Leon's mind churned as he considered how best to handle the lynch mob on their way to his house.

The easy option was to give her over to Mike. Wounded as she was Leon surmised they had already been taking shots at her, though he dared not approach the injured woman, maintaining a distance from her and positioning himself between the house's door and the approaching sounds. Still, Leon didn't care for Mike and his way of doing things- to roll over and surrender someone on his property to another would weaken his authority and image in their eyes. An unacceptable outcome.

The harder option? To declare that she was under his protection. A burden he'd rather not take on. Selena was devious, willing to cut and run at the first sign of a better deal. It also set a precedent Leon wasn't comfortable upholding. One of forgiveness, of favouring the weaker party. It would make him look weak and soft-hearted- which was a look he couldn't afford if he wanted to keep his life.

The least palatable option of all would be to kill them all. It would solve the problem and prevent any others from cropping up but he would be playing into the desires of the Hedonic Path Scion, aligning himself with a faction he knew nothing about.

He didn't have all the facts regarding this situation either. He'd been content to ignore Mike's claims of betrayal, believing the problem would either solve itself or fizzle out. Now it was upon him, eager to bite him in the ass.

He would need to force a compromise. To maintain his own neutrality and with any luck, turn the situation to his advantage. Leave everyone but himself unsatisfied

He saw their light before he saw them, flickering flames moving through the darkness. Torches held aloft, their burning rays cutting through the darkness.

Mike led their pack, a battered greatsword held over one shoulder, chest covered in a leather breastplate. Leon noted the man hadn't procured a full set of armour- another disadvantage to running with a group. The easy-going man was long gone, the torch in his hand dim compared to the inferno behind his eyes. Coated in dirt, Leon noticed unhealed wounds on the man's arms.

Either they weren't eating well or Mike was less skilled in manipulating his internal energy. Leon wouldn't be surprised if it was a mix of both.

The other two followed behind. He'd never learned their names and recognised this was another fact that could bite him in the ass once he opened his mouth.

Bringing up the rear was Francis. Leon remembered the scared kid who'd cowered under his gaze by the fire. The young man wielding a staff, clad in tattered and burnt robes took a second for Leon to recognise as the same person.

Before any words were exchanged they sized each other up, both parties planning their attacks should negotiations break down. At least, Leon was planning his.

Francis would be the first to die. Kill the caster was a mantra Jin had forced Leon to internalise as a part of what the man had referred to as 'the culture'. Leave the mage alive and they'll pepper you from the backline or worse heal their allies and drag out the fight. Getting into the backline would be harder than actually killing the mage.

They'd grouped in a diamond formation, the warrior at the front, the damage dealers in the middle and the mage at the back, each one brandishing a torch and lighting the forest around them.

The rogues, the man armed with daggers, the woman with a bow were squishy types as well. Minimal armour, minimal danger. The rogue lacked the reach to get in on Leon, so long as he didn't over-commit to an attack and the archer's short bow would find it difficult to punch through his armour. Still, the damage dealers were priority two.

That left Mike. He was of little concern. In a sword fight, Leon had full confidence in his skill.

Activating his [Swordsman's Eye] Leon inspected the opposing party's levels.

"Level 5 Novice"

"Level 4 Rogue"

"Level 4 Rogue"

"Level 5 Warrior. His swordsmanship is lacking, no school or style guides his form. An unskilled novice."

About what he expected for levels. Killing them wouldn't even give him any experience.

Mike broke the silence, exhaustion tinging every word with a harshness the man likely didn't intend to convey.

"Leon. It's been a while."

Leon's tone was downright chipper in comparison, as he raised himself out of the squat he'd assumed, the torchlight casting dark shadows on the huge blade adorning his back.

"Indeed it has Mikey! You've all been very good, staying out of my way. Haven't seen hide nor hair of you in nearly a day. Couldn't help yourself though could ya? Had to come give ol' uncle Leon a reason to hand you your third and final strike. Let's not fuck around here. You want the girl, I'm not gonna hand her over to you. You roll into my property, you show me no respect and in turn, you'll get none. So, now we do business. Appeal to my sense of justice, pay me off or you can make my night and we'll fight for the right to decide her fate."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Pulling Bladeless off his back Leon extended the blade towards the opposing group, laughing internally as they tensed up.

"I'm hoping you'll take option three."

Mike no longer attempted to cover up the harshness in his tone.

"How about you fuck off Leon? This isn't a game. She's responsible for people dying, she tried to kill us twice today by luring those big dinosaurs-"

"Carnotaurus- they're carnotaurus Mike."

"That's hardly the point."

"Au contraire! How can I trust the words of a man who clearly hasn't even considered them before opening his mouth!"

"Point being, she's a snake and needs to die. She betrayed you. She betrayed us. People are dead because of her actions That's all that matters. We're not leaving without her."

Lowering his sword, Leon flung the blade over his shoulder and assumed his squat once again.

