Chapter 4: An Evening In Atheden

“God! Not even… one hit!” Elijah yelled, huffing and puffing, sweating profusely and laying on his back. 

Zara, the opponent standing before him, rested his massive blade on his shoulder. Riley tasked him with training Elijah since the others residing here were both a poor match for training or too strong, even when holding back. Even Zara wasn’t quite a good match for Elijah since his main weapon was the equivalent of a giant butcher’s knife.

His power was no less greater than the others either. However, compared to his companions, he had an easier time pulling his punches. It was difficult, but he could fight without worrying over nearly killing his opponent.

That said, Elijah still was being covered in scorch marks from their fight. He would attain great wounds every time they’d cross blades, whether by cuts or by shocks. He would not be getting out of this unscathed.

“Hey, clown! Why don’t you hold back! You don’t have the right to be beating on the prince senselessly! You stupid commoner servant!” a nearby voice rang out, filled with hostility. Zara looked to his side to see Stefan DuCoph, Elijah’s personal attendant, glaring a hole through him.

Zara sighed and said, “I held back quite a bit.”

“Ha, bullshit! I will admit, Prince Elijah might not be able to use conjuring or Body Enhancement yet, but that is no reason to use all of your strength to hurt him! Using that stupid lightning every time you strike and move!”

“All of my strength? You must not have ever seen real combat before if you can’t tell I’m holding back.”

“Please, ‘cause you’re such a war power…”

Zara merely sighed and turned around, dumbfounded at Stefan’s stupidity. Zara had a hard time dealing with others. In particular, he felt more oppressed by people like Stefan. It reminded him of somebody in his past, someone he absolutely resented and swore never to become like.

“Well, it’s not like you’re anything special anyway, working for that freak. The only thing he’s good for is losing an arm and teleporting,” Stefan said scornfully, spitting at the ground behind him.

At these words, Zara stopped. What did he just say?

“What, did I strike a nerve?” Stefan asked, smirking as if he knew that he had a way to get under these people’s skin.

Zara could feel the heat gathering in his head, his heart beating rapidly. The veins in his hands and head were throbbing, almost visibly. He turned around, hate in his eyes, and looked straight at Stefan. “Freak? Is that what I heard from you?”

“Yeah, that’s right! F! R! E! A! K! Freak! It must take a special kind to gather so many as well. Especially that girl, the talker with the black and white hair!”

The blood that was boiling inside Zara began to work even faster than before. Zara could feel his veins throughout his body, heat rising rapidly alongside his anger. Stefan had already crossed the line with his remark about Riley, and Zara was going to make sure that he took back his words with actions. He was going to challenge him to a duel with his full strength on display. Saying that, he intended to say that the one he allows to command this strength is one whose own strength far surpasses that.

That was the plan at least…

“Stefan… Enough of that…” Elijah said, lifting himself off of the ground. He could see that Stefan was clearly antagonizing Zara to get him to attack. Stefan was going to try and use this as an excuse 

Even more so, Elijah could also tell that Stefan was making a mistake. He had been fighting with Zara just a minute earlier as well as the previous day. And if there was one thing he could tell, it was that Zara was clearly not taking him seriously in any sense. Not once did he feel like Zara was putting much effort into his strikes, even though the electricity was still coursing into his body.

Of course, to solidify that, his Quality Seeking Eye was going off like crazy, - his eyes weren’t technically feeling anything; it's more alarms going off in his head - and it had been ever since he was brought to this place. He had never felt this sensation so intensely before. It was as if the entire mansion was filled with nothing but monsters or such great talent. 

And at this moment, his Eye’s reaction was getting worse…

“That stupid bitch thinks she’s all hot stuff, threatening people in a greeting while proclaiming her own master to be oh so great. Dumbass! Honestly, if I wasn’t forced to stay here thanks to not having a place of my own as well as having to serve His Highness, I’d take her by the hair and do what I want with her! Show her who’s really special! I’d make sure to hear her squeal when I take m-“

Fssssshhhhh

With a trail of black lightning left behind, Zara vanished from where he stood and appeared directly behind Stefan. And without holding back, Zara unleashed an incredibly powerful punch into his back, his arm moving so fast that lightning trailed behind his elbow.

