Chapter 118: Distrust
Ren walked through the town, hands behind his back while humming a new tune that he had made up. He saw the bodies of spiders and the infected littering the ground. It was clear that the situation had turned very bad, but his subordinates were managing to handle it somehow.
"They are pretty efficient, I have to say," Ren muttered.
An infected burst out of the corner and rushed at him. Ren wasted no time and attacked with a Rendering Claw that slashed through its head, splattering blood in all directions.
"Could you not? Please? I’m busy." Ren rolled his eyes and kept walking, heading deeper into the town.
Not long after, he saw Ragna standing with Luna and Lia.
"Hey, Ragna." Ren waved at him from a distance.
Luna saw Ren and rushed his way instantly.
"Ren," she called out and hugged his hand.
Lia looked at the scene with a raised brow. She knew Luna said she was with Ren, but she did not know she meant that close to Ren.
"Luna, there is a lot to handle now."
"Luna will not get in the way," she replied with a smile.
"So, Ragna, what’s the situation? When can we see the Baron?" Ren asked.
"The Baron is to..."
"I am the Baron," Lia cut him off and replied.
"Oh? I thought it would be some old fart," Ren replied casually.
"Well, it was, but no longer," she said. She stepped forward. "I am Lia Raven, and I’m guessing that you are Ren. I’ve heard a bit about you," she replied. She stepped forward a bit. "But you do not look like a dragon."
"Uhm, did you not see the wings? Or the horns? Come on, even the eyes?" he asked.
"I guess I thought you were a lizard man like the rest," she stated.
"Well, can’t blame you. But that aside, I’m not going to ask about the situation that made you the Baron." He said as his eyes drifted to the sword in her hands. He sensed a heavy presence from it. She noticed his gaze going to the sword and moved it behind her body to hide it.
"Hmmm." He did not say anything else about it.
"Uhm, you said you wanted to speak to me?" she asked. For some reason, she did not seem scared by the fact that she was speaking to a dragon. It was like she was talking to someone normal.
"Yeah, it’s really simple, you see. We want to help, or we have already started helping, as it seems."
"You just want to help?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ren replied.
"I might not have been Baron for long, but I do not believe you want to just help without any gain," she replied.
"I never said there was no gain. There is a gain, and it’s the reason we came here. I’m sorry to say, but I’m not interested in saving people as a good person.
I’m interested in helping you because I feel there is something that I can get out of it." He came out straight to her.
"And what is that?" she asked, already feeling apprehensive.
"An alliance of sorts where you help me with a few things. Nothing crazy. We can talk about the details later when we are settled."
She frowned when she heard that. "You seem so easygoing about what has happened here. People have died, and you thought this was the best time to come and use us?" Her anger seeped through easily.
"What do you want from me?" Ren asked suddenly. He looked her in the eye. "I am a dragon. I’ll say it again, a dragon. I have no need to be here.
I’m honestly here to help for two reasons. I want to get to the bottom of what is happening with these spiders because I believe the person behind it has it out for me.
The second reason is simply because you have stuff like seeds and livestock that I want. You really have no other value. You are a small town at the edge of nowhere that the kingdom barely remembers," he came out with it clearly.
"Look, I’m not here to cuddle anyone, but I respect you because, from the way your breathing is heavy and your hands are shaky around that blade, it’s clear that you fought off a bunch of this stuff.
I respect good people and strong people, which you clearly are, so can we skip the whole you’re angry at me because I’m using this as an opportunity to have an alliance?" He made it clear to her.
Lia gritted her teeth. She took a deep breath and calmed down. "I understand. Yes, we do need your help, and thank you for your help," she said.
"Thank you for having us," Ren said, and then looked at Ragna. "Help them clear out fast."
Ragna nodded and leaped over a building to fight the infected.
Lia watched him go and then turned to Ren.
"I’m guessing you want to talk more."
"Yeah. Also, I’m pretty shocked you are not scared that I am a dragon."
"Maybe it is because you look humanoid or becaus..." She looked at her sword with cold eyes.
"That sword, it’s not normal, isn’t it?" he asked.
"I can’t tell you anything about it. For all I know, you might be the one that sent these monsters to attack us. I want to ensure that I can trust you first," she said.
"Come on, I would not need all this if it was me. I would have better ways. This is a deeper, more elaborate plan from something powerful, and your town is not the goal, but rather a test ground.
They are testing whatever it is that they are planning on you, and when they are done, they will do what they want to the right target."
"You seem to know a lot about what they want to do," she said as her gaze turned to slits.
"Jeez, do you distrust everyone this way?" he asked.