The day after the Cabal’s attack, Scarlett was once more walking down the mansion’s hallways to receive another sudden guest.

There were a lot of them lately.

And while this wasn’t exactly the best time for receiving visitors, she couldn’t just ignore this person, either.

Things around the mansion were a complete mess right now. Scarlett was thankful she turned out to be the Cabal Adepts’ primary target, and that most of the staff had made it through relatively unharmed. Two guards had gotten some nasty head injuries, but Rosa had managed to fix them up to a level where they would recover after a week’s rest.

In comparison, Garside’s injury from fighting Riya was pretty severe. Rosa had done what she could during the night, and now during the morning, but apparently the healing took even more than usual out of the old man, and the injury had reached all the way down to the bones. He would still make it, but for now, his left arm was out of commission and he would have to spend some time recovering. Scarlett was going to look into if there were any other forms of treatment available as well later on.

The mansion itself also hadn’t fared well from the assault. The chief victim had been the courtyard, where the fountain and surrounding stonework had been wrecked, and all the flowerbeds either burnt or trampled down. In addition, the building faces facing the courtyard sustained a good amount of damage, as well as some hallways in the east wing where Garside and Fynn had fought the Cabal Adepts.

Frankly, just the thought of the costs of repairing all this in a mansion like this sent shivers down her spine. This place was bound to be more valuable than anything else the Hartford family had in its possession. Evelyne was sure to have a fit when she learned of it as well.

Scarlett would have to double down on her efforts to make up for the costs.

It wasn’t as if she could send a receipt to the Hallowed Cabal for the damages.

Though she should probably count herself lucky that she was still walking around like this. In order to get the Hallowed Cabal to agree to a deal with her, she’d made a pretty large gamble. Namely, that The Angler Man was currently in his slumber.

The Angler Man was old. Far too old to still be breathing. As a consequence of how he was maintaining his life, he sometimes had to go into slumbers for extended periods. In the game, this would sometimes happen at the start or end of certain questlines and usually lasted a month or so. Scarlett had heard he sometimes slumbered for much longer periods, though that was probably before the game started.

One thing she hadn’t known was that he would be in one of his slumbers this early in the timeline. That was why it had been a gamble. But it would fit with what she’d seen, and was the alternative that was most advantageous to her current situation. The Hallowed Cabal usually wouldn’t hesitate in acting against people like her, because they could always get any information they wanted with The Angler Man’s help. But if he was in a slumber, they couldn’t rely on that option. So if a situation were to appear where they needed certain information from her, they would either have to kidnap her and bank on being able to force the information out of her, or compromise and make a deal to guarantee that they got what they wanted.

In this case, the Seal of Thainnith was tied to what the Hallowed Cabal was up to with their attacks across the empire. The seal itself was split into three pieces. The Cabal should already have one of those pieces, but the remaining two wouldn’t be found until later. In the game, the second was found by the player and then handed over to different groups depending on who they sided with. The third one, however, was a bit different. While it could be found by the player, the truth was that it was technically already in the hands of a certain individual whose goals went directly opposite of The Angler Man’s. The Cabal wasn’t aware of this, however, and would only know that this person was also looking for the other pieces. For them, it was a race against time to find the pieces as soon as they could, which was why there’d been an opening for Scarlett to force them to accept her offer.

Of course, in order to even get them to talk with her to begin with, she’d had to tell them the location of the second piece. But that much was acceptable, as long as it bought her more time. She had also assured them she would bring them the third piece, in return for them making a deal with her, and promising to leave her alone. After that, they’d left with what essentially boiled down to threatening her not to try anything, and a promise that they’d meet again soon.

At least they’d had the decency to take their dead companions away with them. Though she wouldn’t have minded a chance to keep the equipment.

Honestly, the whole affair had been a mess. Scarlett had at several points been an inch from losing it, both because of how angry she had been at the whole situation, and because of how nerve-wracking it was, taking part in negotiations where she knew a misstep could lead to the death of herself and of all those around her. She imagined she’d cut quite the figure, standing in a ruined courtyard in the middle of the night, in nothing but her nightgown.

And the only thing she’d managed to buy was maybe a few weeks of peace. Either until The Angler Man returned, or the Cabal retrieved the second piece of the seal—which was all the way over in the Unresting Steppes—and expected her to deliver the third.

And she wasn’t expecting for a second for them to actually keep their promise to her after they had the pieces. They literally had no reason to.

Well, jokes on them. They’d attacked her in her own home. Did they really think she had been planning to just let things go that easily?

