Return of the Fallen Vol1 Ch33
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch33
Like a herd of buffalo, a stampede of rushing feet echoed up and down the street. As a cloud of dust was kicked up, many stores and establishments had their front entrances kicked open with a flood of soldiers and mages searching everywhere.
After several hours the sun was on the verge of setting when a soldier came upon Master Garn.
“Master Garn sir, he’s been spotted.”
Garn’s eyes flashed with both anger and worry as he impatiently roared.
“Lead the way!”
A turn here and a turn there up one road and down another, the soldier led Master Garn and several other soldiers to an old stone building.
Master Garn didn’t wait for even a moment as he sent a blast of energy forward, shattering the door in his path.
*Boom*
The sudden explosion frightened the patrons and the rowdy and rambunctious atmosphere came to an abrupt halt. A few people could be seen hiding under tables or behind chairs as Master Garn came marching in.
Seeing who it was many began to relax but at the same time, they felt confused. Just why was their country’s hero, Master Garn, destroying their favorite bar.
A bartender who was peeking from behind the counter nervously stood up when he saw Master Garn. With a shaky voice, he asked.
“M…Master Garn. Wh…What’s going on? What happened? Di…Did I do something wrong?”
Master Garn and the soldiers walked past the bartender, completely ignoring him. Coming upon a table in the corner of the room, Master Garn eyed Kazuki who was face down and passed out with a drink spilled all over him.
“Pick him up.”
A few soldiers grabbed Kazuki from under his arms and stood him up.
Master Garn slapped Kazuki hard across the face and Kazuki’s eyelids lazily lifted up. Looking at his surroundings Kazuki appeared confused until his vision focused and he spotted Garn standing in front of him, a face full of disappointment.
Kazuki’s eyes rolled about in his head as he slurred his words.
“Mister Gar…Garn. Wha r uu do in ere?”
Kazuki’s breath attacked Garn’s nose, stinging it with a stench of sourness.
Garn held his nose in displeasure and fanned the air.
“So this is where you’ve been, drunk off your ass in a bar, disgusting.”
Kazuki struggled to shrug his arms free from the soldier’s grasp but quickly gave up. Pointing in Garn’s general direction, he said.
“I’m naht sdrunk, I’m just a wittle seepy sthas all.”
Garn brows scrunched in disapproval.
*Thwack*
Garn struck Kazuki on the head, knocking him out cold.
Garn waved his staff and a wind wrapped around Kazuki like a soft blanket, causing him to float a few feet above the ground.
“I’m taking him back, we’re done here.”
Garn walked toward the entrance and Kazuki’s limp body floated behind him, following his every step. Before Garn left he snapped his fingers and his ring glowed purple. A few Zeni appeared from thin air and fell directly into the bartender’s hands.
“For the damages.”
Garn said, just before he left.
Garn’s staff glowed again and his feet left the ground. A few seconds later and he was flying high above the sky with Kazuki in tow. With Kazuki seemingly unconscious Master Garn couldn’t help but mumble bitterly under his breath.
“Dammit, how can a hero act this way? Not only did he go to a brothel but he also sent us on a wild goose chase and he even ended up in a bar. Just what in the hell is up with this kid?”
The entire afternoon was highly stressful for Garn. His duty was to help teach these young heroes as well as protect them and today he felt like a failure.
“If something would have happened, *Haaa* Thank the god’s nothing happened.”
Landing outside the palace, Master Garn took Kazuki to his room. On the way there Asuna and the others spotted them and asked what happened.
“Nothing much, he’s just a little drunk, is all.”
Shin’s envy was at an all-time high.
“Damn, so he was the first to lose his V card and he was also the first to taste the sweet nectar of alcohol of another world. Ryuta, when you wake up I’m gonna kick your ass if you don’t give me every detail.”
Asuna’s heart was beating madly but when Shin mentioned V card, Asuna looked like she was about to blow a gasket. Kimi had to do everything in her power to drag Asuna away before she hurt someone or did something she would regret later.
Garn was a little annoyed with their casual conversation. Did they not understand how serious the situation truly was. If something happened to one of the summoned the setback and loss would be too much. With the compensation Treia had to pay to the Kingdom of Jin and the Kingdom of Maoudou, Treia was already down to six heroes.
If they also lost another hero because one of them decided to play a stupid prank and run off somewhere and then get kidnapped or killed in some alley, the consequences would be dire. That was something Treia simply couldn’t afford.
Garn wondered if he should just permanently keep the summoned ones on the palace grounds at all times until they were near his level in strength.
