Chapter 19: Anger

The conversation with the man had ended.

The living room was eerily quiet.

Ronald and Nade stood still in silence, only Thomson, who had just negotiated with the man, still had a face filled with the joy of seeing hope for survival, and he even wanted to share the good news with the other two.

"Guys, we..."

"Enough, Thomson." Nade promptly interrupted the merchant, "You don't understand these things after all, so I won't blame you for your recklessness, but just one thing, please don't take matters into your own hands when we act next."

"Ah?"

Facing Nade's stark rebuke, it took Thomson a moment to react.

However, soon, the middle-aged merchant who thought he had understood everything wore a look of sudden realization.

"No, no, no, you guys can't do this."

"Earlier, abandoning a companion to run away alone might be understandable, but now, when we clearly can help this poor father and his daughter, why refuse?"

In Thomson's understanding.

He believed Nade and Ronald planned to abandon the father and daughter and then escape alone...

How foolish!

"Ts—"

Angry, Nade spat on the floor and took two quick steps to confront Thomson.

Before the merchant could react, Nade grabbed him by the collar with one hand and roughly lifted the middle-aged man right off the porch floor.

"I'm saying..."

"Do you no longer wish to live?"

A bewildered Thomson stared in terror at Nade, in whose steel-blue pupils he saw intense anger...

And a hidden murderous intent deep within his expression!

"Na... Nade!"

"What are you trying to do? Put me down first, will you?"

"Aren't we companions?"

Seeing that the middle-aged man in his hand still didn't realize his own mistake, Nade even felt his blood boiling:

"Who would..."

At that moment, Ronald came over and patted Nade on the shoulder:

"Enough, getting angry at him now is useless."

"Better save some energy and think about what we should do next."

Snap—

Following Ronald's advice, Nade let go, causing Thomson to fall to the ground, and gritted his teeth and cursed:

"What else can we do?"

"Since this guy has agreed to the other's request, let him go save the 'people' himself!"

As he spoke, Nade became even more furious.

Pointing at Thomson on the ground, he continued sighing to Ronald beside him:

"You negotiated with the other person for so long, yet this guy didn't even notice that during the entire conversation, you never agreed to any requests! Even the livestock at Maria Manor wouldn't foolishly walk themselves to the slaughter!"

As soon as he said this, Thomson on the ground was stunned.

Recalling carefully, it seemed true that Ronald had never agreed to any requests during the conversation with the man.

Because Ronald had led the pace of the conversation, before he himself intercepted.

It was essentially Ronald asking questions and the other man answering, and even when that man had made requests, Ronald had ambiguously passed them over by changing the topic.

All the direct agreements to requests were made by himself!

Was it his fault?

"..."

Stammering, Thomson began to defend himself:

"I... I didn't mean it!"

"Besides, the other person isn't a bad man..."

"Enough!"

Nade directly cut off Thomson's defense:

"Didn't you see what happened to that woman just now?"

"According to that man's words, as the direct holder of the Magic Book, why is this guy still a normal person?"

"Do you really think his request is worth your trust?"

"..."

With three consecutive questions filled with anger, Thomson was completely silenced.

These words had also caused Ronald to take a deep look at Nade.

— Although he didn't hit the nail on the head, this guy indeed knew a lot.

After pondering for a moment, Ronald spoke:

"So, do we now have to act according to the requirements discussed in the conversation?"

"Not necessarily," Nade shook his head, "but just in case, this manner of communicating might involve a hidden contract. The effect might not be strong, but it's definitely troublesome."

After explaining this to Ronald, Nade glared fiercely at Thomson.

"Troublemaker."

"Sorry..."

This time, Thomson realized his mistake and did not defend himself as before.

"What should we do now?"

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a merchant who had just stood up from the ground had a realization, fear apparent in his eyes:

"Could that person hear us talking here?"

"Ah—"

Ronald sighed.

To say this guy was clever, he'd already failed earlier; but to call him dumb, he wasn't completely foolish either.

With a powerless wave of his hand, he still explained:

"Don't worry, that guy doesn't have the ability to monitor us all the time."

"Otherwise, he would have contacted us the moment we entered the mansion."

Hearing Ronald's explanation, Thomson was still uneasy:

"But he—"

"There's no 'but' to it," Ronald shook his head. "Think carefully, when did that guy contact us?"

"When..."

"When we were escaping."

"Be more precise." As the two men questioned and answered, Nade also chimed in to help explain, "It was after we startled that madwoman, when she made a noise, that the guy reached out to us."

"Let's take another step back."

"If he was able to monitor us at all times, he theoretically would also be able to perfectly track his wife's movements. In that case, would he still need our help to rescue his daughter?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Thomson fully understood.

"So, as long as we don't make any noise, we'll mostly not draw his attention."

Nade was somewhat speechless, but he nodded:

"You can understand it that way too..."

"Alright, let's get moving."

At that moment, Ronald pointed towards the night sky outside the window.

Exploring the second floor and negotiating with the man had delayed them, and more than a quarter of an hour had already passed.

Under the relentless encroachment of black fog, nothing could be seen around Black Mountain anymore, and the churning darkness was just a step away from the outermost part of the manor's garden.

"Let's go."

Seeing the pitch-dark outside the window, Nade immediately grasped Ronald's intention.

Picking up his lantern and walking out, he still led the way.

Following him closely, Thomson also proceeded.

"..."

Ronald, who was last, looked thoughtfully at the living room.

Picking up a few pieces of wood from beside the fireplace, he then followed them out.