Chapter 10 Chapter Eight Simple Reasons

"Keep the tower, as Jarlaxle has said," said Kim Murray. "The fortress hides our attacks very well. Dalabad can work smoothly without even letting anyone outside the oasis." People knew it had been attacked inside." "Work," Leckie responded, squeezing out the unpleasant word.He watched Entreri pass by him and into the crystal tower.Leckie's eyes showed enough that he hated what the Killer had done that day, and was ready to pick on Entreri at any moment. "Is it true that the Dayet mercenary group will become the foreman of a large toll booth in the future?"

"Dalabad has done Dayet more than you can imagine," Entreri replied in his unsophisticated drow. "Others see this place as having nothing to do with Basadoni. Our associates placed here will observe the roads, and can gather information before those in Calimport. We can use this as a starting point. Multiple actions to keep away from Pasha Daklan's eyes, ears and minions." "Which ally can we trust so much to operate Dallabad as a Dayet outpost?" Leckie suggested. "I thought about sending Tama." "Dama and his filthy brethren cannot live without the garbage of the sewers," Charlotta interjected.

"A hole is too much luxury for them," Entreri muttered. "Jarrlaxle hinted that perhaps survivors from Dallabad could do the job," Kim Murray explained. "Almost none were killed." "Ally with a conquered guild." Leckie commented, shaking his head and sighing. "A guild that we broke down." "It is quite different from making an alliance with a fallen House of Menzoberranzan," said Entreri, seeing through the error of inner reasoning shown by the dark elves.Lackey was looking at things through Menzoberranzan's tinted glasses. What he was thinking about was the grievances and struggles between different families, within the family, and between everyone.

"We'll see," replied the drow mage, motioning for Entreri to stay as Kim Murray, Boyinyon, and Charlotte set off up to the second floor of the Crystal Tower. "I know it's for your own benefit that you want to keep Dalabad for yourself," Leckie pointed out when they were alone. "You may be doing it for vengeance, or it may be for the gauntlet you're wearing and the weapon in the scabbard hanging from your ass. Whatever it is, don't think that what you do will escape me eyes, man." "Dalabad is a valuable asset," Entreri replied, without flinching. "Jarrlaxle was given a safe place to build and maintain the Crystal Tower. There is something for everyone here."

"Even Artemis Entreri," Lyckie commented. The killer didn't answer, but just pulled out Charon's Claw and handed it to Lai Ji, letting the drow mage see its charm.Its blade is sharp, and the blade exudes a dark red light. The length is just right for the structure of the robe. The head of the blade is shaped like a long sickle. A black blood groove engraved in the center and running through the blade attracts attention.Entreri spread his palm as far as he could, so the mage could see the half-skull decoration at the end of the hilt, and the hilt, which was shaped like pale vertebrae.Along the hilt are carved decorations resembling spines and ribs, up to the guard of the knife, and the guard itself, is carved in the shape of a pelvic skeleton, attached to the pelvis, with two separate leg bones bent toward the head, so that the swing Its hands can fit neatly into this "skeletal" frame.All the pommels, hilts, and gauntlets are pale white, the white of bleached bone, with the exception of the eye sockets on the half-skull decoration, which at first glance would be thought to be black. fluted, but then it was found glowing with red flames.

"I'm very pleased with what I've gotten in return," Entreri admitted. Lyki stared intently at the sword, but his eyes involuntarily wandered to another, less conspicuous treasure: the black and red-patterned glove on Entreri's hand. "This weapon is more a curse than good luck, human," the mage commented. "They have an arrogant nature, and often allow foolish complacency to overwhelm the willpower of those who wield them, with disastrous results." The two looked at each other, and a half-mocking smile played on Entreri's face. "Which end would you rather see?" he said, drawing his deadly blade toward Lecky, responding in his own way to the mage's obvious threat.

Lackey narrowed his eyes, turned and walked away. Entreri watched the mage ascend the stairs, the smile on his face never fading, but in fact Lykki's warning did strike a chord with him.Indeed, Charon's Claw possessed great willpower, and Entreri could feel it clearly.If he neglected it, the sword would bring disaster, or, like Colin Suarez, it would kill him. Entreri glanced down cautiously, reminding himself that he must never touch any part of the sword with his gloved hand. Not even Artemis Entreri himself could have been complacent after witnessing the horrific sight of Colin Suarez's head burned to a skeleton by Charon's Claw.

