Baron Leslie looked calmly at Igor and spoke the name the young man had tried to hide.
Igor’s expression changed slightly.
He stared fixedly at the Baron, the aura around him suddenly turning bone-chillingly cold, as if he were about to erupt in the next second.
Baron Leslie, however, seemed utterly oblivious.
He put down his teacup and met Igor’s gaze with a serene look, carrying a sense of pity and control that saw through everything.
“There’s no need to be so tense. If I truly intended you harm, those waiting outside the door right now would not be merely a few of my retainers.”
“Rest assured, I have no friendship with that Viscountess of the Orion family. In fact, I am not very fond of her usual way of doing things.”
Leaning back slightly, he began to state his findings in a slow, deliberate, unraveling tone, each word like a hammer blow to Igor’s taut nerves.
“You are well-disguised, Igor.”
“Whether it’s appearance, accent, or behavior, it’s all quite perfect. But… some things are ingrained in the bone and difficult to completely conceal.”
“The Elementalists in Shadowgrove Bay are all accounted for. I checked all the entry registration records for the past three months but could not find a reasonable origin for you.”
“Although you dress as a mercenary and keep a low profile, the requirements and habits you exhibited when hiring a wet nurse are typical of Western Region nobility in the Kingdom.”
“As for the named Elementalists in the Kingdom’s Western Region, I dare not claim to know them all, but I have at least heard of them. There is no one of your description among them.”
“Furthermore, those materials you sold at the Mercenary Guild…”
“This indicates you are not an Elementalist of long standing, but rather someone who recently stepped into the extraordinary, and very likely entered Shadowgrove Bay via the loosely managed Blackwood Forest…”
“And also…”
The Baron’s voice lowered a bit, tinged with a hint of amusement.
“How rare are Ice Elemental Stones? The circulation and ownership of every single Ice Elemental Stone within the Kingdom is no secret in upper circles.”
“In the past twenty years, there have been no Ice Elemental Stones that have fallen outside and gone unrecorded. So, your claim of hatching a Lifebound Spirit using an Elemental Stone simply doesn’t hold water.”
His gaze was sharp, peeling away Igor’s disguises layer by layer.
“You carry an infant, and I happen to have heard that the Orion family of Ebony Marsh recently conducted an internal purge of a stain, an illegitimate son with decent elemental affinity, along with his daughter of less than a year, both met with accidental deaths in the Blackwood Forest.”
“Finally, the false name you use, Bolo… what a coincidence. After some investigation, it seems I heard that the Orion family’s bastard son had a loyal old mercenary by his side, and his name was Bolo.”
Baron Leslie spread his hands.
“So, ‘Sir Bolo,’ you are not a Free Mercenary. You are that stain of the Orion family, the bastard son. And you are not an Inferior Elementalist who achieved power through Elemental Stones.”
“What you contracted is a true, wild Ice Elemental Spirit, and in all likelihood, one full of sentience: a newly born spirit. You are a Imprinter of limitless potential… an Orthodox Imprinter!”
Silence filled the dining room.
Igor’s face shifted, alternating between livid and pale.
The Baron watched his changing expressions with appreciation, his tone turning grave.
“I am well aware of the Orion family’s methods.”
“They would never tolerate a stain possessing an Orthodox Elemental Spirit to live; it would be a great threat to their family’s stability.”
“And without the protection of a faction, a newly promoted Orthodox Imprinter with a child is like a bag of Gold Crowns tossed into a slum. Those who covet you will not be limited to just the Orions.”
“However…”
He changed tack, offering a gentle smile and extending the olive branch once more.
“As long as you are willing to accept my recruitment, swear fealty to me and the Leslie family, and become my knight. I can provide you with a legal identity protected by the laws of the Count of Shadowgrove Bay, help cover your past, and even support you in establishing your own family line.”
“At the same time, I will grant you a knight’s fief located in the northern part of the territory, containing a small mana node, for your meditation needs.”
“Believe me, you will absolutely come to love that fief.”
“And beyond that, I will even impart to you the Leslie family’s treasured 《Luminous Moon Meditation Method》!”
Igor paused.
A Meditation Method!
This was precisely what he needed most urgently at the moment!
He had not received a traditional Elementalist education, had contracted a muddled Lesser Spirit, and its elder was asleep. He had no Meditation Method for cultivation at all.
Without a systematic Meditation Method, even if the contracted spirit was strong, an Elementalist’s growth would be exceedingly slow.
As for a fief with a mana node, that was even more a matter of chance, not something to be sought.
