"...Hah!" Diamanes let out a bemused sneer, the mouth in the young man's palm opened widely in disbelief. Glenn rubbed his eyes, crouching down in front of what was now half a man. The upper torso of what he chose to categorize as man was there. He didn't feel like checking the corpse's lower body to verify his theory, anyway.
"So I did kill him. Uh. I don't know if that's fortunate or not," He scratched the back of his head, before nudging at the corpse with his feet. Unlike many he had met until now, this one seemed completely dead and not ready to return ever.
"...So where did you come from, hmm?" Glenn muttered, trying to go through the corpse's pockets. Well, "pockets" might be the wrong word, knowing that there was barely half of a dark robe left on the remaining lower body. Glenn suddenly felt a slight lump and jerked his hand back, wincing in disgust.
"Welp, not very manly, but man for sure." He slowly wiped his hand off on the robe, standing up in disappointment. Nothing was interesting, and the corpse was wearing nothing much that the young man could use to determine his identity.
"...It's not like I'm an actual detective...What am I even supposed to do with half a body?" He mumbled, looking at the pair of legs barely attached to a waist. Glenn shrugged, picked up the corpse, and forcefully made it enter his dimensional pouch.
"Maybe the others will have more luck figuring something out by investigating the corpse..."
Diamanes watched with his mouth slightly open, only to sneer dejectedly.
"...Never thought I would see a man fit in a pouch, even if that's only a half of one," The entity disappeared from the purple hand, leaving Glenn alone. The young man glanced around one last time, before deciding to head back to camp. Nothing disturbed his return, which allowed him to think back to the attack and the issue with his Mana.
'There is no doubt Maron was the goal of whoever was the attacker, and I'm sure there are plenty of reasons as to why this shitty merchant would need to get assassinated. We only need to find the exact one, I suppose. Wait, no, that's not in my contract. Or is it...?' Glenn stopped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. This was initially an escort request, which meant Maron knew there would be some kind of mess on the way. Could he have prepared for that specific attack?
'When I think back to it, he didn't seem too surprised someone wanted to kill him. Unless I'm wrong and he just didn't notice he was the main target. Heh, that wouldn't even surprise me.' Glenn shook his head and resumed his walk. His Mana was around seventy percent full. Since he couldn't take the time to calculate how much the Nitrogen Lance cost him in terms of energy, he'll just have to assume it's an attack that uses a hundred and ten percent of his Mana. The ultimate spell for when he was in Overload. The corner of his lips curled up slightly.
'Heh, now I have an actual ultimate spell. That shit is probably too strong for even a normal Third Circle to master. Redan and the books I read didn't lie when they said that someone who mastered the Draconic School was way above their weight class.' An ember of pride swallowed Glenn's heart for a second, before being snuffed out by Diamanes' mocking remark.
'Don't forget you practically blew yourself up to use the Lance. You shouldn't use that thing again until you reach the stage of True Initiate, or you might just...well, implode.'
Glenn chuckled and finally arrived back to the convoy. The mercenaries were done treating their wounds and everyone seemed ready to leave. The young man quickly glanced around, searching for Reed. He found him talking to Sahro with a hushed tone, the Black Heir listening with an annoyed expression. His curved sword was strapped to his waist, his good hand resting on its pommel.
"...We need to make a choice, and quickly. The night is going to fall soon!" Reed was desperately trying to explain something to Sahro, who couldn't look less interested. The Black Heir was about to shrug but noticed Glenn coming his way, and so, smiled widely. He grabbed Reed's shoulder and pointed toward his friend.
"Why don't you ask Glenn? I'm not the brain of the team, you know, just the powerful guy. I'm sure he'll be able to help," Without even letting Reed answer, Sahro ran away, fleeing responsibilities like the pest. Glenn sighed, before walking to Reed. The mercenary had a tired look and seemed like he could use a few nights of sleep.
"...So, Reed, what's going on?" Glenn asked, crossing his arms together.
'Let's deal with the urgent stuff now and figure out the corpse later on,' He decided, ready to listen to Reed. The mercenary heaved heavily, before pointing with his chin at the convoy.
"...Jorin reported the casualties to me, and it's not the best. We lost a handful of good men, while a dozen more are hurt and in need of treatment." Reed paused, waiting for Glenn's reaction. The young man rubbed the back of his head.
"How urgent are their conditions?"
Reed looked at the sky for a few seconds before replying.
"They'll survive for now, but they might risk latent damages if they don't get healed by specialists. I know they're not really under your command, Sir, but—"
Glenn cut him off, raising his hand.
"We're not far from King's Rise, tell Jorin to bring the wounded back to the city. Josh needs the break, so he'll accompany them. And Jorin seems to have a good head on his shoulders, so it should be fine," He swiftly decided, unbothered. The wounded would only serve as weaknesses to the convoy. It was just better to get rid of them now instead of having them die in front of him. Reed frowned and crossed his arms in turn.
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"But what about their safety? No offense to Sir Josh, but he might not be strong enough to escort the wounded back to King's Rise," The mercenary looked quite worried.
'It seems like he cares about his comrades quite a bit. Not that I don't understand him.' Glenn sneered, before patting Reed's shoulder.
"I have a good reason to believe that the attackers don't care whatsoever about y'all, so they should be safe. The only one truly at risk outside of King's Rise is Maron," The young man reassured Reed, before heading to meet Javier, Josh, and Sahro. Reed mechanically saluted, lost in thoughts. He suddenly jolted back awake.
"I—I'll pass on your orders, sir!" Reed exclaimed, before turning to go meet Jorin and the wounded. Glenn dusted his hands off with a satisfied look.
'I love it when work takes care of itself thanks to the competent people around.'
