“I have come here today to offer you a deal. I cannot divulge the exact details of the deal here, but trust me when I say that we will make it well worth your time. As a show of good faith, my employer has already transferred a token of his gratitude to your bank account, and as he is ever generous, he offers the same amount for coming with me, and hearing out what he has to say. Feel free to check if I am speaking the truth.” Olyvar didn’t have to give me leave to check, I was already logging into my bank. The amount that should have been close to zero on the minus side, was suddenly a few thousands above. I hadn’t had this amount on my account since I-…

For a very long time.

I checked the transfer receipt, and it only said ‘Hear out my deal’. There was no place where a name or company name was written. I had hoped I could gather a bit more information about this ‘certain individual’. So far, I only knew for sure that he was rich, or at least had money, and had some kind of connection to ‘him’. Unless this was another misunderstanding on my part?

The first ‘him’ Olyvar referred to might have been his boss. In which case, he could have a connection to me as well.

The second ‘him’ was about my ‘him’, however. So the connection to ‘him’ was almost guaranteed, but a connection to me? A maybe.

I couldn’t think of any rich people that would send people after me, other than that bastard, though. So… No. I couldn’t figure it out.

“Is this for real?” I finally asked. Olyvar nodded. He was a weird man. A man of few words at some points, and a man of many words the next. He was around my age, but he talked more like an elderly person. Or maybe I just talked like someone who was too young.

Not that I cared.

For now, I still needed to figure this out. It was a lot of money.

“Can I just keep the money even though I don’t hear out the deal?” Free money didn’t exist. I should have learned that lesson already, but Olyvar nodded yet again.

“I still highly suggest you hear out the deal.” Olyvar added when I made to try and close the door again.

“Yes, I heard you. I don’t want to. Tell me how to return the money as well. I don’t want anything to do with you, with ‘him’ or with this ‘certain individual’. I was set free, and I intend to stay that way.” I had been momentarily tempted, but free money would always be a trap. I almost spat out the words at him, and yet, Olyvar didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he was starting to vibrate and shake. And then, yet again, he burst out laughing. This time, it seemed to explode out of him. Had he struggled to hold it in? What was so funny? My question must have showed on my face, because almost immediately after, he straightened up, and stared at me with glee.

“Free? You? Would you really call living in this place, not having a cent to your name ‘free’? You might not be directly chained up in a confined space anymore, but you are certainly still bearing the weight of invisible chains. You have no money, no job, no friends, no prospects. You walk around each day like you were already dead. And you call that being ‘free’? Do you even know what freedom is? Or were you trapped in your cage for such a long time, that you actually think this is the so-called ‘freedom’ you wanted? That’s rather…” Olyvar stopped, once again looking for a word with his hands. I wanted to kick his face in, but his words had me rooted to the spot.

“Ingenious, or rather, foolish, of you. Do you know what freedom is truly like? Being able to buy a new winter coat when it’s cold, or splurge a little on dinner. Money! Money is freedom! And you have none. How can you call this life you find yourself trapped in ‘freedom’? I had to laugh. It was just so ridiculous I couldn’t help it.”

I didn’t answer. Rather, I couldn’t answer. What would I say?

I had many questions. How did he know so much about me? Who I was? What I had been through? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when he had connections to ‘him’, but on the other hand, how long had I been watched by these unknown people? How much of my past had they been digging up? Figuring that out almost seemed worth the risk of going with him.

However, nothing was free. If it sounded too good to be true, it would be. Going alone somewhere, with someone I didn’t know, would never be safe. Going with someone I knew hadn’t been, either.

And the risk of possibly getting involved with ‘him’ was there as well. Olyvar not being sent by him could be a lie. I had no way of knowing until it would be too late.