Chapter 118: What Will It Be?

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: What Will It Be?

Chapter 118: What Will It Be?

Osborne stared at the man hanging before him, his expression hidden behind his helmet while his patience gradually wore thin.

He had suspected that someone was watching him from the moment he stepped outside the house, but rather than confronting the person immediately, he had decided to lead his pursuer away from the farm.

There was no point allowing a stranger to discover where he had been staying, especially when Nicholas and his family had nothing to do with his affairs.

Once they had entered the forest, Osborne had deliberately increased his pace before climbing a tree and waiting for the man to approach.

When the figure finally arrived at the spot where he had last seen him, Osborne had jumped down from above, catching his pursuer completely off guard.

Thanks to a little binding spell, the result had been better than he expected.

Either way, Osborne had caught him, and that was all that mattered.

He tightened his grip on the man’s collar, lifting him slightly to an unnatural level.

"Now then," Osborne said coldly, his voice carrying through the quiet forest as he stared at the frightened man, "I want you to explain to me who you are and what you’re doing here..."

---

"I think there’s been an unfortunate misunderstanding–"

"Arck~!" The trespasser tried weaselling his way out, but to no avail, choking as Osborne tightened his grip around his collar even more.

"I won’t ask again.... Why did you come here?" Osborne asked coldly.

The dark-clothed man looked nervous but refused to utter a word, his eyes shifting from side to side as he tried to find a way out of his current predicament.

Unfortunately for him, the armored man holding him in the air showed no intention of letting him go, and the pressure around his neck made it increasingly difficult for him to breathe properly.

He had certainly imagined several possible outcomes when he decided to follow his target into the forest, but being caught so easily and lifted into the air like a helpless child had never crossed his mind.

’Just my luck!’

He had been so careful when following the armored man, maintaining a safe distance and making sure not to make too much noise, yet somehow, his target had managed to disappear without him noticing.

Before he could even begin to understand what had happened, the man had fallen from above and caught him off guard.

Now, he was stuck in the middle of the forest with a sword-wielding knight who seemed more than willing to use violence to get what he wanted.

The dark-clothed man swallowed nervously, trying to think of something that could get him out of this situation without making matters worse.

"I think you have the wrong idea, sir. I wasn’t trying to do anything suspicious, and I can assure you that there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for my presence here."

Osborne stared at him without responding.

The man’s words sounded rehearsed, as though he had used the same excuse countless times before, and his nervous expression did little to convince Osborne that he was telling the truth.

Besides, if there really was a reasonable explanation for following someone into the forest in the middle of the night, then he would have liked to hear it before having to drag the man away from the farm.

Unfortunately, his captive seemed more interested in finding an excuse than providing an answer.

Osborne’s fingers tightened around the man’s collar once again, causing the latter to choke as his body instinctively struggled against the pressure.

"Fine then..." With an eerie sound, Osborne withdrew his sword from its sheath.

"Since you’d rather not talk..."

The dark-clothed man’s eyes widened as the sound of metal being drawn into the night air reached his ears, and he immediately began to struggle with renewed strength, but his efforts were completely useless against Osborne’s grip.

The cold blade glistened underneath the moonlight, its sharp edge reflecting the faint light filtering through the branches above them.

Osborne brought the blade to the man’s neck, the cold sensation sending a chill down his spine as he stared at the weapon pressed against his skin. Seeing his reflection in the blade, the man’s forehead began to perspire, and the nervousness he had been trying so hard to hide finally became impossible to conceal.

He had encountered dangerous people before, and he had even been threatened with a weapon on more than one occasion, but there was something particularly unsettling about the armored man standing before him.

The knight wasn’t shouting, nor was he making empty threats to frighten him into submission, and that was precisely what made the situation so terrifying.

Osborne’s silence gave him no way to tell whether the man was merely trying to intimidate him or had already decided to kill him if he failed to provide a satisfactory answer.

The dark-clothed man forced himself to remain still, hoping that his captor would eventually grow tired of threatening him, but his hopes were quickly shattered when the blade moved slightly against his neck.

The moment the blade drew blood, sending a jolt of pain through his mind, the man finally lost his nerve.

"Alright! Alright! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!" The man waved his hand frantically, his voice rising in panic as he desperately tried to convince Osborne to put the sword away.

Osborne said nothing, withdrawing his blade before giving the man a silent look as if asking him to begin.

The dark-clothed man took several hurried breaths, grateful that he could finally breathe properly again, before carefully considering his next words.

He had no intention of dying in a forest over a task that should have been simple, and if telling the truth was the only way to escape this situation, then he would gladly do so.

Even at the cost of his reputation.

"I’m not here to hurt you, sir. I’m just a middleman. My organisation helps gather information for clients."

Osborne remained silent, his crimson eyes fixed on the man through the narrow openings of his helmet.