Chapter 250: Chapter 249 He’s Just a Kid Weighing Over 200 Pounds Chapter 250: Chapter 249 He’s Just a Kid Weighing Over 200 Pounds Nightfall enveloped White Stone City, and Richard swiftly made his way through it.
After a while, he arrived in a secluded part of the city, a shantytown, or what some would call a slum.
Clearly, no matter which city it was, there were dwellings for the rich and dwellings for the poor—people of all sorts of backgrounds and statuses would always find a way to find a place that could accommodate them.
However, Richard couldn’t understand why Alex insisted on living here. Given Alex’s capabilities, he could absolutely move to a better place.
Thinking this, Richard approached one of the few wooden structures in the shantytown and climbed up the worn wooden staircase that spiraled outside the building, making his way to the third floor.
The door to the third-floor room wasn’t closed at all, just slightly ajar. Richard gently pushed it open and entered.
Upon entering Alex’s home, Richard saw that the living room was lit with numerous candles, casting a bright light, and fragrant incense was burning, filling the air with a faint aroma. In the middle of the living room, there was an aged round table, laden with appetizing food:
Smoked duck full of zest, fatty and juicy marinated chicken, aromatic grilled steak, golden-fried eggs, stewed fish floating with vibrant green vegetable leaves, freshly baked crispy bread, fresh cheese, rich meat soup, cooked beans…
It was a feast so abundant it resembled a noble’s banquet, hard to imagine that Alex could eat all of this alone, but considering Alex’s size, it was understandable.
Richard glanced around and didn’t hear Alex’s voice in the living room; the whole house was eerily quiet, and he frowned slightly.
He didn’t think Alex had really been killed by Gutas—otherwise, the still-warm food in the living room would be unaccounted for. But even if he hadn’t been killed by Gutas, some other accident befalling Alex was also something Richard did not wish to see.
As Richard was pondering this, he suddenly heard the sound of water “splash” from the small room next to the living room.
With a flash in his eyes, Richard walked over.
With a “creak,” he pushed the door open and beheld the scene inside the small room.
There was a large bathtub in the center of the small room, filled with plenty of warm water, with an extraordinarily plump person soaking inside, almost like a mound of blubbery white flesh.
Two hands extended out, scrubbing the dirt off his body with an enraptured face, humming an indistinct tune under his breath, seemingly in very high spirits. Who else could it be if not Alex?
Seeing Alex comfortably taking a bath, Richard knew that Gutas’s previous words were obviously intended to mislead him, to buy time for escape. He didn’t pay much attention to this and thought, since he was here, he might as well take care of some of Alex’s small issues along the way.
For Alex, he was enjoying a relaxing bath when he saw the door open. The steamy mist prevented him from seeing clearly who had entered, but he didn’t panic. Instead, he called out loudly, “Lady Amanda, is that you? Don’t rush, I’ll be done shortly. Oh, by the way, would you care to join me for a… a… gasp!”
Alex couldn’t finish his sentence, his voice abruptly stuck in his throat, as he spotted Richard’s figure. He gulped nervously and then instinctively covered his chest, shielding his bosom that was more tumultuous than a woman’s.
“My my dear friend—Lord Richard, you… why have you suddenly come?” Seeing Richard standing by the bathtub, Alex was first surprised, then uneasy, and finally tense.
Richard countered with a question, “What do you think, why have I come?”
“I… I don’t know,” Alex shook his head repeatedly.
“Do you truly not know?”
“Erm…” Alex dared not speak any further, feeling incredibly guilty.
“Alright,” Richard turned and headed towards the living room, “get dressed, then come out and have a proper talk with me.”
Richard took a seat in the living room and waited a good while before Alex came shuffling out tentatively and carefully took a seat on the chair beside him.
Looking up, Alex gazed timidly at Richard as if he were a child—albeit one weighing over 200 pounds—who had been caught stealing candy.
Richard also looked at Alex and said, “Now, tell me about the great deed you’ve done.”
“What did I do?” Alex asked.
“Do I really need to remind you?”
“I…” Alex swallowed hard and shrank back, “You… you know everything?”
“Erm, alright, I admit it.” Alex confessed, “I indeed sold your potion for a higher price and kept the extra part for myself. I… I know I was wrong, and I promise to give back all the hidden Crystal Coins. And I won’t ever do it again. What do you think?”
“Let’s set that aside for now,” Richard waved his hand, “Let’s talk about something else—something more serious.”
“Something more serious?” Alex was taken aback, scratching his head, “There’s nothing else, I… I’ve only done this one bad thing. My dearest friend, you can’t just believe what others say. It’s only been one day; how could I possibly have done multiple bad things in such a short time, right?”
After speaking, Alex looked sincerely at Richard with his small eyes.
But Richard wasn’t buying it and said, “Then let me remind you, have you had any contact with a guy named Gutas?”
“Gutas?” Alex’s eyes darted around as he tried seriously to remember, “I think there was such a person during the day. Erm, now I remember, he bought a bottle of potion, which I sold him for two and a half… erm, no, three Lower-grade Crystal Coins. Later, he came back to buy more, and I was ready to make a good profit, so I raised the price slightly. But it turns out the guy was penniless; he haggled with me for a long time without buying more and then left. Could it be…”
Alex thought he had guessed something, his eyes widened as he looked at Richard and asked, “Could it be that this Gutas guy is a friend of yours? If so, I’ll make sure to sell to him at a lower price in the future.”
“No, I don’t know him,” Richard shook his head, “But… not too long ago, he sneaked into where I live, and I caught him. He told me he got my address from you.”
After a moment of silence, sweat broke out on Alex’s face, and he stammered, “My most most dearest friend—Lord Richard, you might really be mistaken about me. This is a set-up, it’s definitely a set-up; I would never give your address to someone else. I swear, I didn’t leak even a single word of your address!”
“But what?” Alex asked earnestly.
“But what if you leaked it without realizing it yourself?” Richard said, “For example, if the person deliberately elicited the information from you, leading you step by step into revealing it.”
“Erm, this…” Alex froze, his eyes going round and round until he finally realized something and successfully recalled that indeed, he had inadvertently mentioned Richard’s address earlier that day.