A Honorable Agreement

"Can we... Discuss about it for a few minutes?" Zoe asked as she wanted to check if there wasn't anything else that they could ask.

"It's not like you could say no anyway but uh... Sure. Take your time." Jack replied while shrugging.

Sensing a curious gaze on him, he turned his head and saw Laena watching him. Since neither of them said anything an uncomfortable silence took place and the immortal decided to admire how much had she grown since he met her.

Her silver hair had grown and reached her leather breastplate while her two pointy and long ears poked out of her white mane on the sides of her head. Her skin tone had also gotten healthier, going from a pale white to a slightly pinker yellowish tone. She was wearing a brown cloth tunic and pant under her leather armor which gave her a tomboy look but that was to be expected since she was also a warrior. Her intensive training had started to refine her thin frame and gave her a bit more muscular mass without removing her charming curves at all.

Jack also knew that under her clothing were hidden many new scars which would usually be something that a woman would be ashamed off yet she still showed off the same confident look. Her gaze was incomparable to the empty one she had when he met her since now her emerald eyes were shining with determination and what seemed to be pride or joy as she looked in his grey eyes too. A few instants later, she got a bit redder asked confusedly :

"What? Is there something on my face?"

This made Jack laugh quite a lot and Evelyn replied while her teacher caught his breath.

"No, there's nothing on your face Laena. And you looks as usual... By the way, it's really rare to hear you laugh like that teacher. Do it more !" The young girl said cheerily while her friend's face got back to a normal color.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm quite mentally tired so I tend to overreact." The immortal replied while grinning at his students.

"No need to be sorry, it was awesome !" Evelyn complimented gently.

'She had changed too huh.' Jack thought while ruffling through her hairs with his hand. ' She has already matured a lot and I wouldn't dare to compare her to a normal kid. And she's also talented for magic. Looks like in the end I made the right choice while sparing those two.'

Meanwhile, his two students were thinking that it was nice from him to be human sometimes. Even if he was menacing and trying to control three A rank adventurers though. Speaking of them, they were currently coming back toward Jack's party after having talked a bit further away in the plain.

The city walls in the distance with the wind flowing from behind them gave an impressive feeling. Yet, the immortal received them with a mocking grin as he felt that they had gotten a bit too much confidence back.

"We have a few requests to do, will you hear us out?" Andrew asked as he got his aura of team leader back. He also seemed to finally be at peace with himself again and tried to appear as imposing as possible. In truth he was still terrified as he knew how powerless a soldier like him was against a powerful mage who had beaten Zoe without troubles.

"Yes but I can't promise that I'll agree to everything." The immortal replied with an indifferent tone while gazing at Moringar and Zoe in the background. The mage looked like she was slightly desperate but had accepted her situation while the old man seemed to have already written his testament.

'Am I really that untrustworthy?' Jack sighed mentally.

"Fine then. First, we would like you to swear that you won't kill us no matter what. Second, we would like to have a proof that everything you offer is true and you won't go back on your words." Andrew said with a bit of hesitation but his voice didn't waver.

"What?" The immortal asked in a low tone. His grin had disappeared and his eyes darkened. His students had suddenly felt the change in his mood and wondered what had they said to make his temper explode like this.

"I-If you can't agree wi-with our terms then we c-can discuss them.." Andrew stuttered as he suddenly felt terribly oppressed while Zoe's face turned as white as a sheet since she recognized the feeling she had. It was the same one that she got when he first attacked her on that fateful night.

"There is nothing to discuss. Your first term is absolute bullshit and you know it. Furthermore, I already told you that I would do everything in my power to keep you all alive. I give you my word." The dark mage sneered angrily while trying to remain civil. If he scared them off too much they would try to fight as they were already cornered and the situation would turn into a mess.

"T-then we c-can't accept it neither... I-I mean, try to understand us... We have nothing to protect us from a swift death in case of a... Misunderstanding. Words are merely words and do-" The knight tried to explain pacifically before Jack's outrage reached a new high.

"You puny humans dare to spit on my honor like this?" Jack roared as he felt outraged to hear that he wasn't trusted to follow one of his last moral code. He knew that because of his tiredness his patience was as thin as a paper sheet yet he couldn't let that pass.

Respecting his words and verbal promises to people had been something he truly cherished and which made part of his former reputation. If he promised you help, he would give it and if he promised you a painful death, he would find you one way or another.

