Wolf immediately recognized the floating eye and its distinctive color. This was a magical sensory organ, manifested from pure Soul Force. A barely visible eye the size of an apple appearing in thin air above you was a telltale sign of someone using a spell to spy on you or the place you’re currently at.

Scrying spells started at Fifth Order. This realization shook Wolf. He couldn’t protect Anna from a malicious Fifth or higher Order Mage. If that Mage had spied on Anna when she was alone, there was no way the girl could’ve known someone was watching her.

You know, once you’re powerful enough you’re going to face all sorts of trouble. Wolf remembered something his father spoke about a long while ago. People will try to spy on you, and the more important you are the more often it will happen. You can deal with your enemies scrying on you in several ways. The most blunt way of doing it is using an anti-magic field. If magic doesn’t work, scrying won’t either.

Then we have spells that specifically shield from prying eyes, such as Privacy and Non-detection. You could also…

Only now did Wolf realize why all those countermeasures were important. They were completely unnecessary until you actually needed them, and if you didn’t have them at that time you were pretty much screwed.

Out of nowhere learning Antimagic Zone and spells that blocked far-sight became Wolf’s highest priority. He already knew them in theory, but he’d never bothered to prepare them before, meaning he’d have to spend a couple of days to figure them out.

But it wasn’t just that, figuring out how to cast a spell for the first time was a huge waste of Soul Force. The Mage community didn’t know why this was, but Wolf had a fairly accurate idea, and a concept he wanted to pursue one day, when he had Soul Force to spare.

Until then, he cursed the fact that he didn’t have enough tapestries in his Mind Hall. He cursed the fact that preparing spells used up so much Soul Force when he needed to take care of Silver.

Wolf couldn’t wait to become a True-Namer. Archibald had said that each new Mind Hall provided him with just as many spell slots as the first one.

I should learn Antimagic Zone first. This is a city crawling with Mages, but I haven’t sensed a single Sword-Sage anywhere, Wolf thought, lumping up Priests with Mages, since they had an almost identical aura to them.

A Fourth Order Sword-Sage can kill dozens of Archmages in an Antimagic Zone. Wait, I didn’t even get to drink those potions Roger got me! With those I should become a Sixth Order Sword-Sage, or at least a Fifth Order one. No, stop, stop! Planning for the future can wait for now. Whoever’s scrying on Anna will be arriving shortly.

After thinking for another moment, Wolf decided that he should first tell Anna what was going on. She had to escape, while he covered for her. There was no other way out of this mess.

“Get up and run Anna! Someone’s scrying on us,” Wolf exclaimed.

Anna was startled by the sudden noise, but then waved Wolf away. She didn’t seem all that worried about being scried upon, besides, she’d gotten to the good part of the story.

“It’s probably my tutor,” She said dispiritedly. “I ditched my lessons yesterday.

“Sigh. Well, it was only a matter of time before they tracked me down anyway… Maybe I should have tried finding a job? That sounded fun…” Anna felt dejected. It was clear that she didn’t want to go back home.

“Why don’t you run away then?” Wolf asked a stupid question. Running away was what Anna was currently doing, and he knew it.

The girl, however, was too depressed to tease him for talking nonsense. “There’s no use. I’ve been lucky these past couple of days. Father went to meet someone outside the city, Mother used the chance to see her gigolo and my nanny was careless. That’s how I managed to slip away. They probably only figured out that I was gone once my parents got back home.”

Wolf wanted to ask what a gigolo was, but their plan of action took priority over expanding his vocabulary.

“So, what are we supposed to do right now, if we’re not running?” he asked.

“I guess we wait until someone comes and picks me up. Let’s go outside,” Anna said as she got up from the chair, and placed the book on the seat. “There’s no reason to show them where your home is.”

The girl resolutely walked out from under the bridge, and Wolf followed behind her. They slowly climbed the paved riverbank, and then moved to the center of the bridge.

Wolf felt that the silence was oppressive. He wanted to say something reassuring, but was at a loss for words. The girl was going back home to her loving parents, what kind of consolation would she need from an orphan?

Unlike Wolf, Anna preferred the silence. She watched the water slowly flow under the bridge, and enjoyed her memories of these past couple of days.

She’d made a friend. A real one. Someone who didn’t want to be near her because of her family, and who didn’t expect to gain anything from her. Someone she didn’t have to suck up to, nor be mindful of whether she would accidentally say something that angered them. It was refreshing.

Anna silently watched the river. From time to time she’d steal a glance at Wolf. Friend… What a strange concept for a girl that came from a world where people only thought of others in terms of how useful or dangerous they were.

More than once Anna wanted to ask Wolf to go home with her. With his cooking skills, it was guaranteed that he would be the head chef in their household. Whenever she wanted to bring up the subject Anna remembered Wolf’s words from the day before. He would only cook for those he cared about.

There’s no way he’d ever care about Father, the girl thought.

Time passed, and the sun steadily moved on its journey west. Suddenly Anna had a thought. What if Wolf became her own personal chef? He would cook only for her and nobody else. That would be him cooking for those he cared about, and they could hang out when she wasn’t studying for the encroaching entrance exam.

Anna was about to voice her idea when she saw that two men wearing shiny chain armor were approaching them.

Emblazoned on their shoulders was an emblem of three golden bees. The guards were fit and had a menacing look, yet Wolf didn’t feel the least bit threatened by these two. He probably couldn’t bash them to death with a single strike, like the thugs all over Silver City, but he could definitely cleave them in half with a single sword slash.

While Wolf estimated their combat strength the two men had reached them. They stopped some three paces away from Anna and bowed respectfully.

