Reborn as the First Boss, Book 7 Epilogue

Epilogue – Elsewhere

King Sewell Skysword frowned as he listened to the report. Naturally, when young Baroness Pureheart began her journey to Crystalshield, he’d had his sister and Spymistress, Princess Mariun send her agents to keep tabs on the girl. Not that he had any reason to suspect Pureheart of committing treason or anything of the sort. No, it was a more basic concern. The Baroness that had, up till recently, done little more than help her lands gradually recover from the last baron’s disastrous reign was now acting more and more, and the pace of things was increasing. That would be enough to make any sovereign nervous.

“So, it is confirmed, then?”

“As much as it can be,” Mariun nodded. “Guildmaster Milot has been one of my informants since before he even became the Deputy Guildmaster of the Magehallow branch. He’s one of the reasons that we’ve been able to keep Longchaser in check to some degree. The Baron is greedy, but is convinced he’s cleverer than he is, and thinks he is playing the long game. There’s a reason why his daughter spends so much time in the capital, you know.”

“Looking to control the throne through his daughter, if she became queen?” Sewell laughed. “Even if I were convinced to make a political marriage, he has severely misjudged me if he thinks a woman can lead me around by the dick.”

“Quite,” Mariun grinned. “His youngest son would have a better chance of that. He’s only just turned eighteen, after all, and looks as though he could blur the line between man and woman. Perhaps I should arrange a meeting?”

“Oh, shush, you. I do know better than to let anyone influence me like that. Father made sure to teach both of us about how to resist influences like that, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. I also remember Mother giving me special training in how to best perform that kind of influence, if I eventually got married off for politics. But they still needed a spare, since Father’s illness kept him from having a third child.”

“True enough. So, what about Pureheart? She really did kill those bosses, destroy the Necropolis dungeon, and free some fragment of the God of Death?”

“Don’t forget the Inquisitor and his retinue that ‘disappeared’ in Windwater Barony. No one ever found their bodies. And yet, somehow, her level went from 16 after returning from dealing with the Goblin Hero to 21 when she went to Shadescar, but she was Level 40 when she met with Milot and Longchaser. That kind of leveling speed is unnatural.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“We can take it as fact that she killed the Inquisitor and his retinue. However, they were all around level 30. Which means she had to have some titles helping her. Not Executioner or Hero Slayer, either. Probably something like Faithbane or Virgin’s Bane.”

“But none of the [Appraise] results have shown that, yes?”

Mariun paused for a moment, and then said, “I’ve suspected it for some time, but Milot confirmed that the Baroness is using a [False Appraisal] spell. When he checked her, the first [Appraise] result came back as a Level 40 Mind Sorceress / Diplomat, with the Baroness, Enchantress, Illusionist, Hero Slayer I, Executioner, and Boss Slayer II titles. He used a skill to see through the [False Appraisal], and she read as a Level 40 Mind Sorceress / Spellshooter / Courtesan, and also had the Giantslayer, Divine Blessing, and Ant Kills the Elephant titles.”

“Which supports the story of her killing the two bosses, since Ant Kills the Elephant is only given to those who kill someone above their Tier, right? So, what’s the problem?”

“I don’t have any evidence for this, but I’m convinced she has layered [False Appraisal] spells, to further shield whatever her true [Appraise] results are. The ‘real’ [Appraise] didn’t have Faithbane or Virgin’s Bane, after all. And if she has a second, or even third layer of [False Appraisal], what could she be hiding?”

Sewell took a moment to consider that. “Even without the change in titles, I can understand the [False Appraisal] to hide the fact that she is a dual-classer, which is rare, and powerful. And Courtesan can be embarrassing for a noblewoman to have as a profession, especially if one hopes to be taken seriously, and hiding the profession would allow them to use it as a secret weapon in negotiations. Those titles she hid from the first [Appraise] results are ones that would draw undue attention to her, as well. If she has another layer to it, then any titles she possesses must be ones that would cause more trouble still.”

“Titles like Faithbane or Virgin’s Bane,” Mariun nodded. “Or, a title like Divine Curse.”

“The ritual business that the Churches have been clamoring about?”

His sister nodded. “I’ve done more digging. You know that a Hero only gets the title when they have something they are fighting for. The first Hero, the one who died in Windwater Barony, before the Goblin Hero got the mantle, was looking into bandits that had stolen several young maidens, one of them his sweetheart, before he was killed. The same bandits that Pureheart helped end, just after the Divine Curse was handed down. None of the maidens who were kidnapped were ever found. Most just assume that they were sold into slavery elsewhere, but I believe they were used to fuel that ritual.”

Sewell nodded slowly. “The ritual was supposed to allow the one who conducted it to cheat death, yes? Granting them eleven extra lives? And, just after it was conducted, the Baroness started getting far more active, as though she had less cause for concern about her own life?”

“Precisely. However, I doubt there’s enough evidence left to prove anything. Most nobles who have some kind of magic in their blood have a warded ritual chamber in their manor, so even finding a sacrificial altar would not be enough to publicly accuse her. And everything she’s done since then has been, largely, to the benefit of Windwater and Dascora.”

“Even the business with the ‘travelers’ who she apparently cursed outside of Magehallow?”

Mariun laughed. “That greedy fool Longchaser set bandits on the trail of a Mind Sorceress, hoping to enslave her to soothe his wounded pride. And she turned it around on him. Since her whole party is now hidden from scrying, I expect that she treated those bandits as she did to give her some time before anyone knew they were no longer following her. Because she had to have stopped somewhere between Magehallow and Dirthill. Probably at the ruined temple, if I had my guess.”

“It is only a day’s travel, more or less, from Magehallow to Dirthill, is it not? Why would they stop for the night in the middle of nowhere?”

“My gut tells me they stopped to find a warded place where they could conduct a ritual. The Mind Sorceress class, at least, gains access to the [Bind Familiar] skill, but the Baroness has not been seen with a Familiar. And we do not know what other boons she picked up while in the Necropolis. Either way, she spent the night somewhere along the road, hidden from scrying.

“However, the rest of the bandits Longchaser hired to grab her were not protected like that. I got a report not an hour ago from my agent in Dirthill that the baroness used the strange pistol which has to be her Spellshooter to fire two hundred explosive spells in the space of twenty seconds. There’s a nice, large clearing in the woods where the bandits thought to ambush her, now.”

Sewell nodded slowly. “She’s growing very powerful, very quickly. What are your thoughts, sister?”

“The same as yours, brother, most likely. We need to find some way to bind her to the Crown, but doing it forcefully would likely result in the worst outcome. We need a way that entices her, rather than compels her.”

“And how, exactly, should we go about it? There are only a few ways we can tie her to the Crown without causing trouble with the balance of power, you know. If she is a mistress to sire a royal heir, the other barons will be sending an endless horde of daughters, sisters, and cousins here to try and get a piece of the throne. And a political marriage would see her leaving Windwater Barony, after she just got it on track, since the barons would not allow the Crown to have a barony as part of the royal lands.”

“Oh, no, brother. What ever will you do with all those young women throwing themselves at you? How will you possibly survive?”

“You’re more sarcastic than usual, today.”

“Sewell, it isn’t a bad idea to breed a couple bastard heirs. Having a queen to sire them with would be better, but still. And it would help reassure the people.”