Arc | Chapter. 41: Developments (Patreon)

Chapter. 41: Developments

Arc is now 20 chapters ahead of public. 

Contrary to his statement, chaos ensued in the knight barracks as dozens of armored men came screaming with their weapons out. Being honest, I half expected the result but it felt satisfying to do that to the interrogation officer after he was so annoying about whether to stab me or not.

I understand the common logic about not wanting to stab someone, but the thing is, he never gave a clear hard no, or even a yes until the very end. It was simply just annoying. The man was the epitome of indecision. So, in short⁠— I didn’t regret my actions even if I ended up arrested.

The knights surrounded us, screaming to surrender immediately. Ceylon raised her arms, clearly nervous, Regis also followed suit not necessarily understanding what was going on, and I just stood there, before sighing and waiting for some mana suppression cuffs to be thrown⁠—

“Stop!” The interrogator said, bleeding heavily as he stood in the door of the barracks. “I asked for this. It’s not assault, and I had warned the entire station already. This was part of my job, do not interfere!”

There was a brief pause, and a man from the knights turned to him and they engaged in a very fervent discussion. One side, was the side of reason saying how I had attacked a member of the city’s forces and therefore was a criminal, and the other side, the interrogator side, was the side of insanity saying that it was part of his job, that it was the truth, and that following normal logic he should be arrested instead for trying to stab me.

They went back and forth for what felt like an eternity, until finally, the knight relented and signaled everyone to withdraw their weapons. After that, he stood before me giving me a warning.

“We will consider this a personal dispute, do not do it again.”

With that, he too left and with that we were alone. Ceylon let out a very long and confused breath.

“What was that…?”

Regis stroked his non-existent beard. “Humans are quite peculiar.”

I shook my head. “Let’s just hope the interrogator doesn’t do something regrettable later. But if he does I guess I’ll deal with it at a different time.”

“Or you could’ve not assaulted him,” Ceylon said with a gruff. “That was impulsive.”

“I won’t disagree,” I said without reaction.

It was indeed impulsive, and to some extent it was unlike me considering not too long ago I was even hesitant to even do anything flashy⁠— except for punching that one adventurer that disrespected me. Point being, I wasn’t being normal or even calm, and the reason was simple, I was still annoyed at the situation with the Hero of Flames and my levels.

“So, Regis, about what I asked?” I prompted.

The Dragon of Flames blinked before becoming pensive. “Right that… I wanted to say a non-committal answer is, that I could maybe help you, but I’m not sure if the other Dragon Elders would be willing to die a couple of times and be resurrected⁠—”

“Something that doesn’t involve killing innocent things⁠— even if they are resurrected.” I clarified with a sigh. “Otherwise I can probably just ask you about the whereabouts of other heroes and go on a killing spree.”

“That wouldn’t be recommended,” Regis said awkwardly. “When heroes kill each other bad things happen.”

“Bad things?”

He nodded. “The keeper of order will interfere. At least, if a hero dies and more engage in battle; I believe those are the conditions.”

At that moment I frowned. “What does interference mean?”

“Oftentimes, death,” Regis said clearly.

Ceylon raised her brow. “That doesn’t sound like it’s keeping much of an order.”

I found myself agreeing with Ceylon, as Regis let out a long sigh.

“Unfortunately, I am not privy to all of the information about the keeper of order other than the fact that he is the strongest hero.”

This time, his information made me curious. “The strongest?”

“That is right, he is the Hero of Arlas, Uwell.” Regis said, shaking his head.

“He’s still alive?!” Ceylon said in disbelief.

Meanwhile I just blinked. I definitely didn’t expect that the keeper of order amongst the heroes was another hero. But perhaps that was the reason why the Hero of Flames didn’t come after me during that encounter.

“I see.” I nodded. “That seems troublesome.”

“Which is why your request is very hard to begin with⁠— I suppose a monster haven would be good for you, but one containing SS Tier beasts? I doubt it would exist,” Regis said, sighing as if it pained him. “Still, I can try looking into it if given time to do so.”

“I’ll think about giving you time,” I said after a moment.

I didn’t want Regis to suddenly leave, not now at least. As for why he was serving me⁠— I was now extremely curious and intended to ask him, that was until a familiar presence came to us. I turned only for Rory to arrive, and she looked immediately relieved upon seeing us.

“Arc, I’m glad you’re okay…” She sighed. “I guess Jake wasn’t as much of a threat to you as I thought.”

“Right…?” I asked, confused.

Then she smiled. “We finally reunite again!”

“Right…” I nodded. “You did find me…”

I didn’t know how to react, it was just awkward. I had been so busy that I forgot Rory existed, and now it was as if she was a complete stranger to me even though at most three days had passed.

“Hey, what’s with that face,” Rory said, annoyed. “Also, who is this red-haired guy?”

Regis coughed. “I’m Regis’karr and Miss Arc’s… servant…” he trailed off. “It’s complicated.”

“Huh…” Rory tilted her head before smiling. “You’re interesting too!”

I wanted to sigh, but before I could even do that, the red-haired woman turned to me and dug into her bag.

“Oh, I passed by Ranedale, look at what they were selling, thought you’d find it interesting!”

With those words, I was shown a piece of ice⁠— my ice. A stake. It was… odd, especially what she had just said.

“They are… selling it?”

She nodded. “It’s quite limited too, so the prices keep going up! They are currently going for one gold coin each! But given they don’t melt and freeze things, it’s super impressive.”