“Young Lady Annabelle, His Lordship was worried sick about you,” one of them said, still facing the cobbles. “Everyone in the household’s been searching for you day and night. Thank Earthmother that your Lord Tutor had managed to find you.”

The man finished his speech while still bowing. Neither he, nor his partner, paid any attention to Wolf. It was as if the boy wasn’t there at all.

Wolf didn’t mind. In fact he was already completely used to people ignoring him when he’s not wearing the fancy Mage robe he had.

Anna on the other hand felt angry. Yet she couldn’t say a word. She was afraid that talking recklessly would land Wolf in trouble.

“I am fine. I expect Father wants me to return?” she asked coldly.

“Young Lady is wise,” the guard used his chance to suck up to her. “Lord Baron is very worried about your wellbeing. His Lordship would like you to return as soon as possible.”

Anna snorted. “Pft. Empty words, it’s not like I have a choice, now do I?”

“Please pardon us if we offended you, Young Lady. We are just humble servants, acting under orders,” the man said, still bowing.

“Anna, if you don’t want to go–” Wolf growled, but Anna shushed him with her left hand.

“Young Lady, who is this person that dares speak so rudely to you?” The guards stood up and assumed menacing postures. The one speaking looked down at Wolf with disdain in his eyes. His right hand slid onto the hilt of the sword hanging from his belt.

“He was my playmate. He was my knight these few days, and got carried away just now. He’s nobody important,” Anna replied hurriedly, still trying to maintain that icy air. Inside however she felt like crying. She had to say something so rude to protect her only friend.

“If that’s the case, as fellow knights of our Young Lady, we will naturally not take offense,” the guard said, easing up his posture, but those eyes still held a hateful look.

These people can pass for knights? At best they are on par with mister Red’s guards. Wolf didn’t like these two cocky men one bit.

In his eyes those guys were all bark and no bite. But, he had already agreed to Anna’s request, and those men definitely didn’t show any hostility towards her.

“Take care of yourself Anna,” Wolf said with a smile. There was nothing he could do if this was her own choice. He wanted to shake Anna’s hand, but was left hanging. Anna moved away from him, and turned so that two knights were behind her.

“Know your place, peasant! These servants didn’t attack you because of me, but don’t push your luck,” she said with a cold imposing tone, but she winked at Wolf as she rolled her eyes, a mischievous smile dancing about her face the whole while.

Seeing her act, Wolf again went through the same motions he did the day they first met. He half bowed gentlemanly. “Farewell, my noble lady.”

After she and Wolf exchanged their goodbyes, Anna turned around, and left with her guards. At the end of the bridge a fancy carriage was waiting. Once they boarded it the driver whipped the horses, and Anna started her long journey home.

Wolf felt conflicted about this whole affair. He was glad he’d met Anna, and helped her out. If not for him, she would have been sacked without a doubt. However, being unable to help her out now left him feeling bitter. After watching the water running under the bridge for a while longer Wolf went back into his lair. It was time to start practicing Antimagic Zone.

***

That same evening the pair of bodyguards claiming to be knights stood nervously before their employer in his study.

The man behind the desk was in his mid thirties. He was somewhat chubby and had a fairly gentle appearance. The only thing that was off about him was the well masked cruel glint in his eyes.

Edwin Didot listened to his bodyguards’ report. He was a shrewd businessman. He was an upstart noble who had a reputation for being a coldhearted, calculated bastard. He married into the Didots, a declined noble family, by practically buying their only daughter. In a series of weird accidents the rest of the family had died, leaving behind only young Margaret Didot and her husband.

Over the period of thirteen years Edwin greatly enhanced his wealth, as well as the Didot family influence. Many were ruined by the economic collapse, but some people, like Edwin, flourished in these troubled times.

The man calmly inspected the pair of guards with ocean blue eyes. Once the report was finished he frowned.

“So,” he began slowly, “if I understood everything correctly, you’re saying that there was a beggar boy next to my daughter when you went to bring her back home?”

The bodyguards nodded. They didn’t dare to speak unless they had to. Their master was in a bad mood. Even when Baron’s mood was good, he was a very cruel man. It was in their best interest to be as quiet as possible and to draw as little attention as possible.

“How was she acting?” Edwin inquired. “Did it seem like they were familiar with each other? Overly friendly? What was your impression?”

This was a horrible question to ask one’s retainers, but Edwin didn’t care. Since things had come to this there were no good answers.

The guards’ minds raced. The worst thing that could happen was them saying that there was nothing between Anna and Wolf, and then the young miss doing something stupid with that boy. Getting pregnant for instance... The guards started sweating profusely, but after a few moments the one with the quicker wit came up with a good answer.

“It seemed to me like the boy was trying to make a connection with our Young Lady,” he said. “Young Lady spoke to him coldly, but that didn’t seem to discourage him. The boy was even so brazen that he tried to grab Young Lady’s hand in broad daylight.”

Hearing this, Baron Edwin Didot’s face turned ugly. “Some runt is lusting after my daughter? I believe you two know what to do. I’d like to see that boy’s face in person. You don’t have to bother bringing the rest of him. Now go. You have your mission.”

Hearing that they were free to leave the guards felt as if they’d escaped a death sentence. It was under their watch that the Young Lady managed to run away from home. Fortunately there was a scapegoat to take on the brunt of their master’s anger. Otherwise they might have met with a really bad ending. Both men shuddered, thinking of what the nanny was going through right now.

“That was lucky. All we have to do now is kill that urchin and we’re scot-free. I was almost certain that the Baron would have us tortured for the mess we’ve made,” the quick-witted guard said.

The silent guard nodded. For some reason he had a very bad feeling about this whole affair. Maybe it was time to hightail it?