The words didn’t seem to register with Red and the others at first. Even Narcha, fueled by her hatred, was taken aback.
“Is this a joke?” she asked.
Red was half-expecting Reinhart’s serious demeanor to drop and for the man to laugh again, talking about how that was all an elaborate joke. It didn’t happen, though.
“No.” Reinhart shook his head. “Not this time. My offer is genuine.”
Narcha glared at the man, still not convinced. “Then let me rephrase. Are you insane?”
The knight smiled. “Me, insane? I actually think this is a very good plan. Hector is very strong, so you can’t really expect to overpower and kill him. You need to use subterfuge and strike him from where he least expects it... And who else is more suited for that than three of his own sect members?”
Another extended silence settled in the room.
“… You’re actually being serious, aren’t you?” Narcha stared at the knight as if he had gone insane.
Reinhart nodded. “Of course I’m being serious. Do you think I would just steal this pill and threaten you as a joke? That’s too risky even for me.”
“So this was your brilliant plan? To take the pill you knew I was looking for and to compel us to betray our sect in exchange for it?”
“I know what you’re thinking. But trust me, I would never try something like this if there was no chance to succeed.”
Narcha shook her head in disgust. “There is no chance. The answer is no.”
The man sighed. “This is why I don’t like speaking to headstrong people.” he turned around to look at Red and Narcha. “The two of you are much more reasonable.”
“Our answer is the same, Mister Reinhart.” Eiwin shook her head. “We would never entertain the thought of betrayal against our own, no matter how valuable of an item you have to offer us.”
Reinhart smiled. “Of course I know that. But what if I gave you some good reason to betray that old man?”
The young woman frowned. Red could see she was clearly debating with herself whether they should waste time and engage Reinhart in conversation.
Red spoke up on her behalf. “Why are you doing this?”
“For Gustav, of course.” Reinhart said. “I’m sure he would be very thankful to be rid of Hector.”
Red didn’t believe the man for one second, but he knew better than to try to pull a straight answer out of him.
He moved on to the matter at hand. “What reason could you possibly give us to betray Hector?”
Eiwin’s hesitant gaze lingered on Red for a moment, but she didn’t speak up.
Reinhart seemed delighted at the boy’s question, and his attention focused back on him. “Because he’s a horrible person, that’s why.”
“What has he done?”
“He was part of the Ocean Bearers Sect, kid. Has anyone in your guild ever told you what that sect has done in the past?”
Red frowned. He looked over at Eiwin, noticing that she seemed troubled. Neither she nor Narcha were surprised, though.
Reinhart laughed. “Of course they wouldn’t tell you! Those people drowned entire countries in the past during their wars! They were absolutely ruthless!”
“Master Hector had left the Sect long before it was destroyed.” Eiwin said. “He was never involved in the atrocities they committed.”
“So you say.” the knight shook his head. “Hector might not have been involved in what happened back then, but he still did plenty of horrible things on his own. I mean, he still keeps contact with the survivors of his sect, doesn’t he?”
The woman didn’t deny his words, and neither did she seem surprised. To Red, though, this came as a completely new revelation.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Have you ever heard of a technique called Sea Extraction, kid?” Reinhart asked Red.
The boy shook his head.
“This was something Hector and his sect members invented.” the knight pointed at his chest. “It consists of extracting an individual’s Spiritual Sea to be used as an ingredient for Spiritual Forging. They say the more talented that person is, the more useful their Spiritual Sea becomes once it’s taken out of their body.”
Red understood where this was going. “Is this what happened to you? Did Hector extract your Spiritual Sea and now you want revenge?”
Reinhart smiled and shook his head. “No. It wasn’t Hector who did it.”
“So why do you want to kill him?”
“Because the people who did this to me are already dead and Hector was the closest person to them I could find.”
“You are out of your fucking mind!” Narcha interjected. “You don’t even know if Hector did all those things you are talking about and you still want to kill just because he was related to those people?”
Reinhart smirked at Narcha. “Not just related. He was their master.”
These words seemed to leave the woman speechless.
“Of course, I don’t really know if they learned that technique from him.” the man shrugged. “Still, he’s the closest person I got to them, so he will have to.”
“You’re willing to go against him just for that?” Red asked.
