Crossover
Chapter 7: Falmus and its Six Kingdoms
General Halfer adjusted his glasses and looked over the man behind Kuro, who was agape at the scene he just witnessed while protecting Rosanna. Halfer’s face immediately became serious.
Halfer approached Bryer. “Bryer Xenophil, you should know that a debt should be paid on its due date, am I correct?”
Bryer averted his gaze. “Tsk.”
Halfer raised his eyebrow at him.
“We don’t have enough platinum and silver to fully pay our debts, but if you could give us a few more time, then we would be able to pay our debt in full!” Bryer stood up and faced Halfer with extreme vigilance.
“You heavily injured one of my captains; you should know what this means, right?” Halfer calmly responded.
“But he tried to kill my wife!”
Bryer felt the threat behind Halfer’s words, yet he didn’t make any move lest something might happen out of his control.
“Silence! Bryer Xenophil, for not paying your debts, rent, and taxes for five months, and also for heavily injuring one of our captains, you will be arrested and sentenced to death!” After the general spoke, the audience, who heard his words, gasped in shock and fear.
Halfer glanced at the nearby guards and commanded them. “Guards, arrest him!”
“No! You can’t! Please!” Rosanna tried to stand up but only fell the moment her feet landed on the ground. She started to cry loudly and crawled near to her husband to beg for forgiveness.
However, she was too late, for the guards had already held the struggling Bryer.
“Stop it. Do not act as if you didn’t see what happened earlier. You should be watching from afar, but for some reason, you chose not to intervene. Am I correct, general?” Kuro said with a little bit of animosity. He didn’t like how the situation was going beyond logic. Further, he never liked people who use lies to control the others.
Kuro threw away the sword he held, glared at Halfer and continued, “In this commotion, I am the one who caused a lot of damage, but why aren't you arresting me? You must have a purpose in doing so, and that should be negotiation.”
Halfer smiled and turned back, facing Kuro. “You are too presumptuous, but you’re correct; however, a debt should still be a debt, and unless they can pay in full, I will not forbid this matter.”
Kuro, as if remembering something, widened his eyes. “Can you wait for a moment?” Without waiting for a response, he walked back inside the room and saw a sleeping Rosalie on the bed.
‘Crescent must have done something,’ he saw the cat sleeping beside Rosalie. He didn’t bother to wake Crescent up and just picked up his uniform. He grabbed something inside its pocket, a shiny bracelet made up of precious stones like ruby, emerald, pearls, and sparkling crystals.
Kuro returned outside and showed the bracelet. All those who saw it were aghast; the bracelet was very sparkly. “I have something here; this should be able to fully pay their debts, compensate all the damages, and even free them from taxes for a few months, right?”
‘Gems, no matter what world it is, would still remain important and expensive for their exquisite beauty, although this bracelet belongs to Claire. Well, I’ll worry about her wrath later when I find my way home.’ Rosanna and Bryer were really surprised by Kuro’s proposal, as well as the surrounding crowd.
“T-t-that is...”
“Precious gems!” Rosalie finished his words. “Kuro! Such precious gems! You shouldn’t give it to pay our debts!!”
“No, it’s fine; think of it as my thanks for taking care of me back then.” Kuro smiled warmly at Rosanna, who abruptly stopped crying after she saw the bracelet.
“B-but Kuro—”
He didn’t let Rosanna reply anymore and approached Halfer, who remained expressionless all the time. “Would this bracelet be sufficient?”
“Indeed, this bracelet made out of precious gems should pay all the debts of the Xenophil’s and cover up the damage that happened today. We will also exempt them for one month of tax and rent.” Halfer reached out his hands and took the bracelet; he waved at a soldier who held out a box that came out of nowhere. He threw the bracelet inside as if it was nothing, which somehow agitated Bryer and made the surrounding people shocked.
‘That was a bracelet made out of gems; what would happen if it was to be broken?’
Kuro’s eyes twitched, and he gritted his teeth. ‘That bracelet is from Claire's; this bastard should handle it with care,’ he thought, but of course, he didn’t voice it out.
“Please release my benefactor and leave. Or perhaps, you still have business to do? After all, I still remember our conversation earlier.”
Halfer smiled again. ‘Interesting...’
“You have successfully caught my attention; that battle prowess and strength which you demonstrated earlier was really astounding. Thus, I have decided to invite you to become the empire’s 4th division army general. The position remained unoccupied for quite a long time. There were incompetent ones who tried to take the position, but they failed the requirement to qualify. Perhaps… perhaps you can try?”
If the bracelet was not enough to cause a heart attack to all the listeners nearby, then what they heard right now might be enough to do so.
Kuro remained expressionless, as if the proposition was not interesting at all. “And the requirement is?”
“To defeat a general. So, are you interested to take my offer? Just let me remind you, you are the only person who piqued my interest among all those who tried. So, you don’t have to worry about failing the requirement.” Halfer raised his right hand, waiting for Kuro to shake it as a gesture of approval.
Kuro raised his hand, and somehow, it baffled the couple who were watching the show behind, but as soon as Kuro raised it, he quickly descended it. “I am a traveler, and joining the empire will hinder my journey. So, I kindly refuse your offer; besides, I think you are overestimating my abilities, so you don’t have to give heed to me,” he calmly spoke back.
Halfer was taken aback. He didn’t expect Kuro to respond with a ‘no’. But he recomposed himself as soon as possible and tried to understand Kuro’s rejection. “Based on your clothes, I surmise that your reason should be true. However, you are now stepping on the empire’s grounds, which means you have to abide by our rules. But if you reconsider things and think through, becoming a general will make your living here in this continent, even temporarily, lighten your burden as a traveler.”
