Chapter 20

Ymir was in her lab looking over Will's armor as a routine inspection ever since what happened. Despite the appearance of simple plate armor but it is more unique upon closer inspection; it has embroidery along the edges of each piece with the same design that was on his last armor, the left gauntlet was made slightly heavier for defense while the right one was made lighter for offense with the design of the chest plate to be reversed to even out the weight, and the Wizard Stone embedded on the it was one of the stones salvaged from the Behemoth's Skin before it was melted down to make its spiritual successor, Golem Flesh. Noticing Will entered the room she said, "Nice to see that you didn't ruin this armor like you did with the Behemoth's Skin".

"I'm still surprised that you deciding to melt it down to make the new set instead of selling it".

"No one would buy it out of fear of it being cursed".

"This world has to have superstitions".

"And your world doesn't".

"…Good point. Plus I get a few months off what I owe her".

She finished her inspection when she said, "At least you didn't get a scratch on it".

"I got better at fighting with this stuff on. You mind waiting outside while I put it on" she nodded and waited right outside for him to change. "So Will" she said to him as he left, "your scar…does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore but thanks for the…"

"Not that one… the one your back" she remembered the day Nyx first tried her fully restored power and how Will shielded her with his own body. She felt nothing but guilt for almost two weeks after that incident since she let her curiosity get the better of her and it threatened Will's life.

"It gets hard to sleep sometimes when the pain comes back, I sleep face down, and I feel more like my old man because of it. But… it was worth keeping a friend safe… I'll be at the usual spot if you need me Ymir-san". The usual spot was Funikura's Embrace where he decided to help Nyx run the place along with the rest of his newly formed squad as a way to help pass the time between assignments.

The place was a two floor bed and breakfast that was shut down before it was bought by Ymir as a place for Will and Nyx to have lodging. Nyx soon had the idea of turning it into a tavern to earn a little extra for traveling and to help Will pay off his debt. It soon became a place popular among soldiers of the Queen's army with the occasional traveler or street thug to have a meal. Now it also serves as a place for Will's team to have as a base of operations even if most of their information would be based on tavern gossip they hear about sightings on patrols or a traveler's stories. And thanks to the Queen's orders Lily, Myra, and Liz now work there along with the locals who needed the work.

His armor was put in his room on the tavern's second floor while he isn't on assignment or in sparring matches so he can work as a waiter or the occasional bouncer towards customers that are more hands-on with the others working as waitresses or in the back with Nyx. The day itself was a slow one for business so they were able to discuss the recent sightings regarding the Swamp Witch's activities until someone unexpected showed up, Elina.

Will's POV

It was hard to imagine the high and mighty fang princess to show up anywhere near me without murderous intent but she actually wanted our help with a runaway that cause her some embarrassment and my answer as simple as possible, FUCK NO!

She didn't like my answer so she said, "I thought worthless strays like you enjoy this kind of work". The way she always she always refers to me as a worthless stray or vulgar commoner just annoys the hell out of me. Sure I bumped into people back home that would get their kicks from the verbal abuse alone but the way she puts it can make her words feel like a death sentence. But she kept insisting of this job so I told her as kindly as I can that her problems along, anything involved with her work, or anything else about this civil war is no longer my job… until she brought up somebody with Knight's description with a little girl she was looking for. Knight was clearing the type that doesn't mind creating a self-operating slaughterhouse for his own goals but what bothered me was that he would have a little girl with him if the guy can't stand being around anyone he referred to as a grotesque mortal. So I decided to look into it and of course there was a catch like always.

Will's POV Ends

The assignment involves the young daughter of a minor noblemen that was murdered for rebelling against Claudette and managed to escape her father's killers. Her father's killers being the Assassins of The Fang. She was soon kidnapped and sold to Baroque as one of his future projects until she disappeared after the incident and since she wasn't a problem until Knight rescued her. She thinks that he did it so she can become a potential symbol for the people of her father's land to declare open rebellion. She already had some of her assassins pursuing them but wants Will to help finish the job and serve as backup in case something goes wrong. Will thought to himself, "Never thought she would resort to killing a kid just to save her tight ass. Maybe I can do something so she doesn't have to do it but what would Knight want with the girl. Maybe he would… no. Knight may be a fan of making people spill each other's blood to prove his own ideals about humans but he would have something better in mind than just making a disbanded army come back together just so they would get killed for her. He might have something else in mind for her but what".