It must be known that all mana nodes in the Kingdom’s Western Region have owners. Unclaimed nodes are almost all in various perilous places, and simply cannot serve as a stronghold.
A fief located at a mana node would not only accelerate cultivation, aiding his and his elemental spirit’s growth, but also effectively conceal the secrets of the Phoenix Pendant and the High-Level Spirit.
Igor remained silent for a long time, his face filled with struggle and worry.
With great difficulty, he raised his head, his voice hoarse.
“The Baron’s conditions… are very generous. But… this matter is simply too sudden. Could I… be given a few days to consider?”
Baron Leslie looked at him deeply, seeming to have anticipated this response.
He did not press, but nodded tolerantly.
“Of course. I give you three days.”
“I hope that in three days, the Leslie family will gain another excellent knight.”
He stood up, signaling the end of the banquet.
The Baroness also rose gracefully, offering Igor an understanding smile.
Igor gave a faltering bow.
Under the meaningful gazes of the Baron and his lady, he left the brightly lit mansion like a man bearing a thousand-pound weight.
……
Returning to the quiet wooden house on the city’s outskirts and confirming there was no surveillance around, all the worry and struggle vanished instantly from Igor’s face.
In its place was a calm assurance that everything was under control.
He walked to his sleeping daughter’s bedside, gently touching the tender cheek. A flicker of softness passed through his eyes, quickly replaced by sharpness.
“Finally, I can have my own territory.”
He murmured to himself, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
All the flaws the Baron had pointed out were within his expectations.
From the moment he decided to come to Gray Harbor, he never expected to completely fool the local ruler. Get faster updates on g.com.
The sudden appearance of an unfamiliar Elementalist with an infant would inevitably attract the high attention of the local authority.
This was an unavoidable fact.
Therefore, Igor had simply taken the opposite approach.
He deliberately entered the Mercenary Guild to register, deliberately sold magical beast materials from the Blackwood Forest, deliberately revealed Western Region noble habits when hiring a wet nurse…
All of this was to guide Baron Leslie to investigate, to deduce, and ultimately, using his own intelligence, unveil his “disguise.”
Mana was omnipresent, but that which dissipated in the air was not plentiful.
A wandering Elementalist without faction support would find it very difficult to improve.
He needed a sanctuary, a Meditation Method, a piece of land of his own with a mana node.
But these, he could not actively ask for.
Trust was hard to establish between nobles, especially when a lower-ranking party proactively approached a higher-ranking one.
Not to mention, he was at best half a noble, and from a hostile force to Shadowgrove Bay.
For this reason, he had to make the other party actively offer these conditions, and believe it was the best way to control and utilize him.
Baron Leslie was indeed astute, observant, and had an effective intelligence network.
But he miscalculated one point.
He thought Igor was desperately hiding, not realizing Igor was deliberately revealing.
He thought he had grasped Igor’s fatal weakness, not knowing it was precisely the reins Igor had handed him.
Igor had long since investigated clearly.
Baron Leslie was a relative by marriage of the Count of Shadowgrove Bay, his family background sufficient to offer protection. At the same time, the Leslie family had not yet produced anyone who had broken through to the 【Resonator】 rank, their strength not overly formidable, which conveniently allowed him to hide his secrets.
Three years ago, Baron Leslie’s eldest son successfully contracted a Wind Elemental Spirit, eliciting the two Radiances of Law: 【Retrospect】 and 【Insight】. He was hailed as a once-in-a-century talent in Shadowgrove Bay and deeply appreciated by the Count.
By convention, the reward of a high-grade Elemental Stone falling to the Leslie family was only a matter of time.
And once the Leslie family produced a Resonator, the possibility of the family being granted more land, even entering the lord’s cabinet as a viscountcy, was great.
By then, the Leslie family would inevitably draw jealousy and pressure from other neighboring barons, even certain viscount families.
Territorial friction, resource competition, even small-scale territorial wars could occur.
For this reason, Baron Leslie had to prepare in advance and recruit more Elementalist strength.
In this situation, an Orthodox Imprinter with great potential but also a fatal weakness was an irresistible temptation for Baron Leslie, who was at a critical period of ascension and in urgent need of expanding high-end martial power.
And a powerful individual whose weakness was in one’s grasp was far more reassuring to use than those with clean backgrounds but inscrutable motives.
In summary, Igor was precisely the most suitable and cost-effective target he could currently find.
And Baron Leslie was also Igor’s optimal choice.
“Three days…”
Igor walked to the window, gazing at the sparse stars in the night sky, feeling the warmth and coolness transmitted by the Phoenix Pendant against his chest.
“In three days, I will formally take root here in Shadowgrove Bay…”
……