Why Aren't You Laughing Anymore?

Elton was doubled over with laughter.

He hadn't caught a single word Davion said.

He looked up and asked,

"What?"

Davion didn't answer.

The longsword in his right hand slashed diagonally upward.

The foolish smile was still on Elton's face.

A spray of hot, sticky blood splattered across it!

Elton's pupils abruptly contracted, and his body froze in place.

Before his eyes, the guard to his left had been cleaved in two by that single stroke!

The longsword cut through the guard's left arm, sliced cleanly through his torso, and finally burst out through his right shoulder.

Severed sinews, bones, and organs dripped down with the blood.

Only when the head, still attached to half a shoulder, fell before Elton with a thud did he snap out of his daze and force a scream from his throat.

"Ah!"

Elton was so terrified that he fell on his backside, his legs scrabbling frantically against the ground as he backed away.

Davion didn't pause for an instant.

He concentrated all his strength in his shield arm, lowered his shoulder slightly, and slammed into the guard on the other side, who had yet to react.

"Dragon Tail!"

For the first time, a Dota 2 skill was recreated in Westeros.

The guard had only just instinctively raised his hand to grip his spear when Davion's shield filled his vision.

It was already too late to dodge.

Thud!

A tremendous crash rang out, accompanied by a teeth-grating series of cracks.

The guard's right hand, which held his spear, was smashed into his chest by the shield, along with the shaft.

The guard flew backward as though he had been struck by a mammoth.

He flew more than five meters.

Then he hit the ground with a bang.

Davion flexed his left fist, then looked at his undamaged shield.

The smile on his face broadened.

If the first guard's death had terrified Elton out of his wits,

then the second guard's death had driven him somewhat out of his mind.

"Impossible... I must have drunk too much at lunch... It's all an illusion... That little brat from House Whent can't possibly be this strong..."

Elton forgot to run, staring blankly at the ground and muttering incessantly.

By then, Davion had already walked up to him, sword in hand.

He raised his left foot and lightly nudged Elton's chest with his toe.

Elton fell onto his back.

Davion planted his foot heavily on his chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.

The same warm smile remained on his face.

"Young master Elton, why aren't you laughing anymore? Wasn't my joke funny?"

As though he hadn't heard, Elton's lips kept moving.

Davion gave a soft chuckle instead.

He rested his sword point against Elton's left shoulder.

His sword hand slowly applied pressure.

The sword had been sitting in the armory for too long, and it hadn't even had a scabbard.

Its blade was already covered in patches of rust.

Fortunately, its point was still sharp.

It easily pierced Elton's shirt, penetrated his skin, and severed the muscles in his shoulder.

A surge of excruciating pain brought Elton back to his senses.

"Ah!"

He stared at the rusty sword in panic and spoke urgently.

"My lord Earl, spare me! I'll go back and get the money ready for you right away."

Davion shook his head.

"That isn't the answer to my question, young master Elton."

As soon as he finished speaking, Davion thrust hard, driving the rusty sword straight through Elton's shoulder and into the ground beneath him.

"Ah!"

Elton's body stiffened, his right hand instinctively grabbing the blade as his feet kicked wildly against the dirt.

Davion pulled out the rusty sword and placed its point against Elton's right shoulder.

"No, no, no, don't, my lord Earl!"

"Seven above!"

"Please spare me! Spare me! I was wrong! I'll never do it again."

Something funny suddenly occurred to Davion, and he shook his head with a laugh.

"It's a cliché, but it fits perfectly! You haven't realized you were wrong. You've realized you're going to die."

As soon as he finished speaking, the longsword pierced Elton's body once more.

This time, Elton didn't scream. He simply passed out.

"What a useless wretch! You lot beat Vylwood so badly, and he still managed to carry me back to Harrenhal with two sword wounds just like yours!"

Davion also casually stabbed Elton once in each leg.

He didn't want the spoils already in his hands running away on their own.

The two guards at the entrance to Grey Stone Keep had disappeared.

Davion knew they had gone inside to report.

But he didn't care.

After using Dragon Tail, he had made an estimate.

He could use this skill, which cost no mana and had no cooldown, another six or seven times while retaining enough stamina to fight.

Even including Raymond Vance, Grey Stone Keep definitely had no more than thirty fighters.

Davion was confident he could get away unscathed.

"The more people they bring, the better. Ideally, they'll call out every member of House Vance. That would settle things once and for all."

While he waited, Davion took the bottle of Coca-Cola out of his backpack.

The cola bottle was covered in white frost.

Davion drained the can of cola in one go.

"Ahh~ Refreshing! Nothing beats ice-cold happy water!"

He even finished with a burp.

Then Davion brought up the game interface.

This meant that killing an ordinary guard yielded five experience points.

Davion raised his eyebrows.

"Fuck, five points a person. If I want to level up, I still have to kill thirty-four people! Where am I supposed to find those thirty-four people?"

Davion looked toward Grey Stone Keep, then shook his head.

"No, no, I'm not some homicidal maniac. What would killing everyone in Grey Stone Keep amount to?"

Just over a minute later, Davion heard a jumble of footsteps coming through the gates of Grey Stone Keep.

Two squads of spear-wielding guards accompanied Raymond Vance.

They were jogging toward Davion.

As they drew near, Raymond waved a hand.

The two ranks of guards split apart on their own, surrounding Davion.

Every one of them held a spear and stared warily at Davion.

But their uneasy gazes kept straying to the corpse on the ground, which was missing its head and one shoulder.

Davion paid them no mind, merely placing his sword point against Elton's throat this time.

Raymond looked at his son beneath Davion's foot, his brows tightly furrowed.

The blood Elton had already shed had stained a large patch of ground beneath him red.

"My lord Earl, why did you injure Elton?"

Davion remarked inwardly,

This old bastard really can hold himself back. He doesn't even know whether his son is alive, yet he can still speak to me so calmly.

He shrugged and said to Raymond,

"I told him to repay the money, and he didn't want to. That's how this happened! I'll repeat to you what I just told young master Elton, Lord Raymond."

"...Two thousand one hundred and fifty gold dragons in total. You have one hour to gather it, or you'll bear the consequences."

Raymond looked at Davion as though he were an idiot.

"My lord Earl, House Vance has never said we wouldn't repay this money. It's just that, for various reasons, our house has a cash-flow problem."

"I hope you can give us a little more time."

Davion smiled and shook his head.

"One hour is all the time you have left."

Raymond carefully looked Davion up and down twice.

He was filled with confusion.

He had only met Davion three days earlier, and back then, Davion hadn't even dared to speak loudly.

Why couldn't those same lines fool him now?

"My lord Earl, you're young. There is a saying you may not have heard!"

"The wind may enter, the rain may enter, but the king may not!"

"What that means is that a noble's private property is sacred and inviolable!"

"Even if House Vance is sworn to House Whent, you absolutely should not have barged in and injured my son, my lord Earl."

Davion wore a look of utter bewilderment.

He thought to himself:

What ancient tomb did an old armchair pundit like you crawl out of?

Don't tell me you came from the same world as me?

Save that bullshit for fooling commoners!

I'm already an Earl, and you're still telling me this?

You damned old bastard!