Chapter 4: Dragon!
"How long have you been working for my brother?"
Billiard looked up at me and ground his teeth.
"A few years. How did you know?."
Oh shit really?
It was mostly an educated guess and years of experience. Though I frowned in worry.
The thing about this tactic is that it could easily screw me over if I'm wrong. After all, what if he's lying and my bluff worked against me. That's why torture works better than trickery.
The problem is that as a level 1 with no real abilities besides a fairly weak healing skill I couldn't exactly apprehend my strongest guard.
So bluffs and trickery was my last option.
"Guess." I smirked.
Billiard just scoffed, "Of course. He wasn't truly willing to forgive me after what I had done."
I'll have to ask somebody who knows about what he's talking about later. I think it's time to wrap this up.
"You know what your real mistake was in all this? You chose not to support your last lifeline, and for what?" I asked, more out of curiosity this time.
Billiard just scoffed, "Well, can you blame me?"
I smirked.
He's not wrong. I would have done the same, and if I were a kinder and more merciful man I would have forgiven him.
'But I need to figure out how my new sub-skill works.'
Schlick
I slid my knife from ear to ear and watched him bleed out on the ground before I received a notification.
[Congratulations! You have plundered the skill [Swordsmanship] from Billiard Snow. Would you like to bestow it unto another?]
My eyes shone in excitement, but now wasn't the time.
I want to grant this skill to Roger but his loyalty is still questionable. Especially with how easy he is. It just means he's quick to fall out of loyalty the moment I say a mean thing he doesn't like.
Bestowing skills should be reserved for gifts or fanatics.
I stood up and gave out my orders, "Take his armor and leave him for the wolves. Butcher the oversized rat while you're at it."
I was referring to the dead horse, not the spy.
Roger and the others looked at me in a daze, "How did you know he was a traitor?"
I just shrugged, "I'm a people person. His attitude was a dead giveaway that he didn't respect me, but it was his facial expressions when I complimented you. His look of disdain.
It was clear he had no love for slum trash like us. As for him working for my brother? That was mostly an educated guess really. I have no real enemies. I'm a nobody afterall. At least I was."
The odds that my father would allow an enemy spy from a foreign kingdom to sneak into my army were slim but not impossible. Especially since Seraphina already took up that role.
That left my brother.
Though from Billiards words it seems he wasn't too on guard against a bastard.
I just looked at the bodies one last time before walking up to Roger.
NEIGH!
STOMP.
"Whoa there Trixie. Sorry Master. She never does that. I don't know what's gotten into her."
My brows just furrowed in frustration, thinking about the notification from earlier.
[Congratulations! You have gained the title: Enemy Of Horses]
'Great.'
...
After walking on foot for an hour we finally got back on track. Though some people seemed confused over the dead horse being dragged along with the deer.
"Well, at least you didn't tousle with a bear, but did you really have to kill him? You could have just sent him out on the battlefield to die?" Seraphina said.
I just waved it off, "We won't be fighting for another few weeks or maybe months. Best to kill a spy before they do something stupid. Sorry, I meant 'hostile spy'."
Seraphina just crossed her arms and gave out a heavy sigh before sinking into her chair.
I chuckled and looked out the window of my carriage staring at Roger for a second before calling him.
"Captain Roger-... Weird. Why does that sound familiar? Whatever. Why did Billiard have a fall out with my brother?"
Roger just gave a nervous smile before hesitantly answering.
"He slept with your brother's favorite prostitute. More than once."
"Hmm, oh well. Another thing, I need you to scout the isle… Fort uhh… I'll come up with a good name later. Take your people and report to me first thing. Understood?"
Captain Roger saluted, "Yes sir!"
After watching him go on his way I looked back at his loyalty level.
[Roger: Loyalty 60]
I just sighed.
'Good, but it could be better.'
I then looked over at Seraphina.
[Seraphna Augustas Leafania: Loyalty 0]
I just scoffed and rolled my eyes.
"How long have you worked for the goblin?"
"You better be calling him that because he's a goblin. Because if you're trying to insult him…"
I raised my hands in defense.
"It's just where I'm from, goblins and elves are practically sworn enemies. At least from what I have heard. To see an elf, a Royal Elf at that, bending the knee and even swearing her, (emphasis on her) allegiance to a goblin…"
Seraphina leaned against the window and looked out at the stars as if contemplating her answer.
"If only you knew who you were talking about…"
I just sighed before leaning back and putting my feet up on the bench, waiting for her answer but sadly it never came.
The goblin, Nathaniel, had already told me before I left that he would personally tell me everything once I passed his little test. Not even his faithful servant was allowed to tell me.
So I let it go and closed my eyes for the night.
...…
BANG BANG BANG
The next day I woke up to rushed knocking from outside.
"Sir! It's me! I found something you need to hear!"
I opened up the door to the carriage and watched Roger hop in.
"What's with the fanfare?" I asked, noticing the excitement.
"There's a dragon! A young one too! Won't be easy to take down but I think we can do it! Just say the word and I'll send a squad out to take it down!"
My eyes went wide.
A dragon? Why would you ever want to kill such an incredible creature!?
"How many people know about this dragon?"
Roger starts to slow down and breathe, clearly noticing his boss's lack of excitement.
'Why isn't the Lord more excited? A dragon's body is worth a fortune. Even young ones. Even the elf looks giddy.'
"Ah well, as soon I saw it I panicked and told my men to retreat and rushed here as soon as possible. So just us three."
I nodded slowly and told him to keep this information to just the three of us.
"I'll be out there in a few minutes. Prepare a horse… uh, make sure it's blindfolded before I get on it."
I looked over to Seraphina.
She just had a confused look on her face. Though she was more annoyed than confused.
"Tell me about dragons."
Seraphina scrunched her brows, "What's there to say? Their bodies are worth enough money to turn this future fortress of yours into a palace fortress. The best part about them is that the surrounding area they stay in tends to give birth to great treasures."
"So I should kill it?"
She just shrugged.
"I know. It sounds silly. Why not befriend them right? That way you'll have an unlimited amount of treasures. The problem is the dragon itself."
Of course I knew enough about dragons to know what she was going to say.
"So it's true? They really hoard treasures?"
She nodded.
"I have never heard of a dragon that does not."
Still…