Exchange Conditions

Enzo and Yu Lian charged at Father Balin almost simultaneously. Each grabbed him by a shoulder and violently hauled him into the room, slamming him to the floor. The crisp ring of a weapon being drawn rang out. Lin Qi produced a gleaming, single-edged battle-axe from who knew where and angrily pressed it to Father Balin's neck.

Father Balin opened his mouth in terror and desperation, trying to cry for help, but Gram had already plopped himself down on his belly with practiced ease.

The terrible weight made Father Balin's eyes bulge. The poor man exhaled, all the air squeezed from his chest, and he no longer had the strength to make a sound. Gram grunted and shifted his backside. Father Balin's waist immediately groaned beneath the strain, as if his spine were about to give way.

Yu Lian swung a leg back and kicked the door shut. Lin Qi slowly bent down, his grim face stopping less than half a foot from Father Balin's. Pinned beneath Gram, Father Balin's face had turned purple. He gasped like a fish out of water, but Gram's nearly four-hundred-pound body crushed his chest, leaving him unable to draw in the slightest breath.

"Was Vik taken by the Round Table Knights?" Lin Qi asked unhurriedly.

Father Balin looked at Lin Qi miserably, a harsh "gurgle" bubbling in his throat. He was only a middleman. He had some connection to every unsavory student group, big or small, in University City, but all he did was pass messages. Feeling the cold blade against his neck, Father Balin prayed with utmost devotion to the Gods in the heavens: Send down the thunder of judgment and strike these bastards dead!

How could a well-behaved student, a future elite of the Empire, keep such a weapon hidden in his room? If Father Balin wasn't mistaken, the battle-axe in Lin Qi's hands was the kind butchers used in slaughterhouses to deal with large livestock. One swing could cleave a man in half at the waist!

This was a student dormitory at Fifth University. Why was there something here that belonged in a slaughterhouse? Even Father Balin, who had seen plenty in his time, couldn't make sense of it. And now that the axe was pressed to his neck, his thoughts had frozen completely.

Gram smacked his lips as he chewed a boiled egg. He watched Father Balin's face closely, waiting until it had gone from purple to nearly black before slowly getting to his feet and carefully sitting down on a wooden stool. He had to be careful. Ever since he'd collapsed Lin Qi's bed by sitting on it half a year ago and gotten a thorough beating from Lin Qi, he'd become much more cautious.

So it was a stroke of luck that he hadn't broken Father Balin's ribs with that drop just now.

Father Balin suddenly sucked in a breath, letting out a strange, whistling gasp. He coughed violently a few times, then stammered, "This has nothing to do with me! You know that! I have nothing to do with it. I'm not on friendly terms with those bastards from the Army Academy. Father Eisen is the Army Academy's assistant chaplain. I have nothing to do with those lowlifes!"

Lin Qi glared at Father Balin and ignored his protests. Instead, he sneered, "If we chop you into eighteen pieces and toss you into the Seine River at midnight, you'll float hundreds of miles downstream in a single night. Then Father Balin will be gone from this world forever."

Father Balin went deathly pale and trembled. "Th-that's murder!"

Lin Qi blinked and sneered. "Wrong. It's death by accidental drowning."

Father Balin nearly burst into tears. Trembling with fear and anger, he hissed, "If you chop me into eighteen pieces, how is that not murder?"

Lin Qi nodded as if he'd suddenly understood. He scraped the rough edge of the axe against Father Balin's fat, greasy neck and sneered, "I see. You're right. If you drown by accident, you can't end up in eighteen pieces. So, how about we get you drunk, knock you out, and throw you in the river?"

With a strange laugh, Lin Qi said darkly, "If a man is dead drunk and unconscious, can he still swim?"

Two streams of tears rolled down Father Balin's cheeks. He wailed softly, "But Mr. Lin Qi, we're friends! We're friends!"

Lin Qi gave a few cold laughs and shook his head firmly. "No, we're not friends anymore. We haven't been friends since last night! So you'll die by accidental drowning. Even if the Copper Hats from the Security Office find you, you'll have drowned by accident while wandering around drunk!"

Father Balin blinked a few times. Miraculously, the tears that had just been streaming down his face stopped. He studied Lin Qi thoughtfully. After a moment, he slowly nodded. "That Atonement Talisman—sorry, I took the wrong one. It wasn't the one personally made by the archbishop of the diocese. But please believe me, I didn't mean to deceive the esteemed Mr. Lin Qi. I took the wrong one while drunk."

Lin Qi sighed deeply and nodded. "Yes, you took the wrong one. But I nearly got killed by one of Master Ke Cha's fireballs!"

Father Balin held up three fingers. "Three hundred Atonement Talismans, at cost. You understand!"

Lin Qi glared at Father Balin through clenched teeth. "Three hundred Atonement Talismans for three thousand coppers. After costs, my profit would be barely ten gold coins. Is my life worth so little? Two thousand Atonement Talismans, at cost. You understand!"

Father Balin glared at Lin Qi through clenched teeth and snarled, "Two thousand? If too many counterfeit Atonement Talismans not made by the Church suddenly hit the market, do you know how much trouble that would cause? One thousand at most. Otherwise, just kill me! And I want half the profits. If not, you might as well kill me!"

Lin Qi put away the battle-axe, and the heavy weapon mysteriously vanished without a trace. Enzo and Yu Lian also helped Father Balin to his feet with smiles on their faces. A thousand Atonement Talismans not printed by the Church meant a very nice profit. Father Balin was everyone's money tree now, so they naturally had to treat him with a little more respect.

Clapping his hands lightly, Lin Qi gritted his teeth and sneered. "All right. Now, dear Father Balin, tell me how those despicable, shameless, filthy bastards managed to take Vik. And what conditions did they set?"

Father Balin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, snatched a bottle of liquor from the table, and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

After belching with satisfaction, Father Balin narrowed his eyes.

"I really don't know how they took Vik."

"But their conditions aren't simple. Lin Qi, they want a few of the Iron Fist Brotherhood's leaders to meet them in the alley behind the Sword and Beauty Tavern at midnight tonight to negotiate." Father Balin's expression was gloomy. "They want you to bring enough... gold coins!"

Lin Qi's mouth twitched. The Sword and Beauty Tavern was where students from the Army Academy usually gathered.