Chapter 3: Those Who Pick Up, Those Who Are Picked Up
Part 1
Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 15:27
After sending the old lady home, Sebas continued on to his original destination.
He came to a long stretch of wall.
Three towers — each five stories tall — rose from within those walls. Their height was made even more imposing by the fact that they were the tallest buildings around.
These towers were surrounded by several long and narrow two-story buildings.
This was the headquarters of the Kingdom’s Magicians’ Guild. They needed ample space for the development of new spells and the training of arcane magic casters. The reason why they could afford all this land despite having practically no national support was probably due to their manufacture and sale of magic items.
After walking a little further, he saw a sturdy gate. The latticed gate yawned open, and on either side of it were several armed guards, stationed near the two-story buildings.
The guards did not obstruct Sebas — although they quickly looked him over— and he passed through the gate.
There was a gently sloping wide staircase before him, and a set of doors which opened into a distinguished-looking detached house. Naturally, these doors were open, to welcome visitors.
Upon entering, he found himself in a small entrance hall, with the building’s lobby before him. A number of magical chandeliers hung down from the high ceiling of the latter room.
On the right was a guest lounge that contained a sofa and several other pieces of furniture. There were magic casters conversing within. On the left was a notice board. Several people were studying it in earnest; some wore robes and looked like arcane magic casters, while others seemed to be adventurers.
There was a counter in the innermost reaches of the hall, and there were several young men and women seated behind it. All of them wore robes, and they had badges on their chests which matched the symbol he had seen while entering the building.
On either side of the counter stood a pair of skinny wooden dolls, of the kind used for sketching. They were the size of actual humans and they had no facial features — Wood Golems, in other words. Apparently, they were being used as sentries. The fact that they had not posted any human sentries inside must have been pride on the part of the Magician’s Guild, the outside sentries notwithstanding.
Sebas’ shoes pounded out a steady beat as he approached the counter.
The young man at the counter noticed Sebas and greeted him with a look. Sebas nodded in return. He was a frequent customer here, so both of them were familiar with each other.
“Welcome to the Magician’s Guild, Sebas-sama. How may I help you today?”
“Yes, I’d like to buy a spell scroll. May I consult the usual list?”
“Certainly.”
The youth quickly brought a large tome to the counter. He must have gotten it ready when he noticed Sebas approaching.
The pages of the book were made of high-quality paper that was thin and white as snow, while its cover was made of leather. The overall article was of exquisite construction. The letters upon the cover were imprinted in gold, and the cost of this book alone probably beggared belief.
Sebas brought the book over to himself and paged through it.
Regretfully, Sebas did not understand the words written upon it. Or rather, it might be better to say that beings from YGGDRASIL were unable to comprehend them. Despite the bizarre principle which translated spoken language in this world, written text was not translated.
However, Sebas’ master had given him a magic item that could solve this problem.
Sebas produced a spectacle case from his breast pocket and opened it.
A pair of eyeglasses sat within. Its bridge was made of a platinum-like metal, and at a closer look, it seemed to have been inscribed with tiny characters, or some kind of textured pattern. The lenses themselves had been ground out of a crystal that resembled blue ice.
By putting these glasses on, he could understand written text through the power of magic.
Sebas swiftly yet carefully scanned through the pages, and then he suddenly froze. He looked away from the book, at the girl beside the youth at the counter, and gently asked:
“Is something the matter?”
“Ah, it’s nothing…”
The girl blushed and lowered her face.
“I just thought… you looked very handsome.”
“Thank you very much.”
Sebas smiled, and the girl’s face flushed even redder.
Sebas, the white-haired gentleman, was a person who could mesmerize others on sight. He was good-looking, but the way he carried himself was even more striking. When he walked on the streets, nine out of ten women — regardless of age — would turn to take a second look at him. It was no wonder that the counter girls found themselves entranced by him, and it was also a common occurrence.
Sebas found that understandable, and then turned his eyes back to the tome. He stopped at a certain page and asked the youth:
“Could you tell me about this spell… [Floating Board], I believe it is called?”
“Certainly.”
The young man began his spiel.
“[Floating Board] is a 1st-tier spell which creates a translucent floating platform. The size and carrying capacity of the platform varies with the caster’s magical power. However, when cast from a scroll, it is limited to a surface of one square meter and can carry a maximum of 50 kilograms. The created board moves behind the caster, and can be a maximum of five meters away from him. Since the [Floating Board] can only follow behind the caster, it cannot be made to move in front of the the caster. Should the caster turn around, the board will slowly move to his back. It is primarily a transportation spell and can commonly be seen during earthworks.”
