The news of me becoming a Magician gradually spread further and further.
The first thing I did was get an invitation from my business partner, the Viscount Rashford.
Although formally I was his subordinate, however, in reality, I was much more influential. If I hadn't handed over half of the city to him, he might have given up and tried to start a war or simply remove me. Of course, my intuition told me so, but it's hard to say for sure.
In any case, I decided to accept the invitation and visit him.
This part of the city was clearly not able to accommodate such a large number of people. The carriage moved with difficulty through the narrow streets. Although many high-rise buildings appeared and this part of the city also flourished, however, even the locals tried to move to the other side of the river if they had the opportunity to do so.
This time Rashford met me in advance with a beaming smile on his face and we went to his garden. He created a huge terrace overlooking the garden and a magnificent fountain made of precious stones. Even I was amazed by the surroundings.
- Incredible my friend. Your garden may well compare to the royal garden, I'm impressed. - I expressed my thoughts.
- Thank you for such a high rating. - smiled Rashford - All this became possible thanks to you, I'm really lucky to have such a talented person nearby. - Rashford sighed.
- You are too kind. I would like to know the reason why the lord wanted to see me.
- Haha. Don't joke like that calling me a lord. - coughing slightly and making a serious face, Rashford continued - To be honest, my father has been persuading me for some time to do something mean and break our friendship ...
I raised my eyebrows in anticipation of what was to come.
- There is no point in going into details, but of course I completely refused this kind of stupid deeds and would never in my life begin to destroy our strong friendship. - he said sincerely.
- But? - I asked to continue.
- But I'm afraid he might do something stupid himself. After all, he is already quite old and his mind is not as sharp as in the old days. - Rashford sighed regretfully.
Of course, our so-called friendship was nowhere near as strong. Benefit in any situation was in the first place. If I hadn't sold half my territory not too long ago, the Rashfords might have taken me seriously.
I already guessed that most likely Rashford was able to understand that I was a True Knight. After all, I didn't use any aura hiding techniques or anything like that, I wasn't interested in such nonsense at all. Accordingly, he immediately realized that this mountain would not hold two tigers. Since he was no longer able to defeat me, he immediately found another way out for himself, namely, to replace his own father and take over the rule of the entire county.
Of course, I did not mind, this way I will not only regain the previously sold half of my territory, but also finally become a full-fledged lord of all Harin and the surrounding lands.
These thoughts raced through my head in a moment, after which I asked.
- And you need my help in killing your father?
- Of course not! He is still my father, I love and respect him. However, he really needs to rest, control of the county is an extremely heavy burden, and I am very worried about his health. - Rashford sighed sadly and continued. - Of course if you help me all my current territory will become your subordination.
In the course of the conversation, I confessed to Rashford that I had become a True Knight, and he made an extremely surprised face, heartily congratulating me. Considering that there were only three True Knights in the Arun Kingdom, the appearance of the fourth was an important event.
Having reached an agreement, we said goodbye.
The Earl of Rushford was indeed already quite old, and besides, the Viscount was his eldest and most worthy son. Considering that I took the side of his son, he decided not to start a senseless massacre, however, he asked me to demonstrate my skills in combat against five Knight Disciples at the same time. Considering that only melee weapons were used, I was able to win without any problems, while not killing anyone. The count was satisfied and gave way to his son while remaining a nominal ruler.
The rest of the True Knights were connected to the royal family in one way or another, they tried to connect me too, but to no avail. I built my own little empire and could get almost anything I wanted, they simply had nothing to offer me. I also had no relatives and children through whom I could be influenced.
On any topic related to the war, I answered with a firm refusal. War is a waste of my time and people's lives, miserable lands and glory were completely uninteresting to me, and I could get any resources by banal trade.
Two years later, I'm 39.
Tarrister's magical library was bearing fruit, with more acolytes visiting and exchanging knowledge. At first I received messages and met them in person, but soon I only showed up in person if the Mage wanted to meet me.
Each Magician was a loner, I have not yet met a single group that would act together. Moreover, each of them received the information he needed and paid the appropriate price. As a result, my library was rapidly replenished with magical knowledge, while each Mage individually received pennies. Naturally, I did not hide my activities and the list of knowledge in my library was available even in neighboring kingdoms and was constantly updated.
This kind of "honest" business so impressed everyone from ordinary people to royal families that they began to spit blood with anger.
