Chapter 331: How To Sign A Death Warrant

"She has mounted bodies and sat upon them like a throne seat. And time is not on our side, we want to recover their bodies and bury them. Moreso, soldiers are angry, her act is disrespectful towards the lives that were lost today."

I folded my hands, thought about what to do about the situation.

There was a simple way to go about it, that simply meant dismissing Maggie, but she didn’t deserve such disrespect. Not after how much fear and respect she had gathered here today.

I exhaled and turned to Colonel Atlas, managing a trembling thin smile.

"I will figure it out?"

The tension in his shoulders loosened. He clasped his hands together and dipped his head.

"You will? Oh goodness, thank you for that. Here, here, let me escort you."

Just as we were about to move, someone stepped directly into our path.

Colonel Atlas’s jaw tightened.

"Lady Fintan of the White Tail Clan, what is it again?"

The lady raised her chin, looking down at him the way one might regard something stuck to the bottom of a shoe.

"I am not here for you, rest assured."

She turned to me and cupped her hands.

"Lord Cade, can I request a personal audience with you."

I was silent for a moment, then looked around. I had urgent things to do. I had to settle with Maggie and then go on to look for Cressida. But I could still manage to spare her a minute or two.

’Time I’ll never get back.’

I sighed.

"Alright, time is money, we shall move fast. Colonel Atlas, excuse us."

The Colonel hesitated, eyes flicking between us, before reluctantly leaving the hallway. Captain Kael followed right behind, leaving just the Fox Lady and me.

After they were gone, she stood in silence for a moment. Then she breathed in slowly, breathed out, and cupped her hands again. Her massive chest moved with the gesture, and I found somewhere very interesting on the far wall to look at.

"Lord Cade, I apologize for crossing you like this. Truth is... I need your assistance. I will pay you however way you want."

I held my silence for a moment too, then narrowed my gaze towards her.

"You wouldn’t be thinking about enlisting my help for manslaughter, would you?"

She shook her head quickly.

"Absolutely not, Lord Cade. What I need you for is not something I can achieve on my own. Many people... especially the Sovereigns have developed deep hatred for me. They call me razz and uncultured, they find my nature to be too messy to deal with. But you are different, Lord Cade. You are the first person I know to not be enchanted by that sly flower witch. You even spoke for me... I want you to help me, Lord Cade."

I studied her silently. If this was the opinion she had of me, then certainly my plan from back then had worked.

Now for the second part of my plan to work, I needed to actually help her, but the problem with that was I had urgent matters at hand, right now. Finding Cressida was one. Returning home was another.

I might not be able to get a blacksmith like I sought to because of time, but at least now, I was as rich as a governor. So that did a lot for compensation.

"What do you want me to help you with?"

She bowed lightly, and the corners of her lips curled into something between a grin and a dare.

"What I need from you is to help in a rare gate subjugation."

I narrowed my eyes as I listened to her continue.

"It’s an S-rank gate I have been hiding."

I leaned back.

’Hiding a gate?’

And an S-rank one?

"I need help clearing it... I do not want it to be discovered, those bastards will take it all for themselves. At the same time, I can’t do it alone, and I can’t rally a party. That will draw attention. Seeing how you’re a Sovereign, if you decide to help, I’m willing to share half of the rewards with you."

’S-rank gate...’

I was still here trying to walk my way through C-rank gates and then B-rank, and this lady was here talking about some S-rank.

’Impossible, I can’t do it. No, no matter how much I would love to lay her, I can’t jeopardize myself like that.’

My mouth, however, had other plans.

"S-rank? Sure. What is S-rank, let’s go and destroy it... together."

She grabbed both my hands before I could react.

"What?! Really?!"

I nodded, smiling like a man who hadn’t just signed his own death warrant all because of pussy.

"Of course, Lady Fintan, it’s best to do your best to help each other. I will offer you my help, I’m sure I’ll be making a friend out of you this way."

She laughed wildly.

"You could even make a concubine and I wouldn’t even care with this! This is so great!"

I smiled and nodded towards her.

"If there’s nothing else, then I shall be on my way."

She nodded quickly and fell into step beside me.

"Let’s move, I’ll escort you to meet that evil rat."

"Lady Fintan, you and the Colonel must share history. You quarrel like broken lovers."

She reeled back so hard she nearly tripped over her own feet.

"What? That rat?" She spat on the ground. "I’d rather eat shit than share a closed room with that man."

’Good to know.’

"I see, why then? Why do you two hate each other so much?"

"They all hate me because I’m evil." She scoffed. "The real reason they do is because I can’t be controlled, unlike their dumb ass that answers to authority. We’re all evil, they can’t tell me they haven’t done far worse things, but it’s okay for them to do it as long as they’re following the rule."

Colonel Atlas’s laughter rolled through the hallway from its far end.

"Surely, Lady Fintan of the White Tail Clan, understates the word evil. No one wants to control you. All we need from you is just some decorum."

He turned to me as we reached him.

"This lady cannot be trusted, she’s nothing but a fox, the most cunning one there can ever be."

She folded her hands over her chest and chuckled.

"And you’re a rat no less, a bootlicker and pretender!"

The two of them locked eyes, neither willing to look away first.

As for me, I didn’t care. I just wanted to fuck her so badly.