The night was young, and despite the time, the stone masons made no complaints about being summoned now.
They had been seeing every other person get to work arriving in Agard, and they had heard these people had been given tasks to speak. Almost all of them were enthusiastic about their work.
Especially the Blacksmiths.
That bunch were already loud and proud individuals by nature. After working on the things Marcus left with them, their pride had soared through the roof.
All the workers dined in the same place in Marcus's mansion, it was inevitable for these stone masons not to hear about what had been going on. Moreover, they had gone to confirm things with their own eyes.
Marcus had only briefed them, informing them a bit of what they were going to be doing tomorrow.
Right before he could dismiss these people, Marcus felt a chill run down his spine.
His limbs became still and things like sound, smell, and taste vanished.
Time had frozen once again.
Immediately, Marcus began wondering what was happening.
The first possibility that came to his head was Baron Reginald.
Has the fat bastard returned to Agard and is here in my mansion?
At first, Marcus did feel fear, but this was something that came from experiencing a painful death twice.
But his mind and heart soon calmed down.
I have defensive and offensive spells I can use, as well as Tidal Wave Knights under my command. I should have a lot more options this time.
That was when the words appeared before his eyes.
[Edge of Death: Threat identified! Conspiracy against you. Baron Savani after suffering humiliation in your hands is seeking vengeance and plotting with another power to destroy your food supplies and burn down your mansion after midnight. This other power wishes you dead. Your mansion is about to be attacked.]
[You have 3 choices.
*. Wait for these men to come to your mansion and be prepared to defend your home from the enemy.
*. Run away and leave everything behind.
*. Set out with your men 30 minutes before midnight and intercept them before they reach your mansion.]
[You have 30 seconds to decide.]
Marcus wasn't totally surprised to see that Baron Savani wanted revenge, but he was speechless at the man's audacity.
To want to destroy his properties.
And this other power that wants his life…
An assassin organization?
No, that can't be. Last time anything like that was in Ulha, father and a few others exterminated them.
These options that he had were simple, however, they all had disadvantages.
The first option of defense sounded good, however, it wasn't a wise thing to do. There were a lot of people staying in his mansion at the moment, unaware of how big the battle of defense would be, or if there would even be an attrition, it was highly likely that a lot of people would die.
Marcus couldn't afford to let any of that happen.
It would affect the morale of the workers and might even lead to some people breaking the contract and leaving Agard if he couldn't even protect them.
That would hinder the timing of his plans.
Moreover, that would be too much of a risk as it would be easier for these people to set the place on fire.
For the second option… it wasn't even an option to consider.
The third option, this was the most likely as it would take the battle away from the mansion. It was more preemptive than reactive.
But it also had its risks.
One of them was that Marcus had no idea how many they were sending to complete this task.
Another is that it opened the mansion more, in the sense that there would be fewer knights around to guard the place.
As it was already evening, Cage and Oner had come back from the mine with the slaves, so Marcus had all his twelve knights available.
Though two of them he had no intention of taking with him.
He would leave them alongside two other knights to guard the mansion. As for the rest, they would ride with him.
In just a few seconds, Marcus had already analyzed and made his decision.
Despite the rationale behind his decision, he was aware that there was still a high chance that he would die. The only reason why he wasn't too particularly scared is because he had two redo points.
So what if I die again? That just gives me another chance to try again. He steeled his mind and chose the third option.
The moment he did this, time resumed its normal pace.
At this point, the stone masons were dispersing.
"Brown," Marcus called out. "Call every other knight to meet me in my office. Some wishful souls wish to attack us tonight." Marcus sneered as many possible strategies came to mind.
"What?" Brown exclaimed.
How did Marcus come to get this information?
He had been with the young governor since he left his office and saw no one coming to speak to him.
Does this have to do with magic?
This was the only other explanation Brown could come up with.
This young man was shrouded in mystery in Brown's eyes.
Perhaps this was what the Lord Duke left for his last child of his. Could this be why he was on the verge of losing his mind for so long?
Brown's eyes widened as he came to a realization.
Marcus fell ill because he was trying to learn magic.
This was the most believable reason Brown could come up with. If not, how else had the young governor come to learn to cast spells?
"Yes sir!" He left to call the other knights
"Bradley, do we have mana crystals in the mansion?"
"None that I'm aware of sir," the man quickly answered.
He too had been wondering how Marcus had come to the conclusion that they were going to be attacked tonight.
Is the young lord's sickness acting up again?
He feared, however, seeing Marcus' expression, Bradley dared not to utter what was in his mind.
"Take some silver coins and get me at least a dozen before 9. Don't care too much about the price."
With that being said, Marcus left for his office.
With enough mana crystals, I should be able to cast at least three powerful offensive level 1 spells.
Marcus calculated.