Lennix, after hearing Elanor's plea, positioned himself between the black knight and Elanor. "That's so sad, mate. I hope your life gets better, but we kind of have to go somewhere else entirely, so we can't really help. You get that, right?" Lennix asked, not giving Elanor a chance to respond. "Cool! Alright, buddy, let's head on out of here!" Lennix continued, attempting to drag the black knight with him. However, the black knight didn't budge; instead, he kept talking to Elanor.
"Can you explain exactly what's threatening you and your people?" Elanor, observing Lennix's antics, turned his attention back to the black knight. "A man called Verandez Rasanto is trying to kill everyone of us. For what exactly, none of us really know, but he hired a lot of mercenaries to try and kill us before. When that didn't work out, they just started starving us out by surrounding us and making sure no one was able to get out," he explained. Lennix's attempts to pull the black knight, hampered by his broken bones, became quite the challenge.
"That sounds like a you problem, to be honest, you know, just a matter of skill," Lennix grunted. However, the black knight remained focused on Elanor, ignoring Lennix's remarks. Despite Lennix's ongoing attempts to interfere, the black knight pushed him off without even looking at him.
"Then how did you and your... friends manage to escape?" the black knight asked, looking around at the corpses. Elanor took a deep breath before explaining, "Pure luck. A dozen of us all tried to escape at once to find help, but only the four of us managed while everyone was killed. Now, I'm the only one alive after that beast mauled the others to death." He was trying his hardest not to get emotional about his dead comrades, understanding that grieving wouldn't accomplish anything. "So, will you help us?" he asked, the black knight with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
The black knight placed a hand to his helmet where his chin would be, indicating he was deep in thought, before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I can't really help you with that. Your best chance is to head over to the guild," he said apologetically, surprising Lennix. "Holy! You're not an idiot who just helps whoever asks!" Lennix exclaimed in shock, while Elanor's hope dimmed slightly.
"I see. Well, you saved me from the beast, so thank you for that. Sorry that I can't give you anything; I need something to give to the guild," Elanor apologized, feeling a sense of indebtedness. The black knight shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We didn't help you for a reward anyways. Also, Treasurehold is on the way to where we're going, so we can escort you there," he offered, to which Elanor nodded in gratitude. "That would be great. Could you wait for a moment while I collect some things from the others?" he requested.
"Of course," the black knight replied as Elanor walked over to the dead bodies of his comrades. Meanwhile, Lennix took the opportunity to ask, "Why aren't you helping him, by the way?" The black knight turned to him with a raised eyebrow (Not that anyone could see that). "I thought you didn't want to help him," he retorted, confused by Lennix's sudden interest.
Lennix nodded. "You're right, I don't. But I'm still curious as to why you aren't helping him," he clarified.
"Well, that's because I'm a monster hunter, meaning I deal with monsters like you, vampires, werewolves, lycans, wights, and the like. Humans and demi-humans aren't things I'm supposed to deal with or am even trained to handle. That kind of stuff is left for adventurers, assassins, and mercenaries," the black knight explained, causing confusion for the vampire.
"Wait, so if you see, like, a bandit attack someone, you won't do anything?" Lennix asked, shaking his head in disbelief. The black knight quickly shook his head in response. "Of course, I would in a situation like that. But I can't accept any jobs or contracts related to fighting non-monsters. I'm literally not allowed to," he clarified, hoping to dispel Lennix's confusion.
"But why, though? Is there a reason for this?" Lennix pressed further, his curiosity piqued. The black knight let out a weary sigh. "Just think of it as a business thing. I would like to help people with people-related issues, but I can't, legally speaking," he explained, trying to simplify the matter.
Unsatisfied with the explanation, Lennix persisted, "What if there's a shortage of monster hunters during a monster crisis, or what if there's a bandit problem and there's a shortage of adventurers? Why can't each faction, is that the right word to use? Be interchangeable?" The black knight massaged the part of his helmet where his temple would be, contemplating Lennix's questions before responding.
"I doubt that would ever happen, but think of it like rock, paper, scissors. You have a monster problem? Hire monster hunters. You have a large-scale bandit or military problem? Hire mercenaries. You have one or a group of people causing problems, or you just want them dead? Hire assassins. It's that simple," he explained, hoping to shed light on the complexities of their respective roles in the world.
Lennix noticed that adventurers were omitted from the explanation. "What about adventurers? You left them out," he pointed out. The black knight shrugged in response. "They're just a jack-of-all-trades kind of deal. As long as you pay enough coin, they'll do literally anything. From fighting dragons to rescuing cats out of trees, it doesn't really matter to them. Also, aren't you like over 160 years old? How do you not know this already?" he asked, his tone tinged with mild disbelief.
Lennix smirked in response. "Mate, I've only done two things all these years. One's drink blood, and mostly listen to what my older sister told me, and the other's fight people," he boasted, seemingly proud of his limited experiences. The black knight raised an eyebrow. "That was three things, not two, but whatever," he pointed out.
As Elanor finished gathering whatever he needed from his dead friends, he declared, "I'm ready to leave." The black knight looked at the corpses and asked, "Aren't you going to bury them?" Elanor shook his head. "Let nature take its course, I say," he replied stoically.
"Hey, if that's the case, do you mind if I have a little sip of their blood?" Lennix asked without a hint of hesitation. Elanor simply sighed and replied, "I just... do whatever you want." Lennix licked his lips in anticipation. "Sweet," he remarked before approaching the freshest corpse and sinking his fangs into it, draining it of blood. Elanor averted his gaze, visibly uncomfortable with the sight.
After drinking the blood, Lennix's healing accelerated drastically, and he was back in top shape in no time. "All right, now let's get back to the ladies," Lennix declared, eager to continue their journey. The black knight shook his head in exasperation. "I really need to teach you some basic manners," he remarked. Lennix looked confused, but the black knight sighed and said, "Let's leave before more carnivores show up due to the scent." With that, all three of them headed back to the rest of the group, leaving the bodies of Elanor's friends to nature.