Death, fire, and destruction.
After all the caution and precision Konrad had practiced, it went out the window.
Maple held nothing back.
By the time she landed—still in her terrifying dragon-form—her wings only fanned ashes and smoke. Of the entire column of footmen, nothing but their molten armours remained.
The telepaths? Gone.
She unleashed a terrifying power in less than a second, the devastation complete. And while Konrad knew it was necessary to turn his failure into a victory, it still came at a cost.
And no, this time it wasn't his conscience.
"Isn't that the dragon you have slain?" Vargas asked, catching up.
He forced a smirk onto his strained face as if he were already cooking something.
And that was exactly what Konrad was afraid of.
"Don't tell Helena, please," he whispered, too tired to make up a convenient lie. "Kasserlane's nobles would lose their minds if they knew about her. Even if we need all the help we can get."
"A secret weapon, huh?" the captain noted, his tone suspicious. "Well, not so secret anymore."
Yeah. Maple flapped her wings, roaring after a job well done.
It wouldn't have surprised him if the rest of the nomads saw her, too.
But it would all have been in vain if they did, so he hoped for the best.
"Her methods are not exactly subtle," Konrad admitted. "But we would've failed without her. I can assure you she's on our side, so no need to panic."
The problem was, panic wasn't the expression he saw on the captain's face.
And if anything, that started to worry him instead.
"Why would I have to cover your tracks?" Vargas asked as he regained his breath.
He rubbed his palms like he had smelled business.
"What do you mean, why?" Konrad repeated, taken aback.
They were allies after all. He was looking forward to working with the strategist again.
Even if he didn't like the idea of his scheming at first, since he wanted Konrad to hire him—
"If you're thinking about my retirement funds, I'll have you know, the duke tripled my pay since I returned to Aset. He's scared you'd snatch me away—so thank you, I guess."
That scheming bastard.
And no, the captain couldn't read minds as far as he could tell, but it sure felt like he did.
He should've expected him to double-cross. It only made sense with his character.
Serving nobody but himself—Konrad had a few things he could've taken to heart.
Not only his strategic prowess—though of course, he envied that, too. But for how much Konrad wanted to gain control over his life, the captain beat him to that by a long mile as well.
"So all it takes is a little payrise, and you throw away all the effort you put into courting me?"
He was still in disbelief, of course, but Vargas only laughed.
"Don't get me wrong, all the effort I put in was for myself. And while I could've taken an even higher pay, Aset is at least well established. I won't have to work my ass off there."
True. Halaima was in shambles. Vargas would've had to build everything up from scratch.
Which—Konrad hoped he would.
But a challenge to him was nothing but extra work for the captain.
Work he didn't want, only the rewards for it.
He couldn't even blame him. He made the mistake of being loyal to his employers in his past life. They exploited him, and he could only thank himself.
Such a mistake here would have meant death.
He couldn't get mad at Vargas for wanting to live a comfortable life.
'You still sound upset,' Lily purred, though her voice was anything but calming.
'I don't sound like anything, because I haven't said a word,' Konrad snapped back.
Damned mind readers. Not like this was their fault—nothing ever went his way.
He should have been happy that his plan didn't fall apart like a house of cards.
Even if he was late to take out the last telepath, Maple got him covered.
By now, he had also gotten the report that all the other teams done the job he failed to do. No losses, his archers ran as they should've, and left the nomads confused and raging.
Isolated. And it was all thanks to the dragon.
Sure, he forgot how chaotic and overkill she could be.
The more he tried to rein her in, the bigger the blow was when she finally got her way.
But they won. This victory might've cost him a lot in the long run, but he had the luxury of dealing with that later. Or at least, that's what he thought.
"So you paying for my silence would be a nice little extra on top of my wage," Vargas whispered.
His voice was like honey and poison.
'Want me to kill him?' Lily chirped, 'Or Maple? Can do both.'
That sent a chill down his spine.
Maple froze for a second, too, so Konrad knew she projected the same question into her mind.
'Nobody kills anyone,' he snapped back before it was too late. 'I'll deal with things on my end.'
He'd rather focus on the nomads, their forces still advancing, but he had to cover his back first.
"So let me get this straight," he turned to face Vargas. "You're blackmailing me for your silence?"
"I wouldn't go that far, My Lord," the captain said with a smirk. "Let's say, I could ensure nobody else learns your secret—as friends do. Valued friends. Valued in gold."
Nobody kills anyone, he repeated to himself.
He needed this schemer to lead his battles. But damn, a little strangling might've still been okay.
Or not. He didn't lack in dark thought, though.
"So you saw my dragon burn an entire company to cinders the moment I unleashed her," he summarised. "And your first thought was to demand money from me. Ballsy, I'll give you that."
He tried to keep his face unreadable, but he might've glared at him a bit.
Which might've done the trick, seeing the captain's expression change.
Once his men caught up to them, he only cleared his throat and broke eye contact.
"Y-you saw nothing, no matter who asks," he gritted out towards them. "If you think you did, you were mistaken, understood? Now, hurry up and get rid of the evidence."
The Aset Defenders seemed confused—they might've actually missed Maple's show.
But Vargas didn't, and Konrad struggled to hold back a laugh.
A guilty one, but still—even if he felt bad for threatening him, he deserved it all.
And it drove the point home how powerful he'd become. As a duke should be—he had power over regular people. Without saying anything outright, the message was clear.
He still compared himself to Lilith and Gabrielle, but to the average person?
He was almost a god.
And while he didn't reach Maple's level yet, he was getting close.
And for all Vargas knew, the dragoness even followed his orders—when she felt like it—so it also counted. Shoving down his guilt, he puffed his chest out and nodded.
"Glad we got that out of the way," he said and ended the discussion for good.
Now he could focus on the real enemy—or at least on his army.