A turn of events

Like Jay had expected, Kendra resumed to interrogating him after he countered her first question.

Squinting her eyes she slightly leaned forward onto the table so her bust lay on it. But Jay had no time to admire her plentiful bosom.

"Then what happened to the escort we lent you for your trip to the mines? As the Noble man hadn't come back I suspect you can at least tell me this?" K.

"I am sincerely sorry, but I cannot tell you anything about this. The friendly guide had simply vanished at some point after I went into a small side passage. Afterwards I tried to find the exit…" J.

"If so, then why did you stay down there for over two days?" K.

"What? I've been down there this long?" J.

"Couldn't you have simply asked some miners?" B.

There was the question he had been waiting for. The one that would press him hard for an answer.

But Jay hadn't expected it to come from Lady Brittany.

"Sure, I did that. But they weren't really helpful. Some of them didn't even respond at all." J.

"So, what did you do the whole time down there then?" K.

"As I had said from the beginning I wanted to see the whole mine, so I tried to reach the end of it.

My orientation had never been the best and underground it seems to be even worse. But the mines are way deeper than thought…" J.

"Then how far did you reach after that much time?" B.

"The deepest part of course. I always reach that…" J.

The last part he said directly to Lady Brittany with a playful look in his eyes. Hers though unexpectedly turned sharp to that and Lady Kendra raised a brow.

He was a bit surprised no one ever asked about what he eaten or drunken down there in the mines. But considering the altered physical constitution thanks to magic and status, it may have not been that much of a pressing matter.

The women then resumed to their questioning and Jay had to dismiss thoughts that would sidetrack him.

"What did you find at the end then?" B.

"What did you expect me to find there? ...It simply didn't go any further." J.

"Did you see anything new or interesting down there?" K.

"Well, a lot of things I guess, but again, what did you expect me to see? Could it be you are hiding something in the mines and didn't expect me to reach down there?" J.

Both their eyes shot open to Jay question he had asked in a joking tone.

Though he knew that was exactly what they had been doing, he hoped them to believe he had not the slightest idea. And then the two women nearly simultaneously cleared their throats, only to then started laughing.

But that stopped all to sudden again and Kendra looked from directly into Jay's bright eyes over to Kendra.

"I can expect a public judgment on the central plaza for tomorrow morning, right?" K.

"That should not be a problem, but why public?" B.

"Isn't that obvious? This man surely is a spy from the south, even though he looks quite young. A mere Adventurer wouldn't dare to mingle with politics or business companies, let alone dare to disrespect a noble…" K.

"Then I will see to this matter." B.

Without waiting any longer the two women rose from their seats and went towards the door.

Jay hadn't gotten any chance to further talk in between their charade, but it didn't really bother him. The only uncertainty he still had, clarified in the next minute as well.

As Brittany and Kendra were about to leave through the door open he could hear the former ask if it wouldn't be best to check on the mines directly.

To that the latter answered that there was no need as she had not heard any alarm nor gotten notified from deep down. She would send her men to check once she was back from the tower where she would go after his…

At that point the door shut but Jay was pretty sure of what she said. The women had already been talking as if he no longer existed.

The thought about bursting his cuffs and killing his way out of there crossed Jay's mind, but that would have ruined the whole work he had invested until then. Moreover, he didn't know his chances for sure and to top that off, he would endanger numerous slaves and possibly even his own life.

Again a few minutes later, two relatively shabby looking guards came in from the door through which Jay had been brought there and took him with them. They pulled him down a dark corridor and threw him into a cell with no window.

There was nothing inside the cell.

No bed or straw to sleep on, not even a bucket for private business. Only the smell of a wet basement, human sweat and feces lingered about. After the thick door shut behind Jay he looked around to find a relatively clean spot and sat down.

With nothing to do and surrounded by complete darkness, Jay decided to check his gains from the death mines. Aside from the levels he had gained, some nice income and the collection of items, Jay integrated some really good skills to boost his own:

His [Shooting] went all the way from level 2 to 4 thanks to a certain dark haired beauty, even though his [Dagger] skill didn't change at all. That was true for his [Trickery] as well, but his time with Vanessa had granted him a rise by one level for [Hide] and [Poison], bringing them to Level 4 and 3 respectively.

The biggest boon went to [Commanding] as it got boosted by both of the young women. It jumped from Level 2 to 4 and even granted another Ability called (Rallying Howl). This one increased the Agility for allies within a certain distance by a good margin, but it was hard to find out from who this shout had come.

Smiling as he read the skills he got from Arya, Jay thought they really fitted her all to well. Aside from the [Commanding] skill she had, Jay could boost his [Persuasion LVL 4], [Gossip LVL3] and [Haggling LVL 3] all by one level each.

Last but not least there was [Fire magic]. It went up a whopping two levels and made it again the highest magic type Jay had with level 7.

Happy with what he found out and that he could spend quite some time with this, Jay decided to close his eyes and sleep a bit. The last night he had again gotten no sleep at all and his body was still a bit weary from that little excursion he had been on.

As the next day was bound to be quite eventful and everything was set, he leaned his head back against the hard and wet wall until he drifted off into a light sleep. It was a dreamless and peaceful sleep that he got woken from not even two hours later.

The door to the cell got flung open and the light of magic lamps shone directly into his eyes.

Jay had been prepared for a bit of mishandling and even a bit of torture when he got brought out of the interrogation room. But after he had spent some time in the dark cell, he thought that was something he wouldn't have to endure.

Startled by the sudden visit he tried to see who had come and what would happen.

When the door shut again and a single person remained inside, Jay could first hear her snorting at the smell.