She had wanted none of this. But now that they had forced her into this situation, they would have to deal with the consequences. Things wouldn’t go quite as they wished.

When Scarlett reached the parlor room where the guest had been led, a woman waited for her on one of the couches. She wore a long white dress that curled up around the neck, with a thick tome hanging off a gold ring that was fastened to her waist, and had straight dark hair that reached down her back, along with tanned skin which you rarely saw on the people here in the western parts of the empire. And while she looked to be somewhere in her late thirties—with only vague signs of wrinkles growing around her eyes—Scarlett knew the woman was about a decade older than that.

“You must be Baroness Scarlett Hartford.” The woman looked up at Scarlett with a pair of clear hazel eyes.

Scarlett walked over and sat down opposite her. “I am. And I presume you are Emeritus Master Docent Grand Wizard Adalicia Mendenhall?”

A small smile played on the woman’s face. “Yes, but Adalicia is enough. Obstinate old mages are the only ones who focus on the titles these days.”

“…I see.”

Well, that was a wasted fifteen minutes spent memorizing that whole thing then.

Scarlett glanced at the empty table in front of Adalicia. “I apologize. It appears my servants have lapsed in their accommodations. Would you like for tea or any other refreshments?”

“No, that’s quite alright. And I’m the one who should apologize.” Adalicia gently shook her head. “I realize my visit was rather sudden, and it looks like something serious must have happened recently. I almost thought I was passing through a battlefield when I was outside.”

“Unfortunately, there was an incident last night where some belligerent individuals saw fit to assault my home. It appears to have been in retaliation for an event where I aided Count Knottley in dealing with a local criminal network. Thankfully, we succeeded in repelling them, and the injuries sustained were treatable to a large degree. It will take some time to repair the damage to the estate, however.”

“I’m glad to hear no one died.” Adalicia held a sympathetic expression. “If I could, I would have visited at another time, but unfortunately I am still in the middle of some important work on the Rising Isle. In fact, I borrowed the help of an acquaintance of mine to travel here temporarily, but both of us will have to return as soon as possible.”

Scarlett arched a brow. “An acquaintance of yours? Capable of bringing you to Freybrook from the Rising Isle that easily?”

Adalicia let out a chuckle. “I wouldn’t necessarily call it easy, but yes. He is a member of the Ustrum Assembly, and an arch wizard. He was rather curious about what business I had that warranted my visit here. I don’t think he appreciated my silence on the matter too much.”

“If they are one of the Ustrum Assembly’s arch wizards, could they be Arch Wizard Ainsworth?” Scarlett asked.

The Ustrum Assembly would only have two arch wizards at this point in time. And considering that teleportation fell under the aeromancy school of magic, there was only one alternative for who it could be. In the game, Ainsworth had been one of the less assholey characters among the Assembly, and you could get several quests from him if you were doing the Ustrum Assembly questline.

Adalicia nodded. “Yes. Are you well acquainted with mage society?”

“I am familiar with some of the more influential names. However, I would not call myself an authority on the subject.”

“You knew who I was, at the very least. I wouldn’t have expected most nobles to care about someone like me.” Adalicia smiled. “Why did you seek for me in particular? I know many people who would have been interested in an offer like yours, several of whom would probably have been more suited for it.”

“There are many reasons,” Scarlett said. “For one, from what I have heard, both of your character and capabilities align well with what I have been searching for. And while I do not doubt there are many who could be of similar usefulness, there are few who have as respectable a reputation.”

The woman was probably the closest to a ‘pure-good’ aligned person you could find among the more powerful mages in the game. And considering she was planning for this cooperation to last for some time, Adalicia was the best fit.

“I also did not wish to excessively involve myself with the Assembly’s matters, for personal reasons,” Scarlett continued. “And as I am sure you are aware, the mages of the Rising Isle can be difficult to interact with for a noble of the empire such as I.”

While the empire and the Rising Isle weren’t hostile towards each other—and hadn’t been for over a century—there was still a certain amount of competitiveness between the two powers. They were both influential players on an international level, in addition to being in close proximity to each other. She knew Evelyne had been trying to get in contact with members of the Rising Isle regarding the Zuverian ruins, but wasn’t sure how that had panned out.

“Of the mage towers, the Elystead Tower was the best alternative. Even though I cannot say that my last interaction with them ended well.”

Adalicia gave her a confused look. “Your last interaction?”

