Chapter 144: Terms of Transit

The heavy oak doors of Duke Arkwright’s private study swung open, revealing a room that spoke of restrained power rather than opulent wealth. Shelves lined with books and scrolls, a large map of the region on one wall, and a sturdy, unadorned desk of dark wood. Behind it sat the Duke himself.

He was younger than Adam had expected—perhaps in his mid-thirties. Handsome in a sharp, severe way, with neatly trimmed black hair and penetrating blue eyes that held the weight of command. He wore no crown, but an aura of natural, unquestionable nobility hung about him like a cloak. Standing rigidly at his right side was Captain Gareth, his expression as stony as ever.

’Huh. Not some old geezer. Maybe around thirty? Looks like the type who’s used to being obeyed,’ Adam noted internally.

Elise stepped forward, her training overriding her fatigue. She executed a perfect, respectful curtsey. “Your Grace, Duke Arkwright. Thank you for receiving us.”

The Duke rose slightly from his chair, a gesture of courtesy. “Princess Elise. Please, be at ease. You have returned swiftly. I trust your journey was… productive?” His gaze, however, flicked past her to the unusual group at her back, lingering on Adam.

He gestured to a chair placed before the desk for Elise. “Please, sit.”

Elise gave a grateful nod and moved to sit. Before she could, Adam, Ignis, and Lilith had already taken their own seats on a long, low couch against the wall. They did so casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Elise paused mid-motion, her eyes widening slightly. Seraphina, who had remained standing perfectly straight behind the empty chair meant for her princess, looked horrified.

Gareth’s hand tightened on the pommel of his sword. His voice was a low, dangerous rumble. “You were not given leave to sit. On your feet.”

Adam leaned back into the couch, crossing one leg over the other. “We’re tired. We just finished your job. We’ve earned the right to take a load off.”

“The proper place for retainers and guards is standing behind their principal,” Gareth ground out, his patience visibly fraying. “You will show proper respect in the Duke’s presence.”

Adam’s crimson eyes met Gareth’s directly, a spark of deliberate challenge in them. “It’s necessary. Because it seems to me your boss,” Adam said, tilting his head towards the Duke, “has business with me as much as with the Princess. Isn’t that right, Arkwright?”

The casual, familiar use of the Duke’s name without title was the final straw. Gareth’s sword was half-out of its sheath in a blur of motion. “You insolent—!”

“Enough, Gareth.”

The Duke’s voice was calm, but it cut through the room like a whip. He had not raised his voice. He simply lifted a hand, palm down. Gareth froze immediately, though his knuckles were white on his sword hilt.

The Duke’s sharp blue eyes settled on Adam, assessing him anew. There was no overt anger on his face, only a cool, analytical interest. “Let him be. If he wishes to sit, let him sit. It changes nothing.” He lowered his hand, and Gareth, with obvious reluctance, slid his sword back into its scowl and returned to his rigid posture, though his glare could have melted stone.

The Duke steepled his fingers, his gaze moving from Adam to the core-laden cloth bundle one of his servants had already collected and placed on the edge of his desk. “Now,” he said, his voice even. “Tell me of the Howling Crags. And then, we shall discuss what comes next.”

Elise took a steadying breath, forcing her composure back into place after Adam’s brazen act. She focused on the Duke. “As per our agreement, Your Grace, the threat in the Howling Crags has been neutralized. The Wind Elemental Sovereign is no more.”

The Duke leaned back, his expression one of measured admiration. “Truly remarkable. My own forces struggled for months to even contain it. You and your… companions… have accomplished in a day what my knights and mages could not.”

’Liar,’ Adam thought, his gaze flicking to the immovable Gareth. ’That guy next to you could probably take it. Or someone else in your service. You could have handled it, but you chose not to. You couldn’t move, or didn’t want to be seen moving. There’s a reason you outsourced this.’

Out loud, Elise simply said, “It was a formidable foe. It pushed us to our limits.”

“Nevertheless, the result stands,” the Duke said, a note of finality in his voice. “A bargain is a bargain. Your passage through my territory is secured, and I shall provide the documents for your journey to Red Hollow Pass.” A genuine smile of relief touched Elise’s lips.

“However,” the Duke continued, his sharp eyes shifting from Elise to the three figures lounging on his couch. “I find my curiosity remains. I would like to ask a few questions of your three companions, if Her Highness permits?”

Elise’s smile tightened slightly, but she nodded. “Of course, Your Grace.”

Adam spoke before the Duke could address him directly. “Hmm. No need for formalities. Ask whatever you’re curious about.”

The Duke’s eyes glinted. “Very well, I shall be direct. Your origins. Where do you hail from?”

Adam met his gaze evenly. “We have no reason to answer that question.”

The silence in the room deepened. Gareth’s jaw clenched. The Duke’s pleasant expression didn’t waver, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

“Is that so?” the Duke murmured. “You operate within my borders, fulfill a contract of mine, yet claim no obligation to even state your provenance? That is… unusual. Most would seek to build trust, or at least provide a veneer of legitimacy.”

