***
— Does the name Aurelius Moiser mean something to you? Orion asked.
Balthazar thought, it seemed to him that he had once vaguely heard this name, but he could not remember anything intelligible. Bradomir and his assistant Earl reacted differently, their facial expressions showing recognition that gradually turned into bewilderment.
«Yes, I am well aware of this...» the head of the Bah clan tried to find the right words.
Demon, right? Orion nodded. «That's right, Aurelius Moiser is known as the 'Ninth Demon' because he was the ninth child of 'Cursed Matilda'. He is known for having killed three demigods of the Moizer clan, committed many heinous crimes, and also tried to carry out an attempt on Gunrad Vis, during which he was killed along with his minions.
Balthazar finally remembered who he was talking about, the whole city of Urich was making noise about this man a few years ago, that there, even in Wisborough, this story was the subject of frequent discussions.
«Well, how is this man related to Jason Moiser?» Is he his illegitimate son, or what? Bradomir asked, he was intrigued, and already twisted various assumptions in his head.
«They're connected, but not in such an obvious way,» said the leader of the Special Forces. "According to Mr. Aaron, the current Jason Moiser and Aurelius Moiser are the same person...
— Nonsense, Gunrad definitely killed this criminal, — the old man did not believe. «Even the most talented magician can't survive a battle with a great lightning demigod.
Orion was about to answer the question of how Balthazar got ahead of him.
«He must have been hiding the fact that he is a demigod... That's why Aaron said that Jason Moiser would most likely be the next head of the clan...»
«That's right,» Orion nodded. «Aurelius Moiser was able to survive because he is the demigod of life. To be honest, at first the guys and I did not believe in it, however, some time ago, we happened to be convinced of this ...
«Master Aaron asked us to stay and see if anyone comes to the Arcer manor,» Duncan said. "Jason Moiser arrived there and began to search the ruins, and besides, he checked the dungeon ... Assuming his appearance, we even had to kill all the animals, as well as exterminate the insects. Just to prevent the demigod of life from getting information about what had happened in this way.
"Watching him, I noticed that his eyes lit up with a green light for a moment, this, according to Mr. Aaron, is a sign of the activation of the divine spark of life. Teryl added. «Judging by his violent reaction, in the form of anger, we can safely assume that we did the right thing by covering our tracks so carefully.
Balthazar and Bradomir thoughtfully tried to process all this heap of shocking information. Earl, anticipating an even more difficult conversation, decided to go to the kitchen in order to get a bottle of alcohol for his master.
«So this person is involved in a conspiracy against our family...» said the head of the Bach clan. But how did Aaron know about it?
«Master Aaron didn't tell us that,» Orion said. — Maybe he guessed by indirect signs, the course of his thoughts is a mystery to any of us ...
«Okay, it's not so important now, since my brother is safe,» Balthazar said, and then nervously scratching the back of his head added: «But I just can't understand why he asked me to make friends with such a person?
«Foreseeing such a question, he asked to be told...» Orion said, and then narrowed his eyes. «That Aurelius Moiser is an enemy who could become our friend. Simply put, Mr. Aaron, despite all the facts I have voiced, wants to see this person as an ally ...
«But he was involved in a conspiracy against us!» Balthazar was outraged. How can you cooperate with such a person!
«Calm down,» Bradomir said to his grandson, and then turned his head to the knights. «Aaron didn't happen to say why, despite how much evil this man did in our direction, we should see him as an ally?
Orion sighed, to be honest, he was already tired of how much responsibility was placed on him. While even Aaron's family did not know about many of the details of his plans, the head of the special forces squad was already aware of what confused him himself ...
«The only thing Mr. Aaron said about this...» said Orion. «If you can't defeat evil, then join it... I don't know anything else... In truth, this is more than enough for me...»
Bradomir leaned back in his chair and sighed. His grandson's train of thought was very strange, but understandable to some extent. Resentment is resentment, but personal gain and the actual benefit for the family are much more important ...
Only now the old man still did not understand why to cooperate with Aurelius Moiser. Even if he, it is not yet clear how, can become the head of the Moiser clan, this is still no reason ... In addition, with such a person, experienced, secretive, and cunning, it will never be possible to cooperate as partners, then most likely you will have to indeed join, apparently, in the role of subordinates ...
Also, Bradomir, being a fairly experienced person who has lived for many years, is well aware that the coming war is probably somehow connected with this very conspirator. Perhaps he thus wants to take revenge on the Moiser clan and the Vis clan, or wants to take power from them in his favor.
No matter what goals he pursues... The main thing is that Aurelius Moiser is the cause of many problems, so it would be much more logical to remove him... Not even personally, although Bradomir was confident in his abilities, it would be enough just to expose his disguise.
The «ninth demon» is an enemy of the middle and great clans, which is in fact a death sentence, from which only the fact that everyone thinks that he is already dead separates him.
In general, the head of the Bach clan was in doubt, and the train of thought of his youngest grandson seemed to him very irrational and meaningless...