Chapter 150: A Deal

Chapter 150: 150: A Deal

A young girl running from forced marriage expected cruelty from enemies and help from strangers who looked strong enough to give it. Lucard did not live by such rules. Help had a price. Pity was expensive when given to every crying face.

He turned away and looked toward the deeper cave.

More blood scent came from below.

The Eyeless Cave Stalker had not been alone.

The girl saw where he was looking and quickly said, "Do not go down there."

Lucard paused.

That was the first useful thing she had said.

"Why?"

"There are more."

"How many?"

"I do not know."

"How do you know there are more?"

She swallowed. "I heard them. When I hid. The one that came out was not the only sound."

Lucard looked at the cave floor. He could feel faint vibrations below, but they were far and irregular. The beast he killed had likely been a scout or a wounded member of a small nest. If there were more, then the old border fort was more useful than expected.

He asked, "What is in the wrapped cloth?"

The girl’s hands tightened around it. "Nothing."

"Then drop it."

"No."

"So it is something."

She bit her lip and took one step back.

Lucard did not chase her. "Keep it. I did not ask because I wanted it."

"Then why ask?"

"To see how badly you lie."

Her face flushed despite the fear.

Lucard turned toward the cave again.

The blood bug inside his heart stirred faintly. The beast blood, the cave smell, and the old deaths below had awakened its hunger. Lucard sent a quiet command.

"Wait."

The blood bug settled.

The girl noticed nothing, but she saw Lucard become silent and grew more afraid.

"Are you really going down?" she asked.

"Yes."

"That is madness."

"No. Madness is running into a cave without knowing what lives inside."

She had no answer because that was exactly what she had done.

Lucard stepped onto the first broken stair.

The girl quickly moved closer. "Wait."

He looked back.

She stood at the entrance, shaking. Outside meant Red Hook. Inside meant monsters. Staying meant both might find her. For a child who had never been truly alone before, every choice was a knife.

"Take me with you," she said.

Lucard looked at her as if she had said something foolish. "No."

"I can be quiet."

"No."

"I know something."

That made him stop.

The girl breathed quickly. "You are asking about the Broken Maw Range, right? I know some things about it."

Lucard watched her.

"Speak."

She hugged the wrapped object tighter. "Not for free."

Lucard’s eyes became colder. "You are bargaining with me?"

She looked terrified, but she still nodded. "Yes."

"Brave or stupid."

"Both, maybe," she said. "But I have something you want."

Lucard looked at the wrapped cloth. "A map."

Her face changed.

That was answer enough.

He continued, "A stolen map."

Her lips parted slightly.

Lucard looked toward the road the Red Hook man had taken. "You are the city lord’s daughter. You ran because of a marriage arrangement. You stole that map before leaving. Red Hook was ordered to bring you back alive before too many people learned what happened."

The girl’s face went white.

For a moment, she looked ready to run again.

Lucard said, "Do not waste energy."

She swallowed. "How did you know?"

"The dying man told me enough. You told me the rest with your face."

Her fingers tightened around the wrapped cloth. "My name is not Anna."

"I know."

She looked down. "It is Elowen."

Lucard did not react to the name.

Elowen took a shaky breath. "My father wants me to marry a man older than him. It is not for family honor. It is for gold coins, soldiers, and a promise from another house. I refused. He locked me in my room. I heard that the unicorn comes to the Maw Range during this season, near the white valley beyond the old fort. So I took the old family map and ran."

Lucard looked at her for several breaths.

"A unicorn," he said.

Elowen nodded quickly. "Yes. It appears only during this part of the year. Not every year, but often enough that my family kept records. My great-grandfather’s father wrote about it. The map shows old paths, caves, hidden springs, and safe ridges around the Broken Maw Range. It is centuries old, but some marks are still useful."

Lucard looked at the wrapped cloth again.

That was no longer a small thread.

A centuries-old map from the city lord’s family had more value than the tavern owner’s stained hunting map. Noble families recorded what common hunters never saw. Hidden paths. Private hunting routes. Old beast territories. Places connected to bloodline beasts.

And a unicorn.

In most worlds, unicorn blood carried purity, healing, resistance to curses, and strong life force. Even if this lower world’s unicorn was weaker, its blood might still be far better than ordinary beasts.

Useful.

Very useful.

Elowen saw his silence and quickly continued. "If you take me to see the unicorn, I will give you the map."

"See it?"

"Yes."

"Not capture it?"

"No." Her voice became firm for the first time. "I only want to see it once."

Lucard studied her. "Why?"

She looked embarrassed and angry at the same time. "Because if I am forced to marry and become someone’s locked wife, then at least before that, I want one thing that belongs to me. One choice. One impossible thing."

Lucard said nothing.

That was foolish.

But foolish desires often moved people more strongly than wise plans.

He asked, "What makes you think the unicorn is near the old fort?"

Elowen loosened the cloth just enough to show a corner of old parchment. The marks on it were fine, detailed, and written in faded noble ink. "The old map says the path under the fort leads to Moonwater Hollow. The unicorn drinks there when the white flowers open. The flowers open around this season."

"Then why are there cave stalkers?"

"I do not know," she said. "Maybe the lower tunnels are connected to the wrong side. Maybe the map is too old. Maybe the safe path collapsed."

"Many maybes."

"I know."

Lucard looked toward the dark cave.

A unicorn’s blood could help him stabilize Blood Mage Vessel and strengthen healing, purification, or curse resistance. The old map could reveal better hunting grounds. The girl herself could become leverage against the city lord. Taking her was troublesome, but leaving her would waste several possible benefits.

Lucard said, "Show me the map."

Elowen shook her head. "After I see the unicorn."

"Then I leave."

She panicked. "Wait."

Lucard turned.

Elowen bit her lip, then slowly unwrapped the parchment halfway. She did not let go of it, but she showed enough.

Lucard looked once.

The map was real.

Old, detailed, and far better than the stupid map from the tavern. It showed the old border fort, underground passages, springs, caves, hunter marks, forbidden paths, and one pale valley drawn with small white flowers around it.

Moonwater Hollow.

Lucard looked back at her. "You will give me the map after seeing the unicorn."

"Yes."

"If the unicorn is not there, you still give me the map after we reach the place."

Elowen hesitated.

Lucard’s voice became flat. "I am not paid by your disappointment."

She swallowed. "Fine. If we reach Moonwater Hollow and it is not there, I will still give you the map."

"If you lie, I take it."

Her hands tightened.

"And if Red Hook arrives because of you, you follow my orders."

She nodded. "I will."

"If you slow me down, I leave you."

"I understand."

"If you scream, I may silence you myself."

Her face paled again, but she nodded.

Lucard looked at her for a moment longer, then said, "Deal."

Elowen released a breath she had been holding.

Lucard turned and entered the cave.

She followed him after one frightened look at the road behind her.

The darkness swallowed them step by step.

Below the old border fort, something moved in the stone.

Lucard smiled faintly.

The hunting ground had opened its mouth.