Dark Lord: Rise to Power

"I am still not getting what is going on," Arin spoke sheepishly, "am I being charged with something? Is this some kind of in-door trial?" "Kind of," Zikar said as he handed over the two Quicksilver Bars to the strange man. The man silently received the bars, inspected them for a while, and then nodded in agreement. "You know these are stolen property?" Duran said, pointing at the strange man, "they belong to Lord Aedric Dovanseer." "So, exactly how did our good sir come into possession of this bar, may I know?" the strange man, now revealed to be Lord Aedric Dovanseer, asked Arin.

Arin repeated the same story he had told Zikar and Finnian a while ago. It seemed that none of the people present there completely believed Arin's story, but they weren't readily denying it either.

Duran approached the guards who had been on duty at the main gate yesterday. "Have you seen this man entering the town yesterday?" he asked. "Yes, Captain," they answered. "He is wearing a mask now!" Duran said. "Yes, yesterday we saw him with the mask as well as without it," one of the guards responded. "Will you please take off the mask? I know your problem, but right now it is important!" Duran requested of Arin.

Arin obediently obliged to Duran's request. Everyone, including the two guards being questioned, flinched in disgust. "So, now?" Duran asked the guards. Both guards, with visible disgust, nodded affirmatively.

"Had you checked his bag and belongings? Were there those bars?" Duran questioned further.

The guards had not checked, because they were too riled up by Arin's looks yesterday. They were more focused on chasing him away from their sight rather than getting near him and searching his belongings. However, admitting their negligence now would result in harsh punishments, so they lied, saying that they had indeed thoroughly checked Arin's belongings and found nothing suspicious, including the quicksilver bars.

It was unclear from Duran's expression whether he completely believed their lies, but he had no grounds to deny their claim either. Anyway, he moved on from those two and turned his attention to the guard who was in charge of the Sewer Gate last night, the one who had opened the gate for Arin. Duran asked the same question to him as well. However, it was again sheer negligence on the part of this guard. He had assumed Arin to be a hot-blooded newbie adventurer destined to die in the dark, treacherous sewer. Therefore, he hadn't checked Arin's backpack before allowing him to enter the sewer. Naturally, he couldn't admit this negligence in front of everyone, so he too gave Arin a clean chit.

After all these charades, neither Duran, Zikar, nor Lord Aedric Dovanseer could press charges against Arin, and they had to accept his version of the story. They concluded that some remnants of Nahun's cult or some upstart interested in these dark, forbidden items had broken into Lord Aedric's estate to steal the bars and amulets, then hid them and absconded.

They also asked Arin if he had encountered any struggle down there, to which Arin replied in the negative. The Ratmen had already sacrificed any living beings present to the Serpent, leaving nothing for Arin to slay except a few rats and the Ratmen themselves. The ones Arin had killed were resurrected by him as undead minions, so their dead bodies weren't there anymore. However, if Arin lied and the Cleaners found no carcasses the next day, it would raise questions. So, Arin faked innocence and honesty, claiming there was surprisingly nothing for him to slay.

All of them looked at him in utmost surprise. Zikar asked him whether he had even delved deep into the sewer, to which Arin provided a complete roadmap of the sewer structure, convincing everyone that he had indeed explored the entire structure.

Finnian broke his silence, "Maybe those cultists who stole the bars from Lord Dovanseer's estate killed all the critters and consumed them for their dark rituals, then hid the items for later." Duran revealed his suspicion, "What if our adventurer was part of them? He knew there was no danger, which is why he wanted to go there at night, so he could legitimize his loot." Zikar replied, "Then he wouldn't make it so obvious and would rather go in the daytime. Also, he would only bring the bars and not the amulets. If his cultist partners were caught, they would snitch on him. Why would he risk that? And has anyone here seen him before? Why would an outsider go to such lengths anyway?" Finnian taunted, "Maybe the Captain doesn't want to pay our guy! Next, he'll say he didn't kill anything, so he won't get paid." Duran begrudgingly replied, "The contract was to assure the cleaners' safety. There was no kill count. This young man took the risk of going to a scary place to fulfill his end of the bargain, so he will be paid." Finnian winked at Arin, then looked at Lord Dovanseer, "Regarding these quicksilver bars, they now technically belong to the young man, unless…." Surprisingly, Lord Dovanseer replied, "I will purchase them directly from the young adventurer at market price if everyone here agrees."

No one raised any objections. Dovanseer extended his arm for a vowgrip, "Young man, would you join me tonight at my estate for dinner? I will pay you fully after dinner unless you have other priorities." Arin looked at Zikar, who gestured in agreement. Taking the cue, Arin accepted the invitation, and the meeting ended. Lord Dovanseer asked Arin to accompany him to the entrance of the Guild Hall, which he obliged.

As Arin descended the stairs, accompanied by Guard Captain Duran and one of the richest and most influential nobles in the city—Lord Dovanseer—all eyes in the Guild Hall were glued to them. Initially, they thought Arin was arrested. But when they realized Arin's hands weren't tied and he was having a casual conversation with two of the most powerful people in the city, they were surprised.

Arin looked at the crowd and felt the same as when he used to make a successful heist and return to his den. Most of his gang members would look at him with awe, and some with jealousy. Arin recalled the atmosphere was the same today. His eyes fell on Ragna, who raised a mug for him. However, the three teammates gave him negative vibes. Arin didn't pay them much attention, just smiled at Ragna and walked with the Lord towards the entrance.

As Lord Dovanseer was leaving, he held Arin's hands in his. He assured Arin that his guards would be informed of his arrival and there would be no servants present the entire night. He winked and left. Arin felt a bit disturbed, doubting the wealthy man's motives. But there was no use pondering over it. Duran also left with his men, and Arin returned inside. Everyone in the Guild Hall flocked towards Arin, eager to know what had happened.

Arin hesitated about what to reveal and what to withhold, but suddenly heard Finnian shouting, "Hey lad, I told them how you killed a team of three bandits who had taken shelter in the sewer after robbing our esteemed Sir Aedric Dovanseer, and how you rescued his loot. Give our young adventurer a big round of applause!" Arin thanked Finnian in his mind and just said, "It was just a fluke!"

Ragna approached and gave him a fist bump, "I knew it, man, you were really something." Finnian called him to follow him to his counter. He followed and was paid four gold coins for the amulets. After some more interaction, he followed Finnian's directions to the Patrician's Manor—Lord Aedric Dovanseer's official title.

Arin followed the directions to a secluded part of town. The road was empty; he didn't see even a single guard. However, it was clean. As Arin walked further, he saw the huge ornate gate and a grand mansion behind it. As he approached, two guards in different uniforms than the city guards stopped him.

"Name?" they asked. "Arin Drez," he promptly replied. "Take off the mask…" one said, but the other stopped him, "The Lord mentioned he would be wearing a mask, and we should not bother him!" Then he looked at Arin, bowed in courtesy, and said, "Please follow me, sir. The Lord is awaiting your arrival!"

Arin followed him through a beautiful garden and approached the main entrance. The guard guided him to the main door and said, "I was instructed to accompany you only till here. Kindly go inside by yourself and call the Lord's name thrice as he instructed. That's all we know." After saying that, he opened the front door and gestured for him to enter. Arin did so, and the door closed loudly behind him.

Something felt off, Arin sensed.