168 Blackmailed (2/2)
”Marry her too! Someone like you is bound to have women thrown at you.” Argyle looked at Jack like he was young and naive. ”Jack, please don't take this issue to heart. I only want the best for my daughter and I can offer you the full support of the Fat Goose, no matter what!”
”Why are you acting like this? You're blackmailing me, yet you're acting like I'm already your son-in-law,” asked Jack. Suddenly, a thought came to Jack's mind. ”Argyle, how did your wife die?”
Argyle blinked and groaned, ”That's unimportant at the moment.”
”You want to get revenge but never bothered while you were protecting Eliza, so it should be someone very powerful.”
Hitting the nail on the head, Argyle's gaze softened. ”You got me. But I won't tell you who it was, not until you've rebuilt the Leisure Guild and are at least lv. 60. Until then, it's pointless to tell you.”
”Do I really have to marry your daughter?”
”Yes, you'll have the honor of marrying me only daughter,” Argyle answered Jack with a piercing gaze. ”You'll break the hearts of many young men, but it must be done.”
With a confused sigh, Jack asked, ”When's the wedding?”
”Tomorrow.”
”Tomorrow?!”
”The sooner the better, both for me and for you. You said you were in a hurry, right?” Argyle joked with his soon to be son-in-law.
”I… I don't want to believe that all of this happened…”
”Believe it, and you'll be thanking me in the future.” Patting Jack on the back, Argyle continued. ”I can let you leave, but you'll have our people escort you until the wedding tomorrow at noon. Make sure you're back here by morning.”
”...”
”Cheer up! Anyone else would die to have this happen to them,” reasoned Argyle.
”I… it's a lot to take in so suddenly.” Jack now knew that he had heavily underestimated Argyle's cleverness.
But he had no choice. Without telling the truth, Argyle could just kill him and take his things. And rather than face a renowned lv. 71 expert, the association would probably accept a generous offering of materials and items instead of seeking vengeance for a lv. 22 hero.
If anything, the association would be more furious at Jack for keeping everything so secret.
”Jack, I really do want someone like you as a son-in-law. You're the only one good enough for Eliza,” added Argyle, speaking gently like a father would. ”I can only hope that one day, you'll forgive me and thank me for this.”
”We'll see…” Standing up, Jack walked to the couch and picked up Maura from the sofa. ”Can I leave now? There are some people who will want to know about this.”
”Of course. Our escorts will follow you in secret, so there's no need to worry about them getting in your way. And with your new cloak, I'm sure you'll be able to make a clean get-away.”
Just then, a slight smile showed on Jack's face. He looked back at Argyle and laughed, ”By the way, I'll have to thank you again for this cloak. I couldn't have asked for a better price. All I had to give up was a peak-tier lv. 65 item and in return you gave me a legend-tier cloak. You really did lose out.”
With that, Jack exited and closed the door behind him, not daring to look back at the twitching Argyle.
Livid at his losses, the man laughed out his anger. Even when he had successfully blackmailed Jack, that young hero still had to have the last laugh.
Soon, Eliza came back to the room and found her father laughing hysterically. Unaware of everything that just happened between him and Jack, Eliza asked her father, ”What happened? Why did you let Jack go?”
Calming his laughter, Argyle smiled at her. ”Eliza, tomorrow you and Jack will be married. From then on, you'll be traveling together with him and you both will have the full support of the Fat Goose.”
”WHAT?!?!”
”Hurry and talk to the managers about how you'd like the wedding to be, it's your big day after all.”