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Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 67

“I think your man Simmons is a traitor.”

Samuel heard this and almost laughed. The fact that Kazuki had said it with a serious tone though gave him pause before his expression sank.

“I was curious at what you wanted to say but to make such a bold claim. I’ve got to say I thoroughly have to disagree. I mean Simmons is as loyal as they come. He’s been working for my family for the last 300 years. He can pester me to no end but he’s never even had a single bad mark. Before serving me he served my older brother and before him my father. If you state such a thing, tell me you have some sort of evidence. Otherwise, these accusations are just nasty and you aren’t the man I thought you were.”

Kazuki let that last remark slide but Marty didn’t.

“Hey ya little brat. Jentson and I saved you. He has also saved me several times before we were friends. His knowledge and way of thinking have even left me speechless. For you to defend your butler guy I understand but not at the cost of questioning what type of man my friend is. Do you really think Jentson just said all of this without any evidence? If he said Simmons is a traitor then I’m 100% sure he has the proof. Right Jentson?”

Kazuki sighed inwardly before shaking his head.

“There’s no proof or evidence but thanks Marty for digging that hole, heh.”

Marty felt like an idiot for a split second.

“Still, even without evidence, I’m sure you have a good reason for saying Simmons is a traitor right? Ya got that at least right?”

Kazuki nodded.

“I do.”

Marty pointed at Kazuki as if to say there ya see.

“I told ya, Jentson says he has a reason for making the claim.”

Samuel was starting to question if Marty was a fool.

“Sir Jentson, even if you have a reason, I doubt it is legitimate enough. Simmons has been there for me through hard times. For him to just betray me, and allow me to almost die…why after all this time? Also, are you already forgetting that it was he who called out to the pair of you for help when my ship was under attack? If he really is a traitor, why call out for help, why was he fighting so desperately against our attackers in the first place?”

Samuel and Marty both looked at Kazuki waiting for his response. Kazuki sighed before going into detail.

“First I’d like to remind you about everything that’s happened so far. Your ship failing to fly but it still had the capability to hover in place. If a Core is damaged, it is rare for features connected like flight and hovering to not be affected together. Next was the barrier around the ship. You said it could ward off several attacks from a demigod yet the enemy broke through in only a few. The fact that the enemy appeared as soon as you broke down in such a remote place in the wilds when it takes years to reach city to city without proper ships. All of this leads to sabotage whether you like to admit it or not. With the only two people who can access the core being you and Simmons, who else could it be?”

“I already know these things but still, why then would Simmons fight the enemies when he could have just attacked with them and finished everyone aboard and sped things up?”

“Simple, we arrived before he had the chance. The moment we arrived, no, even before we arrived, you’d be able to spot us in the distance. Without knowing who we were, on the off chance we were someone important and we saw what was happening, it could have been disastrous for him. He didn’t know how many we were, we could have been a large group of demigods. Arriving on the scene, it would have been too late to convince us he was in the right. he needed to make sure we weren’t going to be trouble, so he bought time and pretended to fight. The demigod as well must have known this. That’s why when we did arrive, he simply told us to move on. When we didn’t and we just observed, Simmons must have grown nervous. If we stuck around and watched we would be witnesses. Simmons needed us to get involved and hoped the Demigod would be able to kill me and Marty in the midst of battle. That way they could erase the evidence and do what they wished in one fell swoop. When we fought and slayed with ease, Simmons must have seen where things were going and decided to change things and stick with the winning side.”

Kazuki took out the damaged core and tossed it to Samuel. Samuel caught it in confusion.

“This is?”

“That’s the core to your ship. I believe it’s been tampered with. I can’t prove it but a craftsman who deals in them should be able to tell you whether it’s true or not. In the meantime, I replaced your ship’s core with another. I believe that at some point between here and the city, Simmons will once again try and tamper with the core.”

Samuel’s eyes widened as he began to believe.

“If that happens, wait, why would it happen like that? Now that you two are on board, him damaging the ship would leave no escape. You two would slaughter him. Unless he’s not planning on fighting but has someone coming who he thinks can deal with you two.”

Kazuki nodded.

“If your man really is a part of all of this, the question is who’s backing him. Your father’s business in the city we are going to, you said it had rivals right? For a problem to occur with the business that isn’t so important that your father needs to be involved but at the same time it’s not so small that he can just send anyone, who then would your father send?”

Samuel swallowed hard.

“My father would send someone he trusts. Family.”

“Correct. I don’t think they planned on killing you but rather they wished to kidnap you. By using you as a bargaining chip, they could take your father’s business with ease. Earlier you told me you couldn’t say what was going on with your business, whatever the problem is, I’m sure it must be related to all of this. Whoever planned this did so with the intent to get you to get to your father. Of course, this is all just guessing at this point but there are ways to find out whether my words are true or false. Are you interested in finding out the truth or should Marty and I just take our leave now? After all, we really have no connection with one another. We could step away at any time.”

Samuel shook his head.

“Sir, you are wrong about something.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, you and I are no longer just strangers. If Simmons is a part of this, and he is in on it, then the moment you leave, he could finish what he started. If his intentions are to kill or kidnap me, then the second you leave my life is in his hands. He would most likely then report the murderers or kidnappers and the description would be of both of you. he would have a scapegoat and if he’s the only survivor of the ship, they would have no choice but to believe him. As far as I see, if you two leave, you would be considered criminals the moment Simmons arrives in the city.”

*Bwahahaha*

Marty began slapping Kazuki on the back.

“Samuel’s right, we’d be screwed. Right, when we escape one miserable shit hole we’d be caught and thrown right back into another.”

Kazukiw a surprised at how well thought out the kid’s thinking was and he had to agree. Just leaving this kid was no longer an option. At least not until they arrived in the city.

“Sir Jentson, it seems we need to work together in order to not fall. So, with that as a base, where do we go from here? You asked me if I was interested in finding out the truth right, well what do we do to get to said truth?”

Kazuki sat down at a nearby table and picked up a weird-looking fruit Kicking up his feet, he took a bite of it and chewed lazily.

“Simple, we do nothing.”

Samuel and Marty both gave him a bizarre look.

“Nothing. but Sir, how does that help anything? If the ship gets damaged again and Simmons really does have outsiders on his side, surely they would be ready to ambush us again. Doing nothing will get us all killed!”

Kazuki shook his head.

“What I meant to say is we don’t need to do anything right now. The trap has already been set. Now we just need to wait for the rat to step on it.”