Chapter 70: ’Verifying’ The Situation
Roderic stared at Victor’s expression with a small smile.
The man was clearly angry and annoyed with the situation, but clear doubt had slowly started mixing in.
’It’s working,’ he thought. ’Time to go ’verify’ the situation then.’
Without another thought, Roderic continued his performance.
’’Who is this other person?’’ he asked.
Victor remained silent for a moment.
’’My best friend,’’ he finally admitted.
Roderic slowly raised an eyebrow.
’’But he wouldn’t do something like this,’’ Victor quickly continued. ’’We built this place from the ground up together.’’
Silence fell between them.
By now, just the possibility of his friend’s betrayal was running through Victor’s mind over and over.
That was exactly what Roderic wanted.
And to put the cherry on top...
’’Are you sure he wouldn’t?’’ Roderic asked.
Victor’s expression stiffened immediately.
’’Think about it,’’ Roderic continued casually. ’’Whoever stole your money seemed to know this place pretty damn well for it to be some random thief.’’
His gaze moved across the office.
’’They got inside without breaking anything... found your money...’’
He didn’t even need to finish his sentence.
Just from Victor’s face, he could tell that it was finally time to move on.
’’Where is he even at the moment?’’ he asked. ’’Because it’d always just be easier to verify and eliminate that doubt.’’
Victor remained completely silent, his face ashen.
It took him several long seconds just to gather himself enough to speak.
’’He should be at home,’’ he replied. ’’He usually comes here later in the morning.’’
Roderic nodded slowly.
’’Then why don’t we go see him?’’
Victor’s head snapped towards him instantly.
A strange expression appeared on his face as he tilted his head slightly.
’’Why are you so interested in this?’’
Roderic paused, caught off guard.
That was a fair question though.
Especially when considering Victor’s perspective.
’’I just paid fifty gold coins,’’ he replied. ’’And that won’t be for nothing.’’
Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.
But Roderic knew he needed to push on here.
’’Either I get it back today, or we’ll need to see exactly how you’ll repay me.’’
Victor stared at him for several seconds before slowly nodding.
’’Fair enough,’’ he replied.
That’s when his gaze landed on Edmund.
’’And I presume your other form of repayment will have something to do with what your attendant asked me yesterday?’’
Surprise flashed through Roderic’s eyes.
But it was quickly replaced by a small, genuine smile.
’’Correct,’’ he replied casually.
Victor nodded once more before turning to the door.
Regardless of what he’d find at his friend’s house, he already knew it’d be a bad day.
Either he’d lose his friend and find the money there or he’d keep his friend and owe a debt to a noble.
’Damn it all,’ he cursed internally. ’It’s always the same in this hell of a world.’
...
It didn’t take long before they arrived at the house.
Roderic immediately recognized it.
A smile appeared on his face as he saw the window on the ground floor.
’Here we go,’ he thought, quietly rubbing his hands together.
Victor walked straight up to the front door.
Knock! Knock!
Not even half a minute later, the door opened.
A tall man with brown hair appeared on the other side, surprise flashing across his face.
’’Victor?’’
His eyes quickly moved towards Roderic, Edmund and the two knights.
’’What’s going on?’’
Victor remained silent for a moment.
Then he began explaining what had happened.
But Roderic didn’t pay any attention to what was being said.
Instead, his focus was on the system window that’d popped up in front of him.
[System Note: Only relevant talent and information will appear while using the ’Golden Appraisal Eye’.]
The window vanished just as quickly as it appeared.
Finally, the information he’d wished for popped up in his vision.
[Judas]
Age: 22
Race: Human
Current Rank: Unawakened
Merchant Talent: Medium
Notable Information: Has been in contact with the Blue Moon Merchant Guild for several weeks and has leaked several important plans and strategies for payments.
- - -
Roderic couldn’t help but blink.
’What the fuck?’
By the time he’d read through the final line, the system note from before wasn’t important anymore.
His eyes slowly moved to Victor’s best friend, Judas.
’You’re already betraying him?’ he thought. ’Damn, that’s actually really low.’
By now, Victor had finished explaining everything.
Judas just stared at him in disbelief.
’’And you think I took it?’’
’’No,’’ Victor replied, shaking his head. ’’But I was forced to check by the noble young master behind me.’’
Roderic snapped out of his thoughts as Victor pointed at him.
A small smile appeared on his face as he waved at Judas.
Judas couldn’t return the smile though.
Instead, his expression only grew darker with each passing second.
’’Fine,’’ Judas spat, forcing himself to bow politely. ’’Search all you want.’’
Victor nodded slowly.
’’It won’t take long.’’
Without wasting any more time, he entered the house.
Roderic followed behind him, barely managing to hide his smile.
’Not bad at all,’ he thought. ’Victor even used the social excuse I gave him.’
Obviously he ’didn’t’ intend to ruin their friendship, which is why he allowed Victor to say he was forced.
And Judas completely bought it.
’That confidence though...’ he thought. ’He must’ve hidden his connections to that other merchant guild quite well.’
Roderic let out a quiet chuckle.
He began to wonder if it had been hidden well enough from his appraisal eyes as well.
While the stolen money alone was likely good enough already, having some back-up documents would perfect the job.
With that thought in the back of his mind, Roderic ordered his knights to start searching.
They moved from room to room while Judas followed closely behind.
Nothing particularly interesting appeared at first.
Before long, only the second floor remained.
Roderic followed Victor up the stairs, his eyes occasionally flashing with information as he looked around.
As they reached a familiar hallway, Roderic’s gaze landed on one particular door.
The smile he’d been suppressing nearly returned.
’Now this should be fun.’