Farmer Mage

“Oh, he looks like he’s about to rip us apart,” the man kicked Kaelor’s body. “Will you use a hammer like you did on this idiot?”

Cal didn’t try to hide his confusion.

He had been under the impression that Kaelor was related to this man. There was even a significant amount of regret he felt from them having to discover Kaelor like this, but now he found everything hard to believe. Especially considering how disrespectful the man was with the body.

It gave him hope that this might still be resolved without resorting to violence. He would prefer to keep his slice of heaven conflict-free… and grave free.

“I think we have gotten ahead of ourselves,” Cal said, reducing the level of hostility in his eyes. "Please introduce yourselves so we can have a civil conversation.”

“Baelor,” the younger man offered surprisingly. His two companions glared at him for speaking, making Baelor shut back down.

“Since the dunce already started, I’m Faelor,” the lone girl continued, regardless of the daggers the man was shooting her.

“Idiots surround me,” the man pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I’m Maelor.”

Cal stared at the people who trespassed his territory in disbelief. He didn’t want to believe these people posed a danger to him. They belonged to a traveling show.

Still, their names were comical. And confusing. With how similar they were to Kaelor’s, he returned to his assumption that they were all related. The regret returned.

Still, he didn’t intend to leave room for mercy if it came down to a fight.

Cal put on a pleasant smile. “As unexpected as this meeting is, I can’t say it has been uninteresting. My name is Cal, and I farm this piece of land behind me. Again, I’m not sure what all this is about, but I’m sure there’s been a misunderstanding somewhere along the line.”

“… Uncle, can I please kick him around?” Faelor asked with a pleading face.

Cal noticed that the wolf pack had retreated to a safe distance, leaving only the pack leader staying close. He was still concerned that none of the three were even the slightest bit worried that an apprentice-level beast was watching them with hungry eyes.

At the very least, Cal would be able to have a distraction as he dispatched Maelor, who was likely the strongest of the three.

Maelor put a hand to stop his niece from speaking further. “Cal, I know what happened. You know what happened. We all know what happened. Let’s cut to the heart of the matter. You smashed my nephew's chest in, and now we have a problem.”

Cal narrowed his eyes as he reached out to sense the strength of the three before him. The two younger ones, Baelor and Faelor, weren’t a concern. They were at the peak of the initiate level. Maelor was the issue.

The man felt like he was far stronger than Cal. He hadn’t considered that a possibility, so he had assumed this could be handled by himself.

Like he acknowledged many times before, an assumption of his turned out to be hilariously wrong.

To be fair, Cal had a good reason to assume that Maelor couldn’t be stronger than him. He couldn’t fathom the Celestial Order allowing a high-level Apprentice outside the guild to enter their territory.

If this didn’t tell him there were plenty of holes that could be taken advantage of at the border, nothing else could.

Cal quickly went through his chances of surviving through this if it got violent. He had [Lightning Aura], but it was only helpful with the four daggers in the storage pouch. Once those ran out, that ability would become useless with someone as strong as Maelor. Plus, he imagined only the first dagger would be useful since the rest would be expected.

The golem would be utterly useless since it was too slow to do anything to someone stronger than him. And [Mist Walker] was the only wildcard that could help. It could also do nothing and sentence him to certain death.

I’m glad Kaelor was so pathetic that I didn’t need to use any of the supplies I bought.

Cal knew he might need a rage potion to get out of this.

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“You’re thinking hard,” Maelor commented with a smirk. “Let me offer you a solution to the problem we now have between us.”

He was running through the various scenarios in his mind, most of which ended badly and some of which he saw promise. All of them required the pack leader to occupy the younger two of the group.

“Kaelor was never my favorite, so maybe I can look past this if you do something for me. Replace his role in this territory, and I’ll see to it that you won’t be disturbed as long as you play along. And who knows, you might even get entrance into the Dominion in the future.”

It was nice of Maelor to offer the information on his own.

“So, you’re using the death of your… nephew, which I had nothing to do with, to force me into working for you,” Cal said dryly. “You want me to betray my guild, and likely make me lose my farm.”

“Who cares about your farm!? Why do you keep talking about it? Will it help if I burn the whole thing down so you can focus on what’s important?” Faelor said heatedly.

Cal’s eyes flashed with rage as the surroundings started to darken, his vision almost entirely filled with Faelor’s form. She wasn’t as young as he initially assumed. If he had to guess, she was just a little younger than Tarn. It would be acceptable for him to teach her a lesson about respecting other people’s property.

