I didn't feel the need to buttonhook into the gap this time, but habit still made me stand slightly off center as I pulled the carriage door open.

The merchant was a ragged sight. Dry blood coated his once nice-looking clothes. His medium-length, wavy hair was beaded with sweat and his eyes hung low.

"What do you want?" the man croaked, his voice had been altered by the large scar I'd put on his potion-healed, yet still mangled looking, throat.

I wasn't partial to mocking him. I didn't want to strip him of his pride or personhood, even if I despised him for what he'd done.

There was no excuse that I could think of for being in his line of work. No circumstance could force it upon a man to chain others into bondage for profit. It was entirely a choice, one motivated by personal gain taken to the extreme end of selfishness and a disregard for human life.

Yes, I hated this man. Not because I knew him. Not even because he had wronged me personally. I hated him for what he stood for and for what he had chosen to do with his one life.

True evil was always a freely taken action and he had chosen it.

"I have your ring," I reminded him. "Tell me the word I need to unlock the collars with it."

The man's tired eyes narrowed at me. "If your collar worked, boy, I'd speak the word to kill you on the spot."

My teeth gritted together behind my lips. "I've taken your hand and your freedom. I've not yet taken your life."

I remembered that he could control the ring via voice command.

"If anything you say from this point on harms these people, I'll take your tongue too," I promised.

I wouldn't actually do it. Some small part of me was tired of the rules of war and I had seen them bent before, but I couldn't shake the rules of morality itself.

I had likely done things in my past life that were far more violent than anything this merchant had ever done himself. I'd likely killed many more people than him as well.

The single thing that separated us, however, was that I only killed for a purpose. I only inflicted pain when it was absolutely necessary and never for the sake of the suffering itself.

Torture was never necessary. I would kill him if he overstepped or became too much of a threat against the value of his usefulness, nothing more and nothing less.

"I believe you," the merchant said as he stared into my eyes; I didn't know what he saw, and a part of me worried about it.

The man cast his eyes further down and sighed. "Will you not kill me after I answer your questions?"

I studied him. "I still haven't decided."

I didn't know how my morals applied to this world, not completely.

I still wanted to do the right thing. I didn't altogether like taking the choice between life and death into my own hands, not when I wasn't standing on a battlefield.

I had planned to kill the merchant when he'd directly attacked me before, but now the fog of battle had lifted and things were different in the way only a man who had seen conflict and peace alike could understand.

I assumed there would be ways to try this man for his crimes, but to what law could I entrust him to? Would it embody the justice I held so dear, but that was of a different reality and time altogether?

I simply didn't know.

"Those collars can be removed by few people," the merchant explained. "They can also be used against you by any of my associates. You have me at a disadvantage, but what would happen if you came upon my allies?"

That was an easy question to answer:

Any sizeable group of warriors would overwhelm us in combat. The collars being used against us, meanwhile, would entirely prevent the escape of the women and children even if direct battle could be avoided.

It would be disastrous for us.

"You fear that once you lose your bargaining chip that you'll be killed," I replied. "But you want to live."

"Obviously," the merchant replied. "I will not tell you what you want to know for this reason you have spoken."

I could see the fear and anxiety in the man's eyes, but also the aloof intelligence.

He was right, of course: his only leverage right now was his knowledge of the collars.

It was a difficult situation for me to be in. I needed to know what this man knew, but I wasn't willing to torture him either. If he called my bluff then he'd quickly realize that very fact in the next few moments to come.

"I would propose another solution," the merchant offered. "I will tell you of a place nearby where my guild does not hold official sway and won't be able to directly target you, but where my trade is not outright illegal... though not accepted. They won't punish me for my actions, but they won't interfere to turn you over to me either. Once we reach the city proper, I will free you in a place where your killing of me would be seen as murder by even their lax laws."

"And you'll want to just go on your merry way?" I asked.

"I will return to my home," the merchant replied.

It was an unacceptable plan. However, it might be the only one that I had available to me. I could see in the man's gaze that his speaking had gained him confidence. I had missed my chance to intimidate him into submission.

My mind momentarily drifted to another option as he spoke, however. The description of [Rend Spirit] spell indicated that I could use it to absorb the soul of an individual.

A gnawing in my gut made me almost hesitate to mentally ask the World Spirit the following question:

World Spirit, does absorbing the soul of a person grant access to their memories?

The notification box appeared silently in my view as a reply.

[The successful absorption of a soul allows you to view the life of an absorbed individual. Though you must know of specific points of interest to access those past moments directly. You will also gain select bonuses based on the types of souls absorbed upon leveling up the Fiend class.]

My eyes refocused on the merchant. To take someone's soul and to force it to become fuel for my own ends? It seemed altogether wrong, even perhaps when it was being done to a man like this.

Though perhaps it was only slightly different than killing to achieve one's own ends, in general.

"Where is this place?" I asked him with a tone of disdain.

The merchant held back a smile, likely to try to avoid angering me further, but it seemed as if he almost couldn't help it.

"Mariyye should lie to the northwest of here. Continue climbing the canyon and you should be able to see Giant's Gate. You'll easily understand what that is when you do see it. Past that, it will be a month's travel through the Crypthallow Ridges," the man explained. "I hear it is a dreadful, haunted place, but it's the only way to avoid entering the land controlled by my allies. Though that is always an option if you are foolish enough to tempt fate."

"And why would you explain that last bit to me?" I asked.

"Your elf is no fool and she knows these lands," the merchant answered. "She would reject this bargain if she knew me to be trying to manipulate it too far in my own favor. Tell her of my plan. See if she believes it to be a prudent one."

"You're trash. You do know that?" I said as my anger momentarily got the best of me.

The merchant paused and then answered simply:

"I live well and many others in this world do not. Coin is not easy to come by, luxury is even harder to find," he said.

I wanted this monster punished more than ever now, upon hearing of his mindset further. I truly did, but I was also a prudent man and valued logic when my temper didn't overwhelm me. I wanted these people to live and survive more than I wanted the emotional satisfaction of seeing the merchant get what he deserved.

"Yes, and do remind the elf that I have just enough gold stored in this carriage to allow you to purchase the water and rations you'll need to make it to Mariyye, along with a bit more for good measure," he added.

"Where are your maps and money?" I replied blankly and ignored his growing smugness.

"The maps are kept in the supply wagon," he answered. "You'll have to go through them to find the one that can lead you to Mariyye. The money you'll see is locked in a chest hidden beneath the wagon's flooring."

"I will talk to these people, but I would not be surprised if they decided to simply tear you apart," I told him.

"Oh? But I've seen your levels when you struck me, young man," he retorted. "You and the elf are more than enough to stop the rest of your group from being so foolish."

I met his eyes with the coldest of gazes. "I wouldn't count on that too strongly either. If push comes to shove, I may not be as sensible in the moment."

I closed the door in the villain's face before he could reply. I tied a quick and secured square knot to lash the door closed.

Despite the merchant's near-mocking of me seeking it, I would actually need Nazanin's opinion on this.

I could see the elf near the supply wagon across camp.

The merchant proposed a plan that might be tenable, though not desirable. If there were truly no other way to sway him, beyond crossing lines I wasn't sure I was willing to cross right now, I may have few other options.

Getting everyone on board with delaying their uncollaring, and the revenge-killing of the merchant if they were so inclined, however, might prove difficult.