Marico was an experienced leader. He listened to Zach carefully and understood his concerns thoroughly. Being a leader himself, Marico was able to empathize with Zach. In his position, Marico might have returned the land as well as long as he considered the Windsor family a trustworthy ally. Therefore, he was no longer crass with Zach for daring to reject the goodwill of the Windsor family earlier.
Marico wasn't willing to let a talent like Zach escape his hands. Not to mention his daughter Clara had already been netted by the fisherman named Zach.
Moreover, Zach was Windsor family's benefactor and since Zach had raised his concerns, Marico felt it his duty to help the young one out of his predicament so that he could put his mind at ease.
"Although there are my selfish reasons involved, I hope that you can stay here for a long time. I will help you hide your identity from the rest of the city and for that I think I just had a brilliant idea flash through my mind. Do you mind if I run through you for a second opinion? I am getting old and sometimes, I miss important details." Marico wasn't as old as he made himself out to be. He just wanted Zach to let down his guard a little so that he wouldn't be as cautious towards Marico.
"What's this idea that you are talking about?" Zach was surprised that the old man was willing to think of a solution to help him hide his identity. He was curious as to what the old master was referring to.
"When I was young; probably even younger than you and Clara, I was still living in this city. Many of the young masters of my generation are the current family leaders of the prominent families of the city so they must also remember this. I had a friend who terrified the living souls out of the other young lads. All the current family heads had been beaten up by him at one time or the other. He was far too eccentric for anyone to control and used to run amok without the fear of authority. Thanks to my friendship with him, I spent those years at the top of my generation. His name was Wood Smith. He was a dark mage with a personality that was hard to categorize as good or bad. It should be something bordering between the two but his twisted nature wasn't hidden from anyone. It has been twenty long years since any of us last saw him. I don't even know if he is still alive or not but given the long absence this time, I can only presume that my friend is not in the world of the living anymore. But the prominent families of the city must still have a deep impression of him. They are unlikely to forget him."
Marico began to narrate the stories of childhood like the old bags from his previous world. From the looks of it, the old were the same whether it was his previous world or this fantasy world. They loved to tell stories of their glory days which were laced with spices according to their moods. The happier they were, the more boisterous their stories became.
Zach felt that he was stuck in the similar position. He was unable to interrupt the old master since he needed his help to hide his identity properly. Offending Marico wasn't a good thing at this time.
"What has that got to do with helping me hide that identity?" asked Zach cautiously because he felt like he was missing the point of the story that Marico was narrating. He had been going on for so long but Zach could not at all see the point of the story.
"And I thought you were supposed to be a smart one. But don't worry I am getting to that soon. Be a little patient." Marico snickered in a smug manner.
Zach didn't take Marico's words to mind because he knew that the old man only meant well.
"My friend Wood Smith was a dark mage whom everyone in the city still remembers. Using his identity, I intend to forge a new identity for you. It will serve as the perfect disguise for you who are new to this city. You have travelled quite far from Elizabeth city and there are hardly any people left who are still paying attention to your whereabouts. This new identity would allow you to operate without anyone daring to do a background check on you so it will be quite safe for you here for some time."
"I see where you are going with this but you don't expect the people of the city to believe that I am Wood Smith, right? So who am I going to be?" asked Zach curiously. He was dying to know the protective measures the old man had devised for him. Unlike how harmless the old man acted, Zach knew that he was a cunning fox and his machinations were bound to be effective.
"That damn guy must be an old man by now even if he is alive. How can I ask you to pretend to be him? It turns out that being old friends Wood and I decided to betroth our children to each other when we were still young. We promised to each other that if our children in the future turned out to be of the same gender then they would be sworn brothers or sisters like us and if they turned out to be of the opposite gender then they would get married. You are going to be Wood Smith's son from now on who has come to marry one of my daughters as a result of my promise to your father. Since you are a dark mage as well, it would be even easier for people to believe this story. As for why nobody around here knows you, it's because your father had you after he left here and you are now here after travelling thousands of miles in his place to make good on the promise your father made to me when we were still young."
Zach was speechless for a little while. He praised the old man in his heart for coming up with such an elaborate story to safeguard his interests. At the same time he was impressed with the old man's scheme.
The old man saw that Zach wasn't speaking a word and asked his opinion, "What do you think? Would it work?"
"I don't know whether it would work or not but I do know that this is the best path for me if I have even the tiniest chance of being able to keep my identity from leaking." replied Zach truthfully.
"Don't worry kid; we will take the initiative to "accidentally" spread this news to all the corners of Byzantium city. By the time your business begins to gain ground, they will all be aware of your background. And with me here, no one will bother to pry into your true identity or what you did before coming here."
Zach agreed with the old man's plan wholeheartedly. If the whole city already knew everything about him, they would have no need to ask around about him or stumble on to his true identity by mistake.
While Zach and the old master were talking and discussing among themselves, Diana and Bruce were accompanying Zach as well. They didn't speak a word but were listening intently to the conversation.
Bruce was quite surprised at the mention of the famous dark mage with the eccentric personality; Wood Smith. Even in Elizabeth city he had once heard the mention of this name and the things that person had done.
When Zach had first followed Diana to the Luther family estate, Bruce had been quite worried to house a dark mage. He had asked for a background check on Zach but there had been no records of Zach at all anywhere. At that time Bruce had even guessed that Zach was connected to Wood Smith who was rumored to be equally off the radar and equally as good in dark magic.
Bruce also helped Zach analyze the scenario that the old man intended to enact. The more he considered it, the more confident he grew that it would work in hiding Zach's identity. It was definitely the perfect excuse for Zach to stay and build a foundation in this place where his in-laws lived and his father once lived in the past. It was also the perfect excuse for the Windsor family to offer their full support and to fight for the beneficial lease agreement for Zach.
Diana watched on as Zach and her big brother exchanged knowing looks in between them. She understood their subtle gestures as she had been with them most of the time for the past few months. Therefore she knew that her brother and Zach had tacitly agreed that this was the best solution at the moment to their predicament.
Unlike the sudden joy that Bruce and Zach had suddenly found from this newfound sense of security, Diana grew only more upset and increasingly insecure. She had been working all this while in order to keep Zach for herself but her brother and Zach were moving in the exact opposite direction.
Before she had been envious of Christina who had gotten the opportunity to get married to the man she liked before he even considered her a possible match.
After struggling so much and overcoming so many battlefields, she had finally managed to become a fake couple with Zach.
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