“Yes.” Scarlett frowned as she recalled the event. “I met with Vice-Dean Rowley several weeks ago, intending to propose a similar agreement with him. But it culminated in him barring me from the premises before we could have any true discussion of the matter.”

The woman blinked at her a few times. “…What?”

“He banned me from the premises. And from personally interacting any further with the Elystead Tower.”

Adalicia stared at her. “Can I ask why?”

Scarlett crossed her arms. “I wish I could say. Unfortunately, he did not bother to provide an explanation. In return for part of the information I held, I had asked for his assistance in a certain matter. Instead of simply declining, he seemed to see it fit that I could no longer even speak of the topic anywhere near his vicinity.”

“What exactly was this matter about?”

“I cannot say.” She eyed the woman for a moment. “Nor does it hold any significance now. I have already resolved it through other means.”

There was no point in risking getting a similar reaction from Adalicia now.

The wizard had knitted her forehead. “He didn’t offer any explanation at all for his actions? Rowley can be rash, but he rarely does things without reason.”

“He did not, no. He only promised he would pretend our conversation never happened, and that was all. But as I said, it no longer matters. I require his aid no more. Although I could still make use of yours.”

Adalicia gave her a long look, as if she was considering her words.

Scarlett was unsure what the woman would think. Depending on what she knew about her, she could feel anything from distrust to sympathy. Adalicia was a kind person, and the original Scarlett hadn’t been.

But the original had also been pretty decent at maintaining a good reputation with certain groups, so it was entirely possible there wasn’t anything bad for Adalicia to have heard. Scarlett herself had no idea how far-reaching the worst rumors about her were.

“I’ll investigate more closely what might have been the reason when I return to the tower,” Adalicia eventually said. “For now, should we move on to the heart of the matter?”

Scarlett gave a short nod. “Very well then. I will be blunt. What I require is a dependable ally for the near future, who is knowledgeable on matters of magic and has some say in the Ustrum Assembly. One who can protect me from the rapacity of the Assembly’s members and those of the various mage towers, and can aid me in my continued research. In return, as I believe my sister described in her letters, I will share part of the knowledge I have gathered on the Zuverian ruins and other notable sites. Eventually, this might also include the locations of primordial spells.”

Adalicia showed slight surprise at the mention of primordial spells, but mostly maintained a cool expression. Scarlett got the sense the woman was doubting her words somewhat. “Spells. Not spell. You’re saying you know of more than one?”

“That is correct.”

The woman studied her for several seconds. “Baroness. I hope I’m not breaching some convention I’m not aware of, but that sounds preposterous.”

“I imagine it would. Yet it is the truth. If you find it difficult to believe my word, I could provide further evidence if you were to allow me the time. I can assure you that I do not take any of this lightly.”

“…Did you tell the Vice-Dean the same thing?”

“I informed him I knew the location of one primordial spell, but that was all. I saw no point in sharing more than that before negotiations had begun.”

“And he believed you?”

“He appeared to entertain the notion. Enough to begin talks. Of course, that was before he kicked me out.” Scarlett couldn’t stop a hint of annoyance from seeping in towards the end.

“I’m not sure what could have possibly made him act like that, if he truly believed you.”

“It is largely a mystery to me as well,” Scarlett said. “To clarify, however: while my research has informed me of the locations of several primordial spells, none of them are easy to obtain. Each would require much preparation, and one might have to risk their life. Nonetheless, I imagine that mages such as you would not let that hinder you. In particular, I can share that at least one spell whose location I know appears to belong to the lumomancy school. There are also several promising artifacts mentioned in some of the records I have found, which I imagine would interest you as well.”

An almost motherly smile appeared on Adalicia’s face. “That certainly is interesting, I’ll say. Even if your words do sound somewhat ridiculous, it’s clear you know how to intrigue me.”

“I endeavor to always be prepared before going into negotiations such as this,” Scarlett said. “It would not do for me not to be familiar with those I intend to collaborate with.”

“That’s a wise outlook to have in life.” Adalicia met her eyes for a moment. “But before I say anything about the offer itself, would you mind if I asked a few questions of you first?”

“Feel free.”

“You’ve referenced your research a few times. I’d like to know exactly what sort of research that is. Is it work you’ve carried out yourself? And is that what then led to your discovery of the Zuverian ruins outside of Freybrook?”

“It is, in part, my own work, yes. But it is built upon notes passed down by some of my ancestors, who appeared to have had a great interest in the subject. Originally, it was largely a gathering of old legends and tales, with some references to previous ruins that had been discovered. This aided in finding the ruins near here, which were concealed beneath an old stone formation, and had a hidden puzzle that opened the entrance.”

