Chapter 9: Belief and Doubt

Chapter 9: Belief and Doubt

Teresa delivered Hank’s barley wine and then turned to leave.

She breathed a sigh of relief, noticing that the two men didn’t seem to be reaching an impasse.

“Come, let’s clink glasses!”

Shadow watched as Hank raised his cup.

Hank, hearing this, raised his own cup as well.

In the next moment, the two wooden cups clinked together in the air, causing a bit of wine to inevitably spill from Hank’s cup.

Then, both men took hearty swigs and placed their cups back down on the table.

“Haha, Your Excellency, you’re quite the sport!” Hank laughed, looking at Shadow.

To be honest, Shadow’s earlier demeanor didn’t quite match the vibe he gave off.

But there’s a saying—one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

“Nothing much, just going along with the local customs. When talking business with mercenaries like you, one must put some effort into the alcohol.”

“Indeed, for folks like us, drinking is an essential pleasure.”

Hank’s eyes revealed a hint of complexity as he spoke.

While it was a pleasure, more so, it was a way to numb themselves.

Mercenaries lived on the edge of a knife.

Perhaps at the next mission, some of them wouldn’t return.

Some might even face complete family tragedies—losing everything.

Shadow watched as Hank zoned out, not wanting to interrupt him, patiently waiting for his attention to return.

“Sorry, just got lost in thought for a moment.”

Hank quickly apologized as he came back to reality.

“Was it something important?”

“Quite important, but not urgent.”

Hank replied seriously.

“Then we still have time. After finishing the drink, could you accompany me to a place? This isn’t suitable for the discussion we need to have.”

Hank hesitated at these words.

He had dared to come over because he thought the other party wouldn’t cause a ruckus here, and there wasn’t much hostility from them.

But changing the venue on such short notice made him feel less brave.

To put it bluntly, he was genuinely afraid of the other party.

Their strength was formidable.

“I understand your concerns. All I can say is that I won’t harm you. I just want to ask you a few questions to gather some information.”

Shadow explained.

If possible, he didn’t want to escalate matters.

The dark world had its own rules.

Killing without reason was frowned upon, even in such a realm.

“You probably need a place where we can talk!”

“Sure, if you can arrange it, I don’t mind.”

Shadow said casually.

Although he felt a bit impatient with Hank’s caution, he understood.

These mercenaries, while not afraid of death and leading a life on the edge, were also very cautious about their lives at times.

“Alright!”

With that, Hank had no reason to refuse and nodded in agreement.

Soon after, with Teresa leading the way, they entered a well-soundproofed small room in the tavern.

“How about here?”

Once seated, Hank asked Shadow.

At this moment, Teresa had kindly left to close the door behind them.

“Perfect!”

Shadow surveyed the surroundings and nodded lightly.

“Your Excellency can ask your questions now.”

“Alright!”

As Shadow agreed, the atmosphere in the room turned serious.

Shadow looked at Hank and continued, “So, let me ask you, did you encounter a girl named Ailia, the magical girl, here over a year ago?”

Upon hearing Ailia’s name, Hank’s expression changed drastically.

He hesitated, unsure whether to speak up.

“Heh—! Looks like you’ve met her.”

Noticing Hank’s indecision, Shadow chuckled.

“Don’t think about lying to me; I’m watching every move you make. To put it bluntly, I can read your thoughts right now.”

Hank appeared dejected upon hearing this, then, seemingly having made up his mind, blurted out, “Lady Ailia once helped our Blue Whale Mercenary Group, and I won’t betray her!”

Seeing Hank like this, Shadow shook his head, “I think you’ve misunderstood something. I don’t intend to harm Miss Ailia; I was entrusted to find her. The person who sent me is none other than Miss Ailia’s lover, who is quite worried about her.”

“And conveniently, you seem to have clues, so I came here.”

“What you mean is that Lady Ailia is missing?”

“Exactly. She’s vanished. Miss Ailia’s lover is quite anxious, so he commissioned me to find her.”

Shadow further explained to Hank.

Hank frowned slightly.

He wasn’t sure whether to trust this mysterious figure before him.

While the other seemed sincere, it shouldn’t be difficult for someone like that to feign sincerity.

Shadow noticed Hank’s struggle and felt a headache coming on.

Unless necessary, he didn’t want to resort to coercive measures.

Especially after starting a partnership with Arthur, he had begun preparing to return to the light world, and some of his ways of operating naturally needed to change.

This was all part of the adaptation process.

Remembering all this, Shadow broke the silence, “Mr. Hank, my sudden visit might have caught you off guard. You can take some time to think about whether to trust me. However, I must warn you that Miss Ailia is truly missing, and the longer this drags on, the more dangerous it becomes for her.”

The earlier part of his statement relaxed Hank, but the latter part caused his heart to race.

If what this person before him was saying was true, then Lady Ailia could die because of him.

Thinking of the girl who made such a deep impression on him, Hank felt conflicted.

In the end, it boiled down to his lack of understanding of the Shadow and whether he should trust him.

Seeing Hank’s inner struggle, Shadow continued with a strategy of retreating to advance: “Mr. Hank, you can leave now. I hope you’ll reflect carefully.”

“Can I ask who this Ailia’s lover is?” Hank didn’t leave but instead inquired of Shadow.

Suddenly he thought of this breakthrough question.

“About him, you probably have heard of him, or even seen him. He was once a lone wolf mercenary and is now a renowned general in Machia, known as Axi.”

“So, it’s Lord Axi!”

Hank’s trust in Shadow increased significantly.

Considering how Ailia left with Axi and the snippets of news he had about the two, it indeed seemed they could have developed a romantic relationship.

Moreover, it validated Shadow’s claim about Ailia’s disappearance.

That was, after Ailia joined them for a trip to Avalon, there had been no news of Axi and Ailia being seen together again.

Could it be that Lady Ailia was trapped in Avalon? Were those elves holding her captive?