The Grand Duelist

Joseph first converted the money that he borrowed from Lily into Victory gold coins before he returned in the game. When he came back to Victory, it was early morning.

The thin walls of the inn that Joseph spawned in couldn't suppress the noisy outside world.

As soon as Joseph opened his eyes, the door of his room slammed open and what caused it was Ezreal who had a bunch of lamb skewers in his hands.

"Yo~ You're finally awake!"

Joseph who was startled out of his mind coldly replied: "Fucking hell, Ezreal. Do you even know about the concept of knocking?"

Ezreal stared at him in confusion: "Knocking? Does that even matter when the walls of these rooms are so thin? Even if I am outside, I can still hear whatever you are doing so there's not really that much of a difference." Ezreal even winked at Joseph who couldn't help but tremble.

'Goddamned it, it seems like the roots of that fujoshi young woman have planted itself so deeply within Ezreal's heart...'

'It's not like I dislike those who swing that way or swing both ways... But Ezreal has the looks, charisma, figure and that innocent goddamned smile that can drop dem panties whenever he wanted...'

'It would be a waste if he doesn't turn into a heartthrob...'

Joseph concluded that Ezreal only became someone like he was today because of the influence that the manga whom that female player made and gave to him. In other words, if Joseph gave Ezreal the same materials but with completely different contents.

He could probably reverse Ezreal's ways and turn him into a National Husband.

But...

'Why the fuck am I trying to do that for him? Shouldn't I just let him be like what he wants to be? Why am I trying to change him?!' Joseph inwardly cried, and Ezreal who was still confused, handed over a lamb skewer to him with a smile that could empty seas and devastate heavens.

'Ah...'

'I see...'

'I understand...'

While staring at Ezreal's smile, Joseph finally understood the reason why he was trying to change Ezreal into a heartthrob that could be considered as a National Husband.

'I guide others to treasures that I cannot possess...' Joseph sincerely spoke this simple sentence in his heart, but it was full of hidden meanings that only those who thoroughly understood him could understand.

Joseph sighed, shook his head and then cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts.

His fleshly body in Victory was now crying out for food when it smelled the fragrant mixture of meat, herb, and spices.

He hurriedly bit at the skewer and the juices that exploded when his teeth made contact with the meat formed into a symphony that brought him into a food orgasm.

"Oh, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom!" Joseph made an audible noise that disgusted Ezreal while he was wolfing down the lamb skewer.

"Uhmmm, can you be silent while you are eating, master?" Ezreal asked with a hesitant expression.

"Not make any noises while I am eating? You're telling me that I shouldn't be noisy?'

"Says the one that suddenly barged into my room without any permission and creating such a huge ruckus. Look at the door. I even think that it's broken! Do you really think that I'd pay for something like that when I am not the one who broke it?" Joseph glared at Ezreal.

"What are you saying? I am the one that's going to pay for it if it really is broken." Ezreal was once again confused by Joseph's antics, but the latter merely gave a crooked smile as he replied.

"Ah, I see. In that case, then feel free to break anything that you want. As long as we're not using my money to pay for it."

Ezreal nodded and Joseph continued on eating as he endlessly praised the lamb skewers:

"What is this holy mixture of herb and spices? Even though their notes are so subtle when you smell them, they explode in flavors when you bite into them. I think even Colonel Sanders with his mixture of herbs and spices would be envious of this!"

"Colonel Sanders?" Ezreal couldn't help but ask upon hearing an unfamiliar name.

Joseph stared at him with an expression that said 'Are you serious, bro?' before saying with a sigh: "No-nothing..."

"But anyway... I didn't expect that the Capital City Reinhardt could produce such high-quality food. I mean, just the spices alone are enough for this to be valued higher than average. This is really juicy and bursting with flavors."

Joseph said as he took another skewer from Ezreal's hands who looked concerned about the decreasing number of his skewers.

He had six skewers when he came in, but now he only had two.

He planned on eating all the skewers with Joseph while talking with him about the intricacies of manga-making but to think that Joseph was such a glutton.

Ezreal couldn't help but ridicule Joseph's gluttonous attitude: "You know what, master? There's a word for someone as gluttonous as you in my hometown."

"Oh? What is it?"

Joseph's interest was piqued. He couldn't find any information about Ezreal through the use of his Character Scrutinize skill due to the fact that his class-specific quest was still ongoing...

