A few minutes after Seran left the gate
Runar stood with his trident blocking the gate from the large human man, the one that the other two called "Boss", with a stoic, emotionless face. Runar knew that if these men were to attack him, it would most likely be the end of his life. After all, the crest on his chest had grown over his many years as captain of the guard, and it was now nearing his neckline.
The men did keep their promise of waiting patiently, but they didn't stay quiet. After taunting Runar with meaningless words and phrases, one of the men whispered in Boss's ear, and the group moved a few meters away from the gate. Boss smiled towards the other two and let out a low whistle.
"So, that elf maid was easy, huh?" One of the henchmen whispered as he started jumping up and down out of pure joy. He had a large scar running across his face that often-terrified onlookers. "Huh! Huh!"
"The easiest." Boss said with a low cackle as he ran his hand through his hair, "I have to say, this might be my best idea yet."
"You are such a genius, Boss!" said the other henchman, letting out a quick laugh that revealed his buckteeth. He had a large scar running across his face that often-terrified onlookers.
"Well, of course, I am!" Boss said with a grin.
"Having us track this jag maid for the last few days is going to pay off." The buck-teethed henchman said with a large grin.
"Yeah! When Lord Harenhart hears what we got to say, we are going to be so rich!" The scarred henchmen said a little too loudly, as he wrapped his arm around the other henchman in a friendly manner.
"Hush!" Boss raised his hand and slammed it down on the henchman's head, causing the henchman to drop to the dirt. As the henchmen began to grovel in pain, Boss brought his voice back to a whisper, "You damnable idiots. You think we can get away with this plan if you open your big mouth!"
"Sorry, Boss!" The buck teethed henchman yelled out, raising his hands in defense, "It's just that we were too excited. First, we got to take advantage of the maid and now we are going to extort---"
Boss's fist slammed down on his henchman's head with lightning speed, but it was too late. Boss looked straight behind him to see Runar staring at him with a cold gaze and an angered expression. Boss let out a huge sigh, swearing to himself under his breath, and walked back towards the gate.
"Now..." Boss said walking towards the gate while pulling out a pocket watch. "It's getting close to that fifteen minutes."
"Your concept of time is awful." Runar said with a motionless face, "If you want to see the master, you will have to wait for the full—"
"This is shit!" Boss's voice exploded, "Come on, now. We are to treated as guests, right? We brought back your little maid, and this is a waste of our time!"
"Feel free to leave if this is such an inconvenience." Runar said with a smile as he pointed back to the road behind the boss henchman, "Our master and the household will greatly appreciate the charity. I am sure you know the way back to town."
The boss henchman stood motionless for a moment before his face contorted into an angry scowl. A red aura burst outwardly from this man as a rough wind blew at his feet. The other henchmen immediately got up and rushed towards their boss, unsheathing the short swords on their waists.
"You got some nerve, Jag!" Boss spits at the ground again as his aura began to grow more and more fierce. He held out his right hand towards Runar as a large red magic circle surrounded his arm, and several flames began to emit from his palm. In an angered tone of voice, Boss shouted, "Where do you get off telling me what to do?!"
"Toast him, Boss!" said the buck-teethed henchman, who began thrusting his sword forward as a threatening gesture.
"Roast him to a crisp, Boss!" Said the other, who just couldn't stand still from the excitement.
Runar held his spear outward and began chanting an incantation, as a faint glow came from his chest. Unfortunately, he was too slow as Boss let out a cackle, and a large smirk appeared across his face.
"Die, you scum! Fiare!" Boss said as the flames began to condense into a single point on his palm. Just as the flames shot outwardly from Boss's hand, his arm felt a tremendous blow from the underside, which threw his hand skyward instead of towards the elven guard. The fireball shot into the sky, and a loud blast filled the air, turning the sky a blackish red, as a blue gust of wind blew past the three henchmen.
"What!?" Boss shouted as he looked straight at the source of the spell's misfire. A stout man with a heavily defined mustache and angered expression stood between the boss henchman and Runar with his hand wrapped around Boss's wrist. Reginald scoffed as he pushed the arm into Boss's chest with such force that it blew the man about a meter backward.