“I see,” Sebas nodded. “Then I’ll take a scroll of this spell.”
“Of course.”
The young man was not surprised by the fact that Sebas had selected a low-demand spell like this. After all, just about all the scrolls Sebas had purchased were for unpopular spells like this. Besides, being able to empty surplus stocks was a godsend for the Magician’s Guild.
“Will one scroll be enough?”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
The youth gestured to a man sitting nearby.
The man — who had been listening on their conversation — immediately rose to his feet and opened a door leading into a room behind the counter, which he entered. Scrolls were expensive items, and even with guards posted, it would not do to pile them up on the sales area.
After about five minutes, the man who had left returned. In his hands was a roll of parchment.
“Your scroll, sir.”
Sebas looked at the scroll on the counter. It was elegantly made, and looked distinctly different from the paper one could purchase outside. The name of the spell was written in black ink on the outside of the scroll, and after verifying that it was the same as the spell he wanted, he removed his glasses.
“Indeed, that is it. I shall take it.”
“Thank you for your patronage,” the young man bowed politely. “As this is a 1st-tier spell scroll, that will be one gold and ten silver coins.”
A potion for spells of a similar level would cost two gold coins, so this scroll was comparatively cheaper. That was because under normal circumstances, spell scrolls could only be used by magic casters of the same tradition. Thus, it only made sense that potions would be more expensive, given that they could be used by anyone.
That said, “comparatively” was the key word here. One gold and ten silver coins was very expensive for an average person; equivalent to about half a month’s wages. However, to Sebas — or rather, his master — it was a trivial expense.
Sebas then produced a pouch from safekeeping. He opened it, withdrew 11 coins, and handed them to the youth.
“I have received the correct amount.”
The young man did not test the money’s authenticity in front of Sebas. Their transactions thus far had earned Sebas that much trust.
♦ ♦ ♦
“That old man’s really handsome!”
“Mm!”
Debate broke out among the counter staff — especially the ladies — once Sebas had left the Magician’s Guild.
They were no longer wise women, but lovestruck girls who had just met their Prince Charming. One of the men seated at the counter frowned and his face turned sour, but he too had felt Sebas’ cultured presence and so he kept quiet.
“He must have had experience serving some great noble. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a noble himself, the third son of some minor lord or something.”
It was a common thing for noble children who could not inherit the estate to become butlers or maids. Noble families of higher rank would tend to hire more people from such backgrounds. After witnessing Sebas’ noble bearing, they could accept the fact that Sebas was highborn himself.
“Every little thing he does is elegant, fro mthe way he stands to the way he moves.”
Everyone seated at the counter could not help but nod.
“If he asked me out for tea, I’d definitely accept.”
“Mm! Me too! Me too! I’d definitely go too!”
The ladies squealed and cooed one after the other. They talked about where the good cafes were and then about how he would be perfect as their escort. The men looked at them from the side, and they began talking too.
“He looks really learned. You think he’s a magic caster too?”
“Beats me, but he might be.”
The spells Sebas bought had all been recently developed. That implied a broad familiarity with magic. If he had been ordered to buy a scroll, he could have simply asked the counter staff directly, with no need to browse through the catalogue. The fact that Sebas had paged through the tome was a sign that he was making the decisions on what spells to buy.
This was not something any ordinary old man could do. In other words, they could surmise that he had received a specialist education in magic — that he was a magic caster.
“And then there’s his spectacles… they look expensive.”
“Are they a magic item?”
“I doubt it, they should just be masterwork glasses, right? Made by the Dwarves, I think.”
“Hmm, that’s amazing, owning a pair of glasses like that.”
“I’d like to see the beautiful girl he came with once,” one of the men muttered. The response from beside them was a wave of disapproval.
“Eh, that woman’s probably nothing but her looks.”
“Mm, I felt so sorry for Sebas-san then. She was giving him the old run-around.”
“She looks pretty, but she definitely has a terrible personality. Did you see the disgusting way she was looking at us? I feel sorry for Sebas-san, having to serve such a person.”
The men did not dare respond after hearing the ladies criticize a fellow female. Sebas’ mistress was a ravishing beauty, and she had stolen their hearts in an instant. The ladies beside them had also been handpicked as the face of the Magician’s Guild, but comparing them to that woman was like comparing the moon to a turtle crawling around in the mud. The men wanted to tell the ladies not to be so jealous, but it was clear what would happen if they actually spoke those words out loud.
