บท 82: Let the Hunt Begin

"Poison! Hurry, we need a healer NOW!" Archduke Godfrey immediately called for help when he heard William's words about him being poisoned. Not only is the man his eldest daughter's lover but a mightly military leader of an unknown religion. If William dies from the poison on the same day the entire Beckett family was invited, they could end up being a suspect, and it could lead to another war where Alderim has no chance of winning.

No one moved an inch. Everyone except Rana was panicking, and some of the Beckett family turned pale due to the horrible news, but none of Lord William's men, including military general and officers, moved or showed expression of any concern at all.

'Have they gone mad? Why aren't they doing anything? Wait, is this a possible military coup? If it is, what have we got ourselves into?' Godfrey quickly turns his head left and right to see if anyone will do anything at all. If his theory is correct, they are superiorly screwed and would become political prisoners. Slowly reaching for his ceremonial sword, Godfrey swears on his family name that he will do everything to protect his family, even if he can buy 10 seconds for everyone to escape. Just as the Archduke was about to touch the hilt of his sword, William suddenly stood up from his seat.

"Lockdown the fortress. No one is leaving, and track down everyone who left the fortress 30 minutes to one hour ago. Lord Creed will be handling the security of the fortress, and Lord Commissar Cain will take charge of identifying and counting all staff members." William gave a quick order, and every member of Astra Militarum followed their two leaders, leaving the chamber. Seeing this, Godfrey eased his hand as his theory was wrong, and William was still in command. Still, the poison inside William's system is a big concern but considering his massive size, it would take time compared to the ordinary man.

"Lord William, you need a healer now. The poison…" Godfrey said, but before he could finish his sentence, his youngest daughter, Maria, stood up from her table and over-spoke her father with excitement.

"Sir Leonidas can help Lord William. Can't you?" Maria said to the young man next to her while everyone's attention moved from William to this new person who hadn't spoken this entire time. Godfrey and every member of the Becketts saw a very handsome and beautiful man in his formal clothing who got up and approached the main table with a strange device in his hand.

"Is he a healer?" One of Rana's brothers asked with curiosity as he couldn't believe another giant of a man with a handsome face might be a healer. A giant man with a large wolf pelt and armor full of rune symbols answered the young Beckett's question.

"Not a healer but much worse. A damn apothecary with blood obsession." Man in wolf armor said with a bit of irritation as he drank a large mug of powerful alcohol. He continued after finishing his drink.

"I say. All Lord William need isn't some fancy medicine to cure his poison. His body can take care of that! So, why not drink a mug of Mjød and let his body continue to heal? Just like a Wolf King did when he succumbed to injury and decided to finish eight barrels of Mjød before returning to the battlefield." The Wolf Seer, who is now one of the senior members of the Blacksouls librarian, raises his empty mug high, which the rest of the former Space Wolves follow as they cheer to remember the great deeds and tales of the Wolf King.

"Wait, his body can do that?" The eldest son of the Godfrey asked as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Poisoning of certain key nobles and military generals is somewhat rare but unheard of as history is full of assassins and backstabbing from close allies.

"Sure, we all can cure ourselves of poisons of all kinds. As long as it is not an extremely potent kind like the one that idiot is currently drinking." One of the Astartes with a square chin and military haircut answered the first son's question. He wasn't most handsome or beautiful, just like the one Maria is clingy to, but his appearance and physical appearance can tell he was an experienced warrior. Even though he wasn't wearing his armor, the man was carrying a large greatsword with a blue color hilt and the white symbol of the U on the sword guard.

"Ha, you are way too uptight, Dioricus. Loosen it up for one second, and you will see there is nothing to worry about. Here have a glass of wine if Mjød is too much for you." Wolf Seer laughs aloud as if he has already forgotten about what happened a few minutes ago. This remark made Dioricus and a few former Ultramarines glare at their battle-brother of former Space Wolves, but knowing them, it is incredible that fight didn't break off right away.

"Enough with side talk. Leave the room if you want to be useful." Captain Bolic Firehammer of the first company quiets down everyone while waiting for Leonidas to finish his examination. After a few more seconds later, Leonidas finish his scan and pat William's shoulder with a smile on his face.

"The body already purges the poison. The tingling sensation from Lord William's mouth was the indication that his body had already released antitoxin and built immunity to that poison. Lord William, please maintain from making the exchange of fluid for the next four days. Your body is currently producing powerful antitoxin, and it could kill a regular person if it accidentally enters their body." Apothecary explains it to William and is about to step away from him when the doors to the chamber open, and a large group of Sister of Battle (Both from Order of Our Martyred Lady and Hospitaller) rush in with their bolters in their hands.

Behind the ladies, everyone can see Commissar Cain and Jurgen following them with the defeated face as their attempt to secure every person is interrupted by the Sister of Battle. William could guess that Sister came here right away a moment Lord Creed initiated lockdown, and the Commissar once again failed to stop overzealous women from leaving their quarters.

William wanted to invite Sister Superior Sabina Mire to the event, but she couldn't make it due to her busy schedule of healing and religious services to the common people. Considering their origin and background of 40k lore, William was ok with their current activities as healers, not religious fanatics. Well, for now, that is.

"Sister Superior, Lord William is fine, and you don't need to worry about…." Dioricus approaches with a shiny smile to stop the Sisters, but just like Commissar Cain, his square smile doesn't stop them from passing him as Sister Superior's sharp glare stop giant Astartes. Seeing this, Wolf Seer laughed while drinking, making him spill most of his drink onto himself.

