Chapter 12 – The Argent Blade

Lewiht couldn't sleep much that night. Mostly because the effect of the nightmare grass had worn out and he was in a lot of pain. However, there was also the guilt of killing Hut. Maybe guilt was the wrong word, but he was questioning whether he did the right thing.

Morally, he was sure that killing Hut was the right choice. People like him didn't deserve to live. What bothered Lewiht was the repercussions of his action. What was going to happen when the crew realized that Hut was missing? A lot of people had seen him stab Lewiht, and even play cards together. Lewiht was going to be the main culprit.

He had done something reckless, but for some reason, he didn't feel any regret. Maybe because he felt close to Melaia. Sure, she had suffered much greater than Lewiht, but they were the same. Just like his father beating him, Melaia was done… terrible things by the crew. And even though she was having it much worse than Lewiht, unlike him, she could still protect her innocence.

And Lewiht wanted to protect that innocence at all costs, even if it meant losing his own.

He didn't care about the consequences anymore. What was the worst thing that could happen? Was he going to get killed by the other crew members? So be it. He didn't have anything left in his life worth staying alive anyway.

Being content with his action, he fell asleep shortly after.

***

He woke up to the loud shouts coming from the deck, though he couldn't understand what they were saying. He rubbed his eyes and changed his bandage with a piece of cloth he ripped from his cloth. Thankfully, Melaia had left the rum bottle there, so Lewiht could sterilize the cloth. The wound looked nasty, but as Melaia said, it wasn’t that deep and it had started to form a crust already. The stitches also looked really clean and well-done. The pain was still there, but it was way better than yesterday. He made a mental note to thank Melaia, then made his way to the main deck.

It was morning already, and the crew had gathered where he killed Hut yesterday. There were apparent blood stains on the floor.

Of course, Lewiht laughed at his own stupidity. Of course there would be blood stains.

One person in the crowd saw Lewiht coming out of the cargo hold and pointed towards him. "There! Since the rich kid's here too, the only missing person is Hut!"

"I bet he killed him! He got into a fight with him yesterday!"

"What if Hut just fell over the railings? He was pretty drunk yesterday."

"That doesn't explain the blood!"

"Get the rich kid, I say! Make him confess!"

"Yeah, I bet my gold tooth on it that it was him! He knifed Hut to get revenge all right!"

"Get him!"

Lewiht slowly backed away. He had made up his mind about the consequences and all, but fuck, seeing an angry mob coming towards him rekindled all the fear in his heart. What was it that he said? Don't have anything in his life worth living? Fuck that, he had his life and that was enough! He didn't want to die!

Lewiht bumped into someone as he was backing away, who put a hand over his shoulder. Lewiht turned around and saw that it was Captain Nellard.

"We have a lot to talk about, kid." He grabbed Lewiht's shoulder firmly and started to walk towards the captain's quarters.

The captain locked the door behind him when they entered, and sat down on his chair behind the desk, lighting up his pipe. "So, kid. I don't want any lies. Why did you kill Hut?"

"I didn't," Lewiht said without waiting a single second.

"Didn't the captain tell you not to lie?" He heard a voice behind him.

He turned around to see a woman in her thirties, donned in full steel armor. Her short, white-gray hair was cut just above her pauldrons. Her smooth, round face was adorned with a fleshy, pink lip. A sword hung off her belt, and a metal, heater-shaped shield was leaned against the wall behind her. Lewiht couldn’t decide whether he should be surprised at the beauty of this woman, or the symbol on the shield. A symbol of a sword radiating light beams from its blade.

An Argent Blade! Lewiht thought, gulping sharply. So much for my little adventure.

The Argent Blade narrowed her eyes and approached Lewiht slowly. “What’s your name?”

“Lewiht,” he answered, averting his eyes. What the fuck is an Argent Blade doing in a merchant ship?

“Look at me when I’m talking to you, Lewiht.” The woman grabbed his chin and turned his face back, carefully examining. “You’re his younger brother, aren’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“A bit. Once a killer always a killer, it seems.”

“It wasn’t me!” Lewiht shouted. “You have no proof.”

Captain Nellard laughed. “There are no laws in the ocean, kid. We ain’t need no proof.”

“I’ll take it from here, Captain,” The woman said. “We’ll see if there is indeed no proof.”

“You’re the expert, Argent.”

“Show me where you stay, Lewiht.” The Argent pushed Lewiht and picked up her shield.

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Lewiht had no chance to refuse, so he slowly made his way to the cargo hold. “How in the hell did I not see you on the ship before?”

“Because I did not want to be seen.”

But how?

The crew was waiting outside the captain’s cabin, but as soon as they saw the Argent Blade, all of them scattered like a flock of rats. From their unsurprised but scared face, Lewiht could see that they knew the Argent was on the ship, but probably didn’t show herself to them much either. Under the scrutiny of the Argent Blade, Lewiht climbed down the stairs of the cargo hold.

“There,” he said, pointing to his small corner.

The Argent slowly walked towards where he pointed, the clanking of her armor echoing in the vast space. She crouched and started to investigate Lewiht’s bed of blankets. Empty-handed, she took Lewiht’s backpack and pulled Togan’s dagger out.

“A fine dagger,” she said, examining its jeweled sheath. “You could start a new life with this in the Archipelago.”

She unsheathed the dagger and smelled the blade. “You were smart enough to clean it, but it stayed bloody for a long time. The smell of blood permeated the blade.”

She also carefully examined the sharp side of the blade and used her armored fingers to scrap coagulated blood from its edge. “You also forgot to clean the edge of the blade, as most people tend to do.”

