Rufus took small and slow steps towards Roderick, "no need to play the fool, hand them over, I know you have them!"
Roderick looked at Balthazar's lifeless body and asked, "why should I if you're going to kill me anyway?", he emptied the pouch, placing a dozen tears in his right palm.
Rufus gazed with fixed eyes at the small light-emitting pearly tears.
'Damn, I shouldn't have let my guard down and drunk so much with Balthazar.' The two had been drinking the finest wine since they had reunited the day before. Rufus had taken advantage of their intoxication to hide Roderick's weapons.
"Itadakimasu!" Roderick said.
"What? Wait! What are you doing?!" Rufus asked when he saw Roderick lifting his palm towards his face.
*Gulp*
"You", Rufus clenched his teeth, "ate them?"
Roderick rubbed his belly, "Hm, hm."
Rufus stretched out his arm while performing tricks with his dagger, "you brought this on yourself, I will have to slice you open!"
'I am only a bit tipsy, I should be able to take him on, especially now that I don't have to worry about his nimble fingers stealing away the tears while we fight.' Roderick thought. Rufus had shown himself to be a capable man, so much so that Roderick wondered why he would accept to work for someone like Balthazar.
*Burp*
"Sorry about that!", he slightly bent his knees, sized Rufus up and said, "you know, I did think you were underpaid as well but don't you think this is an overreaction, killing him that is?"
"How about yourself, you don't seem to be mourning the death of you cherished ally." Rufus grinned.
"Believe it or not, for the short amount of time we've known each other, he struck me as a man who'd get killed sooner or later... we did have a good deal going on though."
He then picked up an empty bottle, "the enemy you know, is better than the one you don't, or something like that."
h
"Enough chattering." Rufus lunged towards him, quickly closing the distance. He threw made a stabbing motion with his dagger.
*Burp*
Roderick nonchalantly grabbed Rufus' arm both of his hands. Rufus dropped the dagger and was reaching for his hidden knife when he felt an enormous pressure on his right arm.
*Burp*
Roderick's head was dropped while drool and white smoke came out of his mouth.
"Grrrrrrrrrrr."
A low and terrifying groan paralyzed Rufus. He looked at Roderick's face and saw an orange glow in his eyes. As he wanted to retreat, the pressure on his arm increased.
*Crack*
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"
...
Rufus' scream chased away all the animals in the woods except for a pack of wolves that started approaching. Shadowy figures were also speeding towards the wagon.
...
Roderick let go of Rufus who had fainted because of the pain. He looked at the latter's arm and was shocked by the damage he had caused.
'It's blue and swollen! Damn, it looks horrible! Better cut it off', he thought. He took out Rufus' knife to sever his arm when multiple people crashed into the wagon.
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
"Get away from him!", a young woman dressed in a dark brown tunic said. Another one, who was dressed like as a pirate, charged quickly and kicked Roderick in the chest.
*Bam*
He flew through the wagon and ended up on the ground.
The three figures that had ambushed him walked out of the broken wagon and examined Roderick. The pirate who had kicked him was carrying Rufus over her shoulder. The third was a man who was dressed like Rufus but who showed no emotion, unlike his two companions.
'Hm, no pain?' Roderick thought. He then put his hands and said, "he was the one who attacked first and killed my travel companion. He was about to kill me so he could steal from me. I broke his arm by accident and was about to cut off his arm for his own good. Not cutting it off would be too cruel!"
The pirate's face became red. She spit on the ground and stomped her feet. "By accident? For his own good? Are you making fun of us?!" She then carefully placed Rufus on the ground and was about to go at Roderick.
The man put an arm to stop her advance. "Haste makes waste, Ariella. Impatience might cost us, we should observe first!"
"Don't get in my way, Bannard!"
"Quiet, both of you!" The one in brown spoke. She then turned to Roderick. "He wouldn't have taken violent action without reason. His only aim was to kill the man you were with, Balthazar."
"That's not what he told me, my lady. I am Roderick Green, by the way." He bowed.
"You're introducing yourself? Is this amusing to you?" Ariella said before charging once more.
Roderick raised his eyebrows and placed his hands on his hips.
The lady in brown promptly lifted up her arm and said, "Do. Not. Move."
Ariella clenched her teeth and retraced her steps.
"What could he possibly have wanted to steal from you?" The mysterious lady asked.
"You don't know? Then I have no reason to tell you, though it's the truth." Roderick shrugged.
"I assumed he was working with a witch since there is no other conceivable reason he would have known what I possessed."
"I see, it must have been a magical relic, that's where this force is emanating from..." The lady looked at Rufus. "You ingested it and that's when he decided to attack you?"
"Yes, my lady. It seems I can't hide the facts from you." Roderick nodded.
"Cazelia! Don't tell me you believe this cheat!" Ariella said.
"Tell me, Ariella. Do you think I can be deceived?" She said as she slowly turned to her.
Ariella turned away and grumbled.
Bannard squinted his eyes and looked at Ariella but remained silent.
"That's why he insisted on taking your place, Bannard." Cazielia said. "Since you only defended yourself and didn't kill him, we won't be pursuing this matter. However, I must ask you what your relation to that man was. Do you even know what kind of man he was?"
"Bad enough to get killed apparently, though I don't for what reasons. I associated with him only recently, only assuming he was a shady character." Roderick replied. "It was out of a lack of options... he could help get to Clearwater Port and get in touch with certain people. I could help him with a certain... project of his..."
"Cazelia! Only trash would associate with trash! You heard him?" Ariella pointed her finger at Roderick.
Cazelia raised her hand, signalling Ariella to calm down. "What was that project?"
"Capturing a witch," Roderick replied.
"What?" Ariella said as she glared at him. Cazelia clenched her fist.
Bannard drew his blade, "awaiting your order, Cazelia."