Dance with the Nightingale-Chapter 106 - 101: Dawn

It was almost dawn by the time we were done with all grunts working for the Church of Light, and thanks to Amy being here, there weren’t any problems.

Honestly, I was being carried by Amy here and I kinda wondered if Amy interfering this much was even allowed by the Earl…

Of course, I threw these thoughts out of the window as using her power to the fullest would be best now, since the opponent was a vessel being possessed by a demon.

Worst case scenario we would have to fight a S rank demon, if the vessel somehow found a way to summon the demon in full strength.

So, after hurriedly interrogating the magic users we caught, namely, Ziek, as he was the only one with any useful information, we simply did two things:

First, we usurped the other two places that the Church of Light used for gatherings, both of them being located in the western region of city as they were supposed to in the novel, and demolished them.

Since, the church’s backing was taken out, it wouldn’t be able to restore itself, and the believers themselves had no power to do so either. All they could do was try clearing some debris and give up and go home when they find out that the whole building was collapsed.

Second, we captured the resources the church had secretly smuggled. Thanks to Aneles and Claire’s info we were able to seize some of them earlier, but most of them were already moved somewhere else.

Wanna guess where?

Travis Miller.

Yes, this guy, even after death was still bothering me. Ziek, the D rank we captured was his direct subordinate, and was assisting his wife, the sole heir of Travis’s assets in managing business, including sneaky business like sponsoring Church of Light.

And thanks to him being such an important figure, we finally had all the info we needed. The grunts? We captured them. The nobles of suppressed faction? This guy also knew them all!

That meant I could finally go after the vessel with no loose ends!

So, without any delay, I went to the Baron’s mansion.

Unluckily, I wasn’t able to crash his breakfast. As soon as the guards saw me from the distance, an awful lot of guards, they informed the Baron, who in turn sent Rifa to bring me in.

"What are you here for?", Rifa asked without hiding her annoyance.

"I’m here to do my job. But’s before that, what’s going on, Ms. Rifa? I don’t think it’s an military practice.", I said, nudging towards the unusually armed mansion.

"Just come on in, I’ll explain it to you while we walk.", she said, before adding, "Also you don’t have to call me miss everytime, just call me Rifa."

"Okay. So, what happened here Rifa?", I asked again, as I saw a few luxurious carriages standing in the empty square before the mansion. Standing beside the carriages were a few set of guards armed and ready to respond in case of danger.

"Nothing serious actually, those guys from Business Association want Rorkan back."

But what caught my attention was the elf, sitting on the ledge of the fountain.

"Well, now that Rorkan was in our custody, they couldn’t ’pressure’ the Baron enough, so they bought the Mercenary Association’s ace with them."

’I see… So, she’s Fostoria Acben.’

As if sensing my gaze, the elf girl with green hair and blue eyes, looked at me.

And…

’She’s on verge on breaking through the C rank.’, Amy, who was quite till now, whispered quietly.

As I thought, she felt different. She’s strong, stronger than any C rank I met.

’The mercenary guild, the Duke Anias faction.’

While it was true that the Anias faction was more active in eastern expanse, we were still at the border of northern realms, that our faction ruled, and eastern expanse, they couldn’t be too overbearing here.

Not to mention this was imperial territory.

With such thoughts in my mind, I wasn’t hearing what Rifa said later on. I just kept walking behind her, and before I knew it, I was in a meeting room. Quite funny if you think how, Fostoria was made to stand outside, while I was allowed to just walk in.

On one side were two middle-aged men, whom I knew but didn’t at the same time, they were the business association’s board members. On the other side was the Baron Marek, sipping tea, a sharp contrast to the two men splattering their spit across the room.

Thankfully, I was seated across the table safe from those aerial projectiles.

"I understand your concerns, Baron! But this can’t go on! We had our healers check Mr. President just now! They say that’s he’s completely fine!"

Ignoring my presence, which I had suppressed deliberately, the other member spoke.

"That’s right, Mr. President can’t stay in custody any longer! There are many things that need President’s approval, including relief funds and allocation of shelter for the victims of recent incident."

’Hm, so they aren’t gonna say it’s cause of business losses…’

In response to their pleads, Baron simply placed his cup down and stated, "I understand your concerns, gentlemen. But, doing so can harmful to the very people you are trying to protect."

"How so Baron Marek? I simply don’t understand. We just confirmed that our President is completely fine now."

"Haah. I wasn’t going to say this but you leave me no choice.", Baron sighed before he continued in a tone that could be called rude at best. "Your boss, Rorkan Kaniel was drugged in your own office, in presence of your own healers, right in front of your eyes! It all happened in Business Association you own!"

"How can I trust a single word of yours when you weren’t competent enough in your own house!!??"

’Wow! I have so much to learn.’, I internally quipped as I saw Baron acting tough.

And it worked, the board members couldn’t refute the Baron, and remained silent.

It was only after a good 20 seconds that one of them spoke, "But, Baron, President can’t stay in your custody forever."

"Nor do I intend to keep him.", Baron added, "I only intend to keep him in till the perpetrator is found.

"But Baron that’ll take too long, we don’t even know who or what was behind this."

Finding the perfect chance to interject I said casually, "Oh, it won’t take long.", my words finally drawing attention from the two men, while Baron looked at me with approval.

"What do you mean?", one of them asked levelheadedly, while the other looked very irritated as he demanded, "Who are you to interrupt this conversation?", as he assessed my look before saying, "A mere mercenary has no right even be here."

