Chapter 139: Solved with Gold
On the ground, the dead thief's blood still pooled where he'd fallen — clearly he'd meant to slip in close while everyone talked, waiting for the right moment to strike, only to have Evan see through it well before he got the chance. Evan had made that strike count doubly: cutting the man down while also displaying swordwork bordering on Great Knight territory. The knights standing behind Corey flinched at the speed of it, cold sweat breaking out across their skin — if that blade had turned toward any of them, none felt confident they could have stopped it.
The strike gave Corey his answer without another word said. Who exactly could hold Evan here? Wiping out every last one of Hollingburton's people tonight was already off the table — Evan alone could shepherd one or two others clear no matter what. And if word got out that they'd tried, Hollingburton's response would follow soon after — something the Gonuo Society had no appetite to weather.
Every previous attempt they'd sent had failed so badly that not even a messenger had made it back to report. Hollingburton's people all came from mage training, which meant Evan would naturally know magic as well — the thought sent a genuine chill through Corey. Dual cultivation of magic and combat wasn't especially remarkable by the standards of a legendary mage, true, but plenty of ordinary people picked up some magic alongside their combat training too, and that counted as a rough form of dual cultivation in its own right — mage-archers and thieves, strictly speaking, already qualified, and even masters had emerged from those ranks before now.
Evan's strike had shaken them psychologically as much as anything. Viscount Modi stepped forward with a graceful bow. "Honored Mr. Wang, your strength has earned our genuine admiration. We have no wish to make enemies of you. We came here purely for wealth — why cross blades over it? Let's each step back. Release our man, and we'll withdraw. What do you say?"
Evan returned a small bow of his own. "Honored Viscount, a fine proposal — though it isn't us who wanted this fight. Your man blocked our path and tried to assassinate us. Your offer is elegant, but I've never made a habit of sparing the life of someone who's offended me."
"You—" Corey started, furious, only to be cut off by Modi. "Honored Mr. Wang, and all you noble mages — I understand he's your prisoner. By the customs between nobles, allow me to offer a ransom. Five thousand gold coins, perhaps?"
"No. Thirty thousand, at minimum," Evan said, opening with an outrageous demand.
"Honored sir, he isn't worth that much. That price would suit the standing of a baron — he's only a soldier. Eight thousand at most," Modi said, shaking his head.
"Your price is too low," Evan said.
"Ten thousand. That's my final figure. Any higher, and we walk away," Modi said, spreading his hands with a resigned shrug.
"You win. Ten thousand gold. Cash, or will you settle in some other form?" Evan asked.
"Honored Mr. Wang, cash suits us fine. My philosophy has always been — whatever can be solved with money should be solved with money. We're all here chasing the same gleam of gold in the end. Why spill blood over it?" Modi said, then turned and signaled one of his mages, who pulled out a hundred stacks of coins from his ring, a hundred coins to a stack, and set them down between the two parties.
"Honored sir, please count it," Modi said. Evan glanced over the pile once and turned to Carpenter. "Store it away." He turned to Damire in the same breath. "Release him."
Damire gave a short grunt and shoved the thief forward. The group parted to let him through. Corey's face had gone dark, and he gave a matching grunt, turning his head away.
"You're free to go now, Viscount Modi. I find you genuinely interesting — your approach is worth far more than ten thousand gold. Pity you're one of theirs," Evan said mildly, a note of real appreciation in his voice.
"Thank you for the kind words. Perhaps we'll work together someday. You're a wise man — you know how to secure the greatest gain from any situation," Modi said, offering a small bow before turning to leave.
Corey rounded on him once they were clear. "Honored Viscount, you let them off far too cheaply."
"Honored Corey, don't fret over ten thousand gold. As I said — whatever can be settled with money isn't a real problem. Tell me, in that situation, did we have any real chance against them?" Modi said with a smile. He understood the calculation perfectly well — ten thousand gold was nothing to him, and this favor would leave the Gonuo Society owing him considerably more than that down the line, once their operations here started paying out.
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"Fighting them, even if we'd won, would have been a bloody victory. We'd have lost most of our men."
"And could you have stopped Evan Wang from leaving?"
"No confidence at all. At his level, holding him back would be nearly impossible."
"Then it's settled. Since we can't stop him, better to smooth over whatever bad blood exists between us. Grudges between people can usually be resolved with money, unless they run all the way to blood feud."
