Chapter 799: The Best Uncommon Spell (Patreon)

By the time the meeting ended, Luke was pretty sure he'd gotten what he wanted. Lorian had stayed silent for the rest of the discussion.

"Looks like they accepted the terms", Charlie said through their mental link.

Yeah. They just weren't going to say it outright. Had to make it look like they were still thinking it over.

Mivi and Pip escorted them through the halls again. Before Luke reached the guest wing, Duke Robert approached him.

“Your Majesty. I didn't have a chance to say this during the meeting, but thank you for saving our soldiers in that battle. Because of you, Sir Jorah will receive an honorable funeral.”

Luke paused. “He earned it.”

The duke gave him a solemn nod, and Luke headed back to his quarters. He and Charlie kept talking through their telepathic link.

The next day, the royal family held something of a celebration. Lunch was served in an open-sided hall surrounded by gardens and stone balconies. There was music, food, and plenty of prominent nobles from military families tied to the battle. Several guests came over to greet Luke, many of whom had fought at Farmarug and wanted to thank him personally. Even the Count of Farmarug attended.

Charlie stayed near one of the walls with the other guards, standing straight and serious as she watched the crowd.

“Have you been enjoying your stay, Your Majesty?” Noelle asked as she approached, accompanied by the same knight from the day before.

“I have. You have a beautiful garden.”

“Garden?” Noelle looked surprised. “No one ever notices the garden. They usually talk about the towers or the walls.”

The two began walking, with Charlie and the princess's knight following at a respectful distance.

“I wasn't lying when I said I was a friend to plants,” Luke replied.

“That's a rather unusual title for a king.”

“You mean weird?”

“I would never be so disrespectful. But unusual is a fair word.”

Luke studied the carefully trimmed trees and the flowers lining the stone paths.

“A garden's a good place for a conversation, Your Highness.” He looked at her. “So, what about my terms?”

“You really are direct.”

“Isn't that why we're walking?”

Noelle smiled. “I suppose subtlety would be wasted on you.”

“Probably.”

“Rosemark is willing to sign a nonaggression treaty with the Moonlight Kingdom and allow you to conduct business with our nobility. We consider those terms fair.”

“And the rest of the list?”

“Also acceptable. We are neighbors, after all. There is no reason for hostility between us.” Noelle paused. “However, some of your requests can only be granted if you produce results.”

“And I'll be paid very well for those results. But you should know that keeping the Teleportation Array out of the wrong hands is in everyone's best interest.”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I'm afraid I cannot discuss that matter with you.”

“I understand.”

When they returned to the celebration, Noelle went to speak with several officers and military representatives. Before long, someone else came over.

“Your Majesty.”

“Sir Garen Voss.”

“I want you to know that you have my thanks. You saved my life in Nyvma, and then again in Farmarug.”

“You saved plenty of people too.”

Garen glanced toward Charlie. “Is she the knight from your Royal Guard who saved me in Farmarug?”

“She is.”

“I never would've guessed there was such an elegant lady under all that armor.”

Charlie didn't react.

Did this guy just hit on Charlie?

Garen bowed to her. “She has my gratitude as well. That orc nearly killed me.”

Luke watched him for a second. No. He's just being grateful.

“I was looking for you before the battle,” Garen continued.

“Looking for me?”

“You were impressive in Nyvma. I wanted to recruit you.” He laughed. “Who would've guessed you were already a king?”

Night had fallen by the time Luke was ready to leave. Before he made it out of the castle, one of the stewards summoned him.

“The royal family, on behalf of Rosemark, would like to reward you for your deeds in Nyvma and Farmarug.”

Luke was led to a room with an enormous table covered in helmets, bags of coins, swords, armor, and all kinds of other equipment.

“You may choose any item on the table, Your Majesty. Please feel free to examine them for as long as you wish.”

Trying to butter me up, huh?

He'd already let the kingdoms claim a large share of the credit for the victory. A reward was the least they could offer.

Just like Angie predicted. Sixty percent chance they'd put a bunch of treasures in front of me and make me pick one. They're trying to figure me out.

Luke scanned the items. If they're going to read that much into my choice, I might as well have some fun with it.

[Scroll of Three Fireballs (Uncommon)]: A scroll imbued with a simple fire spell. When activated, it fires three fireballs at once, all of them exploding on impact. Simple, loud, and destructive, it’s the kind of scroll best used when subtlety no longer matters.

I've got two open pages in the Grimoire. Let's see if there's a scroll here that's actually worth using one on.

He kept inspecting the items until one of them stopped him cold.

No way. Luke read the description again. Then one more time. You've got to be kidding me.

They actually had a scroll like this, and they were just offering it to him. He'd been looking for this kind of spell for a long time.

“I really can take anything?” he asked.

“Yes. One item. Choose whatever you wish.”

I need this. Screw their psychological test.

Luke took the scroll.

“Are you certain that's the one you want?” the steward asked. “It's... rather simple.”

