When he sees the giant fall, he can't suppress a smile. Despite the Templar immediately coming to his aid, the giant will feel the consequences of this fall for a long time. Everything is going according to plan; they are almost at his master's, and he will finally find out where the gemstone is. Eventually, the Templar stops treating the giant, and they continue their journey. The Adonis leads the way, with the knight right behind him. In the middle are the Templar and the giant, and at the very back is the Viking. He regularly looks back to see if they are being followed. However, the Viking doesn't realize that Knijster is spying on them through the walls.

Eventually, they arrive at the door to the training room. Here, recruits of Pivanu are trained. At this moment, Thio is training the recruits in ninjitsu combat technique, one of the many skills they must master to become a full-fledged member of Pivanu. The group of adventurers will have to pass through them to face his master. Knijster could warn Thio that the group of adventurers might burst into his training room at any moment. After all, Thio is an important part of the organization, personally brought here by Ryko to train recruits. However, Knijster is loyal to Oudenhuysen and not to Ryko, so he doesn't care much about what happens to Thio. When the door flies open, the recruits and Thio look very surprised. It has never happened before that strangers have entered this room. Their surprised looks quickly vanish, and they take attack positions. Each adventurer is faced with two Pivanu recruits. No one will leave this room unscathed.

Thio takes his responsibility as master and immediately goes after Colos. He attacks Colos with his ninjato. Colos is visibly surprised and struggles with Thio as an opponent, partly due to the damage from his fall. Because the Adonis' paladin is fighting by his side, their opponents have a much harder time; they are the first to fall. After this, the Adonis goes to help his knight. Bjorn quickly deals with his opponent and goes to help Emelina, who is still facing two recruits. These recruits have hit her hard several times, and Knijster notices that she is defending more than attacking. When Bjorn reaches her, the dynamics of the fight quickly change, and those recruits are also eliminated.

Eventually, all the recruits are defeated, and only Thio remains. Knijster sees that Colos is surprised Thio is holding out so long. Thio deflects most of Colos' attacks and manages to hit him several times. Thio is the better fighter of the two and has a chance to defeat Colos. However, his advantage disappears when he is the last one standing. Now his opponent is not only Colos but also the rest of the group.

There is clearly still much work to be done on the training of the Pivanu recruits; a group of adventurers is able to kill an entire batch of recruits in one fight without suffering losses themselves. Thio must now see that his situation is hopeless and that he better surrender.

However, Thio doesn't get the chance to surrender. His life is ended by a throwing axe from Bjorn, which lands in the back of his head. This was their chance to find out they were dealing with his master, but this group apparently doesn't think that far ahead. All the better, they will be surprised when they see his master in a few minutes. Before continuing, they search every body. They take the ducats they find and move on.

The room they enter next surprises them. This is not a training room but a luxurious reception hall partially designed by Oudenhuysen. The floor is covered with a burgundy carpet, candles hang on the walls, and there is a strong scent of perfume. This is a stark contrast to the rooms they just came from. Knijster sees from the expressions on the faces of Bjorn, Emelina, and even Colos that they realize who they are dealing with. His master's manor in Uzés has the same style as this room, and they have noticed. They are a bit smarter than Knijster had thought.

Before they can say anything to the Adonis or the knight, they are interrupted by a sound. They hear someone clapping, and the sound comes from the room adjacent to the reception hall. Colos takes his devil's club in hand and opens the door. They see his master sitting at his desk, a glass of red wine in front of him. He has a big smile on his face and stops clapping when everyone is inside. He has clearly had enough to drink and has a look of pure lust for power in his eyes. Knijster sees that his master's worries are slightly fading. He takes another sip of his glass of wine and then begins to speak.

"Good evening, everyone, it has been a long time. My apologies, but I don't believe I have met everyone here yet. Let me briefly introduce myself: my name is François Oudenhuysen, and I am a trader. I have various contracts with important houses. You look like someone interested in doing business with me, but I have questions about the people you associate with. This Templar, Viking, and giant are dangerous types." Oudenhuysen stops speaking and looks at the Adonis, keeping a close eye on him but maintaining a smile on his face.

Just before the Adonis wants to answer, Bjorn grabs his barbarian battle axe. He starts to move forward, but the Adonis stops him. He puts his arm on his shoulder and whispers something, then he begins to speak to my master. "It may be that I associate with dangerous types, but I don't really care who they are. You don't have to play games with me, or you will quickly discover that my knight and I can be just as dangerous as my new friends."

Stolen novel; please report.

Then a long silence falls. I look at my master and see that he is thinking about how best to play this out. On the other side, the giant and the Viking are holding back from starting a fight. The knight has also been focusing on his sword for a long time. However, the Adonis and the Templar keep a close watch on my master's every move. "I wanted to spare you and your knight; after all, you have nothing to do with this situation. You also cannot tell me what happened to my gemstone. However, if you side with these individuals, I am forced not to spare you."

