Chapter 37 - An Offer He Can't Refuse

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I arrived at the village just after noon, happy that my liquor had actually found its way to my inn, even though a few bottles were missing from the crate. The hectic working of the villagers had stopped and the streets were now almost completely empty. I passed by the hastily fixed houses and went straight towards Holiés’ home.

Once I arrived I went on the back and left the horse there along with the other animals of the house. I circled the house, not wanting to enter from the back door and entered from the front.

What was waiting for me when I entered weren’t either Holiés nor his mother but Clarisse, who was sobbing, crouched in front of the door, looking down. She raised raised her watery eyes to meet mine and I saw the black and blue marks on her young face. She clinged to my pants and shouted, “Lady Fortuna! You have to stop him.”

I crouched next to her and said, “calm down and tell me what happened.”

“Holiés! He’ll kill Jacques! You have to stop him!” she shouted between her tears.

“Shh, it’s alright, calm down,” I said, bringing her head to my chest and caressing her hair.

She pushed me away and shouted, “no, it’s not alright! He said he’ll kill him!”

“Don’t worry, I’m here now,” I said, blocking temporarily the blood flow to her head.

She stared at me and said, “please, Lady Fortuna, you have… to… stop… my…” before passing out.

As soon as she passed out I undid my spell and picked her up. I brought her all the way to Holiés’ room and laid her on the bed to rest before going back to the main room.

Once in the main room I walked up to the table sat at one of the chairs around it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and [looked] around the village. I soon saw Holiés inside the newlyweds’ house, his hands on Jacques’ collar.

(Seems like it’s too late. Oops.)

I took out a few sheets of paper, a quill and an inkwell out of my storage, put them on the table in front of me and started writing a few letters.

It took me almost half an hour to write all the letters I had to write. Every now and then I checked on Clarisse but she was apparently was tired enough to fall asleep instead of waking up shortly after passing out.

Having finished, I put the written papers back in various envelopes and put them back in my storage, then I took out the communication crystal to speak with Raziel and went out of the house.

I contacted Raziel and started walking towards the new house that the two newlyweds had occupied as I spoke to her. She was quite surprised to hear from me in the middle of the day and even more so after she found out what I had to ask her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I reached the house right as I had finished speaking with her. I put the communication crystal back in my storage and entered without knocking.

Once inside I saw Jacques’ body lying not far from the door over the wooden floor stained by his own blood, killed by a single hit to the head. A set of bloodied footprints went from the body to the backdoor of the house.

I passed over the body, walked all the way to the other side and opened the door. The set of footprints continued outside, going into the fields, towards the forest at the borders of the village.

I sat in front of the backdoor, closed my eyes and [looked] at the forest in front of me. I soon spotted Holiés sitting on a rock not far from the border of the forest, his head in his hands. Having found him, I got up and started walking towards the forest.

It took me only about five minutes to reach him. When he heard me approaching he raised his head, panic on his face, then, realizing it was me, he relaxed and said, “oh, it’s just you.”

“Well, sorry if I’m just me,” I said, smiling.

“You saw what I did, didn’t you?” he said, looking down.

“Yes,” I said, sitting next to him.

“I’m an idiot, right?”

“Yes.”

“I was mad. I… I only punched him once. I didn’t really want to kill him…” he said, looking down. “No, maybe I did…” he shaked his head, “I don’t even know myself.”

“Well, wanting it or not you ended up doing it.”

He looked at me and said, “are you going to bring me to the guards?”

“Who? Me?” I laughed, “I’m just taking a stroll through the woods, I saw no one here.”

“Well, it’s not like there are many options now. I either run and abandon my mother and sister to themselves, or get hanged and leave my mother and sister to themselves,” he sighed and looked up, “I should at the very least do the right thing and turn myself in to the village chief or the guards in VIlfori.”

“Well, there is a third option.”

He looked at me, baffled, and said, “what are you saying? I’m just a hunter in some forgotten village who killed a man. I can’t get off with some tricks like you nobles.”

I shook my head and said, “I’m not talking about any underhand way.”

“What then? The queen of the dead is going to bring me back after they hang me?”

I coughed, looking away, then, looking back at him I said, “no, I don’t think she would.”

“Yeah, I doubt it too.”

“You do know death isn’t the only penalty waiting for you, right?”

“What then? You want me to become a slave in some mine? It won’t be any different, I’d still end up away from home. Also, I don’t think anyone will sentence me to slavery instead of death after seeing,” he waved his hand in the direction of the house, “that.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty brutal sight.”

“Thanks for the tactfulness.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, laughing a bit.

“Well, if you’ve finished teasing me I’d like to be left alone for a bit before I meet the executioner,” he said, getting up.

“I’m telling you there is another option.”

“What option?!” he shouted at me.

“You do know that, as the nearest noble, I can claim the right to judge you, right?”

“Wait, didn’t you say it wasn’t an underhand way?” he said, baffled.

“No underhand way, I’m just going to remake you the offer I already made you weeks ago,” I smiled, “would you like to come on my hunts with me?”