Chapter 16: Chapter-16: Stuck in Hard Place

Adui was surprised to know that the giant had such a normal name, Andreas, he thought he would have a name suiting his size, like Goliath or something. The thing that confused him, even more, is that even if that brown monstrosity did beat Rodiger, then what does have to do with him?

They should talk to Gizelle about it, why they brought him here? Also, how did they even make a connection between him with the brown knight, they were never seen in public before, nor he had shown any signs that they were friends, so what gave these guys the idea that they are friends?

He thought he should voice out his thoughts about this matter. “First of all, I am surprised that you guys even know what that thing is called. I wasn't able to get a simple grunt out of that Brobdingnagian monstrosity. Secondly, how the hell did you guys have the impression that I know that guy?”

Jojo leaned forward. “You are telling me that you didn't even know his name until now, that is hard to believe.”

Adui shrugged. “I don't care if you believe me or not, I don't know him.”

It is then Rodiger, stood up and started yelling while pointing at him, he figured he must be cursing him or something, he waited patiently for Jojo to translate, but instead, he sent him away.

“Commander Rodiger, why don't we take it from here? You can wait for us outside and don't worry I am here, I will not let anything happen to Rupert.” Adui looked at the bearded man again, he could tell he was a mana wielder, but he couldn't see the depths of his strength, he wondered why Rupert needed protection, was he someone important?

Rodiger was reluctant to go, but in the end, Jojo's stare convinced him. After he left Rupert turned towards him. “How come you didn't know him? He works for Gizelle Salvatore, and so did you not too long ago. Then how the hell did you not know that guy?”

“Because he didn't use to work for her when I was an employee at her shop. He came after I left her shop.”

Jojo also leaned forward. “From where exactly?”

“I don't know. I was just a normal employee at her shop, she didn't share her secrets with me.”

Jojo sat back, with a small snicker. “Oh really? From what we have heard you were her apprentice, not just any employee.”

“My apprenticeship with Gizelle was like a slave contract. In my initial years, she showed me the ropes of brewing potions and gave me some advice on cultivation. After that, she treated me like a low-key slave. My work was to look after the shop, take the delivery of the ingredients, brew Rank-9 potions and that is it.”

Rupert then added.“That is was apprenticeship is like. First, you learn the ropes, and then get your hands dirty,”

“I won't argue with you. I have spent 10 years in that shop, and I know what I have experienced. That was not an apprenticeship, that was a slave contract, which I regret signing to this day.”

Jojo saw them getting off-tracked and decided to intervene. “Very well, let's move on. Our focus is the giant that guards her gate. What can you tell me about him?”

“Well, I have met the thing 2 times exactly. He didn't utter a single word both times. He is kind of scary and he has these weird brown eyes, which kind of remind me of the glass eyes of a puppet. And that is it.”

“Well, I think you are lying,” Jojo said.

“Me too.” Rupert also added. Adui just sighed, but it was then he glanced at the empty chair beside Jojo, he remembered the state in Rodiger. He felt sorry for the man, he had done nothing to deserve that, but it was then, a particular thought was born in his mind.

He was a man with not a lot of contacts, he had just a moderate amount, and most of them closed when he quit the shop. While Rodiger was very worse than him, so he could not just wrap his head around the fact that this guy was able to summon two knights from the Royal Order, considering Jojo is also from the order.

Are these guys even of the Royal Order? Impersonating a member of the Royal Order is punishable by death, and is a sin that only a few dare to commit. I don't think anyone would be a fool to commit such a crime for that idiot. Rodiger, on the other hand, was also a coward, he didn't even have the balls to think of something like this. This meant that these guys are the real deal, but why are they here?

Upon thinking more about it, Adui started questioning more about his involvement in this case in the first place. Why have they brought him here, surely the knights of Royal Order have the power to apprehend or at least try to apprehend that giant, but they never even tried, if they would have, he would have heard about it.

Instead, these guys came to him, trying to scoop out any information about that giant, but why? It didn't make sense to him, that these guys would come to him. These men want something else from him. The question is, what?

“Adui… ADUI!” hearing Jojo yell, he came out of his stupor. “Yeah! I am sorry. I was thinking about something.”

Rupert added. “It's alright, let's continue. As we were speaking, either you tell us the truth, or you will be locked up in a cell in this tower.”

So that’s their play, these fuckers are thinking that they would be able to scare me into giving more information about Gizelle, that must be it. He smiled at their naive attempt to fool him. “No, you won’t”

Hearing his confident tone Jojo was surprised. “You sound confident. Any particular reason why?”

“Well, I know for a fact that I am not here to discuss with you about that monster. You want something else from me. And it is pretty important considering there are two knights of the Royal Order sitting in front of me.” Rupert and Jojo exchanged glances.

He then continued “ I am not in jail, no one is torturing me, and the guys that you send to fetch were very rude considering who they were speaking to. Seeing all this, I figure you wanted me to do something to those guys. You wanted to rile me up so that I would make a move, and you could swoop in wearing your justice armor, and arrest me. Am I wrong?”

Rupert and Jojo both chuckled. Jojo then added. “That is a far fetch story.”

“No, it is not.”

“Seems like it to me,” Rupert added.

