A Few Days Earlier.

Fester took a good look at the house in front of him, his eyes flickering to the piece of paper in his hands. The location specified on the piece of paper had directed him here. The building was modest, with hardly anything noteworthy.

Still, if this turned out to be that thief’s location...his palm clenched into a fist as he snickered.

Ever since he became the head guard this was the first time such a scandal had ever happened. After it, he hadn’t been able to look the count in the eye for several days.

However, the opportunity to redeem himself had presented itself before him. He wasn’t planning to waste it.

He was a bit resentful that the count had requested that the kid be brought back alive. But since he hadn’t said anything about touching him, Fester figured he’d roughen him up a bit.

He walked to the door of the house, knocking on it a few times.

"I’m coming," an old and frail voice said from behind the wooden frame.

Fester waited for a while, before the door swung open. In front of him was an old man with faded blue hair. He sat in a wheelchair, wearing a cheerful smile.

"How may I help you, young man?"

Fester didn’t immediately regard the man as his gaze looked past him into the house. There was no one there, and after confirming he shifted his gaze to the man.

"I’m looking for a Kid. Anyone living with you here?"

Old man Kodu seemed to think for a while, then he shook his head.

"No, no one. At least as far as I can remember." Fester’s eyes seemed to narrow.

The man didn’t seem to be in the best mental condition, but he didn’t dismiss the possibility of it being an act.

"Then you wouldn’t mind letting me in now, would you?"

His hands hovered over his blade strapped around his waist. If the man tried resisting them he wouldn’t hesitate to end his life. From the looks of it, he was most likely buying time for the Eros kid to run away.

But when Fester spread out his perception he couldn’t find anyone on the run.

However, it wasn’t that hard to interfere with his long-range perception so he didn’t let his guard down.

He was surprised when the old man nodded. "No, no. Come in, come in." The old man wheeled himself out of the way, letting Fester in.

"I hardly have any visitors these days." He chuckled.

Fester didn’t reply, his eyes just narrowed. He was analysing if there was some sort of trap in the building, but he soon shook his head. The old man barely had any nexus in him, it was highly unlikely he would pose a threat in any way.

He walked in, observing his surroundings. There was a faint smell of chemicals in the air that lingered far too long.

Fester didn’t mention it, but just walked farther into the house.

"Care for some tea?" A voice rang behind him.

Fester turned back, a bit perplexed. By now anyone should have been able to notice the tension in the air, yet this old man seemed to be oblivious to it.

He was either senile, or he was hiding something. Either way, Fester was going to find out.

"Okay." He nodded, deciding to see where this led.

Old Man’s smile grew wider and more amicable, he then led Fester to the dining area and pulled out a seat for him.

"Just give me a minute, I’ll get the water ready."

As the old man wheeled himself out, Fester immediately got up and began looking around. There wasn’t anything suspicious, although he found a few talismans around the place, which wasn’t strange.

He began to get a bit worried, perhaps he had gotten the wrong location. If so, that would do his already bad reputation no good.

The last thing he wanted to do was erroneously kill an already crippled old man.

The sound of Old Man Kodu wheeling himself back reverberated through Fester’s ears and he went back to his seat.

The man came back carrying a metal tray with two cups and a teapot.

He placed one of the cups in front of Fester and poured into it, then another one in front of himself and poured himself a good portion.

The old man then sat opposite Fester and began talking. "So this young man, is there some sort of bounty on his head?"

Fester’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the cup, but he didn’t immediately act. "No, nothing of that sort. I just wish to talk with him."

"Oh, is that so. It’s a pity then. I hardly know anyone around here. I can’t be of much help to you." Old man Kodu then brought his cup towards his mouth and was about to sip from it.

Just before the rim of the cup touched his lips, Fester’s voice sounded.

"Stop," he said, prompting the old man to pause.

"Anything the matter," he asked softly.

"No, nothing. I just think we should exchange cups. You see, I’m a bit of a paranoid man."

There was a short pause and Fester didn’t fail to notice the slight shaking of the old man’s lips. He grinned inwardly. It only made sense that someone as weak as him would resort to poison after all.

"Oh," the old man started. "If that be the case, then no problem."

Fester’s hand hovering over his weapon paused. He had thought the man would try to resist but he did no such thing, subverting his expectations.

The old man was about to exchange the cups when Fester stopped him again.

"Let me do it," he said quietly, exchanging the cups.

"Take a sip," Fester said, raising his own cup high.

The old man hesitated, but Fester drew out his sword, holding it just in front of the man’s neck.

Beads of sweat formed on the old man’s forehead as his hands began to shake.

"How about this," Fester added. "We both drink on the count of three."

The man gulped, but with the sword just inches from his neck, he nodded.

Fester smiled.

"One," he said, prompting the old man to pick up his cup.

"Two," he picked his bringing it to his mouth.

He brought his sword closer to the old man’s neck so that it touched his skin.

"Three," he waited for the old man to pour the contents of his cup into his mouth, before pouring his down his own throat.

When they were both done with their tea Fester waited to see if anything strange was going to happen. And as expected, something began to happen.

Old man Kodu began to scream as his skin twitched grotesquely.

Fester burst into laughter as he watched the man in pure agony. The old man’s skin began to burn as white smoke escaped his pores.

However, Fester’s laughter paused when the Old man’s cries morphed into laughter.

"Little one," he said with the little strength left. "What makes you so sure that I didn’t poison both?"

In that moment Fester’s eyes widened as he felt his organs twitch. A sharp pain pierced him from within.

"You, you’re insane."

The old man just continued laughing, and Fester began to groan in pain.

The world turned wavy as his mind blurred. Everything seemed to slow down as he felt his consciousness slowly dim.

At this point, the old man in front of him had begun melting as the poison acted on him.

"No," Fester whispered as he couldn’t hold on to reality any longer.

Finally, his mind gave in as he fell from his chair, landing on the floor with a thud.

Before he fully lost consciousness, the last sound he heard was that of a rolling wheelchair.