Chương 58: In the time we were gone VIII
Lord Lezhalt,
You do not know how delighted I was when I heard of your safe return. I know it has been hard on you since the death of your parents, but I would like to inform you that you can count on me. Our two families have been close since your father and I were boys and I would hate for you to distance yourself from us, I only want the best for you.
It is a pity you never had your coming of age ceremony, so if you would like I formally invite you to attend a gathering next Friday in your name. The agreement still stands, as I have given my word to your father long ago that I would take care of you. I fear that I have failed him, but no more.
Angelia is worried, more than you know. She prays to Mother Nessa every night for your safety. Now that you are of age, it is time for both of our families to unite, only then can we face any obstacle that stands in our way.
- Dezmond Frost.
'Fiancee? Why does he have to have one of those?'
Jacob gazed at the letter for the fifth time before setting it down on the nightstand by the bed as he complained.
He did not want to get married, at least not right now. Now that he is Vulcan, a noble who was betrothed to a lady it would be difficult for him to break off the engagement.
There would need a valid reason to cancel it, and so far he did not have one. At least not any reason he could think of right now.
Nobles married for many reasons, but the primary one was to stabilize their families' power. Noble women especially had it hard, as they were used as tools in marriages. It was highly unlikely you would find a noble woman that married for love.
Men were different, as even if they got married for political reasons they could still take on a second or third wife.
Jacob was most worried about the scheme's that were behind sixty percent of marriages. A noble would marry off one of their kin into another noble's house that had land, treasures, or even businesses they wanted. After marriage, the wife or husband may be assassinated leaving their property in their partner's name, as long as no valid heir was named. Meaning all their assets would go to their partner, causing the other family to rise in power.
Although it was hard for women, it was even more difficult for young men. The ones who had no guardian to watch over them. Without a net of protection, they were easy pickings for schemes like this.
Sadly, he could only look at the letter and shake his head for now. What else could he do about it? The only good thing about the engagement was that he had the primary say over when they got married, so he could put it off for as long as he liked.
Hopefully, the other party grew tired of it and broke the engagement.
Still, he was invited to a gathering. He could decline, but this was not a bad offer. As long as he showed up, he could get a greater understanding of the nobles who lived in this city.
It would be nice to know who held the most influence and what sort of goals they had in mind.
Jacob got up from bed and started to walk out of the room. It was already the next day, so he needed to head out. There was no hurry, but he wanted to obtain the treasure today. Since Jack did not want to go to school, the treasure could be used for other plans.
Currently, he was still waiting on the silver to arrive, but that could be today, tomorrow or even the next day.
From the corner of his eye, he looked at the mace of Six Nights that leaned against the wall. After this was over with, he needed to start training again so that he could lift the mace up with one hand instead of two.
As for the sun-shaped pendant, Jacob wore it all the time even in the bath. He still needed to find a mage or become a mage to store spells in the pendant.
It was a bit strange to him, in-game no one would be this decked out in the early stages. For him, he had a legendary weapon and an epic grade accessory. However, he knew that those were minor gains as one person was not an army.
Even if a player had all legendary gear it would be impossible for them to face an army alone. They would have the strength to turn the tide of war, but not to win the war single-handedly.
As a developer, he felt that was not very realistic. If a player can win a war by themselves, what was the point of the units? They did not want the game to become one where players beat up a bunch of cannon fodder.
Which was also why citizens had various classes, as it provided them with different strengths and weaknesses. With proper gear, training, and experience a soldier could be on par with a player.
They wanted the players to feel what it was like to be a person in a medieval fantasy world. Grow with your companions, recruit soldiers to your cause, gain influence and power until you succeed in your goal.
Jacob left the mansion after tossing all his thoughts to the side. His destination was the Library of Saint Hall.
Named after Patrick Hall, the founder and one of the twelve crusaders. There were only five libraries in the world, and one was here in the capital. It was built a long time ago.
For Jacob, he was still getting used to the city a bit. After looking at and helping create tons of towns, villages, and cities it was difficult for him to remember all the locations. Slowly but surely, the map of this city was coming back to him.
The Library of Saint Hall was located in the center of the city, just a bit of distance away from the main market. It was large and wide, while the outside made it seem like a castle.
There were no guards posted, but only people of status were allowed entry into the building. This was due to the rare books the place held, they did not want commoners stealing them.
Inside was the librarian, who was seated behind a large counter. He was an old man with a head full of grey hair. His eyes were low, and his elbow was on the desk while his head rested in the palm of his hand.
As soon as Jacob walked in, he yawned.
Jacob stopped at the counter, took out ten silver, and passed it to the man before he went any further.
The reason he did that was to gain entry, without paying he could not read any books. The man was old, but he was a retired knight. It was tedious to fight with the man, as even if you beat him the noise of your conflict would alert the others in the library who'd stand against you or seek help.
As one would expect, the building was filled with tons of shelves that held books of age. Some told of the age where the crusaders came and conquered this land, others told tales of civil war. The library was full of history, but that was not why Jacob was here.
He skipped all the shelves and ignored the few citizens that sat in chairs quietly reading. Making his way to a wooden door on the left side of the building, he glanced in all directions before he snuck his way in.
In front of him was a spiraling staircase, which he went up.
Upstairs was another floor, but it was empty, people wise. There was nothing here but books that had their spines ripped off, scattered documents, old broken shelves. The entire floor was a mess, and with all the spider-webs one could easily tell the workers here hardly ever cleaned it.
Normally no one would come to this floor, but for Jacob, he had to. He was using his knowledge to his advantage, something all the citizens here did. It was just that he had information about rare exclusive items, something the others lacked.
Jacob had no idea if this would be the last time or not he'd use his information on these relics, but he could not think about that for now. Instead, he moved around the room lifting up books here and there, moving the shelves. Jacob was searching for something, he knew it was here but where?
With the entire floor being full of random items that belonged to the library it would take him some time, something that he had. It took him more than an hour to find it as it was locked away in an old desk.
A small metal lockbox. Dark silver in color with the design of a cross on it.
Leaning against the wall, Jacob smiled to himself as he started fiddling with the box. It was locked via passcode, and nearly impossible to guess. However, he moved the dial and entered six numbers before he heard a click.
'It's uglier than in the game.'
Jacob commented to himself as he observed the item inside.
What seemed to be a golden transparent crystal was a heart.
Closing the metal lockbox, Jacob dusted himself off and left. Step one was done, now step two.
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