Chapter 31: Order.
Damien pushed aside the thick cloth covering the entrance and stepped out of the main tent, a folded piece of paper clutched loosely in his hand.
"Well that was a royal waste of time, I have to admit. You’re difficult to deal with Andrea, I tried probing you, so that I may understand you to some extent, but you somehow deflected all my attempts, that’s not good, it’s really not good. I’m not too confident in my ability to kill you at the moment, but as long as there’s life, there’s death as well".
Back inside the tent, Andrea still hadn’t moved from her position, her expression was somber and cloudy, as if she was struggling to understand the man that just left.
The next moment, her head turned to the side.
"What do you think, my status effect didn’t work on him. Could he be as powerful as the members of the round table?".
From the faint shadows ahead, a figure with a full set of red hair silently walked out of space, her cheeks were puffy and she seemed chubby, but it was difficult to tell from the long robe that hid most of her body.
Claire smiled wearily.
"I don’t think he’s as strong as they are, it’s possible his status is just neutralizing your own. The other day, Seris told me her dormant ability had no effect on him as well".
Andrea was still skeptical, that’s how she is by nature. But it wasn’t like she could force Damien to submit to her without the aid of her status.
"How well do you think he follows orders?".
Claire didn’t need to think for a moment to answer the question, Damien never exactly hid his personality, sure he was difficult to read and random at times, but he was certainly not a foot soldier.
"Damien is a sociopath with obsessive tendencies. There are only two types of men who can choose isolation and remain sane, a monster or a madman... I believe he’s the latter".
Andrea shrugged.
"A madman can still be controlled, as long as he doesn’t grow too strong. He shouldn’t be able to stop us or any member of the round table for that matter".
Claire stretched lazily, both hands resting behind her neck as she strolled toward the exit of Andrea’s private quarters. She had only just reached the hanging cloth when Andrea’s calm voice stopped her.
"Where are you going?"
She craned her neck and said coolly.
"I’m going to grill some fish".
"Oh". Andrea didn’t know how to respond. She simply dismissed Claire before letting herself fall onto the bed. Stretching both arms above her head, her relaxed posture subtly accentuated the graceful curves of her figure.
The tent grew quiet, Andrea trusted Claire’s assessment, but she couldn’t help but wonder, what if Damien wasn’t just a madman. What if he was both.
... ...
Damien made his way back across the camp, weaving through the scattered tents until the familiar clang of hammer striking steel reached his ears. Without slowing down, he pushed aside the thick cloth covering the smithy’s entrance and stepped inside.
"Old man Bo. I have a written statement from Andrea, now can I get my bow and arrows".
Damien suddenly paused, the piece of paper still hanging in his hand. Old Man Bo was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a young woman with short black hair tied into twin pigtails was tending the forge. She wore a work overall and thick black boots, though Damien couldn’t help noticing the outfit was fighting a losing battle against her rather impressive chest.
"What’s going on today? Am I finally entering my popular phase?".
The woman noticed his sudden intrusion and paused mid-swing. The abrupt stop made her chest bounce noticeably, though she either didn’t notice or simply didn’t care.
Damien coughed awkwardly.
"Sorry, I thought old man Bo was still here, I will come back later".
"Wait".
Damien paused before turning to face her again.
The woman kept the heavy hammer to the side, grabbed a white towel and used it to clean the sweat off her face.
"You must be Damien. Old Man Bo said you’d be stopping by. He just forgot to mention it’d be this soon... I’m Hannah, you can give your order to me".
Damien was taken aback for a moment there.
"There’s tons of guys coming in and out of the smithy everyday, how did you know it was me?".
Hannah raised her head.
"Because you look like death".
Damien’s eyebrows rose sharply.
"Well I can’t argue with that logic, at least my fame precedes me, the opinions of people in the camp is based on what they are told by the round table, it doesn’t matter if I act like a saint, a prophet, or even god himself, they will still see me the same. There’s really no point in trying to fix it as well, at least I have peace and quiet, and with everybody avoiding me, I can move freely... But I wonder, Andrea, how do you see me, like a monster, like a madman, or simply both?".
Snap! Snap!
Damien blinked twice. "What are you doing?".
"Bringing you back to the land of the living, now come on, the paper". She said while pointing at the piece of paper still in Damien’s hand.
Damien handed her the folded piece of paper without a word before walking past her. He made his way toward the workbench at the far end of the smithy, where unfinished weapons and stacks of raw materials had been laid out in neat rows.
"What’s your poison Hannah, are you really just a straight forward lady who’s unintentionally rude to people, or do you also have secrets like Andrea?".
"That’s poison". Hannah suddenly said before Damien’s hands made contact with a stack of arrow heads, moving his hand away, Damien turned and faced Hannah once again.
"Can you help me make some adjustments to my order?".
Hannah shrugged.
"Sure, what do you need?".