"Crishshinibon has easily taken control of a large portion of the survivors," Jarlaxle announced to his chief advisors later in the audience room on the second floor of the tower. "For people outside the Dalabad Oasis, the whole thing seems to be just a coup d'état within the Surez family, and one of them has received strong support from the Basadoni Guild." "Adania Suarez is willing to stay?" Leckie asked. "She wanted to occupy Dallabad Manor long before Cshshinnibon invaded her mind," Jarlaxle explained. "Loyalty," Entreri commented under his breath.

As the killer made this biting sarcasm, Leckie said, "I already had a crush on this young woman." "But can we trust her?" Kim Murray asked. "Do you trust me?" Charlotta Vespa broke in. "It's a similar situation now." "The problem now is that the leader of the guild she is loyal to is also her father." Kim Murray reminded. "Neither Adanya Suarez nor anyone else who will remain in Dalabad poses any threat," Jarlaxle concluded, forcing a break in the debate. "Those who live now and will continue to live belong to Kirshinipone, and Kirshinipone belongs to me."

Entreri noticed a look of disbelief flickering across Lykki's face as Jarlaxle delivered his final proclamation.In fact, he himself also suspected that the mercenary chief didn't realize who belonged to whom at all. "Colin Suarez's men will not betray us." Jarlaxle continued to speak confidently. "They won't even remember what happened that day, but they'll accept our lies as complete truth - if that's what we intend to do. Dalabad Oasis now belongs to Dayet Corps, even if we put an army of dark elves here, our rule will not be stronger." "So, you trust that Adana to lead these people, and you just killed her father?" Kim Murray's tone hardly showed that this was a question sentence.

"Her father died because of the sword, and she is convinced of that," Jarlaxle replied.As he spoke, all heads turned, staring at the weapon dangling loosely from Entreri's belt.Leckie even stared at Entreri with dangerous eyes, as if he was silently repeating the warning he gave when they talked last time. The mage used those warnings as a threat to Entreri, reminding the Killer that from now on he would be watching Entreri's every move more carefully, reminding the Killer that he knew he was in fact using Dayet Corps for personal gain - a dangerous endeavor. "You don't like this," Kim Murray told Leckie after the two returned to Calimport. Jarlaxle remained in the Dalabad oasis, protecting the remnants of Colin Suarez's forces and explaining to Adanya Suarez the small change in her strategy. "Can I like it?" Leckie asked back. "Our original goal was to gain a firm foothold on the surface, but now, every day, this goal is inflated. I thought that at this time we should have returned to Menzoberranzan, but now we are standing on stone scissors." "It's standing on the sand." Kim Murray corrected, his tone showing that he was also dissatisfied with the endless surface expansion plan of the Dayet Corps. Jarlaxle's original plan was to come to the surface and find some suitable contacts (most of whom were humans), and let them act as the vanguard to trade for the drow mercenary group and make huge profits from it.While he didn't share the details of the plan with them, his explanation was enough to convince them that they wouldn't be on the surface for long. But now, they've begun to expand, even capturing a surface structure, and recently established a second base after conquering the Basadoni Guild.To make matters worse—both drow were thinking about it, but not saying it—maybe there was something else behind Jarlaxle's erratic attitude.Perhaps the mercenary chief made a big mistake in taking that relic from that Do'Urden traitor. "Jarrlaxle seems to like the surface," Kim Murray said. "We all knew he was a little bit tired of the intrigue in our hometown, but maybe we underestimated how tired he was." "Maybe," Lakey replied. "Or maybe our friend just needs a reminder that this is not our place." Kim Murray stared at him, apparently asking how he could "remind" the great Jarlaxle. "Start with insinuations," Leckie replied.This phrase is one of Jarlaxle's catchphrases and the most common tactic used by the Dayet Corps.When the mercenary group infiltrates or conquers, it will first nibble away at the opponent's peripheral forces, then chew, digest, and further nibble at the same time until the enemy is completely wiped out. "Did Morik send the jewels?" It was right in front of him, radiating an evil light. Artemis Entreri stared at Charon's Claw, rubbing his fingers together over the wet, sticky ungloved palm.He wanted to reach out and grab it, to use his own willpower to fight the sentient sword now, because he knew the battle would come sooner or later.If he wins the battle, the sword will truly be his.But if he loses... The last moments of Colin Suarez's life came back vividly to his mind, tragic and horrific. But it was this tragic scene that prompted Entreri to take up the sword, even though it was close to suicide.He's egotistical, he doesn't think he's the same as that Suarez.He would not allow himself to be a prisoner of the sword, a man caught in a trap he had set.never.Either let him rule everything, or let him die. But, that horrible way of dying... Entreri reached out, mustering his will against the oncoming impact. He heard people moving in the corridor outside the door. Before the door was pushed open, he had already put on his gloves, then picked up the long sword with his right hand, and put it into the sheath with a smooth movement.Although this room is his private room, there is not enough private room for the humans of Dayet Corps. "Come on," said Kimmouri Obroza, and turned and walked away. Entreri didn't move, and the drow turned back when he realized it.There was an inquiring expression on Kim Murray's angular, handsome face, which quickly turned menacing, as the killer remained standing there, motionless. "You've got a fantastic weapon," Kim Murray said. "It perfectly compensates for the weakness of your indecent dagger. Fear not. Neither Lykki nor I underestimated the value of that glove you have been wearing. We know its power, Artemis Entre stand, and we know how to beat it." Entreri was still staring at the drow psychic without blinking.Is this cheating?Or did the erudite Kim Murray and Lackey really find a way around the gauntlet?A wry smile played on Entreri's face, feigning utter confidence: for Kim Murray, whatever he was hinting at would not be in the slightest helpful to what was about to happen.Entreri knew this, and his expression made Kim Murray realize that right here and now, he could walk across the room, use the gloves to easily break Kim Murray's psionic energy defenses, and then use this powerful weapon to His long sword pierced him through a transparent hole. If the calm and powerful drow really felt annoyed or worried, then his purpose had been achieved.But Entreri was equally troubled and worried. "There's work to do in Luskan." Kim Murray explained in detail. "Our friend Morik still hasn't delivered the jewels." "Am I going to be the messenger again?" Entreri sarcastically said. "No news for Morik this time," said Kim Murray grimly. "He is not worthy of our trust." The decisiveness in his tone shocked Entreri deeply, but he deftly concealed his surprise until Kim Murray turned away again.Of course, the killer understood what Kim Murray meant, that he wanted him to go to Luskan and kill Morik.This request is not surprising, because Morik obviously fell short of the expectations of the Dayet Corps.But in Entreri's view, Jarlaxle would never cut off the only way to Luskan's vast market so easily, at least he would certainly demand some explanation from the trickster little thief.Of course, Jarlaxle's recent behavior is a bit strange, but is he so confused?Entreri realized as soon as he was keeping up with Kim Murray that Jarlaxle might well have had nothing to do with the assassination. These speculations and fears intensified when he stepped into the small room.He followed Kim Murray into the room, but Lakey was the only one waiting for him in the room. "Morik has failed us once again," the mage began at once. "We can't give him another chance. He knows too much about us, and obviously lacks allegiance. What else can we do? Go to Luskan and destroy him. An easy task. We don't mind the jewels anymore .If the jewel is in his possession, you can do with it as you like. Just bring me back Morik's heart." After saying that, he took a step aside, revealing the magic portal behind him, which Entreri recognized. The blurry scene outside the door is the alley next to Morik's mansion. "You have to take off your gloves to go through the door," Kim Murray said.It was such a cunning trap that Entreri thought the whole thing was a plot to get him to remove the glove.Of course, the resourceful killer knew they were going to let him go through the portal, so he just smiled softly at Kim Murray, walked towards the portal, and stepped right through. Already in Luskan, he turned his head and glanced through the closing magic portal.Both Kim Murray and Lackie were watching him with expressions of confusion, exasperation, and thoughtfulness on their faces. Entreri raised his gloved hand and waved them mockingly, and the two men disappeared from view.He knew that they must be wondering at this moment, how he could use the glove that dispels magic so skillfully.They were trying to get an intuitive impression of the gauntlet's capabilities, and even Entreri himself hadn't discovered the limits of its capabilities.Of course, he didn't want these two quiet enemies to get any clues, so he had long ago replaced the real magic glove with a fake that looked exactly the same, and he had fooled Suarez in the same way. After the portal closed, he stepped out of the alley, putting on the real gloves at the same time, storing the fakes in a hidden pouch behind his belt, and covering them with his cloak. First, he entered Morik's room, and found that the thief had not installed new locks and traps, nor rearranged defensive spells.This surprised Entreri a bit, because if Morik did disappoint his brutal bosses again, he wouldn't let it go.In addition, the thief apparently did not flee the small apartment. Entreri didn't want to sit and wait here, so he was out on the streets of Luskan again, passing tavern after tavern, searching every corner with his keen eyes.Some beggars tried to approach him, but he shooed them away with just a threatening look.A pickpocket found his wallet in his belt.Entreri twisted his wrist with a little effort, pushing him down the gutter. After a while, the killer thought it was almost time to return to Morik's place, so he walked into a tavern called the Curved Sword on Half Moon Street.The tavern was almost empty, the fat owner was cleaning the dirty bar, and a thin, withered man was sitting opposite the owner, gossiping.One of the few customers caught Entreri's attention.The man sat quietly at the far left end of the bar, with his back against the wall, covering his head with a hood attached to a cloak.From his rhythmic breathing, the humping of his shoulders, and his head lounging against the wall, the man seemed to be asleep, but Entreri noticed some clues—the man was shaking, for example. The resting head is actually observing the surrounding situation.This made Entreri think of him differently. The killer also noticed a slight tension in the shoulders of the pretender when he spotted him. Entreri strode to the bar and sat down next to the nervous little man, who said, "Ellen's out of business tonight." Entreri glanced sideways and immediately recognized the full extent of the fellow's strength. "Are my gold coins too little for you?" He asked the bar owner, while carefully sizing up the fat man hiding behind the bar. Entreri noticed that the barkeeper was watching him just as closely.He saw respect gradually added to Allen's eyes.He wasn't surprised.The bar owner, like many others in his profession, survived largely because of his knowledge of his customers.Entreri's graceful, determined movements did nothing to hide his true strength.The guy at the bar pretending to sleep didn't say anything, and neither did the freaky guy. "Hey, Josie is talking nonsense." The bar owner named Alan said. "I did think about closing early, though. There aren't many people coming for drinks tonight." Satisfied with that, Entreri glanced left, where the sleeping figure still looked tense. "Two glasses of mead." He tossed two gleaming gold coins on the bar, enough money for twenty glasses of mead. The killer continued to stare at the "sleeping man", paying no attention to Alan and the nervous little Josy.Josy had been moving around him restlessly, even asking for Entreri's name, but the killer ignored him.He just kept staring at the man, studying his every move for similarities to Morik. When he heard the clack of glasses on the bar, he turned and picked up one of the glasses with his gloved right hand, sending the black liquid to his lips.At the same time, his left hand held another glass of wine, but instead of raising it, he pushed it towards the other end of the bar, with a slight angle to the outside, just aiming at the person who pretended to be sleeping. Respond, and the glass of wine would spill all over his lap. The barkeeper let out an exclamation.Josie Pardus jumped to his feet and began to approach Entreri, but Entreri was unmoved. The man raised his hand at the last moment, grabbed the mead glass, and then pulled his hand back along the glass's inertia, absorbing the impact and preventing the liquid from spilling on himself.The killer laughed, for it turned out to be Morik himself. Entreri rose from his bar stool, picked up his glass of wine, and motioned for Morik to join him for a talk.Before he could take a step, though, he felt something move towards his arm.He turned to see that it was Josie Pardus trying to hold him back. "No, you can't!" said the skinny man. "You can't go out with Ellen's glass." Entreri looked at the hand that was extended to him, then looked up into Josie Pardus's eyes, letting the man know that just a look can be so powerful and calm deadly that if he His hand actually touched Entreri's arm, and he would have to pay with his life. "No, you..." Josy wanted to say it again, but his voice was no longer listening to him, and his hand couldn't move an inch forward.he knows.The thin man failed and sat back at the bar. "I'm paying more in gold than the glass is worth," Entreri said to the barkeep.Allen also looked like he had lost all his nerve. As the killer walked out the door, he couldn't help smiling when he heard the bar owner reprimanding Josie for his stupidity in a low voice. The street outside was dark and quiet, and Entreri could sense that Morik was very disturbed.His cautious posture and dodging eyes all showed this. "I got the jewel," Morik declared quickly.He walked in the direction of his own quarters, Entreri following. Once in the dark room, Entreri found it odd that Morik had handed over the jewels to the assassin—and judging by the size of the jewel bag, Morik had clearly achieved what the drow wanted.If Morik got the jewels, why didn't he turn them in in time?Morik was no fool, and he should have known the fickle and dangerous nature of his companion. "I don't know when someone will contact me." Morik was clearly pretending to be calm. "I got them the day after you left, but neither Leckie nor Kim Murray have sent me any messages." Entreri nodded, but didn't show surprise—in fact, after thinking it over, the killer wasn't surprised at all.After all, they are drow.They kill when they can, and when they want to.Maybe they had sent Entreri to kill Morik just because they wanted to see who was the stronger of the two.Maybe it didn't matter to them which of them died.They will be happy no matter who dies. Or, perhaps Leckie and Kim Murray were eager to chip away at the positions Jarlaxle had built for the Dayet Corps on the surface.Kill Morik and others like that, cut all ties, and go home.He raised his right hand, using the glove's ability to detect nearby magical fluctuations.He spotted some magic lights on Morik, and some small lights in and around the room, but there didn't seem to be any prying magic.In any case, even with such magic, gloves are powerless against them.Entreri had known for a long time that the glove could only catch spells cast on himself.In fact, the effect is rather limited.If Leckie fires a lightning bolt at him, he can catch it and attack the mage back, but if Leckie fills the room with fire with a fireball... "What are you doing?" Morik asked the killer, who was clearly distracted. "Get out of here," Entreri instructed. "Escape from this house, escape from this city, at least take shelter outside for a while." The inexplicable Morik just looked at him suspiciously. "Didn't you hear what I said?" "Is this Jarlaxle's order?" Morik looked puzzled. "Could it be that he is afraid that I will be discovered, which will hinder his plan?" "I told you, get out of here, Morik," Entreri replied. "I said it, not Jarlaxle, and of course, it wasn't Lackey and Kim Murray." "Am I a threat to you?" Morik asked. "Did I inadvertently delay your promotion?" "Are you really that stupid?" Entreri replied. "It's only because I've been promised a lot of money!" Morik protested. "That's the only reason I agree—" "Because you have no other choice," Entreri retorted. "I know that's the real reason, Morik. Maybe it's because you have no other choice that you're here." Morik shook his head, clearly disappointed and unconvinced. "Luskan is my home," he began to explain. Charon's Claw thrust out with red and black flashes.Entreri stabbed Morik to the left, right and head three times. The long sword left a gray trail on the trajectory of these three stabs. Morik was actually trapped in the center of the opaque box by Entreri. up.Entreri moved so fast that the dazed rogue didn't even have a chance to draw his weapon. "I didn't come this time to take jewels, or even to reprimand or warn you, idiot," Entreri said extremely grimly. "I was sent to kill you." "but……" "You don't yet know what evil is allied with you," the killer continued. "Flee from this place - this house, this city. You're dead if you don't, Morik the Fool. If they can't find you easily, they won't bother to find you - you're not worth their trouble .So, run away, out of their sight, and pray they'll let you go." Morik stood in the middle of the gray mist walls, mouth gaping in surprise.He glanced left and right, gulping down a mouthful of saliva, evidently not realizing how far he and Entreri were until now.While the Killer had easily dispelled Morik's trap the previous time he had visited, this was the first time Artemis Entreri had shown Morik his brutal and deadly swordsmanship. "Why would they...?" Morik asked bravely. "I am an ally, the eyes of the Dayet Corps in the North. Jarlaxle himself instructed me..." His words were interrupted by Entreri's laughter. "You are an iblith," Entreri explained. "Shit. Not drow. That alone means you're nothing more than a plaything. They'll kill you—and it's from them that I've been instructed to kill you here and now. " "But you disobeyed their orders," said Morik, in a tone that suggested that he now doubted Entreri. "You thought it was a test of your loyalty." Entreri guessed correctly, but he kept shaking his head. "The drow don't test loyalty, Morik, because they don't expect it from you at all. For them, the only means of forcing others to obey orders is fear." "But you're showing disloyalty to them by letting me go," Morik said. "We're not really friends, we don't owe anyone, we don't even have much contact. Why are you telling me?" Entreri leaned back.The question got Entreri to ponder more deeply than Morik expected.The rogue himself was beginning to see the irrationality in this idea.Entreri's actions were clearly illogical.He should have completed his mission by now and returned to Calimport, nothing could pose a real threat to him.On the contrary, by all logical reasoning, letting Morik go would not do Entreri any good. Why now?The killer asked himself.He killed many people, and many of them were killed under similar circumstances, such as punishing a rude or dangerous subordinate on the order of the guild master.He had killed many people on orders, most of whom he did not know had committed offenses; or, perhaps, people like Morik who had in fact committed no offense at all. No.Artemis Entreri was not quite sure of that last sentence.Everyone he killed had various ties to the dark criminal society, or was an unrealistic visionary who was unfortunately drawn into a whirlpool that had nothing to do with him, thus blocking the killer's footsteps.Even Drizzt Do'Urden, the drow-skinned paladin, became Entreri's enemy simply because he prevented Entreri from retaking the halfling Regis from Pashapuk. A stolen ruby ​​pendant.Though it took years, for Entreri, the killing of Drizzt Do'Urden was the culmination of an evil and unnecessary conflict.In Entreri's mind and heart, the people who died at his hands had all taken part in this gigantic gamble, all losing their innocence for power or money. In Entreri's mind, everyone he killed deserved to die, because he was the killer of killers, the survivor of this brutal gamble, and because of that, everyone he wanted to kill died. "Why?" Morik asked again, interrupting Entreri's musings. The killer stared at the rogue, and then he gave a rather simple answer to such a complicated question; one that Artemis Entreri himself hadn't realized was the truth. "Because I hate drow more than humans."