Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 115: The Castle Gates Opened
A smile was supposed to be friendly.
But here, now, Stessa could feel it in his bones. That soft laugh did not mean the negotiation had succeeded.
It had failed.
“You should at least hear what a living me can offer you before you refuse.”
Count Stessa’s proud, composed tone began to warp along with his face. For the first time since boyhood, he felt events slipping beyond his grasp. The sensation was so foreign that for a moment he did not even know what expression he ought to wear.
“Lannor, I am not exaggerating your worth merely to save my life. You truly possess the potential to change a kingdom. You appeared in my study without a sound and pressed my face into my own desk. If that ability joined with mine, we could reshape all Temeria. And more than that, you became a witcher less than two months ago, yet you have already grown to this point. If you hand the secret of that growth to someone with sufficient capital, can you imagine what it will bring you?”
“Status. Power. Wealth. Women. Things ordinary men spend their lives clawing after would cling to your boots like mud from a lakeshore.”
“To drown yourself in personal strength is the folly of brutes, Lannor. You have seen me unarmed, and you have seen what power a man like me can command. You must understand that. How many coins can you earn hacking at monsters in the wild? Even if there is no teachable secret behind your growth, even if it is only your talent, you can still change fields. With a little promotion from me, you could become a great warrior whose name enters history. You could serve as my guard, or as a champion. One appearance from you would earn more than other witchers see in several lifetimes.”
Count Stessa forced his mind still and spoke with practiced fluency.
He trusted his tongue. So long as he could speak, so long as he could lay out Lannor’s predicament and the aid he could provide, the other man had no reason to refuse.
The dossier had already shown him the hardship of a witcher’s life. That only strengthened his confidence.
He had seen too many lowborn, impoverished men. He could read what they wanted with a glance.
Lannor had gone from a common man who could not even hold a sword to a warrior capable of slaughtering a guard detachment. How many days had that taken, in truth?
To suddenly possess the power to decide whether others lived or died was more ruinous than becoming rich overnight.
He should have been able to grasp Lannor’s thoughts.
He should have.
“Threats first, then cooperation.” Lannor leaned back in the chair and looked lazily at Stessa. “You people above the rest do like that little game.”
Stessa had imagined all manner of responses once Lannor heard his analysis.
Shameful anger at having his predicament guessed. Hunger for money and power. The conflict of being asked to cooperate with the man he had come to kill.
He had prepared for each emotion and how best to use it.
Only one possibility had been too terrible to dwell on.
That Lannor did not care.
Just as now.
The witcher did not care at all.
“When I arrived, your hand was already on the files from Auridon. I suppose you meant to use your status as lord to put pressure on the village, then bind me with my friendship for them, like putting a leash on a mad dog.”
“But the next moment, my hand was pressing your face into the desk. And now here we are, talking about cooperation and mutual benefit.”
Lannor looked at Stessa strangely, as if staring at a drowner wearing clothes.
“You really do think yourself someone important, don’t you?”
The muscles in the count’s jaw bunched. He had clenched his teeth hard enough to ache.
Even then, his voice remained calm and rational.
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