"To answer your question, this elf can tell you what to do because I told him that he could," Reginald said curtly before turning back to Runar and giving him a quiet nod. Runar, nodding, released a short breath, as he instantly began lowering his weapon and saluting with a solid stance. Reginald's gaze fell back onto the henchmen.
"So." Reginald cleared his throat, "You are the three 'generous' men who returned my elven maid to me."
Boss let out a cough as he stood back up. After hearing what Reginald said, his facial features changed to a softer image as he clasped his hands together. He slowly walked forward until he was about a foot away from Reginald.
"Y—yes!" Boss said with a cocked smile, "We are the ones who graciously returned your maid to you."
"I wouldn't that say you graciously returned her to me." Reginald's eyes fell into an ominous glare, "She looked bruised and beaten up. It almost looks as if she was dragged here rather than brought here." Reginald turned back to Runar, who nodded in response to his master's assumption.
Boss's eye began to twitch with annoyance as he continued to give his cocked smile and softer image to the master of the manor, "Well, she was very reluctant to have us guide her back to here, and she fought us along the way. We had no choice but to drag her here." Boss turned back to his henchmen, who were struggling to put their weapons away with haste, "Right, boys?"
"Yeah!" The buck-teethed henchman said in a loud voice, kicking his blade behind him discretely, "She was, uh, very quiet, so it took us a bit of time for us to tell her where you lived, sir."
"Y—Yes!" The scarred henchman shouted in a panic as he fumbled to get his sword back onto his sheath, "We even took time out of our day to assist such a troubled maid. She looked very lost, sir."
"That's right!" Boss said, pointing back to the town beyond the forest, "We run a small business of sorts on the far west of town, and we couldn't help but notice her a little lost when she wandered by. She looked a little bruised when we first saw her. Must have had a run-in with some thugs."
"Hmmm," Reginald let out a low hum of understanding, but kept his serious gaze, "So, what was she doing in your part of the town then?"
"Let's see…well, she was coming back from uh…" Boss brought his hand up to his chin as he tried recalling what the maid was doing before they intercepted her.
"She was shopping, sir!" The buck-teethed henchman said, "She had a basket of fruits."
"And the vegetables!" Said the scarred henchman, "And tea leaves!"
"Yes, yes!" Boss said happily as he pointed at his henchmen, "That's right. She was shopping." He coughed to clear his throat again, turning back to Reginald, who looked even more understanding than before, "She had a basket full of that stuff when she rounded our business and startled one of our clients."
"Bumped right into 'im, she did!" The scarred henchman added hastily to back up his boss.
"Ran away at the fastest we've ever seen, he did!" The buck-teethed henchman added as well.
A streak of annoyance continued to run across Boss's face, but he kept his composure as he continued to smile. "After all, we are just businessmen, who lost a sale because she walked by and --"
"I do not care that you lost a sale, nor do I care how hard it was for you all to get the maid here." Reginald interrupted, "In fact, I don't think it was hard at all for you to get her here after you kidnapped her from doing her job, beat her up, raped her, and then dragged her here against her will after she probably name-dropped me multiple times to get you all to stop. After all, I assume that's how you knew she was one of mine." Reginald's face fell to a serious gaze again, "Of course, I would have had a sliver of belief in any claim of what you said if you didn't just try to incinerate my guard, you arrogant oaf."
Boss bit his lip enough to make it bleed as his face turned back to the harsh face that he had upon his arrival. The henchman behind him began looking at one another as they began exchanging worried looks and widened eyes. His eyes fell on Reginald's with a similar seriousness to them.
"And, now!" Reginald's face then erupted with anger and his voice began booming. "You have the gall to stand there idiotically, clasping your hands like some beggar asking for some table scraps, and lie to me, to my own face, on my own land, after demanding payment for returning my now-impure and damaged maid! Do you know how stupid you look to me?"
Boss dropped his hands to his sides as his scowl grew fiercer, and his hands began to shake with unbridled anger. His plan unraveled in front of him, and it was his impatience that was the final undoing. An intense rage started building up within the boss of the henchmen as he jetted his finger out towards Reginald.
"Look here!" Boss said in a bellowing voice, "We came all this way for payment, and we won't leave until we get it. Your damn Jag of a maid cost us a lot of time and money. We are either going to get the payment from you, or we are going to tell the whole town about this incident. We'll tell them how you are a 'jag lover', and how you refused to believe three men who went out of their way to return your property."
