It took approximately 10 minutes for the Enforcers of the Magic Guild to arrive in my guest room. I heard the sound of rushing footsteps, and I opened my eyes. I saw a mage in white robes accompanied by a red mage and a blue mage. I recognized the leader of the group as Iunicus. I quickly got off my bed. I noticed that Van did the same from the other side of the room.

Anger and frustration appeared on the faces of the trio. "What happened here?" Iunicus asked in a harsh tone of voice. He quickly cast his magic to Detect Lies.

I nodded politely. "Greetings, Brother Iunicus. I have not touched the bodies on the floor. My companion, Van, poured a vial of holy water on each body to prevent them from turning into the undead. Otherwise, they have not been tampered with," I explained.

"Did you kill them?" my interrogator asked.

"No. A vampire named Lazarus was the murderer," I answered truthfully. "He was waiting for us to enter the room. Lazarus claimed that the two mages were waiting to ambush and kill me for my Staff of Merlin. The vampire then turned into a bat and flew out the window."

Iunicus' eyes widened with surprise at the mention of the Staff of Merlin. His dark blue eyes stared intensely at my artifact. "May I examine it?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Of course, Brother Iunicus," I replied amicably and handed him the weapon.

The white mage held the artifact with great reverence. Merlin was the idol of every boy and girl while growing up. Parents often told their children the legendary feats of the former king as bedtime stories. Iunicus examined the staff and confirmed that it was, indeed, the Staff of Merlin. With great reluctance, he returned the artifact to me.

"I apologize for my rudeness," Iunicus said and bowed deeply. He had heard the news that someone had claimed the Staff of Merlin, but he dismissed it as rumor until now. Only the recognized Successor of Merlin could soul bind the artifact, and my possession of the item elevated my status in Iunicus' eyes.

His two companions paid their respect to me as well.

"I was upset upon seeing the bodies of our fellow guildmates on the floor," Iunicus explained.

I held up my hand. "It's understandable. I was surprised by this development, too. I was hoping to enjoy a quiet evening after dinner. But instead, I have to keep my vigilance and watch over the bodies," I said.

"Successor, I could designate my enforcers to watch over them instead," Iunicus offered.

I smiled at the enforcer. "While I appreciate your thoughtful gesture, Van and I are the most suitable people in Southampton to watch over those corpses. Unless, of course, there are other clerics in the city?"

Iunicus smiled faintly. "No, you two are the only representatives of the Church visiting Southampton currently," he confirmed. The enforcer changed topics. "How long will you need to keep your vigilance?" he asked.

"Until daybreak," I answered.

The white mage nodded in acceptance. "I shall return to the Mage Tower and deliver my report to my superior. I bid you a pleasant evening, Successor Mulligan."

I held up my hand. "Don't you need to question the other witnesses?" I asked in reference to Rijana and the others who were waiting in the hallway.

Iunicus shook his head. "You are Merlin's Successor. Your witness testimony has been verified as truthful by me. It is enough to satisfy the Leadership Council," he explained. The mage bowed deeply to me and walked out of the room. Once his companions exited through the doorway, the door closed quietly.

I overheard Iunicus tell my companions, "We don't need your testimonies. You may leave."

"It's going to be a long night," Van commented as he resumed cleaning his shield.

"At least the interrogation didn't take very long," I noted.

The paladin laughed at my cluelessness. "Iunicus was very nervous. He realized that his buddies would be tempted to take the precious artifact from you. So he wanted to leave the room ASAP before the mages tried to do anything to you," Van explained.

"Oh," I said with a blank stare at him. I didn't realize that my possession of the Staff of Merlin would be that problematic for the Magic Guild. From now on, I had better be on my guard whenever I interact with mages.

My roommate looked at the Light Sphere floating in our room. Rijana was the creator of the magical light. "How long with the light stay on?" he asked. Since Van planned to stay up the entire night, he wanted to know if he should light the lantern as well in case the Light Sphere disappeared during the night.

I shook my head. "I don't know Rijana's skill level in the General sphere. I'll cast Light to create a second sphere for our room." I cast the Light spell and steered the Light Sphere toward the door.

"Thank you!" Van said. "Why don't you get some rest?" he suggested.

I politely declined. "I'll meditate instead." While it was true that I didn't want Van to shoulder the entire responsibility for watching over the two bodies, I wouldn't be able to sleep with the bright lights in the room anyway.

I climbed onto my bed, leaned my back against the wall, and read through the stack of notifications I had ignored until now. It took some time to sort through all the messages. I had received a total of 2200 XP for using my various abilities.

