Arc | Chapter. 42: Bias (Patreon)

Chapter. 42: Bias

Thomas was busy, in fact; he was busier than ever. He was re-drafting contracts and desperately trying to make new connections, all in order to keep Arlow’s status as a noble family, all to keep the status of Earl. He couldn’t afford to let all the family suffer, not for the impulsive decisions he had taken.

But, he didn’t blame himself. At first, there was stress, anger at the prospect of losing all of the family’s wealth⁠— the death of distant relatives who he somewhat cared about⁠— the failing businesses and the constant rejections. It was a culmination of all the Grand Duke’s actions that made him lose it. He wasn’t proud of it, he really wasn’t.

At first there was stress, the fact that he could only rely on himself and on Arsha to do things, Ceylon was still uneducated in business; at least in the experience department. Which is why he didn’t let her help, or manage things on her own. Plus, back then, he looked down on her, it wasn’t something he liked thinking about, but matter of fact was⁠.

Ceylon was easy to scare. During negotiations, during attempts for her life; so long as something was sudden, she would lose her wits. For all of those reasons, Thomas refused to acknowledge her. But now, he was different, after sending her away⁠ — since she was the least important member of the house of Arlow ⁠— he realized his mistake.

Of course, it hadn’t been straight away, but as things collapsed and things got worse and worse, the realization struck: he was going to lose his family. That thought⁠— the thought of Ceylon dying made him sick to his stomach. That was why he repented, why he worked hard now, and why he initially made the decision to forfeit the family’s wealth upon realizing his loss.

And now, it was his very duty, to ensure the family thrived. To pay off Ceylon’s efforts, to honor their savior that went out of their way to save the family, and in order to restore Arlow’s glory.

He closed his eyes.

It wasn’t going to be an easy thing.

But…

He had to do it, it was his duty, and his way of receiving forgiveness⁠—

And at that moment, the door opened. Thomas paused as he saw a familiar figure; it was their savior, Arc. A woman with strange high quality clothing, one that seemed young and refined, and yet all her features were oddly white. At first, he had been doubtful of her identity, let alone Ceylon’s claims, but now thanks to firsthand experience he knew just how amazing the woman in front of him was.

While he didn’t know if she was an S Tier adventurer, a wild mercenary, a hero, or something else entirely, he didn’t care to find out, for all he had in his mind was pure gratefulness. Just  her sheer presence alone made him smile.

“What do you need, Arc?”

And she met his gaze; her eyes were cold, unfeeling, almost inhumane; hostile. Thomas felt the blood drain from his face as the young woman spoke.

“I’m here to talk to you about something.”

“Talk to me…?” Thomas asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

Then, she shook her head. “No, not talk. I’m here to warn you.”

His heart skipped a beat, the room seemed to almost grow cold, and he didn’t understand⁠— he couldn’t understand why this was the case. However, deep down he just knew that this conversation was going to be hard. It was his instinct as a seasoned businessman.

He took a small breath. “What are you here to warn me about?”

And again, she shook her head. “No, perhaps the right word isn’t warning either, it will also be your absolution.” She pondered. “Your punishment.”

“My… punishment?” Thomas asked in disbelief.

Arc nodded as she strode up to him, and before he could react she proffered her hand. Thomas blinked, he wasn’t expecting it to be so gentle⁠— and he tensed seeing her gaze. It was still just as hostile, if not even worse.

With a small breath, he grabbed to her hand and⁠—

The world blurred, Thomas felt his very being be rearranged and shifted as he found himself in a distant forest away from civilization⁠, and then, came the nausea as he immediately began to throw up. The world around him spun, literally⁠, the stairs blurred and turned into streaks, the trees became a mass of dark brown, the sky became nothing and then⁠—

He froze.

Thomas shivered as he forgot all about the nausea, his teeth chattering as he shivered for a moment. The ground around him had been covered by a thin layer of white. What even was happening?

“Was Arsha, your wife involved in Ceylon’s torture training?” Arc asked from behind.

Thomas blinked, turning. “No⁠, she wasn’t, I was the one in charge⁠—”

“I see.” Arc spoke from behind him, somehow. “So you are responsible for essentially traumatizing Ceylon.”

Once more, he paused. “Traumatizing?” He shook his head. “It’s training, it’s meant to prepare her for situations like that, there is no such thing as traumatizing⁠—”

And he was kicked onto the ground, he felt his whole body be hammered at that moment as pain like never before came everywhere.

“It is trauma, you know something is wrong when you brutally murder multitudes of people in front of an eighteen year old and they don’t even care,” she said coldly. “It is trauma when she feels hurt; when she begins to have small breakdowns when seeing actual torture rather than be horrified.”

Her words, for some reason, stung. But still, even though Thomas had pushed his daughter to embark on that mission, he didn’t consider the training a mistake. Gritting his teeth, he shook his head.

“It’s a necessity for all nobles in Draliz, perhaps it’s not pretty but it is a necessity of life. Unfortunately we can’t always be happy.”

“I agree with that, but you also sent her to her death.” There was a small silence, before she appeared before him. “In that sense, irregardless of how reasonable your opinion is, it definitely isn’t coming from a reasonable place. Because even if you have changed, you don’t seem to regret how you have treated her in the past.”

