Noah waited for Moxie to leave her room before he tried to contact Father – though he made sure to remove his gourd and other belongings, stashing them out of sight. He did feel a little bad about forcing her out of her own room, but he couldn’t exactly do it in his, and Moxie claimed to have some work she needed to handle anyway.

Lee, who had been waiting at the door and likely listening in to the entirety of their conversation with Ulya whilst making sure nobody got too close and overheard anything that they shouldn’t have, went with her.

Once they’d left, Noah let his finger touch the faint Rune on the paper. He could feel distant power shimmering within it. Not enough to do much, which was likely intentional. Any form of Imbuement was a connection, and connections could always go in two ways.

Either that or Father was cheap. As far as Noah was concerned, either was equally possible. No matter what it was, faint energy tingled in response to his fingertips. It receded quickly, but before Noah could even start to wonder if it was working, the energy returned.

At first, it was nothing more than a growing hum. Then energy started to gather, burning at the edges of the paper. The power rapidly increased and Noah dropped it just as the entire slip ignited, going up in a puff of flame.

A purple tinge flashed within the fire as it faded, ballooning out into a crackling portal of matching color. Arcs of energy popped along its edges, and shapes took form within it until Noah found himself looking into Father’s room.

As usual, Father sat at his desk. A strange black creature that vaguely resembled a cat was curled beside Father’s interlaced fingers. It had been a while since Noah had last seen the small monster, but it looked about the same as it had before – rotund and largely indescribable.

“Vermil,” Father said, a faint trace of what might have been annoyance tinging his words as he unlocked his fingers and leaned back in the chair. It was difficult to tell how much of his action was genuine and how much was just another layer of acting that he was putting on. “I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d actually use the contact form.”

“If you didn’t think I’d use it, why’d you give it to me?”

“I can hope,” Father said dryly. “That portal isn’t going to remain open for long, and I’m not giving you another contact unless you make this worth my time and energy.”

“Have I ever reached out to you when it wasn’t?” Noah stepped through the portal and into Father’s office. The biggest thing he’d learned from all his dealings of just about anyone of worth in any noble family was the importance of never backing down or showing any weakness.

A part of me wonders if Father could somehow be under Wizen’s control. The Records of the Dead said that this isn’t Father at all, so he could easily be a clone of some form. But that wouldn’t make sense, as Father had a chance to get something from Moxie and didn’t take it. Wizen seems more interested in the Torrin family than Father is.

The portal snapped shut behind Noah. Not looking back, he pulled the chair in front of Father’s desk out and sat down.

“What is it this time?” Father asked, tilting his head to the side. “Killing another Rank 6 mage?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Noah said without missing a beat. “Evergreen’s death was a convenient tragedy.”

“One that I regret not participating in. I’m one of the few that is well aware that you are responsible for her death, Vermil. I’d use the name we agreed upon, but I’m wondering if giving you the respect may be a poor move for my prolonged health.”

Father’s words didn’t fool Noah in the slightest. The flattery was a thin veil for Father to let him know he was more than aware of what Noah had been involved in, which wasn’t really all that much of a surprise.

He’d hardly tried to hide it when he’d come to Father for aid before. Moxie’s life had been on the line. Fortunately for Noah, there would be absolutely no benefit for Father to reveal that he’d done anything, because that would just end up lumping the blame on his own head. They were part of the same family branch, after all.

“I suspect your health will be just fine,” Noah said. “Did you finally get into the Main Branch like you wanted to?”

The corner of Father’s lip twitched – a practiced, controlled movement that lasted for exactly a second before returning back to its normal position. “Yes. You were invaluable, Spider.”

“I think I much prefer Vermil,” Noah said. He matched Father’s posture. “I think there’s something going on at Arbitage that I believe you’d be interested in knowing, considering you’ve got a vested interested in it.”If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“What makes you think you know anything I don’t?” Father asked. “And, for that matter, why would you presume I care about Arbitage any more than anyone else?”

“Call it a hunch,” Noah said, pausing to glance around Father’s room. He didn’t see any bottles of the mango-flavored wine, which was a slight disappointment “You sent Vermil there for a reason, and you were also directly involved with the Hellreaver being replaced. It’s hard to claim that you don’t care at all.”

“I never did. I just said you were presuming,” Father pointed out. “What are you looking for?”

“The wine. You don’t have any more of it, do you?”

For an instant, a flicker of what might have been genuine annoyance danced over Father’s features. It was so fast that Noah would have missed it if he hadn’t gotten used to how placid and controlled the man’s expressions normally were.

