Chapter 51: Preparation [MOON]

I pushed the large door open. It would seemed that the throne had been removed and was replaced with a huge round table in the middle. Is a King going to join the meeting? Oh, what about Merlin?

 

“Have a seat, Zen,” said Peter as he gestured an empty chair for me to sit.

 

I took a seat and glanced over the participants around the table. So these are the members of the New Order. Two out of the five guildmasters were here. John and the Elementalist represented the guildmasters due to circumstances. Oh, did not even realised that the Elementalist had recovered from his injuries. The other members consist of three elves from the elven forest and three reputable humans from the city. Why are elves part of the council? This is because the city is now opened to all races that wishes to live here. Previously under the Queen’s rule, only humans are allowed to stay in the city with the exception of the adventurer’s guild and taverns. Now all races are welcomed to purchase and stay here. Lizard people included.

 

“This person here is the sole reason as to why all of you are sitting here today. He slain an imposter that acted as the Queen which had fooled us all, and now we have a chance to be better. To instil unity between all races. And to not allow a single person to have absolute power,” said Peter.

 

Silence engulfed the room. No one clapped or cheered. Is this what the sound of silence meant? It was John who stood up and embraced me with his one good hand. Only then did the others started clapping. Wow, that was awkward.

 

“Zen had made it clear that he will not be a part of the council. This would eliminate any rumours that he was greedy for power and becoming the ruler of this city. All of you will have equal rights and will make decisions based on votes from each of the council member. Your terms will only be limited to two with the exception of the guildmasters as they can be swapped due to the nature of their work. Only two guildmasters are needed to attend the council meetings each time. They will have their own meetings to ensure that none of the guildmasters will be lost in context during the next council meetings,” explained Peter.

 

Talk about man of words. No wonder this man was the founder of the City of Heliotrope Ixia. He was able to build a city in such harsh environments and made it successful. I wonder what City Of Pines will end up becoming if he was the founder of this city instead. Probably better than Marrydia perhaps.

 

“And with that, ladies and gentlemen. I will take my leave. Do announce to the public about your existence and how things will be managed from here on. I will check upon this city for about a year in the event that my guidance is needed,” said Peter.

 

All of them stood up and bowed to him to which he returned it. I escorted Peter out as I wanted to talk to him. That and he was also my sensei. What kind of pupil will I be if I do not escort and say goodbye to his teacher?

 

“Sensei, I have a request if you don’t mind,” I asked him.

 

“Speak your mind. You are only ever so formal when you wish to ask for something unreasonable,” he said with a chuckle.

 

“Ouch, do you have to put it that way? You have met with both Lily and Rose, right? What say you in taking them under your wing?” I asked while giving him a bow.

 

“Lily and Rose, both powerful ladies with great potentials. Are you sure? I get the feeling that they will become stronger than you under my training. Especially Rose,” he said.

 

“I’m all for it. Please unlock their potential as you did mine,” I bowed once more to him.

 

“To have you making such a request even when you first turned me down when I offered to teach you. Something must have gotten you spooked. Come, let’s talk as we walk,” he said.

 

“You won’t write me off as crazy, right?” I asked him.

 

“Come now, I am way older than you. There are many things that I’ve experienced before. Otherwise, what kind of teacher would I be for ignoring the concern of my pupil,” he explained.

 

I told him about my dream and how vivid it felt. Even now I can remember the entirety of the nightmare. I also told him about the strangle marks that appeared after it. The marks can still be seen but had lessen.

 

Peter confessed that he certainly had not heard of a case where a dream becomes reality. He gave it some thought. I made a joke that it might be the Demon Queen’s God taking revenge on me for killing its vessel. Peter gave me a serious look and said that it might not be too far-fetched. The powers of the Gods are still unknown and Peter had a premonition that the end of the world is when the Gods decided to change this world entirely.

 

He gave his permission that he will tutor both of them on the condition that they will come over to City of Heliotrope Ixia to learn. I told him that I will drag them over to the Eastern Continent even if I have to drag their feet.

 

“Right before I forget, we will need to meet-up with Sladar one of these days to find out what happened at the Northern Continent. The City Of Lilies Dahlee was relatively safe and sound upon our inspection. It turned out that the Demon Queen had activated a summoning circle north side, not too far from our East location where the army was waging war. What a brilliant way to fool me into thinking that demons were coming directly from the north,” he sighed.

 

“Just let me know when and I’ll go with you,” I replied him.

 

“One last thing, don’t let your revenge consume you, Zen. I can see anger and conviction in your eyes. I do hope this won’t be the last time I talk to you,” he said.

 

“Sorry Sensei, this is something that I must do in order to find peace and hopefully my grandfather as well. Do forgive your pupil for being foolish,” I bowed to him.

 

“Getting revenge is a way of getting over your past. Not everyone is capable of forgiveness on its own. Even I had my fair share of revenge arc in the past,” he confessed with a smile and placed his hand on my shoulder.

