Chapter 133: Infiltration Job
The journey to Mount Apa was fast and smooth sailing. Joe Joe had reached there in no time, he stood at the bottom on the mountain and unmounted his rapier, which had somehow gotten sharper as it traveled with him on it.
The rapier had cut through the breeze with such tremendous speed, the edges of the blade had become sharper.
The mountain still needed to be scaled to get to where the elders were, but it was no matter for Joe Joe. He quickly got onto the sword again, his Qi swirling around him, the sword levitated and then shot upwards like volcanic lava. It wasn’t especially fast, but it got the man to the top of the mountain effectively.
Atop the mountain. Joe Joe stepped off the blade and grabbed it in his hand, the weapon hummed faintly in his grasp. "That’s my girl, you can rest now." He muttered faintly as he kissed the handle of the blade, sheathing it. He had grown very attached to the sword since he had no companion during his travels.
He turned around to face a very sturdy building, it wasn’t large, but it was large enough to hold as many as thirty people for a few days. His hair was frizzy, and he looked as though he hadn’t slept in days, but his body looked the opposite. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his toned abs and large pecs. He strode confidently with his hand caressing his belt buckle until he reached the door. A faint smile played on his lips as he knocked softly.
He wasn’t expecting someone of Alaric or Esty’s caliber—or any of the other elders—to open the door, that’s why it was of no surprise that a servant let him into the building.
Inside, it was dimly lit, there were luminescent bulbs in every corner but they didn’t shine very brightly.
The space was not as regal as he had hoped, he quickly made himself comfortable by sitting on a chair.
"I’ll let my master know you have arrived." The servant said, Joe Joe found it unpleasant that a man would serve another so shamelessly. He was disgusted, hence, he didn’t even look in the servant’s direction, he unsheathed his sword again and ran his finger along its edges.
After more than a moment of waiting, a pair of footsteps could be heard, a very tall, white haired man stepped into the room with a commanding aura all around him.
Beside him was a woman of an almost equal level of aura, but not as tall. Alaric and Esty made their way into the room where Joe Joe sat with smiles on their faces.
"Joe Joe, you old bastard!" Alaric laughed as he stretched out his hand warmly.
"You on the other hand, my friend look like shit." Joe Joe laughed along with him as he took his hand, a firm handshake shared between two men.
Joe Joe glanced over at Esty quickly and took her hand right after. "Esty, you look more ravishing than ever." He said as he planted a kiss on the back of her palm.
"Careful now." Alaric teased, forcing Joe Joe to let go of the smiling woman’s hand and raise his in surrender.
Both men already had a certain Camaraderie between them, and as such, mundane things like this won’t faze either of them.
"So, which one of my services would you like?" Joe Joe asked, he didn’t much like to waste time as he had a nomadic life to return to.
"Right to business huh? You haven’t changed a bit old friend." Alaric chuckled as he sat down, Esty sitting beside him. "Have a seat please."
Alaric gestured to the settee beside them for Joe Joe to make himself comfortable.
"What would you like to drink?" The former Patriarch asked.
"Give me a glass of your finest wine." Joe Joe asked proudly, he was anything but a modest man, he would never let an opportunity to experience the finest things pass by him.
Alaric quickly signaled to the servant who stood in the corner to attend to his guest’s request.
"Why do you have a man serving you like a maid?" Joe Joe leaned in and whispered to Alaric, who turned his head back to see if the servant was still standing there—and sure enough he wasn’t.
"Well, cheapest I could get."
"You cheap fuck."
Both men flew into laughter again, one that lasted for about three minutes without end. Esty sat there, wondering for the umpteenth time how men found things like this to be amusing.
She had gotten so used to it, to the the point that she would just put on a smile and sit there in silence until her input was absolutely needed.
"So what is it that you need me for, old friend?" Joe Joe asked him, a serious expression written on his face.
"It’s a rather serious matter." Alaric started, mirroring the man’s gaze. "You see, the elder covenant called for a meeting a while ago, which is why I had to leave the role of the Patriarch for my son Rhoarin... remember my son Rhoarin?..."
Alaric and Esty narrated their experiences leadi g up to the point where Morbius stole the sacred sap of the World tree and retreated to Helmand.
After listening keenly, Joe Joe finally spoke up. "Sounds like you’ve been through quite an ordeal—or if I could put it better—an experience. Still, in all this, you still haven’t told me why you have summoned me here."
"That’s the tricky part." Said Alaric, just right then the servant walked in with a bottle of century old wine and three glasses, he slowly poured the wine in the glasses, ignoring the disdainful stares he was receiving from Joe Joe. "We need you to infiltrate Helmand and figure out what the Demon King plans to use the sap for, we’ve been chasing shadows for weeks on end. We still have no leads."
Joe Joe took a sip of his wine slowly as silence engulfed the room, he tasted it in the professional manner and swallowed it as though it were the sweetest thing in the world.
When he was done, he laughed. "You’re joking right? Please tell me you’re joking."
The look of seriousness on Alaric and Esty’s face let him know that they were not joking, nothing about what they had just said was even remotely funny.
"You want me... to go to Helmand? You realize that if I’m spotted, I die, right?" Joe Joe asked, the wine instantly left a bitter taste in his mouth after his realization.
"Yes we realize that, Joe Joe, but we wouldn’t be asking you if the entire world wasn’t at stake. You are the Silent Step of the West. If there was anybody better, don’t you think we would have contacted them?" Esty said, she looked directly into the man’s eyes.
Once upon a time, Joe Joe was deeply in love with Esty, she was the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen, but she was in love with the proud and privileged prince Alaric Ironfell. He couldn’t compete for her love so he let her go.
It wasn’t until he went to war, that he discovered Alaric’s true nature and became very close friends with the man, the both of them saving each other from certain death more times than they could count.
In that moment he just couldn’t help but see the sense in the words that she was saying.
"Are you sure that’s all you require? Just to infiltrate?" Joe Joe asked for clarification.
"Yes, old friend, we only need you to infiltrate and listen around the town, figure out what they plan to do. That is all." Alaric responded.
"Okay, let’s talk payment."
"Certainly, your payment will be two hundred thousand gold coins." Alaric suggested.
Joe Joe was never a man who would settle, in that moment he decided to haggle, to see how much more he could get from the deal. "Three hundred thousand." He said.
"Two twenty."
"Two seventy."
"Two fifty thousand, Joe Joe, I can do no more."
"Perfect." There was a wide grin on Joe Joe’s face now, suggesting he was satisfied with the offer he had received.
"Good. So we pay one-twenty-five thousand now, and then pay the rest when the mission is complete."
The Ironfell treasury was extremely rich in gold so they didn’t need to worry about these kinds of things, however they didn’t spend blindly so as not to go bankrupt before the next generation.
The servant once again strode out, this time he was carrying a sack that supposedly contained the man’s down payment.
He handed it to Alaric, who stood up and handed it over to Joe Joe.
Joe Joe opened the sack immediately and stared inside, heaving a sigh of satisfaction and a hint of worry. He got up in turn and shook the old man’s hand.
"May the heavens be with you my friend." Alaric said as he gripped the man’s hand.
"And also with you my friend."