Chapter 249: Through Me First

"What interests me about it is none of your concern," Miss Augus replied.

"That’s true." Ravian nodded. "And I have no intention of selling something I bought with my own money, Miss Augus. Still, it was a pleasure to meet you."

Ravian turned and began walking away, with the members of the Death Squad following him.

"Stop right there."

The voice was much deeper than Miss Augus’s, but it came from the same direction.

Ravian and the other Death Squad elites turned to face the speaker. One of Miss Augus’s guards had taken a few steps toward them, a tall, heavily built man with white hair and an eyepatch over one eye, while the other gleamed green.

Malrik stepped forward to meet him in Ravian’s place.

"How can we help you?" he asked.

The elderly guard glanced at him.

"We only want that young friend of yours. Stay out of matters that don’t concern you, young man."

He tried to walk past Malrik to reach Ravian, but Malrik stepped into his path again.

"It seems you haven’t understood, sir," Malrik said sternly. "I’m the leader here. If you want something from a member of my squad, you’ll have to go through me first."

This time, the old man gave Malrik his full attention, temporarily forgetting Ravian.

"Do you know who you’re speaking to, boy?" His gaze briefly strayed toward Evelyne, whose expression remained cold. "I’m certain your friends have told you who we are and what we’re capable of, yet you still dare stand in our way?"

The old man expected him to back down, but Malrik seemed unmoved by his words.

"I know perfectly well who you are, sir," Malrik replied. "But you’ve approached a member of my squad while I’m here, so I’ll say it again..."

Malrik drew a quiet breath, then looked into the old man’s green eye, where the calm was giving way to hostility.

"If you want anything from a member of my squad, whether you mean well or ill, you’ll have to go through me first."

"Brave," the one-eyed old man conceded. "But courage without strength is called foolishness, boy."

"I call it taking responsibility," Malrik answered.

"And what good will that responsibility do if this behavior gets every one of you killed?" the old man asked.

The atmosphere around them was clearly taking a turn for the worse.

"To die in the line of duty is the highest honor a leader can earn, sir."

Simple as Malrik’s answer was, it struck a chord in Ravian as he watched from behind him.

Ravian had expected Malrik to step in, but he had also expected him to mention Karius once the guard refused to listen. It would have been easy enough to explain whose disciple stood behind him and let the old man decide whether the box was worth the trouble. Instead, Malrik had kept the conversation about his squad, even after the threat extended to everyone in it. Ravian watched him for another moment, taking in the firm set of his shoulders and the way he continued to block the guard’s path without reaching for his weapon.

’I could have told him to move aside,’ Ravian thought. ’He’s probably waiting for me to keep my mouth shut while he handles this. If I step around him now and start explaining who I am, that old bastard will be delighted. He’ll get to ignore the captain and speak to the person he wanted all along.’ His gaze returned to the guard. ’Let him listen to Malrik a little longer. We can discuss my master when he remembers how to speak to people properly.’

The old man began raising his hand, slowly reaching toward Malrik’s shoulder, when someone who had, for some reason, remained quiet until now finally spoke.

"Do you intend to hide back there forever while your leader dies because of you?" Miss Augus asked, looking at Ravian, who stood calmly behind Malrik despite everything happening.

Ravian’s crimson eyes shifted from Malrik and the old man facing him to settle on Miss Augus.

"I see no reason to intervene," he replied indifferently.

"No reason?" Miss Augus repeated. "Let me make this clear so you understand. That bold friend of yours could die at my guard’s hands at any moment, and you’re standing back there watching, saying there’s no reason to intervene?"

By the time she finished speaking, her opinion of Ravian was already turning unfavorable.

The other Death Squad members looked at him, only to find him as unconcerned as before. Miss Augus’s words did not appear to have provoked him in the slightest.

Then Ravian spoke.

"Now let me explain a few things to you, you spoiled young noblewoman."

The look in each of House Augus’s guards’ eyes changed, but neither reacted without orders from their young mistress, who showed no response to the insult either, as though it meant nothing to her.

Ravian pointed at Malrik.

"That man is doing his duty by protecting me, a member of his squad, and right now, I’m more grateful to him than ever. So what just happened wasn’t entirely without value."

He stepped forward until he stood just one pace behind Malrik.

"And here’s the second point. Neither you, old man with the eyepatch, nor your spoiled young mistress would dare lay a hand on any of us. Now or at any other time."

The old man’s expression darkened.

"I’ll tell you exactly what I just told your brave friend. Courage without the strength to support it is pure foolishness."

"And who told you we lack the strength to support our courage?" Ravian asked.

The old man’s expression remained unchanged as he waited for an order from his young mistress, who was taking far longer than usual to give one.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Ravian smiled faintly at the question before pointing to himself.

"First, the man standing before you is the sole disciple of this city’s ruler and the commander of the border forces, Marquis Karius Dmitri, the Hero of Light."

A faint gleam appeared in the old man’s eye, and an even brighter one in Miss Augus’s eyes as she stood behind him.

"You think that alone will stop us from—"

"And that young lady over there is Miss Lysandra Veyla, granddaughter of Grand Duke Alexander Veyla," Ravian continued, immediately pointing at Lysandra and cutting the old man off.

This time, the change in the old man’s expression was unmistakable. Until now, he had been so focused on Ravian and the sealed box in his hand that he had failed to take notice of every member of the squad.

Then he understood what was happening. He immediately straightened and looked back at his young mistress, who nodded.

’So that’s how it is.’

The old man withdrew to stand beside her and the other guard, who had remained silent throughout the exchange.

Miss Augus stepped forward, regarding Ravian very differently now.

"I didn’t know Lord Karius’s disciple would be this arrogant. What if we were a bunch of lunatics who decided to kill you, take what you have by force, and erase every trace?" she asked.

Ravian looked at her and nodded in understanding.

"If you intended to rob me, you wouldn’t have approached me offering to pay whatever price I asked for what I own, miss."

Then he pointed behind him at Lysandra without turning to look at her.

"Besides, that red-haired girl has been unusually quiet throughout this conversation, which means she knows you won’t act against us in the end."

Miss Augus turned toward Lysandra and found her staring at Ravian with slightly widened eyes. Miss Augus shook her head with a sigh.

"So you knew."

"No," Ravian replied. "I figured it out at some point. The others were prepared to fight you right here and now if you made any suspicious move."

As he finished, Miss Augus followed his gesture toward the other men in the squad, only to find Kael’s hand still resting on the hilt of his dagger, while Darius had already drawn the massive sword from his back.

Elias alone had maintained a calm expression.

"Except him," the one-eyed guard said, pointing at Elias.

Most of those present turned toward him, and Elias pointed at Ravian in response.

"I’m not worried as long as Ravian is this calm," he said. "I haven’t spent much time with him, but I’m certain he has the sharpest senses of anyone here. You could say I’m simply following his lead."

Ravian shrugged with a smile.

"I honestly don’t know what to say. Thanks for your confidence, perhaps, Elias?"

Elias answered with a simple salute resembling a military one.

With the tension easing a little, Miss Augus took the opportunity to approach Ravian, stop in front of him, and extend her hand.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly, then," she said. "I’m Layla Augus, the third daughter of the ducal House Augus, and one of this generation’s rising Mythic Souls. A pleasure to meet you."