"It's not that simple between us. The Gonuo Society has killed people close to them before — not us directly, but an earlier team of ours did try to kill them."
"That earlier team — did they ever report back?"
"No idea. Judging by the circumstances, I doubt it."
"There's your answer, then. Find them, have them clear out first. If they can't clear out entirely, at least make sure both sides pretend not to recognize each other. Now — where's this goddess's temple, exactly?"
"Not far. On a peak to the left of this mountain," Corey said.
"All right. It's getting late. Let's find somewhere to camp for the night and head up the mountain tomorrow," Modi said.
Evan watched them go and finally let out a breath. A real clash tonight might well have left both sides badly mauled. With the enemy withdrawing, he could finally relax — Ortlando was counting on him to bring these students back whole.
"Professor, that was amazing!" Peter and the others cheered.
"Enough flattery. Carpenter — split eight thousand of that ten thousand evenly among the four of you. The remaining two thousand goes to everyone else," Evan said.
"Professor, is that really fair?" Barbara asked. "The four of us didn't do all that much. Professor Emma and the others put in plenty of effort too — and you did the most of all."
"That's enough. You four held the line the moment the enemy struck and took a prisoner alive — that alone earns real credit. By rights, you could keep the whole sum and no one would fault you. This isn't up for debate. Reward for merit is a rule I've set, and it stands," Evan said without hesitation. In moments like this, he knew, nothing stirred students to their best effort like a clear, generous gesture.
He turned to Professor Damire. "Honored Professor, our rescue came too late, and you've all suffered for it. Headmaster Ortlando asked me to pass along his apology."
Damire said, ashamed, "None of this is your fault. I failed to look after my own students properly, and we've lost several lives for it. That's on me alone."
"Professor, none of this is your doing," the students spoke up, quick to comfort him at the sight of his self-reproach. "We came out here knowing the risks going in. None of us wanted to see anyone lost, but that's not on you. You never abandoned us — that's what matters."
Evan added, "Professor, don't blame yourself. None of this was in your control. Who could have predicted something like this? Since we're all here now, we're one group, and I'll take charge of coordinating everyone from here. I'll bring you all home safely. First question — what do we do next? We captured two beastmen during the day and learned from questioning them that the goddess's temple sits on the peak to our left. The question now is whether we head back, or press on to the temple tomorrow. I'll leave this to a vote."
Evan genuinely wanted to see the temple for himself — too many mysteries hung over this whole affair, and beyond that, he carried his own private task, entrusted to him by the goddess of life herself: retrieving a fragment of her soul, the one bound to the Golden Apple. But he also carried responsibility for these people's safety, and any further risk needed everyone's consent first.
Discussion broke out at once. None of them knew this was truly the goddess of life's temple. Hearing the proposal, the twelve people Evan had brought leaned toward pressing on, while Damire's original students split into two camps — some felt that having come this far, they couldn't simply turn back from the temple; others had had more than enough hardship and wanted no further part in this mess.
Evan called for a vote. "Raise your hand if you're in favor of going to the temple tomorrow."
Everyone Evan had brought raised their hands at once, and a portion of Damire's group followed. Damire himself gave a small laugh. "Having come this far, walking away empty-handed isn't my style. I'm in favor of going tomorrow."
A few more hands went up at that, leaving only seven or eight who abstained. Evan nodded. "The majority's decided. We head to the temple tomorrow. From here on, you'll follow my coordination. There were only thirteen of us to start, through several fights now, and not one casualty among us — not because we're stronger than you, but because our methods held up. Let's reorganize."
Evan began regrouping everyone according to their skills, forming four larger clusters of eight or nine each, earth mages assigned to defense as before, with each of the four teachers distributed across the groups — their experience and strength lifting the overall fighting power of each cluster considerably.
Once assignments were settled, they made camp. The earth mages raised walls of packed soil around the perimeter, laying magical traps and wards over it all. With tents limited, several students bunked together in each one. Once the students had settled in, Evan and the three teachers made a final round of the camp. "The rest of you should rest too," Evan said.
The three teachers turned in. Evan retreated to his own tent, though not to sleep — he activated his Wraith Eye instead, sitting quietly within, watching every movement across the camp unfold before him. The whole camp lay still, insects droning steadily through the dark. And so Evan sat, watchful, through the entire night.