After waking up crying, William stood up from his place and started walking along the village road.
A few minutes pass by after walking until he crosses paths with a man. That man was the same person with the silver hair, lightning tattoo on his left side of neck and a long silver sword at his side. He was the same person who saved William from village guards' beatings.
William didn't know who the silver knight was when he crossed paths with him because William was unconscious during his first confrontation with the silver knight.
But the silver knight at first recognised William after crossing paths with him. So he rushed back, ran a few steps and ordered William to stop at once with a serious expression.
—Stop here at once, If you run, I will personally drag your dumass to the guard outpost.
William after hearing what the silver knight said lost his composure and tried to run away but silver knight with his quick speed knocked him out using light knockout punch by going in front of him.
After the knockout, something strange happens. The strange thing was everything that had happened after the silver knight's order to William was all in William's head.
—What the hell did I just imagine just now?
—The imagination of me getting knocked out by him came in my head out of nowhere and it was so real.
—It's strange and weird as if my own senses are telling me to do what this guy asks of me.
William felt confused and had a gut feeling if he did not comply with silver knight's order to come with him then he would be knocked out by a punch. So he decided to do as the silver knight says.
—Ok whatever you say and your name?
After hearing the reply from William, silver knight stated his name.
—I am the sword that protects the Dragona kingdom.
—People call me Jason Silva the silver lightning knight, captain of the knight order and right hand of the knight king Arthur Pendragon.
William was surprised to know that such big shot would be in some village and felt received to go with his gut.
William wanted to ask another question why Jason Silva was in place like this. So he proceeded to ask the question in such a way that Jason Silva wouldn't take it as a obvious question but as a compliment.
—Its surprising to see someone like you in a place like this without any good reason sir Jason.
Upon hearing the obvious tricky tactic of extracting information, Jason Silva got a bit irritated. So he decided to deduce every bit of information about him by looking at William's appearance and describing it to him on face while giving him option wather he decides to tell him what he knows by being tortured or not. But before that Jason asks his name.
William replied his name but not his real one but the name who he believes to be the owner of his new body who looks exactly like him.
—Mars.
—Mars Hailstorm.
Upon hearing the name Jason Silva felt that he heard the Hailstorm surname before but decides not to pay attention to it but in case decided to remember it.
—Your name, Mars Hailstorm you say.
—I see right through you.
—First when you entered the village, you were covered in cuts, bruses, and bloodied clothes. At that time after smelling you in such a state I deduced you were near dead bodies.
—Whether you killed the people before that time is still a question but most important your eyes and behavior are more like someone who does not have a desire to live but keeps on living for sake of being alive.
—About how you got those cuts and brouses, because you were walking through the dense forest of Bacio, a forest near the village for approximately 5 hours of walking and looking at your shocked face I can say that you have no idea where you are. It's almost like you know nothing of this world.
—And at last your face is covered in tear marks. About 20 minutes ago you were crying. Don't know you were crying because you miss your home, mother, father, someone or you had a nightmare before waking up.
—Am I right or wrong?
After hearing what Jason Silva said made William shocked to the point he started fearing him. William realises that even if he tried to avoid him it is impossible knowing if Jason can deduce and extract information by looking just by looking at people then it wouldn't be far off if he can find him even if he hides somewhere from Jason silva.
Looking at shocked and alerted face of William made Jason Silva confirm of his estimations. Then he started laughing while asking William to not be not afraid of him.
—hahahahahahaha!!!
—Never seen someone like you who was trying to extract information by using indirect questioning against the knight who is trained in the art of deduction and info gathering.
—Even a big idiot with common sense knows about the most important quality of being a knight. Not only in this kingdom but all other kingdoms.
—So it was really correct you were ignorant of this world.
—hahahahahahaha!!!
While Jason Silva was laughing, people walking passing by started giving him weird looks. so he stopped laughing and told William to come with him to the guard outpost for questioning. He also told William not to pull any funny moves.
—Looks like this isn't the place so come with me.
—What was your name again?
—Marsh..... Yeh Mars, don't try to be oversmart and get yourself to be knocked out by it.
William after hearing this agreed and started walking with Jason Silva to the guard outpost. While walking William was surprised to know that Jason knocking him out wasn't just a daydream but he really was planning to knock him out if had he tried to run away or pulled any funny moves.
William was devastated by Jason's perception and his nag for extracting information from tiniest of what has presented to him.
He was terrifying in a sense yet at the same time chrismatic. William decided to learn from this experience and not to repeat the same mistake of presenting himself as a open book to read in a world he has yet to know about.
After half an hour of walking they reached the guard outpost.
Outside the outpost building there were two low ranking guards were guarding the entrence and Jason Silva ordered the guards there to escort William to the investigation room at the basement.
Jason asked William to go with them and he agreed by saying okay.
