Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 25

Caspian and Elincia returned to Dorumhold with Chloe in tow. Of course, because they had been recognized and betrayed by Commander Enriche, they did not stay in their natural forms. Elincia had asked Loki to cast an illusion around them. Now Caspian looked like a middle-aged man, Elincia his young wife, and Chloe had the appearance of a slightly older woman.

"This is quite fascinating," Chloe murmured as the three of them traveled through the streets of Nevaria. She was staring at her hand in curiosity. "I have heard that some sorceresses can cast illusions, but I never imagined anyone would be able to cast one so seamlessly. Can you do this because you're an elf, I wonder?"

Elincia shook her head. "I'm not the one who cast the illusion. I just opened a gate to the Nordic Clan's home and asked Loki if he could place one over us."

"I... see..." Chloe didn't seem to understand.

"Let's check out Marquis Hunington's mansion before we do anything else," Caspian interrupted the conversation before they could go further. They had things they needed to do.

"Right." Chloe nodded. "Just follow me. I can lead you there."

As they walked through the street, Marquis Hunington's voice came over the PA system. Caspian shook his head in disgust. That man really did enjoy listening to himself talk.

He and Elincia followed Chloe as she led them to a slightly secluded section of the city, which they had to reach by taking a public transport because it was so far away. Like they had suspected, the marquis mansion was located on that mountain-ish hill near the back of the city, isolating it from the common folk. A large gate stood before what appeared to be the only one leading to it. The rest of the mountain was blocked off by a wall.

Caspian, Elincia, and Chloe stood inside of an alley and peered at the gate. Two men in armor were guarding the entrance. They were wielding pikes, which Caspian thought was an odd weapon to use. They were long pole weapons used by infantry for thrusting. While the length of a pike wielders to fight from a distance, they were unwieldy in close combat.

"Looks like there are only two people guarding the gate," Caspian muttered.

"There might only be two guards here, but there are a lot more inside," Chloe warned him. "Marquis Hunington is a very cautious man. He's hired a group of mercenaries as constant, around the clock guards. I don't know how many there are, but I believe there are more than one hundred of them."

Caspian bit his lip in thought. With Elincia's ability to make them invisible, sneaking in would actually be very easy. They could just climb the wall. The problem was that it had a high mana cost. She wouldn't be able to maintain it for a long time, especially if she asked Loki to cast it on all three of them.

"So... do you two have a plan for getting inside?" asked Chloe.

"Maybe..." Caspian turned away from the gate and looked at his sorceress. "Ele?"

Elincia had been mostly quiet up to this point, not offering her opinions or even saying much of anything. He could sense her deep thoughts churning. The bond let him know as much, even if he didn't know what she was thinking about.

"Let's go back to the inn for now," Elincia suggested.

Chloe shrugged while Caspian tentatively agreed, and so the three of them made it back to the inn where he and Elincia had begun staying. They still had the keys to their room. However, rather than heading up to their room, the group stayed in the tavern downstairs and ordered a warm meal.

As they ate, Caspian kept an eye on Chloe. While Elincia wanted to believe the best in people, he couldn't bring himself to trust this woman, so he had his eyes and ears peeled in case she decided to betray them. That said, nothing happened during dinner and the group ate in relative silence before traveling upstairs.