Adalicia nodded. “That is common for Zuverian ruins.”

“I have also cross-referenced much of what I found in those ruins with other sources I have access to in order to determine the location of more hidden ruins. As of now, I have a sufficient enough grasp on this network of ruins to determine the exact location of several, and the general area of many others.”

“Would I be able to take a look at this material?”

Scarlett shook her head. “I am afraid not. None other than I may see it. That is a point I will not negotiate on.”

“But it will be hard to determine how reliable it is otherwise. Finding one set of ruins is far from a revolutionary achievement.”

“That may be so, but I am well aware of the worth of this research.” Scarlett considered Adalicia for a moment. “And I have already visited more of these sites.”

“You have?”

“Yes. While I have not announced it publicly, I visited a forgotten Zuverian outpost last week. It will not be long before I visit more of them.”

“An outpost? Similar to the one near the Resting Eye?”

“Indeed.”

The Resting Eye was a massive volcano to the east, which was situated in the middle of a large lake. Like the Whitdown Mountains, it also had a Zuverian outpost near it.

“…That means there was a Kilnstone as well.”

“Correct. However, I will not share the location of this particular Kilnstone.”

Adalicia’s eyes widened slightly. “Why not? It would be a tremendous discovery.”

“Because this one does not belong to the empire. And if people were to begin visiting this place, it could spell disaster for many.”

Well, it probably wouldn’t. It’d be inconvenient for Scarlett, though. And there was legitimately a slight risk of catastrophe if people started walking around that area of the Whitdown Mountains and ended up stumbling into the wrong place.

“So profit isn’t your only goal with this, then?” Adalicia asked.

Scarlett paused. Was that how she interpreted it?

“It is, to a certain degree. But there are other factors that take priority over such things.”

Adalicia went quiet, and Scarlett allowed her time to think.

Her gaze wandered across the room as she took in the different paintings and the embroidered tapestry that hung above some of the windows. She should probably consider herself lucky that this room and the others like it didn’t receive any damage during the night. Some of the things in here had to be worth a fortune.

…Actually, how much were these things worth? Could you sell it? Or maybe that would be a bit too tasteless, considering how old some of it might be.

“It’s an interesting opportunity,” Adalicia said. "If your words are true.”

Scarlett turned back to the woman.

“I wouldn’t be here if I thought it was all nonsense. But despite what I might believe personally, I am still a mage of Elystead Tower. It’s inevitable that they’ll get involved in some manner if I were to work with you. If that creates difficulties because of Vice-Dean Rowley, there isn’t much I can do. I am not above him in authority when it comes to tower matters.”

“I presume the Dean of the tower is away at the moment?”

Adalicia let out a sigh. “He is. There is no telling when he will return.”

“Then I will simply have to proceed with the requisite caution. I do not believe Rowley will cause issue as long as Elystead Tower stands to gain from their affiliation with my house. There is no intention of meeting with him personally on my end anyhow.”

“Does that mean you intend to give Elystead Tower priority when it cames to artifacts and discoveries made from the results of our collaborations?”

“I would give you priority, since this is a partnership between the two of us.” Scarlett looked the woman in the eyes. “How the distribution of what remains is decided I will leave to my younger sister. If your cooperation is contingent on allowing the Elystead Tower precedence, I am sure we can arrange something along those lines as well.”

Adalicia smiled. “It would be foolish for me not to take an opportunity like that.”

“Then am I to understand that you are keen on accepting my proposal?”

“I think it will still depend on how things proceed from here, but yes.”

The ends of Scarlett’s lips rose in a smile, and she leaned forward in her seat. “If so, let me elaborate on what exactly this proposal would entail.”

An hour later, Adalicia had left, and Scarlett was walking back toward her office. The two of them had ended up discussing a surprising amount of things related to Scarlett’s “research”, and what further information she held regarding the ancient Zuver. Scarlett had been careful not to divulge too much, but there had still been a lot to talk about. Adalicia’s interest in the subject appeared to be a bit more intense than Scarlett had originally thought.

She found herself glad she’d read up on it lately. While it was clear she wasn’t as knowledgeable on the topic as the wizard had been, with a mix of what Scarlett knew from the game and what she’d learned during the past few weeks, she felt certain that she had presented a reliable enough image.