He arrived at his assigned cart, noticing the others waiting there. Josh was sitting with his head leaning on his knees, while Javier was guarding the end of the convoy, his bow drawn. Sahro was leaning against the cart, holding his stump silently. He looked up when Glenn arrived, grinning.
"Well, if it isn't the leader of the convoy. Work isn't too hard?" Sahro tried to taunt Glenn, without much success. The young man only shrugged and sank his hand in his dimensional pouch, pulling out the half of the body he found by the feet. Sahro's eyes widened, and both Josh and Javier turned their head inquisitively. Glenn dropped the corpse in front of him, before cleaning his hands with a Mundare.
"That's the one who was controlling the undead waves. I think. He was already in that state when I found him," The young man explained. Javier crouched next to the corpse, studying it. Josh whistled, impressed.
"You got him with that powerful attack we felt earlier, I suppose? I wouldn't want to die that way," He remarked, not too invested in the matter. Sahro frowned.
"Too bad he died. Had he been alive, we could have asked him who he was working for." He lamented, sighing.
Glenn sneered.
"I'm not sure asking nicely would have been enough for him to spill out anything. But yeah, I agree. I didn't aim to kill the summoner, though..."
The team remained silent, observing the corpse like a band of dads looking at a V8, until Javier took the corpse's boot away. Glenn raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. The silent hunter rubbed his finger on the sole, his finger collecting dirt and white dust.
"...Crap," Josh suddenly let out, groaning displeasedfully. Glenn turned around with a surprised expression.
"What's wrong?"
Josh pointed at the corpse.
"That white dust, it's probably from the quarry Maron wants us to go to. The process of excavating and cutting stones often leaves that kind of dust behind, and it's hard to get rid of it when it's on your shoes," The Pale Son explained, Javier nodding silently to back his words.
Glenn sneered and kicked a stone away in annoyance.
"Tsk, why doesn't it surprise me? Maybe Palancar was never Maron's goal, but he would never admit to that. Shit, I guess we'll have to deal with it," He sighed, before turning toward Josh.
"Anyway, I need your help getting the wounded to King's Rise. It should be a safe travel, but stay careful, alright?"
Complicated emotions passed over Josh's face, only for it to become resigned. Even though Glenn formulated his phrase like a request, it was nothing but an order. But that didn't displease Josh that much, and Glenn knew that.
'That guy needs time to grieve. We weren't affected by Palancar's events as he was. And I doubt Javier even cares, anyway. That's the better choice,' Glenn thought, holding his hand out for a shake.
"...No problem. I'll see you back at King's Rise, then. I'll pay a beer to everyone went you all come back," Josh shook the young man's hand, smiling weakly. Glenn nodded, before patting him on the shoulder. Josh then left to find Jorin and the wounded mercenaries, before swiftly leaving the convoy.
A few minutes later, Glenn jumped on top of Maron's carriage and clapped his hands together loudly.
"Alright, everybody gathers up. Yes, everyone, please!" Slowly, every worker and mercenaries were gathered in front of him, listening intently. Glenn drew a deep breath, internally wincing.
'...I swear, why do I need to do that? Can't Maron get back on his feet or something?' He mentally grumbled, before clearing his throat. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the gathered crowd.
"Alright! Thank you all for listening. For everyone who still doesn't know me, I'm Glenn! I'm a Dark-Gold Fixer, and arguably the strongest bastard in this damned convoy. If anyone doubts that, please raise your hand," Glenn began. Sahro raised his hand without hesitation, only to receive a slap from Javier, the silent hunter's expression blank as always. Glenn's lips flinched slightly when he noticed the spectacle from the corner of his eyes, but he continued nonetheless.
"Perfect! Then, I expect no one to complain that I'm taking over the convoy, right?" Both the workers and mercenaries nodded, not very surprised. Glenn wasn't the only one who had noticed Maron's strangeness, and since the merchant couldn't assure the leadership, someone had to take control. Sadly for Glenn, there could only be him. The young man sighed and stamped his foot on the ceiling of Maron's carriage. The merchant cursed a few times but remained hidden in it, probably up to no good.
"Due to the previous attack, our return to King's Rise was delayed, which wasn't helped by the unexpected deviation Monsieur Maron wanted us to take. Our best choice is either to camp in here, the middle of nowhere, or get to the quarry before the curtain of night is on us," Glenn explained, before sitting on the roof of the carriage comfortably, his legs hanging down.
"And so, since I'm not really a leader, I'll instead let you all choose!" The young man exclaimed proudly. He grinned seeing the workers and mercenaries' confused expressions.
'You should have just decided to get to the quarry, this is meaningless...' Diamanes sighed inside Glenn's mind. The latter continued, unbothered.
"Those who want to stay and camp here, please stand to my left. The others, on the other side, please!" He clapped his hands together, hurrying them to choose.
'Come on, we don't have the whole day,' Glenn thought with a tint of annoyance.
After a moment of confusion, the ranks soon began to form.
On one side, the mercenaries, who wished to camp here and not risk another attack on the convoy. On the other side, the workers, who wanted to get to the relative safety of the quarry. Glenn grinned when he realized that the workers' main reason for wanting to go to the quarry was safety. They could only think this way because they were unaware of the fact that the attacker came from the same place they wanted to take refuge in.
'Heh, ain't no way I'm telling them that, though,' Glenn thought, his chin leaning in his hand.
There was one reason he didn't tell them that.
And that was because he wanted to go to the quarry.
Why?
Because his debts wouldn't pay themselves, would they?
...And maybe also because with a bit of luck, there will be some loot to be found, who knows?
Maybe the summoner did.
Too bad there was only his lower body left.