Chapter 24 — Merciless (Part IV)
Reaver Yorne hand-signaled to the room on the left.
Toren grimaced and signaled he’d handle it and for the reaver to hurry to the other target.
There had been some hope that a quick rescue would lessen the chance that certain things would happen, but that wasn’t to be. The interior of the room was well within the reach of Toren’s [Mana Sensing], providing him a clear enough determination of the activity within.
The door had a single latch and no crossbar. Focusing [Burning Blood]’s strength to his legs and hips, he kicked, and with a crack, the door flung open.
“What the-?”
Burning some of the precious little mana he had recovered and activating [Burning Blood] to the rest of his body, Toren rushed into the room and grabbed the startled man by his conveniently tied-back hair, yanking his head back and, as with the doorguy, Toren’s knife traced the optimal angle to inflict a killing wound.
The knife was a bit too short to immediately finish things as cleanly this time, but it likely wouldn’t matter. The man gurgled and clenched at Toren’s arm, and Falma’s sister that Toren recognized from the timepiece scrambled to the far side of the bed, her eyes too riveted on the scene of death before her to bother covering up.
With her ampleness on display, it wasn’t hard to guess what about the girl had drawn the mens’ interest more than her younger sister.
[Mana Sensing] didn’t spot any injuries or bruises. From her mana density and the feel of her Profession core, she was somewhere around level 4 or 5. Not bad progress for a girl only a year or two past her Profession Day who had never received XP from kills.
No blood on the mattress covering, Toren noticed. He stopped the direction of that thought. Even thinking to look probably made him a jerk.
“You’ll want to get cleaned up,” Toren told Laiya as the man’s struggles weakened down to nothing. “Your dad and sister are waiting for you downstairs.”
Her eyes snapped to his at being addressed. When the content of his words eventually registered, she nodded and calmly adjusted the top half of the dress that was bunched around her waist back over her shoulders and slipped from the bed to find what she needed.
The girl’s eerie calmness was more than a bit eyebrow raising—mental eyebrows, anyway. He carefully kept his expression neutral. Not his problem—was what he’d like to tell himself. But, Laiya and her family were indeed his problem now.
For killing a level 12 [Nightblade],
1200 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
With the XP notice and subsequent rush of mana, Toren lowered the dead Conclave man to the floor and started searching the discarded clothing and gear for anything of value.
He had been lucky. A level 12 with a combat class would have been a dangerously tough fight had he not caught the guy weaponless and otherwise occupied.
“The mother is with me. Those deserving judgment are dead. It is done.”
Reaver Yorne’s sudden disembodied voice caused Toren to flinch and drop the [Nightblade]’s weapon belt with a thunk of leather and metal against wood.
Even for a tier 2, the [Reaver] guy was scary fast! Or maybe just scary…
Still, he couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Now it was just a matter of no one new showing up while they were looting the place or making their escape.
“Is something wrong?” Laiya asked and cautiously offered him a wet hand-towel with a glance at his bloodstained hands. She already looked prepared to leave, hair combed and travel boots peeking out from under her dress.
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Toren gratefully accepted the towel. “Nothing to worry about. A [Reaver] from the shrine of Eshem`Zel who is helping us just informed me that your mother has also been rescued.”
“A [Reaver]? Why would such a person help us? Why are you helping us?”
The girl’s questions surprised Toren; it wasn’t a reaction he was expecting. The questions weren’t asked with suspicion, but more with a sense of questioning the futility of their actions.
He looked up at the girl from where he was crouched on one knee over the [Nightblade]’s stuff and worriedly took in her discomfortingly unconcerned gaze. “Your father convinced Reaver Yorne to rescue you and your mom. You’ll want to discuss the details with your family later. The reason I’m here is more complicated, but you could say I’ve agreed to let your family be tenants at my stead in exchange for helping with reclaiming and working the property.”
“A stead? We won’t be staying in town?”
“No. It’s a day and a half walk from town, a bit off the road to Mistmire.”
Once his hands were as clean as they were going to get, he used the towel to retrieve Yana’s knife with as little further mess as possible.
“You… you’ve killed him!” a voice hissed from the open doorway.
Toren had noticed the second girl approaching but there wasn’t much to be done about it.
“It’s safe here now?” Laiya asked, taking the initiative and discreetly motioning with her head toward the younger girl while shouldering a large satchel that creaked under the strain of its contents.
“For the moment,” he confirmed and resumed trying to strap on the [Nightblade]’s weapon belt in a way that worked with what he was already wearing. “The creeps running this place should all be dead, but don’t wander too far yet, just in case.”
Laiya again surprised him by going over and pulling the horrified and skittish new arrival into a hug. “It’s alright, Fila. If what this man is saying is true, you should be able to return to your family now.”
“B-but, what about the Conclave? Won’t they come for us? Won’t they be angry about their men being killed?”
What the younger girl was saying was not what he wanted to hear at all, but also something Toren had suspected: these guys were part of a larger and more dangerous group.
“Hopefully, they’ll blame it on these idiots upsetting the followers of Eshem`Zel and leave things alone,” he offered, and having gotten the belt situated, Toren buckled it in place. The sheathed blade currently attached to the dark leather belt was nicer than anything Toren had used before and the feel from [Mana Sensing] when he unsheathed the thing part way had made it clear the blade was enchanted.
“I-I don’t want anything bad to happen to my family,” Fila worried.
Laiya continued to comfort and encourage Fila while Toren finished his quick search.
The only things of value found in the room ended up being from the man’s possessions: a fair amount of silver and the enchanted blade. He did pocket another one of those suspicious tokens, this one a fair bit nicer looking than the one taken from the teen boy.
Fortunately, the satchel Laiya took was her bag she had arrived to Farharbor with, saving them from having to spend time looking for her stuff.
Regarding the silver, while they were waiting for Fila to grab the few things she had, Toren took half the rods for himself and tossed the pouch with the rest to Laiya. “Your half of the take and what he owes you.”
Laiya froze in place and looked at the pouch with a complicated expression of distaste when she realized what was in it and what accepting it might mean.
“That’s yours. Not for your family. You earned it. Payment, restitution, whatever. You are worth at least that much,” Toren insisted. He phrased it that way for a reason. Money owed wasn’t considered stolen when claimed. With a little luck, the assertion would become truth. And it was only right that she get paid for her ‘work’.
~~~
『Name: Toren of Theravos
Race: Human
Age: 20
Profession 1: Level 2 Burningblood Berserker (1700/4000)
Status: Injured (Weakened collarbone: mending), Minor Soulstrain
Mana: 2/29
Strength: 16
Constitution: 12
Dexterity: 14
Agility: 12
Wisdom: 12
Intellect: 8
Will Power: 17
Perception 14
Appearance: 8
Charisma: 8
Luck: 10
Attribute Upgrade Points: 1
Traits:
Sacrificial Guardian
Abilities:
Burning Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Slow Bleeding (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Ability Upgrade Points: 1
Profession Skills:
Pain Tolerance 4
Severe Wound Recovery 3
Berserker Knife Arts 1
Spear 9
Club 8
Focus Rage 1
Combat Awareness 3
Intimidate 2
Skills:
Theravos Language (Speaking) 15
Theravos Language (Reading/Writing) 10
Religion 10
Meditation 5
Bone Strengthening 3
Hunting 20
Butchering 13
Archery 19
Stealth 17
Arithmetic 4
Foraging 16
Tree Felling 6
Running 12
Mana Sensing 13
Danger Sensing 1
Wound Binding 8』