[Fakery of Death has activated]
‘Finally, he’s here.’ Ludwig breathed a sigh of relief.
“That won’t be needed,” the voice sounded like the words of the devil himself as a tall man wearing gothic robes and clothes from head to bottom showed up right next to the old man.
Completely out of thin air, wearing a top hat and a pair of black sunglasses during the dark pitch of the night.
Everyone around the old man drew their weapons.
“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” the giant man said as he too was surprised by the presence of this person.
“Seems that you’re taking good care of my disciple, little brat,” the man said who looked at least a third of the old man’s age.
“There is only one person who still has the guts to call me a brat in this empire,” the old man smiled, “Withdraw your weapons, if he wanted us dead, none of use would have even realized it.” The old man said as he turned to face the newcomer.
“Bastos Van Dijk, the Great Plague… the Fiend. The Unholy. And the Black Tower Master.” The old man gave a proper introduction to Ludwig’s master.
And visibly, everyone around Van Dijk seemed to have lost a few years of their lives when they heard his name.
A toothy smile appeared on Van Dijk revealing a little too unnaturally long fangs with a small glint of redness as the moon reflected on his eyes.
“I see my boy here had caused some trouble,” Van Dijk said.
“Not at all, as a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for him, things would have been much more troublesome.’ The old man said.
Van Dijk took a sniff at the air, then crumpled his nose, “Emm, Profane Rituals… disgusting,” he said.
“You can even recognize the magic,” the old man said in surprise.
“I wouldn’t be a tower master if I couldn’t even do that. But this one is a bit too… ancient, quite dangerous, I need to take a look, but before that. What are you planning on doing with the boy?”
“We need a few answers and we’ll send him back once our investigation is over.” The old man said.
Van Dijk looked at Ludwig for a bit and said, “If you don’t feel like going with them, just tell me, they won’t take you anywhere, but seeing you sitting there comfortably…”
“I don’t mind going with them, I already told them everything I know,” Ludwig shrugged.
“You do enjoy finding trouble, also what happened to those clothes of yours? You look like you were thrown into a blender…” Van Dijk said, “And that’s a new set that I sent you just this morning…”
“Ah…” Ludwig couldn’t find a way to reply.
“I guess the nickname you got in the academy fit you well,” Van Dijk grinned.
“What nickname?” the old man seemed a bit too interested in that part.
“Well, you know about our academy’s tests… Olim took over,” Van Dijk said proudly.
“Oh… that psychopath.”
“For him, that’s a compliment,” Van Dijk said.
“Yeah, I know… what did he do this time?”
“He threw freshmen into a Lizardmen dungeon…”
“Oh… how many died this time?” the old man asked.
“Only three, and that guy over there, fought a Champion Lizardman, got his arm torn off and most of his bones broken… and now he’s being nicknamed Ludwig the Undead. Quite a young age to get a title already, but he does make a master proud!”
The old man looked at Ludwig for a second then asked, “Could you tell me the reason why you came to Rima?”
‘that seemed out of the blue.’
“I needed to bring Master Van Dijk an item,” Ludwig said as he pulled the Artificer’s orb from his ring.
“Oh, you got it? Impressive…” Van Dijk said as he took the orb.
“Oh, I should have known… since this was the reward for the event,” the old man said.
“What do you mean?” Van Dijk asked.
“This boy is a monster when it comes to playing King’s Gambit. I got beaten without a chance to even fight back. “He turned to Ludwig, “Regardless, since you had a proper reason to be in Rima, and you actively assisted in fighting against the evil plaguing the city, you are not required to come with us for investigation. If I need anything I’ll ask Alva once she wakes up. Other than that, please remain within the Academy in case we need to ask more questions, Ludwig, please come down from the carriage, you’re free to go.”
“Sure then, I’ll go check on my friends,” Ludwig said.
“Good lad,” the old man said.
“Still,” Ludwig said as he turned to the old man, “How did you know my name?” Ludwig asked it was something that was plaguing him.
“You don’t need to know that now,” The old man said.
Annoyance was clear on Ludwig’s face, but he didn’t voice it.
“Cool mask you have there,” Van Dijk said.
That was strange, ‘cool’ is not a word that someone like Van Dijk would ever use.
“Yeah, I got it from a strange vendor… though he disappeared the moment he handed this to me, stall and all.”
Van Dijk was taken aback, and the old man’s eyes lit up, “Where did you say you met this man?”
“At the entrance of the Mage Masquerade, a short grandpa had a stall there, he was selling masks…”
“I guess things are about to get interesting,” The Old man said.
“That hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Van Dijk replied in a stern tone.
“What is going on?” Ludwig asked.
“Hmm, what you just described sounds awfully like the Wandering Merchant. He sells items that are priceless and could even be cause to wage wars for, but he only does that when the time for great strife is nigh… I’d recommend you don’t say anything about him to anyone else, otherwise it might just bring you more trouble,” the old man finalized.