Rrrrrmmmmmmmbbbbbllllll

With the sound of thunder crashing, Zara’s attack sent Stefan flying towards the lake at an insane speed, electricity coursing through his body. He was hit so fast that he didn’t even feel the strike, let alone did he see Zara move. And as he crashed into the shore of the lake, he barely held onto consciousness, unable to move, unable to scream out in pain…

W-What the… h-hell?! What happened? I can’t move… and it hurts so bad!!!

Fssssshhhh

Standing beside his barely conscious body, Zara looked down at Stefan with nothing but an intensely hateful glare, bolts of black and white electricity sparking off of him from all over his body. “Son of a bitch. If you touch my sister, so much as even breathe her name in a bad way, I will turn you into charcoal next time. If you think what I did to you just now was bad, know that everyone who works under Master Riley is just as capable of doing this kind of harm to you. Be glad this was by my hand and not Hombell’s or Celeste’s. Even amongst us, they are in another league when it comes to inflicting pain.”

Stefan was beyond stunned. He could hear his words clearly, even if he was burnt to a crisp and torn to shreds from the impact of both the land and Zara’s strike. The kid… and someone else…?

He could feel his body trembling and sweat pouring profusely. This couldn’t be possible. There was no way that there were this many people of this kind of strength living under the same roof. It was inconceivable!

Barely able to smirk, Stefan gazed at Zara’s face, pushed through the immense pain, and muttered, “O-Oh… y-yeah? W-Weaklings! A-All of th-them!”

“Your arrogance as a noble is disgusting.” Zara raised his massive sword in the air with a single hand. “It makes me remember why all of us absolutely loathe your kind. You’re all irredeemable TRASH!!!”

“No, stop!” Elijah yelled out from afar, trying to stop him as his blade split through the air to cut apart the arrogant noble.

Shing!!!

But just as his blade was above his throat, it was stopped, caught on something hard from just above the guard. Shocked at the person in front of him, Zara’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “Sierra…” 

His lightning ceased and vanished as he pulled his blade back. In front of his eyes, Sierra stood holding a single silver Kama in her left hand, protecting Stefan from Zara. Waving her hand in front of her, the orange letters appeared once again.

What are you doing? These are Master Riley’s guests.

Zara stabbed the edge of his sword into the ground beside him, allowing it to stand on its own. Swiping his hair back, he began explaining, “He insulted Master Riley and threatened Zaria with vile thoughts. He wouldn’t shut his mouth, even after I hit him with a Paralyzing Crash. Stupid noble garbage.”

Hearing his explanation, Sierra’s eyes narrowed, nearly closed. She looked down at the shocked and paralyzed Stefan, who was merely smirking away like he wasn’t in the wrong and that Zara wouldn’t get away with this.

Dramatically puffing through her nose, she looked back at Zara, raised her right hand, and she snapped her finger, causing Zara as well as his sword to vanish.

“Y-You know… w-who’s in… th-the right here… g-girlie… A-At least… y-you s-seem smart,” he continued to grin. 

However, Sierra looked down on him like he was a bug. Swatting her left hand, she caused her Kama to disappear in what looked like a scattering of blue light particles. Then she turned around, pulled her leg up, and stomped on Stefan one good time in the face, knocking him out completely.

Having seen this from afar, Elijah limped his way down towards the shore and stood before Sierra as she smeared the bottom of her boot along the ground, trying to at least wipe off some of the blood and sand.

“I’m sorry… for his behavior,” Elijah said, clearly apologetic. 

Sierra could already tell the difference between Elijah and his attendant when she first saw them. However, much like Simon, she didn’t very much care for the royalty or nobility of Caera Kingdom. Being in the same room as them was sickening. If it wasn’t for Riley’s wishes, she would have long kicked them all out of the town. And the same went for the other nobles in town.

