Liam entered the study of Venion, he saw a few bookcases with titles that looked like gibberish. The room had a dark atmosphere, 'What can you expect from a dark mage?', there were a few vials lying on the desk and in baskets next to the bookcases. Scrolls and papers were scattered across the room, it didn't look like there was any kind of classification system. The mess was the objectification of Venion's headspace. Venion was sitting on his desk with his familiar robes.
It occurred to Liam that he still hadn't seen his face. His purplish robe made his head obscured, as if the hood had a magical effect, not that Liam could figure it out. He was a very well-trained knight that had little contact with mages, not an expert in artifacts or anything magical. His only and first contact was with Robert and Lucas on this expedition. Generally, knights never had any magical knowledge in the first place, so he never felt like he was missing something. Yet, now he felt out of place, the room was strange and played with his senses.
He had a good look at Venion's hands but they were also hidden by some gloves, he really liked his mysterious image. The gloves were black, decorated by a few purple gems that didn't seem to do anything special. It could be completely decoratif, but to Liam that merely showed that he had a lot of things to hide, worsening his impressions.
"Welcome Liam, how have you been?"
"I lost my entire platoon, lost every single friend to a bunch of disgusting spiders, and I haven't slept well in about a week. How do you think I feel?", normally Liam would be respectful to Venion. After all, he was a Rank 1 mage that had a higher rank than him and could probably kill him without any effort. If any other knights or soldier was this disrespectful to any kind of mage, they wouldn't be alive much longer. Liam was just too tired to even bother, he was exhausted. After losing most of his guards, the baron wouldn't accept any more losses to his military power.
With this in mind, Liam became a little more aggressive, if the captain disappeared, the Baron would have no protection. The mage was a hire that could leave whenever he wanted, Havi would be defenseless. All surrounding baron's or people looking for power would storm this place. Venion could kill everyone in the mansion, but any massacre that takes place in the Holy Kingdom is investigated and any perpetrators are sentenced to death.
Venion had also realized this, but he wasn't planning on punishing him in the first place. "I see that your mood isn't the best right now. Nonetheless, there are a few things I would like to talk about."
"Can this be done tomorrow, I really want to go."
"Oh, I know you want to see your family, and you'll see them in a minute, but since I took time out of my schedule, I at least want to bring up the things I want to discuss. As the captain of an empty squad now, you need to form a new one, correct? You've been given a budget to acquire some soldiers, but I think we need to manage that amount appropriately.", Liam looked annoyed and pissed off. He stood up and went to the door, clearly showing he was about to leave.
"I get it, you want a piece of the cake, right? I don't have the interest to play these games today. I'll come back in the morning, goodbye."
Venion wanted to stop him but decided to give it a rest. 'He'll be more accompanying tomorrow, or else I'll just force it'
Mages in the higher ranks don't care much for the gold or coins that commoners use, since they used different currency. They could even create gold if they ever needed it.
The next day
Liam woke up with a headache. He turned to the side to see his beautiful wife, Penelope. She had long light brown hair and a few freckles on her oval face. Her skin was still as soft as when she was in her twenties. Liam was the happiest man every time he looked at her. Perhaps his staring woke her up because she slowly opened her eyes to reveal dark brown irises. She softly smiled at him, "Good morning honey.", her silky voice lessened all his worries and sorrows.
When he remembered how much work there was ahead of him, he couldn't help but furrow his brows even a little bit. Waking up with such a workload didn't do him any good. "You okay?", her eyes stared into his. A moment of connection, before it was cut off when Liam placed his face into his pillows. After a deep sigh and a bit of hugging did he get out of his bed.
Dressing himself, he went to eat with his family. The meals provided by the baron weren't anything to sneeze at. Havi had a fortune, the only problem was that it was running out, but that's another issue. As a knight he had the privilege to have his own room where he could eat with his family. The maids serve some bread and freshly cooked eggs to go with it. It's been some time since he had this kind of peaceful morning. During the expeditions and monster fighting, he had a lot of pent-up stress. Just being with his adorable children is enough to lower all of his frustrations. They were playing with the food, no matter how many warnings they got from Penelope. Liam never protested or held his children back, they were free to do what they wanted. After meeting Lucas, he was even more liberate in their ways of life. As long as his kids were happy.