Some called me an unscrupulous thief of knowledge, others called me the enemy of all Mages, and so on. Of course, this usually happened somewhere outside my territory and in a whisper. I was not a kind and merciful ruler with those who tried to sow chaos in my territory.
Many years ago, I secretly began to teach the best of my wards, starting from Sellinger, the technique of the Knights. At first I was extremely cautious, but as my power and influence grew, I allowed myself to act more brazenly. Ever since I became a True Knight, I had no regard for the law of the royal family at all, and gave the command to teach the technique to all budding teenagers.
Over the years, thousands of orphans have passed through my organization, having received education and combat training, the best of them have become the backbone of my army. Many poor people knew about it and deliberately left their young children near the guild in the hope that they will receive Lord Tarrister's custody. And I really took under my wing all the children under the age of seven or so.
The huge cost of maintaining them was nothing to me, but now, after so many years, I have a truly loyal army of followers. Hundreds of them not only went through rigorous training, but also obtained the technique of the Knights by becoming Squires to one degree or another. Although only three of them became Knight's Apprentices, including Sellinger.
Almost every Squire was armed with a heavy crossbow made from the finest materials. The tips of the hefty bolts were coated in Rison's liquid, one of my finds of information that was not in my magical library.
This liquid was not difficult to produce, at least given my abilities. Upon impact, the liquid ignited, causing severe additional fire damage. It might not have been enough to cause serious harm to the True Knight, however, if dozens or hundreds of such bolts were released, nothing good awaited the recipient.
It is also worth considering the huge number of different representatives of the guild, groups of mercenaries and even the lords of the surrounding lands, who also benefited a lot from the development of Harin. As a result, my city became a kind of mini-kingdom with tens of thousands of people ready to defend their acquired wealth.
Merik was one of the few rank 3 acolytes who visited the magic library. He was amazed at the fact that only mortals surrounded him. He even made an exchange with an ordinary soulless person who seemed to be well aware of the relative value of this or that information.
This place was a treasure trove just waiting to be robbed!
Laughing to himself, he left the library and settled nearby.
In the middle of the night, Merik opened his eyes and performed a spell. An almost colorless fog began to quickly fill the surroundings and covered the library along with everything that surrounded it within a radius of hundred meters.
All the guards patrolling the streets both inside and outside lost consciousness one by one. Then Merik calmly walked towards the library.
Having spoken another spell, a small dark phantom appeared in front of him, which was distorted almost disappearing from sight and again acquiring a vague image. After feeding something to the phantom, Merik pointed towards the library. The phantom flew into the library and sensed the magic rune formation that flashed alternately in his eyes, after which he let out a soundless scream, opening his mouth to twice the size of himself.
The formation's runes dimmed and it deactivated, after which the phantom vanished into thin air.
Merik entered the library and went to the inner room. There were entire shelves with various research, recipes and spells, almost everything was written on paper. All shelves were locked and the papers were behind glass. At first, Merik decided to find the key, but instead he found a whole bunch of keys and realized that each of the locks needed a different key. Moreover, he could not figure out which key to which lock was suitable.
Ticking with irritation, he decided not to waste his time on such nonsense anymore and just break the glass and take the contents.
What Merik didn't know was that the broken glass was the trigger for a non-magical trap. A specially modified "Horn" tool was installed in each cabinet and the mechanism activated when windows were broken, causing a deafening sound. This sound was clearly audible even outside the library, especially in the middle of the night during curfew.
Hearing this sound, the watchtowers of the nearby announcement towers immediately began to ring the bells, spreading the alarm further. Soon, bells were ringing throughout the city of Harin, deafening the inhabitants to the point of pain in their ears.
Merik was amazed by what happened, but did not stop and using the element of wind began to collect all the paper in a pile, stuffing it into a bag.
Such a wide-ranging sleep spell could not remain active for too long. Although those who have already fallen asleep will not wake up, however, given the alarm, new soulless ones may run up. However, he didn't worry too much about it, as a last resort he can just use the spell again.
I opened my eyes when I heard the alarm bell. Has some bastard opened his mouth on my property again? Things like this had happened before, which naturally infuriated me.
I took out the potion of speed and threw it at my feet. After breaking, the vial covered my body with a purple haze, which gradually evaporated.
I rushed out the window and, jumping from the second floor like a bullet, rushed towards the city, leaving a small purple trail behind me. True Knight's running speed was beyond human capabilities. Given the potion, my speed could exceed that of a galloping horse.