’Young Master, is he needed alive?’

"Haha~", I chuckled nervously at Amy’s words, before questioning him in a condescending tone, "Then do tell, mister board member, aren’t those mercenaries standing outside as a part of your entourage?"

"A mere-", before the angry man could make my maid angry, I silently but surely released my presence that I was suppressing, hitting the guy with full force of my aura.

And as I expected, with him not even being a magic user, he choked on his own words. The other one, though holding up well as he was around E rank, stopped glaring at me as he looked at Baron for an explanation.

’Look he’s all obedient now Amy.’

She didn’t say anything but I felt her nodding slightly, that’s good enough.

-Ahem

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Clearing his throat, Baron gave me a quick glance that meant, ’That’s enough, stop now.’, which I did, before he spoke, "This young man here, is Ray Niger. He is the mercenary I hired for Rorkan’s case. I’m sure you know by now that he is competent enough."

Wow, he was openly mocking them.

-Knock

-Knock

"Is everything alright, sir?", A high pitched voice asked coolly from beyond the door.

’Must be Fostoria.’

"Y-yes… everything is all right."

"Okay."

As I expected, she is here just for doing her job, it’s not like the Anais faction is backing them, so Baron can be ruthless.

But…

"Actually, I have proposal that will get Rorkan out of the prison instantly.", I said to the two middle aged man who had lost their edge.

"A proposal?", the level headed one asked.

"Yes, a proposal. I have found out the base of those perps who drugged Rorkan and was about to raid it. If you lend me some man power, then this issue can be sorted quickly."

"By man power, do you mean Fostoria? I’m sorry, but it’s upto her if wants to accept your request, though we can pay her in your stead."

Hm, a valid thought, but I shook my head.

"You are half correct."

"You mean!?", the board member’s eyes widened as he realized what I meant.

"Yes, include Rorkan too and we are good. Ain’t that right Baron?"

"No, that’s too dangerous! We can’t allow the President to take on such dangerous job! Also, what if he gets controlled again? It would do more harm than good for you too!", the other board member asserted.

"Hm? Then doesn’t it mean that releasing him early would be dangerous too?", I smiled innocently as I glanced back at Baron, and he added promptly.

"That’s true. Since you gentlemen also know that risks of releasing him early, I hope you won’t insist either. You guys can leave."

His words were polite but his tone wasn’t.

Soon after they left, Baron looked at me suspiciously as he said, "I almost thought you double crossed me there."

"Of course not. I am may be many things be I am not ungrateful. Also, the fewer people with me on the raid, the better."

After all, the less people see Amy the better, though not much people would be able to see her.

’Are you asking me for a date, Young Master!?"

"Oh! So, you actually find their base?"

"Yes."

’Yes, would you humor me my lady?’

I agreed to both.

"And what else should I know?"

"A lot, I hope you have some free time."

With that I told Baron, all the information I acquired about nobles supporting the Church of Light, hence completing the contract for most part, before leaving.

***

Rushing out faster than I normally would, I paced through the hallways of Baron’s mansion, hoping to catch up with Fostoria before she left too far.

I would have loved to simply run past the hallways, but that would too much disrespect even for me.

So, I helplessly chased after a cool elf beauty without being able to run… how romantic (silly).

Increasing my strides and pace, to the point that I was almost running, I finally caught a glimpse of her party standing outside, about to leave, and yet, I saw something, no, someone that made my legs come to an halt.

Mark.

My four armed friend(?), Mark.

A completely haggard, sleepless, devastated, Mark.

I couldn’t possibly ignore him… especially when everything could have been avoided if I just arrived a tad bit early.

My legs that were halted, started moving, as I approached the shadow of the man I knew.

"Hey, Mark.", I greeted as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right dude? You look awfully tired."

As if finally coming to, Mark shook slightly.

"Tired? Me? I guess, I must be…", he smiled, or so he tried, failing miserably as he added, "Is the Baron Marek in there?"

"Yes, I just finished talking with him. By the way, why are you meeting him? Want to ask for a leave?"

"No, I want to buy a few potions."

"Potions?"

"Yes, high grade potions, for my brother. The potions I had weren’t powerful enough to heal his leg. But high grade potions surely would, though they are costly. Anyways, I need to go, bye.", Mark said, walking past me.

"You know they won’t work, right?", I said to his fleeting figure that abruptly halted. "Middle grade potions, high grade potions, that’s not the problem."

"The problem is with his soul, no potion irrespective of its grade potion can cure a soul."

"Y… … … d… t…"

In response, Mark stopped abruptly as he mumbled something barely visible.

"Pardon? What did you say? I can’t hear you."

"You… d… decide t…"

"You don’t get to decide that!"

"Youd heard now! You don’t get to decide that! You fucker!", Mark shouted as he grabbed my collar, shouting again, "YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE THAT!!"

With his whole body trembling he barely contained his anger, as he turned around and went into Baron’s study.

Meanwhile, I stood there just like a statue. Inwardly reminding myself, ’He is just another victim.’

A victim of my incompetence, quite literally.

-Haaah

Sighing slowly, I walked out of the mansion, wanting nothing more than to sleep for the whole day. Definitely, not in the mood to chase after Fostoria anymore. I headed towards Scheleth’s place, to get the compass that will lead to my treasure.

Faint sunlight shone on my face, as I rode the skyline, squinting my eyes I quietly quoted, ’It’s time.’