Rise of the Godking - Chapter 176

Chapter 176 - A Flying Wrench(2)

Getting up from a chair that creaked under his weight, Alex belched out another burp and tried not to wince inwardly as the guard right in front of him to whom the nasty smell of food being digested had reached grimaced, then tried hard to hide that expression under the innocuous face of someone loyally on duty.

Guffawing to himself, as was expected from an arrogant guest from the mainland, he walked, or rather, rolled to the door nearby behind which lay the bathroom.

Mors was sitting on one of the chairs in the large foyer of the veritable mansion that the two of them had been given while they waited to be taken to the ruling table of the Ushanbos. This galled him, of course, so he was making himself happy by taking out his irritation on the guards in various, innovative methods.

Not much time had passed since they had arrived onto the welcome island of the Empire. After going through the data provided by the elf, the three of them had latched onto a certain family known for its bizarre ways.

The plan was clever, like most spun up by Dan. Many times, Alex found himself wishing that he could take apart the man's brain and see what kind of special sauce was required to enable one to be capable of being so creative. It all hinged on a single assumption: anyone on the islands would rather act safely and be cheated, rather than take a risk and find themselves in major trouble by treading on the toes of people they couldn't touch.

Just like the Ushanbos, the family he was supposed to be from were simply called by their name, the Natarians. They were famous for being eccentric, so much so that they were treated with fear and caution no matter where they went. Stories had apparently spread, somehow, all over the Mainland regarding instances where just coughing in their presence had led to people dying, or worse. Hence, they were betting on the outcome with the highest probability: the Ushanbos would treat them with the utmost respect, see them off, then later try desperately to verify whether they had been visited by a scammer, or someone who was really from the family.

Such verification required time and resources. Hence, at the least, they would have a few days where they could frolic around the Empire, doing what they wished with the armor of the notorious family around them.

As he walked out of the bathroom and felt his gaze fall upon all the gold ornaments richly lining the walls and the tables of their residence, Alex felt his hands twitch, again. Forcefully, he clamped down on them as thievery would definitely expose the fact that they were not who they claimed to be in just a single second. He had already had a close shave when he had seen a fat purse dangling from a different guest on the welcome island, and only at the last moment, he had been able to control himself and save their disguise from being blown.

This wasn't because he didn't trust his skills, no… they were perfect. No one would be able to find out who had done it even if they searched for weeks…so the only reason behind Alex's caution and fear was Dan's claim that the Empire has strength in sorcery.

Magic had always been his bane. He had only been caught a couple of times, and in all those instances, it had only happened because of this unseen, incredible force that he could not touch or even begin to understand. Here, in such a sensitive mission, he couldn't possibly risk the lives of his companions for a little bit of money, so while grumbling inwardly, he had kept his hands to himself.

After losing sight of Dan who had been taken away to join the other slaves where he could hopefully obtain all the answers he was looking for, the two of them had been ushered directly to this guesthouse. The table had been filled with delicacies, so true to the nature that was expected of him, he had gobbled down plate after plate until he was well past his limit, consuming far more than what he would have been capable of eating on any normal day, and he was paying the price now as he felt his stomach rebel, threatening to spew up all the contents he had stuffed into it.

Sitting back down in his chair, he settled in for a few long days of pretending to be someone he wasn't. Dan had understood him well; although he was an expert in tasks like these, he hated being in a position where he could steal so much, but couldn't touch anything if he wanted to keep his head on his neck.

All he had done was arrive, eat, then go to the bathroom. It already felt as if a long time has passed, so with a weary sigh, he started to tell himself that he should buck up and take one for the team by not bitching about such a safe mission.

That was when it happened. The door banged open, making the elf shoot to his feet while the guards all turned their pikes to point at the newcomer. Stones had been placed above his abdomen to give the illusion of him being as heavy as he looked, so Alex had to struggle to his feet.

By the time he did, the dust surrounding whoever had arrived in such a rude fashion had started to settle. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to lambast whoever had the gall to disturb them in this way..but the instant the face of the large man became apparent, the four guards positioned inside the guesthouse let out gasps, then turned their pikes so that they were all facing the two of them.

Shock and indignation coursed through him. He was faking none of the anger that led him to open his mouth and sputter out all sorts of curses that only the lowliest dweller of a shithole of an island could know, but there was nothing he could do when the sound of something flying through the air reached him, and he felt something solid connect with the side of his head.

He went down in a heap. Before he lost consciousness, he saw the elf fall to the floor, too, but right as darkness swept over, he saw the pointy-eared idealist wink at him.

Everything was happening too quickly and too abruptly for him to even form coherent thoughts. Still, he did feel glad when he saw that hint, though; it was a clear signal that the elf was only faking unconsciousness. If something was going to happen to them, he would step in, so at the least, Alex could be sure that he wouldn't lose his life before he could open his eyes again.

As he began to drift away, though, he found himself wondering what the hell had gone wrong. All of the plans that Dan had laid so far had gone almost perfectly, and they all had the common aspect of taking things slowly and cautiously at the beginning, then ramping up towards the end. Alex had been expecting even this one to go in the exact same manner; hell, he had even prepared to try and enjoy himself and get a well-deserved rest after all that exertion on Graiton. Contrary to everything they had laid out, though, the worst case had come to be so quickly…so what were they going to do now?

An unknown amount of time later, he came awake to someone slapping his face gently. Blinking, still in the grip of grogginess, he spat out the question he had gone under while thinking of.

"What…happened?"

The answer made him snap his head up, then wonder if this was a fever dream.

"Oh, nothing too serious.. Your fake slave friend, here, prodded our Emperor right in the ass. He doesn't swing that way, so…here you are!"