Kuro sighed, “You are a tactful person. Give me time to think through; afterwards, I’ll inform you about my decision.”
‘If I were to refuse twice, the situation might get messier than it is.’
“Good. I’ll wait for you at the castle. Please tell the guards who you are, and they will naturally let you enter. I am hoping for a favorable response. Guards, take all those who are wounded and get back to the castle.” Halfer adjusted his glasses, looked at Bryer, and gave a polite smile. “Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Xenophil,” and he turned away to walk back.
This act infuriated Bryer; he knew that Halfer was mocking them; however, he remained calm and helped his wife to rest on the wooden sofa once again, soothing her crying wife once more and telling her that it was all right.
After Halfer and his guards left the scene, all the audience were still stunned with the general’s unexpected proposal, more importantly, they were dumbfounded by the whole drama!
When they all regained their senses, they all went back to what they were doing as if nothing happened. Those who wanted to approach the Xenophil’s to show their concern or those who wanted to meet Kuro and befriend him refrained themselves, thinking that they had no right to do so; in the first place, they just watched them with sympathy all the time.
Back to Bryer, he was about to stand up and properly thank Kuro’s generosity when suddenly, a group of five people ran towards them. There were two women and three men. Both women wore the same clothes as Rosanna’s. On the other hand, the men nearly the same height, but the one with scars had the strongest build, while the one with white long hair seemed the weakest.
All of the men wore leather armors and had broken swords by their waists, which hung on the belt. The women threw Bryer away and snatched Rosanna to comfort her. Bryer, who held his pounding head, looked at the scene in front of him; he felt indignant and disbelief.
‘I am his husband!’
The men, except the white long-haired one, pointed their hands at Bryer and laughed at his misery. Bryer glared at them and stood up; he crackled his fist and began to argue with them. The white long-haired man just glanced at Kuro, who was smiling at the scene.
‘Surely, no one wanted to recount what happened earlier.’ This was the reason why Kuro just smiled.
Rosanna approached Kuro, “T-thank you for saving my husband. T-thank you so much!” She was still traumatized from what happened earlier, and she never had expected that the person who would save them was the one who they saved.
“MAMA!!!” a cute little voice shouted from somewhere. It was Rosalie; after hearing her voice, Rosanna wiped her tears, adjusted her emotions, and waited for her cute little daughter to appear and hug her.
“Yayy, papa’s here too!” Rosalie joyfully exclaimed while hugging a black cat with a crescent on its forehead. However, all her joy turned into confusion when she noticed that her mother’s eyes were a bit reddish.
She tilted her head, "Mama, are you crying?”
Rosanna shook her head and denied, “Mn, no, Rosalie, mama is not crying, come hug your mama!” Rosanna crouched and opened her arms, waiting for her daughter’s embrace. Rosanna glanced at Bryer, and as if knowing what Rosanna wanted, he walked towards his family and hugged them both.
It was such a warm scene.
‘I suddenly have the urge to hug my family… except for that pesky older brother' he harrumphed at the thought of hugging Richards; he felt the urge to vomit instead.
Then, something jumped to his chest, interrupting his thoughts; it was Crescent. He cuddled the cat; the latter fixed his position and slept in Kuro’s embrace. Although for Kuro, it was a bit awkward since he was technically holding a full-grown man, the cat was very fluffy, so he didn’t mind it anymore.
Bryer kissed his wife and daughter's forehead and glance at the people around him. “We should get inside and rest… then we will talk things after. I still have to appropriately thank Kuro and fix the house."
“I’ll go prepare some tea and biscuits. Is there anything that you want to eat?” Rosanna asked her husband since he didn’t eat anything for breakfast before hunting.
Bryer smiled at her and replied, "I am fine with biscuits."
Rosanna hummed in agreement. She lifted Rosalie, and proceeded to the kitchen to prepare the food.
“Mama, mama! Crescent played with me earlier; he’s such a cute cat!” Rosalie giggled at her mother’s embrace.
Rosanna laughed, too, as if nothing happened earlier. "Is that so? Then you must be satisfied?”
“Mnn!” Rosalie repeatedly nodded as a response.
…
“All of you should go home now. Maximillian, thank you for saving my wife,” Bryer turned to Maximillian, the white long-haired man, and thanked him. The arrow that was shot into the guard’s wrist, who was about to slice Rosanna’s neck off, was actually shot by Maximillian.
Maximillian actually warmed up a bit and smiled at Bryer, “That was nothing. No need to thank.”
“We’ll stay here for a moment; we will help you repair your front door. Meanwhile, entertain your benefactor over there. He’s been standing there since we arrived,” the black-haired man, who held a battle-axe, pointed at Kuro, which the latter noticed and tilted his head in confusion.
Kuro politely dissuaded himself, “Please don’t mind me; it is better to prioritize your business first."
Bryer disagreed, “You don’t have to be reserved and polite. It would be really rude for us to let our benefactor to be neglected. Say, since you’ve said you are a traveler, do you have any place to stay for the following days?”
Kuro internally gasped, “Actually, I haven’t thought of that matter at all...”
Bryer grinned, “Then, you can always stay at our house for as long as you like!”
Kuro was a bit skeptical, “Are you sure about that? I know that you are doing this in order to pay back the help that I did earlier, but I am still a stranger—”
“That doesn’t matter. If it weren't for you, I would be dead by now, or my family would have been locked in the prisons, too. Stranger or not, you are still welcome to our house,” Bryer interrupted in a firm tone.
Kuro helplessly smiled, “Then, I’ll have to trouble you for a couple of days.”
“That is better,” Bryer grinned once more.
