A Waste of My Time

The night was deep and heavy, bleeding into the hour before dawn. It was nearly 4 AM. The immediate, violent threat at the gate had been neutralized, but the aftermath was a scene of organized chaos.

At the center of it all was Zebril.

“No, you fools!” she roared at a group of soldiers struggling with a heavy timber. “Use the ironwood braces for that section! We need tensile strength, not just bulk! And get a crew to reinforce the western buttress before the whole archway gives!”

Anna stood nearby, Maren hovering quietly at her back. Zebril strode over to her, wiping a smudge of grime from her forehead with the back of her gauntlet.

“A mess, isn’t it?” she grunted, “Olomyar is already demanding a report on structural integrity, as if I can pull one out of thin air.”

“I mean your original gatehouse had a blind spot from the east tower,” Anna said calmly, her eyes still on the wreckage. “And the keystone above the arch was purely decorative. That’s why it collapsed so easily when the Mupo bird struck.”

Zebril stopped and followed Anna’s gaze, looking at the rubble and then at the architectural plans a squire was holding nearby. “Damn masons from the last king’s reign,” she muttered. “All flair, no function. You’re right.” She looked at Anna, her respect for the strange vampire growing by the minute. “You have a good eye.”

“I just see what’s there,” Anna replied simply. The work of repairing what had been damaged had only just begun, but the night was almost over.

To relieve the weary night watch, a new shift of knights started filing into the courtyard. They were led by Seware, who appeared completely unimpressed by the early hour, and Jarce, whose face was as bright and cheerful as ever.

Jarce’s face lit up the moment he saw Anna. “Anna! You’re alright!”

She wasn’t exactly excited to see him, but she tolerate him. She gave him a slight nod.

As he got closer, she wrinkled her nose.

“You’re not drinking before your shift, are you?” she asked, her voice a deadpan accusation. “You still reek of alcohol.”

Jarce looked flustered, a blush creeping up his neck. “What? No! Of course not!” he insisted, a little too loudly. “That’s… that’s the lingering scent of my family’s finest vintage from two nights ago. It’s a very robust aroma, you see!”

“Well you should tell them to not give their son wine again.”

“Rude, but also, my family is on another city!”

Zebril, walking past with a heavy ledger in her arms, let out a tired smirk. “Lovebirds always find each other first thing in the morning,” she grumbled.

“He is not my anything!” Anna snapped, her cheeks flushing a faint pink, much to Jarce’s delight.

Before the banter could continue, Apu hurried over, his face serious. “Lady Anna,” he said, bowing his head. “Captain Destrian requests your presence in his chambers.”

Anna’s brief moment of levity was over. She nodded to Jarce, then turned and followed the young squire.

Destrian had minimalist, military-oriented chambers. One wall was dominated by a huge map of the kingdom, and a plain cot was nestled in the corner. He was observing the recuperating barracks from the window.

“Lady Anna,” he said, turning to face her. “Thank you again for your assistance. We lost twelve good soldiers in that first Mupo strike, but it would have been hundreds without your support.”

“The one who saved them was Lady Serenya,” Anna deflected smoothly. “You should thank her, not me.”

Destrian chuckled, a low, weary sound. “You may be right. But it was you who stopped the corrupted at the gate just now.” He straightened up, his expression turning grave but relieved.

“I have spoken with the King and Queen. I told him everything. The king disagree to give you the key but the queen believes you are a valuable. The key to the mines will be given to you soon. I will show you the way when I have time.”

“Thank goodness,” Anna breathed, a wave of genuine relief washing over her. “But it looks like something troubling you?”

“Hmm… I should be happy to have you here, protecting the barracks,” Destrian continued, his tone shifting, a deep, ancient weariness returning to his eyes. “But Do you know the knight murderer? They are still out there. I had thought, hoped, that all this chaos with the corruption would make the killer cease their activities, but…”

Anna’s head tilted. “What do you mean?”

