Chapter 135: Threaten
The archer looked at the count with a confused look. He gripped his bow tightly. "What gave it away?"
The count let out a subtle, confident smile and then replied, "Your skill level far outclasses that of everyone of those bandits.
I watched everything and saw you move, and you also tried not to fight with them because you have never been a part of their team.
I could also sense your killing intent from a mile away. I knew that you wanted to kill me and not kidnap me. That’s how I knew you were a mercenary," the count detailed.
Ren looked at the count with a new set of eyes.
’Huh,’ he thought. ’So he is not just some pampered noble riding in a carriage. He read the archer in the middle of a fight without even being in it. That is actually impressive.’
The archer stared at the count for a long moment, his grip on the bow still tight, his expression working through something.
The count held his gaze with the particular patience of someone who already knew how the conversation was going to go and was simply waiting for the other person to catch up.
"How about this," the count said, his voice carrying the measured tone of someone who had made offers before and knew how to make them land. "Come and work for me. What you showed out there today was beyond anything I have seen from someone at your level. I am prepared to pay you considerably more than whatever my brother offered you." He paused. "And since you were already in his camp, I will give you something in return for agreeing. Just help me gather any amount of information on my brother. Consider it an advance."
The archer said nothing for a moment.
He looked at the count. Looked at his bow. Looked back at the count.
"How do I know you will not simply bring me in and then kill me?" he said. "I did just try to kill you."
"Because there is no point in it," the count replied simply. "You came to kill me because someone paid you to. That is a profession, not a personal matter. The highest bidder wins your service. I intend to be something my brother simply cannot outbid, which means you will have no reason to take a contract against me going forward." He smiled slightly. "That is more useful to me than your death."
The archer turned it over.
Then he released a slow breath and lowered his bow fully.
"Fine," he said.
The count gave a single satisfied nod and then shifted his attention across to Ren, his eyes settling there with the particular focus of someone filing away everything they had observed and now wanting to understand what they were looking at.
"For you," the count said, "I am genuinely uncertain. You have no clear intent to steal anything. No intent to harm me. You simply appeared." He paused. "And yet you took down one of my best guards without what appeared to be any real effort." His eyes stayed steady on Ren. "That is what is throwing me."
Ren smiled.
"Think of me as a messenger," he said. "From Raventown."
The count’s expression shifted slightly. "Raventown," he repeated. "That is where I am heading now."
"I know," Ren said.
"There is no way," the count said, his voice carrying genuine skepticism, "that someone of your obvious capability comes from a small town like that. It does not add up."
Ren reached back and spread his wings.
The count went very still.
Ren pointed at his horns.
"We are not human," he said easily. "Evolved monsters, if you want a clean way to think of it. But we do have business in Raventown, which is why I am here." He folded his wings back. "And since we are heading the same direction, there are a few things you should know before you arrive."
The count said nothing, which was its own kind of invitation to continue.
"Things have changed in Raventown since you were last given information about it," Ren said. "The daughter has taken over as baron. The father is now facing charges of treason." He kept his eyes on the count. "She does not want your arrival to come with a bias already formed. She wants a fair assessment, not one shaped by whatever relationship existed between your family and her father." He paused. "That is why I am here. To make sure that when you arrive, you are walking in with clear eyes."
He said the next part without any particular change in his expression.
"And if that turns out not to be the case, I will find other ways to make sure it happens. One way or another."
The count looked at him for a long moment.
The threat sat between them without apology, plain and unhurried, the kind that did not need to raise its voice.
The count did not flinch. He held Ren’s gaze with the steadiness of someone who had been threatened by people considerably more frightening and had found the experience educational rather than alarming.
Then he spoke.
"She need not worry about my father," he said. "I have no business with the former baron and whatever arrangement existed between him and my family. What I do in Raventown I will do as the kingdom’s law permits me to do." He held Ren’s gaze. "Nothing more. Nothing less." A brief pause. "Regardless of your threat."
Ren looked at him.
Then he smiled, easy and genuine.
"Good," he said. "Then we should get along fine. You seem pretty reasonable. I do hope all nobles are like you," Ren said. He looked at Silas and Ezra, and they returned to his side immediately.
"On that note, we will both take our leave for now and wait for you to arrive at the town. Please do not be hostile to the monsters you see around. I do not take lightly to harm on my subordinates."