Stray

Ten Years Later-Part Two

Old Jude ran quickly to the back kitchen.

Unlike most taverns, the back kitchen of Dawning Tavern is very clean, which has not changed due to the change of bosses. Many years ago, he had taken Vance's herbal medicine from here to heal the devil, and he still had some impressions.

A grotesque floor lamp stands near the entrance of the back kitchen. I don't know if it is an illusion. Jude always thinks that the lamp pole looks a bit like a staff. Not far from the floor lamp, the frozen magic pattern flickered slightly, and the shelves with all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables kept emitting cold air.

A small wooden basin is placed beside the fruit and vegetable rack, and the basin is full of fresh fruits with attractive colors. A chubby grey parrot was lying on its back on top of a fruit pile, spreading its wings and clicking its beak contentedly.

Seeing someone coming in, the golden bird's eyes slanted over, and then narrowed contemptuously.

"Stupid bird." Jude murmured and glanced at the pot of fresh fruit that was of great value. "What a waste of good stuff."

"Stupid." The Grey Parrot responded clearly. It straightened its round belly, tilted its head, and pecking at a golden cherry fruit.

The Judge Knight Commander of the Ruddism is approaching, Jude does not intend to scold a brainless bird. He grabbed his demon partner who was unusually obedient for some reason, and looked around in the back kitchen, hoping to find something similar to a secret door.

When his eyes swept to the middle of the room, Old Jude's whole body blew up—

There is no yawning fat cook here. There is indeed something in the chef's suit, close to human form. But upon closer inspection, the skin that was supposed to be exposed was pitch black.

It was not a human at all, but a human-like chaotic shadow.

For a second, Jude wanted to escape back to the front hall and surrendered directly to the Knight Commander of Judgement.

Fortunately, neither the **** bird nor this thing that looked like a chef paid any attention to what he meant. The grey parrot stared at him with bird's eyes, crunching the juicy grapes. And the monster chef cut the meat with two arms, the other hand stirred the bubbling soup with a spoon, and several arms were quickly making fried onion rings.

Jude swallowed hard and continued the plan in a cold sweat. Time was limited, so instead of trying to find the secret door or the entrance to the cellar, he aimed at a few large wooden barrels in the corner storage.

Next to the wall and close to the barrel, Jude quickly lifted the lid of the barrel.

Then awkwardly looked at the red-eyed man just now.

The man tucked his knees and squatted in the wooden barrel, afraid to let out the air. Seeing that the cover was taken away, he silently pulled the lid back from Jude's hand and sealed himself in again.

"Why don't you use a disguise spell? I thought..." Jude coughed twice.

"If there are magical fluctuations, Roderick will feel faster." A dull response came from the barrel.

Looks like the Judge Knight Commander is here to catch this guy.

Wyatt Roderick, the 370th Judge Knight Commander after Adrian Cross.

Unlike Clos, who was sanctimonious before the apostasy, Roderick is more like a heretic in the Radical Church - this young genius is ruthless against the enemy, and his style is both righteous and evil. Fierce name.

Cross was ruthless when he was in office, at least the way he did things was very decent. This action is more like fighting fire with fire, and even the title granted by the old Pope is "Lunar Eclipse".

Although in terms of behavior, Mr. Roderick is indeed diligently guarding the surface. But when it comes to his temperament and style, it is said that those who have met him come to a very similar conclusion - this Mr. Knight Commander of Judgment may have a better future as a thug.

Completely implicated by this bastard, Jude grinds his teeth.

The demons they carry are a dangerous species among the intermediate demons. Other judge knights may decide to turn a blind eye for the time being considering the progress of their missions and the complicated procedures of hunting between countries. The monster Roderick will surely drag him back with great interest.

Jude immediately decided to get out of here, trying to escape through the kitchen window. However, the unique sound of armor colliding had already sounded outside the door.

It's too late, the escape will be more noticeable now.

Jude's scalp exploded, he chose the innermost wooden barrel, and shoved himself desperately into it. Start praying that the knight commander will focus on his goal and subconsciously ignore himself.

Fortunate in misfortune, from the moment he entered the tavern, his demon was very quiet, huddled in a ball on his shoulder.

"Mr. Roderick, what are you doing?"

The young male waiter's vague voice came from the outside of the wooden door, and there was no fear in his tone.

"To be rude, you will scare my guests by staying in the dawn like this."

"I'm here to find my teacher." The Judge Knight Commander replied with a smile in his voice. "Dark hair, gray mage robes, dark red eyes. Good looking, looks...well, in his thirties. Have you ever seen someone like this?"

"As you can see, our house is just a pub, not a shelter."

"You didn't answer my question directly." The smile in Knight Commander Roderick's voice grew even stronger. "My gut tells me he's here."

