“HAHAHAHAHA!!”, Sylvia laughs out at this time with little restrain.

“As expected of my ‘friend’, your thought process is truly spectacular.”

“So? What now?”

“You’re eliminated Zhe Yun, making you the strongest person here. You’re free to do as you please.”

“I’m still alive now for a reason, right?”

Sylvia mouths off relentlessly, seemingly ignoring the fact that she’s barely a step away from death.

“Of course, it’s because I like you.”, I say extremely casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her grinning face freezes for a moment, before she turns the corners of her mouth up to a smile again.

“That’s a joke in poor taste. You and I both know that you’re detached from the world.”

“You’re unconcerned about the happenings about you truly. If anything, sometimes it seems like you’re not concerned about your own life.”

“You remain apathetic towards things, always willing to throw something away.”

“You can’t expect me to believe that you of all people are fond of me?”

I take a step back.

I crease my brows.

“It seems that I’ve been a lot less self aware than I thought.”

Having your true feelings that you only subconsciously knew yourself exposed so clearly…

… isn’t a good feeling.

“How about you? Your Dwarven village… if you’re in the Assassin’s guild, you must have left behind that life of happiness for this too, right?”, I shoot back, having a slight sense of not wanting to lose out.

“Hah!”, she responds simply.

“If only it were that way…”, she says despondently.

“I killed all of them.”, she smiles wickedly.

“Slaughtered every single one of them in cold blood. It was truly a spectacle to behold.”

She has a crazed expression, continuing.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“They were just too fragile, so easily crushed.”

“I would have killed you like them too, what a pity.”

Her face contorts to an ugly expression.

One filled with bloodlust, coldness… and sorrow.

I don’t know what happened, but I know…

“You can’t have done it.”, I say, stating a fact.

“Huh? Are you going to say you believe in me or some sappy shit like that?”, she snaps back.

“HAHAHAHA!”, I laugh out.

Suppressing my laughter, I continue, “Of course not. It just sounds like a lot of effort. You just said I was apathetic, don’t you know birds of a feather flock together?”

She may have been happy-go-lucky… or her facade may have been, but she most certainly didn’t have much attachment to anything.

She could change her temperament so fast likely because of that.

It explains why I felt so close to her even though we’ve only just met.

Her look turns into a look of anger.

“And? Who are you to doubt my story!”, she shouts.

“Simply a friend.”

I sigh.

“How about we make a deal?”

“You can have the potions, all I want is to enter the Assassin’s guild as a logistics member.”

She also gets to live.

I point at the slave contracts in the caravan as I say so.

Regaining some calmness, she seems to consider my proposal.

Her eyes don’t stop staring at me while she does so though.

I’m slightly amused by this.

I am in an invincible position now after all.

I pick up a contract and start injecting my intention and some mana into it

“Wh-”, she tried to ask, but stopped herself.

“Alright, I agree. But the contract can’t be longer than a month.”, she says.

“A year.”

Her eyes widen.

“2 months.”

“A year.”

“3 months, it’s already a long time.”

“A year.”

“Don’t push it… half a year is the most I’ll go, or you can simply collect my dead corpse.”, she says icily.

She’s figured out my intentions.

I would be hunted by the Assassin’s Guild and Wind’s village if Guan Tong were to reach his destination safely. I could go under the employ of Guan Tong’s backer by some miracle, but even then, as a Mage apprentice, my position certainly wouldn’t be high.

As for my protection, it depends on the amount of effort the 2 decide to spend on it. The Assassin’s Guild may not care, but Sylvia’s village is likely to. Just one skilled warrior acting on their emotions and wanting to take revenge, is likely to end my miserable existence.

It’s simple, if I allow Sylvia to get away with the potions, the organisations have a clear target. They would hardly stop to care about some bystander like me, especially if i’ve joined as a low ranking member.

If everyone were to be buried here, proper investigation would certainly be done to find the potions and I would be instantly found out. In that case, using the Assassin’s guild as the target would make my position much safer.

I could have cooperated with Wind, but… she’s dead.

“Half a year it is then.”, I throw over a contract.

She catches it, knowing that I didn’t plan on a year in the beginning now.

With an irritated expression, she drops her blood on it, as the contract disappears into the air.

Almost instantly, a black collar appears on her neck.

The collar then dissolved, forming an odd tattoo on her neck.

I throw out a potion to her, as the merchant, Guan Tong has a nasty expression.

He seems to want to say something, but he knows whatever he says would be futile.

That understanding of knowing that even as your death nears, you can’t take any actions to prevent it… must be excruciating.

He understands that no proposal by him would move me.

There’s no credibility to his words, since his backer could easily kill me once we’re in the city.

He looks as Sylvia downs the potion with a complicated expression.

He lets out a long sigh.

Then he takes a short dagger from his pouch.

He hands it to a servant, urging him with his despondent eyes.

That servant was his most trusted aide.

He had followed Guan Tong for many years, and he understood his master well.

He quickly slashes Guan Tong’s throat, before slitting his own.

They both quickly fall on the ground lifelessly.

The remaining surrounding servants finally understand their situations.

They panic, and run towards the forest, noticing my gaze was on them.

I look coldly, as I send several ‘Ice Lance’s towards them, ending their lives.

I turn back to the almost recovered Sylvia.

“Shall we go?”