Chapter 96: The Alliance Offer

When he reached the third floor, he sensed a presence in the lit room.

Before Hay could even try the door, Renki came rushing out in a fluster. He spotted Hay and stopped short, startled.

“Master! What are you doing here…? Did you come looking for me? I’m sorry! I was about to go back, but I fell asleep…”

“Save the story. Let’s head back first.”

“Have you met Isanil? Actually, I went out to find you, and then Isanil…”

“I’ll hear the story back at the inn.”

The words flowing from Hay’s mouth were unexpectedly cold. Renki, who had been about to offer excuses, seemed taken aback by his curt reply.

“Are you angry?”

Hay, who had been going down the stairs, stopped and gave Renki a warning glare. Renki shrank his shoulders.

“I’ll be quiet.”

When they stepped outside, Isanil was nowhere to be seen. Only the faint scent of his cigarette remained in the air.

Hay looked around for a moment, adjusted his hood, which had slipped back a little, and quickened his pace. Renki hurried to match Hay’s stride, sneaking glances at him.

Hay didn’t look back at Renki even once.

He could understand, to some extent, why Renki had gone out. Something similar had happened to him when he was young, back when he was still Han Tae-hyun.

One day, when he came home from school, there was a note his mother had left. It said she had stepped out for an errand and would be back. But she never came home, even as night deepened.

Han Tae-hyun, only eleven years old, was terrified that his mother, who had suffered domestic violence, had taken his three-year-old sibling and left for good.

So on a cold day, wearing only slippers on bare feet, he wandered the whole neighborhood looking for her.

He was so consumed by the thought, ‘What if Mom really abandoned me?’ that he burst into tears, crying a lot.

Then an old lady from next door saw him and took him into her home to comfort him. He ate steamed sweet potatoes with kimchi and fell asleep. At dawn, his mother came to the neighbor’s house in a panic, carrying his younger sibling on her back.

Then she scolded him, asking how he could leave the house in the middle of the night, and gave him a thorough spanking.

So even though Renki had disobeyed his orders and gone outside, Hay understood. But understanding was one thing; this couldn’t happen again.

The Red Claw might be lurking nearby. Going out alone was a foolish way to put himself in danger.

As soon as they returned to the inn, Hay raised the point.

“Didn’t you see my note? I’m pretty sure I wrote that you should stay in the inn.”

Hay set the staff he had been carrying by the bed and spoke in a hard tone.

Renki wilted, his head bowed. “I’m sorry.”

He seemed to have lost all intention of making excuses. But his eyes and his protruding lip looked aggrieved and dissatisfied.

That he could make such a face meant Hay had grown comfortable enough with him.

“I heard Isanil bribed the guards and brought you back. So why didn’t you come straight to the inn? Why were you with that guy?”

“Because Isanil said, ‘What if you get caught again on the way back?’ and told me to just go back in the morning. I couldn’t help it…”

It was obvious that Isanil could have brought Renki all the way to the inn but deliberately kept him instead. He must have known Hay would come looking for Renki.

“Did Isanil ask you anything?”

“About what?”

“Whether he asked about you or me, or about the Red Claw.”

“No, nothing at all.”

Renki shook his head.

Hay roughly took off his coat, tossed it on the bed, and sat down next to Renki.

He couldn’t get it out of his head that Isanil had said he would help deal with the Red Claw. It seemed like there was something between Isanil and the Red Claw.

“By the way, Master, what kept you out so late?”

“I told you I had something to do.”

He couldn’t bring himself to tell the kid he’d gone to kill someone.

“Could you take me with you next time?”

‘To a place where people are being killed?’

“Why?”

“Because I’m your servant, Master. It’s my job to attend you at your side. Besides, I don’t like being left alone.”

The last part he said almost hesitantly.

When Hay looked at him silently, Renki avoided his gaze and pretended to tidy the coat Hay had taken off.

Serving him was just an excuse. He simply hated being left alone. They’d been together for a year now, and Renki had learned to say such things.

‘I hate being left alone.’

Thinking about what those words meant, Hay felt sorry for Renki. But that was that, and this was this.

Hay rubbed his face and looked at Renki coldly. He could have soothed him with gentle words, but Hay chose not to.

“Renki, you’re my servant, as you said. So don’t get above yourself and start getting the wrong idea.”

Rather than comfort the kid with clumsy words, it was more important to hurt him enough that he wouldn’t do something so foolish again.

“All you have to do is stay where I tell you to stay.”

The hands folding Hay’s coat flinched and curled inward. Renki’s face stiffened, but only for a moment. He then smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes, Master. I’ll be careful.”

It was a painted smile.

* * *

The next day, they ate before noon.

Hay sent Renki upstairs to study and headed to the lounge. He had already asked the front desk to send Isanil to the lounge if he came.

Isanil arrived right after the noon bell rang.

“You’re staying in a nice place. Looks like you have money.”

He seemed to have never been to such a fancy inn in Peschel; he was impressed by the luxurious interior. Hay gestured to the seat across from him.

“Sit.”

Isanil smiled and plopped down.

