"Nothing, nothing." The Limp Man hurriedly denied.
But the old guy’s heart was filled with bitterness. He never expected that guiding them once would lead to such a big storm. If he had known earlier, he would have rather let Brand stab him to death with a single sword than get involved in this mess. Offending Test was only one issue. That last glance from the other side clearly indicated that they had at least remembered him; he guessed that his days in Brags wouldn’t be so easy from now on.
And this was just the secondary issue. He understood this point; he believed the young man beside him naturally understood it as well. As for whether Brand trusted him or not — perhaps even the Limp Man didn’t trust himself. But ironically, he happened to know Brand’s true identity. Would he go to Viscount Test and explain, revealing Brand’s true identity? There’s no need to ponder because he had already considered doing so.
But he couldn’t help but glance at Brand. This young man probably wouldn’t give him that chance, would he?
What would Brand do? If it were the old Brand, perhaps it would be hard to say. But now, this young man who was an actual Thorny Flower Knight clearly had a much more decisive character than before he left Brags. The Limp Man shivered just thinking about it, almost imagining his own fate.
The more he thought, the more frightened he got, to the point where he started to tremble.
"Bra-Brand, if you kill me, they’ll surely suspect your identity." The Limp Man stammered.
"Disappearing works just the same." Brand smiled.
"Precisely, precisely." The Limp Man answered bitterly.
"But you don’t expect us to trust you, Mr. Lorne, do you? How likely do you think that is?" Brand asked.
"There’s... a little bit of chance."
Brand glanced at him with some disdain but still shook his head: "I won’t kill you, Limp Man."
Limp Man ’Lorne’ was slightly taken aback, looking at Brand in disbelief. A glimmer of light flashed in his small eyes, as if considering why this young man would say such things. Deceive him? It didn’t seem necessary, but at this moment, Brand didn’t look like someone so naive. He pondered bitterly for a long time without coming up with an answer.
Could this young man really have the perverse pleasure of toying with his prey? Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
But Brand answered, "Have you heard of the ’Oath of Alliance’, Limp Man?"
"You don’t know? No problem, you just need to understand that if you hand over something , we’ll be in the same boat." Brand smiled lightly as he answered.
"You want to drag me down?" Limp Man took a sharp breath, the young man’s smile becoming somewhat devilish in his eyes. He hesitated for a while, thinking this might be the only way. In any case, he would cheat this young man for the time being. But how could he gain the other party’s trust?
Informing? But he wasn’t familiar with Viscount Test at all.
Eliminate one of his men? The nobles wouldn’t care about such a trivial matter.
The Limp Man hesitated for a long time but finally heard Brand’s light comment: "Limp Man, before you got into this business, did you commit some crime in Anlek?"
A thunderbolt seemed to strike his heart; his face changed suddenly as he looked at Brand like he’d seen a ghost: "No... no."
"That noble’s name was—"
"Stop talking!" The Limp Man screamed, his face ashen, sweating profusely like he’d been pulled out of water, panting heavily, raising a hand and shouting loudly, "I get it, Brand, you don’t need to say anything else. I understand what I need to do. Damn it, Brand, you must be a devil, I’ve never wronged you—!"
Brand laughed. This Limp Man’s crime of killing a local noble’s family in Anlek thirty years ago and fleeing to Brags was a well-known questline in the ’Amber Sword’. This guy’s final end wasn’t good, ultimately being hanged. But to speak truth, this wasn’t entirely the Limp Man’s fault; the noble in that story wasn’t a good person either.
But mentioning it now was merely to force the Limp Man to join his side. In Erune, the Limp Man’s crime was second only to treason. Even Viscount Test probably couldn’t shield this guy from that. This leverage was the only way he could control such a cunning fellow.