Chapter 56: Hawkwood Barony I

In the dark, cold, and gloomy cell was the place where the Tax Collector was being held and imprisoned. The place reeked of the scent of sweat, blood, and piss which made Herbert frown.

"Young master, would you like to send the prisoner up for interrogation?"

An old prison guard in a black uniform called out to Herbert who had suddenly entered.

"No need. I will come to him myself."

"Understood. Please, follow me. I will lead the way."

After nodding his head, Herbert followed the man deep into the place where most of the Ravenmoons keep their prisoners.

"Please watch your step."

The guard who took the lead had a lantern that showed them the dark and dreary place that they have entered.

It was such a gloomy place that even the sun's rays cannot shine upon its tenants. Matching its cold and brutal mood was the occasional shouts and cries for help that came from the interrogation rooms above.

To ease his mood and distract him from all of the filth in the world, he would occasionally materialize a white feather after every four steps. He would do it inconspicuously in a way that none would even notice that he was able to keep himself calm and clean by utilizing his bloodline ability.

When he finally reached the room where the Tax Collector was being confined, he took note of his lifeless appearance. When they first met, Herbert could still remember that he has a fairly bulky body. He was around in his forties or fifties so Herbert thought that he looked pretty well-built for his age. His most defining appearance was the huge scar near the left side of his face.

However, his original appearance was a significant mismatch compared to what he looked like right now. The man in front of him had become thinner, his hair was unkept and messy. Overall, he seemed to have aged immensely throughout the past few days.

Despite already being in metal bars, he was still chained up. His movements were extremely limited and his appearance was a mess.

He had gone through a lot these days, his clothing which seemed to have not been changed for a long time still had stains of dried blood. Aside from the obvious, the next thing that he noticed was a few missing fingers and toes, and from the shape of his mouth, Herbert guessed that he should have also lost a couple of teeth.

If someone were to see this without context then Herbert was sure that he would undeniably be viewed as the villain. Nevertheless, he knew what he was doing, and he wouldn't do things that wouldn't be of benefit to him.

As he looked at the husk of what was once a confident man, Herbert uttered his name.

"Davos…"

The old man did not respond, but the light in his eyes meant that he still has not given up any hope. In his own right, this man also deserves to have an entire story written off of him, his hard life has shaped him to become the person that he has become. Unfortunately for him, they just happened to meet this time around. And unlike the protagonist, he was willing to have his methods stoop so low just to achieve his goals.

Although he also had an extremely tearful backstory, there was a reason why Herbert did not even bother to talk to him and convince him to follow him on his journey back to the Ravenmoon manor.

Compared to the other villains of the story, this man has already crossed the road beyond salvation. The man he had become was now irredeemable to the point where even Herbert did not try to reason with him.

As a citizen of the Lionstone Kingdom, he had an irreconcilable dispute with the kingdom's nobles. That was why he had decided to defect and voluntarily become a pawn of the church in the Oxsword Territory.

This meant that no matter how he approached him, with his identity as the scion of the Ravenmoon family, his goals would never be entertained, as such, he had no choice but to employ other forceful means to make him work for his own goals.

However, his deeds would still be acceptable if it was just to this level. After all, he would have only affected him minimally. Even Herbert could probably find his way of cooperating with him. He could have decided to disguise himself or even played the role of a conspirator.

The real reason why Herbert did not hesitate in abducting him was that in his new plans to kill the protagonist, keeping this man roaming wild and free would cause him even more damage and would hinder his progress.

In the main plotline of the story, the protagonist's first course of action was to increase his activities in the southern region and solve the bandit problem while training and raising his first companion, from there, he would enter the central region and become acquainted with the Ninth Princess and the original Albert who was deeply infatuated with her. It was there where they were supposed to meet, their short interaction would result in a clash wherein the protagonist would have an irreparable relationship with the proud son of the Ravenmoon. Although there are still many events that came in between, it was only after this that the protagonist would come across the rumors of the plague in the north. This would become the impetus to their big fight which would signal the stage of the start of the Ravenmoon's rebellion.

Their meeting at the capital was set for the coming year and Herbert still has enough time to prepare for it. This time, he wants their interaction to be the first and the last.

As Herbert clenched his fist, he snapped out of his thoughts, and once again, the pathetic sight of the Tax Collector entered his eyes. Although they never really had a proper conversation before, Herbert could feel the loathing and fear in the eyes of the man in front of him.

"You still remember me, right?"