He had a hard time reconciling these words with what he knew about Reinhart. For a man as logical as him to go to such lengths just for revenge against someone tangentially related to those who wronged him in the past - it made little sense for the boy.
“You wouldn’t understand, kid.” Reinhart shook his head. “I had to live with this burning desire to get back at those people for decades. I will take what little relief I can.”
Red examined the man’s face. Although he spoke such passionate words, his expression didn’t match the weight of his words. The boy just wasn’t sure whether he was lying, but Eiwin and Narcha’s silence seemed to point that there was an inkling of truth to what he had been saying.
“Of course, kid, don’t think you are safe.” the man put on a pitiful expression. “If Hector really does know the Sea Extraction Technique, then he may use it on any of you one of these days. Who knows, maybe he’s rearing that Allen kid for that reason.”
“Silence!” Narcha roared at the man in anger.
Reinhart, however, just smiled at her. “You’re almost twenty-six, aren’t you? Even if you breakthrough in the future, you’ll never amount to anything as a cultivator.”
Narcha gritted her teeth, her saber-hand trembling with anger.
Reinhart continued with his taunting, waving the blue pill in her face. “This pill can be useful to you, but why were you even forced to go to such lengths in the first place? Hector still has contact with some of his surviving sect members, so why was he unable to secure a pill for you? I mean, sure, they might be nowhere near as strong as they were in the past, but one Parting Sea Pill should have been no problem for them.” he shrugged. “Much more if someone like Hector asked for it… Oh wait!”
The man put on an expression of feigned realization.
“It must be because your talent is terrible, isn’t it?” Reinhart said. “Why would he waste favors on someone like you? On the other hand, I’m sure he has one of these pills lined up for Eiwin. I mean, after seeing what she did against that parasite, I can tell you she definitely doesn’t have a simple background! That’s someone worth nurturing!”
Narcha looked down, her trembling of rage spreading to her whole body.
Eiwin noticed this and looked over at Reinhart in anger, even with her pale expression. “We know what you’re doing. Those lies would never-”
“SHUT UP!”
Narcha’s booming voice interrupted the young woman.
Eiwin looked at her companion’s back in disbelief. “N-Narcha, you…”
Narcha interrupted her again. “I don’t need you to speak for me!”
Eiwin fell silent with a shaken expression.
Reinhart, on the other hand, seemed delighted at the situation. “Now, isn’t that unfair, Narcha Valt? How many years of your life have you spent serving this little sect of yours? And yet, when you need it the most, Hector refuses to offer his assistance… Doesn’t that make you angry?”
Narcha raised her head, looking at the man. “… Are you done?”
“That depends… Are you willing to help me?”
The warrior let out a small laugh. “… What do you think?”
“That’s a shame.” Reinhart shook his head in disappointment. He looked over at Red. “What about you, kid? Are you also going to stand by them? Aren’t you afraid that Hector will use you in the future just like he did to this poor woman?”
“They’re part of my sect.” Red made his stance clear.
Although what Reinhart revealed did alarm him, the boy had never once entertained the thought of betrayal. Whatever actions he took in the future after what he had learned, it wouldn’t start with backstabbing those that helped him.
“That’s a shame.” the man sighed. “So it seems we’ve arrived at an impasse, haven’t we?” Reinhart looked at the pill and the glowing talisman in his hand. “Now, what should I do about this pill? I can’t use it, but I might be able to sell it. Should I take this back to Gustav or try to sell it myself?”
“Are you still in the mood to joke around, you bastard?!” Narcha glared at him.
Reinhart, however, ignored her. He shook his head. “No, I can’t bring this outside. If word got out about it, I can’t imagine how many people would try to kill me for it.”
Red and the others stared at this ridiculous display in silence. The knight continued to argue with himself out loud until he seemed to finally arrive at a conclusion.
Reinhart sighed. “I guess there’s no other way, then.” the man raised the hand holding the pill towards Narcha. “Here, you can have it.”
The woman seemed shocked. “W-What are you-”
She didn’t get to complete her sentence.
Reinhart squeezed the pill with all his strength. A cracking noise came from within his closed fist, and a soft blue light slipped from between his fingers. Then, the man opened his hand and let the ruined remains of the pill fall onto the ground.
He smiled at Narcha. “Here, I said you can have it.”
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
Narcha charged at the man.