The Grand Duelist

Chapter 45: Makeshift Competition

"Step back! You're new here, and you may not know about it but people like these bastards  murderous auras that could kill with a single glance!"

One of the Jail Janitors shouted at Joseph, but he was astonished when he found that Joseph didn't look particularly disturbed from the scream that came from Old Bastard John.

Ezreal stared at Joseph in admiration. Although he knew that he was stronger than the latter.

He still felt disturbed about the scream that Old Bastard John unleashed...

Even he couldn't remain composed under that murderous scream, but Joseph managed to do that, and this further intensified his admiration towards Joseph.

"As expected of Master! He really is someone reliable!"

Joseph stepped forward and convened with his fellow Jail Janitors. But to his disappointment, apart from that Jail Janitor who screamed at him in concern. The other Jail Janitors didn't even glance at him. They simply pretended that he didn't exist.

"What's the deal with these guys? Did I do something to offend them?" Joseph's eyebrows knitted for he didn't understand the coldness that his fellow Jail Janitors gave off towards him.

Since he was new here and didn't know anything about what the job really was like.

Shouldn't it be common sense that they should teach him instead of shunning, and treating him like an outcast?

Joseph couldn't understand.

Ezreal quickly sensed the coldness that their fellow Jail Janitors had for Joseph and he couldn't help but frown and speak up: "Why are all of you acting like that? Both of us are new to this job. Shouldn't all of you teach us how we can do our jobs properly instead of treating us like air?"

The Jail Janitors who acted like the two didn't exist, all trembled at once. One of them who had a particularly scary visage turned to look at Ezreal and said in a hoarse voice: "So what? Is there something wrong if we treat someone as weak as him as nothing, but air?"

Joseph resisted the murderous aura that came out from the man's voice, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine. He furtively glanced at Ezreal, hinting that he should step back and calm down by winking at Ezreal.

But to his dismay, Ezreal took his hints as encouragement instead of disapproval.

"You're saying that he's weak? You're really funny. He is someone that could defeat at least dozens of you at once." He even bragged about Joseph's abilities which caused Joseph to facepalm as more sweat formed on his forehead and slowly dripped down his cheeks.

"Ah... Please don't completely believe what he's saying... I mean, I am not weak, but I am not as strong as he is saying. I definitely can't defeat dozens of you at the same time." Joseph waved his hands in the air in a panicked manner as he carefully explained.

But the man's eyebrows raised up as he asked: "Then, are you saying that you can defeat us if we fight you one by one?" His fierce voice penetrated deep into Joseph's ears which made him shiver once again as he glanced at Ezreal in defeat.

"Yes, that's right. If both of you fought one on one then, master could kill you for hundreds of times before you could possibly kill him once. That's how strong he is." Ezreal thought that even he was exaggerating Joseph's abilities.

But since his words had already left his mouth, it was already too late for regrets.

"Oh? Then how about we test that theory of yours then? Right here, and right now." The scary-faced Jail Janitor became aggressive and he even unsheathed a dagger underneath his robes and assumed a stance. The surrounding Jail Janitors saw what he did and they hurriedly stepped aside.

They looked at the three from afar with amused expressions on their face.

"What are you bastards trying to do?! You bastards will never get my treasures, whatever method you do!" Old Bastard John fiercely cried out when he noticed the change in his surroundings.

He instinctively threatened them due to the fact that he's currently disoriented and couldn't understand what was going on around him.

"Shut the fuck up, old man. We're trying to watch a show here, can you be quiet?" One of the Jail Janitors gestured and a seal came down on Old Bastard John's lips, sealing his ability to speak as he wildly thrashed on the ground in a panic.

Before the situation could escalate even further, Ezreal stepped forward and finally acted in a manner that Joseph favored.

"He is someone that I serve and admire upon, and so. Before you can reach and fight against him. You must defeat me... While I am still alive, there's no way that you can touch, even a strand of his hair!" Ezreal solemnly declared and Joseph was visibly moved.

If Joseph was a maiden then he would've fallen for him right at this instant.

Ezreal's serious expression and the light of determination in his eyes while he said these words made him look quite cool and out of this world.

Sadly, he was a man and Joseph didn't have any interest in men nor experimenting.

"Ugh... Holy fuck, did he really just say that?"

"For fuck's sake, that was cringy as hell."

"Really..."

The Jail Janitors around the visibly trembled as they all cursed at Ezreal. Their eyes now radiated a strange light whenever they glanced at him and at Joseph.

