CHAPTER 23
A FULL BLOWN PARTY
Hans was gathering his things, but his mind was troubled. “ Hearthwine family of Clandor..these are some nasty work of pieces. I know human trafficking is bad, but aren’t they going to extremes just for a cover-up? They frickin' killed a ducal family in Grimgar soil..”
He had no idea of how much reputation meant for the nobles from both the human and elven sides, or how much farther Sylvetors would fall just by exposing the contents he held.
“He dashed down the stairs, arriving in the hall ahead of everyone else. His belongings were snugly stowed in his knapbinder, leaving his hands free. Rudolf noticed the empty-handed gesture and glanced at the space belt Hans wore. “Looks like you've really hit it off with those stingy drunkards,” he remarked.
“Of course, they have much to gain from being my acquaintance, the Parvian prince—”
“That’s what I find odd. A year before, and now this time too. These drunkards should not have any soft spots for you. Rumour has it Sam imprisoned a lot of them to build mana weapons.” He pointed above, “Remember what fell upon us in Grimgar?”
Rudolf’s words brought back the horrendous memory of facing the celestial weapon as it fell on them in Grimgar. But he remained firm and answered, “I don’t know about that, but a dwarf always honours a deal.”
Rudolf was confused, he asked his cheeky grandson who was grinning ear to ear, “Thats true. But what did you give them to receive a top tier spatial storage.”
“Grandpa. Like them, I also honours the deal—”
“Fine! Fine! Don’t tell me. ” Rudolf hushed, but his gaze stayed fixed on Hans's waist. He couldn't forget the trouble he went through to convince the dwarves to craft him a spatial storage device, not to mention the hefty price he paid for it. Yet, even then, it couldn't match the efficiency of what Hans was wearing.
“Don’t get jealous,” Hans covered the knapbinder and asked Rudolf something else, “Hey old man, what did you do with Chris?”
“So, the third rank is scouting first.” Rudolf teased and Hans turned blue, satisfying the old man so much that he burst into laughter. After the Glory wars, it had become his habit to tease Hans this way since it always made Hans speechless.
After a hearty laugh, Rudolf gazed deep in Hans’s eyes and warned, “It would be best if you remain vigilant the next time you fight with Chris.” He stressed further, “The boy is natural and the imperial bloodline that you ‘do-not-possess’, adds exponential growth to anyone who does. I’ve seen it firsthand before and the feeling is the same with your friend.”
“I also wasn’t just grinding stones grandpa—”
“He is right.” Delimira came interrupting their conversation and added, "He might outdo Chris, even with all your coaching, Dean Rudolf.” She grinned, then turned to Hans. “But you can’t beat me, Mr. Third Rank.”
“Oh Shut up already.” Hans grumbled, giving her a gentle shove in irritation.
“Then let's spar. I'm curious to see what you were up to with those dwarves—”
“A mage must keep their secrets,” Hans replied with a wise nod.
“Thats bull shit, Squeaky.” Rudolf interrupted, he was also curious as to how much Hans has developed, but no matter how strong Hans felt the urge to show off, he remained steadfast.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You’ll all see when its due.” He remarked.
“At least he's learning some new words, huh, little Winters?” Rudolf chuckled, and Delimira agreed with a smile. They were both laughing when Sierra and Vanessa joined them downstairs. They all glanced at Hans, who suddenly realised what they were expecting.
“It seems I’m the new goto transfer guy.” Hans remarked as they said goodbye to the Mansion's staff. Rudolf and Sierra entrusted the county's management to their loyal Hodges. Then, Hans exclaimed, "INGRESS!" and a beam of light whisked them away.
It had been a few days since they had returned to their safe haven, Concordia. Rudolf was powerful, but as just one man, he knew there were many ways for someone to take lives even under his watch. When Hans assured him that he wasn’t a part of any blunder in Sylvetor, he believed it to be true, but he also knew Hans was hiding something.
That's why returning early to Concordia was the best choice for Hans. Since whoever was responsible for killing the sons of Sylvetor wanted to stay hidden, making it unlikely they would attack in Concordia. Even Xandor needed to bring his full force here and barely got away.
With only a week left of their holiday, guests were expected at the dean's quarters today. Hans had arranged for Arat to visit, and Rudolf and Sierra agreed to host a small dinner for the Parvians.
What started as a modest gathering soon snowballed into a full-blown party. Professors, some senior from the Concordia union, and even Vanir and his family were among the invitees.
“Hey, get up you lazy bum. We don't have servants around here," Delimira nudged Hans, who was sprawled out on the sofa. He raised an eyebrow in response, and she continued, “Parvians are your guests. The least you could do is lend a hand.”
“Yeah, they were until some lose lip announced all over the Concordia. And if you haven’t seen Winters, I’m helping too, you know,” Hans replied, gesturing towards the two humanoid figures made entirely of twisted tree branches and roots. Their eerie green eyes might have frightened others, but the people in the quarters had grown accustomed to them since their return.
Delimira grew annoyed, and Hans glanced at her teasingly, adding with a grin, “I’m loaded, thanks to someone.”
While they bicker as usual, the two poor tree golem did everything from cleaning to decorating their hall, the work both Delimira and Hans were assigned to.
Soon the sun fell beyond the horizon and guest started coming in. Both Delimira and Hans were welcoming them. “Can’t you just wear normal. Or you wants to show off that you are an imperial.” Delimira argued glancing at his white robes with golden griffin insignia.
“You too have this, don’t you—”
“Zwoom!” His words were cut off when a light pillar of INGRESS fell near their doorsteps. “Tsk! And she calls me the show-off. Someone tells this to this eighty-year-old man.”
“So, nice to see you, my prince—”
“It gives me shivers whenever you say that to me, Mr. Prime Minister.”
“Oh, don’t be, my prince.” Arat looked behind Hans. “Was this a party? I was informed only for a small dinner… Am I the last one?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s good. Aren’t you going to welcome me?” Arat smiled warmly, and Hans escorted him and his two knights inside. The moment the white robes came into sight, the people started whispering. Hans wore the golden insignia, while the others, including Arat, wore the silver.
They had seen Hans welcoming them at the gates, but now reality was hitting them. With the cunning and mighty escort, he finally felt like the Parvian prince. However, with all eyes on him, Hans was trying to sneak away, sadly to be caught by Arat early on. “Where are you hurrying to? Mingling with others is part of the job too—”
“Can’t you do it? You were doing this even before you conned me into this role?”
“I didn’t con you. You were the one shouting, “ I’m the Prince of Parv—”
“Oh! How I regret that day.” Hans grumbled.
Arat suddenly became gentle and patted Hans’s back. “There is much resting in your tiny shoulders, Prince. I can’t live forever. It’s you who have to rise and take the reins—”
“That’s a serious death flag, Mr. Arat. Whoever says the mushy things like this dies first in the story.”
“I’m glad this isn’t a story then—”
“Who knows, maybe some crazy bastard is writing our fates with some pen or whatnot shit.”
“Thats a scary thought, my prince.”
“You never wonder, that someone is manipulating this scenario to just get a kick out of it.” Hans questioned and Arat only had a hushed laughter as the response. Soon, Arat brought Hans to the faces he knew and Hans did vice versa.
----------------------------------------