Emery walked toward the camp where the rundown house was located without concealing him or anything of the sort.
When his silhouette appeared, the knights sitting by the campfire immediately drew their swords, however, when the bright fire of the campfire lit his figure and the knights laid down their swords and asked why he was here.
He answered that he would like to see the Knight of Anvil. They complied and one of the standing knights went in. A minute later, the old knight, his late father's mentor, showed himself on the door.
"Emery! What a surprise," the old knight, welcoming Emery as if he hadn't killed the handless Padraig whom he had asked to be spared because the marauder chief was no longer a threat. "Why are you here? Do you need anything?"
Seeing this old knight welcome him with heartfelt sincerity, Emery was having a hard time this man had just committed an atrocious act. The old knight was either a great pretender or a snake wearing a human's skin. And in Emery's thought, somehow, he found both scary and intriguing.
"Sir knight, I've come here to see the prisoner, Padraig. Please let me talk to him just for a moment," said Emery as normal as he could.
Emery noticed the old knight frowned only for a split second before changing to a disappointed look and saying, "I am so sorry, Emery. Something terrible had just happened. The prisoner had tried to escape, almost hurting one of us, when the accident happened. I am sorry to say that he had died."
The old knight truly appeared both disheartened and remorseful by the sound of his voice. It was a very convincing act. Somehow, Emery felt better about himself. Not because he had fallen for this act, rather, this talented old fox's pretending actions were so real that it could fool anyone. If Emery hadn't known better, he'd still see the old knight as someone who had Emery's interest at heart. So, for Emery, there was no need for him to be pissed at being a fool by him.
"Sir Bagdemagus. You said you wanted to guide me, right?" asked Emery.
"Yes of course, Emery. What do you wish to learn?"
"Then…" Emery paused for a second before saying, "I want to learn how to lie and pretend as good as you."
The old knight's eyes widened, giving away his shocked feelings after hearing Emery words.
"There's no need to pretend, sir knight. I saw what you did to Padraig. There's no need to deny it," said Emery sternly.
Finally dropping his act, the old knight showed his true self, coughed and said, "Ah, I see. It's unfortunate that you had to see that. But I'm sure you agree that lowlife deserves it, don't you?"
Emery without hesitation said, "Yes. But like I said, until I know who is really behind the raid, I'll never stop. Now, please tell me what you know."
The knights' rustling armors then entered Emery's ears. He noticed them in the corner of his eyes, at least a dozen of them, slowly encircling him. Among them were the two silver knights, one-eyed Keane and the one with the brown hair.
Sir Badgemagus raised his hand and said in an authoritative voice, "Halt your actions, everyone. There's nothing to be alarmed about. Emery is like family to me, aren't you, Emery?"
"At least tell me this, were you involved in the death of my father? Your student?" asked Emery, placing his hand on this hilt of his sword and the other hiding it.
"No, I wasn't. As you might have heard, it was Fantumar," said the old knight, emphasizing the pig noble's name.
"Then why are you protecting him! From whom do you take orders from? Please, tell me!" said Emery, believing that the old knight was once again lying.
"It was for the greater good, Emery. For the good of the kingdom," said Bagdemagus in a heavy voice.
"Then, are you telling me that killing everyone in the Ambrose estate was a necessity for the greater good?" Emery pulled out the sword from his waist and it rang sharply. The rest of the knights around him did the same except for the old knight.
"Calm down," said the Knight of the Anvil, taking a deep breath and sighing. He started speaking slowly, "Emery… I really like you. And honestly I really wish to guide you so that you'll not make the same mistake as your father."
Emery gritted his teeth and placed the sword in front of him. "Tell me!"
"Your father was one of the best knights I've ever taught and known. I was proud of him as my esquire. And if only he hadn't made the wrong choice, he would've been a better knight than Yvain or even me. Too bad."
"What did he do?" Emery asked.
"Your father was too soft. During the war with the Chrutins, your father failed his duties and even made the mistake of letting the enemy escape. Since then he never took the sword anymore. And with the news of him spreading that he had taken a Chrutin as a wife, that made him a betrayer of our code, so no one really cared about his death anymore" explained the old knight.
"What code! If so, then what about me? I am half-chrutin, will you kill me as well?"
"Well you are different, Emery. You're a wizard, you're special. Honestly, the main reason I came to Venta was to find you. You see, I am incharge of knowing about everything that goes on about the Forbidden Forest. And when those mercenaries had returned, spreading news about how a young wizard named Merlin saved them from the Chrutins, I was assigned to learn more about you. When I finally met you, I had my suspicions that you were the missing Ambrose's son, but I was about to tell them to accept you despite the fact your mother is a Chrutin."
"Who did? What do they want with me?" Emery demanded to know.
"Emery, there are much bigger issues than the unfortunate fate of your family and the seven kingdoms. But we need someone like you. Will you join us?" said the old knight.
"No! Definitely no. I'll not join those who're involved with killing my family!"
"I see…" said the old knight. He sighed again and added, "You're really too young. So, hasty… I must tell you, Emery, I have my orders of killing you if I can't get you to join us. We want to avoid you becoming a bigger problem to us."
"You can try!" Emery said as he waved his sword ready to fight!