In other words, he couldn't find any other information about Ezreal apart from Ezreal himself.

But right now, Ezreal himself was offering information about his hometown out of his own volition to Joseph.

How could he not be interested?

"Dead Hungry." Ezreal wore a smug smile on his face as he replied in a sarcastic manner.

"Dead Hungry? What does that mean?" Joseph looked visibly confused.

The words, "Dead Hungry" didn't make sense to him.

"Well, it's like that when literally translated to a language that you cursed ones can understand. But in my vernacular, it's actually 'Patay Gutom'." Ezreal's smug smile deepened, but Joseph who was confused merely shook his head and said.

"What nonsense, let's just keep eating shall we?"

Ezreal who saw that Joseph wasn't particularly interested about the culture of his hometown anymore, nodded his head and replied: "How about we just talk about the culture of the Kingdom of Nether, master?"

"I mean aren't you curious as to how they could procure these herbs and spices to the extent that the masses could use, not only the nobles?"

"Yeah, that sure is interesting but could we just continue eating silently? I want to finish this as quickly as possible since I am running out of time for that quest and I also have things to do such as sending those two sisters some money."

"Quest? Sending those two sisters some money?" Ezreal was once again confused. He found that he couldn't predict Joseph's thoughts and emotions.

Recently, Joseph was the noisy one and now he wanted silence. Such a sudden change in attitude brought confusion to him. Especially the latter part of Joseph's sentence.

"Sending money to two sisters? Wait, master! You visited the red-light district, while I was sleeping?"

Ezreal's expression turned somewhat strange when he mentioned the word red-light district.

Joseph noticed it but he merely shrugged before saying: "What nonsense are you saying? What two sisters?"

"Didn't you just say that you're going to send money to two sisters or some sort?"

Ezreal said with a frown.

"Did I? Well, you're mistaken. I never said something like that. Anyways, let's just continue on eating. It'll be bad if these skewers turned cold. They are at their peak when they are still hot." Joseph hurriedly changed the topic, and the two finally continued their breakfast in peace.

In the middle of the breakfast, Joseph took a break from eating and sent the money that he owed to the two sisters for their services. Joseph didn't have any trouble sending the gold coins to the two sisters since those two sisters were still recorded in his [Party Logs].

The two finally finished their breakfast and headed outside of the inn. What greeted them were dozens of people moving about and doing their daily tasks. Some hawked their merchandises, some shouted loudly while some were busy cooking dishes for the morning crowd.

"This world can really be considered as a second world..." Joseph sincerely said to himself.

When Ray Gabriel, the Head of the Development Team of Victory at P.H Works said that the world of Victory could be considered as a second world.

Everyone thought that he was just mindlessly bragging...

But now, Joseph was convinced.

This world was truly a second world.

"Are you okay, master? You were staring a thousand miles away... Let's move. Thankfully, it's still early in the morning. Once the seventh hour of the morning arrived. I think that it would be hard for us to even move from this place due to the crowd."

"Hurry up, master. Follow me and I'll lead you to the Underground Penitentiary." Ezreal lightly smiled then he smoothly weaved through the crowd.

"Wow, that dexterity is unbelievable." In contrast to Ezreal. Joseph found it hard to move around, and it took him triple the time that Ezreal took when coming out of the crowd.

The two continued on their journey, and they soon arrived near the military barracks of the Kingdom of Nether. Ezreal's expression suddenly turned serious when they neared the barracks. Even Joseph couldn't help but gulp a mouthful of saliva.

Joseph heard some information about the mysterious Underground Penitentiary from Ezreal.

He learned from the latter that although covered in mystery. The Underground Penitentiary For Heinous Crimes of the Kingdom of Nether was a famous place where all sorts of criminals from strong to weak were imprisoned for as long as they committed cruel and inhumane crimes.

In any case, they were all people that anyone wouldn't want to run into in their life...

There existed even a famous adage in the Kingdom of Nether. Yes, in the entire Kingdom of Nether. Not just the Capital City of Reinhardt where the prison was located.

The saying went, "One doesn't know the definition of suffering until they are locked up in the Underground Penitentiary..." Along with several other adages that said, "Death isn't a cruel punishment within the Underground Penitentiary, but the greatest reward."

"A human when coming in, worse than a demon when coming out."

These adages alone sent shivers down Joseph's spine when he heard it from Ezreal. His shock deepened even further back then when he realized that Ezreal was saying these to him in a cold and stern expression.

