Chapter 30: Crack In Smile
"THIS IS BULLSHIT! The Beast Hall had already provided me with a 2-year non-servive privilege to recuperate from my injuries! And what is this about the trade route?! What is 10 Silver gonna do? It's just an excuse to get rid of me! I won't accept it!" His voice rattled the walls, but Zolton didn't even flinch. The man's ever-present condoling smile remained plastered across his fox-like face, as though he genuinely understood James's pain.
"Well, first, the Beast Hall just deemed you 'unworthy' and useless, for the second"
His voice turned fierce.
"Are you trying to frame the Baron for a murder? Implying that this is all Baron Zerek Milti's excuse? Do you know what you are trying to do here?" He deliberately applied the name to make it more severe.
At his words, the 4 armoured men beside him shifted a little and gripped their swords with one hand, ready to attack at Zolton's order.
Sera panicked.
"NO! He didn't mean it like that!" she cried out, stepping forward. Her voice trembled, but she forced a deep bow. "He just can't think straight because of the news he received. I'll make sure he doesn't overstep again!"
Right now, Zolton was carrying orders from Baron, the head of the city. So, he had the authority to execute people if orders were not followed. And from the looks of it, the men with Zolton were as strong or nearly as strong as James, so if a fight broke out, James would surely die, given his weakened state.
Zolton's cold gaze lingered on her for a moment, then curved into a slow, cruel smile. James saw it — and the sight made his blood boil. But he swallowed his rage, knowing one wrong word could get her killed.
Zolton was relishing the feeling of finally getting revenge on James, then proceeded to forward a parchment containing the details of the quest.
"This!" James' expression hardened the moment he read the quest details.
Before Sera could ask, Zolton jumped in with a jovial voice.
"Ah! Don't worry, we know you cannot do it alone, so we have assigned some people to go with you. Of course, you are allowed to get more people at your expense, but I think you will have a hard time getting them due to your trust issues, right?" Zolton's smile now touched his ear, making his already ugly fox-like face more disgusting.
He was getting bubbly with satisfaction, but his smile cracked the moment he spotted a figure descending from the stairs.
Pink hair, pink eyes and the captivating body. Lily.
Why is she here? What happened to Arnold? Zolton thought.
Then he saw Leo just behind her.
How is he alive?! Did those bastards cheat me again? Or...
He saw James, who was holding the parchment, reading, and deduced that he must have protected them.
This Bastard! I need to instruct those people to kill him as ruthlessly as possible, then I will fuck his wife in front of his dead, mutilated corpse.
He quickly adjusted his smile again and then started to move out of the restaurant, not before giving a dramatic wave of his cloak. But before going out, he did catch the way Leo was looking at him with cold eyes.
"Hah, common rank trash. I will deal with you myself. But first," he summoned his Hyena the moment he reached some quiet place, its dark grey fur with red and orange lining making it look unique. And its perpetually saliva-dripping mouth, red with hot breath.
He brought out a core a tossed it towards.
"Yes, eat nicely. Soon you will be reaching 2-star. And then I can finally get more money hahahah."
---
"James, what is the quest about?" Sera asked with trembling hands as she held his arms.
James' eyes narrowed,
"It's about nest cleanup... and the nest belongs to..." He clenched his teeth.
"Cedar Treants."
Sera clenched his shirt tightly.
"No! You will not go. Let them reduce your rank; they are just telling you to die. And even those assigned people, they are definitely sent to kill you!" She said with a horrified expression.
Cedar Treants were known for their high defence and high regeneration, making it hard to kill them unless a lethal blow is delivered. James is currently greatly weakened after only his single beast remained, though thankfully, his uncommon soul wasn't damaged, but he lost most of his skills and was poisoned by a venomous serpent, thus the leave from Beast Hall. But now, suddenly, they revoked it. This was clearly influenced by the Baron.
The reason Baron was so hellbent on getting rid of James was that, previously being rivals, they both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. But fortunately or unfortunately, Zerek became a Knight commander(High 2-star) first and, through some connections, became a baron, which was only allowed when someone reached Peak 2-star. And from what James had guessed, Zerek was not able to advance any further and was stuck at that level. If this were known by the authorities, they would demote him and strip him of some rights. So to get rid of any loose ends, Zerek decided to get rid of him. This decision was reinforced when James was advancing at tremendous speed. James reached the Knight commander rank shortly and was soon going to be in the rank of Baron.
So, Zerek needed to get rid of him, as now, not only did he have dirt on him, but he was even a danger to his position. So, giving a mission to James in the name of goodwill, saying it would help him advance, he set up an ambush. There, James lost his strongest Beast, Nether Bull, along with his 2 more Beasts. He escaped, but his rank dropped to intermediate 2-star, and since then had been wary of Zerek. But today, Zerek had played his cards.
He compressed the parchment in his hand, veins popping on his arms.
"Damn it! If I don't do this mission, I will be demoted to a knight, and then he can kill me without much repercussion." He said.