None of the men was stupid enough to do that. Therefore—
“Alright, enough chitchat.”
The young man’s words cut through their chatter as an adventurer approached the counter. Everyone’s faces turned serious, and they set to work in earnest.
♦ ♦ ♦
Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 16:06
After leaving the Magician’s Guild, Sebas looked to the sky.
Sending the old lady home had made him go over his planned time, and the sky was slowly turning a madder red. After glancing at the watch he had taken out of his breast pocket, he knew that it was time to return home. However, the day’s business had not been finished yet. Since those matters could be delayed until tomorrow, should he not do so? Or should he stick to the plan and finish up his agenda by today, even though it would cause him to go into overtime?
He only hesitated for a moment.
The matter of the old lady was his own decision. Thus, he ought to fulfil his tasks.
“—Shadow Demon.”
A seething presence emerged from Sebas’ shadow.
“Inform Solution I will be a little late. That is all.”
There was no response, but the presence began moving. It flitted from shadow to shadow and gradually drew away.
“Alright,” Sebas muttered, and began moving.
He had no destination in mind. Sebas was going to fully familiarize himself with the layout of the Royal Capital. His master had not ordered him to do so — he had simply chosen to move independently as part of his intelligence-gathering duties.
“Then, I shall head over there today.”
After muttering to himself and grooming his beard, Sebas twirled the scroll he was holding in one hand. He looked like a delighted child as he did so.
He headed ever forward, drawing away from the central district of the Royal Capital, where it was still safe.
After turning several corners, the alleys started to feel dirtier, and a faint stench lingered on the air, the stench of fresh garbage and other wastes. It felt as though it would physically stain his clothes, and Sebas walked on in silence.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks and surveyed his surroundings. It would seem he had entered a very secluded back alley, so cramped that people would have to squeeze past each other in passing.
It was hard to move through these narrow alleys, where the light of the setting sun was blocked by the tall buildings all around and the footing was atrocious. However, it posed no obstacle to Sebas. He walked on in silence and concealing his presence, as though he had melted into the shadows.
Sebas turned several more corners as he headed towards an even more sparsely-populated region, and then his confident, unhesitating stride suddenly ground to a halt.
His aimless wanderings had brought him here, and he realised that he had come a long way from his home base. Sebas’ instincts had largely grasped his location, and he mentally traced the route from his homebase to this place.
Given Sebas’ physical attributes, he could have covered the distance in a straight line. It would take quite a while for him if he had to walk normally. Now that night was looming, it was probably time to go back.
He was not concerned about the safety of Solution, with whom he lived.
Even if a powerful enemy appeared, Solution still had a monster in her shadow, much like Sebas had. She ought to be able to buy time to retreat by using it as a meatshield. That said—
“…Should I go back?”
In all honesty, he wanted to continue walking, but wasting time on an activity which was half-leisure would not be permitted. Still, even if he was to return home, he could at least see what was in front of him. He continued walking through the narrow alleys.
As Sebas forged silently ahead in the darkness, he saw a heavy steel door in front of him — about 15 meters away — suddenly creak to life as it opened, and light leaked out from within. Sebas stopped and watched silently.
Once the door had fully opened, someone poked their head out. The backlighting only allowed Sebas to see his silhouette, but the person was probably a man. Said man looked around, but he did not notice Sebas, and shrank back inside.
There was a thump as a large sack hit the ground outside. Illuminated by the light from inside, Sebas could see that the soft object inside had changed shape from the fall.
The door was still open, but the person throwing out the sack like so much garbage seemed to have gone back indoors, and there were no movements for a while.
Sebas frowned, debating over whether to move ahead or go in another direction. Sticking his nose into this would probably lead to trouble.
After hesitating briefly, he continued his silent advance along the dark, narrow alley.
“—Let’s go.”
The mouth of the sack sagged open.
Sebas’ shoes scraped along the ground, and he soon drew near the sack.
Just as he was about to pass it, he stopped in his tracks.
Sebas felt something had caught onto his pants. Looking down, Sebas saw what he had expected.
A slender arm, like a withered branch reached out from within the sack, grabbing onto the leg of his pants. The half-naked body of a woman appeared from within—
This was when the sack opened fully, exposing the woman’s upper body.
Her blue eyes were dark, clouded over and empty of life. Her shoulder-length hair was messy, with split ends from malnutrition. Her face was swollen like a ball from beatings, and there were numerous pale red spots all over her dried-out, bark-like skin.