Reginald crossed his arms while letting out a deep sigh. "So, you've resorted to blackmail then? How unfortunate. If you just returned her and left without saying anything, this would have been much better for you all. As for payment, wasn't the virginity of my maid enough of a price for you lot?" A purplish aura immediately erupted from Reginald as he raised his right-hand outwards towards the two henchmen behind the boss. "Well, you have wasted my time, and I feel that I deserve some payment. How about their lives?"
The two henchmen's jaws immediately dropped open as they heard the threat. Instantly, they turned towards the forest and ran as fast as they could away from the manor. Unfortunately for them, the next thing they felt was two large rock spires pierce through their torsos, lifting them into the air and throwing them back towards the manor. The henchmen landed in front of Reginald and their boss, while their corpses bled out onto the ground, leaving a large puddle that washed over their feet.
"Oh, that is it! I'll teach you who you are dealing with." Boss said as he reached to his pockets and pulled out a pair of spiked knuckles. As he put them on, his aura sparked red and began flowing around him. He threw up an offensive stance, and his knuckles instantly became wrapped in flames.
Reginald sighed as he unsheathed his saber, holding it out in front of the man. "I see that payment was not enough for you. Let me remind you of who you are dealing with. I am Duke Reginald Harenhart, the former 21st commander of the Caipal Royal Army and hero of the Raugan Escapade. My years outshine yours, and so does my combat experience." Reginald's blade began emitting purple flames as his aura flashed purple again, "Do you think you have a chance against me, you thug?"
"[Secret Magic, Burning Tiger]!" Boss yelled out as his eyes became cat-like, and his body became surrounded in the same flames as his knuckles. A moment later, the spiked knuckles faded into his skin as his hands instantly became claws as Boss got down on all fours and ready to pounce at his target. With a tiger-like roar, Boss leaped towards Reginald, aiming for his throat.
Reginald scoffed as he swiped his blade twice in the air and stepped forward. Instantly, a bright light enveloped Reginald as he stepped towards the pouncing man, vanishing before the Boss's very eyes. Boss, landing where his target was moments ago with no prize in his claws, heard a voice say from behind him, "[Blade Magic: Disappearing Swipe]."
Two large gash marks appeared on the boss of the henchman's chest as blood began to flood to his feet. The cat-like form of his immediately faded, revealing his human self once again, and Boss, holding his chest, felt over the gashes with pure shock. Struggling to turn his head around, Boss's eyes widened as Reginald was now inches from his face.
"Now, tell me," Reginald said, wearing a coy smile, "who can you blackmail if you are dead, hm?"
"P—please!" Boss said, coughing up a large amount of blood, "Please spare me. Pl—please help me!"
Reginald clicked his tongue thrice while shaking his head, "I wonder how many times you heard that saying from my slave."
Boss's eyes shot open and went to say something else, but instead, he felt the cold steel of a blade piercing through his torso and into his heart. With one more cough filled with blood, he dropped to the ground, motionless, like his companions, while Reginald stood above him with a face of disgust. Wiping the blood off his blade with a flick, Reginald sheathed his saber, picked up the defeated boss, and threw him onto the other motionless corpses.
"Well done, Master Reginald," Runar said while heartily saluting from the gate.
"Hmph." Reginald said in response with a quick nod to Runar, "Clean this up."
Runar broke his salute and began walking forward to the corpses. The tattoo on his chest instantly lit up again with a faint glow as Runar snapped his fingers, and the corpses were set aflame with a blueish fire. Moments later, they were nothing more than burn marks in the dirt.
As Reginald was walking back to the gate, he stopped suddenly and turned towards the forest-- his eyes flaring up with an intense gaze. Gazing for a few moments, he began squinting at the forest before ultimately shaking his head. Turning his head back towards the gate, he began walking towards the manor, but as he was doing so and unbeknownst to him or Runar, a faint glimmer shinned from inside the forest.
Far inside the forest outside of the Harenhart Manor
A figure with a brass scope let out a low whistle as it observed Reginald walking back towards the gate.
"What is it?" Another voice asked quietly, "Did he see you?"
"I think he might have, but perhaps not." The figure's voice said with relief, "This does make the job harder."
"Nonsense." The other voice said scoffing, "What can a single man do against all of us?"