40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 21 21. In the Shadow

In a dark and spacious room, a man is admiring a strange oil painting.

The theme of the oil painting is very strange. A man holding a long sword stands in the center of the painting, with a long staircase made of bones at his feet. He raises his head and stares at the dark sky, seeming to be thinking.

Looking at the painting, the man put his hands behind his back and nodded with appreciation.

He was dressed very simply, wearing only a robe, but it was by no means simple. The edge of that dark purple robe has delicate embroidery thread. In fact, its material is even more surprising.

Lightweight, fitted and just the right amount of comfortable.

In Nostramo, such a piece of clothing can mean many things.

He had a long face, on which the features rested gracefully in their proper places. The eye sockets are deep, and two dark lines spread from the brow bone to the lower cheekbone. His beard was perfectly trimmed, making him look majestic and noble.

Mantas Scolewock. This is his name.

As for his identity

"My Earl."

A strange, hissing voice sounded from the darkness of the room, as sharp as if it was grinding teeth. "Shivering Tooth has sent an envoy, wanting to see you."

"see me?"

Mantas Skolevok chuckled: "What? Only now did they remember that one of their slaves was murdered for no apparent reason in the lower nest?"

"The messenger of Shivertooth made no mention of this, my lord."

"Yeah?"

Mantas Skolevok turned his head and nodded to the man in the dark: "Then, let the man with the chattering teeth go to the living room."

"As you command, my lord."

Ten minutes later, Mantas Skelework came to his living room.

The splendor here reaches an almost absurd level, but this is the Skelework family. Their reception room is very different from the traditional reception room.

In the corner of the hall, a woman dressed in black and with a terrifying face was waiting.

He quickly approached, and the woman immediately stood up and bowed respectfully: "It's an honor to meet you, the distinguished Earl of Tattooed Face, Lord Mantas Skolywok. Shivertooth sends you my most sincere regards. greeting."

"Don't say any more unnecessary words, Magina."

The tattooed Earl smiled slightly and invited her to the long table in the center of the hall. He sat in the first place and Magina took the second seat.

"Tell me about it?" Mantas Skelework said gently. "What's the purpose of Shivertooth sending you here?"

"We can't talk about the purpose yet, noble Earl."

The woman, who had lost her lips and whose eyelids were nailed shut and could not be closed, answered dully.

"We didn't come here with the idea of ​​making a deal, sir. We don't have too many ideas about Quintus. Everyone knows that it is already in the possession of the Skelewok family."

"Oh, please don't say that. There are still four families in Quintus who have not been driven out."

Mantas Skolywok smiled. "So...when do you decide to evacuate Quintus?"

Magina was silent for a moment, but her eyeballs did not move like others did when they were thinking, but remained frozen and strangely still.

After a while, she spoke slowly: "We can officially announce our withdrawal from Quintus starting tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm listening, go on, Magina."

"However, we have one thing to ask of you, Lord Earl."

Mantas Skelewerk made an interested expression.

"We will not send anyone into Quintus without pursuing that slave's death. However, in return, we hope that you will give us a small discount on the hallucinogen."

"Discount?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You're saying that Shivertooth is willing to give up all of Quintus, and his reputation, for a small discount?"

"The size of the discount is entirely up to you to decide." Magina replied numbly. “We trust you as a person.”

The tattooed Earl laughed.

"Yes, of course, my dear Magina."

He winked at the woman affectionately: "Thirty percent, how about it? Of course - I will also give you some small gifts, such as finding out the real culprit who killed your slaves."

"We don't care about this, your lord."

"It's okay, business has to come and go. If you are willing to make concessions, I can't be too stingy. It's settled, Magina. You can leave. Also, forgive me for not serving you tea. "

Mantas Skolywok grinned: "Do you mind?"

"I will not drink tea, my lord," said the woman.

She stood up, bowed again, and then left the living room. Mantas Skolywok watched her go away, and the smile on his face began to get bigger and bigger.

"They're scared."

The tattooed Earl spoke softly.