She was a desiccated bag of bones, with hardly any vitality left in her.
Surely that must be a corpse. No — she still drew breath. The hand grasping Sebas’ pant leg was the best sign of that. However, if all she could do was breathe, did that truly qualify as living?
“…Could you please let go?”
The girl did not respond to Sebas’ words. It was readily apparent that she was not ignoring him. After all, her eyelids were so swollen that they were only separated by a thin slit. The cloudy pupils which seemed to be peering at the sky from within could not see anything at all.
All Sebas would have to do was move his leg and he would be able to shrug off those fingers, which could not even begin to compare to dried-out twigs. However, he did not. Instead, he continued asking:
“…Are you in difficulty? If so—”
“—Oi, old man. Where the fuck did you come from?”
Sebas was interrupted by a low, brutish voice.
A man appeared from behind the door. His arms and chest bulged with muscle. His scarred face clearly displayed his hostility, and he glared hatefully at Sebas. The lantern he was holding emitted a red light.
“Oi oi oi, the fuck you looking at, old man?”
The man clicked his tongue with exaggerated deliberation, and then jerked his chin at Sebas.
“Fuck right off, old man. While you’re still in one piece.”
Seeing that Sebas remained still, the man took a step forward. The door slammed shut behind him with a ponderous thud. The man slowly placed the lantern by his feet with an intimidating swagger.
“Oi. You deaf, old man?”
He worked his shoulders and cracked his neck. Then he slowly raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. He was clearly not afraid to use violence.
“Hm…”
Sebas smiled. Coming from an aged gentleman like Sebas, that dignified smile clearly displayed a matchless calm and compassion. Yet, for some reason, the man stepped back as though a ferocious carnivore had appeared before him.
“Uh… uh, uh, what’re you—”
Shaken by Sebas’ smile, the man could not finish the words he was trying to form. He staggered back, without realizing how heavily he was panting.
Sebas tucked the scroll — marked with the sigil of the Magician’s Guild — that he had been holding into his belt. Then he took a single step forward, closing the gap to the man, and extended a hand. The man could not even react to that movement. With a silent whisper, the hand holding on to Sebas’ pants fell to the floor of the alley.
That seemed to be the signal for Sebas to seize the man by the lapels — and then he easily lifted his body off the ground.
Anybody seeing this would surely wonder if this was some kind of joke.
Just going by appearances, there was no chance Sebas could take this man in a fight. Be it in terms of age, musculature, his thick arms, height, mass and the aura of violence around him, the younger man had the advantage.
And yet, this distinguished old gentleman was lifting up this heavyweight with one hand.
—No, that was not the case. Perhaps an eyewitness would be able to sense the difference between the two of them. While humans had poor instincts, they could still sense a sufficiently great difference between two parties.
The difference between Sebas and this man was—
The difference between an absolute superior and an utter inferior.
The other man — who had been lifted completely off the ground — flailed his legs and twisted his body. Then, when he thought to take Sebas’ hand in both of his own, his eyes filled with fear as he realised something.
He finally realised that the man before him was nothing like what his appearance suggested. He also realised that pointless resistance would only serve to anger the monster before him.
“What is she?”
As the man began stiffening in fear, that cold voice bored its way into his ears.
That voice was as clear and quiet as a softly-flowing brook, The sheer contrast with the hand that was easily lifting him up only heightened the man’s fear.
“She, she’s a worker in our place,” the man replied, his voice off-key from panic.
“I asked you what she was. And your answer is that she is a worker?”
The man wondered if he had said the wrong thing. However, it was the most correct answer he could have given under the present circumstances. The man’s eyes were wide in fear, trembling like those of a frightened little animal.
“It’s nothing. It’s just that some of my colleagues view humans as objects, so I believed that you too viewed people as objects. If you held that point of view, then you would not consider yourself to have done something wrong. However, you answered that she was a worker. In other words, you considered her a human being. Am I correct? Then, allow me another question. What were you going to do with her?”
The man thought for a moment. However—
One could almost hear the squeezing.
Sebas’ grip intensified, and the man was briefly breathless.
“—-Uggghhh!”
Sebas tightened his grip on the man, making it harder for him to breathe, and the man gave off a queer wail. Sebas was sending a message: “I won’t give you time to think — answer now.”
“She, she was sick, so I was taking her to a temple—”
“—I do not like being lied to.”
“Aiiiieee!”