While William as being escorted to the investigation room inside the outpost building basement at the same time Jason got the telepathic call from the person on the other side.
The person on the other side asked Jason if the person in question could really help to get the lead on the Azatoth believers or if the person is connected to them somehow then how Jason would proceed to get him to talk.
Jason knew the obvious way to get what they want is torture and strict interrogation techniques. But Jason knew about the one critical detail that those methods won't be needed because because he was always a good judge of a character.
Good or bad no that actually never mattered to Jason. For him a criminal can be a good person without a clear background and a normal person who is not a criminal can be a bad person.
Jason's answer was clear to the person on the other side.
—I guess sometimes you should be in person rather than locked up 24/7 in your room in the kingdom's HQ to atleast know the difference between getting what you want after seeing something and trying it yourself to know how stupid your choice is.
The person on the other side annoyingly told him ''enough with the sarcasm and submit the report after the investigation''.
Jason assured him he would do that after and disconnected himself form the telepathic call.
Now both are Jason and William are in the same room. Jason asks the question about everything he deduced of William while back.
—Tell me why you were covered in small of the dead back when you entered the village?
William didn't know how to answer the question without Jason not believing if it's the truth. So he decided to go with the answer anyway risking himself to get Improsiond because of the fake murder accusation.
—Here is my answer.
—I was unconscious and did not remember any details but I was a traveler.
—I ate something strange and found myself surrounded by dismembered bead bodies covered in blood inside the forest in a ditch.
Upon hearing the answer Jason clearly knew William was lying about being a traveler. The story didn't make sense, critical details were missing and it didn't mention some clues about the Azatoth believers or cult activities. He had no choice but to imprison William after the investigation and the examination of the crime scene thus making him a criminal.
Jason knew time was running out and he wasted almost five months on the hunt for the cult of Azatoth believers.
King Author who had interested this task to Jason and now without anything going forward believes he has to give up, disappoint his majesty and leave everything to luck that nothing serious happens to the kingdom because of those who are hiding their existence making the knights of the Dragona kingdom fools for chasing the ghosts that doesn't exist.
Just as Jason was about to close the investigation William mentioned a strange person covered in black.
—Well I forgot to mention a strange person who wore black cloak.
—Although I don't remember much but I saw him throwing a head of a person inside the ditch.
Upon hearing, Jason started laughing of hope he felt after. Although he knew it might be also a lie but he decided to follow through anyway.
—Okay let's go to the crime scene.
Jason called a few guards inside and told them to ask for the permission from the chief of the guards to get horses and some professional men to accompany him to the scene of the crime outside the village in Bacio forest.
William was confused and thought Jason wouldn't believe him and throw him into the prison but instead decided to believe him. This left William speeches and decided go through it.
Half an hour later a guard came and told Jason that his permission was granted. Upon hearing it Jason asks William to accompany him. When both were outside there were two men and three horses ready.
The first person was a bearded old man with an eye patch, left arm missing and tall and muscular built especially right arm, shoulders and legs.
The other person was a bit short compared to the old man but he had sharp eyes, long black hair and a black bandana on his forehead. He had a thin built compared to the old man.
Both people had their weapons of choice, the old man had a longsword and the short person had daggeers on his sides.
Jason asks both for their names with both replying one after another. First the old man and other the short guy.
—My name is Elbel and people call me the immortal old man who wouldn't die.
—My name is Noldil and unlike the old man they call me the Hawkeye.
After stating their names Elbel and Noldil stares each other like they were about to throw hands. Even Jason noticed this and told them to calm down. But they ignored Jason and started arguing who is better. Old man Elbel shows his dissatisfaction about today's generation and Noldil calls the old man the one who is still pending on death God's register book.
Jason clearly didn't like to be ignored so he ordered them to shut up and follow his orders.
Jason was ignored again.
While the old man Elbel and Noldil were arguing with each other, they suddenly sudden pressure of strong and dense magical aura of Jason which was strong enough to get them to their knees. They were unable to move as if the gravity were doubled by ten times the normal. They vomited because how sick they felt of the magical aura of Jason and asked him to stop. They will do whatever he asks of them.
—Now both listen we are going to the scene of crime for investigation and until it is concluded I don't want to see you two ignore my orders.
At first they hesitated but they gave in and accepted whatever Jason asked of them.
—We accept whatever you order us to.
—Please stop unleashing your monstrous magical aura on us. We know you are strong.
—Stop it please!!!
Upon hearing them submit, Jason stopped releasing his dense magical aura. When he stooped, Elbel and Noldil felt releaved. They were covered in sweat and vomit so Jason asks them to take a bath and come here after that.
Both agreed to Jason and went to take a bath at the village bath house located in its centre.
They clearly despised Jason for being a knight especially the old man Elbel. For them knights were nothing but a bunch arrogant people on a power trip. Knights were corrupt to the core atleast most of them with a few exception.