"They were afraid that entering Quintus at this juncture would cause me to cut off the supply of hallucinogens to them, so they simply stopped pursuing the death of that slave."

"It's really sad. You are obviously of noble blood, but you are addicted to flesh and blood and chemicals. What do you think, Shadow?"

In the darkness of the hall, in a corner that could not be illuminated by burning candles, a strange hissing voice sounded slowly, with a bit of sharpness like grinding teeth.

"I agree with you on all your points, my lord."

Mantas Skolywok chuckled. "Three heirs, one gang, overnight. What a terrifying efficiency."

"And we still can't even find out who did it."

"The instigator hung the bodies of my son and my eldest daughter in our slave camp, let them bleed dry, and let them float in the wind, but we don't even know the identity of the murderer."

The smile on his face began to grow bigger and bigger until it reached a certain point, after which it disappeared.

There was only an eerie calm.

"This is unbearable," said Mantas Skelevok gloomily.

"Jando is arrogant and incompetent, but has the persistence of a hound in some aspects. Lena is stupid and empty-headed, but has good military talents. And my eldest daughter."

He took a deep breath and his tone suddenly became soft.

"My eldest daughter, Irene. She was perfect. She was supposed to inherit the Black Mark after killing her brothers and sisters, and take the family forward when I grow old. But she died, Shadow. I The eldest daughter is dead."

"Please express your condolences."

"No, I'm not sad, I just feel pity." Mantas Skolaywock said. "At the same time, I feel angry. But not because of their deaths;

"Because... at this juncture that the Skolevok family has spent sixty years planning, at this juncture we can finally become the first family on Nostramo to rule a hive city with full power."

Mantas Skolevok's hands clenched suddenly, his cheeks twitched, but his voice remained soft.

".Someone dares to provoke us."

"What do you wish to do, my lord?"

"Check." Mantas Skolevok replied indifferently. "Investigate at all costs. The purge is coming soon, so I will advance it. I will send someone to preach it tomorrow. After the preaching is completed, the purge will start directly."

"We have to find the murderer even if we scrape the floor. I want to torture him personally, and I want him to tell the noble council himself who ordered him to do this behind the scenes!"

"As you command, my lord."

In the splendid hall, a shadow disappeared quietly.

——

The cold wind was biting, and two shadows passed across the dark sky. They moved in the darkness like ghosts, and soon they came to rest on top of a certain gargoyle.

Khalil looked down, his expression calm, but his eyes shone with a cold blue light. Ghost stared at his back, pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Look," Khalil said suddenly, raising a hand.

Following his guidance, Ghost looked down. Among the stacks of spiers and spiers, there is a wide square that has been deliberately set aside. It was much cleaner than the rest of the nest, and was obviously maintained every day.

There were a lot of gang members patrolling around the square, which was unusual.

"This is it." Khalil said in a low voice. "Look, the ghosts. They've started patrolling and stationed themselves in the surrounding houses."

Hearing this, Ghost frowned and looked around carefully. With the help of his excellent eyesight and ability to see in the dark, he soon discovered that what Khalil said was correct.

The houses around the square have all been occupied by gangs, and figures in twos and threes are walking back and forth behind the windows. The ghost could clearly see their appearance from a long distance, and he did not think that the people who appeared in his field of vision were civilians.

No civilians have tattoos or fancy clothes. Only gangs will use these methods to identify themselves and the gang they belong to.

You know, it's good for civilians to have clothes to wear, so how can they be picky about something?

"What are we going to do, Khalil?" the ghost asked, as always.

Khalil turned around and glanced at him, but did not answer immediately. He just turned to another matter: "How did you feel about the last free play?"

"I feel okay?"

"Answer me in the affirmative, Ghost."

"I feel good, Khalil."

"Very good. Then, it will be the same this time, Ghost."

Khalil smiled slightly: "Let's wait first."

"Well, patience is a very important quality?" Ghost asked hesitantly.

"Yes, patience is a very important quality."

In the cold wind, Khalil's chuckle gradually disappeared. Below them, the gangsters were busy without knowing anything.

No one knows what will happen tomorrow.

Yes, no one will know.

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