Chapter 143: Ten Gold Pieces
"That’s none of your concern." Joe Joe responded, holding eye contact with Xani, who merely sighed at the response and lowered his gaze.
"So you say, but information like that does not come without a cost."
"I’m willing to pay."
Xani raised a brow and looked at the man again. In truth, he was very reluctant to give out information if this nature because the demon king was fond of playing tricks like these on his people, he saw them as ants that he could trample upon and tease however he wished, and they were truly powerless to do anything about it.
"Where did you one from?" Xani asked with suspicion written all over his face, he could not see the face of this person clearly, and he wasn’t sure if this person bore any ill intentions, one could never know.
"You ask a lot of questions." Joe Joe responded, leaning back a little so as not to come off too strong.
"As any sane individual would do when a stranger walks into their store and starts demanding tbe release of information that could get them killed." Xenia snapped back, closing the book in his hand tightly. "Now I will ask only one more time, who are you?"
Xani had a serious expression on his face, he would not be a victim of one of the demon king’s little games. This store was all he had to his name, and it fetched him a decent amount of money every month, he wasn’t willing to lose it for anything.
"I totally understand that, you seem very learned." Joe Joe responded, his gaze fixed upon Xani, who seemed very tense. "It’s okay, I’m not your enemy, I’m someone who wants the good of the realm."
Xani instantly burst into laughter, he laughed so hard he almost fell over backwards. Joe Joe could not understand why this small demon in front of him was laughing so much, the laughter was so annoying, it struck a nerve.
"Why are you laughing?" Joe Joe inquired. "Look, I don’t have time for this, are you going to tell me or not?" He demanded as he pulled out ten golden coins from his storage ring.
Xani’s expression changed from laughter to wide eyed surprise. He had never seen such treasure, such riches being handed to him in this manner.
He stretched his hand forward and tried to take the coins from Joe Joe, but Joe Joe pulled his hand back, shielding the coins from Xani.
"Now listen, I do not wish to harm you or anybody else, we have a common enemy, the demon king. If you can tell me the safest way to enter the castle, then you can have all these gold coins." Joe Joe told him.
Xani looked at the man and then stroked his chin, he had a long, white, braided goatee.
The money this stranger offered him was enough to set him and his family for life, he could not resist the appeal and now he had heard that this person was working against the demon king. If he succeeded then there would most likely be another reward coming his way.
"Fine." Xani accepted. "But do not—and I repeat—do not tell anyone what I’m about to tell you."
Joe Joe nodded, acknowledging Xani’s words.
"If you leave this shop and go a little further, to your right, there is a street that leads all the way to a dead end. At the end of that street, there is a dried up well—pay attention—this is no ordinary well, it’s rumored that this well leads to an underground tunnel that goes all the way to the castle dungeon.
Everybody talks about it, but nobody is bold enough to attempt it, for fear that they might be caught and sent to the Abyss. The demon king’s army—they use these tunnels to come here to massacre, and toy with the masses. Fuckers."
When Xani was done talking, he spat on the ground and squished it with his foot, showing his hatred for the army of the demon king.
"This dungeon you speak of, what kind of resistance can I expect there? And what is the abyss?" Joe Joe inquired again, holding the coins away from the already impatient demon.
"Don’t tell me you don’t know about the abyss, only the most deadly form of punishment known to our species. It is said that once you’re thrown into the abyss, your soul lives forever in complete pain and agony." Xani shivered. "Just thinking about it give me chills. As for the dungeon resistance, I have no idea."
’I’m going to have to be very careful then, If I get caught and thrown into the abyss then that will be the end of me.’ Joe Joe pondered, them handed the coins over to Xani who’s hands shivered as he held them. It seemed like he struggled to hold them up as they were too heavy for him, but he managed.
"Ahhhh! It’s real, it’s fucking realll!" Xani jumped and laughed like a child, Joe Joe turned his back and walked out of the store, he was at least able to change one life with his actions, that brought him joy.
Because he didn’t care much for the material things in life, he always tried to use whatever he had to affect the lives of others. He was something of an activist, but he didn’t much like the term.
Xani quickly locked the store right behind him and screamed from within its walls. "Zabitha! Zabitha! We’re rich! Haha!"
Joe Joe smirked as he looked at the path before him, there were no vehicles on the road, there were no animals either, just demons wali g up and down the streets.
He decided he would scope out the area before blinding jumping into a well.
He started moving towards the street that Xani told him about, the quicker he could get to the castle, the faster the job would be.
Getting to the castle was just the start, he would also have to find a way to listen in on the Demon King’s conversations without him knowing.
"Here goes nothing." He muttered as he walked down the street.