Chapter 233.

PART 1.

Karan Eagle is a retired lawyer. He is currently at his house, which is in a posh area.

Actually, this is false. That used to be true about thirty years ago. But now, it is nothing but dusty abandoned houses, the owners have moved out a long time ago. It is no longer the great area it once used to be, and it is not where anyone wishes to buy a home anymore.

But Karan and his wife have this one home, and they are unwilling to leave it. Besides, despite the general depressed atmosphere of the location, it is a safe place to live. Crime is still low in this area since the houses are abandoned, but not left for anyone to squat. Any thief would likely find their fortune elsewhere since this area has nothing to give them.

Karan’s wife Rita is sick, and she is currently admitted to a hospital. He is here to take a bath and get some fresh clothes. Afterward, he will leave. No one is watching Rita at this moment in the hospital. Their relatives do not speak with them, and he does not speak with them in return. If their son were to be here, he would be thirty by now. he most certainly would have helped them; Karan is certain of it.

Even though he knows many examples of children abandoning their parents in their old age. ‘Probably because they raised them with lots of expectations, and not enough love.’ Those are his thoughts regarding this matter.

He stops, as a large man is sitting on his porch. He does not remember leaving a chair out, and the man has his back towards him, so he cannot judge him. though given the size of the chair, he can imagine that the man must be quite big.

“You took long enough.” Said the man. He doesn’t have a deep booming voice like his size would suggest. But it is still not a high-pitch one.

“I don’t remember inviting any guests.” Said Karan, bringing his walking stick in a fighting stance.

“No need to be hostile.” Said the man, getting up from his chair and turning around.

Karan is scared of the size difference between them, he looks almost a foot taller than him, probably more. He looks up and looks at the familiar face and the empty eye sockets.

“So. You’ve returned.” Said Karan, still not relaxing from his aggressive stance.

“Do you have to be so dramatic? ‘So. You’ve returned.’” Hatori mimics his voice, delivering the dialog in the style of a television show.

“Wasn’t trying to be one,” said Karan. “Do you plan to stand there all day long? Or are you coming inside, son?”

Relaxing, he goes to the door and unlocks it with his key. He is not interested in installing a smart home. Too many horror stories. A lock might be possible to break, but at least it requires that someone gets there physically, rather than open the damn door from some remote location.

“Where is the mother?” asked Hatori.

“In the hospital,” he said, putting the lock on the table. “I was about to return there before you showed up, after a shower and taking some new clothes.”

“Sure.” Said Hatori. “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t. Just wait here,” said Karan.

Hatori sat in the hall, feeling like a stranger in his home while his father washed the clothes, packed some new ones, and got a shower. Once Karan is ready, he comes out. “Now we are ready to leave.”

“Excellent.” Said Hatori. “Let me give you a lift.”

“A lift?” said Karan. Finding himself floating in the air, and still gaining in the height, Karan screams. “Let me down!”

“Can’t do.” Said Hatori. “This flight cannot be stopped once it starts.”

“Damn you son, my heart is going to give at this rate!” complained Karan.

“Don’t worry. I’ll resurrect you,” smirked Hatori.

“That better be a joke.” Grumbled Karan.

They land in front of the hospital, while Karan wonders how no one saw them. “Simple illusion. It keeps them distracted, and keeps us invisible.”

“I would appreciate my car here though,” said Karan. “What if you have to leave suddenly?”

“Fine.” Said Hatori. Suddenly, a collection of strange symbols appears before them, and the car appears right in front of them as if it were parked there from the beginning.

“I’ll go park it in the proper place.” Sighed Karan.

After he was done parking, Karan then took Hatori to the room where Rita was admitted.

PART 2.

The nobles are powerless to resist the changes Avinash is planning to bring. Despite their grumbles and complaints, they are unable to stop him from appropriating their personal forces and enacting the changes to bring the representatives to the courts. The last point hurts them the most. They do not want to lose their inherited seats, but they cannot go against his wishes.

