Chapter 41
“Then I will take my leave.” Brendel rolled up the scroll, but he was stole a glance at the girl again. Amandina’s current situation and her future made him a little sorry for her. He hesitated for a while before asking: “…… Do you have anything that you need help with?”
Amandina shook her head.
“No thank you. I am grateful for the news about my father, Ser Brendel.” She held against the door and replied, coughing twice.
[She’s such a stubborn girl, but at least she’s confident that she can take care of herself. Right now I’m not a good position to truly help as well because of my financial situation. At the very least, I need to sell these equipment at the auction that Roen is going to introduce…..]
Right when he was about to step out of the door, he heard chaotic footsteps going up the mansion’s staircase, and the group looked over to the direction of the staircase. Batum reached his sword with his hand under the robe.
“Seven, no, eight.”
“There’s no need to be tense here, we’re in Bruglas.” Brendel stopped Batum and stared at the direction of the staircase. A few moments after he finished speaking, there was a series of curses that came from below.
“Fuck, I really don’t want to come to this godforsaken place. We’re going to waste our time again since that bitch is so stubborn.”
“Shhh, all these noble ladies are the same. They act all arrogant and elegant, but once you threaten them a little, they would be shivering like little lambs and will do whatever we tell them to do. She will definitely hand over that thing.
“In any case, that respected noble had already said it is fine even if we finished her off. She’s just a fallen noble. If we don’t rough her up a little, she probably won’t even take us seriously.”
“Are you a moron? Can you trust anything a noble’s words? Their tongues are even sweeter than the devil’s—”
The group of men were arguing when they appeared from the corner of the corridor. There were precisely eight of them wearing the city’s security guards light grey uniform which were brand new. They did not expect anyone in the corridor, and almost everyone amongst them showed surprise in their faces.
Their first glance landed on Amandina, then on Brendel and Batum, and finally on the cripple at the very back.
“It’s you! Cripple, what are you doing here?” The leader frowned and asked.
Brendel stopped the cripple from going forward and turned his head back and asked: “Who are they?”
“The scoundrels in Hood’s avenue. I didn’t think these dogs would look like reasonable human beings wearing leather equipment, especially when I just saw them looking like scum a few days ago.”
The cripple glared at their city guards’ uniform. It appeared he was on terrible terms with them.
“Fuck. This dog just keeps on barking.” One of them cursed out loudly.
They were slightly confused at Brendel’s action. He had proven to be the leader amongst the three people there, but the cripple in the Black Pepper Street was well known to be independent, and yet he was here with two strange men. They were unable to guess the relationship between them.
It became even more troublesome because they were together with the fallen noble’s daughter.
“The few of you are?” The leader of the ruffians decided to test the waters after considering for a while.
Brendel looked at him for a moment before ignoring him. He turned his back to find Amandina grabbing the door frame tightly, her knuckles white. She was lowering her head, and while she did not speak, her small actions made him realize she was afraid and panicking inside. After a few moments, he spoke.
“Are they here to find trouble?”
Amandina nodded.
“What is the issue?”
“They said that my father owes their master money.”
“Is your father a gambler, why does he owe everyone money…” The cripple muttered to himself, but he saw that the girl’s incensed eyes were on him, he stopped talking due to fright.
“Did your father owe them money?” Brendel asked.
Amandina shook her head with a deep frown: “My father would never associate himself with these people.”
Brendel finally looked at the ruffians and asked: “Then who are you?”
His voice was calm and forceful. The leader of the ruffians gulped when he felt the authority within Brendel’s voice. Brendel’s appearance was partially covered by his hood and his age was unclear, but his voice was definitely young. Even so, the leader of the ruffians thought that he was a young noble with a strong backing behind him from his attitude. He disregarded Brendel’s forceful tone which could be perceived as rude and spoke carefully.
“We’re the city guards under Lord Harde. I’m the ‘Night Owl’ Joe, and these are my brothers-in-arms. We’re…. under the request of Lord Tirste to collect a debt.”
“When did the city guards become in charge of debt collection?” Batum folded his arms and snorted in laughter.
