Chapter 8 : Keep your enemy closer.

The very first thing that popped into my mind was, 'Is she poisoning Mother and Sister?'

That looked like the most plausible way at the moment. Sure, she was bringing a dagger and all, but even I think it would be way too messy, and the chance to keep her neck intact seemed minuscule if done wrong.

But I couldn't be sure. I mean, if she could hide the dagger past the guards outside, then she was not your average sellsword. Still, I had to check every scenario I could think of, just to be safe.

'Check if there's any substance of poison mixed in there.' If there was any, then I would immediately alert the guards outside. That was my plan.

Thankfully or maybe not, there was no poison. I decided to ignore the tray for now since the X-ray vision didn't pick up anything hidden in there.

'Turn off X-ray vision.' The world regained its lost color once again, and I could finally see what the threat looked like.

A tall and slender woman. Her smooth and long light-blue hair gracefully fell just above her shoulders. It created a peculiar gap between the spirited swaying of her hair and the soft, quiet expression she wore on her face.

Meanwhile, the big round greenish eyes that spoke of nothing but innocence appeared more daunting than ever to me.

The other three in the room have long since noticed the strange behavior I exhibited ever since the maid entered the room. But I didn't care nor did I have the time to mind anything else. There was a woman who might kill us all, and you wanted me to keep waiting and see what her moves were?

No. I had the upper hand because I already caught her, and I planned to capitalize on that advantage.

'Move forward.' My body took to the air, sailing slowly to the foot of the bed. 'Do I have to kill her...?'

It felt strange. I never thought that the concept of murdering someone was going to feel like this. It was too casual...It was too light...

The images were already there. I could think about so many ways to subdue and kill her preemptively without giving her so much of a chance to beg for her life.

Crushed airways, broken spinal cord, stabbed her heart using her own dagger, and many more. Maybe I wouldn't come out scot-free either since controlling a living thing was something I'd never tried...

'No. Trading her life and risking my own will not be worth it. I have to choose another option.'

Time was ticking, and everyone was still staring at me, wondering why I suddenly flew.

'Point her.' An index finger shot up toward the flustered maid. 'Come here.'

Of course, I was not making her come by using magic. I was merely asking her by making my finger move with a simple gesture that even an idiot could understand. It weaved back and forth, gesturing her to come closer.

The maid gave a hesitant look to the blonde maid. Maybe she was wondering if I was mental or something, but I didn't give a tiny rat's ass.

'Push her.' A mild gale suddenly blew and ushered the assassin closer.

There was not so much time left for her to make do with what was what before I issued yet another command in my mind.

'Kneel.'

You're messing with the wrong dude, woman.

Her green eyes went wide, finding the abrupt situation totally out of her expectations. I could see the way her pupil trembled and swam around, down to the last detail.

Obviously, there was a good reason why I made her kneel out of the blue. Her dagger was on her calf, that's why. It served us good to buy some time in case the woman decided to go rogue.

The assassin was still looking a bit lost, but I reckoned she was trying to figure her way out. It was only a split second, but I could feel the change in her gaze. She was looking alternatively between my Mother and Sister.

In short, she was looking for a hostage. Her guts must be telling her that her cover has been blown by me.

'Press the dagger on her calf.' The assassin's face contorted at the new development. Her eyes snapped instantly, back at me. And Before she took any drastic action, I acted again. 'Shake my head twice.'

Thankfully, she was clever, or else things might turn really ugly right then and there.

She seemed keen to adopt the wait-and-see stance, and I figured it worked best for us all. I also preferred to solve this predicament without having to kill someone so early, and in front of my family to boot.

That's why I have to be careful with how I handle this.

'Press the dagger again, and then tighten her shirt's collar mildly for two seconds.' Since I was in a position of power, I needed to establish our places as clearly as I could. She needed to know, that I was in control.

'Yes, woman...You touch that dagger. You die.' I couldn't speak, but I knew she could catch the meaning hidden beneath this quiet stare of mine.

Still, like they said, even a cornered rat would bite...

Due to the threat I gave, the blessing of danger, which only tingled since before, was now throbbing zealously.

Fortunately, it wasn't buzzing yet, so I knew I was still in the clear somehow.

If I were to guess, I believed it was because she was only focusing on me now; that's why the killing intent was thicker and more obvious. But that could also mean we were near the end of this wordless battle of nerves.

And to win it, I need more than clever gestures. I need a threat to really spook her off.

'Let's hope this works...'

I closed my eyes to calm my racing mind. Gathering and solidifying the images inside, to construct the result I wanted.

'Convey my soul's intent to her.'

Words are but the intent of the soul. God said that themselves.

'I. Poison. You.' I spoke the words crisply in my mind. 'Tighten the muscles on her chest for a second.'

I could see the rough movement of her throat and the trembling she tried to hide. Word magic was working as expected. And I could also feel my limit crawling ever so closer.

Now my job was to hold on and wait for the assassin to bite the bait I laid. And bite, she did...

Hell, it was over too fast, I was almost disappointed.

You know those people who were too smart for their own good? There's a good chance that she was one of them. 

She was surely quick-witted, able to discern her priority in a clear-cut way, and she had also been very observant and didn't make hasty decisions so far. Anyone could tell that she was someone with a good head on her shoulder.

And in her own way, maybe she had spun my bluff way out of proportion somehow. Because my blessing of danger that had been flaring just a while ago had turned mute as a fish.

In other words, she no longer harbored any scheme for my life, surprisingly...

Well, it worked for me if she was able to somehow convince herself how that went. Saved me a lot of trouble, I must say.

'Serve. me.' I sent the intent one more time.

As a result, my body started to shake mid-air. Nonetheless, I still had one more thing to do before I lay down comfortably on the bed.

Counting on the last spurts of magic I had remained, I pointed toward the assassin maid and then looked to the three others in the room, who were still as confused as they had been since the beginning.

'She'll stay here.' And then I pointed to the ground.

You know that saying, keep your friends close; but your enemy closer.

And that's how the first crisis of my life came to pass...