It took a few seconds for Robert's head to slide off the blade and topple onto the floor. I looked on in shock as Nigel wiped the blade on Robert's shirt to clean the blood off before sheathing his blade.
"Why did you do that?"
"What do you mean why? That's what we came here to do, no?"
"I mean, yeah… but."
"But what? We just stopped a civil war from starting. We're heroes, probably just save the lives of thousands of innocent people who will be spared the coming war. Besides, he told us everything he knew anyway."
"I suppose. I wanted to see if he could have arranged something for us to sneak across with those pilgrims."
"We can do that without him, and what, you would have let a war break out here because you wanted to get away?"
His words stung. He was right, that is what I was thinking about. I just remembered those words burned into my mind; the word Wrath constantly forced me to see. Survive. That word drove me more than I realised, so much so that I was ready to let cities burn. Not so I could survive, but that survival would be easier. I was ready to let a war start for my own convenience.
"You're right, let's go."
Nigel walked behind the chair where Robert's body was sitting, grabbed the arms and pulled it to the floor, kicking it under the desk to hide it. Once the body was pushed under the desk, we walked towards the door. I followed behind Nigel, thinking about what he did and how he did it. It was cold, calculated. It almost seemed like something I would do when I was pissed off, almost like he was possessed.
He casually descended the tower and walked out to the main courtyard. A few members of the black hand looked at us as we passed, smiling and giving a nod of approval. Of course, nobody knew what we had just done.
As we neared the main gate, a guard approached us, asking why we were leaving already.
We told the guard we were heading back home for now, that we would be back later to talk with Robert about smuggling us north somehow. As we were lying to the guard, a voice yelled out from above.
"Oiiii! You two! Where's Robert? He's not in his office!"
Nigel turned back and yelled, "Probably taking a shit!" before turning back towards the guard with an annoyed look. The guard gave a nod, and the gates started to slide open.
As we walked out and across the clearing to the treeline, I kept glancing over to Nigel; the expression on my face made my thought obvious. Did that just happen? Did we really just get away that easily? As soon as we walked into the treeline and our vision of the fort was obscured, Nigel gave the command to run as the two of us broke out into a full sprint.
We ran for a few minutes before stopping to catch our breath on the side of the road.
"What, what was the point in that?"
"They could find the body any second. So, we uh, had to get, distance."
We both spoke what little we could between pants. After a few seconds, we started to lightly jog the rest of the way until we reached the crossroads and turned right, towards Ravens Rest. At that point, we resumed a walking pace as we both drank from our water pouches, which we had packed in our travel packs.
"We probably could have left most of our stuff back in Ravens Rest."
"Yeah, well, I wanted to be prepared."
"For what?" Nigel asked as he put his water pouch back.
"In case we never went back. I came to learn first and foremost, and I didn't think we would get him alone that easily."
"Fair enough, I suppose. Well, you said we would get paid his bounty, right?"
"That's what Corvis said, yeah."
"Well then, that's an additional incentive, isn't it. One thing I learnt from my father, money opens many doors, and if a door is locked, it just needs more money."
"Are you saying we could bribe our way across the border?"
"That's just another option; things aren't as bad for us as you think."
By the time we returned to Ravens Rest, the sun had started to get low in the sky behind us. We made our way directly to the town hall to see Corvis and report to him right away. We went straight into the building, and the receptionist saw us to his office, where we were asked to wait outside.
We sat in the hallway for thirty minutes waiting until a well-dressed and very fat man left the office. Corvis stuck his head out and spotted us, cocking his head to the side as a gesture for us to enter. I was just glad I could take all my hoodie and scarf off as my neck and head were drenched with sweat.
"Shinya, what can I do for you? Also, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting this one before." He walked to the far end of the room, circling his desk and sitting as the two of us approached, and I sat as Nigel looked around the room before pulling his chair back.
"My name is Nigel Fenring, and I just decapitated Robert of the Black Hand."
Nigel calmly sat next to me as it felt like everything went silent. Corvis stared at him in disbelief, looking to me for some sort of confirmation. I simply nodded to him, confirming it was true.
"Well… fuck. You sure he's dead? You're not just pulling my leg?"
"Nigel here cut his head off and shoved his body under his desk so we could get away before he was found. No doubt they've definitely found him by now; you'll hear word of it tomorrow most likely."
"Well… fuck. Okay shit. Um. I honestly wasn't expecting this at all. I honestly figured you would fail. I guess my workload just got a whole lot busier."
"And our payment?" Nigel leaned forward, staring at him unblinkly.
"Right, well, you see, I can't pay."
