"Just…" I trailed off when the elf let out another horrified scream, clutching at his legs. He looked up at me, holding out a blood-drenched hand, an expression of pure horror on his face.
"Please! Please, a-a health potion! Please!" He begged, his face devoid of a single drop of blood, his dark blue hair plastered to his sweaty skin. A hand went to my pouch to give him one, only for my hands to pause. They...they tried to kill me. They tried to rob me. Maybe they didn't deserve this, but…
I regret not killing Asshole the Second a couple of days ago. If I hadn't been such a pussy, I wouldn't have to worry about blackmail or the Soma familia or anything like that. If I had just killed him, then this entire thing would have never happened.
I swallowed my horror and put on a brave face. I could do this. I could totally do this.
Taking a knee, the dying man clutched at me weakly, only to catch a second wind when I pulled out a health potion. My mouth felt uncomfortably dry as I held the health potion out of reach, his weak clawing at my armor doing nothing. I quenched my thirst by drinking the health potion in front of him, his expression crumbling into utter despair.
"Please, I'm begging you, I don't want to die!" He wailed, fat tears trailing down his face. My will to do this nearly crumbled then and there. A hand went to my pouch again to give him one, but I stopped myself. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I pulled out another health potion that I held out of reach.
"Who put you up to this?" I asked, trying to keep my voice firm. Showing weakness when I was...was practically torturing a guy would defeat the purpose.
"No one did! We- we saw that you were kept bring up a lot of money, so we did some asking around and found out that you were a rookie! We thought you were just cocky since nothing could seriously hurt you!" The elf practically screamed at me, a hand lunging for the health potion. I don't think he was lying.
So, this wasn't Asshole the Seconds move. Which was...good?
"D-Did anyone tip you off?" I asked calmly, glancing up at Lili, who looked frozen stiff. She stared at me, wide-eyed, appearing so scared I half expected her to take off running.
"No! I told you, we heard that elf screaming about you and kept seeing you making a lot of cash!" The Elf roared at me, apparently pissed that he had to answer the question again. "Please, please, just give me the health potion. I-I won't say anything about this. I swear. I swear on my fucking life! Please, give it to me!"
Lili...wasn't in the clear yet. It was possible that he didn't know. I couldn't trust her about this because I wanted to. No matter how I looked at this, this looked shady as all hell.
"Did you tell anyone you were going to do this?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around what I was about to do. Knowing that I was going to do it, and kneeling here to do it were very different things. My hands got all sweaty, my heart pounded in my chest even harder than it did in the actual fight.
"No! W-we didn't tell anyone, didn't w-want anyone to muscle in our p-payday," the elf stammered out, still weakly grabbing at the health potion in my hand.
"Are you sure that no one knows? Because if you're lying…" I moved the health potion away from him, and the pathetic noise that he made nearly made me puke.
"No one knows," the elf swore, practically sobbing as he grasped at the health potion.
"Is anyone else planning anything? Has...uh...Canoe said anything?" I demanded, struggling to recall Asshole the Second's real name. The elf was fading fast. He didn't have much gas left in the tank.
"I don't know! I swear I don't know! Please, just give me the health potion. I-I don't want to die. I don't want to die…" the elf said, his voice trailing off as it was lost in heavy sobs. Everyone thought that when they stared death in the face, they'd be the cool, collected, badass that didn't blink. I sure did.
After dying once, I'm certain that if it hadn't been so fast, I wouldn't be any better than the elf.
Swallowing thickly, I pushed myself to my feet. I didn't get all the answers I wanted, but I got enough. The elf grabbed onto my leg, muttering denials because he knew what was coming. I...doing this was probably going to royally screw things up with Lili, but in this scenario, I couldn't bring myself to care. Especially when I wasn't sure if Lili hadn't set this up.
"Don't," The elf ordered, trying to control his voice as he squeezed down on my armor. "Please, don't."
I raised my sword and, for a moment, I hesitated. Did I really have to do this? Were there better options? Maybe if I made him promise...no. I picked the wrong choice once already when it came to this decision. I should have killed Canoe when I had the chance. If I let him live, then I was going to constantly wonder if he was going to keep whatever promise he made to save his life. He was begging now because he was in shock. That shock would turn to anger soon enough.
So, I plunged my sword down into his chest. The elf gargled, his hands going to my sword, but they never made it. The fell to the side, his gaze staring up at me but his eyes were blank. He was dead.
A huge sigh escaped me as I pulled my sword free. I stared at his body for a second, then I turned my attention back to Lili. She stared up at me, so still I don't think she was breathing. When it was clear she wasn't going to speak, I broke the heavy silence between us.
"Lili...you have to understand how this looks, right? I was just ambushed by your familia members," I spoke, keeping my voice calm. Slowly, Lili nodded, her expression a mix between fear and anger.
"Lili knows how this looks, but Lili didn't know about this. Or any of it! Lili didn't set a trap for Mr. Jericho! I- the Soma familia is really big, and-" She cut herself off, taking a step forward, another step away from her weapon. I wanted to believe her. I really, really did.
But…"Lili, if I brought you in front of my goddess, and asked you to say that you didn't know about this, what would my goddess say?" I asked, watching her very carefully. Hope ignited in her eyes as she gave a firm nod.
"Lady Hestia would say that Lili is telling the truth!" Lili declared with so much certainty that it made me pause. She looked half ready to grab me by the hand and march me to Hestia herself. That was...good, wasn't it? If she was so confident, then that had to mean she was telling the truth, right?
I hesitated before I gave her a slow nod. "Okay. That's what we'll do then," I said, watching very carefully for any hint that she might be lying. If anything, Lili looked relieved.
"Thank you for giving Lili this chance to prove herself, Mr. Jericho," Lili said, going towards her bag with my permission. I turned my attention to the bodies, swallowing back bile as it sunk in that I caused this carnage. I pushed my disgust away and started following Lili. The urge to loot the bodies was lost underneath the desire to get the hell out of here.
After Lili picked up her bag, neither of us said a word to each other.
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A/N— I'll try to post daily. Powerstones and comments would help, it would mean alot and give me the motivation to continue the story. In fact two chapters a day wouldn't be impossible either.
I'll post an extra chapter every 500ps power stones, no limit!
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Ps. You can also read ahead at my Patreon to support the story and help me write more. Patrons get two chapters a day and 30 chapters ahead for just a couple bucks :)
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