Reclining in his comfy chair, Avinash sighs in contentment. ‘Once These changes start, they will gather enough momentum that they will not be stopped, even if I were to die somehow.’

He hears footsteps outside of his office, and the door opens. “Hey there, your majesty. Why are you brooding alone here?”

“Who says I’m brooding? Hatori is the one who broods. Not me.” said Avinash. “Weren’t you busy with some highly sensitive cases?” he asked in return.

“Well, I am done with those. I have some time off. James was nice enough to let me have it when I asked him for it.” said Ramya. “He is handling the responsibilities of Slaughter quite well.”

“He has big shoes to fill, much like most of us,” said Avinash. “I suppose it was easier to grant you free time since it is vacation time.”

“Correct.” Said Ramya. “Then prepare to do your duty.”

“Don’t worry about it.” smiled Avinash. “What do you say, shall we break in this room? I’m sure Porus will be displeased.”

“As if. He probably used this room with his own wife a lot.” Said Ramya.

“Good thing I replaced the furniture.” Said Avinash in disgust.

“I’m sure the next king will feel the same way,” said Ramya, now sitting on his lap.

PART 3.

Shin is practicing on the porch of his apartment, while his neighborhood is in chaos. “What kind of way is this to make people run off? If you don’t like our services, then just tell us!” said one delivery man.

“You never come to spend time with me. You are always busy with work!” screamed a woman.

“That work pays for your lavish lifestyle!” retorted the man. The fight continues, as the noises of pots and pans being thrown around come out of the house.

Shin ignored all of this and continued to play on his violin. However, there is one voice he cannot ignore. “I’m home,” said Lavanya, coming back from the Academy.

Snapping out of his fog, Shin replies. “Welcome back. Have your vacations begun already?”

“They started yesterday. I told you that, didn’t I?” asked Lavanya, removing her shoes.

“I forgot.” Said Shin.

“Probably because of your upcoming concert.” She spoke.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Yeah. But you see, I’ve got some other important things coming up,” said Shin.

“Oh?” asked Lavanya, as she went inside, while Shin was behind her.

“Yes. and they are much closer than my concert.” He whispers in her ear.

Dammit, get me out of here. I don’t want to narrate this chapter anymore!

PART 4.

James is flipping through the applicants. Much like every year, they have gotten a lot of applications from the students to learn healing. However, none of them are good enough that James might think of taking them as his apprentice.

However, he did endorse other healers who have expressed a wish to teach this year. He recommended the students who are most suited for their field.

As for James, he is looking for someone who perhaps has the same level of madness as himself when it comes to understanding life, and the processes that enable it. He knows at the back of his mind that he may never find someone like that. So, he has lowered the expectation of someone who might be able to take his position one day.

Done with this task, he gets up and goes to the headmaster’s office. “Professor.”

“James.” Said Dhiraj, nodding at him in greeting. “What brings you here?”

“I wish to take some days off.” He spoke. “Here’s my application, I’ll return in three weeks later.”

“That is fine.” Said Dhiraj. “We are unlikely to run into any problems in your absence. I must say, you have created a great support structure in the medical department.”

“Thanks. Let’s see how long it lasts.” Said James.

“Indeed.” Dhiraj agreed with James. Both of them know that no matter how great something might be, it never lasts forever.

PART 5.

Josh is enjoying his time as the minister of economics, or the minister of evil and bullshit, as Hatori calls it. No matter what Hatori says, Josh is enjoying himself. Besides, he knows that his friend does not really mean it. Because he said that only once.

The best part is, that he gets to use his interpersonal skills which are better than any of his friends, and his knowledge of math simultaneously. Hatori calls it a terrifying combination, and Josh agrees with him there.

“You are now settled, a minister at such a young age. When are you going to get married?” asked his mother. “And give me lots of grandchildren.” She whispered under her breath.

“Seriously? That is the only thing you care about, isn’t it?” asked Josh.

“Well, your brother lives quite far away, he rarely visits. So…” she trailed off.

“Not for now,” said Josh.

“Are you going to break a poor woman’s heart like that?” she asked, looking at him tearfully for the full effect.

“Mom!” complained Josh, feeling as if he was still ten, and he was unable to refuse his mother in any way.

PART 6.

Hatori sees the woman in the bed. She looks fragile and thin. She is so different than what he remembers. When they entered, she opened her eyes. “You’ve returned. Who is this man?” even her voice sounds fragile.

“Hatori,” said Karan, without any tact.

Hatori looks around. He does not hear any beep, nor any machines are hooked to his mother. Because this would have been a perfect time to hear the increasingly faster beeps of a machine.

“Let me see him,” said Rita. The fact that Karan might be lying to her never crossed her mind, for she knows that he will never lie about this.

“You’ve grown tall. Much like your grandfather.” Said Rita. “Though you’ve surpassed him with a large margin.”

“Can’t say.” Said Hatori. “Never met the man.”

Karan wanted to say “And you are better for it.” but he refrained from saying those words.

“Don’t you have anything to fix your vision in that strange world?” asked Rita, after looking at Hatori’s empty eye sockets.

“They do. In fact, I did design my own eyes. I keep them covered with an illusion.” Said Hatori. he lifts the illusion, and his parents look at his artificial eyes.

“They certainly look different.” Said Karan diplomatically.

“I know. I’ll have fun scaring the children in the neighborhood.” Said Hatori. “They would come to find their ball, but then they would see this extremely tall man with eyes made of plastic. Their screams will be wonderful to hear—”

“Speaking of children,” said Rita, halting Hatori’s description of a plan to scare the children. “You do plan to have those in the future, right? You do have an interest in the women, right?”

“If you swing the other way, we won’t judge.” Added Karan helpfully.

“I don’t swing the other way,” said Hatori. “Besides, is that what you want to talk about? We haven’t met face-to-face for 22 years!”

“Yes,” they said together.

Hatori slumps in his chair. “I’ll bring Daphne and Ravina with me next time,” he said to them.

“Two of them?” asked Rita and Karan.

“Well yeah. You asked for female friends, right? Those are the only ones. Others are busy, and one is in Nihon—I mean Japan of that dimension.” Explained Hatori.

“I know.” Said Karan. He also gave Hatori a strange look. He then looks at his wife, and then they both shake their heads.

Their expression clearly said ‘What a clueless boy we have.’

Hatori then gets up. “I have to leave for now. Don’t worry, I will return in the evening.” Said Hatori.

“With the female friends?” asked Karan.

“Not with them,” said Hatori. “Bringing them here will be trouble. Maybe once you are at home.”

“The doctor said that I can leave in four days.” Added Rita.

“Excellent. I’ll bring them then.” Said Hatori. ‘Also educate them to make sure they don’t talk about the war and my bloody past.’ He thought in his head.

Karan takes a seat near Rita. “Well, I suppose I’ll just read the news until then.”

“Don’t tell me you still have a newspaper?” asked Hatori.

“No, we have clearly moved beyond that. not enough trees left you see.” Said Hatori’s father, as he left the room.

As he crosses over to the magical dimension, he is attacked by five assassins. “Seriously? You guys are nothing but flies.” He dismantles their magic-sealing burier, while casually lighting two of them on fire.

The other one dies, as thousands of volts are streamed through his body. Others are impaled by the rising rocks. “I thought creating a city-destroying spell would make sure I would never deal with something like this. I was clearly wrong. This is the fifth time. And you guys weren’t even good enough like the first four groups.”

The impaled assassin gurgles, just about to die. “Yeah, I know. Very foolish of you to take that contract. Never mind. I’ll send your heads to your clients, just like I did with the previous four groups. I will even make sure that your bodies cannot be used in a necromantic ritual. Aren’t I nice?”

The assassin twitches and then dies. Hatori collects their heads and then sends them with his delivery yantras to some locations. Those heads will explode once delivered, while the headless corpses are burned by him. he was serious when he said that he would make sure that their bodies cannot be used in a necromantic ritual.

He then goes to meet Ravina and Daphne and tells them about the meeting coming their way in four days.