Fierce Flames
“Here’s the flavouring you want!”
Achilles looked at Lucia. Lucia panted heavily. He clapped and said, “The elves’ hero lives up to her title. The chapel’s knights are downstairs, yet you still managed to break through and meet with me. Congratulations, congratulations.”
Lucia thundered, “Cut the rubbish!! Hurry and give me my money!”
Achilles lingered for a moment then dryly chuckled as he put a small chest onto the table: “There is no need to rush now. After all, we have succeeded. We have emerged victorious, so do not ruin our relationship. We should be celebrating.”
“What sort of success is this?!! I abandoned my companion!! I exchanged that man’s life for this!! What success are you spouting about?!!” Lucia picked up the chest and roared at Achilles.
Lucia turned to leave, but Achilles immediately grabbed her by her arm. Lucia angrily spun around and smacked his hand away. Achilles quietly chuckled: “I wonder if he told you the earnings have never been predicated on expenditure. We do not place importance on how much we spend on such transactions that are akin to a bet. Instead, we look at how much we earned. We consider it a success as long as we obtain what we wanted to obtain. We have obtained everything that we wanted this time. As such, we have already succeeded. He would consider it worth it even if he sacrificed his life.”
Lucia brayed, “It’s not worth it to me!! He’s an outstanding man. He shouldn’t die for this job!! He doesn’t deserve to die for five hundred gold coins!! He’s worth more! He should live! I couldn’t care less what you think; I’m going to his rescue now!! I’ll save him even if there’s only a tiny bit of hope!!”
“Lucia, think about this carefully. If he is dead, his share will be split between the two of us. Are you not short on money? As you are short on money, consider him dead. Then, we will evenly split his share. Actually, if you want, I can give you the bigger share…”
Before Achilles finished, Lucia grabbed him by his collar and firmly pressed him onto the table, forcing his body into an unnatural position. Lucia coldly looked at him and aimed the sharp tip of an arrow to his throat. She clearly enunciated every word: “Don’t ever mention that to me again. Veirya is my friend, and so is Travor. He even saved my life just now. I will never do such a thing!! You’re insulting me and elves. I’ll save him. I swear I’ll save him!”
Lucia pulled back the arrow. She jumped out of a window. Achilles straightened back up. He rubbed his sore spine while looking outside the window where there were lit torches and a gentle breeze blew. Hopeless, he helplessly smiled and remarked, “What a pity. I wonder what Leah’s fate will be.”
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I wondered, “Leah wasn’t kidnapped by the chapel, so how did they figure out that she’s a succubus? It’s impossible for them to have made such a pointless guess. If the chapel managed to figure out that Leah is a succubus, they must’ve had evidence. How did they find out?! What gave it away? What evidence do they have?’
I had no clue what happened, but I knew Leah was in danger. The chapel didn’t even need to get directly involved; all they had to do was spread the news. The entire town resented demons. They killed the succubus that entered the town last time. If they found out Leah was a succubus, the townsfolk would kill Leah on the spot despite her having done nothing harmful…
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Anna stood out at the door. She panicked as she looked at the gathered townsfolk. She asked, “Everyone, everyone, what are you trying to do?!”
The townsfolk, who rarely appeared at night, made an appearance at night. A big group of men gathered at the door to the lord’s house with torches lit up. All of their shadows were visible on the ground. The men held wooden rods as weapons. They looked at Anna; the leader coldly demanded, “Hand over that succubus!!”
“What succubus? Sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about. The demon race has been defeated. What succubus are you talking about?”
Anna was mind-boggled. She tried to appease the crowd. She genuinely didn’t know what happened. In a stern tone, she said, “Everyone, everyone, I don’t know what you’re complaint is about. I’m just a maid who’s responsible for taking care of Lord Veirya and Sir Lin Dongqing. How about waiting for them to come back to address your complaint? I’m sure that they’ll provide you with a reasonable explanation.”
“Don’t feign innocence!! You’ve always lived with them; how could you not know?! You definitely know!! Leah, that little girl, isn’t Lord Veirya’s child! She’s a succubus!! She’s a filthy succubus!! Hand her over!! We don’t need any demons in our town!”
The man’s speech riled up the rest of the townsfolk; they roared which, in turn, further fuelled the man’s courage to advance. At first, they didn’t dare to advance, because they were worried about how Veirya would react. However, upon hearing that Veirya was absent, their courage spiked. They wanted nothing more than to break in and capture Leah.
“Stop!!! This is Lord Veirya’s home! What is with your unruly behaviour?! Lord Veirya is the warrior who slew the Demon King! How could she be hiding a succubus! You’re attempting to barge into Lord Veirya’s home! Is this insurrection?!”
“We’ll find out once we capture the child!! She doesn’t have a belly button, so she’s a succubus!! She’s a succubus!! Succubi are the best at confusing humans! Lord Veirya has been fooled!”
Anna somewhat believed their claim. She trusted Veirya, but she wasn’t fond of succubi, either. Furthermore, succubi were demons. Adventurers weren’t fond of demons. She didn’t know if Veirya was aware that Leah was a demon or not; therefore, she was slightly hesitant.
“Should I take a look? If Leah really is a succubus, how would Veirya react? Does Veirya know about Leah’s identity? If she doesn’t, I might be credited with a merit if I tell her that Leah is actually a succubus,” reasoned Anna.
“In that case… Leah! Leah!!”
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