Something which was completely opposite of Ezreal's almost always joking attitude.

The two arrived near the barracks and soldiers clad in the armor specifically made for the Kingdom blocked their way with cold expressions.

"Halt. Further steps forwards are forbidden. The facility behind is only for those with authority. Please come back to where you came from!" One of the soldiers cried out and Joseph was taken aback.

He expected that the soldier would act boorish and rude towards them, but what happened was the opposite.

In fact, the soldier even used deeper vocabulary that one couldn't hear from the common populace.

The two stopped on their tracks, and Ezreal glanced at Joseph who then took the hint.

Joseph first gulped a mouthful of saliva so, that he could suppress his nervousness, and with a stern expression.

He stepped forward and presented a letter to the soldiers who blocked their way.

"I came here from a faraway land to heed a Great Inquisitor's recommendation. Please open the way!" Joseph's voice rang loud and clear, and when the soldiers heard what he said. They couldn't help but tremble. Their eyes radiating fear as one of them mumbled.

"Did... Did you say that you came here to heed the recommendation of a Great Inquisitor? You're here to be a person of that place?"

Joseph faced the soldier with a serious expression and replied: "Yes, I am here to be a part of the Underground Penitentiary."

When the soldiers heard what he said, they all gulped a mouthful of saliva before one of them moved forwards and received him with a crooked smile on his lips: "I gratefully receive your presence, kind sir." He glanced at his comrades before continuing: "I alone will lead the path for both sirs, I hope that you don't mind that kind, sir."

Joseph nodded.

He didn't really care whether all the soldiers led the way for him for as long as he arrived and became a member of the Underground Penitentiary where he could continue his class-specific quest.

The comrades of the soldier who stepped forward nodded their heads in gratefulness as that same soldier walked forwards and led the way for Joseph and Ezreal.

Seeing their strange mannerism, Joseph couldn't help but ask.

"I can sense that you are fearing something since I mentioned the words, Underground Penitentiary. Can you tell me the reason why the soldiers of the Kingdom itself fear such a place?"

The soldier shivered for a moment before he turned around and faced Joseph with a bitter smile: "Kind sir, I know that as someone recommended by a Great Inquisitor. You should know about the effects of that place to common people whose minds aren't as strong as you sir..."

"I pleaded you, sir, to let me lead you the way alone since I am afraid that those young soldiers would have their mind broken after they witnessed the horrors that are within the Underground Penitentiary..."

The soldier bowed his head in appreciation towards Joseph's acceptance to his request.

But Ezreal frowned and asked before Joseph could speak once more: "But wouldn't that be the same as sacrificing yourself for their sake? I don't understand why you would do something like that in such peaceful times. Sacrifices should only be made in the middle of warfare, not in these times."

Both Joseph and the soldier glanced at Ezreal before the latter replied with a smile.

"As sir can see. I am already quite old. I have already enjoyed my youth and right now, I am only a few years away before my retirement. One can say that I have already experienced what life has to offer, but not those youngsters."

Joseph nodded his head in agreement and Ezreal looked somewhat convinced although he was still confused. But one couldn't really blame Ezreal for his confusion.

After all, Ezreal was a member of a species that lived really Iong lives.

It was given that he wouldn't understand the concept of sacrificing the old for the sake of the youths.

Seeing Ezreal's convinced, yet confused expression. Joseph now had quite a solid theory about what kind of an NPC was Ezreal. Of course, he couldn't say anything for sure until he had more concrete evidence but it was much better than nothing.

The party continued their walk and the path to the Underground Penitentiary was quite complicated than Joseph had expected. He expected that they would just enter a path downwards and then that was it, but what happened was the opposite.

Of course, they still entered a path that went downwards but they took several dozens of right and left turns to the extent that even Joseph who had a great memory couldn't memorize the path that they took anymore.

This continued on for several dozens of minutes until finally...

They arrived before a gate radiating intense energy that signified death.

"Such a thick aura of death... This is really the Underground Penitentiary..." Even Ezreal couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief when he saw the darkness surrounding the thick doors of the Underground Penitentiary.

The soldier who led them the way suddenly kneeled on the ground and cried out: "Rank 4 Soldier, James requests an audience with the honorable Jail Warden!"

His voice rang so loudly and powerful within the tight confines of the dungeon that his words echoed several times before disappearing and even snuffed out the fire of a nearby torch which further darkened the already dark surroundings.