The Offer

When Mayton entered the old abandoned house once more, he realized that the place got renovated recently. It was not luxuriously furnished, instead, just like Herdis' outfit, it was simple and practical.

Few chairs and a table. A divan at the side. Candles to illuminate the place. Those were all that existed in the room together with the few people wearing clothes that hid their identities chatting with obviously altered voices.

Mayton thought that he was partly to blame for Herdis getting caught and wanted to help her if the risks weren't too high. So Herdis' way of doing things was important to make up his mind about whether to help her or not. If she accepted her fate and decided to live a decadent life to spend her remaining days, Mayton wouldn't feel obliged to go out of his way to help her, but it seemed like Herdis was not satisfied with such a life at all.

''Mrs. Herdis, I think you owe me an explanation before we talk about other things.''

Mayton said coldly as he glanced at Arlotto who was standing at the corner of the room, playing with his dagger.

''I learned about the incident as soon as it happened and help was on its way. Thankfully, you got out of the ambush unscathed. I offer my sincere apologies.''

Herdis bowed deeply and said. It looked like despite knowing of the ambush, she wasn't going to do anything to Arlotto. Just when Mayton was getting ready to escalate the situation, Herdis waved her hand and ordered the others to leave them alone.

''Mr. Mayton, I know you are angry but let me explain first. Arlotto is a mercenary employed by the Aras family, notorious for his poison skills. But there is something he is known for other than his skills, he won't do anything that puts his life at risk, even if you offer a high price. Thus when he agreed to betray the Aras family, he wanted assurances of my success. When I mentioned among other things you might help us, he wanted to test you. But I swear he would have saved you if there was a real danger to your life. I already told him about your benefactor after all.''

When they were alone, Herdis said as she once more bowed and apologized. Mayton would have left the place after this if not for his feeling of guilt.

''Okay, I would accept your apology. Now let us talk about why you wanted me to come here.''

Herdis smiled sweetly after hearing him and started to explain once more.

It turned out that the Flaming Heart City would be visited by a cultivator from the Clear Sky Sect which dominated these parts of the empire, to collect the decennial tribute of pure qi in four years. The tribute had nothing to do with Herdis as it was between the governor and the sect. But paying the tribute was just one of the reasons for the visit.

What really prompted Herdis to seek out Mayton was the other purpose of the visit, selecting talented youths from the local noble families. For a youth to be selected, being talented was only secondary. The most important thing they needed to do was earning the appreciation of the cultivator from the Clear Sky Sect.

This 'earning the appreciation' mostly consisted of trying to bribe the cultivator. Since most of the time cultivators were outrageously rich compared to mortals, bribing a cultivator needed significant resources. Unfortunately, in this desolate corner of the empire, the resources were scant. This caused an intense competition between the noble families.

The Aras Family's abrupt rise in status to that of a noble family upset the fragile balance of power in the city and drew the ire of the nobles who lacked financial capabilities to match that of the Aras family's but had more than enough military strength to squash them easily.

Now they were willing to do anything in their power to stop anyone from the Aras family getting selected, even to the point of leaving behind their petty squabbles and presenting a united front against the Aras Family, which may very well result in its total destruction.

But the total destruction of the Aras Family wasn't what Herdis wanted to see. She knew that if the Aras family got destroyed, that will also spell the doom of the House Maiken. What Herdis wanted was having someone loyal to her join the Clear Sky Sect. If she could pull this off, it wasn't even impossible to devour the whole Aras Family.

''You know that House Maiken can't rival the financial might of the Aras Family, neither can we rival the power of the other noble families. So to bribe the cultivator, we need something they don't have, a strong magical item. As for what I want from you, there is a magical item I want you to help me get my hands on. ''

Seeing the uninterested look on Mayton's face Herdis continued hastily.

''Of course, there is something for you in it. This item I want is in a tower named the Tower of Screams after the constant screams heard coming from inside it and according to rumors that the tower is the training grounds of the Cult of Unity. I am told that you might be interested in them. Let me show you their badge.''

Herdis said as she fished out a badge from her pocket and showed it to Mayton. On the badge was a red ouroboros symbol glittering under the dim light of the candles.

''Where did you get it?''

Mayton shouted as he aggressively took a step toward Herdis and forcefully grabbed her wrist. He, of course, knew of this symbol. It was the symbol he saw on the robes of his parents' murderers.

''A masked devil cultivator got in contact with me and gave it to me. She said you might be interested in it. If you agree to help, she will also join you on the task.''

Herdis responded as she winced in pain. Only after seeing the painful expression on her face, Mayton realized that he was gripping her wrist with too much power and hastily let go of her.

''I am indeed interested in it, but I can't promise to help you without meeting the person who gave you this badge and assessing the risks involved. For the time being, can I hold on to the badge?''

Mayton said while blushing a little because of his sudden reaction. It was highly improper to grab a lady's wrist like that.

''Of course, you can keep the badge. As for meeting the person who gave it, she said that she has important matters to attend to right now and is unable to meet you. The Tower of Screams opens for the disciples of the Cult of Unity every year, one week before the start of summer, and she will wait for you there at that time.''

Herdis said as she handed out a map with the Tower of Screams marked on it. After Mayton took the map and took a glance at it, he said ''I'll be there'', bid farewell and left.

He was ready for another attack on the way back, but nothing of that sort happened, so he returned to the hunters' compound in a short period of time. It was past midnight when he returned thus he entered his room without alerting anyone and went on to sleep for the rest of the night.

When Mayton woke up and went out of his room to get something to eat the next morning, he saw Leyzhen sitting cross legged in front of his door. She was wearing her usual pure white clothes unblemished by anything be it dust, mud or something else, while Zgar, donning the pale green hunting robes of the village and with a huge backpack on his back, was standing a few paces behind her, looking more like an obedient child following his mom on the way to the school than a proper servant.

''Huh? How can I help you?''

Mayton was taken aback to see this usually reclusive little girl waiting for him in front of his room. And from the looks of Zgar's clothing, they were planning to make a trip to the outside of the Flaming Heart City.

''I know of your desire to avenge the death of your parents and I will give you a chance to realize it. You will definitely die if you go to the Tower of Screams with your current strength. So come with me to the Demonic Forest and cultivate until the day of the tower's opening. That way, you might have a chance to succeed in taking revenge.''

Leyzhen uttered coldly. Despite her tone of voice being bereft of any emotions, Mayton couldn't help but think that she was sympathetic to his situation. Mayton wasn't sure what to think about Leyzhen starting to show concern for his desires, but her offer was too good to reject. Thus he agreed to it without spending much time thinking it through.

''I will give you an hour to say your goodbyes. It will be a hard trip, be prepared.''

Leyzhen said and, leaving Zgar behind, she returned to her quarters.

''Wow, Mayton! Mistress showing such concern for you, you really ar-.''

''Shut up let's go say goodbye to Old Mert and others before getting ready.''

Mayton didn't let Zgar blabber on endlessly about Leyzhen, and after shutting him up mid-sentence, started walking toward the Old Mert's room without sparing a second glance at Zgar.

''Hey wait for me! Hehe, I knew that you wouldn't be able to refuse Mistress' offer, so I already told everyone that we will depart today. They are gathered in the dining hall, waiting for us.''

Zgar caught up to Mayton and said, annoying Mayton even more in the process as they went to bid goodbye to the hunters together.