Chapter 30: Duel Part 2

The sun had set while they were inside, and the rising moonlight was illuminating the street. The small smooth pebbles that made up the road almost glowed in the moon's soft light.

"Alright, the two of you need to space out twenty feet and face each other." The guard said. "When I count to three you may commence the duel."

Joshua and the woman took their places and stared down one another. Neither would break eye contact or blink. The woman had her pistol ready, aimed directly at Joshua's chest. And Joshua had his sword drawn and at the ready.

"One." The guard said. "Two."

'BANG' A loud explosion of a gunshot rang out as the woman shot Joshua dead center of his chest.

"Oops sorry, my finger slipped." She said with an evil grin. "That's just too bad."

The metal ball hit Joshua square in his silk steel shirt. The fibers of the shirt held, and the fabric was loose and pliable enough that it wrapped around the ball and stopped all its momentum.

"Say three." Joshua said to the guard, his voice full of rage.

"Three…" The guard said, having been frozen, not knowing what to do when a noble cheats.

Joshua started walking towards her with his sword at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground in his right hand.

As she saw him walking towards her, she started frantically trying to reload her single shot pistol. She realized she couldn't in time and tossed the gun at Joshua while screaming. "No! This isn't supposed to be this way! You cheated!"

Joshua caught the gun in his left hand as he walked towards her. As he got closer, he lifted his sword into the air, prepared to slash down upon her. As he reached striking distance, he did just that. His sharp cursed blade cleaved her clean through. From the right base of her neck to the left hip.

Her eyes rolled back as her blood splattered in the air. The sword seemed to absorb most of the blood into itself, as if it were thirsty after being drained with the fight with the undead. Her body slumped to the ground in the two pieces that Joshua had cleaved her in two.

Her blood splatter fresh on his face, his eyes seemed to have a slight red gleam to them in the moonlight as he turned to the guard and Gina.

"I declare the winner is Knight Joshua." The guard said. "I will go and prepare the paperwork. Please wait here for my return."

"Joshua!" Gina yelled as she ran towards him. "I was so worried! Are you okay?! I saw you get hit!"

She lifted his shirt, aside from a large bruise in the center of his chest he appeared to be fine. He placed his hand on the top of her head. "I told you I would be okay." Joshua said. The red gleam in his eyes seemed to disappear and revealed his normal eye color.

The workers of the woman's bakery exited the building and looked upon the gruesome scene. Seeing the woman, who had served their whole lives in a pile of blood gave them mixed emotions. She treated them horribly, only giving them what was necessary to survive and never letting them experience joy or happiness.

But she was all they ever knew. As much as they despised her, they still looked at her like she was family.

"She is really gone." Timothy said. "Rest in peace, mistress."

"Timothy, right?" Joshua asked. "I have good news. You will no longer be required to go to the lower city bakery. Instead, I would like you to continue to run this one. I am betting you did all the running before."

"That is correct, Sir Knight." Timothy replied.

"Please, call me Joshua." Joshua replied. "There is no need to stand on formality with me. You are my employees not my servants or slaves. I will pay you a decent wage and you will be afforded days off and personal time. You can continue to live in the house you are living in now.

I will be by later to inspect it and take stock of all my new possessions. Gina, can you set Timothy up with a way to transfer funds to your bakery's bank account? That way we have both bakeries going into the same account."

"Sure, but I am still putting fifty percent of it into your personal account." Gina said.

"That is fine." Joshua said. "Pay all the employees one gold coin a day."

Their eyes all widened at Joshua's last words. "Sir, did I hear that correctly? You wish to pay us a gold coin a day?"

"You know, you are right." Joshua said. "That is a bit low. Pay them two gold coins a day."

"Sir, that is not what I meant!" Timothy said.

"As I said I want you to have a life." Joshua replied. "A life that you can enjoy and buy the things you want. In return I only ask that you remain loyal to me. Never share the recipe of our product to anyone. It is our greatest secret and the source of our income. Without it, I wouldn't be able to pay you."

"We will protect it with our life's sir!" They all said in unison. "We would sooner die than surrender that recipe. That is our word and our bond!"

"Kind of creepy how you all talked at once and chose to say the exact same thing, but whatever." Joshua said. "I am glad this happened before we went to the baths. Otherwise, I would have been covered in blood again."

"If it is a bath you seek, there is a private bath in your new estate." Timothy said. "There is no need for someone of your status to lower himself by entering the public baths."

"Lower myself?" Joshua asked. "I heard they were really nice."

"They are if you do not have your own luxurious private bath." Timothy explained. "Which you now do sir."

"What about my clothes?" Joshua asked. "They had someone there that could clean them for me."

"I can handle it lord." One of the female workers said. "I always handled the mistress's laundry, and it would be my pleasure to see to the matter for you. Please allow me this, as a thanks for all you have done."

"Alright." Joshua said. "Then we just wait for the guard and then we will go to my new home."