Kapitel 130: 140
Chapter 140
Lamberton Dormitory Building, Cornell Academy, City: Three Pronged Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2038, Planet: Grimoire
When entering the Jade Palace, Grifton paused to look around at the beautiful furnishings. Lavishly decorated with natural landscapes and portraits of past royalty whom the owners' family served, there were all kinds of exquisite vases and delicate ornaments that made up the lighting. It was very exotic. Idly, he wondered where they'd come from, but then he shook his head. It wasn't his business to pry, and besides, he didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable by being too nosy.
"Hey there, Tinroy. It has been far too long." Kyle called to him.
Grifton glanced over at the grouped tables where the others gathered. "Yes, it has." His eyes widened when he spotted his nieces and nephews. "How have you settled in?" His hesitation when addressing them made the females and males giggle.
"We're doing fine, uncle." Nefi laughed at him. "We were about to head off for the night." She shrugged. "There is that competition to finish after all."
Grifton nodded. "Good luck." He hoped they had better experiences than him in that venue. He watched them excuse themselves and run off. There was a brief moment of loss, but he shook his head. It could be better that they weren't dependent on him for fun and entertainment.
"Hmm, they wanted to see you so badly, too." Molly smiled. "Well, at least they could stay awake to do that." She shrugged when Grifton glanced at her in surprise.
"I'll hopefully be able to see them again once the competition ends." He gave a half shrug. "You all know why I cannot set foot in there, right?" There were other ways to watch the events unfold.
"Yeah, you were banned as a competitor, so what?" Gladys snorted. "Why can't you go in there as a spectator?"
Grifton grimaced. "Ehh tried that and nearly got arrested." He shook his head dourly. "They meant it when it was banned entirely."
Firenze grunted. "Well, although they did try to ban him from the unofficial sparring get-togethers, which was blocked." He grinned.
Kyle and the others heaved sighs of relief.
Lendon spoke up wryly. "Sometimes I think they just want to block your influence, which is what happened." He regarded Grifton curiously. "You seem to have a knack for making enemies even if it isn't intentional."
Grifton made a sour face. "I know." He'd been hesitant about showing up at the unofficial games. "I almost stopped going to those, too, just to keep the officials quiet."
Kyle snorted rudely. "Bah, ignore those fools." He shook his head angrily. "I dislike how they're ruining the equality of commerce and training."
Hmm, this sounded way too familiar again. Grifton rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah, they're just a bunch of blowhards and killjoys." Lilac frowned. "Not to mention worthless morons that have too much money in their corrupt grasps."
Sadly, Grifton wanted to remind them of the present reality, not that he was the government's proponent either. "Unfortunately for us, they're currently in charge of the governance."
Grifton despised them because of their unwillingness to let go of archaic customs. "I believe the only way to change how this works is finding locals that won't be easily swayed by power and wealth." that was practically impossible to find nowadays.
"He's right," Firenze exhaled. "Unless we can prevent the borders from shrinking further, we may well have to consider relocating elsewhere." He shook his head. "It's not something I'm fond of considering, but it may be our only choice in the future."
Grifton glanced at Firenze with a small smile. "So, there are reasons why I still hang around here." However, he had to find a way to keep from getting rusty. "That is why I participate in the unofficial games." He sighed. "I don't want to lose my touch."
The others laughed on hearing that. "Too true, it would be a sad thing if you aren't able to dominate those spoiled brats out in the fields." Lendon nodded. He'd finally been able to witness Grifton in action. While doing so, Lendon learned new types of spells he could incorporate into his daily life and artisanry. Those spells worked as a defensive and offensive means, which was a pleasant bonus.
Grifton emphasized that he was pleased that Lendon wasn't giving him a cold shoulder anymore. " I also don't want to lose the chance to meet and encourage those who might otherwise not be able to practice different kinds of methods." He shrugged with a sigh. "There are other concerns I learned to maintain."
Firenze shook his head. "There are always going to be people envious of your skills and talents, Tinroy." He observed with a grimace. "Besides the fact that you're too powerful." His stating that truth made the others wince. "So many people are terrified of you."
Troy frowned. "That would explain that stupid assassin group popping up everywhere when trying to exterminate you?" he sighed. "Yeah, Jameson Brier is going to love hearing that excuse."
Eh, well, it was a sad fact of truth in his case. "I recently learned that the only way they'd quit that crap was if I was killed." Grifton shook his head. "That is if I show up at any official events." He shrugged. "If I don't, then there won't be any issues with people getting hurt."
All the others frowned.
"That sucks," Kyle said flatly.
"No wonder people get angry whenever you don't appear at the official competitions." Lilac sighed.
"Well, it also means the rest of us must step up to fill the voids left behind by you two," Molly smirked. "That's going to be fun," she chirped.
Grifton nodded, pleased with how the conversation flowed so easily. "Now I have no reason to stop attending." He smiled as he outlined what he wanted to do in the unofficial games, and the others listened attentively. "If I can help the new generations of mages, warriors, and other folks become stronger before the competition begins." Grifton sat back in his seat. "That means we'll be able to even out the discrepancy that is occurring once more."
