Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 419: Baron’s Family II

CH419 Baron’s Family II

***

A couple of Fury soldiers escorted the civilians out, leaving only the Baron’s family with the members of the expedition party.

”I must say, I’m a little disappointed,” Alex began lightly. ”Baron Helton died as a proper noble—fighting to the bitter end. Yet here stands his family, hiding behind the very civilians they should be leading.”

The jab landed exactly where he intended –straight at Lady Helton’s pride.

”Still,” Alex continued with a shrug, ”far be it from me to judge how another noble runs his or her household. I truly do not care. What I do care about is this castle’s vault. If someone would kindly point us in the right direction, we can all be on our merry way.”

”Please... I’m only a commoner,” one concubine blurted instantly. ”The Baron never told me anything about the treasury.”

”Me too,” the second concubine added in a rush. ”We were only here to serve him. He never discussed such things with us.”

The third woman hesitated for only half a heartbeat before promptly selling out the senior wife.

”The lady! The lady knows. I once heard the Baron send her to fetch something from the treasury.”

Lady Helton’s face went blank with outrage and betrayal as all eyes turned to her.

But then, her gaze hardened, recalling Alex’s earlier words.

Spit!

She spat at Alex’s feet without hesitation.

”Damn you, Infernal! Do you think we will tell you anything? Go back to whence you came!”

Alex smiled faintly.

”Good. I like that fire. That’s exactly what I’d expect from the lady of a noble house.” He even clapped once, approvingly.

But then the clapping stopped.

His eyes shifted—slowly, deliberately—into a glowing crimson.

A chill ran up Lady Helton’s spine as those ’inhuman’ pupils fixed onto her.

”However,” Alex said softly, ”there is a time to be stubborn... and a time to be sensible. Do you truly think you can resist us when your husband—a Gold rank—failed?”

”Then kill me,” Lady Helton snapped. ”I am not afraid of you.”

”Kill you?” Alex laughed lightly. ”Why would I kill you? Did you forget? I am an Infernal... a heretic... a heathen. Why would I do something as boring and charitable as simply killing you? Where is the evil in that?”

Her breath caught.

Alex smiled—slow and cold.

”No. I will do something to you that makes you beg for death... and never find it.”

He resisted Eleanor’s passive [Translate] effect, then raised his hand and audibly casted a spell in Pangean common tongue, which the Baron’s family could not understand.

[%#$%^&*]

While Lady Helton didn’t understand a single syllable, she was however able to tell the target of the spell the instant the mana flared.

Her eldest son.

Eleven years old and Baron Helton’s heir-apparent.

The spell hit him.

The boy collapsed instantly—limp, unmoving.

”Sirus?! Sirus! No—NO! SIRUS!” Lady Helton screamed, straining desperately against the binds that held her.

The boy did not respond.

Neither did the terrified civilians behind her. None of them dared utter a sound.

”Don’t worry,” Alex murmured beside Lady Helton’s ear, ”you still have one son left.”

Her eyes widened in primal terror.

She twisted her body, trying—futilely—to shield her second child, a trembling nine-year-old who looked moments away from fainting.

”Please... please, I beg you—don’t hurt my son!” she cried, voice cracking.

”I don’t want to kill him,” Alex said calmly. ”But as you said, I am an Infernal... a being of evil. I can’t help but commit evil acts when someone insists on angering me, instead of making me happy.”

He leaned slightly forward.

”Right now, what would make me happy... is you telling me what I want to know.”

Lady Helton broke.

”Please—don’t kill my son. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything,” she sobbed.

”You should have chosen that from the start,” Alex said, voice returning to an almost casual tone.

Lady Helton revealed the treasury’s location without hesitation.

Alex waved a hand, and the Fury soldiers immediately moved out to retrieve it.

[Release]!

Alex waved his hand, lifting the [Sleep] spell from Baron Helton’s eldest son.

The boy stirred faintly.

The women—all four—stared at Alex in shock and confusion.

”I am an Infernal, a heretic and a heathen,” Alex said calmly, ”but I still have some basic human decency. I wouldn’t kill a child...”

”...if I don’t have to.”

The chill those final words spread through the room was palpable.

Alex turned to Kavakan and Mogal, lowering his voice.

”Get Havel here,” he whispered. ”He’ll have better luck getting more information out of them than you two.”

It wasn’t an insult—just a fact. The two hulking juggernauts were walking symbols of carnage. Even someone with nerves of steel would crumble just by standing near them.

On the other handhand, Havel, with his handsome face and lazy air, would be far more effective.

Besides... it gave the noble Ronin something to do instead of remaining idle or even sleeping through the aftermath of the battle.

Alex stood to leave.

”There’s somewhere I want to check,” he said. ”Where is the study?”

Mogal gave him directions.

Alex turned to go, but Kavakan raised a hand.

”Boss... are we really going to let them go?” He motioned subtly at the Baron’s family.

Alex arched a brow.

”What else do you intend to do with them?”

”I was thinking...” Kavakan drew a thumb across his throat. ”It removes all future troubles.”

Alex’s gaze sharpened—cold, commanding, absolute.

”Listen carefully, Kavakan.”

The weretiger straightened instantly.

”I don’t care how other nobility do thing, but we of the Fury House do things differently. We do not kill women and children, or the weak in general, simply because they may pose a threat one day.”

His voice carried a weight that filled the room.

”If they come back to challenge us in the future, then we will deal with them at that time—when they become a legitimate threat. Until then, we will not stain our hands with unnecessary innocent blood, and partake in what is tantamount to cowardice.”

”Understood?”

Kavakan swallowed hard.

”Understood, Boss.”

”Good.” Alex nodded.

He turned to leave—but paused again, looking over his shoulder.

”And besides,” Alex added, ”if any of them truly do become a threat to us someday? Then that means we are the ones who failed—by stagnating, by growing complacent, by allowing a child still clinging to his mother’s breast... and another hiding behind her skirts... to surpass us.”

He shrugged lightly.

”If that day comes, we’ll have earned the consequences.”

With those final words, Alex left the room, heading straight for the study.

The knowledge of Verdantis, hidden away within the study, awaited him.

--

Alex didn’t give another thought to the words he spoke to Kavakan, but those words stuck with the weretiger. And so too Mogal behind him.

Both hulking warriors felt something ignite in their chests.

A new reason to grow stronger.

The fear that those weaker than them today might catch up—and surpass them tomorrow—was a powerful motivator indeed.

***