Chapter 24: First pawn, Part 1

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jabal, but..." 
"But your supply is limited right ? I know, Simons. You keep repeating the same lie again and again . Also, I doubt you sent me this invitation just to tell me this. " I said as I placed the poisoned arrow on the counter.
"..."

"The first time I saw blue lapys I was 11 years old. It was a few days after I met Orion. He had given them to my sister and me to cure our physical and mental fatigue. It was a really amazing medicine. Something I'd never seen before. It couldn't even be found in the best apothecaries. How strange !! "

"......"

"So I asked myself 'Why is such a medicine so little known to the general public ? Is it rare ? How can I grow its plants ?'...The questions were multiplying but I couldn't find any answers. So I thought: 'Why not go straight to the source?'. And here we are, in the most famous bar in Damparo, the only place in all of Ruviel where a bloodhound can buy lapys. But something was bothering me. " I said, still sitting calmly in my chair.

"What was it?" asked Simons.

 He had a calm, almost harmless demeanor. He was wiping his glasses and cleaning the counter as if he were alone in his world. However, the menacing auras I perceived around the room were one of the many proofs that Simons was different from the others bartenders. Eight men :  six were scattered on the ground floor sitting at different tables and two were upstairs. Quite a welcoming committee...

"Why can a simple bartender and heretic sell such a medecine and still be perfectly safe ? It's abnormal, isn't it? The Kingdom wouldn’t accept it. Moreover you would be an easy target for the bloodhounds. That´s strange right ? So I did my little research, forced some tongues to untied and a name finally came up : the Garden."

The men around us rose from their chairs and their auras became more threatening. Orion's and Mira's faces tensed, but neither of them reached for their weapons. With Lyanna, the three of them were standing in the doorway listening quietly to our conversation. 

"I am sorry, Mr. Jabal. Your questions are becoming more and more insistent. I put it down to curiosity and youth. But unfortunately, your little show of  tonight made things much more complicated." Simons replied in a calm and gentle voice

He picked up a bottle of alcohol before serving me a drink.  I politely declined. I had the impression that he wanted to pour me my last drink in this world... A symbolic gesture, I guessed.

"So? Are you finally going to tell me about the Garden?"

I looked him in the eye. And I could finally feel animosity in him. Good, perfect, reveal yourself, show me the true Simons.

"Kill them"

His order came out casually. His gaze showed no mercy or hesitation. 

Simons turned his back on me facing his liquor shelf as if I had never been there. For a few moments, he continued to work, arranging bottles of alcohol in order and then finally noticed.

A deep silence, no noises, no clashing weapons, no screams, no bursts of energy. Nothing.

With a tense face, he looked back at me.

"What does this mean ?" Simons shouted, losing his temper.

Each of his men was standing behind me, their weapons in their scabbards, arms crossed over their chests. I raised my right hand and one of them stepped forward. He was rather tall, with a thick beard and long braided hair. He carried a large bow and had a grumpy expression. 

"Sorry Simons, but we work for Master Jabal now." he said in a voice that was oddly soft for his physical appearance.
"What ? Explain yourself, Milmo."

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Simons' voice became threatening, his face showed anger, apprehension and a hint of fear. Milmo didn't respond. He had no reason to react either. So I answered for him.

"Milmo , Burk, Liam, Pludus, Kilor and his brother Fidor, in addition to Falacio and Demir upstairs, they all work for me."
"What ?... Are you insane ? Milmo ? Burk ? Pludus ? You…How did you convince them to betray me ? "
"Calm down, you're too old to get so worked up. First of all by the same feeling you are experiencing right now, fear."

Still holding the stray cat, Lyanna activated her myndo and a black portal appeared in front of her. One by one, fifty-eight bodies passed through the portal in perfect synchrony and then stood behind me. They were completely black from head to toe, even their clothes and weapons. Only their eyes were white. Simons recognised them by their features and panicked. He backed up against the shelf containing the liquor bottles. Several of them fell and shattered on the floor.

"What the hell is this?" he stammered.
"You'd be an awful bartender if you didn't recognize your customers Simons. These are all the men and women we killed at the Mad Dog. As such, I apologize. Cleaning the floor must have been a real hassle."

I bowed my head in apology. But Simons didn't respond to my gesture. He was shaking. His former men were also shaking under the pressure of Lyanna's energy. She raised her right hand and a human heart as black as a starless night appeared floating in the air. The heart beats like a drum echoing throughout the bar.

"Boom" "Boom""Boom"

Several black threads appeared and connected each of Simons' men to the heart. The threads were rooted in the chest of each of them.

"This power acts as a contract linking the hearts of each of these men to the one floating at my sister's side. If any of them dare to betray us in any way, their hearts will simply fall apart."
Drops of sweat appeared on the men's foreheads and their faces turned pale. Simons looked at each of them and could confirm from their faces that I was telling the truth. 

"The second way I have used to steal your men is simply respect."

I rose from my seat for the first time and all of them dropped to their knees in an instant, heads bowed. 

"...."
"As you know, bloodhounds only respect strength. So I taught them to respect me."
"YES MASTER JABAL."
They all answered in chorus under Simons' surprised gaze. It must have been strange for him to see these big guys kneeling before a 16-year-old. 

“….”

"Now, how about we get down to business ? Come here."

Still gripped by fear, he found the courage to leave his counter and stood in front of me. Simons was taller than me in terms of height, but I still felt like I was facing someone smaller.

"If you want my supply of lapys.....I can give it to you, but I only have a small quantity. Besides, with the potion you showed tonight, I don't understand why you need it..."  he said in the manner of a negotiator.

He was trying to reach a favourable outcome by guessing my intentions. His mind was probably filled with a multitude of hypotheses on what to do next. But he was still thinking even in a hopeless situation. I felt my face twist into a smile that I couldn't control. I liked that.

"....."

I was about to answer when the door of the bar opened.

"YOU ?! " He shouted in surprise.

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