Chapter 86 - What I Desire
After Iselv basically swore eternal loyalty to Ren, Hilda held Ren's hand. Lara was once again about to move in between, but Ren signaled her not to do anything. Hilda then proceeded to pull Ren outside of the room into the hallway. Once she was sure no one else was listening in, she spoke to Ren.
"What the hell is this?" Hilda's voice was ice cold, same as the first time Ren met her.
"What do you mean?" Ren smiled as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not joking around Ren, tell me what this is all about." Hilda had a stern face on as she said this, coupled with her ice cold tone, showed why she was called the Valkyrie.
"I'm not joking around as well. I'm telling you I don't understand your question. You've got to be more specific than asking me with something as vague as what the hell is this?"
"Fine, tell me Ren are you the leader of these people?"
"Yes."
"How long were you the boss of the underworld in Grenton?"
"Hmm, it was after we finished that Dungeon for mine and Lara's evaluation. After we were done with that, some things happened with some slave traders, and one thing led to another. Since they decided to mess with me, I, in turn, decided to just take everything they had."
Hilda who listened to the reason Ren became the boss of Grenton's underworld, was shocked. This man before her though he didn't say it outright, practically said that he conquered Grenton's underworld, just because he could.
The same underworld that had Iselv the bandit king, Kithra the witch or sometimes called the succubus, and the best assassin of the kingdom, Gregory. These three who controlled most of Grenton, that even the knights had a problem dealing with, was actually conquered by Ren, in what seems to be with minimal effort for him.
Hilda was surprised but she had no time to be confused by that. By now she was already somehow getting used to how nonsensical Ren was. Staying with him was literally making her common sense turn weird.
"So Ren, what is it you're planning? Making the leaders of Grenton's underworld into your subordinates. Even making a suspected member of the royal family do a blood pact with you. Tell me, Ren, what is it you truly want?" When Hilda said this, she didn't mask the killing intent she was emitting, as she tightly held her sword's handle.
"Tell me, Hilda, why should I tell you what I'm planning?" Ren narrowed his eyes and looked at Hilda. Even though Ren liked Hilda, and found her aggressive ways kind of cute, but even with that, he was not one to respond to hostility kindly. If he didn't like Hilda, he would've applied mana pressure on her, forcing her to kneel, and in that position Ren would have asked her to beg for mercy.
"If you won't tell me the answer, I would need to use force and make you tell me... Ren I do not want to do this, but if you are a danger to the kingdom... I cannot allow a threat to the kingdom to remain free."
"Are you sure you're able to do that." Hilda hearing what Ren said, felt a chill. She gulped dryly as her hands started shaking a bit.
"I know I'm no match for you Ren, but still as someone from this kingdom. As a subject to the royal family, I need to act."
Hilda didn't really want to do this. She knew Ren wasn't a person that does things, without reason. Still, she was still someone from the kingdom, and she needed to protect her homeland from those that wish to harm it.
"Look here Hilda, you make it sound like I'm not from the Reschbeauch kingdom. Aren't I a citizen of the kingdom as well? Also a subject of the royal family? What did the royal family ever do for you? Are you really saying you would fight for the royal family? The same royal family that made the stupid rule that only males could inherit one's noble title. The same royal family that made your family almost forced into slavery. Well if that is so, then you really are such a loyal person. Still what makes you think that what I'm about to do is something bad for the kingdom? Being bad for the royal family, and it being bad for the Reschbeauch kingdom are two different things."
The moment Hilda heard what Ren had to say, she felt a wave of confusion assault her. Ren was right what did the royal family ever did for her. Weren't they the ones who fought amongst themselves, dividing the others into factions. Wasn't that one of the reasons for her father's death. Wasn't that one of the reasons why she and her family were almost sold as slaves? Wasn't that one of the reasons for her mother's current predicament.
"Then tell me, Ren, what is it that you wish to achieve? Making the guild master turn your adventurer rank to B, hiding your true abilities, conquering Grenton's underworld, making a supposed member of the royal family into your subordinate by blood pact. Not only that I'm sure you made Lara do a lot of stuff in the shadows. So in the end what is it you wish to achieve?"
Hilda was now finally able to calm herself down as she asked these questions. She looked at Ren with a more resolute mindset. Looking at Hilda's ever-changing expression, as well as witnessing her ever-changing mindset made Ren chuckle. After hearing what Hilda asked him, he couldn't help but smile that vicious smile of his.
"Well, I guess the simple answer to your question, is that I want to conquer the whole underworld organizations of the Reschbeauch kingdom. I want to become its sole big boss of sorts. The reason I want that is because I want to help my friend Valdel achieve his dream, and at the same time save him from that dream. Still, that's not what you want to hear, is it? What you want to hear is what I truly desire to achieve."
Hilda looked at Ren and nodded her head.
"Heh, that's something I can only tell you, if you decide to become my woman." Hilda who was listening in so seriously was momentarily stunned by what Ren said.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"I said if you want to learn what I truly desire, the prerequisite is that you become my woman." Once again hearing what Ren said, Hilda's facial expression changed from bewilderment to a face turning red from embarrassment, into a face that was full of rage.
"W-w-w-w-w-what! Become what! Your woman?! Who, me?! What the hell are you saying you b*stard!" Hilda suddenly unsheathed her sword and slashed sideward, which Ren caught between his thumb and index finger.
"You really should do something about that quirk of yours. Attacking someone because of embarrassment, if it was someone else aside from me, I'm sure their head would have been detached from their body."
Unable to answer Ren anymore, Hilda pulled her sword away and sheathed it. After that Hilda ashamed and irritated stormed into the room where Valdel and the others were staying.. Seeing Hilda's angry figure, Ren simply shrugged his shoulders and followed her back inside the room.