Adalicia’s enthusiasm had probably spiked when the conversation had passed on to some of the different artifacts and enchantments that Scarlett knew the Zuver had. Adalicia was a wizard who specialized in both lumomancy and unschooled magic, the latter of which was the most common when it came to magical items and enchantments.

Eventually, though, the woman had announced she couldn’t delay any longer. Considering an arch wizard was waiting for her, Scarlett couldn’t really protest, even if there were a few more specifics she wanted to go through. The fact that an individual that powerful had helped Adalicia with something this minor spoke of the woman’s connections, despite not being an arch wizard herself.

Before leaving, however, Adalicia had presented an unexpected question, wondering if Scarlett was related to any of the mages on the Rising Isle. Apparently, there was a grand wizard of that name who held some repute there.

Scarlett had no idea who this person was. The Rising Isle had over a dozen mages who had reached the ‘grand’ level, and even when playing the game there hadn’t been any point in learning all their names. She couldn’t remember anything about there being a branch family like that, though, from what she’d seen of the Hartford family tree in the mansion’s library. So she couldn’t even answer if they were related or not, which is roughly what she ended up telling Adalicia.

She’d have to ask Evelyne about it later on. If their family had such powerful connections within the Rising Isle, it felt as if the younger Hartford sister wouldn't have been so engrossed in forging connections with the towers and other mage factions earlier. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Or perhaps it was just a very distant branch.

Though it felt odd that they would have kept the name if that was the case. Scarlett had learned that most branches of noble houses here often ended up creating cadet branches with new names. And from what she’d seen of the family tree, the Hartford family had no such cadet branches in the current generation. Scarlett and Evelyne were the only still-living members of the family, unless you went back over two generations.

It was an odd piece of information, hearing about this other Hartford, but nothing that directly mattered to her at the moment. Now that she had Adalicia’s preliminary support as a patron on Zuverian matters, she wouldn’t have to worry as much about those particular things. Adding Adalicia to the mix would bring an air of legitimacy to her findings, and put less attention directly on her and her methods. Not to mention how it would make reaching certain ruins a lot easier.

Now she just had a mountain of other problems looming on the horizon instead.

Scarlett paused in her thoughts as she reached the hallway outside her office. Molly stood next to one of the windows facing the courtyard, bent over as she seemed to interact with something in front of the window.

Earlier this morning, Molly had looked like she was about to keel over with how pale she’d been, the events of the night still fresh in the servant’s mind. Which was understandable enough. Scarlett had learned that the woman was a mother—of all things—and when she wasn’t working here in the mansion, she would return to her home in the city and take care of her two young children. The woman couldn’t have much time left for all of that though, considering how often she was here at the mansion, and now she might very well have lost her life the night before if Fynn hadn’t been there.

What was Scarlett paying the woman?

Molly looked up as she approached. “Oh, my Lady.”

She curtsied.

Scarlett’s gaze went past her, freezing as she laid eyes on a small shape on the windowsill.

It was a cat. With pure, jet-black fur and clear amethyst eyes.

Molly turned to the animal. “I-I found her walking the hallways here, my Lady. I’m not sure where she came from or who she belongs to, but I thought it might have been that guest from the mage tower…”

The woman looked up at Scarlett with a hesitant expression. “Should I get Gilbert so that he can remove her?”

The cat’s wide eyes were affixed on Scarlett, as if it was appraising her.

“…No. That will not be necessary. Leave it be and return to your post. I will call you if you are needed.”

“As you wish, my Lady.” Molly threw one last glance at the cat, then padded down the hallway to where her quarters were located.

Scarlett’s eyes stayed on the cat. To think that the time had already arrived.

The cat meowed and jumped down on the floor, striding up to the office door. Scarlett slowly followed, stopping in front of the entrance for a moment. The cat meowed again, as if it was impatient at her slight delay.

She glanced down at it, then reached out to open the door. The cat quickly slinked inside, and she followed.

At the far end of the office, behind her large desk, stood a man with his back turned toward her. On the wall in front of him hung a massive painting depicting a vast, unfamiliar battlefield. A long dark cape was draped over the man’s shoulder, and a top hat sat on his head. His right arm was stretched out beside him, resting atop a tall black cane.

The cat crossed the room and disappeared behind the desk, soon appearing on the other end as it jumped up and laid down next to some documents Scarlett had gone through earlier in the day.

“Greetings, Baroness.” A dignified voice rang out across the room as the man tapped a finger against the crown of his cane. “I heard you wanted to meet with me.”

The Gentleman had come to visit.