District 42-Chapter 257: Javir

The man looked to Casper intently through the cell’s gate. He approached as much as he could from the bars, with his hands together behind his back. The old man had youth eyes, its expression was serene. They were blue and gave the feeling of a calm lake. Just like any Frelsi, he had half of his mask broken.

After so much time interacting just with Sgails, Aesirs, and Jarls, the soldier was somewhat relieved to see even half of the face of a human being.

It was completely different from what he saw before in the other Frelsis. He didn’t seem to be crazy, brutal, or a murder. Honestly, Casper couldn’t even relate him to a criminal. The man seemed to be off the place.

’I am pretty sure that this guy is the boss. I don’t know why he would show himself right away, although I have a guess.’

The White warrior walked towards the gate as well. The man remained unshaken, his hands didn’t move from his back. His blue eyes moved like soft waves, following him. When Casper stopped, right in front of him, he noticed that the old man was shorter than him and his body seemed to be somewhat weak.

’I wonder if this guy goes to the frontline or if he is the head of the operations that the Frelsis usually do. He doesn’t seem like a warrior at all, differently from all the other criminals I saw before. Also, there is something strange with him; I don’t know how such a weak-looking person can emanate such a sovereign. He is truly a leader despite his looks.’

"Will you just keep looking at my poor self or ask me whatever that is going on inside your mind?" His voice wasn’t intense at all. Its tone was more of what you would expect from a wise person. Although his body looked to be so old, his voice was as youthful as his eyes were.

’This man seems to have aged strangely, huh? That’s weird. He seems a fusion of a young man and an elder.’

Casper thought for some time before he came up with a good question. He didn’t know how much the man was going to cooperate with him, so he got to be careful about what he asked him.

The old man was patiently waiting for him. He did not move an inch, nor talked anything anymore. Sometimes he would clean his throat or breath in deeply, but that was all.

"Are you the leader of that New Organization or the Frelsi?"

The man giggled, squinting his eyes. He was having fun there, for some reason.

"Oh, yeah, I thought that you would bring to me pretty interesting questions. I love to talk with people as smart as you are. However, you can’t fool another smart person with tricky questions, you know?"

’Hmm, got it. Maybe I underestimated him a bit, but I needed to do it to test him, anyway. Now, how can I make him say something?’

"Ah, don’t worry, White warrior. You can rest your mind assured that my only reason to be here talking to you is that I want to cooperate with you, but you will need to do the same with me when the time comes." His calm eyes turned, for a single moment, in foxy ones. It made a chill went down on Casper’s back.

"Anyway, answering your previous question: I am the leader of both."

The soldier got worried about that question. Maybe the situation was a bit more complex than he thought before.

’It means that the New Organization and the Frelsis aren’t exactly the same. They are distinct groups.’

"What they have that differs them from the Frelsi, exactly? As far as I heard from one of their members, they also pursue freedom."

"Yes. That’s right. Our motivations are the same, some members as well. The only difference is that the Frelsi aren’t related to the Jarls, but the New Organization has a lot of influence coming from them. You can say that they give the funds and some troops as well."

The suspicion that Casper had before was confirmed. The enemies were both Jarls and Frelsis. That’s how the Frelsi could invade the Castle.

’It seems that this scheme is far bigger than we thought. Maybe the Frelsis were trying to persuade some Jarls a long time ago, also there is a chance that some of them could become Jarls by merit.’

"Where am I?"

"You are not inside the Castle anymore. We are outside. Even if I explain to you the region and all, you won’t have any idea where it is. Anyway, that’s currently one of the main and biggest bases of the Frelsi."

The White warrior guessed that it would be the case. There was a small window on that cell, but high enough for Casper not to look through or climb onto it. From there, though, a golden light was coming. That light was different from the artificial one of the Castle.

"What do you want from me?" Casper’s voice got somewhat stiff when asking this one. He narrowed his eyes and paid attention to the old man’s actions.

He doubted that the leader of the Frelsi would tell him the truth regarding such a subject. He was sure that he would try to trick him. Because of it, the soldier focused on analyzing his expression, so he could see if he was bluffing or not.

However, contrary to Casper’s expectations, the old man didn’t falter, nor acted strangely when speaking.

"To answer this question I will need you to fulfill your part of the agreement. You will need to cooperate with me as well, do you remember?"

The soldier got cautious once he heard those words.

"And in what kind of thing I will need to cooperate, exactly?"

"It’s nothing much, really. You will just need to stroll with me through the base. It’s a fair price in exchange for my answer, and it will help to give you the better response I can give. Also, don’t worry, we won’t cause any harm to you. Our intention isn’t to hurt you. I assure you that no one will try to touch you with bad intentions if you behave well. I always fulfill my promises, by the way."

Casper wasn’t sure if he could trust that guy. They didn’t kill him until that point, which showed that they weren’t willing to take his life, but he couldn’t know how they would treat him, nor the reason why they kept him alive for so long.

He was dealing with people he didn’t know anything about, including their real intentions.

"I don’t know if cooperate with him is the best way to go but, anyway, I am the one behind the bars here. If he wants to, he can force me to go out. Also, I won’t do anything to see the fury of this calm old man. For now, I will follow him.’

"That’s okay. I will do as you please. And I will behave well most of the time as long as you keep cooperating as well."

The man smiled faintly behind the mask.

"It’s nice to meet you, by the way, White warrior. My name is Javir, leader of the Frelsi."

He didn’t offer a handshake to Casper, just waving his hand instead. Javir was also being cautious around the White warrior.

"I won’t say that it is good to meet you in such circumstances, but I am glad we can cooperate. Also, my real name is Casper, but White warrior is ok for me."

After they made their acquaintance, Javir talked in a communicator, nearly whispering. Casper couldn’t identify what the guy said and it got him a bit suspicious.

Nonetheless, his worries completely vanished once the cell’s gate started to open slowly.

"Please, follow me. As I am trying to be friendly with you, handcuffs won’t be needed. But, please, restrain yourself to touch things or mess with my folk. Violence won’t be tolerated, regardless of what you hear or say." He warned while the gate opened the way to Casper.

The soldier hesitated for a while, even though the gate was already opened in front of him. He knew that, depending on what they were planning to him, stay inside those gates was slightly safer than outside. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’I am dealing with the Frelsi here. Until now, it’s still unclear how chaotic they are. This man had a mellow aura around him and I can’t feel any malice in his actions. However, I don’t have anything for granted here.’

Just as the soldier started his rambling, the old man didn’t seem to care and just waited for him to take his first step outside the cell. His hands were now crossed in front of his chest. In that position, he wasn’t a threat at all.

The White warrior clenched his fists and breathed in, taking a step outside the cell.