 

“Farewell, Zen. I hope to see you soon,” he smiled before boarding the caravan.

 

I passed him a note with the healing cream recipe before he climbed up and he read it.

 

“Ho, and here I thought you wouldn’t part with this without some form of royalty fees. Why the sudden change of heart?” he asked.

 

“There is enough suffering in this world and I caused a lot of suffering myself. Time for me to give back something to the world,” I said.

 

Peter placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled before proceeding to board the caravan. His henchmen bowed to me before boarding as well. I trained with them before and we started off in the wrong foot. Now we respect each other. That and the fact that they can longer defeat me in combat after my training with Peter.

 

After seeing Peter off, I went straight home. I had planned to enact my revenge in exactly three days time which would require me to make lots of preparations. I wished to have longer time to prepare but sadly, I cannot afford to drag it longer. I need to ensure that Tom will still be in the area when I reached there.

 

Time to get started then. I had already purchased all the necessary ingredients needed to get started on my alchemy recipes. Now I just need to immerse myself in creating them. Just when I was about to start, I heard someone knocking on the door. Bloody hell just when I was in the mood to get started. Who the hell is it?!

 

I opened the door with an annoyed face. It was Rose and Lily.

 

“Onii-chan, we’ll be hanging out with you for a couple of days to celebrate. Is that okay?” asked Rose.

 

“Umm.. I would really like some rest, Rose. Can you do this another day, please?” I returned the question to her.

 

“C’mon Zen, we fought so hard for you in the war. Can’t you cut us some slack and let us enjoy your company together?” asked Lily.

 

I thought hard about it. I only have three days. But if I continue to push them away, they might end up getting suspicious. I planned to do this alone. Should anything happen to me, at least the both of them are safe.

 

“Better hurry, or Rose and I might end up jumping on you before you know it,” she whispered to me.

 

“Alright, fine fine. You can hangout here. Just don’t disturb me, alright? I wish to get some rest for real,” I caved to their request.

 

“Don’t sweat it, onii-chan. We’ll be quiet. We’ll be so quiet that you wouldn’t even realise that we are staring at you while you sleep, heh heh” chuckled Rose.

 

“W.. what did you say?” I asked her immediately after she said that.

 

“Huh? I just said that we will be quiet,” said Rose slowly.

 

“You said you stared at me while I sleep. When did this happened?” I asked her hastily.

 

“Never. I had never done that before. The most I did was sneaked into your room and slept at your side. And that was when I was younger. I never stared at you while you sleep before. I swear,” said Rose with a surprised face.

 

I looked away and started thinking. What did that nightmare meant? There must be some deeper meaning to that dream. Is it a warning or a premonition?

 

“I never thought you had such insecurities when you slept, Zen. You didn’t have that issue with me before,” said Lily.

 

“T… this is different. It is not due to my insecurity. It’s nothing,” I sighed.

 

“So Lily is allowed to stare at your while you sleep but it’s a big no for me. Talk about favouritism for Lily,” pouted Rose.

 

“I said it’s nothing!….. Sorry. Let me have my rest,” I apologised as I headed into my room.

 

Rose and Lily looked at each other with a concerned look but they decided to not bother me which I am thankful for. That dream really had me spooked badly at anything that is remotely related to it. But I know that it meant something. Something that I just can’t seemed to remember.

 

***

 

I brought Lily into my room to talk. We know onii-chan is planning to find Tom but we don’t know when he is leaving. He did not tell us about it and we are suspecting that he is planning to do it alone. Is the revenge making him on edge? His sudden outburst at my joke earlier was uncalled for. So this is how you’re going to treat me after I asked you to choose Lily? Geez.

 

We followed after him when he said he wanted to head to the washroom at the inn that night. Lily was listening intently to his footsteps whether it matched the same amount of times it took him to enter the washroom. Lily’s ears perked up when she counted more and Zen’s footstep were getting further, softer and eventually out the building.

 

We followed him to an alleyway where he walked in alone. We peeked out from the corner to see who he was talking to but there was no one else around. He took out some sort of paper and showed it to someone or something in front of him. I did not see anything with my eyes. I was worried that onii-chan was losing it but Lily’s elven eyes spotted a sort of silhouette that seemed to be there but not entirely visible. While she could not exactly see who it was, she was sure that he was indeed talking to someone or something albeit the both of us could not really see.

 

We were certainly concerned about him. We were expecting him to bring us along for his revenge but we realised that he won’t be bringing us after he had kept quiet about it so far. Onii-chan must be hellbent on doing this alone for his grandfather. And here I thought that I was part of your family too. We should at least do this together.

 

He should be in his room preparing for his revenge right about now. We certainly won’t be disturbing him as we want him to be fully prepared. The best we can do is to help him in whatever way we can. And also to prepare ourselves to sneak after him.