When she held the lamp a bit to the side, he finally made out Lady Brittany standing there hulled in a dark hooded robe.

"You seem pretty calm for a man about to die…" B.

"Would it help, me throwing a tantrum?" J.

"...No. But if you told me something it possibly would. Do you remember me telling about my daughter? Did you find her?" B.

"Then, what if I had?" J.

"I'd try to sneak you out of here. So, did you find her? Was she well?" B.

Pondering about whether there really was some decency left in that woman or if she was playing her role all to well, Jay didn't show it on his face. There was no use helping her even if she was sincere in this, so he rose his head with a scheming grin.

"I fear there is no chance for further revelations anymore. I can only hope for justice to come tomorrow…" J.

He saw her face cramp to his remark, even though he got blinded by the magic lamp. Snorting once the mature woman turned around and left the cell without a single word. But Jay had seen her eyes displaying true despair the moment she turned around and light fell on her face.

As the door got shut again, he couldn't help but chuckle. The scheming bitch got what she deserved, even if this was only the beginning. What followed for Jay was a night with a surprisingly deep and uninterrupted sleep.

This time it ended only in the early morning of the next day, though similar rough like the evening before.

Jay got pulled to his feet without the guards waiting for him to properly wake up. They used this chance to put a loose chain to his feet as well and loosen the one affixed to the wall.

As he got pulled out of the cell, one of the guards threw a smelly brown cape over Jay's shoulder and the hood over his head. Then they proceeded along some dim hallways until they reached a locked wooden door.

The moment they opened it, Jay got blinded by the bright sunlight for a moment until he saw a huge crowd.

Further behind the crowd he saw a wooden pedestal with two stands at the sides and a beam connecting them. Though the women had been talking about judgment, he directly got lead to the gallows.

Again, this was no surprise for him, contrary to the crowd he had to pass by. The number of people present didn't match up with what he had seen in the city, so his guess was they invited whomever they could. From how it looked, there was not a single poor citizen, even less one fro the slums in the crowd.

Once he arrived at the stairs leading onto the pedestal, Jay saw Lady Kendra and Lady Brittany had already arrived.

Without wait, Kendra urged the Duchess to start her speech. Jay had no doubt it was all written by the slaver from how Brittany held herself and spoke.

"Dear Citizens of Millshire and close by, I am happy you all came here today to decide and witness how we should fare with those planning to harm our people and region. This man here is accused of spying, trespassing into private property and brutally attacking our hard working miner. Witnesses reported he had mishandled the poor workers even as they already lay on the ground.

Further more, one of the respectable local nobles from our court seems to have been abducted by this man.

Though it remains without proof as the accused culprit chose to stay silent, we are sure as they had been spotted together the last time our noble was seen…" B.

A rumbling went through the crowd after Lady Brittany finished the first part of her speech. Jay couldn't hear much, but between the whistles and "booh" shouts, there had been some that went against the Duchess as well.

Pulling his hood down so he could hear better and to be at least visible to the crowd, he heard some of them breathing deep.

Clearing his throat himself to block Brittany from talking further, Jay took a single step forwards.

"May I talk and defend myself?" J.

"Silence! A commoner like you has no right to talk during the court. You should at least know this much as a spy.

If you had a Noble speaking for you as a talker this would be something else…" K.

"...In this case I am willing to act as his counsel and talker!" D.

All of the crowd suddenly turned towards the person who had stepped forward and positioned herself directly in front of the pedestal.

It was no one else than Daphne Stillwell that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" K.

"My humble apologies. I am a former knight of the church named Daphne Stillwell. Though it is the lowest rank of nobility, I do have a peerage…" D.

"Lies! You can't be real!…" B.

While Kendra only looked totally pissed at Daphne after latter answered her sharp spoken question, it was something completely different with Lady Brittany. She first got motionless with open mouth and then started shouting.

Their calm and haughty attitude crumbled to pieces with the appearance of a single chess piece Jay had set.

"...She has to be a fake as Daphne Stillwell had died!" B.

"Then who was it that told you of my death? Wasn't it on your own order that the same young man you know accuse of misdeeds got tasked with ending my life?" D.

While a murmur came from the audience, Daphne held her trusted sword high up, showing its intricate design and the sigil from the church to the crowd.

There was no longer any room for Lady Brittany's claim of her being an impostor. She only looked with hate filled eyes at Jay for tricking her.

"My Lady, the young man up there told me everything as you sent him to murder me. He had been working for the kingdom the whole time and already reported his finds in the mine. The truth is, it is still running really good, but got taken over from a certain group, right?" D.

"Nonsense! Guards arrest her!" K.

"I'd rather not do that. Remember what happened to all those men the Duchess had sent for me. And defending me would only be my right in this situation!

But that is something the poor people that got abducted all over Westfield couldn't do. They got enslaved and made to work down in the mines for your own profit!" D.

"Even if you are a knight from the church, there is a limit as to how much lies you can be left telling..." B.

It was then when Jay's second chess piece showed itself. That was in the form of Arya that stepped forward from behind Daphne and pulled back her hood.

Every pair of eyes was glued to the situation in front of the pedestal when countless yelps got audible at the same time.

"Though it hurts me to say this, it is true what she said… If you don't believe me, we can search for someone else able to check my condition. This way we would at least learn who is my current owner.

...Yes, owner. Even I got enslaved before they brought me into the mines!" A.

At that point even the last citizen believed Daphne and her claim. Even Kendra and Brittany seemed to understand the situation and Jay could seen them pondering as to what were their options.

This was Jay's Check and he couldn't wait to see what they would do as their next turn.