“So you are telling me, that I was called because you want information about the knight who beat the shit out of the dumbass standing outside the door,” he said while gesturing towards the door, then he continued. “Since when did the Royal Order start caring about small people”

“Alright then,” Rupert then continued. “What can you tell us about Gizelle and her new family?”

Adui was alarmed, he expected that they want information about Gizelle, but these guys were here for the information on Ulaspas family. How did they know about them? I only told Jarad and Clair about them, not anyone else. I figure that Gizelle wouldn't talk about them either considering Kaisel was pretty damn adamant about staying in dark. So how these guys found out about them?

It was a concerning matter, he didn't know what to say, if he was to give out some information about the family, then the chances are that he would be killed by the end of the day. If he doesn't he won't be able to get out of here.

But the worst case was these guys have met Jarad, he was simple, not strong enough to go through the interrogation from the Royal Order, and considering that they already know about the family, there was a high chance that they have already met him.

Now, if he lies, Jarad could get into trouble. If he doesn't, then he is good as dead. His life didn't matter much, but Jarad’s does. He has two daughters and a wife to support. He could not throw him under the bus. So he devised a plan…

“You mean her Bloodborn family?” Adui said as if he was stating something obvious.

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“Our intel was right, she has got herself into a Bloodborn family,” Rupert mumbled. Jojo on the other gave him a look, he wasn't supposed to say that it seems. Rupert’s mumbling gave him a clue, they already knew that she was in a bloodborn family. Could Jarad be involved in any of this?

The involvement of Jarad created some complications, as much as he hated that fucker, he couldn't get him involved in such a shitty situation, he decided that he would give only information that he had told Jarad. This way at least that idiot would stay safe.

Jojo then took charge. “What can you tell us about her family.”

“I don't know much about that family. They go by the family name of Ulaspas, and they were very interested in the disputed land between Baron Hubert and Baron Geon. Gizelle asked me to procure that land for her, which I did. In return, she gave me some mana stones that I could use to open my own potions shop. So I am moving to the capital in a few days.” Adui said nonchalantly.

“That is it? Or anything else?” Jojo asked.

“Ah… Do you want to know something else?”

It was then Rupert posed a question. “Why are they interested in that land?”

“Don't know. I did ask a friend of mine to snoop around, turns out, before our kingdom, that land used to be occupied by a family bearing the same name. I think they want their ancestral home back,”

Jojo had another question. “Did you meet with any other family members?”

“No. Just Gizelle.”

“How powerful are they?” Rupert asked.

“Don't know that either.” He then chuckled and continued. “I just know that these people are fucking rich. I mean who the hell gives out mana stones for payment? That is insane.”

“This friend that you gave you information about the land, who is he?” Jojo asked.

“Does that matter?”

“In a way, it matters,” Rupert said.

“Why?”

“We want to know,” Jojo said.

“I would rather not name him. He is a simple man, and I don't create any sort of trouble for him.”

“You talk as though we might torture him after we are done with you,” Jojo said.

“He is a very simple man. Believe me, if you ever show him your badge, he will fold and might cry as well. He is a weak man, and I don't want to see him get into trouble because of me.”

“Alright then, we won't ask you about him. But how can I be so sure that you haven't lied to us?” Jojo asked. Adui couldn't help but chuckle.

“Guys guys guys… look at where we are. I told you everything that I know, without any torture, interrogation, or any sort of reward. I told you this because I hate that bitch. If this gets her into trouble, that is all that i need.”

“Do you anything more about the land, could there be any more reason for them to buy that land?” Rupert asked.

“Hm.. I don't know. I had a theory, but is far-fetched at best.”

“What might that be?” Jojo asked.

“The land they procured, is situated in the middle of our kingdom. Based on how much money they offered and how much they paid me, I guessed that they might be interested in building a Mage tower.”

“A Mage tower?”

“Yeah, it made sense. Based on their riches, that family is obviously more powerful than other families in this piece of land, that included the Royal family. If they wanted, they could have just gone and procured the land, I mean who could have even stopped them? But they didn't do so, now did they? They sent a man to negotiate the land. That is not how the things strong mana wielders handle.”

Jojo raised one of his eyebrows.“How did you come to the conclusion that they want to build a mage tower?”

“Think about it. They were being nice to the people of this land, they peacefully negotiated the land from their neighbors and they didn't cause anyone trouble. This shows that they want peaceful coexistence with us. Who in their right mind would do something like that? The only reason that they would do so, is because they plan to settle here, or they might be thinking of building a mage tower here.”

“But that doesn't make sense, Mage tower will cost them a fortune to build. Gorgon kingdom does not have the resources to build something like that.” Rupert added.

“So maybe they want to settle here, I don't know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hampshire, that will be all,” Rupert said while standing up.

“Hey, pleasure is all mine. If you want to learn dirty secrets of that bitch, you just gave me a call, I will come running like a dog to a whistle.” Adui said and they all went out together…

After coming out of the tower, he walked all his way back to his home, not knowing what to do next. He managed to keep the existence of Kaisel a secret, but will that be enough? He had to talk to the Ulaspas family about this, but he feared that someone would be keeping an eye on him for now, so how could he even talk to them?

As he got home, he turned the doorknob of his door and walked in. But it was then, he abruptly stopped, he turned around, he then turned the doorknob again, and then again…

He just had an epiphany. He knew how to solve the puzzle.

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