“Irrelevant,” Adam stated flatly. “We did the job. You get your quiet crags. We get our passage. The transaction is complete. Our personal history isn’t part of the deal.”

“But it becomes my concern,” the Duke countered, his voice hardening just a fraction, “when a group of unknown, immensely powerful individuals appears alongside a foreign princess on the run. Especially when reports have reached my desk of a ’new breed’ of intelligent, dungeon-spawned entities causing trouble elsewhere.” His gaze was piercing. “Entities that match certain descriptions quite closely.”

Lilith, who had been idly examining her nails, let out a soft, melodic laugh. “My, my. Are we being accused of something, Your Grace? How thrilling.”

Ignis shifted her weight, planting her feet firmly as her hands sparked with low, guttering flames. “If he’s calling us monsters,” she growled, her voice dropping into a draconic rumble, “I say we show him what a real monster looks like.”

Seraphina’s hand drifted towards her sword. Elise looked anxiously from the Duke to Adam. “Your Grace, I assure you—”

The Duke raised a hand, cutting her off, his eyes still locked on Adam. “I am not making accusations. I am seeking clarity. The world is a dangerous place, and the borderlands are particularly… sensitive. I need to know what, exactly, I am allowing to pass through my lands. So I will ask again, What are you?”

Adam slowly rose from the couch. He didn’t summon an aura or flare his power. He simply stood to his full height, and the room seemed to grow smaller. His crimson eyes held the Duke’s blue ones without flinching.

“We are the ones who solved your problem,” Adam said, each word deliberate and cold. “We are the ones who kept your bargain. That is all you need to know. You can write ’problem solvers’ on our papers. Now,” he took a single step forward, and Gareth tensed, “are you going to honor your word, Duke Arkwright? Or are we going to have a different kind of discussion?”

Duke Arkwright remained unruffled by Adam’s direct challenge. A faint, calculated smile touched his lips. “It is precisely because of the potential threat that I must be thorough. Releasing an unknown, powerful variable into the Kingdom without due diligence would be a dereliction of my duty. As for the Lich… the princess’s presence indeed attracts danger, but that is a separate, if related, matter. My primary concern is the security of the people under my protection. Last night’s events prove that your presence brings turmoil. I was willing to overlook it in exchange for a demonstration of your utility against the Crag’s threat—a proof that your strength could be a deterrent, not just a liability. Yet when asked for the most basic transparency, you refuse.”

Adam’s expression remained impassive. “That’s because you’re asking the wrong questions. You’re conflating privacy with threat. If your ’concern’ means you’ll renege on our deal, then so be it. The agreement is void. We’ll pass through regardless, with or without your permission.”

Gareth’s stance shifted, his hand returning to his sword. The air grew thick with the promise of violence. Yet the Duke merely raised a hand again, his gaze shifting from Adam to Elise.

“Princess Elise,” he said, his tone softening marginally. “You seek the Archivist to break your curse. Do you truly believe this path will lead to your salvation?”

Elise met his eyes, her own filled with determination. “I must believe it, Your Grace. It is the only path forward I have.”

The Duke studied her for a long moment, then sighed, as if making a weighty decision. He gestured to Gareth. “Bring the case from the second drawer.”

Gareth, though clearly reluctant, obeyed. He retrieved a slender, polished wooden case and placed it on the desk before the Duke. Arkwright opened it, revealing not weapons or jewels, but a detailed map on high-quality parchment. He unrolled a section, his finger tracing a path that bypassed several major roads and towns.

“Very well,” the Duke said, his voice now purely businesslike. “Given your demonstrated… efficiency… in reaching and resolving the issue in the Howling Crags with such speed, I assume conventional travel is beneath you.” His finger tapped a specific point on the map—a narrow, mountainous pass labeled “The Ghostwind Gorge.” “This route will shave days off your journey to the Red Hollow Pass. It is treacherous, rarely patrolled, and avoided by sensible travelers due to persistent… anomalies. But for a group of your capabilities, it should be a minor inconvenience.”

He looked up, his blue eyes meeting Adam’s crimson ones. “Consider this both your signed passage and my… strong suggestion. Your official documents will state you are royal envoys from Melium on a diplomatic errand. That should smooth over most routine inquiries.” He slid the map case across the desk towards Elise. “The fastest way to be rid of a problem, sometimes, is to help it move along to become someone else’s problem. I trust you will all be very far from my borders very soon.”

The message was clear: he was honoring the letter of their agreement, providing what they asked for, but also strongly encouraging them to leave immediately via the most direct—and dangerous—route possible. He was washing his hands of them, but not without one final, subtle test. The Ghostwind Gorge was not a gift; it was another filter. If they survived it, they would be far away. If they perished in it, well, they would also be far away, and no longer his concern.

Adam glanced at the map, then back at the Duke. A slow, understanding smirk spread across his face. He gave a single, slight nod. “Efficient. We’ll take it.”

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