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Return of the Fallen Vol1 Ch25

Author: Blue_Rat

ch25

Rust handed Sam 10 gold Zeni as a reward for coming in first. Sam looked at the gold coins and his eyes widened in amazement.

(I should be able to buy plenty of food with this.)

Asuna walked over and the two shared a smile. Asuna held her own bag of 10 gold Zeni and said.

“Cheers.”

Sam replicated her and the two toasted with their small bags of money. Kazuki pretended to be envious of the two while Shin and the others genuinely were.

After all the bets were settled between the soldiers and the mages, Rust himself held a large bag of money. Shaking it back and forth, metallic chirps rang out within.

“Looks like I’m the biggest winner today, hehehe.”

Shin and the others looked downtrodden, so Rust decided to be a little generous. Opening the bag, he poured out several silver coins before a ring on his finger lit up and the bag disappeared. Handing them out, the losers received 4 silver coins each.

Everyone thanked Rust profusely but he just waved his hand.

“Its nothing at all, just a bit of pocket change.”

Shin continuously flipped the coins over, staring curiously at the image and words on them. He couldn’t help but ask.

“What does this stuff mean?”

“Oh, you’re curious?”

Rust was in a good mood so he explained to the group.

“The image on the front side is of a simple crown, which represents the king. Under it is the word [Honor] which basically means respect the crown and respect the law. On the back are a few words, which are also simple to understand. [Good for Good, Evil for Evil.] Which means if you do good then good will be done to you and if you do evil then evil will be done to you. I don’t know who came up with this but it certainly brings a sense of duty to the kingdom or something like that.”

Asuna was admiring the gold Zeni in her hand and couldn’t help but notice there was nothing on it. No images or words, it was just blank.

“Um…Mister Rust, how come there’s nothing at all on the gold coins? The silver coins seem to be treated with more importance for some reason.”

Rust shook his head.

“It isn’t that the gold isn’t important but instead, its that the silver coins represent our kingdom while the gold Zeni represent the three biggest kingdoms or rather the whole continent. Even now the three major kingdoms who produce Zeni gold have yet to come to an agreement on what to put on it so instead of fighting it’s much easier to leave it blank. Of course, this makes counterfeiters bolder but we have ways of dealing with them.”

Rust could see that his statement led to another question so he sighed inwardly and continued.

“Zeni gold is not just regular gold. It has magic properties within it and a spell or two attached to it that makes counterfeiting nearly impossible. Hmm, I don’t have any counterfeit gold on me but if I did you might be surprised to see what happens. You see an easy way to tell if a gold Zeni is counterfeit or not, is to either imbuing it with a small amount of magic or to touch it with a real Zeni gold coin. If it’s real then the coin will slightly warm to the touch but if it’s not then the real Zeni coin will destroy the fake one. Of course, if neither of the coins are real then I suppose nothing will happen.”

Rust rubbed his chin in thought, thinking about gold and how difficult it was to counterfeit a Zeni.

(The amount of time and literal energy it would take to produce a single counterfeit just doesn’t seem worth it in my opinion. Well only someone desperate would probably try that scheme. Of course, if you actually put your energy elsewhere, you could probably actually earn a real Zeni in that time.)

Shin flicked a silver coin in the air before catching it and slapping his hand over it, covering it from his sight. Grinning at Kazuki he said.

“Oy Ryuta, heads or crowns? hehe.”

Kazuki rolled his eyes inwardly before laughing out loud.

“Ha, what head are you talking about? There’s only words or a crown.”

“Who cares just choose.”

“Fine, crown.”

Shin opened his hands and a crown revealed itself.

*Tch*

“You win this one. Guess you’ll be wanting that drink huh?”

“What, what do you mean I win this one. You still owe me a drink for the first bet but since I did win that coin toss, now you owe me two drinks.”

Shin tilted his head.

“What I’m generously gonna get you a drink out of the kindness of my heart and you’re trying to squeeze another from me. I don’t think so, pal.”

Kazuki and Shin quickly began to argue over the bet and who would be paying but then Asuna interjected.

“Well technically everyone got in on that bet so the bet was between us all.”

“Your point being?”

“Isn’t it obvious. I won, so you two should be buying me a drink, right?”

Shin and Kazuki went silent for a moment before they both began to shout.

“What no way.”
“Yea, no way no way.”

Now the three were all arguing with each other.

This time Sam interjected.

“I lifted the heaviest rock overall so everyone should be buying me a drink.”

“What. why would I buy you a drink when I came first amongst the girls. Ah, no offense to Danny.”

Danny was admiring his money when he heard himself being included as a girl and he just felt depressed.

Kimi stood next to Sam and smiled.

“Sam I’ll buy you a drink if you want.”

After a while, the argument was settled. Since the original bet was only between Kazuki and Shin and it was Rust who allowed the bet to get out of hand and forced it, everyone decided that the actual wager was just between the two. Therefore since Shin lost to Kazuki, then Shin would buy him a drink. As for everyone else, they all decided to buy their own drinks so there would be no more arguments.