Still, Riley told them that they were guests, and everyone was given a room. Out of respect for his decision, nobody argued. Being reminded of this when she looked at Elijah, sighed before turning to face him.

Keep him on a short leash. Be glad this is all he got away with.

Letters? A type of conjuring? Elijah was confused by Sierra’s method of communicating. He’d never heard her speak before either. Maybe there was some reason she couldn’t?

Still, that wasn’t what mattered right now. Stefan caused a stupid mess. That had to be handled appropriately. “Thank you… for not doing worse to him. I’ll be… giving him a talking to… later… Nngh…”

As he spoke, Elijah grunted in pain. He was still beaten and bruised from his training with Zara, so he was clearly sore right now. Seeing this, Sierra waved her hand and changed the letters.

Silas is still out cold, and Master Riley has just left. Go talk to Simon and have him heal you.

“Thank you… for the concern.”

With her message having come across, Sierra erased the letters and disappeared. Seeing this again surprised Elijah. There’s no way he’d be able to keep up with these people.

“All of them are crazy…” he muttered. He knew life here was going to take some getting used to. He was a prince of a different nation. He was basically pampered from birth. Going from that and his normal body training to this and nightmare lessons from Zara, he was going to have to tough it out for a while.

Still… Elijah felt like he didn’t want to simply stay here in the protection of Riley’s home forever. Eventually he’d have to set out on his own and find a new path. As long as his sisters were safe, he’d leave them in Riley’s care. Right now, he couldn’t help but feel some resentment towards the man for not saving his mother, but he knew that Riley had no other choice. He could be entrusted with their safety. Of that, he could be certain. These feelings would pass.

“After I’ve trained up enough, I’ll ask them to drop me off somewhere to start anew.”

He wanted to get revenge for his mother. The people who stole his country away needed to pay for their transgressions. But trying to get revenge against an entire country? It wouldn’t be worth it. And for all he knew, trying something as stupid as trying to take back the country, even with Riley’s help, could very easily put his sisters in danger. Edinburgh clearly had many strong people. Riley personally experienced it.

Now that he was on his own with no title to hold him back, he was free to live how he wanted. Maybe he could explore the world as an adventurer. His dad did it, so why not himself?

“…koff…”

Looking to the ground nearby, he was reminded of Stefan’s unconscious body.

