Oliver P.O.V.

Do these people have no eyes? How oblivious can he be? Just how special is he? All these questions go through my mind all night throughout the party. Ajax Hearthbound, newly elevated Baron, and a genius of combat yet besides all that there isn’t much there at all.

The half a day we spent together in the carriage on the way here was more than enough for me to take his measure. He is without a doubt a peasant born brute who at best belongs as a head knight to a true noble. He doesn’t have the upbringing to enter our world.

Despite all that he was pointed out to me as the biggest impediment in my mission to kill Annabeth. It is a true shame that someone of her standing has to die. Unlike the brute she has a constant poker-face, none of her inner emotions are showing. She was raised to not just be one of us but even lead us, if she wasn’t an obstacle to my father taking over as the head of the house she would have been showered with support by every single branch of our family.

Killing her is by no means a difficult task, sure I only have a dozen or so levels on her but that is close to half her level, not to mention that she has to have spread herself in multiple directions to level so quickly so her powers as a mage shouldn’t even approach mine. The problem is that I will only have one chance to do so, inside the dungeon.

“He certainly is… unique.” The Viscount, our host, mentions to the crown prince as he watches Ajax dance his fourth dance with a different potential spouse for him.

“I’ll have to ask that you forgive young Baron Heathbound.” the prince says with a wry chuckle. “His first brush with nobility came barely a year ago when he was accepted into the Academy. Despite that he has provided tremendous gains to our kingdom in this short amount of time.”

The crown prince is burning goodwill like kindling and the peasant can’t even mask his own leering. Almost all of the house would dance with one maiden after another in such a fashion as a great slight yet all of them look to be understanding thanks to the crown prince’s words.

“What…” even with my training his next actions are enough to pull the words from my throat before I regain my composure.

To think that after that he would simply go and attach himself to Alexis and Annabeth, even if he finally figured out what all those dances were actually for doing this is almost like using our family as a shield. Thankfully he doesn’t linger around for much longer before he approaches the Viscount.

“Good evening.” He greets our host. “I would like to thank you for your hospitality this evening. I am Ajax Hearthbound.”

Despite his previously disastrous behavior his meeting with the Viscount is at least passible, the polite and humbled greeting followed by an apology for any uncouth behavior before an early end to the evening is about as good an outcome that can be expected.

“He is certainly polite.” the Viscount comments following his exit.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“He not only has a talent for combat and discovery but also a passion.” one of the members of house Silvertongue who joined managed to buy a slot in the secondary dungeons joins the conversation. “He will have time to learn our more intricate customs but to halt his upward trajectory would be a crime just to have him do so sooner.”

I walk away at this point, there is only so much I can stand hearing all of them defend the bumbling idiot. I quickly make my way towards my aunt looking to question her own actions this evening.

“Why did you allow him to use our family as a shield?” I don’t bother beating around the bush, we both know how antagonistic my fathers branch has been towards her so all we need to worry about is the perception of our interaction from the rest of the guests.

“Because he clearly needed it.” she answers simply.

“It’s not just your own value as a bride that you lower with something like this but that of any young woman in our family.” Despite my calm tone I can feel the anger burning inside me.

“And you would do well to remember that our family owes him.” she responded. “And we don’t turn on our allies.”

“What does our family owe him?” I ask instead.

“Do you not realize just how much we gained from this deal?” she asks, a brief moment of surprise flashing in her eyes. That more than anything enrages me as it clearly shows her belief that I am an idiot.

“We owe him nothing for this deal.” I say back. “He gained his part.”

“His part?” She maintains her composure but I alone can feel the sarcasm in the statement, clearly a result of her skills. “He provided everything of value, despite us only being middle men for selling his discovery in a timely manner we walked away with 80% of the benefits.”

There it is, despite his exquisite mind and talent, this sense of fairness and loyalty is what stopped our family from taking the seat of Goldmancer at least a century earlier than we did. It seems Annabeth had gotten that from her father as well.

“Getting any more than that would make them a target.” I responded. “This is also the best outcome for him.”

“He could have gotten nearly as good a deal from any of the top twenty noble merchant houses, and he knows that. Despite all that he chose us and didn’t try to bind us with any long term favors.” She says, her skill letting me know how much she disapproves of my view on things.

“His lack of experience in negotiations is not our burden to bear.” If he could have made a more favorable deal he should have.

The conversation ends there as she simply walks away. At least now that he left the event I can finally enjoy myself. This would be a perfect time to try and make some contacts regarding my own value.

The evening progresses well from there, despite my lack of a mind for the merchants trade my skill with magic more than makes up for it. I even managed to make a few good impressions on a few Baron houses, father should be able to use this connection to set up a good supply line should they be called for a war or skirmish.

By the time I wake up the sun is already high in the sky and our convoy is starting to make its preparations to leave. My biggest issue is that I can’t seem to locate Ajax anywhere, it’s like he straight up vanished despite us being less than half an hour from departure. I knew he would wake up earlier than me but where could he have gone?

To my surprise I quickly catch a glimpse of Ajax and one of our family boosters coming out of a little out of the way shack all ready for travel. Relief fills me but only for a moment. Despite their rather common appearance there are a few details that don’t add up.

Why would Ajax be sweating? More than that, why is there a small but clear dent in one of the guards shoulder pads? Most pressing of all however is the guard wearing the storage ring that the crown prince had when he showed up before we took off from the capital.

I know exactly what that ring contains, inside that spacial ring are the weapons and armor that the royal family so generously are going to loan out to all the people who will be entering the secondary dungeon. But that is peak gear for levels fifty to sixty, so how can he even properly wield it. More than that, how can he make a dent on the armor of a level ninety-five.

Perhaps he will turn out to be a much harder obstacle in my mission to kill Anna than I originally thought. With every passing day on this journey I grow more and more sure that engaging him in battle inside the dungeon will end with my death not his.

Such thoughts are disgraceful, a peasant born boy, lower level than me and a third of my age can not just pose a threat to me but is actually favored to win?

It doesn’t matter. I quickly try to regain my composure. This sort of talent would be the reason why so many high nobles would be willing to overlook his many blunders and unintended insults. I can’t focus on my pride now. If the direct approach won’t work like we thought, it means I only have a couple of weeks to come up with a new plan to kill Anna inside the dungeon.