Walking out of the castle, the six donned regular clothes. Nothing too fancy and nothing too poor. They did this so they wouldn’t stick out amongst the people. Next to them were a few soldiers and one mage, each of whom similarly wore plain clothes. The only difference was the sword attached to their hips and two rings on the Mage’s left hand.

The only way these fresh young heroes were allowed outside of the castle was with protection. Although the incident was no longer being investigated, the fact of the matter was there was an enemy out there with ill intent or so they thought. Kazuki figured they would be cautious because of that but not this cautious. Looking around, Kazuki could see dozens upon dozens of guards hidden in plain sight.

A woman walking aimlessly with a basketful of fruit as though she were shopping. A man hawking wares at a stall. A couple holding hands walking around as though they were enjoying the sights. Even on the rooftops, there were many people wearing camouflage, blending in with their surroundings. Kazuki could spot them all but it seemed that Asuna and the rest were completely oblivious.

(I finally made it out of that fucking castle but now all eyes are on us. I still lack the ingredients to reforge my Mage Core and I also need to do something about the Aura that my compass releases but how should I lose them.)

As the group of 12 strolled through the city, Asuna and the others beamed in delight as they took in the sight. Beautiful carriages of pure white either floated or were pulled along with magic only. Buildings constructed like something from an anime and looked slightly european, mixed with a fantasy element. A few children ran through the streets while little kite-like objects flew behind them but instead of being attached with a string, these kites were flown using a magic ring.

One of the soldiers leaned in.

“Those kites are from a toy shop just down the road. When it comes to things that fly, you are allowed to fly said objects freely but people are not permitted to fly in the city. The air space is considered restricted in that way and if you are caught flying above the city the punishment is several years or more depending on the situation. Just thought I’d give everyone a heads up.”

The group nodded thanks to the soldier and everyone continued on.

The streets were extremely wide, comparable to 5 or 6 lanes of traffic and the roads were paved with fine stone. The city was full of people who seemed full of joy. Businesses were booming and the atmosphere was lively. The only real downside seemed to be the fact at how crowded the place was.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

A large shout interrupted the pleasant mood amongst the crowd. A shady man was racing towards Kazuki’s group while two guards were chasing after him. The soldiers surrounding Kazuki and the others cautiously put a hand on their swords and assessed the situation. Kazuki could feel a murderous intent flood the air and could sense magical energy being directed directly at the shady man.

Spears and arrows were aimed and at the ready, as the hidden guards on the roof were ready to take action at a moment’s notice. As they watched the man though their sense of urgency diminished greatly. They could see that he was not only fairly old but he carried no weapon and they could sense no energy fluctuating from the man at all, which meant he couldn’t use magic. Still, they watched. Sam who was in his own world walked forward without noticing the man at all. Seeing no harm the guards all watched as Sam and the old man collided.

*Thud*

The old man ran into Sam at full force yet he was knocked backward several feet onto the ground, while Sam was left completely unaffected.
Sam finally noticed what was going on and tried to help the man up.

“Oh sorry about that, when did you get here old man?”

The old man had a bit of blood running down his nose and slapped Sam’s hand away in anger.

“Goddammit, what are you a fucking brick wall?”

The old man remembered what he was doing and quickly tried to get up but just as quickly one of the guards chasing him, tackled him to the ground and put his arm behind his back in a hold.

“Got you, you old rat. it’s over.”

The other guard caught up and he too grabbed the old man. A ring flashed on one of the guard’s fingers and a pair of large metal cuffs appeared. Placing them on the old man the guard grumbled.

“How can an old man run so fast? You wasted so much of our time, old man, and now you’re going away for a while.”

Sam worried that he caused some sort of problem and asked the guards what was going on.

“Um…is everything ok? What happened?”

One of the guards was about to get mad at this nosy kid but his partner explained that it was Sam who stopped the old man from running further. The guard then changed his attitude and thanked Sam.

“We’ve had a few people get scammed recently with counterfeit money. This guy was the prime suspect until we saw him trying to scam someone right in front of our eyes. Old man, you’ve still got some on you, right?”

The guard then began to pat the old man down until he felt a small bag. Pulling the bag out he opened it, revealing a dozen or so gold Zeni’s. Taking one out he then pulled a Zeni from his own pocket. Touching the two together, the guard was shocked for a moment when the old man’s coin began to warm but just a few seconds later.

*Chink*

A large crack appeared on the surface of the old mans Zeni and his face turned pale. The guard showed his partner as well as Sam’s group the coin.

“I knew it, counterfeit. This is at least 3 years. I hope it was worth it, you old rat.”

The two guards prepared to turn and leave when the gears started to rapidly turn in Kazuki’s head and he stopped them.

“Wait a moment. Those fake coins, can I have them?”