'So, even great codex doesn't have instruction on stopping raging women. Thank you, Lord Guilliman, for the great instruction manual .' William thought to himself and took his seat to show there was nothing to worry about, and everything was under control. Meanwhile, all Becketts were again in panic (Except Rana and Maria) and amazed to see a large group of warrior women in black and red armor overpowering Space Marine with a simple glare.

"Welcome, Sister Superior. I hope you didn't bring half of your number just to take care of me." William welcome Sister Superior Sabina as she gave a hand signal to stop everyone behind her. Sabina quickly scanned the room and went to her knee while holding her bolter. After witnessing William's 'miracle,' Sabina and her sisters did this every time, which made William a bit uncomfortable. Even after explaining to her that she didn't need to do this, she continued and didn't seem to stop at any point. So, William gave up and just let her do as she wished.

On the other hand, Rana was visited by them every day and even had special bodyguards until she disbanded them with a white feather in her hand. That convinced Sisters and followed the order like writing on the stone, but unfortunately, when Sister found out Rana's army had magicians was a complete disaster. Long story short, William had to give a special decree to stop the Sisters from going fire crazy and send them away from the capital city for two weeks before they came back with cooler heads (With the report of a large number of monsters and small armies completely obliterated by them).

"Lord William, I know you are testing my faith. Our belief is stronger than ever, and I know Emperor's Angel doesn't fall from the simple poison from this New World. We are here to do our duty to protect you and the Emperor's holy host."

'Oh no, not this again.' Rana said to herself as she could see Sister Superior was using this moment to place a permanent bodyguard on her.

"You know that my honor guards are more than capable of protecting me, right?" William said to Sister Superior, but it didn't go through her as she made a counterargument.

"That is not enough, my lord. Assassin managed to break into our defense and managed to poison you. As your advisor and Emperor's servant, I must follow my duty with my life." Sister Superior said with a dedication to her mission, and after that, every sister behind her spoke in unison.

"Let the Emperor's servant protect his realm and his people. Burn the Heretic! Kill the Mutant! Purge the Unclean!"

'By the throne. I swear, I need to do something quickly, or else they will burn the city down to ashes just to find this assassin.' William thought to himself and decided to solve the problem first before deciding who would protect who.

"Wolf Seer!" William called not-so-drunk Astartes.

"Yes, Lord Imperator Fratrum." Wolf Seer approach the table a few feets away and bow with his right arm across his chest, giving a respectable bow. To Godfrey and everyone else, the man covered with wolf skin wasn't drunk or showing any sign-off as they knew that man was the first to consume most of the drinks tonight.

"I know how infamous warriors of Fenrisian are with tracking and hunting skills. Gather your wolves, hunt this assassin down, and bring it to me, alive. That is unless Sisters somehow manage to find the assassin first." William said to Wolf Seer amusingly as his last word made this into a hunting game. Hearing this, both Wolf Seer and Sister Superior raise their heads at once with excitement. Someone will complete this task, and the assassin who is hiding within the fortress will wish death, no matter who finds them first.

Sister of Battle has experience when it comes to fighting and hunting down heretics, mutants, and unclean, but Wolf Seer has one significant critical advantage, which is a pack of Fenrisian Wolves.

Hail from the homeworld of Fenris, Fenrisian Wolf is a fearsome wolf-like beast with near-human intelligence and size that could match even Space Marines. These wolves are big enough for the Space Wolves to ride them into combat and follow wherever their masters go, for they are loyal companions. It is said that the legendary Wolf King himself was raised by the mother Thunderwolf (A powerful type of Fenrisian Wolf) and her cubs. After returning to civilization, Leman Russ marched to war with not one but two wolves accompanying him everywhere he went. Following this tradition, Space Wolves have the loyal company of wolves with them no matter where they go or who they have to fight.

"I see. Then, I will personally hunt this assassin down before wolves do." Sister Superior immediately left the chamber with her small army following her. Knowing how effective the Fenrisian Wolves are, Sabina made her first move before Wolf Seer could process his brain.

"That damn woman, at least give me a warning before running away." Wolf Seer said aloud with no worries and put two fingers on his lips. Making a sharp whistle, he summons his loyal companion; a moment later, a black-maned wolf enters the chamber after literally breaking the wooden door with his two front paws.

"By the heaven and divine! What is that beast?" Godfrey yelled with fear when he saw an enormous wolf he had ever seen push through the thick doors and one push.

"His name is Midnight, and he is the pack leader," Wolf Seer answered Godfrey, and before Archduke could say anything to what Wolf Seer said, 29 more wolves entered the chamber. Following them, the rest of the former Space Wolves enter a room with weapons ready. Seeing the rest of the pack in the room, Midnight howled, creating a chain reaction for the rest to follow. The eardrum tearing sound cut shortly thanks to Wolf Seer taking command of the whole pack and leading them to the hunt.

"Follow me, my wolves! We have an assassin to track and hunt!" With that, 30 wolves and Blacksouls left the dining chamber, leaving the smell of beasts behind.

"Ok, so who wants to change location before they all come back with an assassin? I was told this time around is the perfect season for a night party." William made his announcement and ordered his honor guards to escort everyone to the backyard, where the much bigger open ground was available for everyone. Before leaving the chamber, William sends a vox message to one particular person specializing in infiltration to find the assassin. If William were a gambling man, he would bet this person would find the assassin first before others do, making this much more interesting for his guests.