Chapter 18: A contract made of flesh and blood, Part 1

POV (Author)

The two bloodhounds turned to the bed on which the children were sitting, wrapped in a white blanket. Dark circles were visible under their eyes. They had exhausted all their spiritual energies after the previous night's events. However, their bodies were already beginning to fill up again.

"You should..." began to say, Mira.

However, Rinne cut her off.

"Did you know?"

His sudden question surprised Orion and Mira, but they were more concerned by the coldness of Rinne's gaze. He gave off something disturbing, even intimidating. Orion noticed the change in his usual attitude and didn't like it at all.

"After all the nonsense you did yesterday, you should start by apologizing, brat," He said, frowning.

Rinne looked him in the eye and within half a second, Orion felt a strong pressure on him. The sensation dissipated as quickly as it appeared but Orion felt threatened by Rinne. Mira's eyes meet Lyanna's and the same sensation ran down her spine.

'Scary...' The two bloodhounds shared this thought at the same time.

"Did you know?"

Rinne asked the same question in the same tone with the same coldness. Annoyed by the boy's behavior, Orion rose abruptly from his chair, almost knocking over the table and the cutlery. With a gesture of the hand, Mira ordered him to calm down. A vein appeared on Orion's forehead as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Could you clarify your question, Rinne?"

Mira asked as she approached the bed.

"Did you know what was going on in the warehouse?"

She sighed and her expression became serious.

"We knew that something fishy was going on there. With our experience, we understood when the mission was announced by Thoralf. But we didn't know exactly what he was doing inside the warehouses. When we came back to the warehouse, we saw the bodies that you laid on the floor and covered with sheets. It was a beautiful gesture."  She replied with a gentle smile on her face.

But her smile didn't have the expected effect

"If you knew something wrong was going on there, why did you accept the mission?"

The question caught the bloodhounds off guard and they looked at each other for a moment.

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"You decided to turn a blind eye to his actions, didn't you? People died inside just because they were heretics. How can you know that and work for him? How?"

Rinne's questions multiplied and his voice rose more and more as his anger took over. A second vein appeared on Orion's forehead. He was already showing his fangs.

Mira took out of her pocket a folded sheet of paper and she gave it to Rinne. The young boy hesitated but finally took it. He unfolded the paper and read the content. Lyanna leaned towards her brother so she could read it too. Rinne's eyes widened. It was a level three complaint filed before they left for Thoralf's domain. This level of complaint was only possible in exchange for a large sum of money. It involved the immediate reaction of the kingdom's forces. Orion also approached the bed and held out another level three complaint filed in his name.

"When did you ...?" 

"When we had left Thoralf's mansion, just before we headed to his domain," Orion replied dryly.

"We didn't act on our own because it isn't our job. We don't work for the kingdom and we are not heroes or shit like that. It's the kingdom's job to deal with that kind of problem. Although we work for the money, that doesn't mean we have no values." Mira's gaze became threatening. 

"Most of the bloodhounds are children of heretics who were lucky enough to get a seal at the Almoran ceremony. That's why we aren't attached by name to any family. We don't even have family names, to begin with. What keeps the heretics of the slums alive is not the royal subsidies or the poisoned gifts of the nobles. It's the money we gain. For your information, four other level three and five level two complaints have also been filed. " She explained with a hint of frustration and anger in her voice.

"Thoralf Mosbeam and his men were arrested this morning," Orion added and tossed a newspaper onto the bed. "All the details of the case have been covered up to avoid scandal.".

Rinne and Lyanna took the newspaper and read it carefully.

"Next time, before you do any more crap and put yourself in danger, come talk to me," yelled Orion who let out his anger.

A feeling of shame overtook Rinne and Lyanna as they bowed their heads and offered their sincere apologies.

 "We are sorry for doubting you and acting recklessly."

 "It's too easy to apologize, I'll give you a serious punishment," replied Orion still angry.

They kept their heads down for a long time waiting to be forgiven. Reluctantly, Orion agreed and invited them to have breakfast. But Rinne wasn't done with the conversation. His gaze was still as cold as ever,

He got up from the bed and unbuttoned his shirt to the great surprise of the bloodhounds. Their astonishment was even greater when they saw the absence of a seal on the boy's chest. Lyanna imitated her brother and did the same. The large horizontal scar on her chest made Orion frown. 

"What the hell ..?" reacted Mira as she dropped a bag she was holding in her hand. Rinne and Lyanna walked past them nonchalantly, approaching the table. The young boy poured himself a cup of coffee and prepared a second one for his sister. He leaned on the table, took a sip, added sugar, and took a second. 

"Sit down, we have some things to discuss.". 

His voice was both calm and commanding. 

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