Chapter 159

An eerie silence descended on the room as the scroll was placed on the table. Showing their professionalism neither the captain nor the guard changed their expressions when Ajax reached inside his inner pocket and pulled out the contract, Ajax did feel the grip that had never left his shoulder since he first met the guard dig into his shoulder much deeper when he reached inside his tunic.

The rest of the room wasn’t so composed, the fat man visibly aged as he looked at the scroll with horror and recognition. His mouth opened wide from his previous remarks still ready to condemn Ajax now just flapped soundlessly. As for Ajax’s own lawyer her subtle defeated expression was now replaced with interest as she quickly rolled the scroll open and started reading through it.

The second biggest change however, following closely the one displayed by Steelboot’s representative, was seen in the woman wearing the sigil of the royal family. Her aloof expression now looked predatory as her eyes flickered from the scroll to Ajax in surprise before a hungry grin spread over her face as she looked towards the Steelboot’s representative.

“What is that?” the captain’s voice didn’t change from the same cold ruthless tone he’d had before.

“That is a contract the five missing people attempted to force me into signing.” Ajax answered promptly.

“Please place your hand on the table when giving a response.” The captain said, showing no other reaction to the statement.

Ajax did as he was instructed and repeated the same sentence. The crystal in the middle of the table shone blue once more marking his words as the truth.

“This should be enough to clear Mr. Ajax of all charges.” Ajax’s lawyer finally entered the conversation as she finished reading the document, her face caught in a mix between outrage at the audacity of House Steelboot and relief at the turn the future of the case took.

“Ajax wasn’t charged with anything,” The captain continued, though he did take the time to motion to the guard that had been holding on to Ajax’s shoulder and have him secure house Steelboot’s representative instead. “ If you could describe to us what happened.” he addressed Ajax.

Before Ajax had a chance to respond the woman wearing the sigil of the royal family audibly dragged her chair from the corner of the room to Ajax’s other side before leaning in closer and seductively saying “ And please be as descriptive as possible.”

“About eight days ago, as I entered the forest looking to complete a mission five men stepped out from behind the first few trees and held out this contract, their exact words were ‘We’re here to make you an offer to join the house of Baron Steelboot. An offer you can’t refuse.’” Ajax said, taking a moment to recall the exact words. The crystal’s blue hue that had been dimming since Ajax’s previous statement brightened back up.

“Did you hear that, ‘An offer he can’t refuse’” The bubbly woman to his left said in a giddy voice towards the man whose skin turned whiter by the second.

“Lady Beatrice, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from interrupting until I have his initial statement.” The captain said, making Lady Beatrice pout at him. “ Please, continue” he said as he turned back to Ajax.

“I declined their offer and moved to go around them when they reached for their weapons, at which point I sprinted deeper into the forest.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Is it at this point that you lost them?” the captain prompted.

“I didn’t lose them” Ajax denied “They kept up a close pursuit for close to half an hour before I stopped to catch my breath in a small clearing. Upon catching up to me they moved to surround me as their leader struck out with his mace. Upon being attacked I defended myself and killed them.”

The tension in the room mounted instantly, both women at his sides leaned away from him while the captain’s frown deepened more than Ajax thought possible as his eye flickered from Ajax to the crystal and back again. The biggest reaction however was shown by the fat man who seemed to have gained a second wind.

“Liar!!!” he shouted “Those men were in their mid forties, how could a level thirty-two best them!?”

“Sir, I will have to ask you to restrain yourself, if you can’t George here will do it for you.” the captain said without taking his eyes off Ajax. Ajax did notice that George’s grip on the man’s shoulder tightened, he also noticed the captain’s hand move under the table and not two seconds later two more guards stepped in and were directed to simply close the door and take a position in the corners behind Ajax.

“What happened next?” Beatrice asked, her voice betraying her curiosity at the unexpected development.

“I looted them of their gear and continued on my mission.” Ajax answered.

“Do you know what happened to the bodies?” the captain asked.

“Last I saw them a few wolves were approaching through the trees.” Ajax tactfully worded his answer, despite that there was a small flutter in the crystal that the captain didn’t miss.

“And what were your thoughts at the time?” he asked and Ajax did everything he could not to show his worry as he thought of how to answer the question.

“My clients thoughts are beyond the scope of a simple inquiry captain, he told you what happened. A small village boy’s impressions of nobility in such a circumstance should not be held against him, only his actions matter.” The old lawyer stepped in much to Ajax relief.

“A charge of theft could be leveraged as the facts stand.” The captain gruffly said after a moment of silence.

“Theft is a step too far, I would argue his actions were simply that of battle salvage.” the lawyer instantly responded having anticipated the accusation. “Say Ajax, was any of your equipment damaged during the fight?” She asked.

“Yes.” Ajax immediately answered thinking of his ruined arrow and the cracked and chipped sword.

“There you have it captain.” Lady Beatrice pushed to move things along.”Though I can’t say I approve of his actions they seem more than justified. I would propose that we limit his recompense to the gear he looted, this is my official suggestion on the matter.”

“While I hate accepting such a quick resort to killing, I agree the circumstances do speak for themselves. I’m willing to agree with your suggestion, provided Ajax here pays taxes on the gear he looted should he ever deem to sell any of it.” The captain said with a reluctant sigh.

Ajax’s impression of the captain was that he was a man of integrity who looked to enforce the law. He could also feel the man’s aversion to murder as that was the only issue the man seemed to hold against Ajax, commenting on the looting only because it was the only suitable way for him to chastise Ajax for his actions.

“Can we now get to finding out more about the reason why those men were out there in the first place?” her predatory smile was back though she maintained her distance from Ajax. “The law should be very clear on the matter of forced recruitment.”

Whereas his interrogation may have felt a lot longer to him personally Ajax had no doubt it didn’t take longer than twenty maybe thirty minutes all told. The next few hours however felt like pulling teeth as both Captain Jacobs and Lady Beatrix questioned the fat man Ajax learned was called Douglas Steelboot.

Unlike when Ajax was questioned, Douglas had the crystal embedded in the table go through a full spectrum of colors, from a light orange to a pale blue and with some spots of clear blue when denying some of Beatrix’s conjectures of the events that took place. It all ended when Beatrix tricked a direct answer out of him that was enough to create a clear link between the actions of the five and a direct order given by House Steelboot.

“The royal family will deal with this matter further, thank you for your assistance in ridding our kingdom of corruption, Ajax.” Lady Beatrix said, her face split by a smile only slightly marred by the hours of interrogation. “If you’d like I’d be more than happy to put in a word for you and see you move up in the Healing Union or a position working for the royal family.”

The last was a whisper Ajax felt was intended only for him though he had no doubt at least the captain also heard it, she also slipped a piece of paper into his hands as she, Douglas and George departed.

Ajax was released soon after though not before getting two separate speeches, one from his lawyer and one from the captain about how he shouldn’t be too quick to deal with his problems with such finality in the future. Both had let him know that they knew he could have left the five alive should he have chosen to.

With the matter finally closed, as far as he was concerned at least, Ajax headed off towards the noble section. He’d hope to get Hatchet’s take on his new reward and also ask Luna about any achievement that she knew of that he could use to take advantage of his unique circumstance.