"Well... wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?" Rhode said to Blackmoore with a smile. "I'm a mage... it wouldn't really work. It wouldn't."
That was a polite refusal.
Blackmoore's face immediately darkened.
The main reason he had waited so many days before inviting Rhode to a banquet was that he had sent people to Southshore to investigate Rhode's background.
What puzzled Blackmoore was that, for the past few years, Rhode had been nothing more than an unremarkable farmer.
Then, all of a sudden, he seemed to have learned powerful magic. He killed spiders and yetis, brought murlocs under his control, froze naga, and even took the lead in building a port.
Then he had come to Durnholde Keep to become vice chairman, solve cases, and kill people.
All of that had happened within the past month.
In other words, most of Rhode's exploits were recent. Before that, he had been a complete nobody.
And if they investigated any further back, they found nothing at all. Rhode had suddenly appeared in Southshore as though he had sprung out of a rock.
"There must be some secret behind this."
That was Blackmoore's conclusion.
There had to be a reason for all of it.
Rhode had lain low in Southshore for years. Perhaps he had been waiting for the right moment.
And, by such a convenient coincidence, it happened just as Blackmoore himself was preparing something...
That was why Blackmoore had decided to win Rhode over first, eliminating this unpredictable factor without shedding blood.
But Rhode had refused!
That left Blackmoore feeling a flicker of unease.
The military post he was offering was no ordinary position. It came with real authority!
Blackmoore was different from those nobles who held nothing but empty titles. He ruled a city, after all-a powerful lord with his