Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 638: Bleak Midwinter

After finishing his work for the day and receiving his measly wages, Billy jogged through the streets of Incus Neighbourhood, towards his next destination.

The narrow alleys of the slums were buried beneath layers of snow, churned to muddy slush where feet had traveled through. The wind howled through the crooked wooden shacks, slipping through the cracks in the rotting doors and biting at those who had no fire to warm them.

Billy paid no attention to his surroundings as he ran past a group of people huddled around a burn barrel, their hands outstretched toward the flames.

Ragged children darted between the shadows, their bare feet wrapped in scraps of cloth, scavenging for anything that might be of use to them. A few of them spotted the freckled boy and called out to him.

”Hey, Billy, where are ya headed?”

”Come play with us!”

Billy ignored them and continued to run. He replied without turning around, ”Not today!”

Snowflakes fell lazily from the gray sky, settling over beggars wrapped in torn cloaks. Their eyes, dull with hunger and cold, watched as the boy ran through the streets.

After taking a few twists and turns, Billy entered a familiar alley and crouched behind a dumpster. He looked around and found that the alley was empty.

Secretly heaving a sigh of relief, he began counting down, ”100, 99, 98…” After counting down to zero, he headed for another location in a different neighborhood in the Corvid Quarter. Once again finding a secluded alley, he started his countdown from a hundred.

After repeating this process ten times, Billy was out of breath. However, this was a protocol that he had to follow to ensure that no one was following him.

The boy now found himself in the Blinder Neighbourhood, a place fairly devoid of life and activity compared to the other neighborhoods of Corvid. The southern part of this neighborhood was lined with warehouses, accentuated by the occasional dockside business.

In the dark of the night, Billy made his way to warehouse number 56Q. He walked around the building and approached the side entrance that was hidden by layers and walls of wooden crates.

He walked toward the iron door illuminated by a gas lantern on the wall above. First, he looked around vigilantly, making sure that no one was around. Then, he knocked on the door in a particular sequence.

Two knocks, short pause, one knock, long pause, four knocks, long pause, followed by one final knock.

Billy waited with bated breaths until a few seconds later a very small and narrow section of the door slid open and a pair of eyes became visible, coldly scrutinizing him.

The boyʼs heartbeat sped up as he felt like he was being observed by a predator. However, he didnʼt panic or run away. He had done this hundreds of times already and was used to it.

After what felt like forever to the boy, the owner of the pair of eyes spoke from the other side of the iron door. ”In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.”

Billy gulped nervously as he tried hard to recall the latter half of the cryptic message that changed every week. ”Snow had fallen, snow on snow, uhm, snow on snow…” he began.

After a brief pause, he concluded, ”In the bleak midwinter, long ago!”

The figure behind the door deeply gazed at Billy for a few moments before he opened the door and allowed him to enter. The boy glanced at the robed man and politely bowed. ”Thank you, sir.”

The man ignored him and walked outside, shutting the door behind him. He waited for a few minutes before two robed figures appeared before him like shadows.

”Heʼs not being followed,” said one of the newcomers.

”Hmm.” The man nodded before he entered through the door again.

…

Billy walked through the narrow and dimly lit corridor with great familiarity and entered a room on the right. Inside, a group of men were huddled around the table, having a serious conversation.

”Ah, Billy, youʼre here.” One of the men turned around and looked at him with a gentle smile.

The man was wearing plain clothes and a black cape on top. He appeared to be a regular person, but Billy knew he was far from ordinary. He was a Magus! As were all the other people in the room.

”Hello, sir.” Billy nervously greeted the man. Despite having worked with these people for a year now, he still felt greatly uncomfortable around them. It was understandable, after all. They were all mighty Magi, while he was a mere mortal.

”Have you had something to eat yet?” Asked the man.

”No, sir.” Billy shook his head.

”Alright, come with me.” The man led the boy to the pantry room. Along the way, he asked casually, ”Did you hear anything interesting today?”

”A few rich folks came to the laundry shop today,” Billy began. ”Theyʼre all merchants… I think one of them owns a grocery store in the district.”

As they entered the pantry room, the man grabbed a plate from the shelf and began putting some food that they had cooked earlier today. A loaf of fresh bread, a bowl of vegetable stew, and some lamb meat.

Billy started to salivate at the sight of the food. Before he started working for these people, he would go to bed on an empty stomach on most nights. But now everything had changed. He even got to eat meat every day, something which he considered a dream at one point in his life.

”I eavesdropped on a couple of prostitutes who came out of the shop for a smoke today,” Billy continued with his report. ”They mentioned two women, I think their name was Tina and… Arya, yes.”

”What about these women?” Asked the man as he handed the plate of food to the boy.

”They left the laundry shop early in the morning and were taken to the house of some noble in the city,” Billy replied as he began wolfing down on the food.

”I think they said they were going to work there as maids for that noble. One of them thinks that something bad is happening to all the women that are being taken away because they wouldnʼt write them letters after leaving.”

The manʼs expression grew solemn and he asked, ”Did they mention the name of this noble?”

Billy shook his head. His expression turned a little embarrassed as he added, ”Before I could find out more, they noticed me standing too close to them. They scolded me before going back inside the shop.”

The man mulled over the boyʼs report for a few moments before nodding. ”Alright, good job, Billy.” He then reached into his pocket, took out five copper coins, and kept them on the table beside him. ”You may leave after you finish eating.”

”Iʼm done!” Billy quickly finished everything and grabbed the copper pieces on the table, afraid theyʼd vanish if he waited a moment longer.

Right at that moment, a loud commotion was heard from outside the room. The manʼs face grew serious as he rushed to the corridor outside where he saw several people rushing to the secret entrance of the warehouse.

Have we been discovered?!

This was the first thought that came to the manʼs mind.

Was Billy being followed?!

That was the second thought.

He stopped one of his comrades and asked him anxiously, ”Brother, whatʼs all the commotion about? Have we been found out?!”

”Thereʼs a newcomer at the entrance!” Said the other man, his expression a mixture of wariness but also excitement. ”He says his name is Constantine!”