Capítulo 23: Chapter 23: Con Artist

[Asher Amir Vaishè POV]

"Hmm, how long would it take, sir?" I asked, looking around the guardhouse.

"Eh, it should be done in a few seconds, I guess," said the indifferent knight who sat on the other side of the table, scribbling something.

This should be enough, I thought.

Currently, I am in the guard house of the Lumonara. From outside, it was a castle on the border of the city, and from inside, it was divided into further departments.

I am sitting in the outer cabinets. It's functional. Wooden beams supported the high ceiling, and a long table filled the center, flanked by benches. Shields and swords lined the walls, and a large hearth, which was currently still, while only one knight was here besides me.

Ha, I just hope that it'll be smooth now. When I came from the underground basement, the only reason that I kept Ines alive was because she was going to be my bait.

I had to shift the blame of Baron's death on someone, and since she's already there, it was easier to do so.

I just cut her tongue off and used Mismre leaves to heal the bleeding, and with that, Ines was permanently mute. She cannot speak, and those who cannot speak are the ones that never get heard at all.

So when I put on the act for knights so they can believe me, I made sure that everything hinted at this all being nothing but a coincidence.

The story goes like this: I woke up and saw her, and then she attacked me, and I tried to protect myself - I don't know anything about the suitcase and her identity at all.

I looked around; there were a lot of knights doing their daily duties; it seems like a courtroom by the way it's all silent or organized.

Well, it won't be that way in a few minutes.

"Sir—" I was about to annoy the hell out of the knight besides me, but before that could happen, the door to the cabinet creaked and someone dashed inside.

The knight in front of me stood up immediately and saluted, "Sir!"

But the man didn't say anything and looked at me. "Are you the one who found that girl?" He asked. He was a very rough-looking old guy with a white beard and a bald spot. He looked bulky with all that armor he wore, but his stature was nothing but five feet or something. Even the knight that saluted him had to look down to match his gaze.

"Y-yeah," I faked my stammer.

The man's wide-open brown eyes stared at me. I could see red veins popping around the eye ball as he seemed agitated.

"Come with me," he ordered, and I followed.

Coming out of the cabinet, we walked down the corridors of the castle, passing by busy knights and servants. The atmosphere was tense.

"Where are we going—" I tried to ask.

"Just walk." But he kept walking.

The man led me into a small, dimly lit room at the end of a hallway. Inside, a few other knights were gathered around a table, discussing something in hushed tones. They all looked up as we entered, their expressions serious.

"This is the boy who found the girl," the man announced, his voice gruff.

"Is he?" One of the knights, a middle-aged man with a scar running across his cheek, stepped forward. "What's your name, son?"

I recognized the man just from his voice alone — he's been in the manor a few times to converse with Amir Vaishè, my father.

Sir Marshall Klefki.

"Asher Amir Vaishè," I replied immediately.

The knights surrounding us began murmuring under their breath.

His eyes widened. "Vaishè?" He paused before picking up, "Ha, I shouldn't have missed yesterday's event I guess." He sighed.

I kept my mouth shut.

"Everyone leave, I need to talk with this guy here alone," he commanded.

Few footsteps and with that everyone left almost immediately.

"You too, Gizmo," he side-eyed the only guy that was there and did not leave, the same guy who brought me here... dude's name is Gizmo?

Why was he acting tough with that kind of name? Gizmo... I barely held back a chuckle and kept my face straight.

"Me too— Yes, sir." Gizmo was about to say something but immediately understood and left.

Marshall stepped aside as if letting me see what was behind him. Since his stature was big and height just around mine, I couldn't see it at first, but when he turned— I saw Ines chained to the knob on the wall behind her, her head wrapped in bandages and she seemed in a very dire state.

"Is this the girl that attacked you?" he questioned, and I nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Tell me what happened."

I recounted the story as I had rehearsed it in my mind. I woke up and found her in the guardhouse. She attacked me, and I managed to subdue her. I don't know who she is or why she was here. I saw the suitcase, but I haven't opened it.

"Is that so..." he muttered under his breath. "I would've never thought that one of Amir's kids would get involved," he spoke to himself.

Then he looked at me. "Boy, don't be scared about what I am about to tell you now," he leaned forward.

"I-I will try," I replied.

"See, in the suitcase that she was carrying, there was a corpse—" he paused, and I faked a gasp, putting a hand on my mouth, "Baron Harrington from Ferndale."

"What!"

"Yeah, I know it's hard to grasp, but calm down," he tried to calm me down.

"But-but sir... isn't that a very big deal? Wouldn't it cause— who might do such—" I asked cautiously.

"Calm down, I said," Marshall repeated. "The only reason I told you this was because this is a big deal, and if your name, Vaishè's name even pops around this case, even from afar, it'll cause a political war between major aristocrats," he said.

"We were already on the lookout for this girl since she is on our F tier wanted list for robbery, and this was nothing but a coincidence. We don't know what Baron Harrington was doing in the capital out of his barony, but it's not important now—"

I liked where this was going.

"And I need your help," he looked me dead in the eyes.

"M-my help?" I gulped nervously.

"Yeah, I want you to keep whatever happened from last night till now a secret, as if nothing ever happened," Marshall pointed at Ines. "We'll interrogate the girl until we find some semblance of the truth... it's going to be hard since she's mute, but we'll manage. I just need no big names on this case," he explained.

I didn't say anything — I kept my face straight and confused.

"So, I want you to forget that you ever met this girl," Marshall said. "Can you—"

"I-I will! I will... I don't want anything to do with this. I do not want to upset my father— he'll... just like you, I'll forget this," I stammered myself into saying those words.

"Great!" Exclaiming, he patted me on the shoulder and said, "Leave immediately then."

This ends here or so I thought but in that moment—oh fuck, I raised my brows as I looked past Marshall.

*Click*

Ines immediately woke up, her eyes darting around the room in confusion. When she saw me—

"!!!!" Her eyes widened in fear, and she began to hyperventilate, as if having a panic attack. "Eekkk!!"

Her breaths came in short, rapid gasps, and tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to speak, but only faint, strangled sounds escaped her lips.

"!?Ekkk AK?" As the realization of her inability to speak fully hit her, she broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Her hands trembled as she tried to wipe away her tears, her whole body shaking with fear and despair. Ines curled into herself, hugging her knees to her chest, a pitiful sight bound and chained against the wall.

Marshall gestured for me to leave the room again.

I nodded quickly, eager to get out of the room. "Yes, sir," I managed to say, my voice still shaking. Gizmo was waiting outside, looking expectantly at me.

"Come on," Gizmo gestured quietly, leading me back through the corridors of the castle.

And within a few minutes, I was out of the castle, out in the meadows.

[Are you a professional con artist?] Said the Rune.

"Haa finally," I stretched myself a bit, looking back at the big castle full of people who think they are smart and know everything. I managed to get myself out just fine.

Never would I have expected that the first thing I would do after getting out of the loop would be to hide two murders.

"Next stop: Elmer Vault," I cracked my neck sideways.

"Haa, life is unpredictable."