บท 43: Pax's Big Mistake
Ginger led me down the main road towards the Royal Palace. Neither of us talked very much on the way there, which made me feel a little awkward, but Ginger didn't seem to mind. She just kept the same emotionless, stoic face on and never even turned to look at me. The only time I saw any emotions creep into her expression is when we passed by the slave market.
As we passed by an auctioneer taking bids on a female Beastfolk, I could see Ginger furrow her brows as she glanced in the direction.
"So, uh, how's Master Roxy been doing?" I knew Roxy wasn't actually in the Palace, but the awkward silence was getting to me so I decided to make small talk.
Ginger answered me politely, but still kept the same emotionless face.
"She is usually teaching my liege, Prince Shirone, but she also spends some time training the soldiers how to defend against magic attacks."
"Impressive. Have the soldiers managed to master her teachings?"
"Yes. We are all at least intermediate ranked in the Water God style, but now, thanks to Lady Roxy, we can also deflect magic attacks that are thrown at us in the midst of battle.
"I've also heard plenty about you, Lord Rudeus."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Roxy often bragged about her former pupil. She said you were a genius who, at the age of five, could not only cast magic without incantations, but that you could even develop new ways to use spells. She said that she honestly wasn't qualified to teach someone of your caliber."
"That's an exaggeration. In fact, she's the ONLY one qualified to teach me."
Ginger raised an eyebrow at that last sentence.
"It would seem you hold her in extremely high regard."
"Indeed. One day, I hope to marry her. I will make sure that anyone who wishes ill upon her will come to regret it."
Suddenly Ginger stopped walking and paused for a moment.
"Is there something wrong, Miss Ginger?"
"...N-No. Please follow me. We're almost there."
We eventually reached the castle. The guard at the gate gave a bow to Ginger as he let us through. We circled around the Royal Palace towards a back door.
"My apologies, but only noblemen are permitted to use the front entrance."
"Not a problem, I understand."
From the back door, we entered a guardroom. It was strangely empty, but I suppose that makes sense after all the commotion we caused yesterday. From there, Ginger led me deep inside the core of the castle until we reached a large door at the end of a hallway.
Ginger pounded on the door and announced her presence.
"It's Ginger. I've brought Lord Rudeus with me."
"Enter", a man's voice responded.
Ginger opened the door and motioned me inside. I obediently walked in.
"Oho, so this is Rudeus, huh?"
Arrogantly reclined in his chair on the opposite side of the room was none other than Pax Shirone. Laying bound on the ground beside Pax was a man. It was hard to make out who exactly it was since he was turned the other way, with his back towards me, but he looked bruised and beaten.
As I stepped onto the ornately woven rug in the center of the room, I secretly lifted myself up with gravity magic. Not very high, not even a millimeter off the ground, only enough so that I no longer felt gravity's pressure holding me to the rug beneath me.
There were three guards in the room. One standing near the wall on each side of me, and Ginger who stayed back near the door behind me.
'Man, I can't believe I fell for this trap last time around. You can clearly see ropes coming from under the rug trailing all the way to the guard on each side of the room.'
"Drop him", Pax said with a big, stupid smile on his face.
The guards at my sides each pulled hard at the ropes, pulling the wooden floorboards out from underneath me, allowing the rug to fall down into the pit dug below. I however, remained motionless, hovering in the air right above the pit. I didn't move an inch.
Pax, Ginger, and the two other imperial guards all just stopped and stared at me with their mouths agape. After a good five seconds or so, they all exclaimed in surprise in unison.
"Ehh!?!?"
I walked (through the air) towards Pax. After just a couple steps, I was back above solid ground. All the soldiers, Ginger includes, drew their weapons and yelled for me to halt. Through my peripheral vision, I could see the hands of the guards at my side were shaking in fear.
While maintaining eye contact with Pax, I reached out my hands to my sides and fired off an electric spell at each of them, instantly sending them paralyzed to the ground. I could hear Ginger's metal boots clanging on the ground as she ran towards me from behind. Without even looking, I reached behind myself and fired an eclectic spell at her, her momentum causing her to slide forward, falling into the hole dug behind me.
At this point Pax's face had gone pale. I never broke eye contact with him, and put on as serious and intimidating a face as I could manage. Despite knowing that Pax is scum, I don't want to kill him; I don't want the Shirone Kingdom declaring war on me. I remember Shirone has a good king who cares about the people.
Still though, I can't have Pax continuing to try and harass Roxy or come after my family for revenge. I need to put the fear of god into him. Specifically my god, Roxy.
I scowled at him and slightly lifted my chin up just so that I could further look down on him.
"W-wait! Wait! Don't kill me! This is all just a mistake... Y-yeah! We're both pupils of Roxy's, right? This is just a misunderstanding!"
"Quiet!"
"Eep!" Pax immediately clenched his mouth tight.
"Don't you ever mention Master's name again. If I ever hear of you harassing her, or anyone else I care about, I will reduce you to ash. Do you understand me!?"
"Yes!", Pax managed to squeak out a response.
"Mrgh!?"
It was then I remembered the man Pax had bound on the floor beside him. He was currently writhing about on the ground making muffled noises through his gag. I reached out my hand and burned the ropes binding him. He used the opportunity to remove his gag and slowly struggle to his feet. The man was pretty badly wounded.
I was about to ask the man who he was, but he cut me off before I had the chance.
"Rudy! Is that you, Rudy!?"
'Huh? Do I know this man? His voice sounds familiar.
I reached out my hand and touched his face. Both of his eyes were swollen shut, and his lip was busted open with deep purple bruises on his cheek and jaw. Using an incantation, I cast intermediate healing magic on the poor fellow to relieve his pain. As the swelling subsided and his normal features returned, I immediately recognized the man. This was Laws!
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Coolex
Coolex This is a somewhat shorter chapter. I was actually planning on releasing two chapters today, but unfortunately I didn't enough time to finish the next one. I'm going to continue working on it today and post it either today or tomorrow!
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