"What do you think? There are five of us, and you are alone. By the way, go check the room that leads to your quarters. There you will find dozens of dead bodies. You are completely alone, what do you think you can achieve? By the way, if you have another ace up your sleeve, I will make sure it cannot be played immediately." The Adonis makes a brief hand gesture, and within seconds a transparent dome surrounds them. "No weapon or spell can penetrate this shield, so it seems wise for you to surrender." Knijster sees that everyone is surprised by the shield, except the knight. He seems to have seen this before. It is an interesting shield, especially since the Adonis does not seem to be a magic user. Knijster wonders where he learned this skill.

Oudenhuysen shifts in his chair but maintains his sly smile. "What a display of power! You are right, the most sensible thing would be to surrender. I could tell you why I wanted the gemstone or what I am doing in this village. I am here for one reason: for you, Knijster!"

When I hear my name, I know it is time to act quickly. I snap my fingers and immediately appear next to my master's desk. He looks tense at me, I look at the group of adventurers and see surprise on everyone's faces. "Dear Adonis, didn't you say that this shield protected you against any form of magic? We will test this theory directly." After this sentence, I feel a magical command from my master. He doesn't even need to tell me what to do; I just know. I snap my fingers again, and immediately after this simple action, the five adventurers are frozen in time. They are petrified in front of us; the Viking just managed to take a step forward as his last action.

My master has them exactly where he wants them. Now he can finally find out where the gemstone is! Pivanu's mission can continue; all hope is not lost! "Knijster, lock them in the cells, we will start interrogating them tomorrow. Let them rot in a cell for a night first. Release them from this state when the last of them has entered the cell. I expect you to bring the Viking Bjorn to this room first thing tomorrow morning. I want to speak to him first, he is the reason we are here."

"I will not disappoint you, master. We will know where the gemstone is tomorrow. With this gemstone, we can solve our problems step by step. We will make Pivanu great with Borgon's help, and we will deal with Vilijn. After all, what can one drow do against the entire organization?"

"You speak very wise words, Knijster. Thank you for your loyalty and advice. I am going to sleep now. If I am not in this room yet when Bjorn arrives in the morning, wake me up."

"Good night, master, and thank you for the kind words."

In the half-hour that followed, Knijster was busy. He started by bringing the adventurers to the cells. When they were all in their cell, he went to the training room. There he saw the bodies of the Pivanu recruits lying. He ensured they were placed a few kilometers outside the village. Finally, he took Thio's body,

the teacher of these students. He placed him on top of the pile. Then fire came from his hands, and the bodies began to burn quickly and efficiently.

He stood by the pile of bodies and watched them turn to pure black ash. Then a complete burden fell off him. Suddenly, the magical connection between him and his master disappeared. As a result, the pressure in his head vanished. He could think much more clearly and immediately felt bad about his actions of the past days. It didn't happen often, but sometimes the connection between him and Oudenhuysen disappeared. However, this only happened when Oudenhuysen was in deep sleep, as apparently now.

Whenever this occurred, he felt more himself. Gone were the thoughts of loyalty to the Pivanu organization. How had they created him? For what reason? Why was he magically connected? Why did the Pivanu organization exist? What were their true intentions? Why didn't he just walk away to warn the world? They had to be stopped! The other times he had this feeling, he was always alone. He couldn't do anything, especially not against Oudenhuysen. Their bond was so strong that Knijster's magic had no effect on him. Whatever he did, he couldn't harm Oudenhuysen; he had tried often enough.

However, this time was different; this time, he was not alone. The periods of clarity were usually short, but he had at least a few hours until Oudenhuysen would wake up and he would be under the influence of his commands and thoughts again. In that time, he had to speak with the adventurers. He would have to convince them to trust him. He would have to free them for this, and it would be up to them to kill his master. The rest are all too loyal. Knijster knows a few ways in the corridor system through which they can enter his room unnoticed. It could work.

However, if Oudenhuysen were to be killed by them, chaos would ensue. Not only would Knijster, but the adventurers would also have to disappear. The Pivanu organization would not rest until they knew who was responsible for his death and where they were now. They would use all means for this because Oudenhuysen is one of the key figures. This plan is risky and brings many dangers for the future. However, if Knijster does not act now, Oudenhuysen will wake up again. Then he will be loyal to his master again, and through one of the adventurers, he will find out the location of the gemstone.

If that happens, Pivanu will gain more power, and the entire planet Mysterix will be in danger. He had to do this for Mysterix, but also to make up for all his bad deeds, which he did under Oudenhuysen's influence. This decision will haunt him for the rest of his life, but it is the right thing to do. Knijster takes one last look at the burning pile of bodies and then snaps his fingers. He appears in front of the adventurers' cells, who all look at him in astonishment.