Chapter 197: Man Is What He Hides
Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.
Right now, Zane was also trying to find what kind of man Horum was by finding out what he was hiding.
The Flamekeeper Birgham revealed the address of Horum’s house.
He mentioned the quarters allotted for the Clergymen and that was the first time Zane heard something like that existed. If he knew, he would have gone there first and then would have come to the church.
Nevertheless, Hena told him that the clergymen higher than Kindler rank get a quarter of their own from the Crowns as a sign of respect and reward for working hard for faith.
Zane glared at her and questioned if she knew about it then why didn’t she tell him sooner?
At that, Hena said she didn’t know that Zane didn’t know. Also, it would be very unlikely Horum would go to his quarters if he had really stolen the original relic. The other Flamekeepers would have sensed it right away.
Though, after answering that, Hena asked something of her own.
"What was all that?"
They were walking outside the church and they had left it behind.
The sun was no more in the sky as the two moons took its place.
But when Zane saw them, he remembered the images he saw in dark space.
The two moons were supposed to be one single moon. That’s what Zane saw in the images at least.
I have no way of confirming whether those images were true or not.
"Answer me." Hena asked.
Zane snapped out of his thoughts.
"Yes. Yes. I will answer but I don’t know what you want to know though."
A vein popped on Hena’s head.
She looked at Draxus.
Draxus nodded.
"Why did you change your plan? And what’s with that story? You never took money from Horum and what would you have done if that Flamekeeper suspected you of lying?"
Draxus asked a few questions in one breath and since Zane expected all this, he replied with no hassle.
"I thought there was no need to kidnap him. He was understanding so I made up a story to make him sympathize with me."
"Hmm? How did you know he was understanding?" Xavier asked.
Zane looked at him.
"Because he wasn’t disgusted when I said that you like men."
Xavier fumed.
"Why did you even do that? And yes, he was very understanding about it. Heck, I was afraid he would ask me for a date himself."
Zane laughed. "I was messing around with you. He came in front of me because you were talking to me carelessly so I decided to punish you. But you went on and punished yourself much better."
Xavier stopped talking.
He couldn’t believe he called himself a pervert in front of everyone just to save himself from the accusation of being gay.
They chuckled remembering the scene but Draxus asked Zane to carry on with his answer.
Zane was about to do that anyway.
"So knowing that he was a good listener, I let go of the kidnapping idea and chose confession. I made up a story on the go that would also require me to know about Horum. It worked on Birgham and here we are. Going to Horum’s house."
"What if he would have asked for proof? Or he had simply refused to believe your story?" Draxus presented more questions and Zane rolled his eyes.
"First of all, the story I recited to him wasn’t all that serious. It was a simple story of borrowed money. No one in their right mind would pay too much attention to it. And since I was confessing, Birgham would think that I am speaking the truth."
"Also," Zane added. "I was only asking for Horum’s address. Nothing illegal or threatening. Yes, I could have asked the address normally but there was a chance Birgham might have not given it to me. But after the confession, Birgham found me genuine and ended up helping me with the address."
Hena nodded a few times and everyone agreed with it.
Jammy smoked his cigar as he gazed at the sky.
"Smoking under a sky full of stars, makes me feel I am one of them." He said but no one commented anything. They couldn’t relate at all.
Anyway, they kept walking under the silent night.
The Wardens had increased in numbers as compared to the day and it was understandable.
The nights were more dangerous than days and they would also be looking for Zane Atlas now as well.
But no one disturbed Zane and his team as their clothes and carefree manner kept them safe and respected.
Their authority only works on the poor.
Zane shook his head and carried on walking.
Hena was guiding them as she knew the City very well.
They crossed many roads, they chose no carriages, and after seeing a board on their next turn, they sighed in relief.
The board read: Kopium Street.
They were finally on the street where Horum lived.
"Fifth house, was it?" Hena asked.
"Yes." Zane replied and counted the houses.
The houses were of moderate sizes but for Zane they were still big and fancy.
Nevertheless, he kept his jealousy inside his pocket and rested his eyes on the fifth house.
All the houses were in front of them so they only had to pick the fifth one.
The street was mostly filled with trees and plants and because of them, there weren’t that many houses in the area. Only around fifty or thirty houses stood.
"Shall we?" Jammy asked.
Zane nodded and stepped forward.
Everyone followed him.
Wardens were still around but Zane walked as if he knew where he was going and what he was looking for.
With no hesitation he went to the fifth house and opened its metal gate.
No warden was outside the house and Zane walked towards the main door of the house.
He used the Key Of Oblivion to open the door and finally, after one hour of walking...
I am home.
Zane was inside Horum’s house.
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