11.Lord Bard

It was unknown how much time had passed before Klaw awoke from his unconsciousness. He tried to open his eyes, only to cry out immediately from the searing pain at the back of his head. There was a flickering light before his eyes, so dazzling that he could hardly keep them open. He attempted to move his feet, only to find that he was tightly bound to a chair. Helpless, he opened his eyes against the harsh light, seeing only two blurry figures before the light, swaying along with his dazed mind.

"Who are you?" one person asked.

"…"

Klaw did not want to answer. The intense headache made it difficult for him to speak, and he was so uncomfortable that he couldn't think of a deceitful excuse.

Crack.

The man slapped Klaw, not hard, but enough to make Klaw's head tilt to one side, with the stars and the world spinning along, and a crisp sound of bone displacement came from his neck.

"Who are you?" The man repeated.

"Chabot, my name is... Chabot..." He remembered the identity before he fainted and quickly reported it.

"Good, that's clever," another person said admiringly. That was probably Lord Bard, although Klaw couldn't see his face clearly, but looking at the fat figure, it was in line with the hateful rich merchant.

"You don't seem to be a local, where is your hometown?"

"Mother is a local, and father is from the mainland of the UK... Bristol." Klaw had already forgotten whether he was talking about Chabot's file or his own past, he really forgot, and his head was about to die, forget it, whatever.

"And your parents?"

Klaw was stunned, and his heart seemed to be pulled by something, recalling the appearance of his father and mother, but he was not sure whether those memories were reliable.

"Dead," he answered simply, and did not realize that this was no longer the background of Chabot II.

"So, why are you here, Mr. Klaw?" The voice deliberately added emphasis on the word "Mr," and the tone was full of contempt.

"I am Chabot... Well... I don't know, maybe because I was in a hurry to find a toilet and went through the wrong door?" Klaw said.

"Don't be slippery!" The voice shouted angrily and slapped Klaw again.

"Okay, don't be so rude, the master said to use a civilized way..." The fat man said hypocritically.

Perhaps because he remembered the appearance of his parents, perhaps because the other party was too annoying, Klaw was calm at this time. He quickly analyzed the situation, his eyes had adapted to the light source - it was just an ordinary kerosene lamp - he was in an ordinary small room, in addition to a door and the chair he was tied to, there was nothing else. He looked coldly at the two people who interrogated him, one of them was a tall fat man, that was not Lord Bard, the other was short and strong - damn it, Klaw had seen this person, he was a professional interrogator, and he had tortured many people during the war.

"I'm asking you, where did the gold coin go?" the interrogator continued to shout, a long scar running down his face, which usually made his job easier.

"What gold coin?"

"Lord Bard's gold coin, you cur, despicable thief."

Klaw remembered; of course, he understood the principle of striking first. So, he had already switched the gold coin on the way to the basement - he had such skills. Now it seems to have blunted Lord Bard's edge, making him less complacent. However, if the interrogator slapped Klaw's face a bit harder, he would have gained something, because the gold coin was hidden in Klaw's left cheek at the moment.

"Hey, Mr. Rudolf, I warn you again, don't treat the criminal like this,this is a civilized place!" another person couldn't stand it and protested loudly.

"What, dear Joe? You didn't come to me, because you couldn't deal with these little thieves, did you?" the ruffian said sarcastically.

"You are the same as them, don't be too arrogant!" Joe said with a sneer.

Rudolf stood up angrily, and Joe was not willing to show weakness, and also stood up. The two were like two angry bulls, staring at each other fiercely.

"What are you doing!" A third voice came from the room. Klaw looked up at the door, and Lord Bard squeezed his big belly into the room from the door and the door frame, looking at the two arguing people with an unbelievable expression.

"My God, Joe, Mr. Rudolf, what are you doing!"

He hurriedly walked between the two and separated them. But it was not so much that Lord Bard successfully persuaded the two to calm down, but rather that his big belly intervened with a strong and unquestionable means, forcibly separating them.

"Yes, we are a team, we need to stick together, at least don't argue too much," Lord Bard said, "Joe, my dear Joe, have you completed the task I gave you?"

"It's done, sir. That little thief is now foolishly drinking with your reward money, and Duncan has found some clever people to watch him," Joe said.

"Well, that's good, then there is only one problem now." Lord Bard turned to Rudolf and looked at him with a questioning look.

"If you had come ten minutes later, my lord, then this problem would have been solved," Rudolf said discontentedly, looking at Joe and Lord Bard as if the serious work he was doing was interrupted by unreasonable laymen.

"You won't get anything but to beat him to death!" Joe shouted at Rudolf.

"You can let me try and see if I can bring an extra useless fool!" Rudolf shouted back without any weakness.

Seeing the contradiction between the two people about to intensify again, Lord Bard motioned for them to shut up. He stood in the middle, ignoring the two people who were still glaring at each other, and showed a gentleman-like smile to Klaw on the chair.

"Sir, if you accidentally took my gold coin, can you return it to me?"

Klaw looked warily at the old man in front of him, his eyes were full of sincerity, but the pain at the back of his head constantly reminded Klaw that these people should not be easily trusted.

"Sir, if you insist on saying that I have stolen something, it is the pile of trash you auctioned, but as you can see, all my property has been handed over to my accomplice, I have nothing on me now."

Klaw's tone was equally sincere, and he was confident that he could convince the other party. After all, he struggled a bit and found that he was tied too tightly to the chair, unable to move. He couldn't believe he hadn't been searched.

"Trash?" Lord Bard showed a funny expression.

"Don't tell me that's all real gold and silver."

"No, you're right, but I didn't expect you to... Could see at a glance that the pile of things is actually worthless.. I didn't mean to look down on people, but that auction is a game for the rich. They all know the details and are just enjoying the pleasure of making up stories and spending money. But no one would spend ten thousand pounds on trash."

"I really regret not realizing this earlier," Klaw said. "That's how I was exposed, right?"

"No... Exposure... That would have been much earlier."

"Lord Bard, if you give me another ten minutes to talk to him alone," Rudolf said sinisterly, "I promise I will find the whereabouts of the gold coin."

"Forget it, forget it," Lord Bard waved his hand and said, "Take Mr. Klaw out first, and I will think of other ways."

Joe went behind Klaw and untied him, while Rudolf looked angry, but Lord Bard patted his shoulder nonchalantly and walked out.

Klaw wanted to stand up, but was almost knocked down by the sharp pain in his head again. He suspected he was having a nightmare. But the pain was so real, he stumbled and was supported by Joe out of the cell, through the basement, and came to the long-lost world.

Then, like driving away a pet, Joe pushed Klaw out of the mansion.

"You be careful, this is not over," he said, half-threatening and half-reminding.