The Exiled First-born of the Noble House. Rising to the Top With the Worthless Skill [Null Poison]

Co-operator

2 hours had passed until I had gotten every little info I wanted out of her.

Since the sun had already begun to set back when I left [Magic Cave], it was already late into the night now.

Even though we have to start doing requests again from tomorrow, I ended up getting dragged into this trouble.

But well, I did at least get information that was worth said trouble, and in the end, I’d say the total was still on the plus side.

As for Mielle herself,……..what should I do with her?

I already got all the info I wanted out of her, but there’s also a chance she’s gonna try and attack me again as soon as I let her go.

And even if I let her live, all it’ll do is bring more trouble to me later on I’m sure——–I guess I should kill her?

No, I have finally gotten a hold on a person that goes to the same academy as Klaus.

If I can get to her to become a co-operator on my side instead, she’d be pretty useful.

“…….hey,HEYY! Am I imagining it or is that killing intent I sense!? I told you everything like you asked! So, hold uo your end of the promise and let me go please!!”

“I did indeed get a lot of good info. But, Mielle, you seem to hate me so much, and so wouldn’t you try and attack me later as revenge for both this and that again?”

“NO, I’m done trying to get revenge! So please release me!”

“But there’s no real merit for me to letting you live though. I already got all the info, and I have feeling letting you go will only bring more problems to me in the future so, what should I do?”

I slowly pushed in the sword I was resting on her neck.

Her thin skin easily cut open, and a small streak of blood poured down.

“———Oh I know! I’ll help you instead! If I, who goes to the same academy as Klaus, became a co-operator of yours, surely you’ll gain something from that right? That’s a merit for you! Just like you said back then, it’s actually Klaus who I should be made at, and now I am convinced after talking to you! I know I have lost all value after telling you everything but, if you think of the future, surely there’s a lot more merits in letting me live right!?”

Desperate not to die, Mielle rattled on and on to try and convince me otherwise.

……….Mielle herself bringing up becoming a co-operator was a good sign.

I intended to threaten her a little more before suggesting her to become my co-operator but this works in my favour too.

To make sure the collar is tight, let me bargain a bit more before I suggest it again.

“……….It’s true if Mielle became my co-operator, there’s definitely a merit to that. But, I have no proof that you won’t instantly betray me either no?”

“I won’t betray you I swear! Or rather, I have no reason to betray you. Klaus has already completely lost any trust in me, and my current party members the princess and her bodyguard don’t get along with me either. There’s no one else who’d co-operate with me anyway!!”

“……….Well, that’s one way to prove your loyalty I suppose. What a sad way of convincing someone.”

“I can’t help it, it’s all true anyway. That’s why I had been chasing you all alone until now.”

I mean I had planned to accept her as a co-operator even without this much convincing but, it did end further convincing me to do so.

As long as everything she just said wasn’t a complete lie, the only threat she could possess towards me was Mielle herself and nothing more.

Now, I know we only fought barely just now, but as long as I have [Anti Magic] I won’t lose in a one-on-one fight with her.

So even if she did betray me and tried to attack me again, I just need to finish her off for good next time around that’s all.

“Alright. From now on, as my co-operator, you will gather info in the capital. As long as you don’t betray me, I promise I won’t hurt you either.”

“I will, I promise! It’s a deal, so please remove your sword and release my bindings already.”

I put down the sword I had placed on her neck and cut off the cords that bound her limbs in a single slash.

Just in case, I was ready with all my skills activated in case she did try anything but even after her binds released, she still didn’t seem like she had any intention of attacking me.

“Like I said, I won’t attack you anymore. I’m not stupid enough to break a promise like tat.”

“I mean you did completely implode from one single letter from me. You can’t convince me you’re not stupid just yet.”

“I know you literally just let me live, but seriously why are you so irritating!?……….To think I’d end up becoming a co-operator to the guy I was trying to kill.”

“You suggested it. Also, now that you are my co-operator, I’ll let you in on at least one little secret of mine. Mielle, try using magic at me.”

“Magic at you? You aren’t going to kill me for hitting you right?”

“Now why would I do something so meaningless? Cmon, hurry up and use it.”

I instructed Mielle to use magic at me and I instantly focused my concentration to the max to use [Anti Magic].

I intended to hide the existence of this magic but, now that she’s my co-operator and to make sure she never even thinks of betraying me, it was important to show my full strength in my opinion.

Just like before, I perfectly matched her breathing, mana quantity, nature, and every delicate movement.