The eight men looked like they got stuck in two places. They were just ruffians a few days ago before they got recruited, and they had never seen any complicated politics in their life. They did not know how to react in front of this secretive young man, but they were also under orders to collect on the debt, so they looked at each other in confusion.
The leader who spoke wanted to slap himself for that mistake he made. He did not expect for that man to retort with a valid argument.
But there was at least one who was smart enough to grumble loudly: “It’s only fair to pay back your debts right.”
“Then who exactly do you want to pay this debt?”
These ‘city guards’ became silent again when Brendel spoke. They looked at each other for some time before the leader of the ruffians spoke in a troubled tone: “It’s the lady behind you called Amandina. Her father owes Lord Tirste a huge sum of money.”
Brendel rubbed his forehead.
[This particular name sounds familiar, but I can’t remember who exactly it is in the game. He probably has a certain amount of fame within the game, but he’s certainly not involved with the main storyline. Hmm, he can be as small as that Golden Apple Lord Esebar, or someone who’s particularly unique for a side mission.]
“Who is Lord Tirste?” Brendel turned around to ask Roen.
“He’s someone who’s about as young as you. He’s the vice captain of the Silver-Winged cavalry and Vicount Megeska’s right hand man. There’s a rumor that he’s the duke’s illegitimate son,” Roen’s face was ugly when he heard the name and whispered back. “Brendel. We musn’t fight with Tirste’s men. You can’t afford to offend him.”
The cripple’s heart was beating quickly and he already started to think how he could run away from the troublesome place here.
[Fuck. It’s fortunate that I did not insult them, otherwise trouble will follow me all the way.]
Brendel grinned when he heard Roen’s tone which sounded like he was insinuating something.
“Cripple, it seems that you really want me to fight with this Tirste that I have not met.”
“N-no, of course not.” Roen laughed in a shrill manner, his voice breaking. He did not expect Brendel to instantly see past his goading remarks.
Brendel glanced at Amandina, only to find that the girl’s face had turned pale when she heard that the duke was Tirste’s father. Even Vicount Megeska was someone who she could not hoped to fight against. If they were to pick a fight with her, she could only wait for her death.
[Vicount Megeska. This is a name I’m familiar with. He might appear to be a loyal military officer to Aouine, but he’s actually a dog of the Unifying Guild. The ‘right hand’ of Megeska, is he someone from the Unifying Guild as well? In any case, he’s not as well known in the game because of his status as an illegitimate son. But what is this situation with Amandina? Even the fight for power with the Royal Crown is done behind closed doors. It’s unlikely that this Tirste doesn’t know about Amandina’s plight, so what’s the reason for pushing her so hard?]
Brendel peeked at Amandina’s face.
[It doesn’t look like it’s some family feud. But being interested in the person herself? … That’s a stronger reason since the nobles sometimes do things like that. But this is a vexing situation. I’m not sure if she’s going to give up, but I don’t want her to end up losing her. The designer of the Magicite is something that I cannot measure with money.]
Brendel did not express his desire to ask her to join his group for two reasons. Asking her to join right now might get her guard up instead, while the second reason was to lower his costs like a businessman by not showing that much interest in her skills.
[It seems like my plans need to change now.]
“Does your father know Tirste?”
Amandina quickly shook her head. She was an intelligent person and thought of the same things that Brendel did. She had never seen Tirste before, but she felt disgust from his actions and looked at Brendel who seemed like he was her best ally.
Her heart was beating quickly and was afraid that he might not help her, but Brendel did not disappoint her.
The young man immediately pulled out his sword when he heard her reply. The gleaming silver Elven sword made the eight men tremble. Pulling out a weapon means that the negotiations had broken down. Still, the leader of the ruffians tried to remedy the situation by clearing his throat and persuade him by asking him to consider the power behind Tirste.
Brendel’s sword had already swung.
A visible ripple blasted above their heads, and a gale suddenly appeared out of nowhere as the wind pressure caused their hair to fly back. A second later, the ceiling above them suddenly cracked loudly and one could see breaks in it extending over five meters.
There was nothing but silence in the dim corridor.
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