Unexpected encounter is also a chance (part 5)

"I got one question for you. You are Theodore's lackeys... which crimelord is supporting him?"

"Hfuh...?! Hoff with you...?!"

Medea turned his back on the terrified boy and asked, slowly walking to the fallen man and making him spit out even more blood and teeth fragments as his eyes bulged out.

"...~"

"!!!"

The black-haired man grinned wildly, truly making his visage appear like the image of a demon, causing the fallen man to realize it was a simple setup.

In actuality, Medea just wanted to confirm his suspicion about Theo because if Theo was the boss of the group, then Ava was his connection to anyone of importance, including the royal family, so the actual name or anything wasn't necessary.

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *CRUNCH*

"!!!"

With that out of the way, Medea proceeded to grab the wounded man by the hair and repeatedly slammed his head against the floorboards ending the combo with smashing the dropped oil lamp with his victim's face, spilling the fuel and instantly setting it – and the thug's face – on fire.

Unfortunately, his victim was dead halfway through, so getting set ablaze didn't cause any reaction...

"Second, prince, it's a pleasure meeting you in person. I am the private assistant of young lady Zorivia Rotteloss, Medea, former captain of the 42nd company of the Wondalandor army."

While the fire was spreading alongside the floor, Medea stopped smiling before turning around, returning to his default serious expression, and quickly bowed towards the utterly horrified youth, introducing himself while proceeding to hurriedly loot the corpses of the people he killed with the mastered movement of a veteran scavenger.

"W-were you sent here to save the second... umm... me...?"

The pale-blond-haired boy gulped down his saliva and dared to ask.

"No."

Medea shook his head, giving the shortest possible answer.

"..."

"..."

The black-haired man returned to cleaning out the pockets of the bandits while the pale-blond-hair boy stared at him, taken aback.

"...eh...? Wait, you're not going to explain anything?!"

In the end, the boy gasped in shock while Medea, with hands full of valuables, was going towards the exit.

"No. Instead, I advise you to follow me and leave this building while it's possible."

"Ah...!"

Medea shook his head once again before pointing out as he glanced at the fire that was about to cut off the boy's escape route, which caused the youngster to gasp in realization and stand up to stumble his way out of the warehouse.

"W-wait...!"

"..."

Having the youngster by his side, Medea got ahold of the barrel with the corpse and dragged it to block the entrance to the warehouse, which prompted a sudden cry from the pale-blond-haired boy... that resulted in little to no reaction.

No, there was a reaction – Medea ended up reaching down towards the barrel and used one of his knives to stir around in the scalding ashes.

"Whoever was killed before you didn't have anything that survived the cremation with the fired pellet."

"...o-oh..."

After a few seconds, Medea announced, moving away from the barrel as the fire spreading inside the building was starting to reach the doorway, to which the boy froze up and looked away, biting his lips.

"My prince, how about we make a deal?"

"...eh...?"

Medea started walking away, but not before grabbing the arm of the pale-blond-haired boy and pulling him along away from the warehouses and towards the thicket where he left the stolen horse.

"Since I saved your life, you already owe me and, by extent, my master, the young lady Zorivia. Since she is already going to the royal castle, how about you join us... and in exchange, you will swear to do anything in your power to help her out in case of trouble?"

"...EH...?!"

The black-haired man asked in a serious voice, and the pale-blond-haired boy flinched and gasped at the rather outstanding demand that could easily be treated as an open threat towards the member of the royal family because of the hidden suggestion that the second prince would be left behind to fend for himself if he refused.

"Haa... the people who were paid off not to approach this area will show up soon because of the fire. If the mastermind behind your abduction has any brains, they are sure to have someone not involved with the thugs keeping an eye on the situation. Which means that you might get helped by them just to have your throat sloth on the way to the capital."

"...!"

Seeing the hesitation of the pale-blond-haired boy, Medea sighed and went out of his way to explain one of the options that could happen, making the youngster flinch and look around fearfully.

"O-okay, let's go..."

The boy nodded in agreement after a moment of hesitation and reached out his hand, which Medea grabbed firmly in order to start pulling him along.

"Oh, and don't worry too much. While young Miss Zorivia Rotteloss is kindhearted, I am the person responsible for handling any troublesome situations. By that, I mean that if you will go back on your promise, cheat, or try to harm Lady Zorivia, I will be the one to kill you. No kidnappers or palace schemes needed."

"...wh-wha...?"

While getting away from the warehouses and halfway to the thicket, Medea glanced back at the person he was dragging along and informed them, causing the youngster to let out a high-pitched yelp.

It was most definitely a threat, but the second prince didn't seem too keen on putting the black-haired man in his place... most likely because he did see him kill with people all while grinning demonically with pure joy... yeah... that certainly did factor in...

Moments later, both Medea and the pale-blond-haired individual were already hidden amongst the trees and shrubs, safe from the eyes of the warehouse guards.

Whether the hiding spot was even necessary with all the attention the howling fire swallowing one of the warehouses and threatening to spread to the other ones was demanding was a different matter altogether, though~

"..."

"...?!"

Medea still had a firm grip on the boy's arm, and he glared at him coldly as they approached the patiently waiting horse, causing the youth to cower and look to the sides with confusion as he was not aware of what prompted the worrisome gaze.