"Without further ado, tell me. Where is my comadre?"

Not even bothered to threaten the soldier with his sword, Mike looked at him with his deathlike eyes. With the curtain separating him from the rest of the world, he appeared distant to others as if disregarding anything that was happening around.

"And why should I tell you anything? With the commotion you caused here, there is bound to be someone to sound the alarm soon. You won't get out of here alive!"

With the sword still in his hand, the soldier still kept some of his self-confidence. Even after seeing the aggressor deal with all of his friends, now that the advantage of a surprise attack was gone, there was nothing to fear.

"I won't ask this again. I'm not capable of disarming you to, and even if I could do it, someone is bound to show up here soon."

Mike agreed to his opponent conjunctions. Pushing his centre of mass forward a bit, he left his free leg separated from the floor by the minimal distance.

"But I can get rid of your arms and legs before killing you. This way I won't waste more time idling here. It's your choice."

Ready to jump at his opponent the moment he refuses to talk, Mike changed his grip on the sword a little.

Only then the soldier hesitated. There was no fear, anger or anxiety in their former prisoner eyes. To tell the truth, there were no emotions on his face at all. Looking deep into his pupils, officer trembled and lowered his sword.

"Your friend is kept in the cage at the courtyard. Our leader thought that keeping the winner of the duel as a trophy would raise the morale of the troops."

Sitting down on the chair he jumped from a moment ago, this middle-aged man put down his sword. Exhaling deeply, he relaxed and pretended to not be bothered by the blood slowly forming streams on the brick floor.

"I see you are a smart guy. Now then, just to confirm my assumptions. Who ordered you and other Nobles to pursue and catch us. I won't believe you all invested so much just for those few red goldens…"

Noticing the obedience of the soldier, Mike stood back normally. With his face devoid of any expression on it, this small change of footing spoke wonders about his attitude towards the officer.

"Do really need to ask about it? Isn't it obvious it was count Hikar?"

Confused by the question, soldier even shrugged slightly while sending a look at his sword. It looked like this stupid question undermined Mike's authority in this situation quite a bit.

"It's not who did this that puzzles me, I would like to know why."

Staring daggers at the soldier, Mike's muscles tensed a bit. He didn't have the time to idly talk and ascertain the dominance over some small fry. If the enemy Uvenoan soldier would make this hard for both of them, he would have to cut him down and find another prey.

"I can't answer that question. It's not that I don't want to do this, but I simply don't know the reasons."

The man opened his arms wide. With an innocence written all over his face, it was a brief moment when he relaxed. Noticing those changes from behind his mental curtain, Mike noticed how his body lost its tension.

"I have some ideas though. They are nothing more than my own conjectures, but at least for me, they make sense."

With his eyes shifting to the side, a look of uncertainty surfaced in his expression.

"Speak up."

While Mike wasn't interested in hearing the conspiracy theories, even those had some seed of truth in them. After all, there had to be something that gave birth to them in the first place.

"For long Naurens are trying to gain an upper hand in the conflict with the City hall. Since there is no third party in this conflict, they cannot grow by conquering or allying with anyone. Limited to internal struggle, Hikar would use any possible means to gain the strength to strike. When you connect it with the fact that a caravan from the far east will be visiting the town the day after tomorrow, I believe that he wants to make a profitable deal with them, move his army and deal with the City hall once and for all. How do you think it was possible to mobilise so many troops to pursue you two in such a short amount of time?"

It was as if flood gates got open. With every word he spoke, the soldier was speeding up and hyping himself more and more. Only after he asked the rhetorical question at the end, did he manage to sober up and frantically inhale.

"Interesting. But it's time for the last question. Was this guy the local noble, or just your leader?"

Pointing his sword at the guy grilling his face on the hot charcoal in the fireplace, Mike asked. That was vital information. While killing him in the heat of the fight could be considered a bad move, there should be another type of leader somewhere!

"This was the leader of our troops. The local noble is living at the mansion, two kilometres north from the camp."

The soldier answered right away. Just from the fact that he added the location where Mike's target could be found, meant a lot of his sincerity.

"You know what I will have to do now, don't you?"

Bringing his sword back to his leg, Mike gazed at the soldiers face. While devoid of emotions, he was still able to think rationally. This guy was cooperative and made him save a lot of time. Even if his original intention was to kill him regardless, his positive attitude made Mike change his mind.

"Can you at least make it quick?"

Coming to terms with what was about to happen, the soldier ignored the sword near his foot and reached with his hand for the lone bottle of booze that remained intact after the fight. Gulping the remaining liquor in one go, he dropped the bottle behind him and closed his eyes.

"I think I'm softening up. Don't worry, I won't kill you. Sweet dreams."

With that said, Mike turned his sword around, made a wide step and knocked the sword grip on the soldier head. Seeing the body drop powerlessly, the merchant turned around and walked to the window. With noises coming from the staircase, he had to prepare for another bout of fighting. But he left only after ascertaining the position of a small cage, shining in the moonlight in the middle of the courtyard.

*****

"How come there is still no news!"

Smashing her small fist furiously on the expensive painting, Revy created an additional and unplanned hole in this work of art.

"Maybe the messenger got lost? Maybe they don't have anything for the report? Or maybe they already found him and are peacefully escorting them back?"

Trying to quell his leader anger with logical arguments, Syrkas sighted from the bottom of his lungs and took the frame with destroyed painting down. Using his connections, he should be able to get in touch with its creator and ask for the painting to be fixed.

"Don't try to calm me down. This whole situation is a mess. Those mercenaries wouldn't run with just the horses, you said the loot was worth a lot more than the mounts, am I right?"

Trying to figure out a reason behind the lack of progress in her attempts to bring Mike safely back, Revy didn't want to erase her emotions. Being a stoic leader and making calculated decisions made her yearn for this feeling of being alive.

"Or do you hate him and don't want your oldest fucking friend to come back home?!"

Pushed to the brink of desperation, this small girl couldn't wrap her head around the situation. With their influence, it shouldn't be so hard to find a single person that had to travel on the road!

"You know it's not the truth! But looking at you now, I need to take the matters of this city into consideration! Knowing you for so long I already know what kind of thoughts are swarming in your head!"

Unable to hold back his anger, Syrkas shouted back at the Revy. Stunned by this development, the girl stood on the spot, staring at her friend.

"If you want to spend the money and rent people to help him in his illusory troubles, fine. We have more than enough gold to do that. Do you want to send a search party for him? Sure, nothing bad will happen in the end. But seeing this look in your eyes, can you promise me that you won't engage our full force just for the sake of one person!?"

"No."

Recovering from her earlier stun, Revy swung her head to the sides with her eyes joining in the contest of stares with Syrkas.

"Goddamnit! Who do you value more? Mike or the entirety of Xantia!"

With his brows furrowed in fury, the young man realised that the picture frame he was holding already shattered to the bits.

"If not for him, there would be no Xantia today. He set up a foundation for who we are today, he saved our lives multiple time, he is responsible for every good thing that happened to us! There is no way I will abandon him if there is even the slightest chance that he can be in trouble!"

Holding firm to her loyalty towards Mike, Revy plainly stated out her stance on the matter.

Instead of refuting her and repeating the whole process of arguing, Syrkas took a deep breath and held it in to calm himself down. Exhaling, he looked deeply into Revy's eyes as if seeking the determination that allowed her to say such words.

"Okay then, what do you want to do?"