Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 62
Kazuki walked through this small city basically unnoticed. The only time anyone even looked at him in this dreadful city was to confirm for themselves that he was in fact a free man. Nearly everyone else had slave marks atop their foreheads. Beyond noticing that he was free, they looked at his average appearance before averting their gazes and went about their business as per usual.
Every he passed by, the people were miserable. Poor folks lined the streets on either side. Some sold useless and used goods while others carried and delivered things here and there. It was a sad sight but it was also none of Kauzki’s business or concern.
Making his way toward the center of the city, a large tower stretched into the sky. It was of course this city’s stargate.
Walking into the tower that housed the stargate, Kazuki found himself at a wide counter. There was only one person working at this station. They held their head up with a hand lazily laying about with boredom. There was not a single instance of urgency on the young woman’s face. It made sense. This city had very little to no guests. Outsiders rarely came to this city to do business and if they did, it was only in small increments. So coming to the city’s stargate which required a fortune to activate, there was no way this woman saw customers.
Even though Kazuki stopped in front of the counter, the woman didn’t seem to even notice his presence. She was completely zoned out.
Kazuki cleared his throat grabbing the woman’s attention. She casually looked up at him before looking out past him as if he wasn’t there.
“Look, this isn’t the inn, that’s down the street at the second intersection. Please make your way there and ask for an old lady called Parsha. She runs the inn and takes in guests for a small fee. Thanks and have a…great day.”
The woman said the last part with a sarcastic tone. Kazuki didn’t care though.
“I’m not staying here. I’ve come to the stargate to use it not ask for directions for a place to spend the night.”
The woman looked back up at Kauzki as if she had misheard him.
“What? Did I hear you right, are you not mistaken? This is the stargate. This place is for instant travel.”
Kazuki nodded.
“I know. Are you going to waste more of my time or maybe I should find whoever’s in charge.”
The woman looked shocked. Not because of Kauzki’s obvious annoyed tone but rather that he was serious about using the city’s stargate.
She looked him up and down and found his appearance normal and she wondered if he really had the funds. Though there was no way she would ask something like this out loud. Keeping her mouth shut and out of Kazuki’s business she tapped the counter and it began to flash gently before a holographic display appeared in front of Kazuki.
The display showed several options for different destinations. Most were for all of the other cities on this nameless world but Kauzki ignored them. Down near the bottom, there were three locations that led to different worlds. Two of the locations led to two different cities on a nearby planet while the last destination led to a different Starpath, a different galaxy nearly 300,000 lightyears away.
Kazuki did not recognize any of these places because he’d never been nor had he gathered any information about these places. It was Codex who came in handy this time around.
(Kazuki, pick the last option. The one that says Operustia. That one is located in a different Star path, a different galaxy. The other locations are on this world.)
Kazuki looked at the last location.
(Codex are you sure?)
(Come now Kazuki. Have you already forgotten? We were stuck with Kori for countless years. After we began tormenting him and destroying his soul piece by piece, he traversed all over this Realm in the hopes of a cure. Every place he visited, every place he sought shelter from the pain, I recorded it all within my pages.)
(Really, then why are your pages blank? Don’t brag when the lie is this obvious you empty book.)
Codex ignored Arc entirely.
(Kazuki, my pages may appear blank but that is merely an illusion. Only I can decide who can and cannot look at what I’ve personally recorded within my pages. Arc would know this if he simply asked instead of insulted all of the time. Trust my words, I know what I’m talking about.)
Arc fumed a little but Kauzki simply chuckled before picking the last option on the display. The display flashed temporarily before disappearing back into the counter.
When the woman at the counter saw what Kauzki chose, she couldn’t believe it and promptly affirmed it.
“Sir, you’ve chosen Operustia. Is this correct?”
“Yes.”
The woman gulped hard hearing this.
“The day you wish to depart, I need to confirm that as well.”
Kazuki leaned forward slightly.
“Immediately.”
The woman felt a chill run down her spine. Kazuki had said nothing wrong nor given off any aura yet she still felt terrified for some reason. Still, she was a professional and after straightening up she pushed a transparent crystal forward. It had a dim halo of light encircled around it with many complicated inscriptions etched into it.
“Sir your total to travel off-world to the Operustia galaxy is exactly 137, 227,657,812 Divine crystals. Everything is to be transferred to this storage crystal and confirmed on the spot. Anything less and this will be seen as dis ingenuine and you will never be allowed to use this Stargate here ever again.”
The woman didn’t want to come off too harshly but this was policy.
Kazuki didn’t mind. He grabbed the transparent crystal and instantly transferred the amount in full from Gauntlet’s inner space. The woman’s eyes lit up when she looked at the crystal. Not just her but a little further in the city two Gods grew excited and arrived instantly.
When the woman saw the two she quickly bowed respectfully.
Kazuki noticed the two Gods but paid them no mind. They as well didn’t dare try and take a look into Kazuki’s background for fear he might up and leave. His contribution to the city by using their stargate would be like a lifeline for their dilapidated home. This was another reason Kazuki chose such a poor city. He knew they would be so desperate for funds that they wouldn’t dare ask questions.
The fact they arrived at all was simply because they couldn’t believe someone had actually used the city’s services, especially one that was extremely hefty.
The woman behind the counter quickly scurried around to the front and gave Kazuki a bow before leading him deeper inside. The moment he rounded a corner and entered a set of large doors, he heard two happy shouts of joy behind him.
The gods had taken the transparent crystal. After confirming the contents inside, they quickly took around half of the Divine crystals out and split it between themselves. With the other half the transparent crystal disappeared into the tower itself. The tower greedily devoured these Divine crystals and began to glow and pulse with a powerful force.
Kazuki entered another room and a rift had already been prepared. It was large enough for him to enter and then some.
The woman bowed once again before telling him.
“Sir, this will take you directly to the Operustia Starpath. You will arrive at the closest city on the closest planet from this Starpath. I’m sure you already know all of this but it is company policy that I say all of this, lest I lose my job. Hehe, honestly it feels good to say it. It’s been years since I last sent someone through here. I was beginning to wonder if this stargate even still works.”
As soon as she said that she felt like she messed up and tried to correct herself.
“Ah, er I mean of course it works. After all, it has been maintained in great detail by the city lords. These things almost never fail.”
Just as she said this a large flat panel on a side wall just so happened to fall away before breaking on the ground. The woman’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t say anything. Kazuki gave her a strange look and she was now feeling embarrassed and ashamed by the disrepair.
Kazuki wanted to laugh but he just couldn’t do it as the woman was simply too earnest. He said nothing else before walking directly into the rift, leaving the woman to stew in her own thoughts.
The moment Kauzki stepped into the rift, the tower pulsed further before a bright beam of light shot into the sky. Kazuki suddenly felt a strange tug on every cell in his body. It was like he was being stretched and pulled in every direction. This sounded painful but it was actually quite comfortable.
Immediately after this, space flashed before his eyes. Time seemed to stand still and all sense of sound faded completely. Just as this instant began it ended and he had arrived across one Starpath to another.
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