Chapter 7

In a small curtain filled room behind a popular bar in Mith village, a hooded figure handed a bald man a sack filled with coins.

"Hehe, you are true to your word." Worsh, the bald man spoke.

"Of course. You did your work perfectly. Now we just need to sit and watch!" The hooded figure,who was none other than an injury laden Locke showed his first smile.

"Your scheme is too devious. But did you expect that Herish Village will go so out of control?" Worsh asked.

Locke shook his head. "I'm not a god. I just lit the flame. The extent of the fire was a function of the already present stressors."

"Your words flew over my head. But I think I understand. The battlefield is completely out of control, according to my spy. Do you think the Baron will perish? Even the firstborn was brutally injured." Worsh mumbled as he took out the coins and gleefully played with them. They were gold coins, glistening like jewelry as he bit on them to check their authenticity.

"The Baron has hid his abilities well. However, making me an administrator's apprentice was a big mistake. I already know his secret. The Baron will win the battle, but I will win the war." Locke said with a smile. "Are you happy with your remunerations?"

"I'm certainly happy. But you see, this is just the remuneration for my incredible services. What about the remuneration for keeping it a secret? You know... A word slipping from my mouth can kill all your plans." Worsh grinned maliciously.

Locke shook his head and sighed. He suddenly began speaking in a tangent. "The apple is the most remarkable fruit. It was one of the most popular fruits back in my world. When I was reborn, I didn't quite expect that the apple was a fruit that existed in this world as well."

"Your words are going above my head again!" Worsh said, but he felt his throat turn dry and he felt thirsty. A slight burning feeling emerged on the back of his tongue along with a bitterness. He quickly sipped in a glass of water to alleviate that awkward feeling.

"You see, in my world children were always told to avoid eating too many apple seeds." Locke continued lecturing as if he hadn't heard Worsh's question. "Who'd have thought that one of the worst poisons to humans, Cyanide, could be extracted from ground apple seeds? Hmm? Are you feeling your body burn yet?"

Worsh's eyes were almost popping out of his sockets. His throat was clenched and his breathing was irregular. His hands were tightly clutching onto his chest. He was having a heart attack from cyanide poisoning. Soon he began to foam from his mouth as he fell to the floor.

"From the moment I met you, I knew you were unreliable. Your usefulness is now at an end, Baron Katich's spymaster, and you don't need to live on anymore." Locke declared nonchalantly as he saw Worsh's life fade away.

Locke ignored the dead body, grabbed the sack of gold coins and searched the room for a good fifteen minutes. Once he cleaned up the room of what he found valuable, he quietly left the area. From all the documents that Locke had found, he was satisfied that his identity had never been revealed to Baron Katich or any other individual.

The spymaster had value only by keeping the identities of their agents close to their chest. Or else, they were easily replaceable. This was to Locke's advantage. From the moment, he had learnt of Worsh's activities, coupled with his close analysis of the trade activities of the bar, Locke had pinpointed his identity.

This world was still primitive when it came to accounting and financial fraud. With a rather simplistic trade system, finding financial discrepancies that fit with the pattern of a spy network was not difficult for a person from Earth.

Baron Katich was Mith's neighbouring Barony. From his aggressive actions of putting in a profound spy network, it was clear to Locke, that he was quite an ambitious one as well.

There was another reason Locke had decided to eliminate Worsh. He now had control over the spymaster identity and could use it to inform Baron Katich. Locke quickly drafted a letter in the style of Worsh and left it for his information channel to deliver it to Katich. Locke was a little sad that this would be the only letter he would be able to send, for once the body was discovered things would unravel pretty quickly.

He filled in details about Trive's crime, the unrest in the Herish Village and about the three brothers. From Worsh's description, the three brothers seemed to be extremely powerful warriors despite having no training. He suggested that if the three brothers were captured instead of being killed, then the Baron can try to save them. Locke also declared that his identity as a spymaster might be compromised and as such, revealed his agent to be Philora, the Baroness.

Returning home, Locke was finding it hard to suppress his smile. Almost a year of planning had gone into this. While a lot of unexpected variables had cropped up, they all were in his favor anyway. His next step, was to become close to Trive.

---

In Herish Village, the Baron's troops were at an extremely vulnerable position. Surrounded, and facing with the prospect of potential death of himself and his son, the Baron decided it was time to unleash his secret.

A terrifying aura began erupting out of his body, crushing everyone around him with a formless pressure. His eyes began to glow white, corresponding to the glow that erupted on his sword. He rushed ahead like a rocket, slicing the terrified guards who had revolted, killing them all in one hit. Everyone on the scene was shocked.

The Baron overturned the battle in an instant, destroying any morale in the villager's side. With the exception of the three brothers. However, the other villagers dropped their weapons once the turncoat guards all died.

"Put down your weapons, or Herish Village will cease to exist." The exotic voice of the Baron warned while his body continued to exert formless pressure.

The guards were all exclaiming. "Knight! Lord Baron was actually a Knight all along!"