Alex dropped down on the ground, his two hands tucked inside his groin.
"You have no... honor." Alex grunted every word.
"The loser has no honor." Siderius said..
He picked up his sword and aimed it toward Alex.
"Wait! Don’t kill him!" Nadia reached out her hand.
"Don’t tell me you pity this traitor?"
Siderius was correct. Nadia didn’t want to kill Alex. Even though he betrayed her, she knew he did it for a good reason.
"If we kill him, we won’t learn who is behind him." Nadia said. She tried to figure out a reason to stop Siderius.
Alex smirked. His defiance gaze met Siderius’ eyes.
Siderius lifted Alex’s chin with the tip of the sword. That froze his smile immediately.
"You think I don’t know who is behind this? Lyara Starcrow. You named her yourself." Siderius said.
Alex sterned but didn’t say anything. He kept his mouth shut to avoid revealing any more information.
Siderius pulled back his sword, readying it for a deathly thrust. His killing intention filled the room like a dense layer of mud.
Nadia jumped forward and covered Alex.
"What are you doing?! I said I didn’t want to kill him!" Nadia shouted.
"But I want to kill him. Are you going to stop me?"
Siderius’ cold blade aimed at Nadia. He had made himself clear. His blade was heartless and he would cut down Nadia if necessary to kill Alex.
Nadia gulped. For a long time, she felt fear. The white hair man in front of her was no mere actor. He was a killer with no moral obligations. Suddenly she thought maybe he did kill his own mother. She could imagine him doing that already.
The commotion inside the tent finally drew the attention of the other miners.
A large group of miners gathered in Carsten’s tent. And when they saw Siderius aimed his sword at Nadia, they acted immediately.
The miners grabbed every weapon there was nearby. Shovels, pickaxes, hammers. They surrounded Siderius.
"Lower that sword, white hair."
"If you let our boss go, we will let you live."
"Don’t do anything rash now."
Siderius clenched the handle of the sword. Even for him, he would surely be killed by this many people in this tight space. There was not enough room to maneuver. He had no choice but to lower the sword.
Nadia stood up and tried to dissolve the tension.
"Clam down, everyone. There isn’t anything to worry about."
"What are you saying, Nadia? That boy just aimed his sword at you!"
The miners erupted into a series of questions. Their eyes still locked onto Siderius, making sure he couldn’t finish Alex off.
The interruption had given Alex enough time to recover. There were even some miners who came and helped him to get up.
"This is bad." Siderius thought.
The group exited the small tent and went out to the open dirt field of the mining camp. Most of the miners were woken up because of the fight. They gathered around, wondering what had happened.
Alex took the initiative.
"That man claimed to be a healer that could save Carsten! But he was the wanted murderer that we all heard about! Nadia is being fooled by him!" Alex shouted and pointed at Siderius.
"That isn’t true! The healer has brought the cure to save Carsten!" Nadia shouted even louder, trying to oppress Alex’s voice.
"Is that so? Then where is the cure?" Alex said.
"You are the one who destroyed it!"
"What a convenient explanation! You all see me lying on the ground! Being beaten up by this murderer! Our boss tried to save me but it is clear that she’s not in her right mind!"
The more Alex said, the more sense he made. Nadia had a good heart but she was not a charismatic leader. Her lips quivered and she couldn’t think of a way to take back the faith of her followers.
She looked at Siderius. Even though he showed that he would not hesitate to kill her, he did fulfil his promise. It was all going down because of Alex’s betrayal. She mouthed ’I am sorry’ to Siderius.
Siderius simply shook his head. He had no worry on his face, only a lingering gentle smile. He was in a spacious open field with room to move. Now, no one could kill him.
The hunter had no reason to stay behind anymore. He walked away from the conflict. However, the miners did not allow him to go. They gathered in front of him and blocked his path.
"Do not let him go, brothers! He’s a wanted criminal. If we give him to the guards, there will be a fine reward." Alex said.
The eyes of the miners lit up with greed. They approached closer, their intention wasn’t even hidden. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
Siderius pointed his sword at them.
"Move! Or I’ll make you move!"
His intimidating presence stopped them in their tracks but that wasn’t enough to make them go away.
Alex stood in front, leading the miners.
"Our boss is too tired lately. She’s been trying to help Carsten. This murderer is obviously trying to exploit her kindness. We cannot let him go!" Alex shouted.
"You’re going to the gallow, murderer!"
The miners barked at Siderius. Nadia didn’t even know what to say.
Siderius offered to help Carsten, that was true. But she didn’t know he was the murderer. She couldn’t bring herself to defend him.
She had made a choice that Siderius would remember well in the future.
It was at this time that Ashe revealed herself from her hiding place.
"That isn’t true! Snow did not kill his mother! He was framed! Snow is a good man!"
The words of Ashe had an effect on the miners and they began to doubt Alex. But that wasn’t enough.
"Guilty or not. We can just get him to the guards. They will definitely bring justice to him." Alex said.
"Alex’s right. Let’s give him to the guards!"
"Yeah. Lower your sword, boy. If you’re innocent, you must not be afraid of anything."
"Do you think you can take all of us?"
It was at this time that Siderius clapped his hands. His face was still calm and indifferent. It was as if he wasn’t bothered by anything that was happening.
The miners looked at him with questions in their mind.
"What are you clapping at?" Alex said in a low voice.
Siderius put his hands behind his back and walked around the miners.
"What kind of justice can commoners have?"
A simple question silenced the entire crowd. They all knew the answer but none dared to say it.
"A commoner has no justice. If a nobleman wants to kill you, all you can do is to present his head to him.
I was a fool. I let a high lady come into my life and when I upset her, she killed my mother.
All of you can probably guess the rest. The murderer of Mucktown. The actor who killed his own mother."
Siderius let out a long heavy breath. One that gathered quite a lot of sympathy from the miners to him. It was exactly what he wanted.
Siderius pointed his finger at Alex. "And that man is doing her biddings. He destroyed the cure I brought for Carsten and wants to capture me. Probably for a very fine reward."
Siderius’ voice stayed low and calm, hypnotizing the people of the Rocky Pit into his story. He successfully wavered their resolve. The last piece of the puzzle to completely change the tide was Nadia.
"Your boss witnessed everything. You can ask her."
All the miners looked at Nadia. She was a truthful person so Siderius knew she wouldn’t lie.
And as he expected, Nadia nodded.
"He... is telling the truth."
Siderius had turned the table around. He had placed the seed of doubt into all the miners. Now they didn’t know who to trust anymore.
The only thing now was to escalate this situation further. Only chaos could be the guardian angel for Siderius. Wasting more time and he bet Alex would find a way to call in reinforcements from Lyara.
Siderius drew his sword.
"Let me go. I made the cure for Carsten once. I can make it again."
"No, we cannot let him leave!" Alex shouted.
"Let him leave! He did nothing wrong to us!" Nadia shouted.
Even with Siderius’ charismatic speech, greed was still there. And in this hellscape of poverty and disease, coins were enough for people to risk their lives upon.
The miners splitted into two groups. One stood behind Nadia and one stood behind Alex. One was hostile to Siderius and one did not.
"I suggest anyone that does not want to get their hands dirty to stay out of this." Siderius said. "I will show no mercy."
"Get him!" Alex shouted.