A staff member came by and asked if they wanted to order. Isanil asked for a beer. Then he leaned back in his chair and pulled out a pipe and a small tin of tobacco from his coat.

There was no concept of a no-smoking area, so the staff didn’t stop Isanil from smoking.

While he packed the tobacco into the pipe, a beer arrived.

“Oh, thanks.”

Isanil winked at the female staff member and grinned. Perhaps because he was rather handsome, she blushed, gave a shy smile, and returned to her post.

Isanil took a long swig of beer, then put the pipe in his mouth and snapped his fingers. With a crack, sparks flew inside the pipe, and soon smoke rose.

Hay frowned at the sight. “Are you a mage?”

“No.”

“Then how did you do that?”

“I have a guardian angel who does me favors.”

He laughed playfully and tapped his left ear.

Only then did Hay notice a dark blue earring. It looked exactly like the dragonfly’s eyes he had seen yesterday.

“Don’t tell me that dragonfly was you?”

“Do I look like a dragonfly to you?”

Isanil shot him a look and tapped the earring. It shimmered blue and transformed into a dragonfly.

“This is Neurra. My fairy friend. You may not know, but this one saved your s*ave.”

Neurra flitted around Hay’s head, then landed on Isanil’s shoulder.

“I heard it untied the rope. But that alone doesn’t count as saving the kid, does it?”

Isanil opened his mouth to argue, but Hay didn’t give him a chance.

“Anyway, let’s get to the point without wasting words.”

“You want to talk here?”

Isanil looked around. There were quite a few people in the lounge.

Instead of answering, Hay extended a hand toward the hallway and stirred the air. An invisible wall of air formed.

Then he turned the space inside the wall into a vacuum. Sound from outside was completely cut off.

From now on, no matter how loudly they spoke, not a sound would escape the wall.

“That work?”

“That’s an annoying trick. You could have just gone to your room.”

“The kid is studying.”

“Speaking of which, that kid seems to have become a mage, huh? Are you raising him as a hunting dog?”

“Think what you like.”

Too lazy to explain that it wasn’t the case, Hay brushed it off and picked up his teacup.

“You didn’t give me an answer to my question yesterday. Do you have a personal grudge against the Red Claw? Why do you want to help me?”

“I have a grudge.”

Isanil answered in a cheerful voice.

“What kind of grudge? Did they try to make you a s*ave too?”

“Not tried. I was a s*ave.”

“What?”

Hay frowned. Isanil, with the pipe still in his mouth, unbuttoned his shirt.

He pulled open the left side of his collar, revealing a burn scar on his chest.

It was the same shape as the symbol of the Red Claw that had attacked Hay two days ago.

“Until fifteen years ago, I was a s*ave of the Red Claw. A s*ave without a brand. I barely escaped when I was fifteen. Two years later, they chased me down and took someone precious from me. That’s my grudge. So I’m going to get revenge.”

Isanil buttoned his shirt again.

“That makes it sound like you’re asking me to help you take revenge, not that you’re helping me.”

“Strictly speaking, I’m proposing we work together.”

“But that’s strange. You haven’t been in Peschel that long, have you? Wasn’t it in Nuridal that you left with the Felsman mercenaries for Peschel?”

“That’s right. I arrived in Starfall Month last year, so it’s been nine months now. That is a long time.”

“So what were you doing all that time instead of taking revenge?”

“To take revenge, you need to prepare, don’t you? I pretended to settle down here and worked while keeping an eye on their movements. Their daily patterns, their work methods, where they’re most vulnerable when attacked, how to keep myself safe in an attack, and so on.”

“You spent nine months just preparing?”

“You can’t do this alone. I want revenge, not suicide. So I was watching for an opportunity. And I finally found one.”

Isanil put down the pipe and gulped down his beer. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and added.

“Hay Styles, you are the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.”

“Don’t count your chickens. What if I tell you I don’t want to work with you? Then where’s your opportunity?”

“If you refuse, then that’s that. But think about it. It won’t be easy for you to take care of them all by yourself. There are over thirty of them stationed at the Red Claw hideout. Most of them are capable. There are plenty who are more skilled than the ones who attacked you. Four mages, at least.”

Hay tapped the table with his fingers. Isanil smiled and added.

“Two is better than one, isn’t it?”

“I like working alone. Sure, I’d love to wipe them out, but I’m not going to poke a crime organization and stir up trouble. And I can’t trust you. I’m leaving this place soon.”

“Even if you leave, the Red Claw might come after you.”

“Anyone who comes I’ll just deal with.”

“Where are you going? The Red Claw is a big organization. They have branches in other cities.”

“Doesn’t matter. I can cross the border. If they still follow me after I leave the country, I can go to another continent across the sea.”

“You don’t seem like the type to do something so inefficient.”

“We’re done here. Your revenge is your business.”

Hay stood up. Just as he was about to dispel the vacuum wall, Isanil raised a hand.

“What if there’s a reward? Would you still refuse?”

“Reward?”

“Five thousand gold.”

So he was trying to buy him off with money now. Hay was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even laugh.

“Give me a break. Five thousand gold isn’t pocket change.”

He said it with a scoff and sat back down.

“Tell me more.”

He even leaned in close to Isanil.

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