"Could people like them even be allowed in this place?"

"Of course, why not? Personally, I don't discriminate. I mean we have our own tastes."

"Yeah, you say that you furry-loving fucker."

"What did you say to me, you little piece of shit?"

"No... Nothing..."

Sensing the incomparably thickened air of tension in the area. Javier stepped forward and said: "How about both sides stop this for now and finally get to business? Having this old bastard confess is more important than any other thing. Can you suppress your anger for a while, Jagger?"

The scary-faced man who was apparently named as "Jagger", shook his head and replied: "I don't think that I can control this anger inside of me anymore, Brother Javier. I need an outlet... I badly need an outlet. Please give me an outleeet!"

He suddenly screeched in fear, startling Joseph who was unfamiliar with his attitude.

Javier lightly smiled and replied: "If it's just an outlet for your anger. How about we hold a competition between you and them?"

"The one who manages to force a confession or get even single valuable information from that old bastard will win. If we do that and you won, you essentially knocked over two birds in one stone. Isn't that good?"

Jagger looked visibly confused by the number of words that Javier said, but when he heard the word "good", from Javier's mouth.

He repeatedly nodded his head like chicken pecking rice before saying: "Good? Yeah, good! Good, good, good!"

The other Jail Janitors chuckled at this comedic side of the normally scary Jagger, and they couldn't help but feel pity towards Joseph and Ezreal.

They had been with Jagger for far too long already that they knew what would happen if Jagger won this makeshift competition.

He would most likely request obedience from the two using Javier as a proxy...

And after recently doing a notable achievement like forcing a confession out of Old Bastard John's mouth.

Even the Deputy Warden would most likely not refuse Jagger's request.

After all, Jail Janitors were people whose lives weren't really that important and easily replaceable with other garbage back at the surface.

"I'm really sorry about that, you two..."

"Jagger's a person with an erratic attitude that easily changes in a whim. I need to do something like this to pacify his anger or else his true self may awaken. He's a member of that particular species and he's quite scary when thoroughly enraged." Javier apologized at the two.

Ezreal nodded his head in understanding while Joseph looked confused. He was about to ask Javier for further information when the other Jail Janitors started dragging the squirming Old Bastard John into a private room where Jagger could do his job.

The two closely followed them and Joseph suddenly said to Ezreal: "What did Javier mean about a member of that particular species?"

Ezreal stared at Joseph for a moment before replying: "Ah, that guy? His attitude really is understandable since he's a member of the #@$@#$#@! species."

Joseph frowned for he couldn't quite understand what Ezreal said, but then. A system notification suddenly appeared right in front of him.

[ The information that you are trying to access is a piece of sealed information. This usually happens when you encounter a story-teller or an NPC that gives you information about something that should only surface at the right time. ]

[ Your ears will temporarily be inflicted with [ Silence ] for the protection of those vital pieces of information. ]

[ Under the effects of your title, "The Sun that Overlooks Everything". ]

[ You have resisted. ]

"Like I said, master. That guy is pretty dangerous for he's a member of the Berserker Species. People like him are a force to be reckoned with whenever you meet them in battle. Even though I am stronger than him, I am not sure whether I could successfully kill him..."

"Seriously injuring him could be possible, but killing him? That's something that I cannot say for sure." Ezreal said in a casual manner, but Joseph didn't even understand what he said due to the shock that he suffered from what the system notifications said in front of him.

"A Berserker? And a seal on information? Could it be that I found some kind of a treasure chest?"

Joseph's excitement soared through the roof for his instincts told him that there existed an opportunity somewhere that he could take advantage of on his information.

But before he could think too deeply about it. Javier turned around to look at him and said: "The competition is starting, you must prepare yourself, alright? This first job of yours may be quite hard, but I think that you can do something about it. After all, all those that are qualified to be in here are those that can clutch through a pinch."

Joseph awakened from his trance and a bitter smile emerged on his lips instead: "How about I prepare for this bullshit competition for now instead of thinking about that possible opportunity? But damn, how can I force a confession out of a monster like that?"

Joseph's mind quickly spun as time also quickly passed.

After several dozens of minutes...

The door of the private room that Javier prepared for the competition of the two, slowly opened and revealed the excited figure of Jagger who had a scary-looking smile on his face as he announced.

"I, success..."

"OOOHHH!"

Almost every Jail Janitor screamed out loud in joy at that moment.