Kapitel 144: 141
Chapter 141
Lamberton Dormitory Building, Cornell Academy, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2038, Planet: Grimoire
Well, he'd really done it now. Way to go in ruining the festive mood. Although Grifton wanted to get up and leave, the others stopped him.
"You don't need to leave," Molly told him.
"This isn't the past anymore," Troy complained.
"We've got good food and drink. Why let it go to waste?" Lilac smiled.
"Ten to one, those fools ruining the atmosphere won't stay here long," Kyle predicted.
"Yeah, they'll be kicked out shortly." Gladys agreed.
"From what I understand, this isn't the first time they've been thrown out." Firenze startled Grifton with that information.
"Is there something I don't know going on here?" Grifton needed clarification.
Firenze grinned at him. "You mean other than us refusing to let assholes ruin our good meal?"
Grifton nodded soberly.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that Gregory and Lendon aren't the only ones alerting the owners," Gladys commented.
"Each time something like this happens," Molly explained. "Hostile individuals have tried to run us out of here because they don't like commoners polluting their air space."
Lilac shrugged. "However, since it is us commoners who've kept the streets safe when we aren't attending classes and working as artisans or practicing our combat skills..."
"Well, we're welcome to come in for a meal as long as we make a reservation at least a week in advance."
That was generous because the Jade Palace was extremely popular, with its varied menu and connection to the Orient Palazzo, where musicals and other plays were held day and night.
"We also do guard shifts for the palazzo so the regular guards can have days and nights off to enjoy free time with their families." Troy related.
"Overall, we're just doing stuff learned from your examples." He shrugged with a grin. "Some of us from the Lifter, Locust, and Ranger gangs decided it was better to do good rather than bad deeds."
At first, Grifton found it hard to understand why everyone did what they did. He was even more baffled when the owners, Blaisdell and Amalia Xin, came out with Gregory and Lendon in their wake. However, he figured out the reason behind their arrival soon enough. It had to do with the jerks who'd almost forced him out, their blatant hostility and contempt filling the air.
"Well, now this is aggravating," Blaisdell stated.
"I dislike this being a repeat occurrence in our place of business." Amalia was furious.
"Now they have the gall to disturb our local legendary beats?" They spoke in unison.
Grifton scratched an ear. Now, things were beginning to make sense. As much as he would've liked to leave, now he couldn't. The owners would lose face if he still left in the wake of their efforts.
As soon as they recognized the obvious discomfort Grifton and the others were indicating with their restless movements, they left to deal with the problematic group that Grifton couldn't pinpoint yet.
"We've located the source of disturbance," Amalia approached Grifton. "You may remain without worry of continual harassment," she spoke softly. "However, if you wish to leave anyway, let us offer all party members free portions."
It was a generous offer on her part and not something they could easily afford. Still not comfortable with what was happening around them, Grifton sighed. "I thank you for your offer, Mrs. Xin." He smiled at her gently. "That won't be necessary. We will remain here and finish our meals."
The other people at the table sighed with relief. Clearly, their decision to remain hinged on Grifton's decision. He wasn't going to make them leave just because he wasn't happy with the atmosphere.
"Now then, the problem should be handled properly soon." Mrs. Xin frowned, hearing angry voices coming from a corner. "Oh goodness, gracious. The idiots from Naxos, Galos, and Taxos are doing this again?" Her low mutter made all of them laugh despite themselves.
Amalia shook her head. "Hmph, see how long they last this time." She turned her head.
"Just how many times have they tried disrupting the atmosphere here to gain that reaction from them?" Grifton followed the direction Mrs. Xin turned in and sucked in his breath with irritation. "Damn, I thought I'd managed to get rid of them last time when I dumped them in the piranha-infested Ganges lake." His low mutter made the others stare at him in amazement.
"You did what?" Firenze was shocked.
Grifton hunched his shoulders with embarrassment. Oops, he hadn't meant to say that out loud. He glanced around with a sigh, saw the others grinning with wicked amusement, and cleared his throat. Uh oh, he'd get a scolding for sure in private. "Eh, well, it was before we'd gotten together on one of the caravans."
"Oh really, I want to hear about that later," Firenze muttered at him.
"So do the rest of us." Gladys made them both flinch. "now we're curious as to how many you've taken care of."
