39 『Bloody Intent』 (1/2)
Killing intent. Vertum could suddenly feel the killing intent of a much smaller human being, though one more powerful than those he had encountered before. It was incredibly amplified by blood lust, but it wasn't even directed towards him.
Turning his head while the boy was observing the decanter, the Dragon spotted a female in the alleyway nearby. She was dressed scantily beneath what appeared to be a simple cloak.
He pursed his lips slightly, watching as the individual didn't even seem to notice him looking right at her. He could see a bit of blonde hair, a pair of red eyes. The jawline reminded him of a particular member of the Black Scripture, the One Man Army. A small grin showed over his lips, matching the maniacally excited smile she was sporting.
That was when he followed her gaze. Her focus seemed to be directly on the boy in front of him. It now donned upon Vertum that he didn't need to eliminate the boy himself. Someone else had already volunteered for the job!
He wanted to laugh at this, not having to get his hands dirty.
Though perhaps, this person wasn't going to kill him, she could have an entirely different action in mind. A killer's intent, the blood lust, that could be entirely different than what she was after.
Then his thoughts went back towards the recent rise of death in this Fortress Town of E-Rantel.
This person had definitely killed before, and as he took in a slow and subtle deep breath, the scent of human blood reached his olfactory senses. His assumption was correct, this person was guilty of murder if not mass slaughter.
”Th-this solution,” Nfirea suddenly took hold of the man's attention as he began to speak, ”Can we really take this?” The blonde was looking all over the Dragon for some sort of catch. It was clear while he wasn't looking, the boy had appraised the item himself.
”Yes, is there a problem?” Vertum raised a brow.
”This particular reagent is better than the one we currently use in our potions, it has superior binding power...” He was pretty sure the would be able to increase slightly more powerful healing potions and perhaps other potions given the time to experiment.
He nodded his head in a soft manner toward the young male, before setting his sights back on Enri who nodded in acknowledgement. Vertum then returned his gaze to the boy. ”And the herbs?”
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”I-I will purchase them as, w-we'll need them for new potion experiments.” Nfirea feigned a smile. Though he was admiring the things that he was being given, he was still jealous.
This only made Nfirea feel bitter, as he was more of an introverted type. It was hard for him to reads signals off of the stranger who he now knew the name of, but he could tell he'd out do him in terms of assets. Vertum also seemed to be far more outgoing than him, it was hard to think of a way to impress Enri, let alone make her his own.
Vertum on the other hand, while ignorant of the boy's thoughts, was well aware of his feelings.
After a short while they had unloaded the herbs from the wagon and Vertum began carrying them into the shop. As he did enter the building however, he noticed the sounds of someone in the backroom.
It wasn't the person who was watching the shop, they were still out there in the alleyway, their scent was far different and there was no blood.
As he made it to the back room doors and he opened one of the double doors in the archway. Vertum went walking on in without any reservations.
”Huh?! Who are you?” Lizzie Bareare, a short woman with grey hair and a face wizened in age, practically cornered the Dragon as he was making his way to the corner of the room.
Vertum stared down at her, his vibrant hues glowing in the moderately lit room. ”A Friend of the Carne settlement. My name is Vertum,” He could see she was immediately sizing him up, already suspicious of his response due to his very high quality clothes.
He almost appeared to be a noble, but his clothes didn't seem to match current fashion trends.
”Uh, From Carne? You look like a noble, or some sort of Adventurer...” Her eyes narrowed around his neck seeing the absence of a rank plaque around his neck, ”Or a worker. Not a Villager.”
She rubbed her index finger across her chin in pondering thought.
Vertum snickered at her as she assumed he was one of three things. Out of all them, he was probably closer to a Noble, rather than an Adventurer or a Worker. Though if there was something he really wanted, he would most definitely go out of his way to appear as an Adventurer or a Worker, whichever suited him most.
A worker went without rules and protection, an Adventurer however worked with an abundance of rules and protection. Both sides had their perks.
”I'm from the Forest of Tob, a magic caster. I rescued the village from an attack...” Vertum paused briefly as he thought of how to address himself. Would be the Overlord of Village? Or could he just refer to himself as their protector. ”I've become their current protector,” he didn't take his time and made up his mind rather quickly.