"If your teacher doesn't want to see you, I think he has his reasons."

"Anyway, it won't be my problem." Roderick replied in a lazy tone, raising his voice deliberately, and there was a bit of gangsterism in his tone that didn't fit his identity. "I did everything in the agreement, but he didn't want to see me."

"Perhaps if you let the team of judge knights behind you wait outside the door, he will be more willing to see you."

"No, he won't. Get out of the way, boy, let me see your kitchen." There was a sound of metal friction, and Roderick snorted.

"It's a pity, Mr. Roderick. I remember that according to the regulations, the judge knights of the Rudd are not allowed to trespass the house without proper explanation." The young waiter said slowly, still no Confused meaning. "Unfortunately, I'm one of the shopkeepers here, and I'm entitled to a reason that will convince me. The Knight Commander of Judgment doesn't lie, does he?"

"…that's a hassle. Well, well—I'm not going to break your kitchen or stuff that sly guy into a dungeon. I just want to talk to him."

"Hmm."

"That's not enough?...Okay, **** rules. Boy, when I was an adult, that **** kicked me out of the house and told me to see more of the pretty girls outside, Don't think about some 'inappropriate' things - now seven years have passed, and the number of people I have rescued is not 1000 or 800, I just want to go back and tell him, by the way, find him and talk about it."

"And he ran away?"

"Then he ran away and I chased a whole country and a half."

"Mr. Roderick, I have a small question. When you went to your teacher, you brought so many fully armed... uh, entourage?"

"Because I had a gut feeling that he would run away."

"...well, you really don't know what's wrong?"

"Mind your own business and get out of the way."

"Okay, Mr. Medes is in the kitchen, the third bucket from the left of the wall - he hasn't jumped out yet to run away with all his strength, as far as I know him, he should not reject you Talk about it." The waiter guided in a very understanding manner.

"You know him? He never said—"

"By the way, the first bucket from the left of the wall also contains a fugitive. You can take it with you. It's a gift from the store."

“…”

Damn. Jude, who was hiding in the barrel, had black eyes.

As of now, he has only the last choice left.

Tear off his most advanced acceleration rune paper, Jude took out the poisonous dagger hidden in his boots, and rushed out the door first. He directly locked the neck of the young waiter with his arm, and squeezed the blade to the position of the young man's throat.

Wyatt Roderick is standing in the room of the Dawning Tavern, near the entrance of the back kitchen, followed by an innumerable team of judge knights.

The young knight commander had half-length dark blond hair and a dull gray-blue eye. On the part of his left cheek near his eyes, a small scar like a thin withered vine lay quietly, like a scar left by some disease.

To be fair, Wyatt Roderick is not bad looking. It's a pity that the scary scars and cynical smile really can't leave a good impression on people, not to mention, there is even a bit of evil in the forehead of this judge knight.

"It's too old-fashioned." Roderick swung his sword at will, without trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

That being said, the young judge knight glanced at him vigilantly, then turned to the surrounding environment, obviously considering the safest countermeasures.

Jude leaned his back against the door frame vigilantly, holding the dagger in his hand firmly. Not to mention the powerful enemy in front of him, the so-called "Mr. Medes" doesn't sound like a real fugitive. If that guy sneaks up from behind, his situation will be really bad.

There is no movement in the kitchen at present, which is the only good thing that has happened so far.

Jude shrugged one shoulder and motioned for his demonic partner to wrap around the young shopkeeper's neck, adding a little more leverage. It's a pity that the **** middle-level demon completely shrunk himself into a small ball and began to play dead.

"Your goal is not me, my lord knight."

Jude squeezed out an ugly smile, and pressed the poisonous dagger to the throat of the waiter dressed innkeeper.

"It's all the kid's mouth. Otherwise, you don't see me, okay? If you don't agree, I'll have to slit the kid's throat. Your sword and No matter how fast the spell is, it can't be faster than mine—"

A series of crisp bells came from the door of the Dawning Tavern, and another young man dressed as a waiter entered the door. The young man was holding a large box of fresh potatoes in his arms. There are also several strings of dried fish hanging on the side of the wooden box.

"Nimo, the re-purchased potatoes are here. Guess what? Colestoro and the others sent the specialty dried fish from the glacier... eh?"

The light brown-haired youth blinked, stopped in place by the scene in front of him.

"...What are you doing?" After a few seconds, the choked young man spoke again, with a tone that sounded rather ambiguous.

"Hijacked." The young man known as "Nimo" sounded a little in high spirits, "I've never been kidnapped like this, Ollie."

Jude frowned and tightened his grip on the opponent's throat - the boy's reaction was a little wrong. That's right, from the beginning, he didn't even shake.

