Chapter 35 - Precautions (1/2)
Chapter 35: Precautions
KASPIAN BLADEHEART’S POV:
After getting back to my seat to sort out the paperwork piled up, I look up to see that the masked Adventurer, Note, has come back by himself. Closing the door behind him, his baritone voice whispers in a barely audible voice.
“Mr. Bladeheart…. I remember you saying that you would truly like to help me?”
The faint voice I hear through his mask sends a chill down my spine, as if every fiber of my body is screaming at me ‘danger’.
Ignoring my body’s protest, I put on stoic face, straightening my gla.s.ses before responding. “Yes. Your close connection to Mrs. Flamesworth as well as your own personal potential has been viewed favorably upon by the Guild.
“…I see.”
The Adventurer, who’s ident.i.ty, or even age, I could not guess, was pondering before he looked back up. I know he was somehow connected to the Leywin household but even thorough background searches have turned out fruitless.
“I plan to take a very extensive break from being an Adventurer Kaspian, so I would like to ask you for a favor.”
“Please continue…” I respond after his slight pause, my curiosity aroused.
ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:
There were some things to get settled before we were allowed to leave the Guild Hall. For one, Lucas was to be stripped of his Adventurer’s license and all of its benefits. That was the reason we saw him today; he had to be fully denounced of his position and stature as an A cla.s.s Adventurer in front of a couple high-rank guild workers.
“…I hereby declare Conjurer Adventurer, Lucas Wykes, stripped of his A-cla.s.s ranking for indirectly causing the death and almost fatal injury of his party members during a dungeon excursion. Intentional betrayal of fellow party members will, furthermore, prohibit him from becoming an Adventurer until otherwise stated by the Guild. You may now hand in your card.” The stern, elderly judge bangs the gavel, creating a loud echo too long to be natural.
This whole time, the n.o.ble half-elf brat had a look st.i.tched on his face as if he’s swallowed a live frog, his eyes jutting back and forth between the judge and I, confused why I was with him in trial.
I could tell he was shocked by the direct retaliation from me, one that he couldn’t even react to. When he heard that we were alive, he was under the a.s.sumption that we somehow escaped from the Elderwood Guardian, not kill it. Now, his once confident gaze was filled with doubt as he’s obviously pondering what really happened down there.
That seed of doubt I just planted was something I meant to do, one that would make him more cautious. The skill “Railgun” I used on him was instant and tore a hole through his earlobe. After experiencing such a fast defeat, it would lead to thoughts of whether he could defend himself against me in the future.
The skill I used was rather just a flashy one, one that served its purpose. The Railgun generated between my fingertips seemed to be deadly and casted instantly, but that wasn’t the truth. In order to generate enough power to essentially shoot a laserbeam like that would take time and also create a much stronger recoil. The flashy beam I casted instantly was more of a condensed beam of light. The real reason I was able to tear a hole through him, and why I chose his earlobe was because I just threw a sharp fragment of my metal b.u.t.ton at him, hidden by the harmless light beam.
While even the harmless condensed light that probably had enough power to only partially numb his ear did actually have a backlash on me, the high-pitched sound and the lightning aftereffect were an act that hopefully instilled a deep enough fear into the boy.
“Next to be put on trial is Augmenter Adventurer, Note. Faced with the clear enmity with Lucas Wykes and possibly the whole Wykes household displayed by the act of aggression against Lucas Wykes, I hearby declare temporary ban from Xyrus City during the whole duration of Lucas Wykes’ attendance at Xyrus Academy.” The gavel once again boomed throughout the small room, while the various shadows of Guild workers nodded in agreement and murmured amongst themselves.
Putting on my best angry voice, I lean forward on the podium. “Sir! I object to this punishment! Why am I to be reprimanded for Lucas’ betrayal at the dungeon?” I slam my fists down to further my point. All the while, Lucas’s cautious face turns smug and I could see the slight smirk on his face as he looks away from the judge.
I knew revoking his license didn’t mean much to him and with me “out of the way”, he didn’t have to worry about anything.
“Enough! We are aware of the circ.u.mstances, which is why we chose not to revoke your license, when normally, using spells inside the Guild Hall would be more than enough reason to. You will be allowed to continue being an Adventurer, as long as we do not catch you near Mr. Wykes or his family.” The judge’s stern face becomes even sharper as his gaze pierces through my mask.
“Wait! What about his ident.i.ty sir? Wouldn’t he be able to easily take his mask off and slip through inside the city and potentially harm me or my family?” Lucas shoots his hand up and eyes me victoriously.
“We have already decided to have his ident.i.ty recorded once this sentencing is over Mr. Wykes. You will not be allowed to know of Mr. Note’s ident.i.ty for obvious reasons while select Guild Hall members will keep tabs on Mr. Note’s whereabouts, masked or not. This is not up for debate. This sentencing is over.” The judge declares and walks out before either of us have the chance to refute.
“Tch!” Lucas just walks out, escorted by his guards after he hands back his Adventurer card and gives me one last glance. “I hope you know what’s good for you and stay away from me.”
Ignoring the threat of the prep.u.b.escent Conjurer, I am escorted into the back room by several guards, following behind the judge and Guild workers.
Once the door closes behind me, the guards release their grip on my arms and the stern judge lets out a sigh.
“I trust that this little charade was to your satisfaction Mr. Note?” His sharp white eyebrows twitch a little.
“Thank you Judge for your partic.i.p.ation in this.” I give a slight bow.
Shaking his head, giving me a helpless look. “No need. It is not on your behalf that I did this. I sincerely hope that I could trust that you will not cause any trouble after this. We will not be able to hide the truth from the Wykes family forever but as long as you do not go against them, they will not bother with you.”
“I understand. Kaspian mentioned to me a pa.s.sageway where I can safely remove my “ident.i.ty”, is that correct?” I look around the dim room.
“Yes, your acquaintances are waiting for you on the other side.” The judge fumbles around with a couple of the books on the shelf and suddenly a pa.s.sage opens up from the ground.
“I bid you farewell Mr. Note and I do hope that you won’t cause us further trouble with the Wykes house.” Giving a curt nod, I exaggerate a salute to the guards and the judge, as well as the other Guild workers before entering the pa.s.sageway.
Opening the door on the other side, I’m greeted by a head-b.u.t.t from Sylv.
“Kyu!” ‘How did everything go Papa? Is it over now? Can we go home?’
The only other people that greeted me were Jasmine and Elijah. “Everything is over. Let’s go back home guys.” Sylv hops onto my head.
After taking a couple of steps, Elijah asks, “Did you not want to visit Samantha?”
“I think it’ll be better I don’t visit her. Jasmine, maybe you should stop by the hospital next time to check up on her?” Jasmine was silent the whole time but she looks at me and nods.
During the discussion of future plans, Elijah looked a little disheartened, not saying much throughout the way.
We were still on the border of The Beast Glades so getting access to the teleportation portal to Xyrus would be the next order of things.
“Well, I guess we should split ways here right?” Scratching his untidy black hair, he looks at Jasmine and I with a weak smile.
“Huh? You’re not going to come with us, Elijah? Did you have something you needed to do?” I a.s.sumed he would be coming with us to Xyrus but thinking through, I should’ve realized he might have his own plans.
“W-what? I didn’t really have anything planned but is it really okay to come along with you?” He straightens his gla.s.ses and coughs, trying to cover his embarra.s.sed face.
“Well you and Jasmine should go separately through the portal from me in case anyone suspects something but I thought it’ be good for you to stay with us for a bit before we go to school.” I shoot him a grin.