Simple? Are you insane? This thing is going to save my ass for the rest of my life.

“I'm sure,” Luke replied, hiding his excitement. He carefully stored the scroll in his pocket dimension.

***

Theron drove while a large military escort accompanied them to the city gates. Once the escort turned back, they traveled in silence for several hours before leaving the road and entering the forest.

“Easy. Come on, this way,” Theron murmured as he unhitched the scaled striders from the carriage and led them down the narrow trail.

Luke and Charlie followed on foot until they reached a clearing. The Flying Dutchman waited in the middle of the clearing.

“Lord Luke is back!” someone shouted.

Luke briefed the crew on the meeting and confirmed that no one had discovered the camp while he was gone. Then he entered the captain's cabin.

Most of the crew remained outside, camped around the ship, because the Dutchman refused to open the cabin doors for anyone except Luke.

“Come on, Charlie.” He took her hand and pointed at the floor.

[Teleportation Circle II activated.]

They stepped onto the circle together and vanished. A moment later, they were standing in a bedroom inside a house Teresa had rented for him. Nobles generally preferred private residences to inns.

“It really worked, Master Luke,” Charlie said. “Even from that far away.”

“Told you it would.”

Over the past month, Luke had reached level 120 in Arcane Spellcaster, unlocking an evolution for [Teleportation Pentagram].

[Teleportation Pentagram III (Legendary)]: The Witch's mastery of translocation has reached a new peak. This skill inherits all effects of [Teleportation Pentagram II], allowing up to three teleportation circles to remain linked at once, forming an arcane network between marked locations. When traveling through one of these circles, the Witch may bring one willing individual in direct physical contact with her at the moment of activation. Both are instantly transported to the same destination circle. The maximum distance between linked circles increases with the Witch's class level. In addition, Willpower and Intelligence strengthen and stabilize the arcane connection, further increasing maximum teleportation range.

Besides letting him bring someone along, the skill now scaled with Intelligence. The increase in range was ridiculous.

“What are we doing now?” Charlie asked. Luke still hadn't told her why he'd asked Teresa to rent the house.

“We're going out.” He smiled. “A date. It's been a long time since we've had one. What do you think?”

“A... a date?” Her cheeks turned red. “I'd like that.”

Luke took her hand and led her outside. They walked through the city, and he let her choose where they went.

No way I'd ever set up a [Teleportation Pentagram] inside that palace without them noticing.

He glanced at Rosemark Castle in the distance.

Later, over dinner, a notification appeared in front of him.

[Your profession [Sentinel Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 119!] (+21 Wisdom, +16 Intelligence, +13 Willpower, +10 Perception, +8 Vitality, +25 Free Points)

My Mother Freya Trees are paying off.

The Mother Freya Trees were still maturing, but thanks to his modifications, they were already feeding him passive experience from this far away.

“So...” Charlie hesitated. “How did I do as your knight?”

“You did great. You looked so serious even I was scared of you.”

“Idiot...”

After dinner, Charlie led him into the capital's shopping district. She wanted to buy dresses, which was unusual for her. Now that she had money of her own, though, she had no problem spending it on clothes and accessories. At one stall, she lingered over a pair of small silver earrings before putting them back.

I should get her a gift.

Luke picked them up. “I'll get these.”

Charlie looked at him. “For me?”

“Who else?”

Her expression softened.

“Thank you, Master Luke.”

The woman running the stall frowned as she tried to pierce Charlie's ears. “That's strange. I can't seem to get the needle through.”

“Oh... that's because I...”

With a D-rank body, even Charlie's skin was absurdly tough.

“There we go,” the woman said a moment later.

Charlie consciously relaxed her resistance. Once the earrings were in, she reached up and touched one.

Luke looked at her. Charlie wearing earrings. That's new.

She caught him staring. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Charlie narrowed her eyes, but he only smiled.

As they walked back to the house, the noise of the shopping district faded behind them. Luke's thoughts drifted back to the meeting.

They're preparing something big.

A real war was coming. He was sure of that. The orcs weren't going to keep relying on random invasions and scattered attacks forever. Gurgal wanted the heirs back. The Orc Lord, meanwhile, had vanished into the Beast Forest with his army after the last round of attacks and hadn't been seen since.

Then there was the Teleportation Array. The kingdoms' representatives had absolutely no intention of sharing what they knew about its location. Luke was still an outsider. As far as they were concerned, he could activate the Array and bring dangerous people to the continent. The continent was already at war with the region where the Empire was based, and inviting Luke into the palace at all had been a big step. Even so, they had almost certainly prepared countermeasures in case he tried anything.

Great. I'm thinking about an orc invasion in the middle of a date.

He glanced at Charlie beside him.

Later.

Tonight, he had better things to do.

When they got back to the house, Charlie asked, “Are we going back to the ship?”

“Absolutely not. We're spending the night here.”

She blinked. “Here?”

“Here.”

Luke bathed first. When Charlie went to bathe, he pulled the scroll from his pocket dimension and smiled. He still had two open pages left, and sacrificing one to absorb the spell was more than worth it.

