Ventren was just contemplating his next move when he heard movements along the stone floors of the ruin. The rain may have masked most of the sounds, but Ventren was alone, and on guard in case the Blind Stars had come to finish the job. He stood up and leaned against the crumbling wall, gripping his axe tightly with both hands.
"I will butcher you… I will end you for this betrayal!" he proclaimed.
Suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder from behind.
"A surprise attack? Wha—"
"Calm down, I am not here to hurt ya."
The voice was as quiet as a mutter.
Ventren turned around quickly and pointed his colossal axe at the stranger. The stranger was a tall figure, almost as tall as Ventren, wearing all black with a close helm as their headpiece.
He could not tell what species or gender the stranger was, as everything was completely concealed by their gear. This was obviously suspicious to Ventren, as he had just survived a confrontation with his former party members. Before he could do anything however, the stranger showed Ventren a metallic card.
These metallic cards were assigned by the Mercenary Freehold to parties that were formed to take on tasks that were deemed a non-issue by the royal army. These mercenary parties were also known as adventurers or explorers and although had no authority within the kingdom by themselves, with the Freehold's Identity Cards they could be called to assist in solving lesser problems such as monster hunting or exploring ruins and underground tunnels.
The stranger's Freehold ID displayed their information:
"Raelys, A-tier registered mercenary under the Freehold"
Noticing the displayed details, Ventren lowered his guard and slumped over by the wall.
"What happened here?"
Raelys asked, while kneeling towards Ventren. Her body language clearly displayed concern for Ventren's well-being as she noticed the dead steed.
"Tch, nothing concerning you."
Ventren groans in pain as he clenches his wound.
"You're bleeding out pretty bad, you know. Let me at least heal you??"
Hesitantly, Ventren allowed her to do so. He needed it, liked it or not. He could only think of delivering revenge, but his mind was somewhat still sound. Knowing that he needs to be in peak condition before facing the Blind Stars again.
"My… My party betrayed me."
"Impossible, they would know the repercussions! Attacking another mercenary, party or not, is against the Freehold's terms…"
The Freehold, while mostly allowing autonomy among the parties, still had certain regulations that must be upheld at all costs. One of them being the absolute rule against harming another mercenary. Of course, minor incidents occur regardless, but major ones haven't happened as the risks are far too great.
Those who disregard the rules of the Freehold were to be not only punished under the Freehold's rules, but the royal army would also be involved as it is against the country's laws.
The powerful and militaristic Kingdom of Valkraun allowed the Freehold to exist as it overcame a lot of economic and safety stumps in places where the military shouldn't be involved. Hence, the existence of the mercenary adventurers and explorers. However, in accordance with the law, if one should commit a crime such as murder or attempted murder, they are to be detained under the authority of the crown and not the Freehold.
Naturally, the Freehold did not want to meddle with the crown authority and would revoke permissions from anyone that dared to break the laws of the crown and the regulations of the Freehold.
This, in turn, made cases such as Ventren's an exceptionally rare one.
Raelys could not believe Ventren's words until she caught a glimpse of his ID laying around in the wet stone floors.
"Blind Stars…? Under Stavros Cross?"
Ventren immediately glared at Raelys.
"Relax big guy, I know that fella, but I also hate his guts. I have more reason to believe you're not lying, but we can't exactly prove that you're right either to the Freehold…"
The rain stopped pouring over them as the night sky appeared over the scenery. Ventren tried to pry further on Raelys' relationship with Stavros, but he was too exhausted to speak. His innards are still spilling out, after all.
"I can't really… Patch up your intestines that are leaking out here. I must take you over to my home, if that's fine with you?"
Ventren groaned in annoyance, but he had no choice. He accepted the offer and allowed himself to be carried by Raelys over to her home.
He had nowhere to go, after all.
Among the dullahans, Ventren was known as one of the oldest ones to exist. He was originally an elven citizen native to Valkraun's forests, however when he underwent the dullahan ritual sacrifice two hundred years ago, he had been in service of simply standing guard outside a hamlet, unmoving and almost statue-like for a hundred years. Until the hamlet was peacefully integrated within the majority-human kingdom. Relieved of his position, he had joined the Freehold in hopes of becoming something.
