A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 682 The Blaze Forward - Part 3

It seemed a silly question to ask ordinarily, and Verdant would never have shamed his master with it if their company had been anything other than what it was. Here, they were close enough friends that Oliver's weakness did not need to be disguised.@@@@

His lack of knowledge for noble customs was one of his biggest and most obvious downfalls – and so Verdant pointledly, and patiently, sought to find out just what he knew, knowing that if he left the seeds of confusion there, then he would be left cleaning up after some seemingly irrational decision Oliver had made down the line.

"No, I wasn't unaware. Ferdinand – Lord Blackwell's son – was in charge of Solgrim, from what I knew," Oliver said.

"Indeed," Verdant said. "He has agreed to cede that land in place of your claim, I have no doubt."

"...I see," Oliver said, slowly waving the letter in front of his face, as though to attempt to absorb its contents. It didn't help. "So, why now..."

"From Lord Blackwell's perspective, you mean?" Verdant asked.

Oliver had meant more generally, though. It was more a begrudging question to the Gods themselves, as they gifted him with another bit of responsibility, something increasingly dramatic. His world, as Dominus had warned all that time ago, didn't seem capable of slowing. It was one bombshell after the other.

"Well, no doubt he wants to reward you for what you've already done, and as I've said, Lombard likely counselled him towards it. It gives you the chance to build up your House, whilst you still are within the protective custody of the Academy. With building a House, and its estates and finances, progress is inevitably slow, so the sooner one gets started, the better," Verdant explained.

Only Verdant seemed to understand the significance that those names help for Oliver, for he accepted them reverently, as though he'd just been bestowed with a great secret – a secret that he'd sought after for the longest time. If Oliver didn't know any better, he would have guessed that the man was just as excited as he.

Finally, it was time to make his return. Back to the crucible that had changed the course of his life forever. Back to the alchemist's cauldron by those Black Mountains that had transmuted Beam into Oliver Patrick – back to that tiny little village of Solgrim.

Unaware of his plotting, Lasha made an off-hand, but rather astute observation. "I did think that we were going to be going hunting that day..." she remarked.

Oliver was startled enough to realize that he'd forgotten that. His deal with Nebular still stood. There were changes that they planned to make to it as well. It would be best to go ahead with that, as soon as possible. That too, would give him more to discuss with Greeves, as the greasy-fingered merchant offered his input.

"Fear not, my Lord," Verdant said, as he sent a servant off to recover his quill and messenger paper for the letters. "I do believe that we could solve the problems that we agreed to solve with Nebular far in advance. You are not required to look over them.

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If we were to begin our hunt at dawn, you could do what is necessary, and still depart from the Great Forest by midday, allowing you to arrive in Solgrim just after dark. Would that work?"

"That would be perfect," Oliver said.