with a complicated expression. ”If her research were to bear fruit, it would allow one to transfer their soul to a new artificial body. Understandably, many of the other Seniors in the assembly have vested interest in her research.”
”Justifiably so,” Peabody nodded with an expression that said he just realized something.
”Certainly. She had been using her research to leverage the support of the Reformist faction of the Assembly, and since we could not stop the rumors regarding the break-in, it is only a matter of time before a nominally unbiased group of investigators would arrive on the island. I am almost one hundred percent certain that she and the other members of the Reformist faction will attempt to use this opportunity to drag me down.”
”You don't seem too worried about the prospect,” the nurse noted, and the Arch-mage let out a small chuckle in response.
”I can not say I am. After all, I know them, and I know their methods. Let them try; I have been playing this game far longer than Saahira or her ilk.”
”O-ho-ho? Now that is the confident Amadeus I know!”
The lord of the School politely waited for his friend to finish chuckling, and only then did he heave a tired sigh.
”Nevertheless, I must be vigilant in the future; I can not afford any further unforeseen interference from Leonard Dunning. I must make sure he would not sabotage another crucial plan in the time to come.”
”Speaking of which,” Peabody mused while slowly refilling his cup from the teapot on the Arch-mage's desk in a sophisticated manner that could be best described as 'aggressively British'. ”What exactly was that original plan of yours? I gather you really wanted Friedrich involved because he made Galatea, but I am quite foggy on the rest.”
”You knew I had plans for him, and you still acted as a bridge between us?”
”O-ho-ho! Of course! I know that you take care of your people, so there was no harm done.”
”True enough, I suppose,” the old man shrugged and once again slouched back in his seat before explaining himself. ”There is no point lying about it at this point; our School is really desperate for a breakthrough. I hoped that the expertise of your nephew would grant us the push we need to further our craft, but I naturally also put a number of other plans into motion, most important of which was enticing the Kage clan and their sacred sword to come to the island. Did you know, old friend, that if rumors are to be believed, their sacred blade houses the soul of an eastern saintess?”
”Is that so?” the nurse asked back, most likely just to keep the conversation flowing.
”Indeed! If that is true, it means that sword must hold the secrets for preserving a soul for centuries! Possibly indefinitely!” Lord Grandpa explained with unusual zeal. ”If we could get our hands on it, or even just examine it, it might not only provide a vital clue to our own research and allow our homunculi to function without the looming menace of an unexpected breakdown, but it might also serve as a crucial bargaining chip that would allow me to gain the upper hand against Saahira!” He paused here for a second, and once his head cooled down a bit, he continued in a considerably more subdued voice. ”But alas, enticing the free-spirited folk of the Kage clan was no easy task, and even after I managed to lure the wielder of the sacred blade to the island, it was imperative to provide her a good reason to stay, so that we might observe her or even establish a bargain once sufficient familiarity was reached.”
”O-ho-ho? That's an unusually timid approach for you,” Peabody noted between two sips. ”If it was so important, I'd have thought you'd take the sword by any means necessary.”
”Please, Archibald! Do you think me a brute?” the old man scoffed, yet a moment later he added, ”Yes, I have indeed had a contingency plan ready in case she was about to leave the island ahead of time, yet it was definitely a last resort. The wielder of the sacred blade is known to hunt all manners of phantasmal beasts, and her prowess with the blade is quite notorious; facing her in direct confrontation, even if it was within a trap I arranged ahead of time, would have most likely involved casualties we could scarcely afford.” There was a beat of silence here as he recalled something, and his white brows immediately furrowed. ”But then again, such theoretical speculations have already become completely moot thanks to the interference of a certain Leonard Dunning.”
”Quite a troublemaker, that young man!” the portly nurse exclaimed, followed by a hearty chuckle. The other old man naturally didn't find it half as funny.