A slightly brooding menace crept into the atmosphere and made Grifton skittish. What happened now? He could've sworn that the others were on board with his ideas. So, what was this sense of someone not pleased with what he mentioned?
"Grifton, what's wrong?" Molly noticed his rising tension.
"Something is off in the air." Grifton sighed. "Maybe I'm just oversensitive lately." He hunched a shoulder with embarrassment.
"Mmm, that might be a good reason." Kyle looked around with a frown. "there have been a lot of strange things happening with no reason for them to do so."
"Yeah, including what happened at the Orphanage complex." Lilac's shoulder slumped.
"That is the third organization to go up in flames in the past six months." Gladys scowled in disbelief. "I don't think they're coincidences either." She shook her head vehemently when others stared at her in surprise.
"She's right," Lendon concurred flatly. "No matter what those stupid officials are saying."
"We're all under the assumption that those areas of border lands are under attack, but through insidious means," Gregory spoke quietly. "It just isn't spoken of openly due to being threatened with sanctions." He folded his arms. "Creech Charity and Bethel Boardinghouse and School were the other two." Gregory frowned. "Though I'm not entirely sure why they were targeted."
"I know why. Tactical locations and the type of land they sat upon." Lendon stirred uncomfortably. "The first one, Creech Charity, had a sizeable amount of acreage in the southeastern bordering Galos Empire," He shrugged. "The second one is the Bethel boardinghouse and school in the central northern portion that borders Modesto nation."
It was confirmed that other nations were whittling away at the land without the officials being unaware of what was happening? In our dreams, which was bullshit, and there was no excuse for that to happen so blatantly. Grifton exhaled because it explained why the merchant routes were being forced into new unexplored wilderness areas.
Firenze made a sour face. "I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and it is disgustingly related to politics." He shook his head. "I won't be surprised if we're soon forced to choose where we want to relocate in the next six or so years." He harrumphed in annoyance. "Just when all of us were finishing up our studies to graduate, too."
They all nodded in frustration. "That is even worse for us civilians who just want to run small shops somewhere peacefully," Molly murmured.
Grifton nodded in agreement with everything they said. "Yes, I did hear about those events even while traveling." He shook his head in frustration. "We had to alter several routes to avoid having our goods confiscated by all of those nations."
At their horrified silence, Grifton nodded wearily. "What with everything happening so fast that I'm unable to rest sufficiently recently."
That still didn't explain the hostility growing in the air and signs of unrest building in the restaurant. Should they take their leave since they appeared to be the cause of others' rising hostility? Grifton noticed that Lendon and Gregory seemed to be getting restless. At last, they rose to their feet. "Please excuse us; we need to speak with the owners," Gregory spoke gently.
"Yes," Lendon's expression had turned stony. "I think they need to be aware of something about to erupt." He was glancing in a specific direction. "No doubt we're about to get interrupted, and I don't want anyone to get hurt."
Grifton frowned. "Should we leave?"
Lendon shook his head. "No, it is the ones creating hostility and erosive negativity who need to leave." He placed a hand on Grifton's shoulder. "Please stay here with the others and finish eating." Lendon smiled briefly. "We'll take care of this." He and Gregory strode away, much to Grifton's bemusement.
Grifton watched them leave. "Have I missed something important about those two?" For the first time, he finally noticed a vague resemblance between Gregory, Lendon, and the restaurant couple owners.
Molly laughed. "Uhm, they are grandsons and set to inherit this place, Tinroy." She grinned. "When you first showed up as an errand boy, they were hostile, thinking you'd been a love child of their grandfather or grandmother."
Say what? Grifton blinked in shock. "Did I look that similar?" He was puzzled.
"No, it was just them being paranoid." Gladys shook her head. "They learned soon enough that you weren't a threat to them. Not after you wiped the streets with those annoying enforcers from a now-defunct group."
Eh, there'd been so many of those enforcer groups that no longer existed, "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that, Gladys." Grifton needed to remember which ones were affiliated with which area anymore. "If you recall," He didn't enjoy bringing up the dark past. "There was a time when you all were a part of something like that." Not to put too fine a point on it, but they were severely bullied, meaner bullies themselves when much younger. Grifton folded his arms and stared at them wryly.
There was an uncomfortable silence before Firenze sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know." The others laughed wryly along with him. "It was when we were evenly split between Tremont, now renamed Fremont, and Fang's Cliff." Firenze shrugged. "You were the one who beat the snot out of us in those unofficial and official combat sparring competitions." His amusement gleamed in his eyes.
Troy nodded. "Once we ran afoul of you on the streets, it was completely different."
Kyle sighed. "That was when you weren't hampered by disgustingly archaic regulations."
"What a wake-up call we received." Molly shook her head. "that is when we realized that maybe we were going against the wrong person."
Lilac laughed. "though it took us a while to acknowledge we were pestering the wrong person."
This could go on all night, and Grifton was getting embarrassed. "I'm sorry I even started this topic," he muttered gruffly. "I was only trying to make the point that we need to put aside our grudges through schools' differing viewpoints." He sighed. "If we all work together, a difference of governance should come around. Though at this rate, it might be too late."
They all nodded in disconsolate silence.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein