Blood God Reborn as the Mudblood Heir

Chapter 144: 144: Running Girl

Lucard entered Stoneford three days after leaving Gravehold. On his journey nothing happened worth noticing.

The city was useful because hunters passed through it before going to the Broken Maw Range. That was the only reason he came. He needed information about the hunting ground, the strong beasts nearby, the groups that had recently died, and the people who understood the roads better than maps. A city built around danger always had sellers of food, weapons, medicine, and lies. Lucard only needed to know which lies had truth inside them.

The western gate was crowded when he arrived.

A guard collected the entry fee without much interest. He looked tired, bored, and used to travelers who carried blood on their boots. Lucard paid and walked in without causing attention. A few hunters waited near the gate with beast hides rolled behind their backs. Two mercenaries argued about a missing payment. A merchant wagon blocked half the road while the driver shouted at a mule that had clearly stopped caring about life.

Lucard passed all of them and looked for the place where hunters gathered.

He found it quickly.

A wooden building stood near the main street with a cracked wolf skull painted above the door. People entered with weapons and came out with information, wine, or new arguments. That made it useful. Lucard started walking toward it.

Before he reached the door, a scream came from a side alley.

"Catch her!"

The street shifted at once.

A young girl ran out from between two buildings. She looked about fifteen. Her face was small and pale, and her eyes were wide with fear. Her hair had fallen loose around her cheeks, and her dress was torn near one sleeve. She held something close to her chest with both hands, hiding it under the cloth as if the thing mattered more than her own safety.

Four men came after her.

They were not city guards. Their armor did not match, and their steps were too rough for trained soldiers. One carried a short club. Another had a knife in his hand but kept it low so the guards would not complain too quickly. The man in front wore a red scarf around his wrist.

"Stop running, little...!" he shouted.

The girl did not stop.

She pushed past a cart, nearly fell, and kept running. A basket overturned behind her. A few people cursed, but no one helped. Some stepped away because they did not want trouble. Others watched because a chase was more interesting than their morning work. The city guards near the road looked once, saw the red scarf, and suddenly found other things to notice.

Lucard saw that.

The red scarf meant something here.

The girl looked around as she ran. Her eyes searched faces, doors, guards, and corners. She was not running like someone with a plan. She was running like someone who had already used every plan and now only had fear left.

Her gaze met Lucard’s for one short moment.

She ran toward him.

Perhaps she thought he would help. Perhaps she only saw a path through the crowd. Her breath was broken when she reached him, and her shoulder brushed his cloak as she stumbled past. Up close, she looked even younger. There was no strength in her body, but there was a strange tightness in the way she protected the thing under her dress.

"Please," she whispered.

Lucard looked at her.

Then he stepped aside.

The way opened.

The girl froze for half a breath, as if she had expected him to catch her or save her. He did neither. The men behind her shouted again, and fear pushed her forward. She ran past him and continued toward the eastern gate.

The red-scarf man reached Lucard a moment later and almost crashed into him.

Lucard turned his eyes toward him.

The man stopped.

It was only for a breath, but that breath mattered. His body understood danger faster than his mind did. He swallowed, stepped around Lucard, and hurried after the girl without saying anything to him. The other three men followed, throwing angry looks as they passed.

Lucard watched them go.

The girl reached the eastern gate while a merchant wagon was blocking most of the exit. She slipped through the narrow side opening before the guards reacted. The red-scarf men followed after her, still shouting that she was a thief. One gate guard began to move, then stopped when he saw who was chasing her.

So it was not only a street gang.

Someone had taught the guards to look away.

That was useful information.

Lucard did not follow.

The girl was not his reason for coming here. Her fear, her pursuers, and whatever she carried might become useful later, but useful later was not useful now. First, he needed names, maps, hunting reports, and the price of blood in this city. If the girl survived outside the gate, the story might return to him. If she died, then she had not been important enough to change anything.

He turned back to the tavern and pushed the door open.

The inside went quiet for a moment.

Hunters did that when someone new entered. It was not fear. It was a habit. A new person might be a buyer, a rival, a noble spy, a fool, or a corpse that had not fallen yet. Lucard ignored their eyes and chose a table near the wall, where he could see the entrance and the back door.

A serving girl came over with a wooden cup in one hand and a tired face.

"What do you want?"

"Food, water, and information about the Broken Maw Range."

She looked at him more carefully. "Information costs more than food."

Lucard placed one gold coin on the table.

The cup in her hand stopped moving.

Nearby conversations became quieter again.

Lucard rested one finger on the coin. "Then bring information worth the price."

The serving girl swallowed once. "What kind?"