The "Oli" glanced at the trembling demon believers in the shop, holding their heads and squatting under the table, as well as the tense Judgment Knights, and finally let out a long breath .

"Then I'll send the potatoes to the kitchen first." He continued solemnly, "The photo spar is upstairs, do you need me to take a photo for you?"

"Good idea, but I'd rather witness this moment with you." Nemo responded equally solemnly.

"It seems that this gentleman doesn't need much help, then I'll come back later." Roderick obviously didn't have much sense of justice, he retracted his long sword and snapped his fingers. "I have to go and get my dear teacher out first."

If you are not dreaming, the world is finally going crazy. Jude thought blankly.

He was pretty sure he was holding a venomous dagger and not a carrot or something, but no one seemed to care about it.

They will regret it.

It's not clear what the situation is, but it's always good for Roderick to leave for a while. As long as he repeats his old tricks, seriously injures this kid, and throws a few more stinky smoke and fruit...

Jude gritted his teeth and slashed the young man's throat with the dagger.

No screaming, no blood.

Nothing happened.

Just in the blink of an eye, Jude just realized that he was already lying on the floor. The dark-haired waiter with a delicate face smiled and looked down at him. Jude's scalp tightened and he wanted to get up immediately, but found that his limbs had already been tightly entangled by fine shadow vines.

The huddled Hitz squid ball rolled to the ground, no matter how hard he called, it didn't seem to have any intention of moving.

"You're trying to murder a poor old lady over at the Ramon's Inn." Nemo patted the ash on his shoulder, "Unfortunately, I know the hostess of the Ramon's Inn very well. Very. She told me all about it, Jude Major."

Nimo held the Hitz poison squid in his hands, and Jude even read a bit of emotion and nostalgia from the cold eyes. But this is impossible. This kid is too young, and his hair doesn't seem to grow evenly. There is no such thing in his social circle.

This must have been an absurd dream, and everything that's happening right now doesn't make sense.

"Thank you for your cooperation... Sir, since 'you' know my teacher, I won't ask the details of the matter."

Roderick carried Medes out with the bucket, nodded to Nemo, and glanced at Jude, who was writhing on the ground.

"And you guys, pack this thing on the ground and take it back together."

"Yes, Lord Roderick."

"When you're done talking, remember to come over for a drink." Nemo patted the bucket on Roderick's shoulder.

"I will, Mr. Wright." Medes replied sullenly in the bucket. "It's 'me' by the way, not 'us'. Something must have gone wrong with my education... Damn, don't knock the bucket! Answer me first, how's that village going?"

"Oh, the village that expelled me." Roderick chuckled in a low voice, "Overall, it's staying there just fine - I've endured so hard, it's useless for you to give it to me. You have promised me that if I let go of this matter, you will give me a reward. How about it, that agreement is still valid, right?"

“…”

"Farewell." Roderick stopped tapping his hand on the barrel wall, looking much better.

"Sorry for shocking everyone, all orders that haven't been settled are free."

The owner Oliver took it immediately. He walked over to the other shopkeeper and gave him a quick kiss.

“…Everyone who has already paid can continue to order, you’re welcome.”

Seeing the Judgment Knights leaving the Dawning Tavern, the demon believers who got under the table climbed out one after another, panting in shock. Although the policy has been relaxed a lot in recent years, it is still difficult to change the habits that are ingrained in the bones.

"We gotta get some meatloaf." Nemo grabbed Oliver by the collar and kissed back. "It's time for them to arrive, she will order this every time."

There were a few brave ones in the store who whistled a few times.

"Okay." After the lips parted, Oliver rubbed the other person's hair, his eyes full of smiles. "I'll go, just to see how the soup is cooking. Just wait for them here. You'll have to do a careful calculation of today's bills—you're better at this than me."

"Hmmm."

When Nemo sat down behind the wooden table, the guests finally took their breath away.

"If I say, Roderick is definitely not here simply to find someone, that must be a pretense." The nervous old man kept stroking the two-headed crow on his shoulders and said nervously.

"How?"

"Have you not heard? There is a ghost of tumbleweed nearby. The Knights of Judgement are here, and they must be investigating this matter."

"Tumbleweed, that Black Badge team of Ash Knights? Isn't it long gone?"

"The ghost is still there, don't mention it, it's weird. Oh... Mr. Wright, do you mind if we talk about this here? After all, this topic is a bit unlucky-"

"Never mind, folks."

Nimo raised the corners of his mouth, put down the book, and tugged at the ball of thread in his hand.

"We don't mind at all."

The author has something to say:

Jude: I have a hostage! I have a hostage!

Nimo: a novel experience, like (0ω0)b