I should probably be sure to take him with me…

~~~

 

A few hours later, 3 PM…

Simon was sitting on the couch at the main entrance of the mansion. It was a preferable spot for him. Lots of space that nobody uses. He could sit there and not be bothered with noise very often. By comparison, the library was actually used pretty often by the others. It wouldn’t be uncommon for the girls to go in there to talk. It was louder in the library than at the entrance.

This time, Elice was there, studying curses. Simon had some issues with her being in there with him, but he didn’t want to complain to Riley about it. It didn’t take very long for him to adjust to her presence though. She would get engrossed in whatever she was reading (albeit it was about curses). Her level of fascination was rather incredible.

For hours, she was muttering to herself as she read, coming to understandings she never had before. In fact, she had even muttered, “I’m going to have to compare this to Reverence of the Cursed. These books might fill the holes that the Famut Kingdom left out.” Simon had guessed that she must’ve been the intellectual of their family. After all, not once did she stop to ask Simon for any help.

Still, about an hour ago, she decided to take a break, saying she was hungry. Even though she said this, she was actually rather reluctant to set her book down. Realizing this, Simon gave her a small push. “You can bring food into the library so long as you don’t make a mess. Or you can take the books with you so long as you bring them back to the library when you’re finished with them.”

With that, Elice had gone to the kitchen on the first floor to grab food. Simon also took this chance to change scenery. And so, here he was reading his book in complete silence…

“Damn, Sierra. You didn’t have to distort my face that badly!!!” another voice suddenly called out from the steps.

His reading interrupted, Simon sighed and looked up to see Silas proceeding down the stairs, completely unharmed…

“Wasted your Salvation on that thing you call a face?” Simon said under his breath.

“Hey, this face was given to me by my mother! I’m proud of it!” he countered.

“Yeah, you’re the only one who looks like her, but your attitude is dad’s,” Simon replied, putting his nose back into his book.

“Meanwhile, you and Sierra got mom’s personality. Sierra even got her penchant for violence!”

“You were asking for it…”

“Was not!”

“Would you leave me now? I want silence. You’re distracting.”

“How about you put that fucking thing down? I mean that’s all you do is read! Why don’t you go outside and do something?”

“And you run your mouth too much. At least Miss Royal upstairs was quieter than you…”

“You just don’t talk enough!”

“You talk enough for the both of us.”

The two carried on like this like normal, Silas chattering away with Simon barely raising his voice in response. Anyone who saw the two wouldn’t be able to tell that they were brothers.

Still, there was one thing they both seemed to agree on…

“Anyways Simon, what are your thoughts on them royals?”

“My thoughts?” Simon asked, raising his head.

“Yeah. Neither of us are exactly thrilled that they’re here.”

“…”

“After what happened to Sierra, I’m surprised you were able to hold yourself back when Master Riley brought them here.”

“…”

The Gagnon siblings shared a common hatred for the upper class of the Caera Kingdom. Sierra, their little sister, doted on the two of them. However, in an act of fear, people higher on the food chain did something completely despicable.

Their enmity for the nobles for doing this to her and the royals who did nothing to punish these nobles began that day, and it wasn’t a grudge that could just go away.

“…After seeing the princesses, I don’t think I can really bring myself to hate them.”

“What were their names again?”

“Princess Rosa and Princess Elice.”

“Ah, right. Wasn’t one of them called the Magic Princess or something like that?”

“Princess Rosa was, yeah.”

“That’s the cursed one, right? Jeez, what a fucked up curse.”

“That’s part of why I can’t hate her.”

“What do you mean?”

Simon put his bookmark in his book and stood up, closing it and looking Silas in the eyes. “Zaria told me that when he learned what happened to Rosa, Master Riley had this look on his face he’d only ever shown once before.”

Simon himself hadn’t gone to check on the girl herself. Riley had gone with Elijah and Zaria to see what had happened. He both learned and explained Rosa’s curse. Something natural, something that she might not recover from, and there was nothing he could do to help.

“Master Riley? Seriously? That’s hard to believe. He’s practically always smiling or looking confused. One of the two.”

“That’s what I thought. For Master Riley to make a face like that, he must’ve been close with her. I can’t imagine Master Riley going out of his way to specifically save a Royal and even letting them reside in his own house if he didn’t think fondly of them, especially knowing our opinions.”

“Yeah, maybe, but we can’t exactly claim to know what Master Riley is thinking. That man is more mysterious than anyone I’ve ever known. Even that fucker who helped the Nequam family, Destitute.”

“DON’T bring him up!” Simon said, raising his voice, his anger spewing out.

