Chapter 85 - I Will Kill You (Patreon)

“My name is Oliviala Le’Cruex. We did not come here to cause you harm, we are no threat to you.”

Not ‘of’ Cruex but Le’Cruex. She’s the daughter of a high noble of the Central Imperial Metropole?! This is perfect! Though I’ll need to play my cards right.

“I am fully aware you are not a threat to us, Oliviala,” Jiran narrowed his eyes, causing her to swallow nervously.

“We came here seeking aid and my cousin disobeyed my orders. Please accept my apology for attacking your… mate,” The second she hesitated, she realized her mistake.

Jiran nearly lost his composure and grinned when he saw her shoulders slump.

Gotcha!

“I do not accept your apology,” His voice was iron as he took a threatening step toward her.

Mayalyn’s hand landed on his shoulder.

“What is happening? I cannot understand her words, nor she mine.”

Jiran flexed his aura to block their sound waves before speaking.

“This girl is a noble. Hmm, you don’t really have nobles, how to explain? She has sway over others because of her birth. She can introduce us to whoever owns the land the People are living in. Right now, the biggest threat to the People is being discovered by imperials. If we can convince everyone to work together, it could prevent a lot of deaths due to misunderstandings. Please trust me on this, we need to form good connections between our people.”

“That makes sense, but how does threatening her achieve that? Should we not be nicer?”

“If we appear weak, they won’t respect us or have any reason to work with us.”

Mayalyn’s lips pursed as her head bobbed gently from side to side as she considered his words. After a few seconds, she nodded decisively.

“I will trust you on how to best handle your own people. Though I do not like being unable to understand her words. We must correct this issue in the future,” Jiran returned her nod before turning back to Oliviala who spoke before he could.

“You can communicate with i-her?” She cringed at his renewed glare.

Jiran didn’t answer. He gathered all his nonexistent acting skills and pitched his tone to be as threatening as possible.

“You invaded our camp, attacked us, and now wish to repent with mere words? What would have been the outcome if you were the stronger? Would we both be dead at your feet while you strip us like common bandits? No, your apology will be rendered with actions, not words.”

Agh! I sound like a yakuza goon in a cheesy anime. I’m dying!

Luckily, the noble girl didn’t seem to realize how idiotic he sounded as her lower lip trembled. Suddenly, Jiran’s eyes widened as he pretended to think of something.

“Do you have a map?” A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes as Jiran gave her a way out of her seemingly hopeless predicament. Though taken off guard by his sudden shift in demeanor, she quickly nodded.

“Yes, it’s in my satchel if you would allow me to present it.”

Jiran released his grip and her body slumped and nearly fell before she caught herself. A few quick tugs on her pouch straps produced a fine skin map with detailed markings of the entire central and eastern empire. Jiran snatched the map from her hands with his aura, causing her eyes to widen.

“That’s… Your aura control is superb. I do not wish to overstep, but I must ask, who was your instructor?”

“The Aahmra,” Without giving her time to ask another question, Jiran continued. “Who owns this land here?” He drew a large circle that barely contained the cave where the People were residing, as well as the forest where the Aahmra was ascending.

“Reihnhardt Le’Mortan owns everything south of Mortan to the Crags of Caldarra,” She responded instantly while indicating a strip along the southern border of the empire that ran all the way from east to west.

“Though much of the lands have been divided among his lineage and vassals, he is the duke who has been granted rights over these lands.”

“Perfect, I need to talk to him. Is that something you can arrange?”

“Most certainly, I could secure an audience with him. However, getting you in to see him without me would be very difficult.”

Why would she want to go with me to see him? Is she planning to set some kind of trap? Well, regardless, so far so good. The People have an in with the nobility. Now, I should learn a bit more about these two and why they’re out here alone. Wait, are they alone?

Jiran formed his aura into a long cone and swept it in a full circle around the camp. He scanned the skies, then leaped into the air until he was just able to keep both of them restrained while holding himself up. He looked in every direction and after not seeing any signs of movement save a few random animals, he dropped back to the ground.

“What did you mean when you said you came here seeking aid?”

Oliviala looked between him and Mayalyn several times while indecision wrinkled her brow. She subtly shook her head as if trying to make up her mind before releasing a deep exhalation. Her fists bunched until her gauntlet creaked and finally, she found her resolve.

“I was guided here to seek allies against the Graymin to save the empire.”

“Why would the empire need saving? We’ve been fighting against the Graymin for hundreds of years.”

I remember those guys talking in that tavern about how people were heading north to fight but there’s no way it’s gotten that bad. We have the emperors, they’ve always pushed back the Graymin when they get too deep into the empire.

While Jiran was thinking, Oliviala searched his face for duplicity. Finding none, she explained.

“You really don’t know? Over the last year, their numbers have swelled to triple the worst recorded invasion in history.”

“Okay… That sounds ominous but doesn’t at all answer my question of why you came here seeking aid.”

She blanched and could no longer meet his eyes as her voice lowered to a mumble.

“I honestly don’t know the answer to that either. I wasn't told what I'd find, only that this is the direction I should go,” Her eyes fell to the ground as her cheeks were touched with the barest hint of red.

“Let me get this straight. You were told to walk near the Outlands to find something that can save the entire empire and you followed those orders blindly without knowing why?”