“No. I do not.”

“Bummer,” Noah said. “Well then. We were talking about what you were going to give me for the information that you want.”

“The information that I likely already have.”

“You don’t know that, though,” Noah pointed out.

“Nor do you know that I don’t have it.”

They stared at each other, and Noah was struck that they likely strongly resembled two children arguing over a hypothetical toy in a playground. That thought completely broke his mask and he snorted.

“Fine. I’ll tell you, but if it’s genuinely a surprise, you’ve got to help for free without trying to attach a bunch of your damn strings to everything. How’s that sound?”

“You’re letting me determine if the information is valuable?” Noah could feel the disapproval in Father’s voice, as if he’d expected more from him.

Noah just grinned. “Yeah. All you. After all, I don’t particularly care about Arbitage. It can burn down around me for all I care. The pieces of my own plans are not immobile.”

After considering Noah for a second, Father gave him a slight wave with one of his hands. “Go on, then. Speak.”

“Do you know of someone called Wizen?” Noah asked, watching Father’s expression carefully to see if he could pick up on anything. “I was involved in the destruction of one of his clones, and he seems to have some plans with regard to Arbitage.”

For several seconds, Father didn’t speak. Then, slowly, he pushed himself up from his chair. Noah tensed, preparing for an attack – or to blow himself up if Father did anything in attempt to capture him.

Instead, Father just walked over to the shelf and took down two crystal glasses with one hand, reaching behind a book and drawing forth a bottle of wine. He turned back to the table and set the glasses down.

“I thought you didn’t have any left.”

“I lied.” Father removed the cork from the top of the bottle and poured each of them half a glass. “And you have my interest. How is it that you were able to determine the identity of Wizen’s clone?”

Aha. I actually have something Father doesn’t. At least, I would have had something if I’d done anything in particular. I just got lucky throwing the guy into a wall and Ulya happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or perhaps it was the right place at the right time. That remains to be seen.

“Does this count as admitting that I have information you want?”

“Yes,” Father said, much to Noah’s surprise. That wasn’t the angle he’d been expecting Father to take – and, if anything, it concerned him. He’d been confident that Father would have danced around the topic, trying to pry information from Noah without revealing his own hand.

Instead, he’d laid his cards out on the table face up. And, where Father was concerned, Noah was pretty sure that wasn’t even a viable move.

If it seems like Father is being open, then I get the feeling we aren’t even playing the same game. Either that or Wizen is such a massive threat that Father isn’t willing to screw around with him. I’m not sure which option would be worse.

“You have yet to say how you located the clone.”

“It attacked someone that was part of my plans, and I went after it,” Noah replied with a shrug. “A–”

“Torrin,” Father finished.

“Yes. Your information network told you already?”

“No,” Father said. “But I am aware of his interest in the Torrin Family.”

“Care to share what it is?”

“I have yet to figure out why he cares about them.” Father shook his head and took a sip of his wine. “It does not logically make sense. Wizen is a powerful Mind Mage. One strong enough that even I hesitate to directly challenge him. He has an obsession with the Torrin family and something they possess, but I do not know what it is.”

Noah couldn’t tell what it was, but something poked at his mind. It wasn’t like he knew Father anywhere near well enough to actually read the man, but something about his words felt off. For an instant, he felt a twinge of Azel’s presence flit through his mind. Then it was gone, and Noah had no time to linger on it without giving away more than he was willing to.

“Hold on. I’ve heard Wizen is a Mind Rune user,” Noah said, raising a finger as his brow furrowed. He paused to take a sip of the wine – it wasn’t mango flavored, much to his disappointment – and then continued. “But he was using plants to puppet the clone around. That seems pretty damn split up. What’s he going for with his Rank 7 Rune?”

“Wizen is a difficult opponent to read,” Father said noncommittally. “He is not rational, and it makes him a very difficult opponent.”

So he’s like literally every other powerful mage I’ve met.

“I see the thoughts on your face, Father said dryly. “He is not an idiot or a buffoon. Wizen is very much in control of himself, and he works toward a singular goal without hesitation. And yet, the actions he takes to get there are entirely irrational. It is like the flight of a bee, flitting from flower to flower without purpose and arriving at the hive all the same.”

Bees have purpose in their flights, though. I think I read back on earth that they can follow the same routes or something like that – but I get what Father is saying.

“So you think some part of his plan involves making a move on Arbitage?” Noah asked.

Father drained the rest of his wine, then set the glass down on his table with a clink. “I think he already has.”