Ririko looked at Ra's al Ghul's deliberately solemn face, her mind racing.
Since this old guy could save them, yet insisted on making her choose which one, he was clearly just trying to make things difficult for her.
She knew this routine all too well. The villain first offered a hopeless choice, then pushed for more the moment she showed weakness.
She gave a sly smile, brushed back her hair, and spoke in a tone that said she had already seen through everything:
"What do their lives have to do with me? Save them or don't. Just let me go. My time is valuable."
Ra's al Ghul's face darkened like an eggplant shriveled by frost.
He had intended to make Ririko beg him to save both men, then use that opening to propose his terms. That was how this was supposed to go. Why wouldn't this woman follow the script?
He cleared his throat and adjusted his posture. "Aren't you curious... how I can bring people back from the dead?"
Ririko sneered.
This old guy had really asked the wrong person. She was so familiar with coming back from the dead that she wasn't the least bit curious anymore.
She folded her arms. "Tell me or don't. I hate people who can't get to the point."
Ra's al Ghul took a deep breath.
He had thought that, after living so long, he had weathered every storm imaginable. He hadn't expected to meet someone who could send him into a fury simply by opening her mouth.
Without another word, his figure vanished from where he stood, then flashed into view right in front of Ririko.
Startled, Ririko stumbled back two steps. Her heel caught on the leg of a stone stool, and she nearly fell.
Ra's al Ghul caught her sleeve