Silas put his arms up as if surrendering, “Hey, hey now! No need to snap at me!”

Neither the name Nequam nor Destitute were ones that either brother would like to think of. They held deep seated resentment for them both.

“Believe me, my blood boils too. But at the very least, the Nequams are probably dead. I doubt that they survived that attack, even if Riley saved who he could.”

“Probably. That town was big. Considering how many he brought here with him, that number was reduced by a massive amount, so it’s not likely,” Simon said, lowering his voice as he looked out of the window towards the town.

“Anyway, you said your thoughts on one of them. What about the others?”

“You mean Princess Elice? Well, I can’t say that I dislike her. I’ve never seen somebody more engrossed in something than me.”

“Oh, and what was she engrossed in?”

“…Curses…”

“…Right. Egh, of all things…” Silas said with a look of slight disgust on his face.

“Still, I heard from Master Riley this morning that she wanted to learn it to try and prevent them from hurting anyone again. Compared to actual nobility, she actually has true nobility in her heart.”

Silas hummed as he stood there, trying to understand his brother’s words. Still, he just couldn’t help but think, “If only she had been paying attention to the nobles in her own country.”

“She also calls Master Riley Big Brother I’ve noticed.”

“He treats her like a little sister from what I’ve seen, too. Man, I really want to know what happened between them all! How the hell has he gotten so close with the royals of the country that we hate?!”

Simon sighed and sat back down, opening his book where his bookmark was.

“What about the guy? Elijah was his name?”

“…He’s not bad, but I don’t like him. He reminds me of that bastard.”

“Exactly what I was thinking…”

Knock, knock, knock!

The brothers’ attention was suddenly grabbed by a loud knock on the large front door.

“Visitors again?”

“If it’s more nobles, just turn them away, Silas.”

“Why don’t you do it?!”

“You’re already standing…” he said as he sat down.

“Gh…”

Acting as if he got punched in the gut, Silas turned around to answer the door.

“Hello? Can I help you?” Silas asked with all the etiquette of a goat.

On the other side of the door was a chunky old man with a thick white beard, thin white mustache, short white hair, and red noble’s clothing. In his left hand was a short cane, and his right was adorned with gaudy rings. His face, just as chunky as his body, also had the display of arrogance. His sharp eyes looked down on the people in the mansion, and his large nose looked like it had been in plenty of people’s business.

Behind him was a tall woman in a fancy noble’s dress, high heels, and makeup. Her arms were crossed, her hair was rolled up above her ears, and her face was quite similar to the old man in terms of expression. However, appearance-wise, she was horse-faced.

“I am Louis Rancidus, head of the Count Rancidus family of the Caera Kingdom. I would like to speak to the lord of this manor. I believe he is in charge here?” he requested - no, he demanded with soft words. He clearly saw himself as higher than the others who had come here before. He thought he couldn’t possibly be turned away.

“Yeah, no. Our master isn’t even here right now, and he said that we’re not taking any visitors until things calm dow-”

“A lowly servant dares to talk to me in such a disgusting manner, and lie to me?” Rancidus suddenly screamed, his top already having been blown.

“Lowly servant? You’re just some fat old man who thinks he’s better than everyone. Why should I or my master give you special treatment?”

“Do you know who I am? I’ll have King Caera do something about this! I’ll have your queen end you and your master personally!”

“You wish you could, but you are a foreign noble in foreign land. You have no authority!”

“Hold your tongue you knave!” his wife finally spoke. “You have no right to deny us what we want. And your insults are merely stress caused by working for your own worthless master! Let us speak with him and we may let you work for us as our own servant.”

“Are you serious? You, a dumb noble bitch, wants to go that route?” Silas asked, exasperated, his eye twitching.

“Bitch?! I’ll have you beheaded!”

“How dare you talk to my wife that way, you boor!”

“Keep your mouths under check and maybe I won’t have to respond in such a way,” Silas said, smirking with sarcasm.

“Silas, calm down. You know that this is how nobles are. No need to agitate them,” Simon said from behind Silas. The entire situation was starting to become annoying to him. Both his brother and the nobles were distracting him from his reading. He decided that he might as well turn them away. 

Of course, Simon had a few things he wanted to say to the nobles, but Silas was basically talking for him. He’d already said anything he’d want to say. So the best course of action is to turn them away before the situation devolved any further.

Seeing him behind Silas, Rancidus’s wife eyed him, giving him a suddenly lustful gaze before winking at him. Disgusting old bag… he thought with a small cringe.

“Ah, someone who might actually listen to his superiors! Take us to your master!” Rancidus barked.

However, Simon already expected this. “As my brother already told you, our master isn’t here right now. He has gone to investigate the level of destruction to the Caera Kingdom.”

