章節 21: A Deal
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Speak of a Knight Patrol looking for a man in a saloon. Speak again for the same group of Knights coming around to apologize for the faulty information they spread and speak in a much politer tone.
The man they were looking for turned out to be a missing person rather than a fugitive. The Knights started apologizing and left without looking at a single person in a bad way.
Then Leon walked in.
"Phew! That one was scary for sure!" He said as he walked in under the watchful gazes of… everyone.
There were no guests in the saloon anymore. It was almost dawn and Madam Ruth didn't let any one of the guests stay longer.
But as Leon showed up, they were all just silent simply waiting for him to say anything. He just walked on the stool and sat on it with an exhausted body.
"Leo…" Jordi called.
"Hm? Yes?" Leon looked at him.
Jordi looked at Jessica and the rest but it was Madam Ruth who came for him first.
"What was that all about?" She asked with a stiff face and expressions.
"Truly sorry, I went and talked with the Knights' Captain, had a few drinks, and assured him that I was alright." He said.
"What did he want from you?" She asked.
"Well, you remember that night you people picked me from the river?" He asked.
"…"
"Sure you do. That night I witnessed something about the culprit of the accident on the bridge and the killing of the guards that happened. One of the knights spotted my face before I fell off the bridge and they wanted my testimony. That's all." Leon said.
Technically, he witnessed what happened and the Knight that met him wanted to know what happened. No lies here.
"I even got a reward for speaking to them." Leon said as he flicked a golden coin in front of them all.
"Wow!" Jessica didn't expect to see that.
"Is that a Crown?" Even Jordi was almost out of his mind.
The girls upstairs heard the word gold and they were trying to look and see the coin.
That's the power of Gold.
One may possess what is worth more than a Gold Crown coin but there is a power to the Gold that not even a bag full of paper money can have.
This luster and shine is proof that one has dealt with an aristocrat before or someone who can wield a similar amount of authority.
Ruth, on the other hand, didn't swallow the story quite well.
"What was that man you met like?" She asked.
"Fairly young for a Knight, he seemed to have a good word with his Lord though. The trident emblem seemed to belong to a reeeeally big noble." Leon said.
"Yes, you have no idea." Ruth seemed to know the emblem, "What did he ask you about? And what did you tell him? I want details."
"Eh… alright…"
Leon seemed to have no leeway out of this one with Ruth and he was ready for it since he spent a lot of time on his way back twisting facts and coming up with answers.
He said that nobles that night seemed to be chasing one of their own who went rogue and the situation implied that the chase started from the Academy in the Western District. He then started taking Ruth in circles about the situation that went with the guards against this mysterious escapee and the Knight blockade that night all the way to the horse chase in which he witnessed everything very closely until the mass carriage accident everyone heard about. In the end, his narrative started to shift between how there was a fight between the Knights and the Escapee until a flash of lightning struck and he was pushed by one of the rushing knights over the bridge.
But the more important part was how he made it sound like that there were more than one group of nobles chasing that man and the Knights from before were just one faction looking for information and it seemed that the other faction may be more generous than this one.
"And that Escapee, what did he look like?" Ruth asked.
"I am not sure how to say it. He's a tad shorter than me… thinner too. But he was quite the strong fellow. I mean, fighting the knights with a knife… Right, the Green Knife he held was really distinctive. I haven't seen a green blade-like it anywhere." He said.
"A Green Knife?" Ruth thought but didn't arrive at anything, "And?"
"Let me think… short hair, angry look, not much of a remarkable face… I am way more handsome, I mean."
"I want something distinctive, Leo." She almost shouted at him.
Leon smiled in his heart at last. Ruth finally got greedy.
"He can use Magic." He said, "Makes Air move."
"Magic?" Her eyes widened.
"Yes. I swear on it. Those things he did were real magic. Never seen anything like it before that night."
"That's all?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's all." He nodded.
Ruth started thinking and formulating a few ideas and plans in her head and until she figured out her next move.
"That guy, can you identify him?" She asked.
"Right away." He nodded.
"Good."
She felt satisfied with the result so far without knowing how badly she was manipulated just now. Still, Leon was worried as he wasn't sure about the steps she's going to take. She then looked at him and asked.
"Why did you hide when the knights came to pick you?" She asked.
"Of course I would hide. Everyone would have recognized me otherwise. Imagine being paraded by five knights all the way to the barracks and then sent back, my job as a Rabbit would be over." He said.
"Ah! So you have a good head on those shoulders after all." She snorted.
"Sure, Madam. I hope I didn't make much of an issue." He smiled.
"Whatever! Just lay low for now." She said then looked around before walking up to her chamber.
Leon exchanged looks with everyone else in the room. His conversation with Ruth wasn't heard by anyone except those who were close and she wasn't threatened by. Now that everything was in order, they all started going back to their things.
Leon took a long breath in and out then walked outside towards the shack in the backyard.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
Loud footsteps followed him out and as he was about to enter, a hand held his arm. Leon didn't even need to look to realize who that was.
"What the fuck was that just now?" She asked.
"For what it's worth, Jessica, I have already answered everything to Ruth." He said as he breathed heavily while turning to her.
"Yeah… but you know you're in a deep shit, right?"
"As deep as it can get. I know." He nodded.
"Not just you!" She looked at him sternly, "You do realize that nothing good comes from interfering with a fight between the Aristocrats. If Ruth took one side and handed over that escapee to whoever is looking for him, there will be a reckoning."
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"You mean that whoever is looking out for that escapee will come and… vent it on the saloon here." He said in the tone of asking but he realized it midway.
"Duh!"
"You're right." Leon said as he scratched his chin, "I always denied the fact that he may have some backing, and honestly… I think you make a good point, Jessica."
"Then don't fucking help Ruth catch him. And you do realize that many people know your face now, right?" She said.
He looked at her and nodded.
"This makes my Rabbit job harder." He said.
"Almost impossible." She corrected him, "A Rabbit shouldn't make himself visible. Ruth will get rid of you now that you're a burnt card."
Everything she said made sense.
"So… Ruth will get the saloon involved in a shitty situation with the nobles and will get rid of me once I am no longer useful." Leon then smiled, "So I should keep stalling with Ruth?"
"She'll eventually find out." Jessica said.
"But if I can at least buy enough time for myself to pack up and go somewhere else?" He said.
"Yes, but she wouldn't stop chasing after the prize you put for her. And she will come after you probably with the Aristocrats since you can identify the escapee for them." She said.
"Right." He nodded, "I'll handle that my way. What you care about is that I don't get the saloon's people into trouble."
"Yes." Jessica nodded, "You own us your life in case you don't remember. Almost twice."
"I do. I won't disappoint you." He nodded, "But in return, I want your help with something."
She narrowed her eyes.
"What sort of help?" She asked.
"Madam Mikaela told me about that place. They call it the Mercenary Hall." He said.
"You…" She looked at him from top to bottom to top again, "I am a saloon girl and I can beat you."
Leon laughed inwardly and outwardly and brushed it off.
"Do you know where it is?" He asked.
"Yeah, I can take you over there in the morning." She said, "You want to be a Merc?"
"I have to have a way out of this, don't I?" He said, "A place where I can draw the attention from here elsewhere."
"Sure you have to. And what will you do if Ruth threw her weight at you?" Jessica asked.
Leon smiled.
"Then I will find what is dear to her little heart…" He said as his smile grew wider, "… and burn it all."
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