The Fat God System

"These guys just started to scramble the house looking for Mia," Serena explained as she took another step at the armored man's back.

"We gave them a beating," Jane said.

Hugh looked at the armored men and noticed that all of them were knocked out. Hugh wanted to ask them some questions, so he tied them up first as he waited for them to regain their consciousness.

"Aughh…," one of the armored men groaned as he scratched his head. He did not notice that his head was enlarged in one part due to a blunt force trauma.

As the armored man awoke and opened his eyes, he noticed all of the group's eyes on him. They were looking at him as if he was a wolf animal.

"Guh!" the man groaned as he realized that he had been captured by the enemy. He could not move his arms and legs since they were tied up by a rope.

"Release me now!" the man exclaimed. "I am a mighty knight for the Cheroque kingdom. I demand you to release me!"

Even though he was surrounded, the knight seemed to be haughty in his attitude. He did not think that Hugh and the others would ignore an order from a knight.

Hugh and the others were less than impressed by the knight's stature. Since they knew nothing about this world, they saw the knight as nothing special.

"So? Who cares?" Aric asked as he scratched his head.

The knight seemed to be extremely surprised at the carefree attitude he was seeing from Hugh's group.

Usually, citizens would kneel in front of him and beg for forgiveness, but now, he was being treated the same as a peasant. It was unforgivable.

"This is a decree from the Cheroque kingdom. Release me now and repent your sins!"

Hugh ignored the knight's words and squatted in front of him. He faced the night and gave him a strong slap in the face.

*SLAP*

Even Serena and the others were surprised by the sudden slap. However, they felt good once they saw the haughty knight being taught some manners.

"Knight or not, that doesn't excuse your behavior. Right now, you are at my mercy," Hugh declared.

The knight was more than surprised to see Hugh threatening him. He was so surprised that he turned speechless.

"Wha…the…you…" the knight struggled to find the right words.

"Answer my question. What are you searching for?" Hugh asked.

The knight was still surprised at the slap that he endured, so he was still not in the right mind. For a second, he thought that he was still dreaming, but the pain in his cheeks proved that it was reality.

*SLAP*

Hugh slapped him at the same pace again to make him focus. He did not have the time to dawdle around now that it seemed that Mia's identity had been found out.

"How preposterous of you! I'll forgive your sins if you surrender Mia right now!" the knight shouted.

*SLAP*

This time, the slap did not come from Hugh, but Miser. The father was extremely worried that the knight would take his daughter, so he acted on impulse.

"Why do you guys keep slapping me!!!!"

*SLAP*

"Focus," Hugh demanded as he slapped the knight again.

After minutes of back and forth from the two, the knight finally relented.

"Why do you want Mia?"

The knight bit his lips, but he could not ignore the bread right in front of him. It smelled delicious, and he was currently as hungry as a pig.

"Answer me, and I'll let you have a taste," Hugh said as he put the bread closer to the knight's nose to let him sell the bread and tempt him more.

"Fine, fine! We were sent by the general himself to find Mia. We don't know why he wants her, but we have to bring her there."

Hugh frowned as he heard the knight's explanation. Mia's true heritage seemed to have truly leaked out into the wrong hands.

Miser was worried beyond belief that the general would do anything to kill his daughter. It made him want to pull out all of his hair.

*om* *nom*

The knight enjoyed the one bite of bread that he was given. He almost forgot that he was supposed to be a mighty knight from the kingdom of Cheroque.

"What should we do?!" Miser blurted out as he took Hugh's collar and shook him.

Hugh put his hands on Miser's shoulders and calmed him down. "Don't worry."

"Should we kill them?" Aric asked as he manifested his bald fire in his hands as he looked at the knights.

"Yeah, we can't let them know where Mia's staying, right?" Serena, for once, agreed with Aric.

"That doesn't solve the problem. If we kill the knights right now, more will spawn in their place," Jane stated.

The knight was beyond anxious as he overheard Aric and the others planning his murder.

"That's right! We are not the only knights assigned to find Mia. It's only a matter of time until some other knight knocks on your door," reasoned the knight. He did not want to die at the hands of someone like Hugh.

Miser looked at Hugh for advice. In these times of crisis, Miser depended more on Hugh.

"But, why do they want to find Mia? Are the knights involved with the Shark Loan company that we stole her from?" Aric asked as he could not figure out why Mia was wanted by a kingdom.

"It's complicated," Hugh explained. "We won't kill the knights for now. We'll send them back where they came from."

Miser was surprised by what Hugh said. He did not get why he wanted to send back the knights.

Hugh saw Miser's worry, so he explained why he wanted the knights to return. "Communication is best in these kinds of conflict. Who knows, maybe no bloodshed is needed?"

——————

After a few hours, Hugh and the others released one of the knights out into the wild. This was not the same knight that Hugh and the others conversed with.

"Why didn't you guys let me go? That guy is beneath me!" the knight complained.

*SLAP*

This time, Aric was the one who slapped the knight.

"Sorry, I also wanted to do that once."

Hugh patted Miser's shoulder and assured him of the plan. "It's going to be okay. Even if this plan doesn't work out, you'll have us as backup!"

Miser nodded his head furiously as if he also wanted to convince himself. He could not help but stomp his foot on the ground obsessively as he worried.

"I hope that letter would bring peace to our family!"

The knight that they sent back also had a letter with him. This was made by Miser with Hugh's help, and it entailed their request for peace.

The letter promised that Mia would never use her blood ties to claim her right to the throne. In exchange, the commander must also let Mia and Miser live their lives in peace.

This was the peaceful solution that Hugh came up with. If things went well, then there would be no useless bloodshed from both sides.

"What if the knight doesn't deliver the letter?" Miser asked as he paced around the room.

"That's why we have these knights as the hostage," Hugh said as he pointed at the knight who had a big red hand mark on his face.

"What if the commander rejects the peace offer? What if he comes here with his army?" Miser asked as he bit his fingernails.

"That's why we have these knights as a hostage. They will tell us the army's power and numbers. That way, we could prepare,@ Hugh replied.

Hugh planned everything out with different scenarios. He was confident in it, and if the worse turn into the worst, then Miser and Mia could evacuate and disappear from the town.

——————

After two days of nonstop travel using a horse, the knight finally arrived at the Cheroque kingdom.

He was received by the welcome of his comrades, but he ignored all of them and their questions. He went straight into the commander's chambers and delivered the message.

Inside the commander's chambers were gold embroidery and gold furniture. It was not a secret that the commander lived a lavish life.

The knight walked on the red carpet that led to the commander's throne. He did not even dare to lift his face to look directly at the commander.

The knight bowed as he reached the commander's gold throne.

"What news do you bring me?" the commander said.

The commander's voice was deep, and it was clear that he was old. From the knight's estimation, the commander must be in his late thirties or early forties.

The knight did not respond and just shivered in place. He was anxious in bringing up the letter. He might get executed for bringing such a thing into the chambers.

Gathering il his courage, he gave the letter to the commander and let him read it.