“For the last five years,” Destrian explained, “Someone has been hunting my knights. Every few weeks, sometimes months, a knight on patrol is found… decapitated. The method is always the same. There is no pattern in the time of day; it is usually during the light, but last night… Sir Tetbald was found in the woods near the west wall. He died the same way.”

“Hmm?”

“Also... while seemingly random, they all have one thing in common: they were all knights with questionable records, suspected of corruption, but there was never enough evidence to convict... But after a while, it looks it strike randomly. Especially after the corruption strike.”

Anna processed the grim information. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I have used every tracker, every scout, every diviner we have, and we have found nothing. This killer strikes with an impossible speed and leaves no trace but a headless corpse.”

He took a step closer, his gaze intense. “You,” he said, “are the only person I have ever seen who possesses that same impossible speed. The Queen even has granted you the key to the mines as your reward. But I am asking for my own boon. Help me hunt this killer who has plagued my knights for half a decade.”

He looked at Anna not as if she is his only hope.

Anna looked back at the Titan King, her face a mask of calm, unreadable neutrality.

“I refuse.”

The words struck the room with the force of a physical blow. Destrian stared, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“Anna, what are you doing?!” Maren shrieked in her mind. “You can’t just say no! He’s the Titan King! His men are dying!”

“Refuse?” Destrian finally managed, his voice cracking slightly. “But… Lady Anna, my men… your own comrade, Sir Tetbald… You are the only one with the speed to match this killer. You have a duty to—”

“No,” Anna cut him off, her voice turning sharp and cold. “I have no such duty. Let me be perfectly clear, Captain. My objective is the mines. My primary mission, given to me by an authority far greater than your own, is to deal with the source of this kingdom’s corruption.”

She took a step forward, “This… is a distraction. A tragic one, but a distraction nonetheless, and what is wrong with killing questionable knight? Why would I hunt them back?” Her gaze was merciless. “It is a waste of my time.”

“I see.”

“I am a strategic asset, Captain, not your personal assassin. I will not be diverted from my main objective.” She turned towards the door, her decision made. “I have the key to the mines. That is my focus now.”

“Please, Lady Anna,” he begged, his voice cracking. “I will do anything. Name your price. Another reward from the kingdom, my personal fortune, a title, anything you want. Just… don’t let my men continue to die like this. Don’t make me attend another funeral.”

Anna’s expression shifted from cold dismissal to one of open contempt. Disgust coiled in her stomach.

Pathetic, she thought, The Head of the Knights, begging. A leader who resorts to pleading has already surrendered his power. He’s not negotiating; he’s groveling. I have no respect for this.

To her, strength, control, and self-reliance were paramount. Destrian’s begging was a complete abdication of the very authority that defined him. It was weakness, pure and simple.

“Do not beg, Captain,” she said, her voice laced with ice. “It is unbecoming of your station.”

She turned her back on him, her refusal now absolute and final.

Maren’s voice was a panicked whisper in her mind. “Anna! You can’t just walk away! He said he’d give you anything! We could ask for something good!”

“He is not in a position to offer a deal,” Anna sent back, her mental voice sharp and clear. “An agreement made from a position of desperation is a charity. I am not a charity.”

She stopped at the door, her back still to him. “I have my objectives, Captain. The mines. The source of the corruption. Those are the threats that will destroy this entire kingdom, not just your patrols.” She glanced over her shoulder, her orange eyes cold and merciless.

“When I have dealt with the primary threats, I may look into your ‘murderer’ problem, if it still interests me. But I will not be distracted by it now.”

With that, she walked out, leaving the Titan King standing alone in his chambers, utterly defeated.

A quiet moment was a rare commodity. Anna stepped outside the barracks' inner gate, leaving the organized chaos of the recovery effort behind her, needing a moment of still night air. A flicker of black and a soft nyaa announced she wasn't alone.

Uetum was suddenly there, perched on a low wall, her yellow eyes gleaming with admiration. “Anna-chan! That was so cool!” she chirped. “How did you get the key to the mines? You have to tell Uetum!”