Once my housekeeping chore was completed, I started my meditation. I reached for my soul, and I felt the two ley lines of wind and water from the harbor. I was captivated by the pulse that I felt in each string. I spent the rest of the night staring at them.

* * *

I opened my eyes; I saw the first rays of dawn reach through the open window and enter my room.

"Good morning, Brother!" Van said while stifling a yawn.

I looked at him with puzzlement. "Did you spend the entire night maintaining your gear?" I asked. I couldn't fantom the need to spend eight hours or so on this task.

"Of course not!" my roommate replied. "I was finished by the second church bell. Afterward, I did some stretching, and then I practiced my forms using my mace and shield. I have to admit that I picked up some bad habits along the way," Van remarked.

Our light banter was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door! *Knock-knock*

Van quickly opened the door.

Standing before him was Bernetta!

The tavernkeeper bowed deeply in apology. "I'm sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning, milord. Several people came here to see you," she said.

My brows rose in surprise. "Who is it?" I asked.

Bernetta pursed her lips. "It would be better if you met them personally, Lord Mulligan. They are in the VIP room," she replied.

"Okay," I readily agreed. I had a suspicion already. There were very few people in this city who could order the tavernkeeper to fetch us. "Is your kitchen ready to serve breakfast?" I asked.

The tavernkeeper grimaced. "Yes, our chef made something in a hurry," she answered. Her eyes finally looked at the bodies of the two mages on the floor. "Is it okay for the Enforcers to remove them?" Bernetta asked in a soft voice.

I turned around and looked down at the floor. "Yes, it's safe to handle the bodies now." During my meditation, I felt no evil aura emanating from the corpses. Thus, the souls of the dead mages had passed on peacefully.

Van said a brief prayer for the dead, and then the two of us followed the tavernkeeper out of the room.

As we passed through the dining room, I was not surprised to see that there were no patrons inside. After all, it was barely after dawn, and The Trade Wind wasn't quite open for breakfast yet.

When Bernetta opened the door to the VIP room, I saw Delkon Jawsul, the blue-robed mage and Council member, seated at the far end of the table. Standing behind him were Iunicus and the two mages who visited my room last night.

Councilor Delkon was eating a bowl of fish soup. When he saw me enter the room, he set down his spoon and rose to his feet. "I apologize for eating first, Successor Mulligan. I'm not usually up this early in the morning, and I was hungry. I managed to coax the chef into making me some soup before the usual start of their breakfast service," the man explained his rudeness.

I waved my hand. "It's quite alright, Councilor."

The blue mage walked over and stood before me. "May I examine your Staff of Merlin?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied with a smile. I handed the artifact to him.

Delkon smiled with delight as he handled the weapon. "I can't believe I'm holding Merlin's staff!" he exclaimed. He felt a faint hum emanating from the artifact.

The three enforcers observed silently with envy in their eyes.

After a few minutes of quiet examination, the councilor finally returned my staff. "I'm here for two reasons," Delkon began to talk. "First, I want to confirm directly with you that our fallen brothers have not risen from the dead."

"No, they haven't. Our brothers have passed on," I announced firmly.

The Enforcers breathed sighs of relief.

"Councilor Delkon, we wish to retrieve the bodies now," Iunicus requested politely.

The blue mage turned toward me.

"That's fine. But please ask Bernetta or a staffer to open the door to my guest room," I reminded Iunicus.

The white mage bowed deeply in appreciation of my permission to enter my room. Since I was a noble, I could have prevented Iunicus from entering my room. Thus, he was appreciative of my cooperation in this matter.

The three Enforcers left the VIP room and closed the door behind them.

Master Delkon turned his head toward Van, who was seated to my left. "Is it okay to discuss guild matters in front of your bodyguard?" the mage inquired.

"It's fine," I reassured him.

"The second matter I wished to discuss is Merlin's Legacy," Delkon said.

I sat up attentively. "What exactly is Merlin's Legacy?" I asked.

Councilor Delkon smiled at my question. "The Sorcerer Supreme was a wealthy man. But he never married, and he had no children," the mage started to answer.

"What happened to Merlin's property?" I interrupted. My eyes lit up at the thought of obtaining his worldly possessions. I remembered watching the dracos, Hleara and Dovarata, splitting Hleandros' treasure hoard after their father's death. I was very envious of the two sisters at the time. I never imagined acquiring my equivalent of a dragon's hoard!