Meanwhile in a village south of the Swamplands

Knives fell like rain as Knight dodged them with the girl resting from exhaustion in his arms until he was stuck with his back against one of the houses as four members of the Fang circled them. "We told you" one of them said to him, "you could have went on with your life if you just handed the girl over but now we'll just have to take her off your corpse". With no options left he put the girl down to his right and draw his sword before asking, "What do you plan to do with an innocent girl? Are you going kill her or make her serve as an example?"

One of them answered by trying to cut his neck open with a dagger followed with another using a pair of sickles. Using his sword to block the dagger he waited for the second assassin to strike before dodging so one of the sickles would hit the wall and get stuck and create some distance between himself and the girl to keep her safe from the attackers. Then he moved to her left in an attempt to thrust his sword into her side only for the first assassin to parry it. Another one with a rapier attempted a strike to the back of his head but he dodged to the left as though he was able to see it coming. A fourth one with a kard knife managed to land a blow that removed the lower right half of his mask as he tried to dodge it. His breathing became heavy as he managed to lure them away from the girl but he had relax and counter their attack. They began to circle him like wolves toying with their prey until the third assassin went for the kill from behind again only for him to move to dodged and slashed his sword leaving a large cut on her back. Out of anger she charged head-on aiming for his head only for him to sever her hand forcing her out of fight to stop the bleeding. But she soon watched as he was able to decapitate the first assassin leaving the second and fourth one to try and finish him. They attempted to attack simultaneously from opposite directions to confuse him but he countered there attacks with both his long sword and the rapier that still had the assassins hand gripping it. The rapier went through the heart of one of the assassins while the other had her neck sliced open.

He carried the severed hand back to the surviving assassin who was paralyzed in both shock and fear of what happened with the desire to run yelling louder in her mind with every step he took even with his sword sheathed. "What are your intentions" he asks her, "She is still a child, she poses no threat, and the Fang only showed interest in her after she was freed from my late vassal's possession…" he noticed that was pointless to try and question her if she could be useful to him before he added, "No matter". He then showed another one of his stones to her as he said, "I can tell that you wish to live so I am willing to offer you a little gift but first tell me your name".

"A-Ad-Adelle. It's Adelle" she stuttered as he stood right in front of her. Noticing that it was her right hand he severed he put the hand and her arm close together and put the stone between them. The stone gave off a blinding light and when it faded the arm was reattached with the stone embedded on the back of her hand. "I'll let you walk away from this alive. All you have to do is capture a certain someone and bring him to the entrance of the Swamplands. The one they call the Heroic Thug is the one you're after. Do you accept what I offer, Adelle?" She simply nodded her head yes as though she was in a trance over what had transpired. "Good" he continued, "You can do whatever you want to those traveling with him except for the one called Nyx. I have other plans for her. Do you understand my dear new vassal?" She just stood up and walked toward the corpse with her rapier, pulled it out of the corpse, and said to him with a loving smile and almost flirtatious tone in her voice as she caressed it in a more suggestive manner, "whatever you desire my beloved Knight-sama".

Few hours later at the Human Bizarre

Despite the distrust they had in the past Kanta became Will's informant when something became worth investigating. With Elina and Nyx disguised behind him he asked him about Knight and the girl he was supposed to be with. "Knight and a young girl" Kanta said pondering about what he heard recently, "The girl was one of tricked into being sold as a slave Baroque bought for a future project. As for this Knight character… he was seen sometime after that little slaughter with the girl. Apparently he tried to pay a few villagers to look after her but she ran back to his side before leaving the outskirts of that village but that's not what you came here to ask me. Is it Will?"

"We want to know where we can find them".

"Last time I told you something like that it ruined a potential investment for me".

"Think as payment for not telling about Baroque's bodyguards or would you prefer a few broken bones for your next sale pitch instead".

"Alright. Alright. I'll tell but if my business turns to shit your gonna owe me. One of my contacts told me that your guy had a four on one fight with some assassins in a village south of the Swamplands to protect her. Three of them are dead and the survivor began acting differently since but it seems he isn't going to leave the village for a few days over some hot springs nearby"

"I know that village. Thanks Kanta and if your business does turn to shit, we could always use a barkeep at the tavern".

"I'd rather become a beggar than".

"Suit yourself and good luck keeping up business".

Hollow: Man fighting scenes are a bitch.

Knight: Your know that you're going to fix my mask.

Hollow: *Sigh* of course and good luck with Adelle.

Adelle: Hope you enjoy the chapter and be sure to stick around for the next one *wink*.