Nigel sprang to his feet, placing his hand on his sword.
"Whoa! Wait! It's not that I don't want to, it just can't. You see, when there is a bounty placed on someone by the state, like Goran, and you kill him, I then, acting upon the interests of the state, can pay you. However, Robert's bounty, much like yours, is issued by the church. So it must be paid by the church."
"Meaning for us to get paid, the church has to give it to us themselves?"
Nigel's eye narrowed, and the grip on his blade tightened. "You fucking piece of shit, you gave us the bounty knowing full well we can't accept payment."
"Hey! He can't accept payment, you can! You're not wanted by them!"
After a tense moment, Nigel let out a huff and sat down again. "So you're saying I should take credit, I should collect the money without Shinya here anywhere in sight?"
"Exactly."
"So… where's the money?"
"Well, a sum that large, I would have to send a letter, and then they would have to dispatch an envoy with guards, no doubt, to come here for payment."
"So… they'll arrive here after the Viltin army?"
"Yes."
Nigel and I looked at each other. We both knew we wouldn't see that money, that all this was only the benefit of Crovis, that we both had just been played.
"You know." I stood up and leaned forward, placing my hands on his desk. "Being taken advantage of like that kind of pisses me off."
I felt a burning in my chest and an intense heat behind my eyes. As I looked down at Corvis, I saw fear grip him as he cowered down in his chair. His eyes bulged as sweat quickly draped his skin. "Wha, what the fuck are you?" he muttered out.
"Take over the Black Lands, take down all wanted posters of me. Tell everyone that I killed Goran and all those other criminals in Ravens Rest. You will make good on your promise to make me a hero, or so help me, I'll become the fucking villain."
He nodded frantically as a pool of wetness formed around his crotch, flowing onto the floor. I closed my eyes, sat back down, breathed deeply and opened them again. I felt the fire in my dissipating, but for that moment, it almost felt as if my eyes were brighter than normal.
"Why do you want to do that?" Nigel asked casually, breaking the tense awkwardness.
"So I don't have to walk around with a hood on and crap covering my face."
"Hm, yeah, fair point. Alright, Corvis, I'll be back tomorrow to talk finances and to confirm you've sent the letter. Okay?"
Corvis's eyes slowly dragged from me, towards Nigel.
"This is the part where you say yes and should be writing the letter already. I expect you to send it within the hour." Nigel said as he stood up. Moving behind the chair and pushing it forward towards the desk. "Till tomorrow."
Nigel turned to leave, and I followed quickly behind. I never would have expected someone with that much power to fold so easily to us. I mean, after all, he's much older and probably much stronger. Once we left, Nigel turned to me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me down an alley.
"We need to find somewhere safe for the night. He'll either comply or try to have us killed, and I don't want to take chances. Men like him talk a big game, but when it comes down to it, they're cowards."
"So, where are we staying?"
"I don't know, maybe we leave town, camp in the woods tonight just to be safe? Do you know any other inns we could stay at?"
There was one I could think of, one where no random person could enter. "The trader inn, near the city entrance."
Of course, we didn't have a trading license, so we weren't allowed to stay there, but upon arrival, we found the area was surprisingly empty. We haggled with the owner for a bit, stating that he had almost no customers and plenty of free rooms. After agreeing to pay triple the normal cost per room, we were allowed to stay.
We took shifts sleeping just to be safe. Thankful the night passed without incident, and when the next morning came, we left the inn a few hours after sunrise.
"Sir, we checked every inn that services mercs; we couldn't find them."
We were stopped in our tracks as right outside the inn, right at the front gate of the city, was Corvis standing with sixty men at attention. "Well, fucking find him! We can't…"
He stopped as he locked eyes with me, as Nigel yawned and stretched, clearing his throat loudly enough for everyone else to turn their head. "Mister Corvis! I'm here to talk to you about your promise to us. Or would you rather discuss the consequences of breaking that promise?"
Corvis took two steps back, pointing towards us. "S-stay back, you fucking demons!"
"Demons!? That's a rude thing to say to your business partners."
"You!" He shouted while pointing to the largest and strongest-looking man he had. "Kill that fucking kid, NOW."
The soldier who turned to us was massive, as tall as Kona and covered completely in plate armour. He drew two blades and held both of them out as he started to walk towards us. The other men stood still and watched. If he wanted us dead, why not have them all attack at once? Why just one man? Or perhaps, this man was just that skilled a fighter.
"It's early, man, but alright." Nigel stepped forward and drew his blade, standing in front of me. Clearly, he wanted to do this himself.