Becoming a Monster

Chapter 595: Chapter 594: An Exchange of Interests

Noah didn’t continue to lead them any further.

He came to a stop near the center of the territory, and the creatures following behind him gradually spread throughout the surrounding area.

Morvyr stood there in silence, his gaze warily shifting back to the cave, hoping to glimpse what was inside of it.

As a dark elf, his vision remained keen even within complete darkness. Yet the creature inside had surrounded itself with such a dense aura that his perception could barely penetrate beyond the entrance.

He had already learned enough to understand that everything inside this territory carried value. The problem was deciding which questions mattered most before Noah’s patience ran out.

For instance, he was certain the creature in the cave was the drake, but what he truly wanted to know was how much it had changed.

That answer would determine which questions he needed to ask next.

Not even the Demon King had succeeded in transforming a drake into a demon. If the creature within that cave had truly undergone such a transformation, Morvyr could finally dismiss the possibility that Noah’s abilities originated from their demon system.

That would only make him more inclined to believe everything about him coming from another world. And leave him with even more questions regarding that world, what he was capable of, and what purpose he intended to pursue now that he had arrived in this one.

For the moment, however, there was a more immediate matter to address.

He still had to win the devil over.

Morvyr finally drew his attention away from the cave and returned it to Noah.

"You already understand that the humans intend to attack," he began. "What you don’t yet understand is how seriously they have begun to regard you."

Noah remained where he stood, offering no indication that Morvyr should continue beyond the slight shift of his attention.

"As I mentioned before, the ones joining this expedition will be figures who, if I may be frank, are too strong for you to handle alone."

"You sure do say peculiar things." Noah finally weighed in. However, he wasn’t upset over what was said. It was more like he couldn’t wrap his head around the confidence Morvyr had while making such a claim.

"You make it sound as if you know exactly how strong I am. Is this to say that your information about me comes from that troll too?"

"No."

Morvyr answered without hesitation.

"I know very little about the full extent of your strength. The troll could only describe what it witnessed, and the humans understood even less before most of them were killed."

"But I know the strength of those coming here."

He might not have understood everything Noah was capable of, but the humans preparing to enter this forest were far from unknown to him.

"The guildmaster himself will be coming here. He alone would be enough for me to warn you. But the one you have to worry about is someone from the church. A blind man who goes by the name Malachi... He’s someone I would even have trouble with."

"That still doesn’t explain how you determined I couldn’t handle them."

"It wasn’t a determination."

The slight correction caused Noah’s gaze to narrow.

"It was a warning based upon what little information is available to me. Perhaps you possess enough strength to kill every one of them. Perhaps everything we have learned about you barely scratches the surface. This visit alone had opened my eyes to our... misjudgment of you..."

Morvyr’s eyes briefly moved across the creatures surrounding Noah before returning to him.

"But if I assumed that without evidence and allowed you to face them unprepared, then I would be gambling Her Majesty’s interests upon nothing more than your confidence."

That logic alone was something Noah couldn’t argue against. But it’s not as though Noah was asking out of pride. The more he criticized the value of the information, the more they would have to reveal themselves so he could understand exactly what they wanted from him.

"Fair enough... I expect that you believe that I should be thankful that you came here then."

"But... a warning alone doesn’t help me. Even if you left after telling me this, it changes nothing."

"So what is it that you are offering, and what exactly is it that you want from me? Just like you said, I have powerful enemies coming here. I have my own preparation to do."

Morvyr didn’t answer immediately.

Noah had stripped away every attempt to make the warning appear more valuable than it was. Simply knowing that powerful enemies were coming wouldn’t change how he prepared for them.

What mattered was whether Morvyr possessed information Noah couldn’t obtain on his own.

"The warning was never meant to be the entirety of our offer," Morvyr said. "Knowing who is coming is only useful if you also understand how they intend to fight."

Noah nodded at this as if that was a given. He gave no ground for Morvyr to request anything until he gave a sufficient answer.

"We can provide you with enough information to prepare for the individuals leading the expedition before they ever enter this forest. Their abilities, the purpose each of them is expected to serve, and the weaknesses our people have uncovered while observing them."

"And how can I trust this information?"

"My Queen’s servants have remained within the surrounding human settlements for quite some time now. We have spent years building a network of inside informants. Some of whom occupy positions close enough to those in power that very little escapes our notice."

"We know which forces have agreed to participate, what roles several of them have been assigned, and the routes they are considering for their approach."

"And you’re willing to give me all of that?"

"If Her Majesty had wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have crossed these walls to speak with you."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"No," Morvyr admitted. "It does not."

His gaze remained steady as he finally addressed the true reason he had come.

"Her Majesty believes the humans gathering against you may provide an opportunity for both of us."

Noah’s caution immediately returned. Morvyr, however, had expected nothing less.

"You want me to fight them for you."

"We have been fighting them long before you appeared in this world. Your existence has merely changed where their attention is focused."

"So you want me to keep it focused here?"

"For the moment."

Noah went silent. There was a lot to consider. The most important things were how this would benefit him and the risks it would bring.

Did he really need this information? Whatever they told him now, he could gather once the enemy arrived anyway. Deep down, he understood that it wasn’t enough, that receiving this information wasn’t enough for whatever they had attached to it.

He looked around him. The seventy or so monsters who came here didn’t quite fit with what the elf said.

"And you needed to bring an army to tell me this?"

Morvyr had expected the question. His answer came without hesitation.

"Wouldn’t you?"

"I came here to meet a demon of unknown origins whose allegiance remained equally uncertain. I would have been a fool to enter your territory alone."

The explanation was reasonable.

Even so, Morvyr could sense that Noah hadn’t accepted it entirely.

The tension in the elf’s shoulders gradually eased, as though he had finally decided to abandon the last of his pretense.

"Truthfully, their purpose was not limited to protecting me."

"Her Majesty believed there was a possibility that this encounter could reveal ways for our two sides to benefit from one another in the future. If that proved to be the case, the forces accompanying me were also sent to aid you when the humans arrived."

There it was.

Noah had known the information alone couldn’t have been enough to justify everything they had brought with them.

The elf’s careful wording almost made him roll his eyes. Morvyr was still attempting to make the offer sound less binding than it truly was.

"But that depends," Morvyr added.

"Depends on what?"

"That depends upon what we learn about one another before then."

Noah stared at him for several seconds.

Morvyr understood that the answer carried its own risk, but false assurances would have accomplished nothing. Noah had already shown that he distrusted anything offered too easily.

At the same time, Noah understood what Morvyr was really saying.

The soldiers standing behind him weren’t reinforcements yet.

They were leverage.

If Noah revealed enough to satisfy the Queen’s interest, they would remain and help defend the territory. If he didn’t, Morvyr could take both the information and his forces back with him.

"And what exactly do you need to learn before deciding whether helping me is worth it?"

At this point, Morvyr could tell that Noah understood exactly what they were trying to do. Right now, he knew he couldn’t ask Noah much of anything when they had still given him nothing.

Because of this, his request was much simpler and could benefit both parties.

"For right now, personal information about each other can wait. However, my Majesty is most interested in understanding your strength... A simple bout would suffice."

His response inadvertently triggered a storm. Creatures on both his and Noah’s sides became riled up. A bout to them sounded more like a fight to the death.

Meanwhile, Noah felt that this request didn’t touch his bottom line at all. He was also interested in how strong Morvyr was.