"That's right… Something. And to find something… But what is it?"
He had never been able to think for himself prior to joining the Blind Stars. He was merely a sentinel that shut off his senses with one goal in mind—to protect—but as he was let go, he was finally able to explore other possibilities.
Upon joining the Blind Stars, he was provided a place within their mansion and a room. He had never needed to think of a place to stay, for even during adventures he'd be sleeping alongside his comrades. With his 'friends' betraying him, he truly had nowhere to go. So it did not matter to him much where he'd ended up next, as long as he settled the score with the Blind Stars once and for all. Their mistake was leaving him alive.
"We're here."
Raelys' house was a small cottage in the middle of a field surrounded by tree stumps and a forest nearby. It was a humble abode fitting of an A-tier mercenary. The plot of land belonging to her is huge compared to what she made for herself—perhaps she had plans for a garden?
Raelys carried Ventren inside and placed him on a table as she removed his bandages to further patch him up.
Magic is not very uncommon within this world, but the gap between abilities is massive. So much so that only a few hundred per nation could actually cast useful spells. Most are negligible, like watering mere household plants or starting small fires. Everyone had an affinity with up to two aspects of magic, but even fewer could use both effectively.
Ventren himself had a rare affinity with blood [Water] and star [Light] magic, though he could not use either offensively nor as effectively defensively. He had used blood magic to stop his bleeding as much as he could, but his ability was not skilled enough to help much anyway.
Raelys seemed to have an affinity with healing [Light] and another that she has yet to display, with proficiency in healing. Hence why she could patch Ventren up even as his innards are visible. Though, she still required tools and stitches to heal him properly.
"Phew.."
She took off her gloves as she walked towards what Ventren assumed to be her room.
"Stay there, I'll be right back."
Ventren could sit upright now, so he gets off the table and sits on one of the chairs. Her house was mostly woodwork and was exceptionally tidy and clean—a stark contrast to the Blind Stars mansion.
As he sat there reminiscing of false friendships, he saw a middle-aged girl with short, jet black hair exit the room.
He had no idea how pretty Raelys was.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, it was getting hot in all that armour."
"It's whatever, I needed to be patched up anyway so I could go and tear those idiots limb by limb for doing this to me."
Raelys held out her palm in a way that screamed "No, wait!"
Ventren's feet tapped the wooden floor rapidly, clearly impatient.
"I'll go to the nearby Freehold Institution to inquire and report this situation, okay? When I'm done, I'll tell you how it went. I'll even request the royal army to allow you to accompany them in their arrest."
"I want them DEAD, Raelys."
"Calm down, the prisons are at times worse than executions in this country. Just let it go for now, okay? We can talk all about it later. You're still alive, after all."
After a brief discussion, Ventren conceded as his exhaustion overcame him.
"Yeah, maybe she's right. I should just let them go and move on…"
He fell asleep sitting.
The next morning, Raelys donned her armour and took off to the Freehold's Institution.
Just as Ventren was starting to cool down, Raelys returned bringing bad news.
"The Blind Stars filed a report that you were attacked by a great bear and had to retreat, leaving you. The Freehold's manager took their story over yours of betrayal… Simply because…"
Ventren was shocked, and anger was apparent in his voice.
"Simply… Because…?"
"Theirs is more believable. They refused to investigate or spare any effort."
Ventren gripped his axe and left her home in a hurry. As he continued walking to exit Raelys' territory, the tree stumps surrounding him grew, moved and locked him in place.
"Wait! Don't go alone!"
She caught up with him while holding her hand out to cast the spell.
"What?! You are effective with wood [Nature] magic too?!"
She pants and stops in her tracks before releasing him.
That explains the woodwork, I suppose. But two effective affinities? That is extremely rare. She would've passed as an S-Tier…
"What do you want?"
"Look, I… I can't stand idly knowing that they got away with this."
Locking her hands together, she hesitantly looked up at the dullahan in the eye.
"I'll help you, but please, let's not kill them, okay? Let's find another way, please?"