“Don’t you dare lie to me! I saw him here a mere few hours ago! He couldn’t have possibly gone anywhere without a carriage!”

“Unfortunately, sir, you would be wrong. He uses teleportation. It’s what he used to save you and the others from the Caera Kingdom’s Capital.”

“Ngh!” he grunted. When it came to conjuring, there was little one could do to argue. Even the nobles were aware of this. There were, in fact, many nobles and royals in the world who could use conjuring since it displayed a kind of strength that they’d use to protect their nation.

Of course, that didn’t mean that nobles couldn’t take their knowledge of conjuring and use that to their advantage. Any shrewd enough politician would certainly know to do that. However, Rancidus wasn’t one of those kinds. He was just someone too arrogant for his own good, thinking his name was more than enough to get him what he wanted.

“As of this moment, the only thing that we know is the Capital of the Caera Kingdom, its king, and its queen are dead. Edinburgh will likely turn the entire country into their territory. As such, the names of many nobles from that country no longer have any weight. And in a foreign land, such nobles have no authority. Your name won’t get you much here, I’m sorry to say.”

“Don’t tell me this drivel! Destroyed or not, I am a very influential man from the Caera Kingdom!”

“As a former resident of Caera, I beg to differ. In all of my time living in that country, never once did I hear of your name.”

“You stupid bastard!” Rancidus yelled, charging his way into the mansion. 

However, as soon as he set a single foot into the building, he found himself frozen in place. His eyes widened as he suddenly felt a strong sensation of nausea and the inability to move.

“Jeez, when we tell these things, you should listen!” Silas said.

“Louis, what’s wrong with you? What did th- Wh-What?! I can’t see! I can’t see!!!” his wife suddenly screamed, covering her eyes and wailing in terror. Trying to reach her husband, her sight suddenly went black. This created confusion within her and her husband, causing Silas to snicker and Simon to sigh.

“Now, I’d like to escort you two away from our property. We’ll be sure to contact you when our master is ready to speak with you,” Silas said smugly.

“B-Bas…tard…!” Rancidus barely got out.

“Hey, Silas! Simon! Need some help?” someone called out from the town. Their attention captured, the brothers turned toward the voice.

“Oh, Jensen! Yeah, we could use some help here. These two suddenly found themselves unable to continue forward. Can you help escort them back to the town?”

The man who’d come forward was well built and of average height. He had short brown hair, a flannel button-up shirt, jeans, and a pair of black boots on. One look could tell you that he had plenty of experience in the field.

“Sure, why not.” He turned around and asked for the people behind him to help them.

“They’ll be fine once they leave, but they’ll probably pass out soon,” Silas mentioned.

After a few moments, a number of people assisted the two nobles who did indeed pass out. Whatever would happen to them from there was of no concern to Silas and the others, so they had no need to pay attention to them.

Once the nobles were gone, Jensen returned to the door of the mansion.

“Thanks for that Jensen,” Silas said. Simon had already turned around to sit on the nearby couch.

“Oh, no, it was my pleasure. They clearly had a stick up their ass. Half the nobles that that guy brought here are a real piece of work, but that’s just how these things work.”

Jensen was all smiles about the incident. This man was a hunter who owed Riley his life. He specialized in killing magical creatures. He didn’t fight with conjuring of any kind, but he was more than skilled when it came to melee combat. Not the best, of course, but still not someone to look down on.

Even more terrifying than this, however, was how in tune he was with information. He was no info broker, but he still had a large number of connections in the world. Alongside his partner, the two made themselves known as the enemies of monsters.

“How’s Jared doing?”

Jared was his partner in this business, having basically grown up side by side hunting down these beasts. The man was practically a giant, but his skill was no less than Jensen’s. On top of that, while it was quite minimal, he did have conjuring. Nothing really too great, but still enough to affect certain targets.

“Not bad. He’s meeting up with a friend in Evernast. Apparently, he’s hunting something that’s been terrifying some small town.”

“Well, that’s good. Any monster there will definitely meet its end quite fast. Hopefully it isn’t demonic though.”

“Tell me about it,” he said with a small hint of disgust. “Well that aside, I came up here to tell you guys something. It seemed rather important.”

“Oh?” This piqued Silas’s and Simon’s interest. When Jensen said that something was important, it didn’t usually mean something as troublesome as needing to go shopping or something so minor. When he said it, he almost always meant it was something that was life or death. Not that the people in Riley’s manor couldn’t handle threats, but still…

 

Next chapter will be on Saturday, November 11.