Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Jariel is puffing his cigar and leans on the chair.

"What do you need?"

I sit on the chair and look at Jariel.

"I need you to put some people in a safe place. Far from danger."

Jariel raises his eyebrows.

"Something is happening?"

I nod.

"There\'s an invasion that is going to happen soon. You haven\'t checked outside, don\'t you? If you go out there you will understand what I\'m talking about."

Jariel scoffs and shakes his head.

"I know what\'s happening out there, everyone is being noisy about it. I thought it is just a rare phenomenon and nothing else. Anyway, cut the useless conversation and tell me the details on what do you need from us."

I rest my arms on the table and lean toward the table. I sigh and shake my head.

"There are so many important people that you need to protect, or at least evacuate them far away from the Alliance Kingdom territory. To be exact..."

I grab a piece of paper on the table and grab a pencil.

"Give me a moment, I\'m trying to remember all their names and where they are located."

Jariel is staring at me and keeps smoking his cigar.

"How much are you going to pay me for this job? You know that I\'m a wanted person, right? I don\'t want to risk being discovered if the payment is not worth the risk."

I scoff and look at him.

"You\'re asking for payment after I saved your daughter\'s life? What a stingy."

Jariel is grabbing something from his back and then puts it on his table. It\'s a dagger and he\'s glaring at me.

"You did save her life, but then you kissed my lovely and precious daughter without her consent. I think that\'s more than enough payment for that, am I right? If I have to say it, you owe me for that."

I furrow my forehead.

"I kissed your daughter, not you. So why do I owe you for that? She didn\'t even bother about that, and she did kiss me on the cheeks after that."

*BUK*

My head moves on its own and I look back. The dagger that was on his table is now stuck on the wooden pillar behind me, and something is dripping on the wood, some kind of poison. I turn my head and look at Jariel while raising my eyebrows.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Jariel chuckle weakly while staring at me.

"No, my hand just slipped."

I squint my eyes and keep staring at him.

"You don\'t have any daggers or something sharp on you anymore, right?"

Jariel shrugs.

"I don\'t know. Even if there isn\'t, I can make one very quickly."

I sigh and grab [Ezira\'s Sickle] from my inventory and wraps its chain on my left hand while keep making eye contact with Jariel.

"Don\'t be surprised if my hand slipped as well."

Jariel scoffs and puts his legs on the table.

"Cheeky brat!"

I sigh and start writing the list again.

"Childish old man."

Jariel snorts and I chuckle while looking at each other.

I have written off a total of 104 names in the paper that are going to play an important role in the future. If there are other names that I forgot, I can update the list later, but I need to keep remembering the NPCs that I might have forgotten and put them on the list before the invasion started.

I give the list to Jariel and he reads the names thoroughly. He\'s humming and nodding and keeps looking at the names. Then he puts the paper on the table.

"Most of those people on the list. How did you know them? Even Avriel might have no idea about who these people are. How deep did you know?"

I raise my eyebrows and smile.

"You\'re not the only person who knows everything, Jariel. I just want them to be safe and survive the invasion, that\'s all. It\'s for the greater good."

I put a 50.000 Gold Coin in a bag on Jariel\'s table and it makes a cracking sound on the wooden table. He\'s surprised to see a massive bag of gold that is heavy enough to bend the table surface and almost break the table.

Jariel tries to lift the bag of gold and he looks at me with his eyes wide open.

"How much is this?!"

I tilt my head.

"50.000 Gold. Is that not enough?"

Jariel laughs and shakes his head while covering his face.

"This kid..."

Jariel then pointing at the bag of gold.

"Take it back. I don\'t need your money. I will do this for free because most of those people that are on the list are my allies. I don\'t know what is going to happen, but if you really think that something bad is going to happen, I will try to evacuate them all. I might gain new allies from the people on that list."

I\'m humming with understanding and then grab another bag of gold filled with 10.000 Gold coins. I put it on his table and the table just cracked. I\'m grimacing and Jariel is glaring at me. I grab the bigger bag of gold back into my inventory so slowly.

"Well, that should be fine, right? I don\'t want to ask you to do something without giving you anything in return."

Jariel grabs the bag of gold and shakes it. He nods.

"Yes, this much is more or less enough for the task."

I nod.

"Thanks. But, there might be a few extra names that I might have forgotten, so the list might increase."

Jariel nods.

"Don\'t worry. As long as you put the names on the paper, then it should be fine."

Avriel comes out from the shadow behind Jariel and grabs the list from his hand. Avriel is reading them and then looks at me.

"They are..."

I look at Avriel and raise my eyebrows.

"People that need to be evacuated from the Alliance Kingdom territory."

Avriel is humming with understanding and then looks at me.

"You asked father, but you didn\'t ask me? I\'m getting bored with my task."

I smile and nod.

"I know that. I was planning to look for you because I want to tell you that you don\'t have to be spying on Krestan from now on since it\'s not necessary anymore, and I can handle him myself. There\'s also something else I want you to do. Of course, I will pay for it."

Avriel chuckles and nods. She sits on the chair and crosses her legs.

"So, what is it?"

I lean on the wooden pillar and give another list to Avriel. She looks at the names that are written on the paper and then lifts it up and waving the paper.

"Only this much? Where\'s the rest of them?"

Jariel is sticking his hand out. Avriel gives the paper to Jariel and he starts reading the names on the list. He raises his eyebrow and laughs quietly. Avriel is confused and grabs the paper from Jariel\'s hand and reread it again.

Jariel is smiling and puffing his cigar while staring at me.

"Those names are not going to be evacuated I believe?"

I smirk and nod.

"You\'re right."

Avriel is furrowing her forehead. I look at Avriel and nod.

"That\'s right, I want you to assassinate them during the invasion. But, I want you to be very careful with those people. They\'re not just the usual target that you have been dealing with because their personal bodyguards are not ordinary people."

Avriel is humming with understanding.

"I see, then leave it to me. For the payment..."

Avriel stands up and approaches me. She leans toward my right ear and whispers.

"I want you to show me a place that I haven\'t been to after the mission is done. I want to look at the Orion with the other side of my eyes."

Her voice is too quiet that I\'m barely able to hear them, and the reason why she said it that way is that she doesn\'t want Jariel to listen to what she\'s saying, but I hear enough that I understand what she\'s talking about. I look at Avriel and nod. Avriel smirks and nods then go back to her sitting.

Jariel is glaring at me and then sighs while looking at Avriel.

"I will not allow you to go on a mission on your own this time. I will send my most trusted and skilled men to work under you during the mission because what he said to you earlier is not just a bluff and it\'s the truth. I don\'t want to see my daughter be in danger ever again."

Avriel nods with understanding.

"Yes, I understand, father."

I get up from the wooden pillar and look at both of them.

"So, everything is settled, right? Is there anything else you want to ask?"

They both shake their heads, and Jariel is waving the paper in his hand.

"Consider it done."

I smile and nod.

"Thank you. Both of you."