Chapter 69: A Life Bought and Sold
She keeps staring at
as we sit alone in the room with only her attendant nearby. Then she turns away, and to my surprise, I am still alive.
"Why did you do it?"
"He wanted to kill ."
She pauses once more and doesn't ask more about that, as if my answer explains everything.
"Do you regret it?" There is a hint of curiosity in her voice.
I open my mouth, about to lie, but then stop myself just in ti, rembering her warning. I still believe that I have no other choice, so I answer honestly.
"No."
She nods, "I see."
Is she not going to ask
how I did it?
"Why didn't you run away?"
"I thought I would get caught, and staying here would be much less suspicious. I also tried to cover it as much as possible."
She leans back on the couch with one of her legs crossed over the other and still looking at , curiously. There is so mana at the top of her hands spinning wildly, but I do not dare to try to probe it to see what she does.
"What will you do if I try to kill you?"
Try? Don't be funny. There is no way it would be trying. I will die the mont you decide to do so. Still, I answer honestly.
"I will try to kill you too."
A small laugh escapes her mouth, and her attendant, a young redhead woman, seems to be shocked.
"What do you regret more, killing Eric or getting caught?"
"Getting caught."
"No regrets for taking his life?"
"The mont he said he would kill , there was none."
Mana in her hand spins faster and faster, and I realize that it's sothing like a fidget toy for her, maybe also an exercise. The mana continues to spin, then it stops, changes density, creates shapes, and disappears only to be summoned back. All at a terrifying speed, showing her mastery over it.
"You can ask one question."
Huh?
That makes
lose control of my mana for a second, but I quickly regain control and continue to move it in my body, ready to at least try to fight back. I am sure she knows about it. There is no way she doesn't.
Yet she looks totally unbothered by it. Is she finding that funny?
"What do I need to do to stay alive?"
"Good question. If you asked anything else, I would kill you." There isn't a single hesitation in her voice, and I am sure she would do just that. "I paid 100 gold for you. How can you pay
back?"
Is she ssing with ? Why did you tell
to ask a question when you aren't even answering it? What can I even pay her back with? How much is it even worth? A lot? Not that much?
"I don't know what I can do for you, but I am good at fighting and have so talent with mana," I say slowly after a bit of consideration.
Her eyes are piercing , and she finally stands up. Mana around her hand disappears.
She is slightly taller than , looking to be 60 years old. Gray hair tied in a ponytail and neat black clothes remind
of a man's suit without a jacket. Only her shirt is gray. It makes her seem even slimr and taller. She moves the way a trained warrior would. Every move seems sharp and dangerous, yet confident and slow. It's hard to explain.
"That's another reason why you are alive." She steps closer, and I realize that I'm immobilized, unable to move even a single finger. My eyes cease blinking. My lungs don't draw breath, my heart refuses to beat, and even the flow of my blood and mana cos to a standstill.
I can only stare as she stops in front of
and gently pokes my forehead with her finger. Her mana enters my body with the force of a tsunami and totally destroys my defenses. Then I feel it squeezing my mana heart and doing sothing with it.
She leans in closer, her eyes unwavering. I can see the glimr of curiosity in them, mingling with a hint of amusent. The mana around her forms intricate patterns, almost beautiful if it weren't so terrifying. The blunt truth hits
and I realize that just like that, my life is likely reduced to a re source of amusent for this woman. This realization is chilling, but I have to focus on survival so I swallow hard, forcing myself to maintain eye contact, showing her I'm not easily scared.
Imdiately after that, it stops, and I can move again.
I drop to my knees, taking a breath in and shaking as I look at her. With great effort I control my mana and force myself into [Focus]
, using both parts of my mind to calm myself down.
"There is sothing weird about you and other drifters," she looks down at
and then turns to her attendant. "Take care of him for now." When she is about to leave the room, she turns back to
for a second. "It's an interesting thing you have on your brain. Rudintary, but interesting."
Then she leaves and her attendee finally moves.
"Oh man, that was the first ti in months I saw her laugh out loud. It really shocked , you know," the redhead woman helps
stand up.
[Phase Warden - lvl ??]
Unlike her master, she is smiling brightly now that the monster of a human being has left.
"Listen, how did you kill Eric? I saw your papers, and you are what? Level 24? I think Eric was close to 100 or sothing like that? Did you kill him in his sleep? What did you do with his body?"
Do I have to answer that? Can I lie now?
"You know, he was a distant family mber of the master." She flashes
another bright smile, not even waiting for
to answer.
Ah, I see. She's one of those types - an extrovert. The sort who relishes in the sound of her own voice.
My worst enemy.
"By the way, drifters are really expensive, right? 100 gold is a loooot of money." Her tone is weird as if she is telling so joke only she understands. Then she pulls
towards the door while chirping away.
I slowly regain my calm now that I am getting my mana back under control, and it doesn't seem that I will die right away.
"Oh, but don't worry, we didn't tell anyone that you killed him. It's not like they would believe that anyway, and it seems like you did a good job with covering it."
We pass by a pigpen, and I look towards it for a second before looking back at the terrifying woman's attendant. She still continues to talk.
Actually, isn't she more scary than the woman from before?
I slowly feel my energy drain away as I am forced to listen, in case she says sothing important.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Oh, finally you talk. Sure, go ahead! But I won't answer most of them anyway."
Why would you… whatever.
"Why am I still alive?"
"I will answer this one because you look so pitiful," She giggles. "It's most likely because you are interesting and the master found it amusing. She won't show it, but she is super bored all the ti and rarely sothing catches her interest. That's why!"
Huh? Is that a good enough reason to glance over the murder of your family mber?
"Ask more!"
Please, leave
alone.
"How much is 100 gold?"
"I almost forgot, you are a drifter, so obviously you won't know! A level 50 soldier makes 1 gold a year! 1 gold is 100 silver, and one silver is 100 copper. Bread costs 1-3 copper. A glass of ale costs 2 to 4 coppers. Farrs make 15 silver a year? Sothing like that. So yeah, it's a lot of money."
Oh dang it.
"Why would they want to throw
to the frontlines if I am worth that much?"
Her laugh is the loudest I've heard from her up until now.
"Of course, you're not! Drifters are rare but not worth that much. The master is too busy to deal with little things, so I bought you instead of her! Henry sold you for 2 gold to the frontlines, and Eric paid him 5 gold to let him take you 'under his wing'."
Then where did the 100 gold amount co from?
A strong suspicion hits .
It can't be, right?
"The master is super rich and bad with money."
Oh no.
"I told her you would cost 100 gold!"
"..."
Yup, it's just as I thought.
"I actually paid only 8 gold for you!" Her smile is victorious and proud as she looks at . "Oh, and it's expected for you to pay double. 100 for the money she spent and 100 more for her to have a return on investnt."
She is totally shaless as she says this.
For heaven's sake.
Help.
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