I paused before turning to Ceylon, she met my gaze at the same time as I simply informed her.

“Now we know what your family’s next business will be.”

Ceylon agreed with a very slow nod, almost as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Also, they were selling an S Tier spear made out of the same ice at the guild,” Rory chirped. “Jake bought it for a whopping 300 platinum coins!”

And I blinked in disbelief. “They… sold an ice spear?”

Rory smiled. “Yep!”

“That is…” I took the information before I asked her. “Are you sure it was sold in the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“No doubt.” Rory raised her brow. “Is that a problem?”

“A bit,” I answered, closing my eyes.

Now, I was slightly stumped. I didn’t want to immediately head out and go to Ranedale at blazing fast speeds. At the same time, I wanted to do multiple things at once, and⁠— I also wanted to do absolutely nothing.

A long sigh left me.

I wanted to just sit in a room ice carving all day, I didn’t want to deal with the bullshit of knowing the weapon that had endangered my life had been fucking sold by the Guildmaster of Ranedale. That on top of not being able to get stronger in a natural manner was simply put; incredibly annoying.

Everything seemed irritating to me as I made a simple decision.

I turned to Ceylon.

“Is something wrong?”

“Take me to the best restaurant in Rivas, we’ll eat there, and then go visit your father. I want to talk with him.”

In the end, I had things to do, and I definitely wanted to set up a business for Ceylon’s family, one in which I’d essentially create a couple thousands of ice pieces a week, and have them sell it. I’d take part of the royalties, but it’d mostly help with my plans in making them the new rulers of Draliz.

As for the reason; well I just wanted Ceylon to not worry about her status ever again. Perhaps I was being too attached or readily helpful but I didn’t care⁠— anything to help me forget about the things I was going to need to deal with.

◇ ◇ ◇

We went to the best restaurant, but in the end, I made Rory and Regis sit at another table. She was too talkative and he was too responsive for my liking. So, I was alone with Ceylon, who fidgeted awkwardly.

“Are you alright?”

“I am,” I said, putting a vanilla bead in my mouth; a piece of candy from Ceylon. “I think I’m just having a dose of reality, knowing that in fact; I don’t get to live the peaceful life I had hoped for. Or to settle down without dealing with a bunch of other annoying things first.”

“Right…” She nodded. “That sucks. You know you could always just retire…”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but that also sounds boring. I’d still like to explore the world and get to be myself a bit. Though, maybe I’m making things hard for myself,” I mused as I turned to the ceiling.

After all, if the Hero of Flames wouldn’t be coming after me any time soon, then perhaps I’d be able to lay low and disappear. Though I had entertained that thought not too long ago. And it honestly hurt my pride a bit. Was I one to permanently run from something that was stronger than me with no intention to ever take it down?

No.

If anything, the Hero of Flames was like the Overlord of the tutorial. Dangerous, but an achievable goal.

All that was left was getting stronger.

Finally, a sigh left me as the food came. It was some kind of fish with vegetables and what seemed to be sauce, and it was steaming hot.

Its pleasant aroma brought a smile to my face. And as soon as I took the first bite, I forgot everything as I happily enjoyed the meal.

◇ ◇ ◇

We toured the city for an hour or so, Regis and Rory got acquainted with one another even though Regis was mostly lying about everything including his noble identity or whatever, but he seemed to love regaling tales, so I let them be.

It was honestly relaxing, Ceylon tried to talk to me about things once more, but I told her to not bother.

And it didn’t take long before we returned to the mansion, this time with Rory as a guest since I didn’t have it in me to dismiss her, at least not yet.

Then, came the time where I stood before the study of Ceylon’s father.

I wanted to tell him about my plans to turn the family into royalty, but first there was something I had to talk to him about.

Ceylon’s upbringing.

And I opened the door.

* * * * *

The Hero of Shadows waited at the gathering point. He was now in Drekell, it was a small town, one of the smallest in all of Draliz. And finally, after sending a few letters, he had gotten a compelling reply. One that made him happy.

Finally, after a few minutes⁠— or hours, the person that he had asked for arrived. It was a woman on black clothing, almost feathered.

“I heard you wanted to talk?” she asked, her tone annoyed. “You do know that everything is over between us.”

“Of course I know that,” the Hero of Shadows nodded. “Like I said, this invitation was to discuss the matters of a new hero, one that is possibly one of the strongest in the SS Tier.”

“So you were serious.” The woman sighed.

Siegfried felt his mana churning and whirling, ready for what he was about to do. And then with  a confident smile, he spoke.

“Of course, I’m always serious, Heroine of Crows.”

“I told you I don’t like being called that.” The woman immediately frowned as bloodlust appeared in the air. “Do that again and I will⁠—”

[Shadow Step]! The Hero of Shadows appeared right behind her and with his fist he punched, whispering to himself⁠—

“[Shadowed Repulse]...”

At that moment, the air distorted, shadows exploded as everything contracted into a dark abyss⁠— the sound boomed and fractured around as blood exploded around him⁠— and then it all came back as a painful scream resounded in his ears.

The Heroine was sent bleeding forward as she cursed at him⁠— dozens of gigantic bird beasts befell on him, but he simply smiled widely⁠ as he casted another skill.

[Shadowsparse].

His surroundings exploded as he himself was torn into motes of shadows, and then a bloodied battle began. All in order to grow stronger.