Chapter 221: Friends in Low Places

Chapter 221: Friends in Low Places

Three people were ignoring the mayhem that was happening inside Baron Pinchpenny's keep. The first was the Baron himself. His hearing was not good, and even if he had noticed the screams of panicked horses and the shouted orders of guards, he would have ignored them. He paid good money to those men, and he could care less what little problems they had to solve by abusing a few peasants to stifle a rebellion.

The second person, was the Legion Centurion in charge of the far side of the Baron's keep. The Legion paid money to the Baron to be here, but was not responsible for what happened in the other half. In fact, they had expressly been told not to interfere and to leave the Baron's half of the keep alone. Pinchpenny didn't want anyone poking into his business, and the Legion didn't want to have to deal with it. If problems spilled over to the Legion's side, then they would make the problem go away. The lookout reported that it was one small animal on the loose, surely a dozen guardsmen could handle that, couldn't they?

The third person who was ignoring the screams was Mordecai. He had faith that his pet could handle themselves, and if actually threatened they would find a place to hide. The brain inside that reptilian head was much smarter than anyone suspected. So far, he had identified 37 meanings to the word 'fishies'. When used by the little wyvern, it was a language in just one word. It was all about how it was pronounced.

The man in the cell next to Mordecai had been scared at first when the sound of screaming horses and roaring wyverns had reached him, but had eventually relaxed. Lorcan, a sage of the Natural Magics College had been having a long discussion with Mordecai on the training and raising of several species of fantastical animals. Lorcan lacked much of the field experience that Mordecai seemed to have. For his part, the sage was giving Mordecai a great amount of knowledge about about the creatures that inhabited the barony, and many small details about the barony itself, the castle, the Baron's collection of rare moths and butterflies, and the types of things he was looking to collect.

"Personally, I think the man was foolish to not accept your offer. Live specimens? Unheard of to acquire in this day and age with the lack of great heroes venturing into the swamps. The wyvern population is simply too out of control, and will probably get worse in the future. They just don't have many creatures that prey on them. Our Baron is foolish. He saves a few gold today, and loses on the opportunity to gain so many more rare samples. I think you were the last legitimate procurer that he will encounter. A pity. Also, a pity that the two of us have to pay for his stupidity."

Mordecai seemed unconcerned. "It's a small price to pay."

Lorcan shook his head sadly. "I find your lack of concern somewhat baffling. Do you value your freedom so lightly?"

Mordecai simply smiled. "No, freedom is a treasure that should be taken away from no man, and must always be guarded. I only meant I wasn't staying long." Turning to the huddled families in cages, he asked. "Hi, I know this next part might be a bit scary. But would any of you like to leave?"

Many hands were raised by confused peasants. Mordecai nodded. "Are you all here for not paying taxes or similar? I'm heading north and I can take you with me. Maybe get you started in a better town. It's a bit of a walk, but I'm sure you need to stretch your legs."

The second door guard nodded. "Yep, been at it all day long. Keeps going on and on about his missing bugs. He went up to his telescope on the tower to see that monster bug that was attacking us. He couldn't get back down. Someone locked him up there. The next day when the servants came back to the keep, they heard him shouting from the tower. During the chaos, thieves stole his bug collection."

"Bugs. Always bugs. Half the castle is more ruined than it ever was, the prisoners have escaped, horses are missing, and he's worried about bugs. I'm sick of it."

"There's always the Legion. I think I'll head over now, see if they are recruiting."

"Hold up, I'll head over with you."

Our Dearest Baron, who we hold in the highest esteem,

It has come to our attention that you like butterflies. So do I! I've recently come into a vast collection of them. I hate to inform you that many of them are fakes. I'm very disappointed in the quality of your collection. I'd be willing to give them back to you, but only when you've had some time to appreciate your loss. A word of warning: You're new corporate friends can't be trusted, so I wouldn't go running to them for aid. In fact, doing something like that is exactly what will cause you more problems, and your collecting will be split up for sale all across the empire. We'll be in touch as to what favors you can do for us in return for your collection being returned.

Be a good boy, and I'll include a lovey specimen of a Dragon-Tinted Fallow Moth, free of charge.

Yours truly,

A fellow lover of large bugs.