At the same time, Tesyb must have noticed her hand, and with an easy expertise, he moved a single step towards Hyola while making sure her leg got hit by his own, making her stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

She glared at him, as he supported her from her shoulder, like someone who was just trying to help someone up. Moving his head close to her ear, Tesyb hissed in a barely audible voice, "Calm down, you idiot! Or you will get all of us killed right here! Just ignore whatever that bastard says, it doesn't harm you to listen to his nonsense. Be assured, no matter what he says, we won't let him lay a hand on you! That's a promise."

With a single look at his eyes, she knew that he meant it. She took a deep breath, and gave a curt nod. This wasn't the limestone quarry, and these men weren't like the bandits who lived there, with every man looking out only for himself. Tesyb was a trusted guard of Lord Kivamus. As were the other guards. These were her partners and her comrades. She knew she could trust them.

She looked at Lanidas. Despite how much she wanted to kill this flabby excuse of a noble, a single glance behind him reminded her that his guards were right there, and if she even tried to kill this bastard, no matter how much he deserved it, that would be her last action in this world. There was another fact that Feroy had told her to give the crossbow to the guards staying outside the walls before they had entered inside Kirnos, so that nobody here would guess that they possessed something which was usually only found with the Duke's army. That meant she only had a pair of daggers with her right now, and it would be difficult to kill this bastard with them anyway.

She exhaled once again. It wasn't her responsibility to get rid of people like these from the world. The Goddess would be watching from the heavens, and she would make sure he got what he deserved. More importantly, trying to kill him would mean she would never be able to meet Calubo again, and that was something she could never accept.

It took all her will power and some more, but somehow, Hyola kept herself in control instead of killing this young master right where he stood. Or sat on the horse. Whatever.

Barely a few moments had passed while all these thoughts ran through her head. Right now she was being helped by Tesyb to stand up, when he spoke loudly, "Don't just go falling down so easily. You are embarrassing us!"

Hyola knew he didn't mean it, and was only trying to take attention away from her, so she kept her mouth shut instead of retorting back.

In the meantime, Feroy had taken a step towards the baron with his head bowed low. "She is still new, milord," he spoke towards the young master. "It will be a long time before she becomes a capable guard like the rest of us."

Huh... what? Hyola looked at the ex-mercenary in surprise, but kept her mouth shut for now. What was he even saying? It was like he wanted the young master to think that she wasn't really a guard!

Lanidas looked at him again and laughed loudly. "You're smarter than I thought, aren't ya? Eh... it's alright, you don't need to admit it. I guess I'll leave her with you for now."

Feroy grinned while looking up at the young master. "You are so kind and understanding, milord!" He continued, "I am only here to make sure there is no shortage of coal in Kirnos in the winter. There shouldn't be shortcomings in your comfort level at the manor because of the winter, you know?" He shrugged. "Us commoners can survive anywhere, no matter whether it is too cold or too hot, but for important nobles like you, who have the responsibility of taking care of such a big village like Kirnos, it is the duty of us commoners to make sure of your comfort."

Lanidas stared at them for a moment before grinning. "At least you know your place! And yes, it is indeed your duty to make sure that your betters always remain comfortable. It's a pity that my father's decision of tripling the entry taxes for any merchant coming from outside Kirnos is still there, or I would have given you a discount on it."

Hyola barely managed not to show surprise on her face. She knew that Feroy was basically an expert in manipulating people, but this was something else. She had been scared that angering the son of a baron in the last trip must mean that he must be ready to whip them or something this time, before she had gotten angry at what the young master had implied about her presence here, but somehow Feroy had managed to flatter the young master well enough that he was grinning and talking about giving them discounts! She still had to talk to the ex-mercenary later about why he didn't make it completely clear that she really was a guard.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Even so, she had been told by Feroy earlier that he had found out that the tripling of taxes was something that the young master had done by himself to earn some extra coin on the side, with his father likely not knowing anything about it. That meant right now Lanidas was lying through his teeth saying that it was his father's decision.

She took a deep breath to calm herself so she wouldn't get angry at this young bastard again. So this is how most nobles were! Even a nest of poisonous vipers could be trusted more than them!

Feroy smiled at the young master. "You are indeed so kind, milord. A discount on the taxes would have helped me a lot!"

Lanidas shrugged. "The baron's decision is out of my hands, but you know what, I will still ask father to buy all your coal once again."

"Oh, you are generous, milord!" Feroy grinned with a bow. "I'll take all my full stock of coal to the manor immediately. I was thinking of selling it to some merchants here, but who cares about them when the nobility need it more! My first priority is to make sure that the manor doesn't have any shortage of coal."

The young master smirked. "That's exactly how it should be." Then he bent a little lower, while still sitting on his horse, and spoke in a low voice, "You've come from the east, right? Probably passing through Tiranat?" Once Feroy nodded, he asked, "What's this I am hearing that some locals of Kirnos - especially some slaves - haven't been seen in the past few days? I've heard rumours that they are looking to run away, maybe to that good-for-nothing village of Tiranat. You wouldn't know anything about it would you?"

"I'm just a small merchant, milord," Feroy gave a shrug. "I only stay at a place long enough to make my sales and buy goods for the next journey. Hmm... It must only be a wild rumour. Why would anyone from Kirnos - whether a free man or a slave - even think about running away from here? Especially to that pitiful village? They won't find a more generous Lord than you anywhere else, will they?"

Lanidas laughed loudly at that, his pot belly jiggling along with him. "You are right, of course. It must only be a rumour that the slaves are escaping to Tiranat. But I still have heard reports of some slaves not turning up for duty, so maybe they are thinking of running away into the forests and hiding there, now that the snow has mostly melted." He waved his hands. "Eh... No matter, they can't run away from me. When my guards find them, oh... I will enjoy that day!" The young master sat straighter and looked around at the marketplace for a moment. "I'll be leaving now. Make sure to get the coal to the manor by tonight."

"Of course, milord," Feroy bowed again. "I'll leave for the manor immediately."

The young master gave a nod, and spurred his horse and started moving ahead, his retinue of guards following close behind him.

Once all of them were out of earshot, Hyola looked at the ex-mercenary. "Why would the young master help us to sell the coal? I thought he would disallow it completely."

Feroy gazed at the retreating back of the noble. "Don't trust a single word coming out of his mouth. He knows very well that his father's manor must be running low on coal by now, so they are going to buy it from us anyway, since we are the only source of coal in this place. Lanidas said that to make us grateful to him by letting us think that he is the reason we are able to sell our coal when it was going to happen anyway, since his Father is the one who decides whether to allow or disallow a sale in his manor."

"Oh..." Tesyb muttered from nearby.

Feroy shrugged. "The important point is what will be the selling price of coal this time. It was easy to see in Lanidas' eyes that he remembers very well the scolding he got from his father last time for making a deal to buy it at double the usual price, so this time he will do his best to make us sell at as low a price as we can in order to make up to his father for his mistake. Of course, I'll still try to sell at a similar price as last time."

"But I didn't notice that in his expression at all..." Hyola wondered. "I thought he looked happy when talking to you..."

"That's a highborn noble for you," the ex-mercenary chuckled. "Their mouth says one thing, their face says another thing - if you know how to look for it - and often, they mean something completely different from both of those things. To recognise what it is, you need a good deal of experience dealing with all kinds of people to guess what that could be. It's your first time dealing with a noble, so it would be difficult to find the hidden meaning behind their words, but you will learn in time."

"I guess so..." Hyola muttered before glaring at Feroy, "But why didn't you correct that bastard fully, when he said that I wasn't really a guard?"