Grifton shook his head with unease. "Right now, it is a sensitive topic of nightmarish levels." He was able to identify the individuals immediately. "Ah, it is unfortunate that those people happened to be here the same time we were."
Grifton glowered at them from where he sat with his people. He crossed his arms across his chest and watched what was happening. Or it could be because he frequented the restaurant. The dignitaries were from unfriendly nations. So, they'd come there to create discord? It almost worked and would've succeeded had Grifton left as he meant to earlier.
"This is why Gregory and Lendon had the presence of mind to request our appearance," Mrs. Xin murmured. We do not tolerate such unmannerly displays of hostility." She shook her head. You helped us many times in the past. It was past time that we did something to help you and your people."
Grifton was speechless. He was in time to watch Blaisdell, Gregory and Lendon forcefully escort a few individuals out. "So, what of the rest?"
"Just wait and see." Molly grinned. "This isn't the end of the fun."
It wasn't, huh? All right, he would wait and observe then. Grifton was of two minds about whether this was a good thing or not. He could almost hear plans of retaliation starting to form among the remaining people at that hostile table.
Seconds later, three more guards were allowed in, and the rest of the troublemakers were also escorted out. With their departure, the unsettling hostility finally ceased.
"Wow, which was tense there for quite some time." Grifton exhaled when he was finally able to relax. "Thank you. I regret that this was even made into such an issue." He smiled at both Blaisdell and Amalia. "I appreciate that you were willing to do that even though they're envoys from Galos, Naxos, and Taxos nations."
"Hmph, the day that we can't kick out obnoxious dignitaries or envoys is the day we leave this republic." Blaisdell scowled after them. "We've thrown them out before when they attempted to make others uncomfortable recently."
So, this was a recurring problem. Grifton found that unsettling, to say the least. He shrugged in rueful resignation. "Ah well, this is something that has always been a problem that I'm faced with many times." He grunted because, normally, Grifton didn't put up with their nonsense. "I usually settle it somewhere else where I don't have to worry about beautiful furnishings might get wrecked." He pointedly gazed around the restaurant to make his point.
"We appreciate your consideration for our establishment." The owners' amusement glinted in their eyes as they acknowledged his past handling of troublemakers. "We're aware that they are likely while planning some kind of retaliation."
The other group members giggled when they realized the significance of his admission in a roundabout way. Grifton sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of them doing," he admitted. "Someone might visit this area in the wee hours of dawn."
The owners nodded. "We'll take your recommendation of extra guards for those hours then." Now that the trouble was dealt with, they headed to their office in the spacious building's upper levels.
Molly stared at Grifton with a sigh. "So, hmm, you're the one who tossed people into those different lakes with godawful stenches wafting from them?"
He grinned at them. "Yep, I'm not denying anything," Grifton shrugged. "Though occasionally there were incidents that occurred and lay at my feet when I wasn't around." He shrugged. You should take those reports with a grain of salt."
Gladys nodded. "Yes, there's been an uptick in cases when you were gone." She shook her head. "however, in all those instances, none of the people were found dead."
"Now I can spot the differences, I think." Lilac tapped her jaw.
Troy and Kyle shrugged. "Errm, all we ever did was dump people in waste pits." They grinned when the girls wrinkled their noses at them. "Hey, in our defense, we didn't want to garner the same hatred as him."
Firenze laughed. "I doubt any of you could do what Tinroy pulled off." When they frowned at him, he sighed. "You don't have, nor need, the same drive to survive as what he needed to remain alive." Firenze pointed out calmly.
Kyle muttered in chagrin. "Oh man, now that I think about it, you're right." They frowned at each other because what he told them was true.
Firenze sighed. "I would like to know what else you did to survive before we found a way to befriend you successfully." From what they all remembered, that had been almost impossible.
They were right, Grifton conceded. However, now wasn't the best place to talk. He tapped his fingers on the table. "I can tell you more." Grifton looked around. "Though this isn't the best venue to talk about it." He knew they wouldn't let him get away without an explanation of how he'd done his sabotage of retaliation plots.
"Let's finish eating and drinking," Molly suggested. "Though I suppose we should skip going to the Palazzo after all."
When Grifton considered it, he shook his head. "No, we should go visit there as well." He had an unsettling feeling that the harassment of local owners wasn't over yet.
They could thoroughly sweep their usual haunts while the timing was good that they were together. "Tonight is going to be a rare occurrence in the future." Grifton's explanation made sense to them.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein