章節 165: Poignance 2

Ben and the others rode passed by the demolished auction house. A few of the runes could be seen flickering from time to time. Although the owner of the Lion's Beard Auction House was a strong Spellcaster, he wasn't strong enough to inscribe runes to every part of the building. Besides, even if he was, why would he?

The Auction House wasn't that far from the City's wall which only took them less than an hour to get to it without speeding, they wanted to see how much damage was made.

Getting to the Auction House wasn't much, but the mansion however, was another story. It took Ben and the sibling duo two hours to get their by carriage. Since they were on a horse it shortened their journey.

"It shouldn't take us long to reach were I stay. Aline your horses behind me so I can boost our speed with magic." Ben said after seeing enough of the broken city.

"Ain't tha' wasteful. Talk about being boastful." Ander snickered when he heard Ben's claim. He knew Ben had many elements than one can carry, but being able to augment so many of us would be no different from them using their normal pace¹.

"Listen to the kid Ander." Mullin rebuked when he heard Ander's words.

"Ander, just get in a line. We don't have all day." Mia joined Mullin to berate Ander.

"Shees! Okay, okay. I'm in line... Why does that sound so wrong." Ander said but paused after listening to himself speak.

"Hahaha!" both Mullin and Mia laughed lightly. Even though the atmosphere was heavy the little laugh brought out a little calm.

"Alright then, if you're ready," Ben began seeing Mullin and Mia positioned in front of him with Ander in the rare. "Brace yourselves." Ben wordlessly activated the spell Wind Track. To him, such spell wouldn't need the use of chants.

First off, Ben asked everyone to go into full throttle before activation. This gave a greater momentum. Mullin was positioned in front since he had the strongest physique to resist the wind current blowing against their face, ultimately reducing the current for those behind him.

"Wow! That... was unexpected."

"Huh? What was that Ander? It sounded like you were surprised by something, care to tell us what it is? Hahaha!" Mullin burst out in a fit of laughter. Apparently, the scenes they zoomed past didn't bother these old geezers in the least. They have seen a lot worse than this.

"Heh! There's nothing fascinating about it. It's just a little breeze anyway." Ander turned his head not wanting to admit Ben's awesomeness. Cough... Cough.

Thirty minutes or so was all it took for the group of four to arrive at their destination. Well, even Ben wasn't All-Powerful, he still had to rely on Elemental Crystals to sustain himself during their journey. Looked like boosting loaded horses was a lot more straining than boosting people.

"Ben, is this your place?" Mia asked but Ben didn't answer. They stopped before a giant mansion, the injured and walking could be seen all over the place.

Many of the wounded have been taken away already by their family with only a few remaining. Many of the injured were actually his men. It seems they were amongst those who had to defend the place.

"Who are they?" one of the four guards that stood at the gate to the mansion asked.

"I don't know. Maybe, they are here for a family member." one guards across the other side of the gate stated. It wasn't a new occurrence.

"Huh? You think so?" the first guard across the gate asked.

*Pah!*

"Are you fucking blind? Or do you want your head chopped off?!" his partner standing beside him gave a slap to the back of his head.

"What the hell was that for?" the first guard questioned angrily.

"Looks like your eyes are failing you. That is the fucking boss! The Master of the estate, Master Ben, you imbeciles!"

Coincidentally, the guard who realized who Ben was from afar was the very same guard who was by the gate when Ben returned after making a fuss back in the restaurant. Although his partner wasn't around like that day, he didn't want what happened to repeat itself. After all, their boss was a fucking Spellcaster.

When Ben and his entourage... even though they couldn't be called such, neared the gate the guards by the gate all saluted respectfully.

Ben only gave a nod as he walked in. Mia on the other hand was not only surprised but speechless too. Ander and Mullin were also surprised nonetheless, wasn't this a young boy who just went into a Magic Institute? How come he already has someone backing him with less than a year outside his father's house.

"Well, considering the situation of the state I would have said something like 'welcome to my humble abode', but since the place doesn't look the little bit humble. Anyway, welcome to my estate though." Ben introduced the place too them.

"Huh?!" Mia, Ander and Mullin had a confused expression on their faces. "What do you mean Ben? Is this place yours?" Mia asked again with clear doubt.

"Yeah, this is mine. I was lucky when I left my father's estate and made a small fortune." Ben replied with a smile.

He knew, and anyone would know that whatever fortune he made was definitely not small like he said. Close to a year outside and he already have a mansion to his name? What other hidden fortune does he have?

"Hmm, hold on! Don't tell me! You aren't one of those Hunters that went into the Badlands and clear the mission, are you?" Ander suddenly asked. Amongst the two of them he was the one who took tabs on the latest news. Although he had heard of it he never cared to know who they were.

It's not like they didn't care about it but they have both ventured into the Badlands but everything in that land was only death and... well death. And the scary thing about the Badlands wasn't the seemingly endless horde of weak undead, but what happens after fighting those 'seemingly weak' undead.

The experience was good but they ended up bumping... or more accurately to say created a demon creature far stronger than a Warrior-level and Commander-rank demon creature. A Ruler-level demon creature.

"Ha! Looks like we're known, but infamous, it seems." Ben gave a small laugh.

Mia was having the greatest shock of her life. She knew what it was that Ben was given before he left by his father, of course only things he wanted them to see. Not only her but their whole team, and that includes the money his father gave for his upbringing. She wondered how he was able to make such a fortune when he gave everyone his pocket-money.

Ben led them towards the mansion after disengaging from their horses. A standing ovation of head staffs and guards was seen on both sides of the walkway leading into the mansion. When the group passed a staff they would bow their heads giving their respect to their master and his guests.

Butler Brewer whispered something into Ben's ears when Ben reached him. A sigh escaped Ben's mouth before sending him on an errand. At the same time he asked a maid to arrange rooms for his guests.

"Mia, Sir Ander, Sir Mullin, please I'll be a little busy for the moment so I wouldn't be able to accompany you for now. If you'll excuse me I'll be leaving then."

"You shouldn't worry about us. Go ahead to attend to your business." Mia said seeing his sad face upon hearing whatever the man has said.

However, both Mullin and Ander were strong enough to hear what Brewer said without even intentionally eavesdropping. Still they weren't dense enough to do so.

Ben arrived before a door, his shoulders slumped. He looked so tired at the moment, weak even. He raised his hands wanting to knock on the door but paused, it seemed he wasn't in the right emotional standing. Therefore, he casted a Charm spell on himself.

*Creak*

The door slowly creaked open only slightly, Ben's hand didn't even connect with the door, he only stood there with his hands raised. Another sigh escaped his mouth, he guessed she must have been stirred up after hearing his return.

"Hey Vi', can I come in?" Ben asked even when the door stood open before him.

"..."

"*Sigh*" a chaotic air left his mouth before he moved forward.

*Creak*

"How are y...?" Ben's words got interrupted when Vivi rushed into his embrace.

An uncontrollable stream of tears flowers out her eyes. Ben saw her legs gave in few metres before him, he quickly swooped down to catch her body. They both stayed on the floor for a long time, the only thing heard was her deep saddening sobs and stream of tears. Ben's shoulder became soaked with it.

What seemed to be almost an hour went by before the first word came out of her mouth,

"Ste..."

Vivi hadn't spoken a word for over two days. Ben drew a basic-level Levitating rune midair, the cup of water that was on her bedside table floated towards them.

"Here, you must be perched." Ben helped Vivi drink the cup of water by tilting her head.