49 Chapter 49: Punishmen (1/2)
SALEM: At first I said nothing. Kept my face neutral, kept my breathing even. But even then the guy noticed that something was off. He looked at me and I looked at my drink. Took the mug and drank. Breathed in, breathed out.
I said, ”Elina, huh.”
”You've heard of her?”
”I've heard of a witch called Elina, I've heard of a contract with that name on it, but I didn't know that she was to be brought in alive.”
”What's it to you?”
The guy looked at me. His body language was vague. Probably because he wasn't sure what to make of me. A friend or rival?
I shrugged. ”It's nothing to me. It just sounds odd, that's all.”
Kept drinking. Looking disinterested.
The guy took his own drink. Kept drinking.
He seemed to relax. Then he said, ”What are you in Larose for?”
So I told him a nice story. Half truths and lies make the best kind of lie. Said that I needed to make money for my sister. Who was sick. Doctors weren't cheap. Medicine wasn't cheap. There was a witch needing hunting, and I decided to do it.
The guy looked at me. Looked at his drink. Seemed to think of something.
He said, ”You think you can take her on?”
”I survived so far.”
”Your sister is sick. You need the money.”
”I need the money.”
”But money is never guaranteed in a witch hunt because you might not come out alive. But you need money badly. How about I help you kill her. Two witch hunters make it easier. I'll take a quarter of the reward, you keep the rest. For your sister.”
I glanced at him, then looked away. Was he a kind soul or a viper? Hard to tell. I was never good at judging people. I was only good at killing them.
He could easily leave me for dead in the middle of the fight, let the witch and I kill each other and then he takes the full reward. Then he'd go on to find Elina.
Of course there is no witch I had to kill and Elina was my captive. Or rather I was her captive. Either way.
But let's say he was a good soul. That he really wanted to help me. Which meant that he trusted me. To an extent at least. Which meant that I could get some more information out of him.
I said, ”It's just a black eyed witch. I don't think it'll take two of us.”
”Oh.”
I said, ”Maybe I can help you capture this Elina. It must be hard to capture a witch alive.”
He said nothing.
”What's her eye color?” I asked.
He said nothing.
I guess he was just interested in the story I made up. Maybe he wanted earn some easy money on the side. But he had already told me something important. He was after a witch called Elina. And she was wanted alive.