Sebas’ grip grew even stronger, and the man’s face flushed red as a cry leaked out of his throat. However generous he might have been by discounting the fact that he had put someone into a sack for transport, the man’s actions of dumping said sack into an alley did not feel like he was taking a sick person to the temple for treatment. It was just like disposing of rubbish.
“Please… stop…”
The man was having trouble breathing. He thrashed wildly as he realised the mortal danger he was in.
Sebas casually blocked the fist headed at his face with one hand. The flailing legs hit Sebas body and dirtied his clothes, but Sebas was as stoic as the mountains.
—But of course.
How could a mere human’s legs move a massive slab of iron? Even after taking a square hit, Sebas simply dusted himself off and nonchalantly said:
“I advise you to tell the truth.”
“Gahhhh—”
The man was unable to breathe, and Sebas narrowed his eyes at the man’s crimson face. He let go of the man just before he had passed out.
With a great thump, the man fell to the alley floor.
“G-guwaaargh!”
The main expelled the last dregs of air within himself as a gasped cry, and then greedily drank in the fresh air in big gulps. Sebas continued looking down on him in silence. Then he reached out for his throat again.
“W-wait… p-please, wait!”
Having personally experienced the terrors of oxygen deprivation, the man scrambled away from Sebas’ hand.
“The tem— that’s right! I was taking her to the temple!”
Is he still lying? To think his will is so strong…
Sebas had thought that the man would immediately come clean out of fear for his life. However, the man might have been afraid, but he did not look like he was going to talk right away. In other words, the danger of letting that information slip was on par with Sebas’ intimidation.
Sebas considered if he should change his plan of attack. This was enemy territory. The fact that the man had not cried out to whoever was behind the door for help indicated that he did not expect someone to rescue him immediately. That said, staying here for too long would only lead to more trouble.
His master had not ordered him to cause trouble. His orders were to blend into society and covertly gather intelligence.
“If you’re taking her to the temple, then allow me to do so. I will guarantee her safety.”
The man gulped and his eyes quivered. Then he frantically tried to cobble an excuse together.
“…There’s no guarantee you’ll really take her there.”
“Then you can come with me.”
“I’m busy now, so I can’t go. I’ll take her later.”
The man seemed to have sensed something from Sebas’ expression, and he hurriedly continued:
“She belongs to us by law! If you step in, you’ll be breaking the country’s laws! And if you dare take her away, that’ll be kidnapping!”
Sebas froze, and frowned for the first time.
The man had played on his greatest weakness.
While his master had said that he could take overt action when the situation called for it, that was only when he was playing the role of a butler caring for his mistress.
Breaking the law would lead to an investigation, and possibly even lead to their disguise being pierced. In other words, doing so might lead to major and obvious repercussions, which his master would not smile upon.
Sebas did not think this brute of a man was very learned, but his voice was filled with confidence. In other words, someone must have taught him a little about the law. That being the case, there might be some factual basis to his declaration.
Since there were no witnesses, the answer was simple; violence. He would simply become another corpse here with a broken neck.
However, that was a last resort; something he could only do in direct service to his master’s goals. He could not raise his hand to strike for a girl he had encountered by chance.
That said, was it right to just abandon this woman?
As Sebas hesitated, the man’s crude laughter filled him with anger.
“Oh faithful butler-sama, are you really going to deceive your master and cause trouble?”
For the first time, Sebas’ brow knitted in visible frustration as he took in the man’s mirthful expression. Perhaps the man had grasped his weakness from that display of his.
“I don’t know which noble you serve, but won’t you cause trouble for your master if things get blown up? And who knows, your master might have ties with our establishment. Not afraid of being scolded?”
“…Do you really think my master could not resolve a matter of this magnitude? Rules exist to be broken by the strong, no?”
That seemed to have gotten through to the man, and fear flashed across his face for a moment. However, he recovered his confidence almost immediately.
“…Why don’t you give it a try, then?”
“…Hmph.”
Sebas’ bluff had not worked on the man. He must have some kind of powerful backing. Judging that this approach was not effective, Sebas decided to change tack.
“…I see. Indeed, it would be quite troublesome in a legal sense. However, there is also a law which states that if someone asks for help, one can render said help without fear of legal consequences. I was merely acting in accordance with that law. For starters, she is currently unconscious, so she ought to be taken to the temple for treatment. Am I wrong?”
“Er… No… this…”
The man muttered to himself as he racked his brains.
His mask had fallen.
