Dead end

Halt grabbed Luck by the arm and started pulling him towards the side streets.

"You can't get caught by the town guards or God knows what they'll do to you."

Looking at Luck's employees, Horace seemed to feel a headache coming on.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Feeling the surprised looks falling on him, Horace said, "We should hide too."

"Why should we hide too?" they asked in surprise.

Pointing his finger at Liam, Horace said, "Because of him."

"Is it because of me? What did I do?" Liam was confused.

"If Luck didn't heal you with a potion, he must have paid a priest to heal you, right?"

Liam nodded his head in agreement "Yes?"

Horace covered his eyes with his hand "I wish Luck had used a potion, it would have been easy to hide..."

Horace continued to explain "A boss who pays a Priestess for an ordinary employee... They can use you to blackmail Luck..."

Their eyes widened in horror as they realised what Horace was trying to say "The boss could get in trouble because of us!"

Horace looked at them in surprise 'What I meant to say was that you're in trouble because of

Luck... I don't think I made myself clear.'

Horace didn't bother to explain "Yes, that's why we have to hide you too, the town of Victory isn't safe at the moment."

Meanwhile, after passing through the alleys, Luck and Horace arrived at a house that looked like it was going to collapse at any moment.

Halt, who was out of breath because of the adrenaline they experienced while passing through the alleys, said, "Maybe I should lose some weight. I almost thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Letting Halt rest for a few seconds, Luck said, "Now can you explain to me what's going on?"

Halt, breathing fast and breathing fast, raised his head and looked at Luck "You should tell me what happened, what happened so suddenly that you offended someone powerful enough to set fire to the marketplace and blame it on you?"

Halt looked sceptically at Luck who remained silent in the face of his question "Or...." He shook his head as if to say no "It can't be, can it?"

"That bastard Aden kidnapped me and demanded my recipes just because I opened a burger joint!" Luck said angrily.

Halt's face turned white as if his whole life had been sucked out of him "Aden is Aden Star? Aden Star, the Lord of Victory Town?"

Shrugging his shoulders showing that he didn't know, Luck said, "How should I know where he is the Lord of? All I know is that his name is Aden Star and he wants to blackmail me to get my recipes!"

Halt turned white as if he had seen a ghost "We are finished..."

"What? Isn't there such a thing as the law? He must be the one who's finished!"

Halt felt like he was looking at an idiot and got angry "He's the law here! What he says goes! We warned you!"

"You told me not to sell salt! I stopped selling salt! The owner of a simple restaurant is the lord of the town. What nonsense!"

Meanwhile, while the two were shouting, Horace opened the door and came in. He had heard almost everything.

"Aden Star kidnapped you? 

Greeting Horace who had just entered, Luck said, "Yes! After I closed my shop, two people who sneaked in knocked me out and kidnapped me, but I managed to escape!"

Halt and Horace, who saw eye to eye, could hardly keep themselves from saying 'How did you escape'.

They had realised long before that Luck could disappear in an instant and they believed that there was an entity behind it that they did not want to offend.

Putting his hand on his chin, Horace said, "Then all this must be happening because you ran away."

"He wouldn't believe me, even after I gave him the description he wanted! Is this happening because I ran away because he's holding me there against my will?!" Luck was furious.

Halt looked at Luck in confusion "Did you give him your recipe? The money recipe that made you all that money?"

Luck shrugged "It wasn't a secret anyway."

Halt was shocked 'Even a lord went after a recipe for food that could make you dozens of gold pieces a day, but you don't think it's a big deal?

Horace said thoughtfully, "It's a bit troubling."

Luck looked at the thoughtful Horace and said, "What's troubling?"

"If it were anyone else, you could easily leave Victory Town and set up business elsewhere, but since the Lord of Victory Town is involved, your identity card could be discoloured and you could be stopped from entering another town or city."

Luck's eyes widened, "Could that man do that?"

Halt shook his head "I told you he makes the rules around here, not just you but the employees and even us" he pointed at himself and Horace "he can change the colour of our cards!"

Luck's face blanched at what he heard "Are they going to get in trouble because of me again" The image of Liam lying wounded on the floor was etched in his mind.

Bowing his head in shame, Luck said "And you guys are going to get in trouble because of me."

Horace waved his hand as if to say never mind "I don't think he'd dare touch us like that, we pay a lot of taxes to the town, the most he'd do is investigate our business with you and confiscate our earnings."

Hearing that all the money he had earned could be confiscated, Halt said, "If we terminate our contract, he won't have any hard evidence!"

Horace looked at him like he was looking at an idiot "Luck and I have always been seen side by side, who's to say we didn't do business with him?"

Halt continued, "If our contract with him is found, we're partners! Without a contract, it's a simple business transaction! As long as we pay our taxes, we'll be fine!"

Realising that Horace was considering this idea, Halt said, "Worst case scenario, we can appeal to the Moon Council and challenge the Victory Town lord's decision! The important thing is that we don't appear to be an official partnership!"

Horace nodded and said, "What you say may be true."

Listening to the duo's conversation, Luck said, "Hey! What's the moon council? If we can appeal the decision of the lord of Victory Town, why don't we appeal for me now!"

Horace waved his hand as if to say no, "In order to apply to the Moon Council, you first need to get out of here and go to the nearest city, how will you do that when the colour of your identity card gives you away? Let's say you somehow get to the nearest city and apply to the moon council, they will still arrest you until the final decision is made! Who can guarantee your life while under arrest?"

Luck inclined his head in understanding "Then how can I get the colour of my identity card back to normal?"

Horace fell silent at Luck's question "That seems impossible."

"Impossible, why?" 

"The crime stain on your identity card will only disappear if you are proven innocent or if you kill the person who personally stained your card with the crime stain."

Luck looked puzzled "I understand the first condition, but what about the second?"

Horace went on to explain "The second condition is called the judgement of God, if an innocent man kills his accuser, and if he is really right, then justice is served and the accusation is removed."

"So, unless I kill Aden, I will always be a guilty man?"

Halt nodded in agreement "I'm afraid so, if you were labelled a common criminal you could atone and be exonerated, but I doubt Lord Aden would do that."

Horace put his hand on Luck's shoulder "You will only be seen as a criminal in the bright moon kingdom, not in other kingdoms and empires."

Luck was lost in thought 'I can go to another kingdom and do business more carefully...but what about them?' certain faces appeared in his mind...Velma, Devi, Can and Liam 'I can easily go to another kingdom, but what about them?'