Chapter 1205 — Pointing
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The mausoleum of Mossin Wildere, Duke of the Northern Reach, was nothing more than a cenotaph; no remains of the ancestor were interred within. This was, as Victoria had said, hardly a rigorously guarded secret — but neither was it a matter one aired casually in public.
No one would be bored (and foolish) enough to prattle idly about the ancestral tomb of one of the four Reach Dukes, nor did people pay much attention to matters fated to have so little bearing on ordinary lives. Whether in the old Ansul era or the new Imperial age, the royal house and the great families always kept countless secrets and legends buried deep behind thick curtains — one true, a hundred false.
Amber, however, was plainly not one of those "ordinary people" indifferent to such affairs. After hearing Victoria's reply, she did not immediately answer the other's follow-up question; instead she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "So it really is a cenotaph..."
Victoria regarded her quietly for a moment. "It seems you've done your research."
"Er... only a little digging," Amber at once waved her hands a touch nervously. "You know how it is — it's my job... There are rumors that Grand Duke Mossin Wildere, six hundred years ago, was ultimately never laid to rest in the family crypt; on the last adventure of his life he departed Ansul and vanished thereafter into the vast depths of the world... But I've only ever heard the rumor. You know how intelligence work is — unconfirmed reports can only serve as reference. His Majesty told me to confirm the matter with you, and confirm it with you I still must..."
Victoria paid no mind to whatever Amber was muttering afterward. With the same cool expression as ever, she waited until the other had finished before speaking slowly: "The rumor is true — our family ancestor Mossin was indeed never laid to rest in the catacombs beneath Winterhold. According to family records, at the age of seventy he set out on the last adventure of his life, and vanished during it. The great adventurer ultimately traveled far along the road of adventure. As a nobleman he was much disputed, but as a member of the Wildere family, the many deeds he accomplished in his adventures are our pride."
"Vanished, was it... In that case, that 'Great Adventurer Mossin' who's turned up in Tar'lond becomes all the more 'highly suspect,'" Amber murmured as though to herself. The occupational habit of one who coordinated intelligence work gradually took hold, at last making her forget Victoria's cold and rather oppressive presence, and she instinctively pressed on: "Then where did he go on that last adventure? Any leads?"
"No clear record — Mossin Wildere planned every one of his adventures himself, and he was a man who never did anything by the book," Victoria shook her head slightly. "Only when he returned from an adventure could people piece together from the notes he brought back where he had gone and what he had done. And his final adventure... he did not return from.
"Of course, after he vanished, the Wildere family and the Ansul royal house put great effort into searching for clues, and met with some success. According to family records, the last sighting of Mossin Wildere on that final adventure was near the border of the Mosswold and old Ansul, where travelers saw him continuing northward."
"North, is it... From the Mosswold further north, there's nothing but the Northern City-States and the frozen coastline... And he could hardly have gone to Tar'lond again back then; the dragon clans have no corresponding record." Amber muttered and mumbled as she thought, her gaze drifting involuntarily to the large map hung on the wall opposite her office. Her eyes had at first swept over the continent of Loren out of sheer habit, but before she drew her gaze back, she suddenly noticed a nation that had rarely appeared in Loren eyes before, yet lately, owing to the focus of her work, had frequently entered her sight.