The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 405: Chapter 400 — Lariat

’...A witch?’

Zephyrion was a bit surprised. Nourald seemed like the jovial, friend-of-everyone sort of person. For him to address someone with such a moniker... he couldn’t help but be curious about the woman. He turned and gave her a closer look.

She was tall, about 6ft2, almost as tall as him. Her pure white hair was shaved on one side, while the other stood tall in sharp, unruly strands. A reddish, healed scar ran down from beneath her right eye, giving her a rather fierce appearance. But that was where the roughness ended.

Her gait was graceful, making it seem as though she were gliding forward rather than walking. Her eyes were sharp and probing, carrying a quiet confidence that suggested intelligence. Though he’d yet to see why Nourald considered her a witch, Zephyrion couldn’t help but grow wary, subtly raising his guard.

There were several ways to tell when someone possessed intelligence. Zephyrion had found the most reliable to be through their eyes. There was a certain confidence that couldn’t be faked, one that only came from being right far more often than one was wrong. And this... woman possessed it in abundance.

”I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Lord Nourald.” She gave Zephyrion a lingering glance before turning back to Nourald with a smile. ”Where have you been hiding?”

”Where else, Lariat? Enjoying my peace.” Nourald scoffed. ”A man needs his peace, you know. Preferably somewhere far, far away from slithering snakes.”

If the jab had any effect on Lariat, she didn’t show it. Instead, her smile widened as she took a step closer. ”Ah, as charming as ever, Lord Nourald. So, how about it? Will you finally honor my challenge, Lord Nourald? Or shall I expect another excuse about your precious peace, Lord Nourald?”

”Sheesh, enough with the lord already, Lariat!” Nourald groaned. ”How many times do I have to tell you it’s weird? Just call me Nourald, for Breath’s sake!”

”Really? You want me to stop?” Lariat blinked innocently, though the mocking smile on her face betrayed her. ”How strange. I would’ve thought you’d enjoy being reminded of your esteemed status. After all, not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a powerful figure watching over them, hm?”

Nourald’s expression darkened.

’Powerful backing.’

Zephyrion glanced at the jovial Aerelith, quietly adjusting his impression of him. Strong, with someone even stronger backing him, he was clearly not as simple as he appeared.

Even more, he managed to glean a little about their relationship from the reactions of the other Aerelith. A crowd had gathered around them, some watching with weary expressions while others looked rather excited. Clearly, this was a regular occurrence between the two.

A moment later, Nourald exhaled, giving a dismissive shrug.

”Well, for your information, Lady Lariat.” He gave a smug little smile, clearly pleased to return the favor, before casually throwing an arm around Zephyrion’s shoulders.

Zephyrion resisted the urge to yank it off.

”I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you yet again. You see, someone has to show our new friend around, and as luck would have it, that someone happens to be me. Terrible shame, I know. Anyway, see you never!”

”Ah, a new friend.” Lariat stepped in front of them before they could leave, her gaze settling curiously on Zephyrion. ”How rude of you, Lord Nourald. Were you really going to leave without introducing me? And here I thought you had manners.”

”Oh, so you can sink your poisonous little fangs into him too? Hah, nice try.”

Ignoring Nourald’s dismissive wave, Lariat extended a hand towards Zephyrion, offering him a pleasant smile. ”Lariat Sinclair. A pleasure to meet you.”

Zephyrion stared at her outstretched hand for a moment before raising his gaze to meet hers, making no move to accept it. The worst thing one could do when dealing with someone intelligent was to give them information, and there was a whole lot that could be learned from merely touching his metallic arms.

”Haa! Look at that! He’s barely arrived, and he can already recognize a monster when he sees one!” Nourald burst into laughter. ”How does it feel, Lariat? Getting rejected by someone you’ve only just met? Hahaha, that must sting!”

Lariat’s smile faltered slightly as she withdrew her hand, studying Zephyrion for a long moment. Then, as though she’d come to some conclusion, her smile returned.

”Ah, I see. No wonder the two of you get along so well. Birds of a feather, aren’t you? Arrogant, full of yourselves, and convinced you’re better than everyone else, all because you have someone powerful standing behind you.” A hint of disappointment crept into her expression as she regarded Zephyrion. ”What a shame. And here I thought you might actually be interesting. I suppose you’re probably just as weak as he is.”

’It’s a trap.’

Zephyrion recognized it before she even finished speaking. If this had been a conversation between just the two of them, deflecting the insult or steering the conversation elsewhere would have been easy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Nourald’s indignant scoff came almost immediately.

”Haa! You really don’t know when to keep that mouth shut, do you?” Nourald grinned, looking almost delighted to prove her wrong. ”Allow me to introduce Ashrael, a Gular! And you think he’s weak? Hah! Before we came here, I watched this brother beat a Graveprowler into the ground with his bare hands! His bare hands, Lariat! How’s that for weak?”

’Does this idiot ever shut up?’

Zephyrion was seriously tempted to clamp a hand over Nourald’s mouth.

”Really? He did that?”

”With his bare hands? That’s impressive.”

The surrounding Aerelith stared at Zephyrion with wide, astonished eyes. Apparently, since beasts were generally considered stronger than Ascendants of the same rank, defeating one so easily was quite an impressive feat.

Their reactions also revealed two important things to Zephyrion. First, they gave him a rough idea of the general strength of the Strays. The beast had been mark one, and judging by their surprise, most of them were likely around that level. Secondly, Nourald had barely reacted when he killed the beast, which suggested that he personally didn’t consider it particularly impressive.

”A Gular... well, that certainly explains the build.” Lariat narrowed her eyes slightly, giving Zephyrion another look. ”Though I must say, Lord Nourald, you’re making an awful lot of noise over something so unimpressive.”

”Hah! Of course you’d say that. How many Graveprowlers have you beaten, hm?” Nourald scoffed. ”You spend all day strutting around like you’re the strongest person alive, but I bet you couldn’t even handle one yourself. Breath, forget the Graveprowler! I doubt you’d last ten seconds against our friend here. Put the two of you in a ring, and he’d have you carried off to the clinic before you could even blink!”

’What the fuck is wrong with this guy?’

Zephyrion was beginning to seriously consider cutting out Nourald’s tongue.

Lariat’s smile twitched. ”Oh? Is that so? Well, I suppose we can put that little claim to the test.”

The hairs on Zephyrion’s body suddenly stood on end, and almost instinctively, his arm shot up, smashing apart a compressed ball of air before it could strike him.