Alone in the room, I sipped the tea they'd served. Time ticked by, and I waited for the leader to arrive, but the clock's hands moved on—still, no one came.
It had been around an hour since Victor had left. I had already drunk the whole teapot. It was also poisoned, but I just purified it with a slight drop of my blood.
Lucius had been helping me discover all the uses of all the powers in secret. Of course, he had been extremely useful in applying the Edicts of this world to my own power. He hadn't yet figured out that I don't have an Edict.
I gave him the same vague lie that my Edict of Light was on my heart like I had to Ickni. He seemed to buy it, unlike Ickni, but I doubted it would last that long.
"Hello!?" I shouted.
I was growing bored of waiting; my little act was turning out to be quite boring. My shouts were met with silence, nothing.
Not even a slight whisper or footstep. I put my ear to the closed door and listened for any sounds beyond it. When I was sure I couldn't hear anything, I tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. The knob just rattled against itself.
I'd been locked in here, and I didn't even notice. Their plan was most likely to wait until the poison they had been feeding me eventually knocked me out. I started to wonder if they even took contracts or just killed everyone who stepped through the door.
Creating a small blade of light on my fingertip, I cut a circle around the knob. This disconnected the lock from the door. I pulled it out and discarded the lock on the floor.
Once I opened it, I warily peeked around the corner but didn't see anyone. Then, I started walking through the hallways.
All the rooms I peeked into had the same setup: couches, a table, a teapot, and a few armchairs. Luckily, I didn't spot any other people here, so I didn't need to worry about catching innocent people in the crossfire.
In the middle of the warehouse was an unlocked, empty storage room. Two mercenaries guarded it. I didn't know what was in there, but it piqued my interest.
"Hello? Could you two help me out a bit? I've been waiting for the leader of the Broken Lance, but he hasn't shown up. It's been quite a while. Victor said he'd only be a few minutes," I said to the two men, popping my head out of the doorway.
The guards looked at each other, completely baffled. They had definitely never encountered someone who could withstand their poison; they obviously didn't know what to do.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be back here. Go back and wait."
The larger of the two stepped forward. He took control of the situation, dismissing his confusion and playing it off. Both had their hands firmly secured around their swords. Something was definitely here. That I was sure of.
"I've heard something interesting about this mercenary group. I'd thought I would test your strength and see if you deserve a heavy payday, but if you are going to treat me like this, then I'd have no other choice but to turn my attention elsewhere."
"Silence, wingless! Begone before we cut you down. This is a restricted area. Go back, I'll give you a single warning."
"Dropping the act then? Oh, and here I thought you were a band of honourable mercenaries willing to solve one of my little problems. A shame."
"I won't ask again!"
"Tell me, what exactly are you, people? You bear the mark of angels, but a putrid smell hangs over every single one of you. Do you just not wash, or is it something more sinister?" I asked.
The two guards' bodies tightened for a moment, and they both changed their stances, preparing to cut me down.
There was a good distance between us; I had more than enough time to cut them down before they would get anywhere close. Raising my hand towards the larger man, I changed my gesture to a finger gun, pointing at his head.
"Is that a—"
"Bang."
A small beam of light launched from my hands, blasting the mercenary's head clean off, covering his friend in his blood.
The other one turned towards his friend's lifeless corpse as it thudded to the floor, his eyes shaking with unbridled fear and confusion.
"Hm? Why do your eyes shake with fear? You are one of the Famine Devils, are you not?"