"It doesn’t matter, it’s an unaffordable number anyway."
"But, it is deception, after all."
"No, it isn’t! They just can’t build the road to it, so they don’t have any chickens. I didn’t deceive them! From today, let’s forget that there’s a neighbor on the southern border. Let’s pretend it’s an ocean. No, not an ocean, oceans can be used for transport. It’s a desert, a worthless desert. Whoever wants to go, can go. I don’t want to set foot there again!"
Anyway, the trip to the Goblin Kingdom ended just like that. At least, Jones felt it was over.
Before, he’d thought the Goblin Kingdom might be a breakthrough. After all, being called a "kingdom," there must be many demands, right? And goblins seemed only capable of making low-level things, unable to handle complex items. Maybe he could do a lot of business there and make a lot of money from it.
Now he just wanted to forget the place.
At dark the next day, the custom armor Jones ordered was delivered. Three hundred sets of exquisite armor. They were brought over by airship.
As it was the first deal, Adelle spared no expense, making sure the materials and workmanship were the best. And Adelle personally delivered them.
"All the costs combined, it totals eighteen thousand gold coins. The profit is two thousand. We each get a thousand."
After checking the goods, Jones had Dora take Adelle’s men to move the armor and weapons into the castle and fetch the gold coins, while he and Adelle waited outside.
As they stood there, Adelle suddenly asked, "Jones, have you had any contact with Adolf recently?"
"Adolf?" Jones hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I’ve been looking for him too, but can’t find him. I don’t know where he’s gone."
"Oh, really?" Adelle looked at Jones with a meaningful expression.
"Yes." Jones turned his face away, looking elsewhere, "If you hear anything about him, let me know. I need to find him for something."
"Do you have any clues about him? Hmm... I’m asking because you collaborated with him. If something happened to him, he might have left you some information. Like a letter." Adelle gestured with his hands.
"He did leave me a letter."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Adelle got excited.
"It contained a bank note for three hundred thousand gold coins." Jones said casually, "When I got the money, someone was tailing me, trying to rob me. I don’t know how they knew I had the money. Hilde’s security seems lacking."
As he spoke, Jones looked meaningfully at Adelle.
"Oh, really?" Adelle smiled awkwardly and said, "That might be an exception. As far as I know, Hilde’s security is quite good."
"Those robbers seemed to know me, calling me Young Master Jones. In Hilde, there aren’t many people who know me and call me Young Master Jones." Jones eyed Adelle suspiciously.
"It should be thoroughly investigated then." After a brief silence, Adelle’s eyes flickered as he asked, "Aside from the money, was there anything else?"
"There was another letter."
"Uh... What did it say?"
"He said he got into some trouble, didn’t specify what. The rest, I don’t know." Jones casually looked up at the third floor of the castle, just in time to see Dora and Adelle’s men pass by the window.
*This should keep both sides neutral, right? At least it seemed neutral.*
*Before, he would never have connected the robbers with Adelle. But now, he was eighty percent sure. Because Adelle brought it up, and even asked about the letter. Moreover, for such a small matter today, he shouldn’t have come personally. Since he did, it meant he had other motives.*
*He had been honest about most things, except that Adolf was supposed to come to him.*
The wind blew gently, the grass and trees swayed.
The two of them stood quietly outside the castle, both looking in different directions.
Jones was silent, and so was Adelle.
It was normal for Jones to be silent, but Adelle always had plenty to say, rarely quiet like today.
Finally, as Dora and her group went back and forth, moving all three hundred sets of armor into the castle and only needing to move the gold coins out, Adelle couldn’t hold back. He said in a low voice, "Those robbers were my men."
"Your men?" Jones was stunned, turning to face him.
"Yes." Adelle took a deep breath and said helplessly, "But, I didn’t send them to rob you. To be precise, I sent them to find things related to Adolf. I’m investigating Adolf. His identity is vastly different from what he initially told us. So far, at least half of what I’ve found about him is false. The other half might be false too, I just don’t have proof yet."
As he spoke, Adelle watched Jones cautiously.
Perhaps to cover up that he was still hiding something, Jones didn’t reveal everything, merely replied calmly, "Oh, I see. I thought Hilde’s security was that bad. But it’s fine, thankfully I didn’t lose anything."
Adelle sighed helplessly, then continued, "His target must be you, trying to reach the Lich King through you, with some ulterior motive. Of course, I’m just guessing. Using a fake identity must have a purpose, especially since he spent money like water. He must have a powerful force behind him. From investing in the refinery to leaving you three hundred thousand gold coins. Front and back, it’s already fifty thousand. No one spends fifty thousand gold coins without a purpose."