I reincarnated in game

18 Reunited

As they watched, several of the town guards, arrived on the scene and moved closer to them.  “Where is the beast that is making all that racket and what is going on here?” demanded the head guard.  Matthew was at the back of the contingent of guards; he had been in the constabulary’s office, doing his daily check-in, when the guards left to investigate the source of the menacing growls; he followed them out of curiosity.

“There is no beast,” said Hugh, as he went to the head of the alley, retrieved and silenced the crystal before sliding it back into his bag.  “I just used onomatopoeic magic.  I figured it would come in handy to use as a distraction if we were attacked by a large group.”  Hugh did a quick internal check and found that he had leveled up twice and gained another two attribute points; he put one of them into defense and the second into intellect.

It was then that Bob saw Matthew in the crowd and quickly spoke up saying, “I just found your son!”  Pointing at Hugh and Judi, he shouted, “These two low-lifers are kidnappers!  They tried to hide him on that wagon, behind that ice wall; we saw what they were doing and confronted them, even though they both had weapons and we were unarmed!”  Looking at Judi, he continued, “She even tried to seduce me with her feminine wiles to distract me from rescuing your son.  She tried to dissuade me in my purpose by offering me a good time!”  Bob smirked and licked his lips to emphasize his lewd statement.

Matthew approached Hugh and Judi.  In a voice filled with pain and scorn, he said, “How can you have been holding my son?  I thought that the two of you were more honorable than that!  You saw how worried I was, and yet you had him all that time?”

“That’s not true!” exclaimed Hugh.  We found Kenneth at the bandit’s lair when he was a stone statue; the curse abated and he reverted back to himself just last night.  We were bringing him in to the constabulary’s office, with this recovered property, so he could be reunited with you.”

“Oh right!  He was a statue?  And then he turned back into a dwarf?  That sounds believable,” Bob scoffed.

Kenneth, who had remained behind the ice wall until this point, had listened to the conversation regarding him.  When he thought that he heard his father’s voice, he tentatively raised his head enough to look over the wall of ice.  “Pa?”   Then confirming it was indeed his father standing at the head of the wagon, jumped down.  As he hit the ground, the ice wall which had surrounded the wagon, shattered.  He ran to hug his father, crying out, “PA!”

“I thought I lost you, boy!” replied Matthew, joyously, as he returned his son’s eager embrace.

“It’s not true, Pa.  These people aren’t bad.  They were helping me!” Kenneth explained.  “When the pain made me run away, I was found by some men who took me back to their place.  I helped them repair that wagon but started to feel sick.”

Bob interjected, “See what I told you!  They kidnapped him and then made him work for them.  They were probably hoping to get some ransom for him!”

Kenneth shook his head, and then continued, “No.  After I felt sick, I got numb all over and turned to stone … it was probably the curse.  Even though I wasn’t able to move, I could see and hear everything but I couldn’t speak.  These two came and put me on the wagon along with all the other stuff those men had, and brought me into town.  The curse wore off and I came back to normal just last night when they came in to look at the wagon.  I told them that I needed to find you and they promised to help me.”

Matthew looked up from his son’s earnest face and then said to Hugh, “Please accept my apologies.  I was swayed by what Bob said.  I want to thank you for finding and returning my son.  He means the world to me!”

At this point, the leader of the guards spoke up and said, “That story actually fits with the report those two made yesterday when they came into the office.  It looks like everything is under control now; there is no need for us to stay.”  He looked at Hugh and added, “If that is the stuff you were bringing in, and if the wagon is part of the loot, then we can actually take it from here if you would like.”

“That would be great,” Hugh replied.  With that, one of the younger guards jumped up on the steam wagon and, maneuvering it around the combatants, drove off in the direction of their office.

Bob felt very embarrassed that his allegations were refuted; that his men had been fooled by a recording, and, worst of all, had been beaten down by a woman and a Crystal of mixed race.  He muttered to himself, “Those guys cheated and used magic … that is the only reason they won!”

Hugh and Judi were readying themselves to leave.  Kenneth ran over to add his thanks for their help.  When Matthew was standing alone, Bob approached him.  He towered over the shorter man, and leaned into him, saying, “I am glad you have your son back.  Now there is the little matter of your payment for our services.”

Matthew took a few steps back, and then replied, “But you weren’t the ones who returned Kenneth to me!” 

Bob re-closed the gap between himself and Matthew, then said menacingly, “No.  But our agreement was that you would pay me when you had your son back …  you now have him back … you owe us, and we will be paid, one way or another!”

Hugh observed the exchange between Matthew and Bob and overheard the latter’s demand for payment.  He walked up to Matthew and said, “You don’t owe him anything.  He didn’t find your son, and had nothing to do with Kenneth’s return to you.”

Matthew thanked Hugh for his concern but assured him that everything was all right; he would deal with Bob.  Hugh made a discreet exit to give Matthew some space.  Matthew was secretly concerned about Bob’s reputation as the local tyrant and didn’t want to suffer any retribution from him.  As such, he reached into his satchel and withdrew a small bag of coins which he begrudgingly handed over to Bob.  

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Bob said, as he smiled, and nodded his head towards Matthew. 

Bob headed for the alley.  As he got to the entrance, he turned and said under his breath, “They will pay for embarrassing me like that!”