1 Chapter 1: The Stone Cold Wizard
The swing of a blade dyed the green grass red. Not a scream rang out as the guard toppled to the ground in the midst of the night, the blood from his torn guts leaking down to the white walls of the estate, soiling them in its vulgar shade.
"This easy! The guards weren't any knights!" With a black cloth wrapped around his face, the slasher cackled to himself as he spat on the limp body of the guard.
—Tweet!
A whistle rang out and the shrubs surrounding the walls of the estate shuffled. More masked men stepped out to the ground. Swords long and short, scimitars and cleavers and dozens of weapons reflected the shine of the moon as if a disharmonious orchestra playing in the night.
From the back of the lineup, a sole man stepped ahead. The cloak over his shoulder couldn't hide his muscles, and the cloth around his face couldn't hide his hideous eyes. With a nasty grin plastered over his face, the man raised his scimitar high.
"Hear well, men!" He screamed. "Today is the day! Today is the day we take down that damn wench!"
""OOOH!"" They cheered.
"She and her upstart knight group have dared to step in OUR land! Stop OUR trade! Steal OUR women! Kill OUR brothers!! We won't let that wench and her knights be!"
""OOOOH!!""
""KILL! KILL! KILL!""
"Go! Dark Moon Bandits! Whoever brings the head of that wench will get a hundred gold coins! Kill everyone in this mansion! Get the head of Kristine et Kaiser!"
The Dark Moon Bandits screamed in passion again as they charged out of the shrubs and toward the estate. They jumped over the walls and smashed through the gates, trampling over everything in their way. They charged on and on toward the door, screaming as wildly as they could.
It was then, the one at the forefront noticed something odd.
Despite all the sounds, why was no one waking up?
Low level as they may be, the pristine walls of the estate, the shimmering fountains and the ponds, the trimmed grass underneath, and the beautiful paths coursing through them...
All of them pointed at the Earl of Kaiser as being rich and noble.
Would the inhabitants of such a noble house stay asleep with a wild racket cracking out in their front yard?
His vision flipped.
His thoughts came to a screeching halt. He wanted to stop running but his legs didn't respond, and neither did his hand, torso, his neck, his heart.
The man's sight rolled over and over before tumbling to a stop. Under the gleaming shade of the moonlight, he could see his body standing upright. It didn't make sense, but that didn't matter, as his vision darkened away to never see light again.
The other Dark Moon Bandits slowly lulled over from a run to a walk before stopping in their tracks. Blood gushed out of the headless body of the vice-captain like a broken geyser.
Standing behind it, with not a single drop of blood reaching near, was a sole man.
His black hair was neatly combed to the side. In front of a suit, that looked sharper than all of their blades, he held a small book, his eyes focused on it as if the dead man just now wasn't even worth consideration.
"W-what the fuck… who are you?"
"Shh!" The man shushed, quiet, soft.
"I ASKED WHO THE FUCK ARE—"
The bandit couldn't finish his sentence as his head too rolled on the ground. All the members of the Dark Moon Bandits involuntarily took a step back at the instantaneous decapitation of their two strongest members. None of them were able to tear their eyes away from the man in front of the door.
Slowly, the man lowered his book and raised his gaze to face them.
Like a ballerina prancing about a stage, with great grace, the man slowly lifted his finger and pressed it on his lips. His black hair going caressing his cheeks and his eyes as tranquil as a single leaf floating atop a lake captured the attention of everyone around, forcing them to a stop.
Even if they didn't want to.
Even if they couldn't afford to.
Just his gaze forced them to a stop.
"Shush," he said. His voice cold. Colder than stone. Colder than ice. As if the ones in front of him, as if the ones that could ever step in front of him, all of them were no more than bugs. "She must be sleeping."
***
[!!Imperial Times!!!]
(24/06/1208)
[Breaking! Hundreds of corpses found behind Earl of Kaiser's estate]
[… Corpses of hundreds of evil bandits, piled up in the mountain with no other trace…
[… Rising Knight Kristine et Kaiser claims to know nothing…}
In the yard bustling with the fresh fragrance of the flowers, a stone cold wizard sipped gently on his tea as he flipped through a newspaper. Not a wrinkle appeared on his face, nor a furrow on his brows as the man emotionlessly sat on his seat, as if he were a moving statue sculpted by the blandest of sculptors with a great eye for beauty and none for humanity.
Regardless, his servants found nothing odd.
"Hmm."
Reading to the end of the article, the stone cold wizard nodded and placed the paper down. Nothing changed in his expression, but the servants around knew their lord was satisfied.
It was going to be a bright day.
