Ludger moved through the capital like a shadow.
The noble district was the obvious place to start. If Elaine was right and those trees were rare and expensive, the people most likely to cultivate them would be the wealthy families who could afford the soil, the climate adjustments, and the space to maintain them.
Manors rose around him in quiet rows of stone and iron gates, each estate surrounded by carefully trimmed gardens and high walls meant to keep unwanted eyes away. Ludger traveled along rooftops and upper ledges rather than the streets below.
From above, the district revealed something interesting. There were more wards than he remembered.
Thin threads of mana stretched between rooftops and perimeter stones, subtle defensive enchantments layered around the estates. Some were simple alarm arrays. Others were thicker constructs meant to slow intruders or distort movement.
He avoided them easily enough. But their presence was notable.
The Regent is tightening security.
Still, nothing suggested the district was declining. If anything, the opposite seemed true.
The gardens were well maintained. Lanterns burned with steady mana light. Guards patrolled with polished armor and disciplined steps.
The capital wasn’t starving. The capital wasn’t collapsing. If anything, it looked like it was prospering. Ludger clicked his tongue softly.
Perhaps the Regent was actually doing a decent job running the place. That didn’t mean Ludger trusted him.
Time passed.
He moved from estate to estate, scanning courtyards and gardens, sometimes pausing long enough to use Mana Sense to scan the deeper grounds beyond the walls.
But after two hours of searching… Nothing. No twisted trunk. No distinctive branching pattern. No tree matching the drawing. Eventually Ludger stopped atop the flat stone roof of a warehouse near the edge of the noble quarter.
He crouched low, letting the night wind cool his face while he pulled the folded paper from his coat. The tree drawing spread across his fingers again. He studied it carefully.
“…Maybe I’m looking at this wrong.”
Perhaps the clue wasn’t the tree itself. Perhaps it was the shape. Or the number of branches.
Or…
Seismic Sense flared. A presence approached behind him. Fast. Ludger’s body reacted instantly. His muscles tensed and his weight shifted forward, ready to spin and dash across the rooftops before whoever it was could close the distance.
But just as he began to turn… His Mana Sense caught the signature. Ludger froze. The mana pattern was unmistakable. He relaxed slightly and stopped the movement halfway.
“…Right,” he muttered quietly.
Of course. Only one person in the capital had that particular mana signature. The figure landed on the roof with barely a sound. One moment the space behind Ludger had been empty.
The next, boots touched stone in a smooth, controlled drop, weight settling with the kind of balance that only came from long practice. No stumble. No wasted motion. Just a clean landing and a quiet shift of fabric in the night wind.
Ludger turned fully now, the folded drawing still in one hand.
The man stood a few paces away, broad-shouldered and relaxed in the dangerous way only real fighters ever were. He didn’t reach for a weapon. Didn’t posture. He just studied Ludger for a moment, eyes narrowing as he took in the face, the stance, the complete lack of panic.
Recognition came a second later. His mouth twitched. Of course it was him. Hroth.
The man Ludger had dueled a while ago over the ownership of the reptilian labyrinth.
Back then, he had worn the mask of an Ashbound Compact member, another dangerous bastard among dangerous bastards. But that had only been the surface. Beneath it, Hroth was something more useful and more irritating.
A spy. Not for the Empire. For Argarthia. He looked Ludger over again, head tilting slightly as if checking whether the boy in front of him was really the same monster he remembered. Then he snorted softly.
“I was wondering who would be snooping around up here,” Hroth said.
The night breeze shifted the edge of his cloak as he added, amusement clear in his voice:
“But I didn’t expect it was you, kiddo.”
Ludger’s expression stayed flat. He folded the drawing once and slid it back into his coat.
“That’s unfortunate,” he said.
Hroth barked a short laugh.
“Still as charming as ever.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
His gaze flicked briefly toward the noble district, then back to Ludger.
“You’re a long way from Lionfang,” he said. “And this part of the capital isn’t exactly where children go for sightseeing.”
Ludger didn’t answer immediately. He studied Hroth in return. Same posture. Same controlled presence. Same sense that the man could either become a problem or an opportunity depending on which word got spoken next.
And in a city full of secrets, and nobles pretending they weren’t all eating each other alive… Running into Hroth on a rooftop at night felt almost annoyingly appropriate. Hroth folded his arms, the faint amusement still lingering in his expression.
“So,” he said, glancing over the rooftops and then back at Ludger, “what are you doing here?”
Ludger didn’t bother inventing a better lie than the truth.
“I’m looking for a tree,” he said. “For a reason I don’t want to share.”
Hroth’s brow lifted slightly.
“A tree.”
Ludger pulled the folded paper from his coat again and opened it enough for Hroth to see the drawing.