(No, I can not steal their freedom, especially when I’ve already stolen them from their homes and brought them to my world without their consent. But what to do? Should I simply increase security…No, that may just lead to distrust between us? Damn, why must this be so hard and confusing?)
Master Garn brought Kazuki to his room and gently laid him on his bed but as soon as he laid him down Garn noticed the compass around Kazuki’s neck.
(Hmm.)
Being so close to it, for a moment Garn thought he sensed a bit of magic leaking from it. Just as he was about to reach out and examine it though Kazuki suddenly rolled over on his side and with it a small bag tied to his hip fell loose and hit the ground.
*Clank*
Garn’s eyes went wide with surprise as the reflection of hundreds of gold Zeni appeared on the floor.
(This, this is?)
Garn looked between the money and Kazuki a few times.
(Just where did this young man get this small fortune?)
Garn thought about the events of the day.
(There were no reports of this amount of money going missing so he either stole it from criminals or he acquired it through gambling.)
Garn wondered if he should take the money to teach a lesson but at the same time, he knew it wasn’t his place.
(A brothel, gambling, drinking. I thought this young man was just an aloof idiot but it seems his moral code is on the wrong path. Can he actually be a hero?)
Garn couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation and eventually just decided to leave things alone for now. Covering Kazuki with a blanket Garn thought.
(If I had a son, would he be this reckless?)
Master Garn shook his head, as worrying thoughts about the future occupied his mind.
Master Garn blew out the lights and left. Kazuki slowly opened his eyes and lay in his bed silently.
(That was close, had I not turned over, Garn might have found out something about my compass.)
Tucking his compass back under his shirt, Kazuki thought.
(It seems old Garn genuinely cares.)
Kazuki rubbed the bump on his head painfully.
(Or maybe he doesn’t care.)
He had pretended to be drunk and thought that Garn would simply escort him back to the castle but who would have thought that he’d actually hit him in the head and try to knock Kazuki out with his staff. Kazuki then had to pretend to be asleep, which was rather annoying.
(That old man is a bit eccentric, there was no need to knock me out yet he tried to anyway. All he did though was give me a headache.)
Kazuki’s forehead stung a bit and a small red bump swelled upon his forehead. Using a bit of ki, Kazuki relaxed the blood flow around the area and dealt with the inflammation. As his ki began to heal him, Kazuki felt the bump and it had already reduced by half.
(Still hurts.)
As he thought about his successful day, he couldn’t help but smile with glee.
(In a week, in only 1 week, I’ll get everything I need to reforge my Mage Core and also hide my compass’ aura. After that, it’s all about raising my strength until I’m ready to go find that bitch.)
With such pleasant thoughts as these, Kazuki had nothing left to do but fall into a nice deep slumber.
Master Garn returned to his office and had been going over some work when there was a knock at his door.
“Who is it?”
An old voice answered back.
“Sir, it’s me.”
Without even looking up, Garn bellowed.
“Enter.”
A short old man entered the room. In his hands, he held a small plain white mask.
“Sir, I think you should have a look at this.”
Garn didn’t bother to look and just said.
“Hmm, what is it?”
The short old man was used to this and slid the mask onto the table directly in front of Master Garn.
Master Garn looked at the plain white mask and blinked for a moment.
“This is?”
“Sir, that’s the mask that young hero Ryuta bought and wore today and then gave to that imposter to fool us.”
Garn picked it up and examined it. Seeing it was just a plain white mask he put it back down in confusion.
“Ok, why are you wasting my time with this, it’s just a plain mask.”
The old man smiled.
“Sir, did you not just hear what you just said. The mask is plain, right, so how did hero Ryuta enter the Dancing Gazelle brothel? As you know, every brothel has a secure entrance. With the magic eye in the doorway, no one under age is capable of passing through. All the brothels have these under the required law.”
Garn jumped out of his chair and looked at the old man in front of him. The short old man pointed at the mask again and said.
“Sir, care to have another look.”
Garn picked up the mask and reexamined it in great detail but he could spot nothing out of the ordinary from it. He even went so far as to use a few observing spells but still, there was nothing.
“How can this be?”
The short old man threw out a guess.
“If the mask has no magic, then maybe something else the young man holds is a magic item, either that or he’s not actually 17, hehehe.”
Garn disregarded that last part as nonsense but the first part…Garn remembered the compass around Kazuki’s neck.
(Were my senses actually correct earlier?)
Garn was now lost in thought until the short old man spoke up.
“Sir, if he really does have a magical item on him, then just where did he get it from? Or better yet, did someone give it to him and if so who?”
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