"Teacher, calm down !" Evelyn said while grabbing his hand as she saw the other party getting grimly determined to fight to the death. Meanwhile, Laena was doing her best to understand why her teacher had gotten a sudden fit of anger like this. She knew how little he valued human lives and even if they would be useful to him he wouldn't hesitate to murder them in his state.

'He said honor... Has he talked about it before..? Work damned memory, lives are at stake here !'

Then, she remembered a fuzzy memory of a talk around the campfire that they had done with some alcohol to untie their tongues after they finished their bandit extermination quest. They had discussed about their morale values and surprisingly even him had some.

One he had insisted on was that he always did his best to respect what he had said and his part of his deals. This was also one of the reasons of why Evelyn and Laena were still alive as he decided to treat them as his students after his deals. As such, one saying that he couldn't trust his words meant to him that he was basically seen as deceitful and dishonest and felt like one of the worst insult possible.

"Jack, you know that they didn't meant it... They just want to be safe since their lives are at stake here !" Laena said in a sweet yet determined tone as she grabbed his shoulder.

Since both of his students were this insistent he tried to calm himself. A few seconds later, he explained his mindset with a bit of scorn in his voice.

"When I say something, I abide to it no matter what. It's been a long time since I've left behind my humanity with all the trickery that is usual with them."

'Say the guy who use me as a bargaining chip.' Zoe thought bitterly.

"You can trust him you know... Even if he's rather cold with others he's a great teacher with us !" Evelyn added gently, calming a little the tense atmosphere which had been built up.

Andrew wanted to retort but Moringar spoke first :

"Fine, fine. We won't get any further by angering you and we don't have any other choice than believing your words anyway."

"Good. Let's plan our mission then since we're all in the same boat now." Jack announced as his anger receded.

Andrew's party reluctantly accepted and nodded before their leader spoke :

"I guess that we should start with information then. Since monsters are appearing way more than usual the demand and casualties have gone through the roof for adventurers. It's a blessing in disguise for us since many A rank have either fallen or been busy."

"Many mages have lost control of their mana and... Unluckily died thanks to the weird disturbance which happened a few weeks ago so.. Well at least there aren't many strong people left to stand in our way..." Zoe explained with a saddened tone. Many of her mage colleagues in the guild had died since their magic betrayed them at the worst moment.

"..As such, only three other A rank have accepted this quest and around 50 other adventurers but this number will probably go up in the next week." Andrew continued while shivering since Jack walked toward him. His oppressive aura had disappeared but the remnants which stayed in the knight's memory were enough to trigger his survival instincts.

"That's interesting. We don't really need to care about the cannon fodders but those A rank may be troublesome. I guess that you've done your best to get information about them like you did with us right?" The immortal asked while standing 2 meters in front of them. Evelyn and Laena had also followed him and watched the scene with interest.

"Well... Yes. Unlike us who have become rank A as a party these individuals managed to reach their rank alone. They are on another level than us and.. uh... Have some social troubles..." Andrew sighed.

"What do you mean?" Evelyn asked with curiosity shining in her eyes. She had always loved heroes tales and she hoped to be able to hear about real ones like her teacher.

"Well there's always a reason to their solitude... For example, one of them is Giorgio the golden knight. He's well known for his strength and his pride. He refused to work with "uglier" or weaker adventurers than him since it would affect his reputation apparently. I don't know what the Church has offered him but it must have been impossible to refuse. As you can expect it, he refused our offer of training so we don't know how good his swordsmanship is with his longsword.

The second one is known as the one eyed lion and is a beastman. He's powerful and ruthless on the battlefield. Apparently, he refused to join any party since his last has been eradicated and he vowed to fight alone until he joined his brothers in the afterlife. He had accepted our offer for a combined training but a.. uh... How was it called? Termaragrant? Has appeared and he went to deal with it.

The last one is the most mysterious A rank of the town, even the guild master don't know his identity. He never spoke and always remained under a cloak and a face mask. However, he accomplished every mission that he has been given with a terrifying speed and efficacy. Some even think that he's the Phantom Reaper everyone speak of these days.

That's about all we know about the A adventurers." Andrew concluded with a small smile. Speaking so much has taken away his fear as he had seen Jack nod and react more humanly than he expected to his words.

"You did a good work. Now it is time for us to do our part and gather more information about the holy knights to be able to devise a good fighting plan. Oh and by the way, could you describe what this Termaragrant is supposed to look like? The name sound like one I know but I may be wrong." The immortal smiled as he knew that he nearly had gathered every pieces of puzzle now.