“This one.”
Hroth leaned in just enough to study it under the weak spill of lantern light from the street below. Then he frowned. Not confusion. Recognition. That caught Ludger’s full attention. Hroth’s eyes flicked from the page back to Ludger’s face.
“I know where that tree is,” he said.
Ludger’s gaze sharpened immediately.
Hroth’s frown deepened as he continued, “Why do you want to know its location?”
Ludger didn’t answer that directly.
Instead, he watched Hroth for half a heartbeat and said, “Since you’re asking like that… you have connections with the family that owns it.”
Hroth stared at him. Then he let out a long, tired sigh through his nose.
“You’re annoyingly sharp,” he muttered.
Ludger didn’t take that as praise. Hroth rubbed at his jaw, still looking faintly irritated that the guess had landed so cleanly.
“…Fine,” he said. “Yes. I know the family.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Now,” he added, “what exactly do you plan to do with that knowledge?”
Ludger folded the paper again, calm as ever.
“I’m supposed to find a clue there.”
Hroth blinked.
“A clue.”
“Yes.”
That only made Hroth look more puzzled. He glanced toward the noble district, then back at Ludger, as if trying to decide whether this was some bizarre Lionsguard operation or whether Ludger had finally snapped.
“You came all the way to the capital,” Hroth said slowly, “to look for a tree because you think it will lead you to… a clue?”
Ludger nodded once. Hroth’s expression flattened into the kind of silence reserved for people who had just heard something profoundly stupid delivered with total seriousness.
“That,” Hroth said after a moment, “explains absolutely nothing.”
“It explains enough,” Ludger replied.
Hroth let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“No,” he said. “It really doesn’t.”
But despite the confusion, his eyes stayed on Ludger with growing interest. Because absurd or not… Ludger clearly believed it. And in Hroth’s experience, that usually meant the stupidity was only on the surface. Hroth sighed again, longer this time, like Ludger was personally offending his sense of how useful people were supposed to behave.
“I’ve been waiting,” Hroth said, “for you to help with the sealed labyrinth problem and the Rodericks. That was the agreement.”
Ludger’s expression didn’t change.
“I didn’t agree,” he said.
Hroth’s eyes narrowed.
Ludger continued before the man could push back.
“And I’m not doing anything that puts my guild or my family at risk.”
His tone stayed flat, but there was iron under it now.
“I’m not running into the capital’s buried secrets just because someone else wants answers faster.”
Hroth studied him for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“You really are difficult.”
“Never heard anyone saying that to me,” Ludger corrected.
He folded his arms and added, “Besides, I’ve been busy.”
That earned him a dry look.
“Busy.”
“Yes,” Ludger said. “And the Regent has also been troublesome.”
That part, at least, made Hroth’s mouth twist slightly in agreement. No denial. No mockery. Just a brief acknowledgment that the Regent being a problem was no surprise to anyone with functioning eyes.
The wind shifted over the rooftop, carrying distant sounds from the sleeping capital—wagon wheels somewhere far off, a guard’s spear butt striking stone, the soft hum of ward-lines stretched between rooftops. Ludger looked back toward the noble district.
“Regardless,” he said, “can you guide me to the tree?”
Hroth’s brow rose.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You’re asking very casually for me to lead you into a noble family’s grounds.”
“I’m not going to do anything suspicious,” Ludger said.
Hroth stared at him.
Then he slowly looked around them, two figures on a roof, deep in the noble district, in the dark, with Ludger dressed for quiet movement and carrying a satchel full of things that definitely didn’t make him look innocent.
When he looked back at Ludger, his expression had gone almost offended.
“You,” Hroth said carefully, “do not look convincing when you say that.”
Ludger blinked once.
Hroth pointed around them with an open hand.
“You are sneaking around in the darkness of the night.”
“That’s efficient,” Ludger replied.
“That’s suspicious.”
“It’s only suspicious if I’m caught.”
Hroth let out a short laugh, half disbelief, half admiration he clearly didn’t want to admit to.
“Kid,” he said, “you really need someone older around to explain to you when your face stops helping your argument.”
Ludger didn’t answer that. He simply held Hroth’s gaze, patient and unmoving. Hroth sighed for the third time that night, this one sounding like surrender.
“…Fine,” he muttered. “I can show you the estate.”
Ludger nodded once.
“But,” Hroth added sharply, “if this turns into a disaster, I reserve the right to attack you without warning.”
Ludger’s mouth twitched faintly.
“That sounds fair.”
Hroth eyed him a second longer, then jerked his head toward the west.
“Come on, then,” he said. “And try to look less like you’re about to commit a crime.”
Ludger followed without comment. Because crime or not… He was finally getting closer to the tree.