"I'm not stupid Mike- I know a threat when I see one. Don't try and use that to sway me to your side. She betrayed me- so what? Saved me the hassle of looking after her, hell I'd argue she did me a favour. Now, give me a play-by-play. You say she betrayed you, but I need both sides of the story. I'll be the judge and the jury. If I think you're telling me the truth I'll let you be the executioner. If not, you can chase her down yourself, no hard feelings between us."

"She led us to the second dungeon, then pushed me in. By abandoning the group she weakened us, leading to a preventable death."

There was an angle here. One that was unreasonable and cruel but would help Leon understand why Mike was so driven to avenge the death of a woman he'd barely known.

"Why didn't you prevent it?"

"I don't follow."

"If it was preventable why didn't you stop it? Why project all the blame onto a woman who wasn't there?"

Genuine anger was creeping into Mike's voice now.

"I was too slow. Her spine was already broken before I reached her. Fucking lizard ate her before we could save her."

"So it was your fault then. You were weak and she died. Tough shit. Stop whining over it and move on. Focus on the people who are still alive."

That shut Mike up. Mike's party glanced at each other as the two leaders stared each other down.

Mike, as always broke the silence.

"You're right. It's not a pleasurable thing to admit to, there's no catharsis in this admission. Perhaps if we were all uncaring psychopaths like you everyone would still be alive. Just because you're right? That doesn't make this okay. It doesn't make this whole situation any less awful and it doesn't change the fact that Selena is too dangerous to be left alive. She'll kill us all off if she gets stronger Leon."

Leon had pegged Mike for nothing more than a naïve yes-man, a person more concerned with status than anything else. He was pleased to be wrong. Mike claimed Selena was the threat here but downplayed himself. No one who had survived days in the dinosaur-infested woods, who had cleared two dungeons, was ordinary.

An image was forming in Leon's mind's eyes, of a climber who scaled the hierarchies they found themselves in not on the back of callous pragmatism or emotionless manipulation but on the backs of those who offered themselves as stepping stones. A person who did right by those around them and was rewarded with their unwavering support.

If Selena was a snake, then Mike was a spider, as adept at reading emotion as a spider is its web. Of the two Leon thought Mike was more dangerous in their current circumstances. He held no delusions regarding his own strengths and emotional intelligence was not one of them. He would need to keep his guard up, to prevent Mike from influencing him

Leon produced a bowl of stew from his storage ring, slowly moving backwards, approaching Serena while maintaining his squat. Up close her wounds were downright horrific. Her cheek had a hole punched through it, and her arms and legs were covered in open wounds leaking pus and filth into the dirt. Hair matted and bedraggled.

The accelerated stage of decay couldn't be natural- judging from the size and shape of the wounds they'd been left by daggers. The male rogue had poison then. Good information to have but a hard thing to counter. With his experience in burning out venom, Leon knew any fight would have to be settled quickly. Allowing that rogue to poison him would give Mike's party an advantage.

Setting the stew bowl down, Leon used his now free hand to prop Selena against the door. Her eyes flickered open, meeting Leon's.

Announcing his intent to both Mike and Selena, Leon spoke.

"We've heard from the aggrieved- now we hear from the accused! After she has eaten, of course. A proper last meal is the right of those on death row."

In a whisper, he spoke to Selena.

"You know how to heal your wounds right?"

A nod was all he got, the woman too exhausted to manage anything more.

"Then hurry up and heal. You run you die- understand?"

While they waited Leon was cognizant of the need to fill time. Luckily one of the rogues gave him an in.

"So what, we're just going to let her eat actual food while we've been living off grilled dinosaur?"

It was the female rogue who spoke, tone a mixture of indignant and amused. Leon attempted to match her energy with his reply.

"Sorry- who are you? Mike, your goons are getting lippy with me. Do we have a problem little miss sunshine? No? Then stay in your lane and keep your mouth shut."

She had cowed under the gaze of Leon as he'd risen up and approached the group, his bloodline beginning to reassert itself as the conversation dragged on. These insects were getting in the way of his training and it was growing more irritating by the minute.

"Twelve seconds."

Leon's voice gave the male rogue pause- his hands stopping short of the daggers on his waist, body turning slowly to face the swordsman, who himself had been turning back to resume his squat and had his back to the rogue.

"That's how long it would take me to kill you all if I got serious. But I wouldn't need to get serious, so it'd probably take me thirty seconds or so if I was half-assing it. Remember that next time your reach for your daggers."

A reproachful glance from Mike forced the rogue to keep his hands firmly away from his waist, now crossed across his chest.

While they'd been posturing Selena had finished the stew, her injuries healed and her body rejuvenated. The woman still looked awful but at least she wasn't on the verge of death.

Leon continued his one-man show, purposefully ignoring the disdain all present showed him.

"Now, we hear from the traitor herself- ladies and gentlemen, Selena takes the stand!