He still had to work though, there wasn't something like vacation or weekends, every day was a day to work. There were some countries that liked to plan in a few resting days, but in the Holy Kingdom the standard was a life of work. He was planning to go to the city to look for any possible soldiers, but he remembered that there was an annoying mage waiting for him.
He went back to Venion to find him in the exact position as he last saw him. 'Does he always stay in this dark damp room? He never goes out?'
"Good morning sir, you said you wanted to discuss something?", Venion nodded before talking about the budget Liam would get to recruit a new platoon. Venion realised from his previous conversation with Liam that beating around the bush was a waste of time, which made him glad since he didn't like talking to people below him. The money to purchase some materials that could've been useful to create a new potion, was all he was after, desires clear as day. Apparently, it would be capable of healing the soldiers in a matter of seconds so it was in some way appealing to Liam. "The potion does seem useful, but I won't give you anything before I get my platoon together. There's no point in having a good potion if there are no good men using it."
Venion didn't look all too excited, tapping his finger on the desk while Liam was answering. "Fine, then let it be, I've another thing I would like to talk about."
The atmosphere grew a bit heavier, the dark room gave off a strange vibe. The strange smells in the room and the fact that the sounds outside this chamber were dampened to the point that you couldn't hear anything made the pressure almost visible. "What truly happened in that cave?"
Liam panicked for a moment before completely hiding his emotion, showing a deadpan face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lucas has already told you, he's bound by contract, he can't lie."
"You don't have to bother hiding it from me. It was obvious by your reactions that something was off, just because Havi is a complete idiot that can't see it doesn't mean I can't."
Blatantly disrespecting the lord of the mansion would in all instances be frowned upon. Even in the beginning, Liam would have thought badly of him. But people change and Liam almost felt inclined to agree with the mage.
"I don't know what to say, the truth has already been said, I can give a few more details, but no big revelations.", if he could see Venion's face he would see an irritated look, not that he needed it as the response was filled with annoyance. "Fine, if you don't want to say anything I guess I'll just have to ask someone else."
"Robert won't give you any different answers though, we all experienced the same, our stories will be the same. Only a few details could be changed."
'He really needs to learn how to hide something, what a terrible performance.', Venion knew that something happened in the cave by the shocked expressions that they had when Lucas told his story. The story had to be correct as it was Lucas who was telling it, yet there had to have been something strange he withheld.
"It's fine, it's fine, I'll put it behind me.", Venion's mouth was the only visible facial feature, which was smiling now.
"Oh, that's right, could you send your daughter and wife to my study? I've been busy with making something that could make them beautiful again.", Liam could hear the smirk in Venion's words. Could he send his own family to this maniac? "My wife and daughter are already more than beautiful enough, and they don't really like make-up, so I don't think they need to come. Thank you for your generosity."
"Oh it's not make-up, I simply want to beautify them in my own way. Plus it's been so long since I've seen them you know? I want to see what the mighty captain's family looks like.", Liam was downcast. He didn't know what to do if he actually sends his family to this crazy mage that found the suffering of Lucas to be a fun activity. What is his concept of beauty then?
"Lately I've had some free time, so I had the time to think about what I want to do with your children, wouldn't it be fun if your child had smoother skin, and different colored eyes, because dark brown eyes simply aren't that nice to look at, don't you agree?.", Venion was clearly threatening his family, but he couldn't do anything about it.
The baron wouldn't care that much about his wife or children. They didn't fight or help clean up the mansion, they were a cost in his eyes. Venion would be punished in some way, but not severely because he was still a Rank 1 mage. The fact that Venion knew certain details about his family also put Liam on edge. As far as he knew, they never ever met, 'Has he spied on my family?'
"If this is about the budget I can set aside a few coins."
"I'll gladly take you up on that offer, yet I still want to meet your children, the budget talks have nothing to do with them, have they now?"
Liam didn't know what to do. His family was an open target as the baron wouldn't care that much, only giving a punishment if Liam persuaded him with all his efforts. Yet Lucas had been a good friend and almost comrade. Giving away what happened could, and most definitely will, put Lucas at risk. But if Liam had to choose between his family and Lucas, the choice was hard and the answer even more bitter.
"If I give you what you want, will you leave them alone?"
"Depends on your answer, but if I suddenly get distracted with other work I can't waste it my precious time on my hobbies, now can I?"