The knighthood and the order of the knights were created about a thousand years ago in every kingdom of the super continent of Proximia to boost power struggle. However they were knights only in name. They were mostly consisted of powerful individuals with thrist for battle and conquest. The knights were above law because of how powerful they were that made them being despised by everyone. Even the kings of each kingdom agreed on this issue but refused to talk about it for sake of mentaining power balance.
To this day this day this issue was overlooked but laws were created to limit the power of kights and the knight orders of each kingdom through the treaty between many kingdoms by issuing how many knight would be in knight order and making them civil servants. This dude not change much, knights were still despised to this day, the only thing that changed were only the absolute strongest in terms of power and accomplishments were given the title of knight based on top ten rankings. Anyone can be a knight as long as it benefits the kingdoms. Good and evil never mattered as long as merit was involved. One can be a asshole to the king and the kingdom and still be a knight.
After oldman Elbel and short guy Noldil finished their bath and changed clothes, they rushed back to Jason and William to start their journey towards the the crime scene inside the Bacio forest.
As usual both were arguing who was better along the way to the crime scene.
Short guy Noldil— It's all your fault old man. If would've told me who would I be working for, I never would've come.
Oldman Elbel— It's not like I knew it better but to blame the past is blaming yourself for your own shortcomings. Even a oldman like me make mistakes sometimes.
Jason was annoyed and ordered them to shut up and follow the directions William is giving.
—Every time when I turn my back you both are on each other's throat for some reason.
—This is the last warning. If not complied well, You both will be on the same page as before.
—Follow this guy who's name is Mars back on my house beside me giving the direction towards the destination.
Upon hearing the warning, they both kept their mouth shut knowing how miserable it felt when Jason unleashed his magical aura on them.
Two hours passby and it took less time because they were riding horses.
When they reached the destination, everyone got off their horses and everyone covered their nose because the area was covered in the smell of the dead. The steanch of the rot was so strong that it made Noldil nauseous and lighthearted.
William pointed at the location of the ditch. They were far so it was difficult to see inside it.
—There is the ditch I was in when I was unconscious.
Everyone walked few steps until they reached the ditch. When they looked inside, it was pure horror. The bodies inside were brutally dismembered pieces of individual organs, arms, torsos, heads, pieces of legs and eyeballs submerged in the pool of blood.
Even William was surprised not to notice this when he was transferred to this world. It also surprising for Jason and Oldman Elbel because even in the battlefield the amount of brutality was not even comparable to this scene of horror.
When Noldil looked at the dead faces in the ditch that looked like they died in pain and agony. This made him throw up and felt sick afterwards.
The old man Elbel asked Noldil, if he's okay. Noldil calmly replied about his experience with the dead.
—It's my second time feeling this emotion.
—I have experienced death and gore in the battlefield but none as cruel as this.
—I still remember the day when I had my first kill and I vomited afterwards. It made me loose my mind and took my a month to recover from psychological damage. It was hard to sleep because of the nightmares.
—I don't think I won't be able to sleep peacefully at night.
Jason orders them to compose themselves because there is still the matter of investigation to find who did this and why.
Upon Jason finished what he was saying, William had a vision of everyone being chopped in two pieces from behind their backs by a slash.
Out of pure instinct, William told everyone to tuck down in hurry. Everyone felt what was going to happen to them and they tucked down upon hearing William's warning.
Their choice to tuck down was right before a horizontal slash could even cut them into two pieces from behind.
The attack's damage was devastating. Around half of the forest's trees were cut around one kilometers radius in front of them.
Jason was surprised of the attack's potentcy. He deduced it was strong enough to destroy a kingdom and even seriously injure him when is considered the strongest in the kingdom of Dragona next to the King Aurthor Pendragon.
What was even more surprising to Jason was William's ability to be able to sense the attack that even the strongest knight like him wasn't able to detect.
William again had the vision where the person covered in black cloak appears.
Jason asks William, ''how you predict his attack despite being no more ordinary than a normal human in terms of magical power? ''. But William said, ''it's not the time things are about to get series.''
A few seconds later everyone senses a strong presence of a person with dense magical aura. Everyone were on their knees except William himself. Everyone were surprised seeing that but they knew it was not the time thinking that.
Jason and the Oldman Elbel regained his composure but Noldil was still on the ground because of the horrific black magical aura being unleashed by person in black cloak.
Jason and the Oldman didn't even blame Noldil for this.
Both unsheathed their swords and Jason orders William to take Noldil away near a safe distance.
William agrees and does what he was ordered.
Jason asks the Oldman not to hold back and the Oldman asks the same in return.
Jason Silva— This fight might be the last fight we fight do don't hold back Noldil.
Oldman Elbel— Same is said.
Upon exchanging words. Both took their stances readying their longswords and attacks the person covered in black cloak while screaming the battlecry.
//(Next chapter will be soon) //