Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 62
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch62
Panic was ever-present as soldiers, maids and officials made their way to and fro throughout the city lords mansion. A man garbed in a fancy suit lined with golden thread and draped in jewels sat behind an expensive desk. Several men and women stood in front of him and talked non stop, filling his ear with reports and constant updates.
The man could take no more and slammed a fist heavily on top of his desk cracking it in two.
“ENOUGH!”
The small crowd in front of him went quiet but the silence was only momentary as one of the officials became fed up.
“City Lord, we can’t just sit idly while an enemy has already attacked us. We must raise our defenses at once and sound alarm to the capital. King Garn must know about this.”
The city lord became irate and jumped to his feet before grabbing the chair behind him and tossing it as hard as he could at the wall to the side. The chair exploded into a bunch of pieces and the city lord yelled at the top of his lungs.
“NO! KING GARN WILL NOT KNOW OF THIS!”
Again silence wrapped the room and the first official that spoke up weaved his way into the crowd like a coward.
The city lord started up again, this time with a much calmer tone.
“This city is mine. King Garn has been shaking up all of Treia and this little affair will be just the excuse he needs to demote me and replace me. I will not have it. You lot are in this with me, if I fall, so too shall you all.”
“Sir, this isn’t a small matter. We already have reports stating hundreds have died. That level of death doesn’t happen inside a city of our scale without a war or some other disaster as the precursor. If his Majesty finds out in some other way. He’ll know we didn’t report it and whatever consequences arise will surely be much much harsher. We should report everything truthfully. His Majesty can’t blame you for such a thing, this was not your fault and he will surely see reason.”
The man who just spoke was a young official to the city lord and was fairly new to politics and of the way the world worked. Everyone just stared at him as though he were an idiot. Another slightly older official stepped forward.
“Young one, you don’t know shit about anything so do us all a favor and shut that mouth of yours.”
The young official stared at the older one slightly dumbfounded but had youth and anger at his beck and call and was about to snap at the older official when the city lord weighed in.
“I don’t hear anyone giving me any good suggestions so how about you all seal your mouths for me or come up with something we can actually use.”
The crowd grew quiet once again. Outside of this office, the sound of footsteps stomping and people rushing back and forth resounded in this office but inside, no one could come up with anything.
“Really, none of you have anything for me.”
“Sir Lord, why don’t we just tell the truth? In the end, someone attacked our city because of this person called Kazuki. For such a power to be hunting someone in our city, things can’t be simple. I think King Garn would want this information as soon as possible to act on such a threat. Besides it’s not like we have to tell him the full truth.”
The city lord was about to shoot this official down when his last sentence grabbed some of his interest.
“What are you saying?”
“Sir Lord, we could tell his Majesty that we were indeed attacked or change things slightly. We could say that there were two parties involved, both experts. They had a battle between themselves and that just so happened to cause all of the casualties and collateral damage. If it’s just one enemy, you could be blamed sir, and called incompetent. Besides Castion here, there is another 4th stage Mage in Gentis city and after her, there is Degra as well. The two of them have nearly the entire underground in the palm of their hands and give us plenty of trouble. You could easily say that because Castion was busy dealing with those two troublesome individuals, he couldn’t make it in time to protect the city.”
A man standing to the far side of the room grunted hearing this. The man had brownish-grey hair and narrow features. Listening to the official his eyes flashed with anger. He stamped his staff silently on the ground and a pulse of energy moved silently across the surface of the floor. As the official was about to continue, his face out of nowhere turned pale and his breath became visible.
Everyone saw this and leaped backward in a panic. As soon as they saw the source, none of them dared say a word. Even the city lord was hesitant to speak up.
The man took a step forward and after images followed behind him. Appearing directly in front of the official, the man spoke coldly.
“You dare bad mouth me and you even have the balls to do it in front of me. You paper-pushers never know when to shut the fuck up, do you?”
The official wanted to say something but he felt a chill up his spine. A creeping vine of ice had before the official noticed, crept up his body like a frozen snake, and gripped his entire body tightly. The ice continued moving like a snake and encased his whole body except his face. The cold was unbearable and made one want to scream but the chill was so intense that it literally stole the breath from one’s body.
The man smiled fiendishly watching the official quickly become a statue of ice when the City Lord finally snapped out of it. He didn’t yell at the man in front of him like he did the officials but he did speak sternly.
“Castion, that is more than enough. Do you forget if I go down, so too does your source of funds.”
The ice Mage called Castion turned around in aggravation.
“This and that are different are they not?”
“If you kill this man who seems to have a good idea on how to get me out of this problematic situation then yes, I will probably go down and the gold I supply you goes with it. His life may keep you living lavishly.”
Castion became even more annoyed but he didn’t yet release the official. The City Lord then followed up with.
“Castion, outside of this city, is there any place in all of Feya you can go without the three great powers coming forth to hunt you down. All the people in high places you’ve pissed off. Only in my city can you roam free. Only if this city stays my city can you do what you want or maybe you believe things will go differently outside these walls.”
Castion closed his eyes for not even a second before opening them back up and snapping his fingers.
*Crack*
The ice covering the official, all at once cracked and crumbled to the ground. Following that, the ice evaporated and disappeared. Castion slowly stepped away and stood silently in the corner of the room but he didn’t remove his gaze from the official for even a moment.
The City Lord sighed within his mind seeing this.
(Looks like I’ll be needing to find another replacement. After things are settled, Castion will most definitely kill that official. Damn these dumb bastards. If they could just learn to keep their mouths shut I wouldn’t have such headaches. Ah well, at least this saves me on this man’s salary. Hehehe, I can hire some young blood and cut his salary stating it’s due to lack of experience, this way I can pocket a few extra Zeni.)
The City Lord gave no shits about the officials in front of him and even now only thought about ways to fill his coffers.
The City Lord now had a bright smile as he gestured to the official.
“Go on, finish explaining your idea, I want to hear it.”
The official looked at Castion out of the corner of his eye and hesitated.
“Don’t worry about Castion, he likes us all care for our reputation, though he cares a little oddly compared to others, still he knows this is for the best and will not seek retribution.”
The official swallowed hard but since the City Lord said so then it must be so.
“As I was saying earlier, King Garn will not be angered if you explain that Castion had his hands full with Degra and…”
*Bang Bang Bang Bang*
Before the man could finish, the large doors to the office were pounded upon with such strength, it caused most of the men and women there to jump in fright. Everyone turned back to the City Lord and wondered if he was expecting something but seeing the confused look on his face, they knew that wasn’t the case. Before the City Lord could respond and ask who it was, the doors exploded forth.
*Boom!*
A tall blonde woman wrapped in silver armor wearing a large trident on her back walked in. Everyone saw this woman and recognized her immediately. Castion as well saw her and felt rage well up within him. His staff aimed at her without second thought and power gathered within as he roared at her.
“TRISKA! YOU DARE COME HERE!”
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