Lewiht’s hands started to tremble and his shoulders tightened. This was it. This was the proof. How was he going to say anything against that? As a murderer with two confirmed kills, she had every right to kill him on spot, without a trial. My fucking luck! I got caught by an Argent Blade on a godforsaken merchant ship!

“What are you going to do?” Lewiht asked with a shrill voice.

“Nothing,” The Argent said. “The captain might say there are no laws in the ocean, but I must still abide by them. You never had a trial for your crimes, so I cannot do anything without a court decision.”

Wrong, Lewiht thought. The court’s decision was going to be a death sentence anyway, and as an Argent Blade, this woman had every right to pass judgment on him without a court trial. The only exception would be the nobility, in which case the court was the ultimate decision maker. But the Teremon family wasn’t a noble house, it was just his brother that was part of the council. It was impossible for an Argent Blade to not know that she could overrule the court, so maybe she thought Lewiht was nobility? But that wasn’t likely either, even the most common people knew Togan came from the lower class and that he wasn’t a noble. It was a true story of a legendary hero; a child of a poor fisherman rising the ranks and becoming a hero. A story that everyone knew. Then why?

An Argent who is not following the rules. An Argent who travels in an old merchant ship. An Argent who doesn’t wish to be seen.

That was it. Lewiht knew the answer.

There were two possible outcomes, one of them was that she had a secret mission that required stealth. But then again, she was donned in full Argent armor. The only other possible explanation was…

“You’re just like me, aren’t you?” Lewiht asked. He was still shaking uncontrollably, but he still managed to put up his good old crooked smile.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re a fugitive like me. You’re running away.”

Lewiht saw the momentary surprise on her face. It lasted only for a second, but it was there.

“I’m not,” she said. “Why would you think that?”

“Why would you travel in an old ship like this? Argent Blades work directly under the royal family, so you guys have a shit ton of money. Why not travel in a much better vessel?”

She sighed deeply and raised her hands. “You got me. I was on an undercover mission.”

I’m a fucking genius. Lewiht laughed and relaxed. “With full plate armor and a shield that screams I’m an Argent? I don’t think so. You wouldn’t even dare to carry it if this was a stealth mission, let alone wearing it. Even if not, why are you even wearing that armor? It’s been two days since we left Zylos, we’re on the open seas now and there’s no reason for you to wear that in this humid air. Do you know what I think? I think you’re still wearing it because you’re afraid of getting hunted. You’re afraid a powerful someone can attack you any time.”

The Argent showed a weary smile and her shoulders dropped. “I guess I shouldn’t have tried to deceive Togan Teremon’s brother.”

Again. Him again, even on these open seas. “Please, Ms. Argent, my brother has nothing to do with this.”

She looked curious. “What do you mean?”

“Whenever I do something bad, I’m a disgrace to him. Whenever I achieve something great, then it is as expected of Togan’s brother. It wasn’t Togan Teremon’s little brother who exposed your lies, Ms. Argent. It was me, Lewiht Teremon.”

“We’re baring our hearts, then?” The woman smiled and sat under a beer barrel. “You’re right. I am running away.”

“From what?” Having relaxed, Lewiht walked towards her and sat down under another barrel. “What could make an Argent Blade run away?”

“I’ll tell you… if you tell me your story in return. Because you don’t seem like you’re a cruel cutthroat who mindlessly kills people.”

“Deal. I still don’t know your name, though.”

“You can just call me Ria. And as for your question… I’m running from Kel’daras itself because… The King plans to invade Runodar.”

“What?” Lewiht yelled in shock. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious. He’s planning a campaign to the Crater. He’s going to send us to our death and this nation to its downfall. I have no intention to stay and live through that.”

“I thought you Argent Blades follow the royal family blindly.”

“Some do. Some don’t. Some hate the royal family but stay for the money. Some are in it just for the glory. But all of us are just… people. We are all scared of dying.”

Lewiht stayed silent for a while. He still couldn’t understand how the King even thought about attacking the Crater. “Does he even have a plan?”

“No. He hopes for your brother to prepare one.”

“My brother isn’t a god. He can’t make the impossible possible.”

“King Astus certainly thinks that he can. He’s even willing to gamble the entire country for it.”

“Do we have enough soldiers to even attempt such a campaign? Especially after Macaw?”

“We don’t. That’s why he’s going to extend the conscription. Any man older than fifteen is going to get conscripted if they cannot pay the fee.”

“How much is the fee?”

“Fifty gold per person, At least that was the first proposal. It is subject to change.”

Lewiht propped her head on the barrel. That was a lot.

“What’s wrong? Worried about your brother?”

“No,” Lewiht shook his head. “I just have a friend who cannot afford that sum. I’m worried about him.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I have a lot of friends in the Order as well, one of whom is already…” She stopped for a moment. “Well, no need to ruminate over things we have no control over, right? All in all, that’s my story. Just a soldier deserting. My family is in Lykoria, so I’m heading there. Of course, I couldn’t find a ship and in my hurry, I had to settle with the Archipelago, but I’m hoping to find a ship there. So, what’s your story?”

“It’s not a long one. You already know that I killed my father. What most people probably don’t know is that he was a drunkard who used to beat me and my mother when he was drunk. He was a… decent man when he was sober, but recently he started to be more drunk than sober. One day, he almost killed my mom and tried to choke me to my death, so I killed him during the heat of the moment. With that same dagger you’re holding right now. And I killed Hut because he was a rapist son of a bitch, who also stabbed me, as you can tell from my limping steps.”

“Well, Lewiht,” Ria turned around and slowly hit the beer barrel with her knuckles to see if it was empty. “This calls for a drink, don’t you think?”