The Avenger
The Avenger
The previous two arrestees had confessed everything about their background and purpose after two of their fingers were chopped off with a dagger. Of course, their bodies were already thrown into the canal—Iron Axe was never a kindhearted person. His combat experience in Iron Sand City informed him that the best way to extract information from these evasive characters was to chop their fingers off one by one. However, what surprised him was that this fella, who knelt on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, appeared to be in very good health, as though he had not contracted the disease.
Could he be a death warrior from a faction somewhere?
"I'm not your enemy." The first sentence that the man spoke surprised Iron Axe slightly. "I'm Hill Fawkes. Theo knows my name!"
...
At this time, Theo had still not left the pier area and was thus quickly called over by Iron Axe's men. He looked briefly at Hill and said with a grin. "This person is Black Hammer's subordinate."
"Not yours?" Iron Axe asked.
"He has no relation to me. He's simply a Rat that just joined."
"You deceived not only Black Hammer but also Skeleton Fingers," Hill suddenly said, "you aren't working for Timothy, but are instead serving His Highness Roland Wimbledon of the Western Region!"
"He knows too much already." Theo made a throat-cutting gesture at Iron Axe. "The best resting place for this person is at the bottom of the canal."
But Hill continued to blabber on. "I heard the contents of the propaganda announced by the mercenary. We can work together! I'm willing to serve His Highness Roland!"
"His Highness doesn't need the loyalty of a Rat." Iron Axe pulled out his rapier.
"I'm no Rat. I'm a... free citizen of the king's city. I'm Timothy's enemy!" Hill exclaimed.
"Wait." Theo held back Iron Axe and walked up to Hill. The latter raised his head and made eye contact with no sign of fear. There even seemed to be something burning in his eyes.
[I see... this is the answer which I couldn't figure out when I first met him.] Theo thought to himself. Hill's eyes were filled with an extreme hatred which he could not completely cover up even though he deliberately tried to do so.
"Tell us more about your reasons for wanting to serve His Highness."
"Although I indeed lived in the north district of the city, and would occasionally go to Covert Trumpeter to drink, it wasn't the case that I lost my property through gambling, nor did my wife run away with someone else...," Hill said while gnashing his teeth, "she was killed by Timothy!"
The story behind this was not too complicated. Theo quickly understood the sequence of events.
Hill and his wife were formerly members of the acrobatic troupe "Dove and Hat", which often held performances in the inner city area of the king's city. The troupe consisted of only seven people, but the atmosphere between them was very harmonious. As the only female in the troupe, his wife was courted by everyone else, and it was Hill who eventually succeeded in winning her heart. Their marriage life was sweet indeed, and after not long, they were able to save up enough money to buy a house in the inner city area. This was all destroyed by Timothy's witchhunt operation. Under Langley's command, the patrol team arrested suspects as recklessly as a pack of rabid dogs. His wife was one of the unlucky ones to be arrested by mistake.
Hill had thought that if he paid the ransom, his wife would be released, or at the very least, he could enter the prison to see her once more. Although the warden accepted the ransom, he did not release her or agree to Hill's visit requests. He simply reassured Hill that his wife would be naturally released after it was confirmed that she was not a witch. However, things took an unexpected downturn. When he was told to enter the prison to claim his wife, all he saw was a corpse covered in scars and bruises.
Filled with rage, Hill went to Langley to demand justice, but in the end, the warden, the castellan and the guard were only sentenced to 10 lashes and a fine of 25 silver royals each. As for himself, he only received a compensation of three gold royals. This punishment was completely unacceptable to Hill. He even sought out the highest leader of the patrol team, "Steelheart Knight" Knight Weimar, but it was to no avail. Weimar explained to him that Langley was Timothy Wimbledon's confidant, and hence the new members of the patrol team were also the latter's minions. Furthermore, the witchhunt was decreed by His Majesty himself, and thus even Minister of Justice Pilaw, would not speak up on Hill's behalf.
Consequently, Hill was determined to take revenge on the new king. What he did not expect was that this decision garnered the support of all of the members of his acrobatic troupe. However, as a bunch of performers who did not possess combat expertise, wealth or men, it was virtually impossible for them to achieve their aim of revenge. All that Hill could think of doing was to gather intelligence about Timothy and provide it to his enemies, such as Queen of Clearwater Garcia. Thus, the troupe members quickly joined and hid themselves in various Black Street organizations, and started collecting information that had to do with the new king.
This also explained why Hill had covertly kept watch on Theo's movements. If Timothy intended to banish the refugees, he had to think of a way to stop it. However, before he could take action, the plague broke out and Theo had discontinued the transportation of refugees on the king's behalf. It was only on this day that Hill discovered that there were people resuming such activities. In order to investigate further, he disguised as a refugee and blended into the crowd. In the end, he discovered that Theo was actually serving Roland Wimbledon, the fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle.
There was no question that, as one of the qualified contenders for the throne, Roland was an archenemy of Timothy.
From Hill's perspective, he was willing to serve anyone who could topple the king, even if it was a demon.
"The last question I have is, when you blended into the crowd to obtain information, did you consider the possibility of being infected?" Theo asked with interest, "and I don't believe that someone who seeks revenge would belittle his own life."
"I have an antidote." Hill pouted his lips. "It's in the pocket of my undershirt. A pal from my troupe spent a great deal of his family fortune to purchase it from the black market for me."
Theo reached out his hand and felt Hill's pocket. He then fished out a transparent vial that was as thick as an index finger. It seemed to contain a blue liquid. Theo passed the vial to Iron Axe and said, "The church's elixir... I believe that His Highness will be interested in this."
"This person..." Iron Axe questioned after receiving the vial. "What do you think?"
"Oh." Theo stroked his chin and pondered. Under normal circumstances, he would have no means to verify what Hill said, and therefore he would choose the safest option—send Hill on his way swiftly. However, there was coincidentally someone in the camp who could accurately determine whether Hill was lying or not. "I'll like to have Miss Nightingale verify this."
...
In the evening, Theo returned to Covert Trumpeter.
Black Hammer seemed to be in poor spirits. The spread of the plague had caused the tavern's business to drop heavily. Silver Ring's and Pott's contraction of the disease also caused him further distress.
Hill appeared as if nothing had happened during the day, and sat opposite Theo with his usual restraint.
Theo's personal guard smiled and tossed a small bag of gold royals in front of Black Hammer. Theo then said, "Don't be so depressed. Let me tell you a piece of good news: there'll soon be business again."
Black Hammer counted the royals, kept the bag in his pocket, and replied feebly, "I'm not taking any business. With the plague spreading, who would dare to stroll in public? The money I earn won't be enough to buy the medicine for everyone. Do you know how much a vial costs on the black market these days? At least 25 gold royals!"
"What a coincidence." Theo laughed heartily. "The business I was about to mention is also selling medicine," he paused before continuing, "... a special cure for the demonic plague."