DRAGONBORN SORCERER-Chapter 21: Fialed Attempt Against Skyler
"What’s the matter, Rose." McVill asked, noticing how upset his sister had been the entire time they were walking through the market area, "Are you still dwelling on what happened back there?" Rose halted in surprise and looked her brother— at McVill.
The dusk seemed gloomier than usual as the sun painted the sky with lazy hues. The market bustled with life as people busied themselves with evening shopping. The food stalls and vegetable vendors were wrapping their sales, loudly announcing discounts to attract the remaining customers from the crowd.
As people passed by, Rose kept staring at her brother with a strange impression, as though something was still gnawing at her from within. She didn’t say anything and resumed walking. Her head hung low as she passed him by.
"I asked you a question." McVill said, deepening his tone, "Are you just going to walk away without answering me?"
"Forgive my rudeness, brother." She replied, her voice tinged with guilt, "I just need some time. Wait for me at the inn. I’ll return soon."
"Wait... where’re you go—" Rose vanished before McVill could finish his words.
It was the first time for him to see her act that way. Still, he had a clear hunch about the cause of her distress— what had transpired back in the forest when they went to retrieve Skyler.
Back then, after Skyler had explained— more accurately, lied— that he was a sent by the Goddess of Creation to deliver divine judgement for a specific nation, Rose however remained doubtful. She even asked why, if it were the case, he appeared near Nation of Rosevill instead of where he should’ve been.
"Considering the current circumstances that’re going on with our nation, It’s no wonder why our goddess sent him here." Said Leonardo back then, "He’s tasked with bringing salvation upon us as well. And yet, you’re still questioning the judgment of our goddess. Such a disappointment, Rose."
Those words alone had shattered Rose’s optimistic spirit. Her unwavering faith crumbled, plunging her into a deep sense of despair and guilt, leaving her desperate to atone for what she perceived as a grave sin.
**********
Meanwhile, back at his inn, Skyler burst into laughter as he lay sprawled on the bed. His dirty and torn rob was discarded on the floor, left untouched as he was far too preoccupied to think about his appearance.
"Haa-Haa-HAAA." His laughter echoed through the small room, his hand covering his face, "Man! That was hilarious. I can’t believe they actually fell for it. HAAA-HAAA."
He sat up, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes, and forced himself to regain composure before he completely lost his mind to laughter. Opening the system interface, he looked at his ’Inventory.’
"I never thought they’d actually buy the additional loots back at the clan as well." He murmured, scrolling through the multiple pouches now safely stored inside his inventory, "Aside from the quest completion reward, I’ve also obtained a thousand Siets! That’s insane. What am I even going to do with that much? Maybe I’ll start with buying some new and decent cloths."
A sudden knock at the door interrupted his musings. The sound drew him out of his thoughts, and he realised someone was standing outside. He opened the door to find the innkeeper, sweetly and gently, holding a tray laden with food—a full roasted chicken, salad, soup, beer, and more, all artfully arranged.
"Were you busy?" She said, noticing the delay in responding, "I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?"
"Not at all." He replied, looking at the feast she prepared, "I was just wondering when you’d arrive with the food you promised me this morning. Seems like it’s finally here."
"Indeed...." She tried to say something, but her words were cut short as she collapsed out of the blue. The tray clattered to the floor, and the food spilled everywhere. Skyler froze in disbelief as blood began to seep from the woman’s mouth. Her skin turned pale in mere seconds, her lifeless eyes staring into nothingness.
"What the—" Skyler muttered, taking a step back as he couldn’t comprehend what just happened.
It was unexpected how she, all of a sudden, died— or perhaps? However, the noise made by her body crashing the floor, crossed someone’s ears downstairs.
A young girl, younger than Rose, rushed up the stairs. She looked at Skyler still in shock, as she burst into tears, supressing her ulterior grin.
"Mom... Mom what happened?" She cried with stammering voice, dropping to her knees beside the woman’s still body. Tears streamed down to her cheeks as she gently shook her mother, as though trying to wake her up.