Once more, it stung, this time even worse. And when he looked up, she saw her dead gaze, as she continued to speak.

“It’s not just her training; perhaps I am biased against that, but it is a fact you didn’t appreciate her before, and hold no remorse past sending her off⁠— and even then, you haven’t done shit to show how sorry you are to her.”

“Show how sorry I am to her…?” Thomas asked in confusion.

“If I have to explain that, then you’re stupid,” she said coldly. “But no matter, because in the end, she doesn’t need you.”

She doesn’t need me? Thomas heard those words and his ears buzzed for a moment, before ice sprouted around him⁠— he was forced to stand up as his mind digested the words, and what had just happened. And then, as a wave of cold passed by him, he paused, having a bad feeling all of the sudden.

“What do you mean, by doesn’t need me? I am the head of the house of Arlow!” he bellowed.

“Yes but if you die, then who will take your place, your wife? If she dies won’t Ceylon be the head of the house? Her brother isn’t old enough to take that seat.”

Those words made him shiver to his core, it felt like they were whispered⁠— susurrated to him by the wind, he couldn’t see Arc. Things were bad⁠. Was she serious? Was the person that had rescued them serious? Was she willing to kill everyone just for his daughter’s sake?!

That was ridiculous.

And yet, deep down, he truly felt like she was serious. That she indeed, planned to kill them if necessary. All for Ceylon’s sake…

A chilling realization hit him, Thomas’s heart jumped as he spoke up.

“Wait, I can make up for my mistakes!”

Then there was silence, as he panicked further, his heart rushed as he realized he was experiencing his final moments. This⁠— was this his punishment? Death?! Thomas disassociated. Arc had never been a savior⁠, but that was nothing but a guise. Her true identity was one of a demon, whose mercy he was at.

Thomas hyperventilated as he decided to make a plea for his life, but at that moment a voice behind him spoke.

“Goodbye, Thomas.”

He turned with a shiver, and in a blink, a spear touched his forehead. He felt his heart stop. A gust of wind swept through his entire being as his hair, brows and eyelashes simply froze over. He felt frostbite all over his skin as he blinked, blood flowing down his forehead.

He was alive…

Suddenly he let out a long labored breaths as Arc vanished with some parting words.

“We are done for today, this is your punishment, moving forward I expect to see something better.”

Thomas barely registered what was said to him, he only felt glad that he was alive. It made sense! Arc had saved their family, there was no way she’d be willing to destroy it just for their daughter. Finally calming, Thomas let out a sigh of relief as he took in the forest, the temperature was returning to normal as if nothing happened. She was gone.

Finally, Thomas decided to try to figure out where he was, and as he turned, he paused, his eyes growing wide.

The entire forest had disappeared. It was as if it had been blown off by a natural disaster. Fallen trees covered in ice, ravaged ground covered in snow, and part of the mountain behind, was frozen. All in a cone radius behind him had been destroyed, starting with the ground right in front of him.

He had to make up for his mistakes…

* * * * *

My initial plan was to bring Thomas back after doing the small show off. But I couldn’t. I initially intended it to be a conversation without emotions, but in the end, I really couldn’t do it. Part of it, was the fact that Ceylon went through horrible experiences in the name of training, which reminded me of the system⁠— that in itself just pissed me off regardless if it was a normal practice or not.

And the second thing was the fact that they didn’t appreciate Ceylon. That itself pissed me off to no end. Nothing was worse than when one’s own parents refused to acknowledge the child’s efforts⁠— that was grating. I couldn’t kill him for it, but I damn wanted to simply out of personal reasons.

Still, I knew that I was getting way ahead of myself. And that my feelings in regards to my long gone family didn’t and shouldn’t extend towards Ceylon’s.

A deep breath left me as I sat down on a bench in the middle of the night.

In the end, I had maybe gone a bit too far, but I just hoped that from now on, Ceylon’s family would change their behavior. Thomas’ wife would follow his behavior, so here I hoped for things to improve. Even if Ceylon stayed around as a noble or not, it was a needed change.

Then, I shook my head.

“At least that’s been done.”

Now, I had to take Thomas the next day to Ranedale, all to confront the guildmaster and perhaps establish a business there in regards to the ice given it’s already being sold and has a market there.

Perhaps I’d also take the time to register Regis as an adventurer.

And in regards to Rory and what to do, I didn’t know. Even if she was sort of in the know in the sense of me being extraordinary, it was best she didn’t know about it.

I suppressed a sigh, the annoying situations I was going to have to deal with wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

“Why the long face?” A person asked.

I looked upwards only to see someone sitting on a rooftop, he wore a cloak and with a single breath he jumped down in front of me.

“I would’ve thought someone as strong as you would have a better grip on any troubles, but I guess not.”

I frowned, looking at the man in front of me. “What do you want Jake?”

“I’m surprised you know my name.” He removed his cloak only to smile. “But as for what I want…”

His expression changed to one of a frown, and extending his hand to the side, a familiar weapon appeared. The ice spear. Tension rose, as he spoke, pointing the spear towards me. Then, he proclaimed:

“I want to give you this weapon back.”

Huh?