 

***

 

What time is it now? I’ve completely lost myself in alchemy creating the perfect potions to fight Tom. Sadly, I was never able to discover a wax that is effective for humans. Perhaps that is for the best, as I do not wish to fight with any other humans if I can help it.

 

My stomach started to rumble. I guess I must had skipped lunch or something. I peeked out the window and it was dark. Perhaps it is going to rain soon. It can’t be night time, right? I’ve just made a few potions so far and it should not had taken that long.

 

I went out of my room to look for something to eat. Oh, Rose was removing her apron while Lily was setting the table. Just in time for lunch.

 

“Oh great, I was just about to call you out for dinner. You skipped lunch by the way despite me calling out to you,” said Rose.

 

“D.. dinner? It’s really night now? Damn it, time really flew by too fast today,” I said out loud.

 

The both of them chuckled at my remarks. Lily made fun of me being a slouch for sleeping the whole day. I just said yeah and smiled awkwardly as I did not want them to know that I was doing alchemy the whole time.

 

Lily sat me down while they brought out the dishes to the table. What is with the feast? There were way too many food for just the three of us. And then the both of them sat down which puzzled me. Lily sat to my right while Rose sat to my left. I was smack dab in the middle of the square dining table. This had never happened before. It was always me sitting at either of their side while one of them sat in the middle. Something sus is going on right now.

 

“You need to gain back your strength, Zen. That’s why I bought so much food for you. And the fact that we can finally let loose and enjoy ourselves,” said Lily.

 

“Oh, thanks for that. Let me repay you for the groceries later,” I said.

 

“I’m not broke, Zen. Come have a taste of this freshly baked fish,” Lily fed me some with her fork.

 

It’s good. I can see that Rose had not lost her touch in cooking. I turned to look at Rose as she is usually jealous of Lily feeding me. Huh? She is just smiling? Something is not right. Is this another nightmare? I pinched myself to be sure and yes, it does hurt.

 

“Onii-chan, I’ve made your favourite roast jikentette. Here have a bite,” Rose fed me a small chunk of meat with her fork.

 

I looked between the both of them with suspicious eyes. These two are not acting normal. What is their motive for doing this?

 

“What is going on? You two are acting awfully weird,” I continued to stare at the both of them.

 

“What do you mean? This is always how we act,” explained Rose.

 

“Yeah. You’re just too conscious about the little things,” said Lily.

 

“I see what you two are doing. You are trying to make me experience the life of marrying the both of you and how normal it will be,” I sighed.

 

“Umm.. yeah,” smiled Lily. Rose just kept quiet.

 

“Look, I know you’ll call me a stubborn fool, but I felt that every woman should have a husband of their own. It shouldn’t be shared. Men cannot love things equally no matter how hard they try. So it would be unfair to one of you if I do end up marrying the both of you. I just feel that it should be special to marry someone. I want it to mean something to not just me but to the both of you,” I explained to them.

 

“We understand, onii-chan. You don’t need to explain any further. Can we just enjoy the moment at least?” pleaded Rose.

 

“Of course. Let’s eat,” I said.

 

***

 

Phew. Thank the above that onii-chan was fooled. I knew if we acted suspicious he will start thinking differently. Now he is going to assume that we are here to show him what it’s like to marry both of us.

 

Lily was in my room preparing her own equipment and materials for sneaking and combat. She is preparing something that will finally protect her stomach area. I, on the other hand, was reading my book to see what other spells that I can learn which does not come with a side effect. But there were so many spells written in strange language which I do not understand. I am going to need to find someone to teach me should I wish to get stronger. And I know just the right person. The problem is getting him to teach me.

 

Just then, there was a knock on my door. I gave a quick look to Lily and she scrambled to hide her equipments and materials. I walked up to the door and opened a small gap to peek outside.

 

“Can I help you?” I asked him.

 

“I need to talk to the both of you. Is it convenient to talk now?” he asked while giving a suspicious look.

 

“Now.. is not a right time, onii-chan,” I said to him.

 

“What do you mean? I’ve got great news for the both of you that you’ll be thrilled to hear,” he said while giving an even more puzzled look.

 

“We are… kind of fooling around right now. So unless you are interested, I would suggest you to inform us tomorrow instead,” I told him.

 

“W.. what?” he said with his mouth opened now.

 

“Onii-chan, I’m… sort of.. gay,” I blurted out.

 

“Uhh… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said and quickly walk back to his room. Will he be having his alone time thinking about the two of us? Heh heh.

 

I closed the door with a phew. Lily was sitting on the floor staring at me with a cautious look. I explained to her that it was just a joke to shoo him away but Lily said that she recalled me saying that I loved her or something. I told her that is not true and I will not be doing anything to her whatsoever. She jokingly said that she should sleep outside in the event that I end up assaulting her tonight which she made it very clearly that she is only interested in men.

 

We both chuckled and decided to call it a day. We don’t know when onii-chan will be heading out but what we need to do is to keep a close eye on him. Anytime he sneaks out we will need to follow him. Our covert operation begins now.