Sebas breathed a sigh of relief at the man’s poor acting skills and his slow reactions. Sebas had just told a whopper of a lie. Since his opposition had decided to try and use the law against him, Sebas had in turn thrown a wall of legal mumbo-jumbo back his way.
If the man had continued to argue using the law — even if he was only lying — Sebas and his inadequate grasp of the Kingdom’s laws would not have had an answer for him. However, the man did not understand the law and was only parroting what he had heard, so he could not see through Sebas’ lies.
In addition, his lack of legal knowledge meant that he had no response when someone else used the law to argue against him. In addition, this man was probably someone’s minion, so he should not be able to make decisions of his own.
Sebas turned away from the man and cradled the woman’s head.
“Do you want me to rescue you?” Sebas asked, before bringing his ear close to the woman’s cracked lips.
All he could hear was the sound of faint breathing. No, it was more like the last gasp from a deflated balloon. Did a sound like that even count as breathing?
There was no response. Sebas shook his head and asked again:
“Do you want me to rescue you?”
Saving this girl was completely different from helping that old lady. Sebas wanted to help as many people around him as he could, but saving this girl might incur tremendous hassle. Would the Supreme One understand why he had done this? Was this not a violation of His will? A cold gust blew through his heart as he contemplated that point.
There was still no response.
A faint yet crude smile crept back onto the man’s face.
Given that he knew what sort of living hell she had been through, it was obvious why he was sneering. Otherwise, why would he have thrown her outside, ready for disposal?
Good luck did not repeat itself, because regularly occurring phenomena could not be considered good luck.
Indeed, if one considered her grabbing of Sebas’ pants to be good luck, then she would not have any more.
—In her case, her sole piece of good fortune was the fact that Sebas had stepped into this alley, and it was now over. Everything else all rested on how much she wanted to survive.
That was not luck.
—Faintly.
Yes. The girl’s lips moved faintly. It was not the natural movement of breathing. It was a willed, conscious action.
“—”
Sebas’ only response to hearing those words was a big nod.
“I do not believe in helping those who can only pray for others to save them. However… if you struggle and strive to live…”
Sebas’ fingers moved slowly to shut the girl’s eyes.
“Do not be afraid. Rest. You are under my protection now.”
The girl closed her clouded eyes, as though wrapped in a warm shroud of compassion.
The other man could not believe what he had just seen, and so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“It can’t be—”
I didn’t hear anything, the man wanted to say, but he was frozen in place.
“Are you calling me… a liar?”
He did not know when Sebas had stood up, but now his razor-sharp gaze transfixed the man.
Those were fearsome eyes.
Those vicious eyes stopped the man’s breathing, as though they possessed the ability to physically crush his heart within his chest.
“Are you saying I would tell a lie for the likes of you?”
“Ah, no, ah…”
The man’s throat croaked, and then he gulped. His eyes moved, fixating on Sebas’ arms. He must have remembered the consequences of getting carried away.
“Then, I’ll be taking her with me.”
“Ah, wait! No, please wait!” the man shouted. Sebas glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
“What is it now? Trying to buy more time?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s more like, if you take her away, things will be very bad. You’ll be inviting disaster upon you and your master! Have you heard of Eight Fingers?”
Sebas had heard that name during his intelligence gathering. They were a criminal organization which ruled the Kingdom from the shadows.
“So won’t you help me out here? Please pretend you didn’t see anything. If you take her away, they’ll count it as a failure on my part and they’ll punish me.”
Seeing that the man was trying to cajole him now that the use of force had failed, Sebas glared icily at him and spoke in equally frigid tones:
“I’m taking her with me.”
“Come on, give me a break, man! They’ll kill me!”
I might as well kill him now, Sebas mused. The man was still weeping as Sebas weighed the pros and cons of ending the man’s life.
Sebas had originally thought the man was just trying to buy time for help to arrive, but that ought not to be the case given his attitude. However, he could not think of a reason otherwise.
“Why did you not call for help?”
The man’s eyes went wide in shock, and then he hastily answered.
The long and short of it was that if the woman got away while he was calling for help. It would essentially be telling his people that he had made an unsalvageable mistake. In addition, he did not think he could beat Sebas even if he called his colleagues over to help. That was why he was trying to persuade Sebas to change his mind.
Even Sebas could not muster up his motivation in front of that utterly pathetic attitude, and his killing intent vanished. That said, he still did not intend to give the girl over to the man. That being the case—
“…Then why don’t you run away?