The Merchant's Scheme

"Chief Winfrey! Soldiers are surrounding this whole area!!" the voice of Edgar, the right-hand man Winfrey, rang from the other side of the door.

Winfrey jumped out of the chair.

"Soldiers!?" he shouted. "How dare… Who? Who is leading them?"

"It is Sir Karl!" replied Edgar.

"Sir Karl!? Didn't he come just a while ago? Wait… Who offended him?! Didn't I tell you to meet him yourself to tell him I was unwell and decline his visit as politely as possible?!"

"I did exactly as you told me Chief!" Edgar replied weakly. "But his face darkened as soon as I told him that you were unwell."

"Edgar!" Someone came running to Edgar shouted. "It is bad! Soldiers… Soldiers!"

"Be quite!" Edgar scolded him. "I already know that and talking to Chief now!"

"Not… not only that, Sir Karl… Sir Karl said that either we give him back the man we kidnapped or else, he would charge in with the soldiers! I… I think someone in our merchant group did something bad. What do we do, Edgar?"

"What?!" Winfrey screamed.

"What nonsense? Who would dare kidnapped one of Sir Karl's men?" Edgar said abruptly. "There must be a misunderstanding. Go and invite Sir Karl in immediately. I have to discuss with Chief first."

"Al… Alright."

"Chief, it seems they already know," Edgar said in a low voice as soon as the other man went away.

"How can that be?!" Winfrey could not stay silent any longer and shouted as he opened the door.

Edgar saw the young man lying on the floor when the door suddenly opened. He could not watch him long and looked away.

"I told you to send the best people we have!" Winfrey continued. "What is with this?! You guys did not even know you were seen?!"

"I did send the best men, Chief. They are not ones to do their job sloppily so I think Sir Karl has people monitoring this mansion. In any case, we should think how to deal with the situation now."

"Hmph! I know that. You don't need to tell me. Since he came with his soldiers this time, it won't be easy. But, I have been giving presents to the knights of the wall for times like this! Send pigeon messages to our people outside and tell them to ask for help from the knights. And order the guards to prepare to defend if anything happens before the knights arrive! I will go talk with Sir Karl and buy some times."

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Karl was anxious.

He heard from Meodinand that Meonando was late to come back from the market. Then he remembered the report from the intelligence unit that mentioned a wagon carrying an alive homo or animal in a bag entered Winfrey's mansion. He went to meet Winfrey to inquire but Winfrey rejected to meet him saying that he in bed, feeling unwell.

That made him even more alarmed. In the end, he decided to use force. Since he knew that his master cherishes that person, he wanted him to be home, unharmed, when his master comes back. He ordered soldiers to surround the place where Winfrey and his group lived.

After a while, a man invited him to go inside to have a talk with Winfrey. Karl, however, refused to go in and stood at a place where soldiers cannot hear him.

"Sir Karl," Winfrey came out of the house started speaking, "what is the meaning of this?!"

"Hmph!" Karl snorted. "I was informed that you are ill and had to lie in bed. I guess that was a lie!"

"My, my… How would I be daring enough to lie Sir Karl. It is just that things look so serious that I have no choice but to force my fragile body to come out of bed."

"I did not come here to listen to your nonsenses. Just give me back the man you kidnapped. If you do that, I will order my soldiers to withdraw."

"Oh my! We kidnapped Sir Karl's man? There must be a misunderstanding, sir. I do not know anything like that!"

"So, you want to deceive me until the end, huh? Very well. Things will be clear once my men go in and find that person in your house."

"Sir! You can't do this. Why are you accusing us like this? Where is the evidence? Don't you know that doing things like this will sully your lord' reputation?!"

Karl was troubled. Although the intelligence unit saw the unusual wagon, it was a secret unit so Karl did not want to come out to light. And as Winfrey said, he would tarnish his master's reputation if something went wrong. He did not want that.

Winfrey's merchant eyes caught the subtle changes in Karl's expression. Before, he just casually mentioned the lord of Karl to stall for time. He had not thought that Karl would not care about his lord at all. Since he learnt that it was not the case, he decided to focus on that topic.

"It is late Sir Karl," Winfrey started to lead the conversation. "Why don't you send the soldiers back and come inside to have some wine while we decide how to resolve this misunderstanding?"

Karl pondered what to do. At that time, the soldiers at the back became unsettling and noisy. Karl stopped thinking and went to see what happened.

The soldiers started moved to the side to give way for a person to come through.

"Good! The knights of the wall are faster than expected!" Winfrey remarked inwardly.

The person that came through the narrow path between the soldiers, however, was not someone Winfrey was expecting.

"Huh? Master?!" Karl exclaimed. "When did you get back?!"

"I just got back, Karl" Huvel replied gently with a smile. "You were not at home so I was wondering where you are."

"Master, that is…" Karl murmured timidly.

"So, you have business with this… merchant-chief Winfrey?" Huvel said as he turned his head to Winfrey with the smile still on his face but the kindness in his eyes was already replaced by extreme anger.