"Mom, say something." She sobbed. Her fingers brushed against the blood pooling from her mother’s mouth. She froze. Her expression twisted in shock and fear, "Blood? No... it can’t be. Did you do something to my mom, mister?"
Her accusatory finger pointed at Skyler, trembling but soaked in blood. He stood there. His mind was struggling to gather the pieces together what had just transpired.
’What’s happening?’ He thought as he kept staring blankly at the lady soaked in blood on her daughters lap. He daughter was crying, accusing him to be at the fault. Her voice seemed distant as his thoughts raced.
The commotion upstairs attracted the attention of others. A group of adventurers, who had coincidentally been staying at the inn, rushed to the scene. They were the same adventurers who had ambushed Skyler a day ago. When they appeared on the scene, they were frozen to find Skyler to be the center of the commotion.
[Alert: Multiple Deceptive Intention detected. Passive skill ’Wrath’ has been activated]
’What the hell is going one, huh?’ He thought, his mind boiling in irritation as the system interface showed him the alert notification.
Instantly, the entire place was filled with his oppressive draconic aura, radiating in pure rage. His golden eyes glowed as he was burning unimaginably.
The woman who was supposed to be dead, jumped up in terror, clutching her chest as she grasped air. Her daughter fell silent, frozen, still tears dropped from her eyes— not from sorrow, rather from fear.
The adventurers, who had been part of the orchestrated act, collapsed to their knees. Their willpower crumbled under Skyler’s oppressive aura. Unable to withstand his sheer presence, they grovelled on the floor, trembling in submission.
********
"So, what’s the purpose of your act?" Skyler said, looking incredibly mad at them. He was sitting on his bed inside the room. The others were still grovelling as they were at his aim— at the aim of countless icicle shots just above their heads. Each sharp, crystalline weapon hovered menacingly, waiting for the slightest command to strike.
"We’re extremely sorry." They cried in unison, "We were fool to choose this path after you mercifully spared our lives. Please, have mercy on us once again. We promise, it won’t happen next time."
"Silence!" he shouted, "I wasn’t speaking to you?" His gaze shifted upon the lady, "I really thought you to be a kind woman. Yet you’re just another scumbag of this world. Not to mention, your daughter too. Both of you are quite the actress. Now spit out. What was the purpose of that lame performance."
Witnessing Skyler’s massive aura, still oppressing the room by his sheer presence, and the sharp ices over their heads, they were not only stunned, also terrified as they opened their mouths.
"We... we’re con artists," she stammered with a trembling voice, "This inn is a trap to target unsuspecting travellers. We show them kindness to lower their guard, then stage acts like this to frame them for murder and extort all their money."
Unlike other travellers, deceiving Skyler, was not as easy as it seemed. The system he acquired from Azrathos was capable in detecting intentions of others, allowing him to take precautions.
"We beg forgiveness." she cried, begging to him, "Please have mercy on us. You can take whatever you want."
"Yes." The daughter stammered, "You can even have my body if you’d like." She forced a weak smile hoping he might be interested in her young, charming and attractive body.
"Shut your filthy mouths." Skyler shouted, glaring at them with disgust, "You want me to forgive you? In your dreams. You think I’d be interested in your body. I’m not , not in the slightest."
He paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. The room fell into a tense silence, broken only by their shallow, panicked breaths.
His lips curled into a sinister grin, sending another wave of dread through the room, "But I’ll make sure the punishment you deserve. Let’s see..... How about this..."
He kept his grinning smile as he told them about the punishment. It made them rather shocked when they heard.
"No you can’t do this." They tried to raise their voice but soon fell silent as ’Wrath’ still in effect.
’Don’t worry,’ he thought, suppressing a grin as he turned away. ’I don’t care to waste my time truly punishing scum like you. But keeping you under my thumb for a little while? That, I can enjoy.’
