An Evening of Unsettling Negotiations

“What are you doing? I don’t need your pity.”

“I’m not pitying you, Master…”

“Hmph~ Let go…”

Kaelan pouted, shaking off Saranya’s arm, yet then leaned forward, gently burying her face against Saranya’s chest.

****

By the time Saranya had finished tending to her master’s mood, night had quietly descended. The sun had vanished into the dark clouds on the horizon, and scattered lights began to twinkle across the streets of the West District, radiating outwards from Old Freedom Square.

“Master, we must resolve the Bloodsail matter tonight. We cannot allow Borok to continue spreading panic. We absolutely must intervene in his shipbuilding plans.”

Saranya received Kaelan’s nod of assent. The two had a simple dinner in the tavern’s main hall, after which Saranya selected a few Night Lily Knights to accompany them. Upon hearing they would be venturing out on a secret mission with Ranger Haia, the knights’ eyes lit up, and they thumped their chests, vowing to brave any danger for her.

Watching her subordinates brimming with vitality, Saranya chuckled to herself. ‘These children would surely faint from excitement if they knew I was the Grand Commander of the Night Lily Knights, their direct superior,’ she mused.

Their first stop was the West District docks, a place where Borok frequently appeared and where he had publicly broadcast his idea of escaping the demon plague by ship.

Fleeing by sea—anyone in Vero owning a vessel had surely entertained such a thought. Beyond the densely packed small islands, no one knew what lay across the ocean. Yet, it was undoubtedly an area untouched by the demon plague. To the powerful and privileged, if they had a choice, taking their belongings and abandoning their homes to flee to the ocean was preferable to stubbornly holding out in Vero, only to lose their lives to the nightmarish demon plague, as rumored by the Northerners.

Such a belief that Vero was doomed to fall to the demon plague, constantly pondering escape, was one thing if kept to oneself or discussed only with close friends and family. However, to openly declare it, to stand up and encourage this escapist ideology as Borok did, would lead to Vero’s collapse even before the demon plague arrived. People would hoard supplies, scramble for escape slots, and descend into internal chaos. The city committee’s lockdown policy was, in fact, a direct suppression of this escapism. In this regard, the committee and Saranya’s gang alliance shared a slight common interest.

As for Saranya, she naturally advocated for steadfast resistance. The magical storms brought by the demon plague could be countered by Kaelan assembling a witch squad, while Saranya’s role was to gather combat strength and defend against monster invasions. With their combined efforts, they absolutely could not allow Vero to become a second Northern Reaches of the Empire.

Borok’s actions, without a doubt, would weaken Vero’s strength and undermine her and her master’s resistance efforts. Therefore, she intended to nip this momentum in the bud, and do so tonight.

“He’s not here.”

The docks were exceptionally quiet at night. The sea breeze was cool, and the dark water frothed with white foam, crashing against the green-tinged jetties. The fishy smell in the air was less pungent than during the day.

If not for their urgent mission, Saranya would have loved to linger here with Kaelan, enjoying a moment of relaxation.

“Hmm, as expected.”

Saranya waved her hand, signaling the reporting knight to rejoin the ranks.

“Ranger sister, what do you plan to do?”

“Then we shall… pay Borok a direct visit at his home.”

“Are we going to kill him?”

Kaelan interjected suddenly, her personality, which so readily suggested murder and arson, made Saranya secretly wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.

“No, not necessary, Master. Our primary objective is to make Borok stop. There’s no need to kill him.”

“But the Bloodsail Alliance once seized the Night Lily Knights’ territory and lured and violated so many poor knights. As an important member of theirs, did Borok truly have no involvement?”

Kaelan lightly licked her lips, adopting an alluring tone as she continued speaking to the grim-faced knight.

“They so cruelly tormented your sub-commander. Don’t you want revenge, little girl?”

“Sub-commander Eleanor… I… I want… I want to kill those scoundrel sailors, I want to kill them… leave none alive…”

“That’s right, child, just like that. Sister Novfloss and Sister Haia can both help you. Listen to your sisters; hatred can make you stronger. All you need to do is let it control you—”

“I will say it again, we are not going to kill Borok. Killing him would only create more trouble, which goes against the interests of the gang alliance and solves nothing.”

Saranya cut off the witch, dismissed the knight before them, and raised a hand to summon a coachman from the dockside, instructing the knights to board the carriage and depart.

Kaelan stood before her, a faint, unreadable smile playing on her lips, gazing calmly as if she hadn’t spoken a single word.

“Don’t… influence my knights.”

“Why? I admire that child. Don’t you think it’s quite delightful to watch her go mad, collapse, and shatter beyond recognition right before us?”

“…”

Evidently, the witch regarded tormenting others as a form of entertainment.

“You cannot do that, Kaelan.”

“I am your master. I do as I please.”

“Precisely because you are my master—!”

Saranya’s lips twitched upward, forming a wry smile, uglier than a cry, as she faced Kaelan.

“Xiao Ya hopes that Master will only torment Xiao Ya alone… Please, just torment me, don’t lay a hand on them…”

“You are different from them, but if you have a need… Xiao Ya, I can satisfy you as well…”

“I have a need! Master, I have a need… please torment me twice as much…”

Kaelan’s eyes glinted, and she nodded softly.

“We have an agreement, Master…”

Seeing her master finally persuaded, Saranya let out a sigh of relief. She turned, jogged a few steps, and climbed into the carriage, then reached out her arm from the window to help her master aboard.

By the time the carriage stopped in front of Borok’s villa in the East District, the moon was already hanging high above them.

Deep into the night, the three-story building before them was brightly lit. Two sailors, scimitars at their hips, stood watch in the outer slate guard towers, eyeing them with predatory gazes.

“Halt! Are you here for the banquet?”

Saranya immediately nodded, her expression stern, and continued based on the guard’s words:

“You know, so why ask? Can’t you tell who I am?”

“Esteemed Miss Haia, are you foolish or am I? Someone not on the list, bringing a group of fully armed subordinates—do you truly think I would let you pass?!”

The sailor’s mouth was full of honorifics, yet his tone was utterly obnoxious, greatly irritating Saranya. Just as she was about to retort, a warm and elegant voice suddenly resounded behind her:

“Don’t be like that, Mister Guard. Miss Haia is here to protect me. If I can enter, but such a distinguished person must merely stand by and watch, it would surely be an insult to your esteemed master, wouldn’t it?”

Dump stepped forward, emerging from the night’s shadows, and stood beside Saranya.

At Dump’s approach, both Saranya and Kaelan instinctively recoiled two steps. Their gazes first flashed with shock, then transformed into intense hatred.