As the words hung in the air and silence settled in the hallway, both brothers stared at each other, at odds. Their hearts still raced with adrenaline. Nonetheless, neither one was prepared to make the first move.
'Why is he so confident when it comes to fighting me..!?'
Damon honestly had no reason to start a fight with Henry, since he had already won their last one. At the same time, he was starting to think one was unavoidable once they were left alone together.
It was true that the memory of what happened to Cecil had stoked the flames of vengeance inside him once more; however, in his heart, Damon believed the pain he felt from her soul was enough to understand why his rationale could be deemed justified.
Just then, a thought occurred to him.
'Could he still be angry about the childish hero comment?'
["Why would he not be? You essentially dismissed his dreams as a fool's errand. Had I been Henry, I would have cut you down at that very moment."]Hearing Tomoe's stern words, Damon instinctively shuddered.
'Isn't that ridiculous, master?'
["You would think so, but in the era I was born, such acts were quite common. Anyone who questioned a specter's aspirations was mercilessly killed, regardless of whether they were family, friend, or foe."]
["To allow others to question your path was to plant a seed of doubt in your own heart."]
'And doubt weakens the Will…' Damon sighed as he spoke the words she left unsaid. His eyes focused on Henry, who nervously watched the subtle changes in his expression, then drifted to the weapon in his hand.
After contemplating the matter, he realized that although he and Henry seemed to share different values, he had to acknowledge that he might have been too blunt with his words.
While he was not one to hold his tongue, the others might see him as a bully once they got home.
Damon stored the artifact inside his inventory and stretched out his palm in a silent gesture.
"Fine, we will do things your way."
"Don't tell you want the pistol too?"Henry exclaimed presumptuously after hiding the handgun behind his back. He warily looked at his brother and leaned forward, slightly bending his knees. "Can't I have this one ?!"
"I just want my dagger…." Damon grumbled.
The thought had crossed his mind for half a second, but who could blame him?
From the invention of explosive powder as a cheaper substitute for Lithos crystal-infused detonations, Humanity had always been bewitched by the concept of explosive sticks, be they merely tools for celebration or weapons of violence.
The pistol in his brother's hand was the latter.
Its heavy lines drew a viewer's eye to the familiar shape of a revolver's cylindrical wheel seated right above the trigger. The indigo metal of the five-inch barrel was covered with intricate spirals, and below the wheel, a sharp, hooked guard protected the trigger, while the grip was a deep crimson adorned on one side with three jagged teeth coated in golden metal.
It was a beautiful instrument yet too impressive to be a simple display piece, perhaps even too good for Henry, who sought not to kill.
And yet Damon had no plans on claiming.
"So you don't want it?… Phew." With this realization, Henry felt a sense of relief wash over him, his muscles relaxing. He quickly retrieved the dagger he had secretly stored during the exchange and handed it over.
Immediately after Damon took it, he saw Henry kneel beside the motionless specter, hovering his palm four inches above his temple. "Planning to use that little mental skill of yours?"
"Hmm"
"Doesn't the effectiveness of that depend on the targets Will? Not sure if you'd beat this man in that battle.." Damon said tentatively. As he tucked his hands into his coat pockets, he started observing the flow of the man's spiritual energy.
"Think I'd lose even with him asleep..?" Henry's head snapped towards Damon as his hand paused.
"Probably. My intuition says so at least. He seemed crazed at first, but he was clearly a skilled fighter with good senses." Damon said as he thought about it.
Henry's jaw tightened, his eyes flickering between Damon and the unconscious man.
Urgh!
Suddenly, a low groan escaped the man as if he were having a nightmare.
"Dammit already!?' Damon and Henry grumbled in unison. They sighed heavily and prepared for the second wind
"Huh? I -I'm alive?" The man muttered upon opening his eyes.
For a moment, he patted his chest and face, searching for wounds that weren't there. Then his gaze found the two boys looming over him, and his body went rigid.
"You don't sound too relieved," Damon said, startled by the man's reaction. As he stood behind Henry, he calmly studied the specter's expression and asked provocatively. "Did you want us to kill you?"
Eek!… The man hurriedly held his hands up as his body shook back.
A vein swelled on Henry's forehead as he struggled to maintain a friendly smile, hearing his brother's words.
"He's just joking," he said with a strained tone. "We're not going to hit you anymore, I promise. Just answer our questions, and you'll be alright."
'Promise.. huh? Am I counted in that..?' Damon mused internally, a sneer curling at his lips, "Cooperate, and don't lie. Otherwise w—"
"Can you keep quiet for a minute?" Henry interrupted as the corner of his mouth twitched. Returning his attention to the man, his features softened as he continued,
"Don't worry about him. He just doesn't understand how hard it is to handle all this scary stuff as a 'normal' person. We're sorry for hitting you so hard after breaking in. But we saw the damaged gate outside and thought lives were at stake."
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I attacked you out of nowhere." The man's shoulders sagged with relief. He shook his head, a rueful smile tugging at plump lips. You were just defending yourselves. I will tell you whatever you want to know if you get me out of this god-forsaken place."
"We're not leaving." Damon coldly declared. He briefly disclosed that they were originally there to apprehend Josephine Franz at the behest of the local police and said, "We're not leaving until we find her."
Then he leaned closer, his blue eyes looking up into the man's, and added: "You wouldn't happen to know her, right?"
Immediately after posing the question, Damon lightly pushes his spiritual energy towards the man, waiting to catch a lick of deception in his next words.
"I know her, but we are not close by any means," the man answered honestly. Wincing, he rubbed the side of his head for a moment and added, "In fact, she likely despises me most out of everyone who lives here, even the servants."
"Do you know where she might be? " Henry asked.
"I cannot say I do." The man wiped his mouth with his sleeve before pointing towards the room from which he had appeared. "After the others started cackling like crazies, I secluded myself in that room and resorted to a sleeping spell, rendering myself temporarily comatose in hopes that I could survive."
Damon's thoughts quickly churned, hearing this. 'If he were here the entire time, he likely wouldn't have seen Lady Lorelei or the detective.'
'His story is still suspicious, though. Why hide when he could have just immediately fled? Had he been sure the caster of the curse was nearby, or could he have been the caster himself..?'
'From the quantity of Death Affinity spread out from all those bodies, I don't think any of them could have stopped him in a battle, but I'm also not sensing any from him either...'
It was truly hard to say what line of thinking would have produced the best answer since the man had already disclosed the assertion that he was disliked.
'Using him to get around the lake would be our best bet.' Damon's eyes chilled as he watched Henry help the man up.
"Can you help us get to the lake shore nearest to the property?" Inquired Henry.
The man steadied himself against the wall and replied, "We will need to go back to the second floor. That's where the only staircase leading behind the manor is. From there, you can reach the lake by going through the garden."
He suddenly paused and coughed as his eyes landed on the pistol in Henry's hand. Clearing his throat, he then began cautiously, "Could I …Have that back once we part ways? I paid quite the hefty sum for it, you see.."
".." Henry stared at the weapon with creasing brows.
The cold steel he felt against his palm filled him with previous memories of a simpler life and the chance he had lost to live it, yet, surprising both Damon and the nameless stranger, he seemed to contemplate giving it back.
"It's his now," Damon said plainly. "Consider this a trade-off: you keep your pulse, we keep the iron.
"But that i—" The man's face quickly paled as he struggled to find the words.
Damon's eyes flashed with a cold glint as he waited. He ran his hand through his hair and thought to himself.
'I am bluffing though… I won't harm you until I find proof of wrongdoing.'
'Henry's right after all. We shouldn't be too eager to take life. Or hurt people unnecessarily.'
'But that doesn't mean we have to be soft about what we do''