And the moment her chant was complete——-

“[Anti Magic]”

“[Ice Arrow]”

My [Anti Magic] hit before she could release her magic.

Mielle had been perfect with her both her casting and chanting but, the magic didn’t activate as the [Anti Magic] made it completely disappear.

“……………Eh? A-again, my magic!? But Why!?!”

“It’s my magic. It can disrupt and negate magic activation. The reason why your big spell from before didn’t work was also because of me, and not really a mistake you made.”

“M-magic disruption, you say!? If I recall, the golems of old used to have something like that but, I have never heard of any human using that!!”

“I don’t intend to explain in detail, but well, it’s like this so you best assume that magic won’t work on me.”

“Y-You………How did you grow so much in such a short time. When I met you in Realzard, you were barely stronger than the average adventurer…..!”

When Mielle first attacked me, I hadn’t even been able to sense her approaching close to me.

Compared to then, not just my raw ability but also with the increased number of skills, I might as well be a different person now.

“A fruit of my labours, you could say. Can’t fall behind the [Sword God] can I?”

“I feel like this goes far beyond anything hard work could achieve but……….or rather, if magic is useless against you, then I alone could never win against you. Wait y-you, hid this from me before so that you could trick me into attacking you again just to fail didn’t you!?”

“Yep. If you had tried to use magic behind my back, I was going to instantly kill you right there.”

The reason why I played dumb when she woke up was because I wanted to see if it was even worth negotiating with her.

And now, I told her about [Anti Magic] to further threaten her.

Having decided that Mielle still was of use to me, I needed to make sure that she never even thinks of defying or disobeying me, hence the threat.

“Both of you brothers have utterly terrifying personalities. Anyway, my heart is already broken, so I won’t attack you again, don’t worry.”

“I know that but, there’s still a chance that you might just run away as well. So give me something that’s important to you as leverage. If not, I might still have to kill you anyway.”

“I won’t run away! And even if you say, you want something important to me……….I have nothing on me right now.”

Mielle said that, but I could sense her heartbeat quicken, and her eyes glanced at her bag for a second.

……….She definitely has something she treasures with her right now.

“Show me the contents of your bag. You’re hiding something from me.”

“I don’t have anything!!”

“If you don’t have anything then you should have no problem showing it to me right? Hurry up.”

While clearly unwilling, she must have realized that refusal was not an option as she reluctantly gave the bag to me.

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From the size of the bag I can’t really think of anything worthwhile that might be in here but her reaction was too obvious of a giveaway.

………..She definitely has something important to her in here.

Taking the bag, I rummaged through the contents.

Potions used in dungeons, simple food, and a spare change of clothes.

——–Of, was this a treasure she got in a dungeon?

A pretty jewel and a gorgeous ornate bracelet.

The jewel seemed expensive but, the I could sense some faint mana from the bracelet so it could be a magic item even.

I took both of these items out from the bag to show Mielle but………there was no reaction.

Her face was making an ‘oh no’ expression as if I had found it but, her heartbeat was still calm.

So this isn’t her treasure then?

In that case, it could only be the only thing remaining inside the bag, which was a dirty looking necklace.

While in doubt how this could be her precious treasure, I brought it out of the bag——-and Mielle’s heartbeat jumped up like crazy.

From outside it looks like some cheap item but, it was clear that this was very precious to her.

Just like Father’s pocket watch, I guess Mielle has some kind of attachment to this necklace.

“Alright, I’ll keep this necklace as collateral. If you run away, assume that you’ll never get it back.”

“Wh-Why did you pick that necklace of all things!!? There’s other things there that are more expensive right?!”

“Why you ask? But I don’t know either. You should be the one who knows though, right?”

Never thought I’d find use for [Hearing Enhancement] in such a situation as well.

It was already pretty useful for detecting enemies but, I could also use to it to judge a person’s mental state as well from listening to their heartbeat rate.

I did need to be very close to the target which was a demerit but I’m sure I’ll still find lots of use from this regardless.

“……….Fine. You can hold on to that necklace, if I don’t run away be sure to properly give it back to me.”

“Sure. Once I’m certain, you’ll get it back.”

With this, I don’t need to be worried about Mielle anymore. I had the upper hand in these negotiations from start to finish, and the rest, we can decide the details on a later date.

After making a promise of meeting once again on a later date to talk further, I let Mielle go and finally made my way back home again.

I don’t know how my choices today will turn out in the future but, hopefully they result in some advantage later on.

I decided to stay fully vigilant until I had made it back inside my room, as I walked through the quiet moonlit streets of Edestor.