Delkon smiled at my joy. "Merlin had left strict instructions that his property be passed on to his recognized Successor, as defined by whoever was soul bound to the Staff of Merlin," he explained.

"Ah! No wonder the two mages tried to ambush me for my staff!" I exclaimed.

The blue mage took something from his pocket and placed them on the table in front of me.

I looked down and saw a black key and a rainbow-colored card. I activated my Magic Sense, and I realized that both items were magical!

"Merlin has a floor of his own in the mage tower which he used as a workshop, and this key will open the door," Delkon explained.

"Do you know what's inside?" I asked.

The councilor shook his head. "The key requires possession of the Staff of Merlin to activate."

"You wish to come along whenever I open the door," I noted.

The mage smiled at me.

"I'll take a look after breakfast. You can join me," I promised. "Now, tell me about the card. Why does it constantly change color?"

Delkon's smile widened. "Merlin was extremely wealthy but lived a very frugal life. The Bank of Britannia did not exist during his era, and Merlin had difficulty storing his coins even with frequent use of Bags of Holding. He came up with an elegant solution which benefitted the guild as well. Merlin lent the money to the Magic Guild and allowed the Guildmasters of the individual branches to have access to the funds. The money allowed the Magic Guild to flourish even during the lean years when our membership rolls dwindled during certain periods of time," he lectured.

"What's the current balance?" I asked with some trepidation.

"One hundred fifty million coins," he answered.

"In gold?" Van interrupted.

"In platinum," Delkon corrected him.

My jaw dropped. I had no idea that Merlin was such a wealthy man! I could not reconcile his extraordinary wealth with my observation of the man as a half-crazed android with a living soul who lived in exile. I glanced at the card before me again. "How do I use this card exactly?" I asked.

"The card is used to pay for any goods or services provided by any branch of the Magic Guild. The card keeps a running tab on the balance of the money in Merlin's account, which has now passed onto you as his rightful Successor. Every time you make a purchase, the money will be deducted automatically from your balance. The Guildmasters will reimburse the vendors at the end of each week," Councilor Delkon explained.

"I cannot use this card outside the guild?" I asked in confirmation.

"No," the mage grinned. Delkon appreciated the irony that I became the wealthiest man in all of Britannia, but I couldn't spend even one copper coin outside the Magic Guild with this card.

The door opened suddenly. Bila and the rest of my party walked in.

The cat girl immediately ran to claim her spot to my right. Bila was afraid that the blue mage, whom she recognized as a famous person in town, would take her seat.

"Good morning, Councilor Delkon," Rijana acknowledged the VIP politely with a small dip of her head. She saw the bowl of soup on the table in front of her usual seat and realized that Delkon had taken the chair. She decided to sit next to Van instead. Her constant companions, Bjoukia and Bjoukin, sat to her immediate left.

"Good morning to you all," the blue mage replied politely. Delkon returned to his seat directly across the table from me.

"What are those?" Bila asked when she noticed the black key and the rainbow card on the table. Her tail dangled in the air.

"Merlin's Legacy," I replied with a straight face. I winked my eye at Delkon, and he blinked back.

Before Bila could offer a saucy retort, Bernetta walked in. "What would you like to eat?" she asked politely.

"What kind of soup is that?" the cat girl asked.

"It is fish soup," the tavernkeeper replied.

"I'll have that," Bila said.

"The same for the rest of us," Rijana added.

Bernetta nodded and quickly left the VIP room.

I put away the key and the card, and I started eating my soup. It had already turned cold, but I didn't mind at all. My sudden ascension into wealth preoccupied my thoughts. Frankly, I was in shock at the notion of being wealthy even if I couldn't spend it elsewhere. It was the equivalent of receiving a credit card in the mail with no limit and no requirement to pay my purchases. The card and the key had turned me into a bigger target for thieves and assassins.

Once I finished eating my bowl of soup, I sat quietly while the newcomers ate their breakfast. I spent this time brainstorming what I needed to buy in addition to magic scrolls. However, I thought of something--what happened to Merlin's spellbook?

I didn't dare to mention the spellbook to Councilor Delkon because I remembered how envious he became when I purchased the Anti-Magic Shell scroll from the Magic Bazaar during my last visit to Southampton. It was highly likely that Merlin's spellbook was in his workshop at one of the Magic Guild's mage towers. Thus, I decided I should visit Merlin's office before going to the Magic Bazaar. If the spellbook were inside this mage tower, then I wouldn't need to buy magic scrolls since I could learn spells directly from Merlin's spellbook.

With my next move decided, I waited patiently for my companions to finish their meals.