The five spent the next few days meticulously scanning every paper, document, and notebook. Their thoroughness unearthed various interesting findings, each one helping Lorian discover a vast underground network that spanned the entirety of Veridia. It was like a vicious spiderweb. Its tendrils was not just spread around Veridia, but crossed its boundaries,- some reaching the sea, while others stretched to unidentified city-states, always mentioned vaguely as 'Allies'.
They also uncovered two very disturbing facts.
First, it seemed Cassian was not the main mastermind, but rather an important cog in a much larger machine. In various written communications, Cassian was treated as a junior partner or subordinate; he was sometimes praised, sometimes threatened.
This complicated things further.
Lorian had conceived a backup plan- if everything else failed, he would orchestrate Cassian's assassination to look natural or accidental. His idea was that with Cassian dead, the entire conspiracy against Veridia would crumble, like a snake dropping dead after it is being beheaded. But now it seemed Cassian's death would do nothing significant to their cause; someone else would simply be assigned in his place- most probably Lyssian.
The second disturbing thing was that Veridia itself did not seem to be the center of the conspiracy. It was more of a hunch, but various communications made Lorian feel like a similar conspiracy was unfolding concurrently in one or more other city-states. The multiple assassination attempts that day also supported this growing suspicion of his.
The more Lorian submerged himself in this, the more he found himself getting entangled in something far more sinister than he could comprehend or manage. A feeling of unknown dread was gradually suffocating him. He felt an overwhelming need to go out and get fresh air, but he could not. Lorian missed his smartphone. He wished he could take photos of these documents and save them in a cloud. He wasn't a tech genius in his past life either, unable to recreate his past world's technological marvels and usher in a new age of progress.
Speaking of technology, there was also the issue of the strange artifact they had found. Lorian had no way to appraise it. Lord Elmsworth had strictly prohibited him from contacting Solara. The only available avenues were now to contact the Magus Tiers of The Noble Empire of Indoris or the Druid Circle of The Elven Kingdom of Beladhithl. And Lorian had no way to contact them at present.
This helplessness further suffocated him. Suddenly, he felt that with all the money he possessed, his power was still insignificant; and just like his past life, he was still helpless in the face of grander schemes. He looked at his retainers. Those poor guys also looked exhausted, but in no way were they going to let their Lord know of their fatigue. Lorian laughed at them in his mind. His beloved fools.
He decided to take a break tonight and drink to their hearts' content. Fine wines were ordered for them. However, Elara showed reluctance to drink. She said she was too tired and drinking might have an adverse effect on her. So Lorian decided not to press her, and she happily joined them in enjoying the fine meal and fruit juices.
They drank to their hearts' content until late. The three literally created a ruckus in their hall. Lorian was thoroughly drunk when he felt the door to his room open, and a figure entered. The figure appeared to be his father, Lord Elmsworth. In his drunken stupor, Lorian hugged his father tight and started crying. It seemed his father laughed and walked him to his bed where Lorian quickly fell asleep.
****** ****** ****** ***** *****
"MASTERRRRR..............."
Lorian woke suddenly with a feminine shriek. Something heavy was grabbing his chest. It was suffocating. He felt like he would choke. The room was dark. He tried to see, but his head was still groggy, and his vision was blurry. He again tried to shake the load off his chest to find two arms were tightly hugging him.
Again, another shriek, and a splatter of thick, warm liquid splattered in his face, in his eyes. It broke his stupor, and he woke up to realize it was Elara who was hugging him tight.
The room no longer appeared dark. In the faint light, the room looked like a nightmare. Splatters of blood and gore were across the room. Dark silhouettes danced like hungry ghouls. Another sound of a stab followed by the same shriek—it was Elara. The poor girl had wrapped herself around Lorian, constantly taking stabs to save his life.
"WHAT THE HELL YOU *****" Lorian shouted a curse word from his past life, grabbed Elara, and rolled to the other side of the bed. The assassin missed Elara and stabbed the bed. Lorian, pulling all his strength, fueled by desperation, threw a kick aimed at the assassin. It connected to the assassin's neck, and the sheer, sudden force broke it. The assassin dropped dead.
Elara's face was not clearly visible, but it was obvious that she was bleeding profusely. Elara could not die. He was not going to let her die, especially when he couldn't even save himself because he was too drunk. Lorian felt a deep disgust for himself. But it was surpassed by his urge to save Elara at any cost. He had no mind for anything else.
Lorian opened the drawer by his bed. One vial of the Highest Grade Health Potion was always kept there for emergency. Lorian didn't think twice and shoved the vial into Elara's mouth. The girl choked on the Health Potion and her own blood, and coughed.
Lorian suddenly felt a sense of danger, looked up to see a black shadow jumping at him. The white, sharp steel in its hand shone like the canine of a hungry beast.
However, in mid-air, another shadow intersected it, and both collided with the wall.
A sharp cry in a human voice was swiftly followed by a bestial growl.