Sounds more like an assassination attempt than a valid excuse to be out here in the middle of nowhere.

“Yes,” Her jaw clenched as she finally met his gaze. There was a passionate fire in her voice now, as if questioning her insane orders was an insult to everything she held dear.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Jiran shook his head while handing her map back to her.

Of course, her reason only sounds so stupid because it’s comparable to what I just did!

“Thank you!” Came a muffled shout from the other side of the creek.

Oliviala's jaw clamped down and her nostrils flared.

“Cameron, you stay out of this! You are not helping!”

“You’re right. You’re doing such a great job over there without me, there's definitely no reason for me to stick my nose into it.”

For the first time since he had seen Mayalyn under attack, Jiran cracked a smile. It was a small, fickle thing, but it did not escape Oliviala’s notice and she breathed a sigh of relief even as the red in her cheeks deepend slightly.

“Sure, I’ll help you. I have a couple ideas that could make a difference for the empire. But first, I need to make something very clear,” Jiran’s aura released Cameron and the boy shot to his feet.

His face was red and his golden armor shone resplendently despite the dirt covering it. He did his best to wipe himself clean with dignified movements as he looked between the three of them on the far side of the creek. Jiran sucked his aura into his body as he addressed the proud-looking noble.

“If you ever attack Mayalyn again, I will kill you.”

Aura, mana, and body connected through a state of oneness. Jiran moved so quickly, that to everyone present, he may as well have teleported. He appeared before Cameron and a boom resounded through the clearing as his fist connected with the boy’s face. The shockwave caused ripples to spread across the creek’s surface and leaves to fall from the nearby trees. Cameron was sent flying backward before crashing into the ground and rolling ass-over-teakettle several times.

To Jiran’s surprise, Cameron was still conscious after coming to a stop two dozen meters away. The boy groaned while holding his face as he rocked back and forth on the ground. With a shrug, Jiran turned back to Oliviala. He was surprised once more to see a huge smile plastered across her face.

“I think you just found a reason not to stick your nose in, dearest cousin!”

Seriously? These two are freaking weird. Would I be so nonchalant if someone hit Niya? Well, maybe if she deserved it and I knew she wasn’t hurt. Maybe they aren’t that weird after all. Niya… I need to hurry up and ascend. I’ve only killed five so far today. How am I going to go out and kill more with these two around?

“I would be delighted to hear these ideas of yours. Perhaps over a meal?” Oliviala sent him a warm smile while Mayalyn was pointing and laughing at Cameron who was shaking his head as he stood on unsteady feet.

Mayalyn bounced over to Jiran and rose on her toes to give him a quick kiss.

“Now that, I understood,” She said while patting his cheek, she chuckled before dancing away to clean up the mess that had become of their camp.

“How can you understand her? She just yips and growls. I mean no offense, but she sounds very barbaric. No, that’s not it. Oh! Primal, yes that’s the right word.” Oliviala followed after Jiran as he trudged toward the fire pit.

“Her name is Mayalyn and you shouldn't underestimate her because of the way she sounds or her mouse ears and tail. Her people are even more sophisticated than us imperials.”

“What?! There are more like her?”

“Yes, many,” Realizing his words might be construed as a threat, Jiran added. “And I can promise you they do not wish to antagonize the empire.”

“Where did they come from? How did they get here?” Oliviala didn’t seem to take his words negatively as she continued her barrage of questions.

“I’m not really interested in telling you everything about them until I know more about your motives,” Jiran ripped a piece of meat free from above the campfire and tossed it to her.

Oliviala shook her head with wonder as she watched Mayalyn move about the camp with a bright smile.

“I must have been led here to find Mayalyn and her people. Do you think they would be willing to fight for us?”

“I highly doubt it, but if they were fighting with us, then perhaps. They are not stupid, they will see the Graymin as the threat they are and may decide to help but I don’t speak for them.”

Olive stiffened and struck her chest plate with a resounding salute.

“Please, introduce me to their leaders so I may petition on behalf of the empire for their aid. The situation in the north is dire. Within the year, the Graymin will be upon the walls of Cruex.”

How did the war get that bad?!

“Why haven’t the emperors made a move if things are so bad?” Jiran’s question was answered by Cameron as he hopped over the creek.

“Because they can’t, obviously. Nice punch, by the way. And you don’t have to worry about me. Only reason I attacked was because she moved like a tier three. I didn’t realize until she dodged that she was tier five. No way would I be fool enough to mess with her again.”

She’s definitely fast when she’s hopped up on lightning… How freaking tough is this guy? I didn't hold back and he's not even bruised, did he heal himself?

Oliviala was still standing in a salute, waiting for his response.

“You don’t need to beg, I was already planning on introducing them to that Reinhard guy.”

“His name is Reihnhardt Le’Mortan, and I can be far more helpful to them than he can,” She blurted out her words so quickly that Jiran grew suspicious.

“Again, I don’t speak for them. You’ll have to convince them, yourself, of what you can or can’t do for them.”

“I will do that. Thank you, Mister… I do not believe I caught your name,” She moved to sit next to Cameron who was already munching away while sitting on Jiran’s favorite log.

“Jiran of Feylon,” He mumbled around a mouthful of savory meat.

Cameron began choking and banging his chest plate while Oliviala leaped to her feet.

“WHAAAAT?!”