Chương 25: Chapter 25: Families of Hidden Wizard Descendants
The night was destined to be sleepless.
Su Nan immediately issued orders to consolidate control over Maple Leaf Town. He sent Worick to the Town Council Hall to take over administrative affairs, tasked Robert with calming the townsfolk, and assigned Pella to arrest the former mayor and summon back the guild leaders and merchants who had fled.
By morning, Su Nan would officially announce his decree as the Baron of Peter's Territory. He planned to nullify all unreasonable laws imposed by Gess Pasha over the past months and restore the town's former prosperous commercial order.
Maple Leaf Town had always been a golden goose, a thriving hub of trade. Su Nan saw no need to micromanage it, preferring instead to regain control and allow it to flourish naturally.
Unlike Gess Pasha, who believed in brute force and strict mandates, Su Nan understood that a place like Maple Leaf Town required guidance through commerce and incentives. Heavy-handed control would only suffocate its vitality.
As Su Nan walked through the battlefield, he ordered the twelve Wolf Messengers and two Soul Knights to extinguish fires and prevent further damage. At the same time, he began collecting materials for his experiments.
First among these were the hearts of Gess Pasha and Harlen the Knight—a significant bounty. Official Storm Knights were the backbone of the Storm Kingdom's feudal order, rare and valuable individuals whose hearts were almost never obtainable.
Next, he collected hearts from three knight squires—one from Harlen's family and two from Gess Pasha's. In total, Su Nan now had three squire hearts and two knight hearts, critical for advancing his work on superior lycanthropy potions and the Soul series of potions.
But Su Nan's mission wasn't limited to the battlefield. He made his way to the Maple Leaf Town Library, a treasure trove of knowledge in the region.
The library's caretaker had fled in fear, leaving the doors wide open. Su Nan entered unbothered, beginning his search among the vast shelves of books.
Scholars in the Library
Unexpectedly, the library was not empty. Several scholars were inside, copying manuscripts under the dim glow of oil lamps. These academics had traveled to Maple Leaf Town to study its renowned collection of ancient texts.
The library had been the brainchild of Su Nan's father, the old Peter Baron, who envisioned it as the cornerstone of a burgeoning territory. His ultimate goal had been to expand his domain and elevate the Peter Barony into an Earldom.
Unfortunately, those dreams had been dashed when the old baron succumbed to a strange curse after returning from the battlefield.
The Storm Kingdom, as a relatively young nation established by Storm Knights on conquered lands, lacked the intricate feudal hierarchy of older empires. Unlike the Holy United Empire, which boasted an elaborate five-tier nobility system (Barons, Viscounts, Counts, Marquises, Dukes), the Storm Kingdom adhered to a simpler structure: Baron → Count → Duke → King.
Su Nan scanned book after book with astonishing speed. His AI recorded every page, ensuring nothing was overlooked.
The scholars present couldn't help but notice Su Nan's unusual presence. His bloodied appearance clashed with the serene atmosphere of the library, yet his demeanor exuded an enigmatic charm.
One scholar, emboldened by curiosity, approached with a lantern in hand. "Good evening, sir. I am Ed Yordanov, a scholar from the Royal Academy in Stormhold. I returned to my homeland only to discover this remarkable library—a testament to the foresight of its founder."
He hesitated before continuing. "May I ask… what has transpired outside?"
Su Nan didn't respond immediately, his focus remaining on the book in his hands. The silence hung heavy, and Ed felt a growing sense of impropriety, as if interrupting Su Nan's reading was an unforgivable offense.
Finally, Su Nan placed the book back on the shelf and turned to Ed.
"Do not worry. Everything is under control," he said, his voice calm but firm.
"I am Su Nan Peter, the baron of Peter's Territory and lord of Maple Leaf Town. What you heard was merely the resolution of an insurrection. It won't affect your safety. In fact, things will only improve from here.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I would appreciate not being disturbed further. A library should be a place for knowledge and reflection."
With that, Su Nan moved to another shelf, leaving Ed Yordanov stunned.
Ed had never met a nobleman like this—a man who, after a battle, would head straight to a library, his bloodied attire barely masking his thirst for knowledge.
This only deepened Ed's curiosity about Su Nan.
Uncovering the Past
Meanwhile, Su Nan continued his work. He estimated it would take days to catalog the library's entire collection, but the effort was worthwhile.
"My father understood the power of knowledge," Su Nan mused. "He must have acquired these books not just from this region but also from the Peter family's connections in the Holy United Empire."
As he scoured the shelves, Su Nan discovered a torn manuscript hidden within a dictionary.
The manuscript told a bizarre tale from 150 years ago in the Holy United Empire.
A young boy had drowned in a river, and his grieving family prepared to bury him according to Storm Church customs. Before the burial, an old woman intervened, claiming the boy was not truly dead.
She identified herself as a descendant of ancient wizards—a member of a hidden wizarding family. She explained that the boy's soul had been stolen by a malevolent spirit in the river. If the spirit was vanquished, the boy could be revived.
The story ended with the boy's miraculous recovery. However, when the family sought to thank the old woman, they found her home abandoned and in ruins.
Though it read like folklore, the manuscript's author—a scholar—argued for its authenticity. He believed the old woman had fled to avoid exposure, using wizardry to conceal her tracks.
The scholar speculated that wizard families living among ordinary people might have specific missions—perhaps opposing the church or guarding some hidden secret.
Su Nan pondered these possibilities.
"Could it be that even in this land, descendants of wizards remain hidden among the populace, preserving their bloodlines and knowledge across generations? What purpose drives them—to defy the church, to guard something, or simply to surv
ive?"
For now, the answers eluded him, but the implications were profound.
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