He absorbed the spell into the Grimoire and grinned down at the open page.

When Charlie returned, she took one look at him and frowned. “What are you planning?”

“Charlie, stand in the hallway for a second.”

“Hm? Why?”

“Trust me.”

Luke activated the Grimoire, picked up a glass goblet, and threw it at the floor. Then he did the same with another. And another.

Charlie stared at the shattered glass. “Master Luke...”

“Did you hear anything?”

“No...” she replied.

Luke was this close to celebrating on the spot.

“I got a legendary spell, Charlie.”

“That scroll you picked? Didn't you say it was only Uncommon?”

“Legendary to me.”

[Silence (Uncommon)]: A scroll carrying a wind spell meant to swallow sound. When activated, it forms a faint dome of circling air that keeps every noise sealed inside. Voices, footsteps, blows, and screams never make it past the dome. It’s made for private conversations, covert work, and violence no one is supposed to hear.

Luke stepped closer and took her by the arms. “Now we won't have to wait until we're miles away from everyone just to get some privacy.”

Charlie blinked. “Wait... that's it? That's the big spell you said was going to change your life?”

Luke scooped her into his arms. “It is going to change my life, Charlie. Now we can do whatever we want at the castle without anyone hearing us.”

Charlie went bright red as he carried her toward the bed.

“Want to celebrate?” he asked.

Charlie slipped her arms around his neck. “I think we should.”

For once, Luke and Charlie had a night to themselves.

***

By the time Noelle was summoned to one of the castle's private rooms, Luke Moon was gone. Her brothers were already inside. Vincent sat at a table covered in papers, with Nikolai nearby.

“What did you think of Luke Moon, Noelle?” Nikolai asked as soon as she entered. “I want your full assessment.”

Noelle took her seat without answering. With her brothers, even a simple question could be a test. At sixteen, people underestimated her all the time. She'd learned to use that.

Maybe they really did want her opinion. Or maybe Luke wasn't the only one being evaluated. With Vincent, it could easily be both.

“He was respectful,” she said. “Nothing like Prince Lorian, actually. Even when we spoke outside the meeting, he never tried to steer the conversation toward anything we hadn't already discussed. He didn't probe for information.”

Luke hadn't underestimated her for being sixteen, even when she made herself seem a little more naive than she really was.

Vincent stared down at the papers spread across the table. “I've tested him every way I could think of, and I still have almost nothing on him.”

Of course he had notes. With Vincent, even where a man set his fork could become evidence.

“He didn't order anything that wasn't already on our menu. Tea was the only exception,” Vincent continued. “He also refused to use a poison taster, and he didn't bring one of his own to the banquet.”

Luke had eaten and drunk whatever they put in front of him in a foreign castle without showing any concern about poison. Maybe he was so confident in his own strength that he thought no poison could hurt him. Maybe he knew no one would try to kill him. Or maybe he'd figured out exactly what Vincent was doing and decided to play along.

“For his reward, I deliberately included several powerful spells with very different uses. Valuable equipment too. I wanted to see what he'd go for.”

Nikolai leaned back in his chair. “And?”

“Instead of picking one of the stronger options, he chose a simple spell called [Silence].”

Nikolai grunted. “I doubt he actually needed it. Maybe he chose one at random. Or maybe he was mocking us.”

“He's difficult to read,” Vincent said. “But I think that choice was deliberate. He may have been sending us a message.”

“What message?” Noelle asked.

Vincent folded his arms. “That silence is all we're going to get from him.”

“Do you think he could be an Imperial spy?” Noelle asked.

“I've considered it,” Nikolai replied. “But that doesn't make much sense. Why help us? It would've been much easier to just let the orcs do the work for him. Maybe he's trying to earn our trust so he can find out whether we know where the Array is.”

“Or maybe he doesn't need our trust,” Noelle said. “You're both assuming he wanted something from us.”

Vincent finally looked up at her.

“Maybe that's the problem,” Noelle said. “What if he didn't? He has a flying ship, after all. I don't think he needs anything from us badly enough to bother playing games. Everything he proposed was straightforward. Just business between kingdoms.”

Nikolai frowned but said nothing.

The other possibility, that Luke was working for the Ironwing Duchy, seemed even less likely. If Ironwing really had someone at his level, they would've used him in the war by now.

“At least now we know what he looks like,” Noelle said.

Some had imagined an old man behind the mask. Others thought he might be disfigured, or simply so hideous he preferred never to show his face. Luke Moon was actually quite handsome, which Noelle hadn't expected.

He'd also chosen when to let them find out. Maybe that had been the point all along. Let the rumors build, then take off the mask in front of them like none of it mattered.

“We'll keep watching him,” Vincent said. “He could still be our enemy even if he has nothing to do with the Empire or the Ironwing traitors.”

Nikolai stood, grinning. “If he turns out to be our enemy, he's just a walking sack of experience points.”

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