His fingers twitched as he tried to stamp down his rapidly rising rage before something regrettable happened. It wasn’t time to throw away all other options just yet.

“Several people from the Celestial Order entered Dominion’s territory,” Cal’s voice was dangerously blank. Maelor noticed it. “If you can get them to return in the next several days, I will give your offer real thought.”

Maelor narrowed his eyes as he studied him. The man was smart enough to know they were at a precipice. Unlike his niece.

“Who do you think you are trying to make demands? Especially after what you did!” Faelor finally made the mistake of storming towards Cal. “I’ve had enough—“

Cal controlled his rage and appeared before Faelor, war hammer in hand. He swung it down with full force, making Faelor’s blonde hair fly around, and her robes flutter violently before he slammed it down on the ground within several inches of her feet.

Her frightened yelp was lost in the thunderous boom that echoed from the impact of the war hammer on the ground. The crater that appeared below her feet caused her to fall into it on her face as she struggled to regain control over her flailing body.

Cal kept a close eye on the other two and noticed that Baelor looked tense, but Maelor couldn’t care less.

He retreated to his previous spot and rested the war hammer on his shoulder as he studied them. He doubted that Maelor didn’t care about his niece. It was more likely that he was well aware this was only a warning strike with no intention of true harm.

This man is dangerous. Or dangerously overconfident.

“Girl, keep your mouth shut until your uncle and I are done talking.” Cal had plenty of patience and didn’t mind others being informal to him, but there was only so much he could take of this much backtalk. The warning was more for her benefit than anything else.

If he fell into that rage-induced state, he couldn’t promise that she would be left alive. It would depend on her uncle.

“That’s the hammer you killed my nephew with,” Maelor stated as he stared at him placidly.

Cal didn’t try to keep up the pretense. He shrugged and returned the stare.

“Faelor, Baelor, leave us,” Maelor ordered.

Cal's rage lessened considerably as he tried to stop a chuckle from leaving his lips. Their names were truly, genuinely ridiculous.

The two gave their uncle a confused look but listened to the order. When they were a significant distance away, Maelor spoke again. “What did my nephew do to deserve such a death?”

“He was involved with taking a close friend. I don’t know the specifics, but I imagine my friend's fate wouldn’t have been kind in the Dominion,” Cal replied with half-truths. While that was technically true, he only killed Kaelor because he was discovered. But he couldn’t say that.

Maelor hummed as he considered his following words. “Give me the names and descriptions of the people you want returned. I’ll see if it can be done.”

“Tell me a place for us to meet tomorrow. I can get you what you need then.”

“You don’t know,” Maelor said flatly. “Why would these people be worth bargaining for if you don’t even know them?”

“That’s my business, and it’s not necessary for you to know.”

Maelor’s eyes flashed with anger before it was quickly wiped away. If Cal hadn’t been paying close attention, he would’ve never seen it.

“I’ll return here tomorrow at the same time. I will know if you alert any of your superiors in the guild. And I will make sure that every single person who entered the Dominion’s territory from the Celestial Order is exterminated. Understood?”

Cal didn’t break eye contact as he nodded grimly.

“Happy cooperation, Farmer Cal.”

He watched Maelor head towards his niece and nephew before leaving the vicinity.

Cal wasn’t fooled by the apparent kindness Maelor showed. He might have acted like he didn’t give a damn about his nephew’s death, but it was impossible to hide that much rage completely.

He didn’t know when, but after his use was diminished, he did not doubt that Maelor would try to get rid of him.

That was one on the many reasons Cal had no intention of truly working with Maelor. He would do the minimum necessary until Tavia’s friends were returned from the Dominion, then see if he could deal with Maelor permanently.

More importantly, Cal didn’t believe for one second that the Celestial Order had no eyes on his farm. He expected a visit from the administration soon. Hopefully, it would be Overseer Marek.

Cal glanced at Kaelor’s body. The man was really trying to sell that the death truly didn’t matter to him. Leaving his nephew’s body like it was yesterday’s waste was a cold-blooded move.

It only made him more wary of Maelor.

He made a deep hole in the ground, reaching well into the soil underneath, and buried Kaelor for the second time.

So much for keeping the farm grave free.

Cal gave the pack leader an appreciative nod before returning to the pond. He took his previous position of lying beside it and closed his eyes.

Just because an uppity Dominion member interrupted his work didn’t mean he should stop. He would continue until Tavia returned.