Damian Sergon walked past the guards and hurriedly entered the Reeze estate. He hinted a bow to Melissa, who was training in the front yard, and rushed to the duke’s office, where the Reeze Duke was already waiting.
“Paul, we have a pro–....” Damian couldn’t even finish the sentence before the duke raised his hand to stop his old friend, “I know. I heard about it. The rumors are spreading like wildfire.”
“No, you don’t understand, Paul. The assassination attempt was probably not an attempt to tarnish the Order’s reputation,” Damian said in a hurry, cursing a few times before he sat down opposite the duke’s office table, “The kid perceived a storm brewing in the assassin’s chest before the explosion wreaked havoc, nearly killing that foolish child.”
Paul Reeze was about to say something, but his lips remained sealed when his old friend finished with what he had to say.
“A storm?” He asked, his tone even more serious than before.
“Yes.”
“Does Percy know what that means?” Paul inquired, only to shake his head at his question, “Nevermind. Probably not. That kid has never been in a proper city, let alone the capital, before today.”
The duke looked Damian straight in the eyes, “Did you tell him not to mention the storm again?”
The head of the Glacia Knight Order chuckled, breaking the tension in the air, “The kid won’t mention the mana storm again.”
“Are you sure he is not tricking you?”
Damian waved his hand dismissively, “I am certain. In fact, I didn’t talk about the mana storm. Instead, I ensured the kid would hate me by acting like a bloke. He was too angry and complaining about my attitude to think about the mana storm.”
“So…” Paul’s lips twitched, “You are telling me you aren’t one?”
Damian glared at the duke, but the seriousness quickly broke their friendly banter.
“As long as he doesn’t mention the Sacrifice Storm again…” Paul cursed quietly. “You know what that means.”
Damian nodded, but a hint of confusion flickered in his eyes. The existence of Sacrifice Storms, the method used by the assassin who’d fought against Percy, wasn’t known by many. Its existence was a legend in some prestigious circles because only a handful of people learned this technique, and even fewer survived a Sacrifice Storm to talk about it.
“This is not against us. Instead, it is an agenda against Percy,” Damian nodded, his expression growing more serious as the words entered his mind, “Someone in the palace doesn’t like Percy very much.”
“And that means…” Paul mumbled, only for Damian to complete what both were thinking, “Percy might be exactly the person you guessed him to be…”
Paul sunk into his seat, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The assassination might have given the other nobles enough fuel to tarnish his reputation, but that didn’t matter. Right now, Paul was pulled back to the past, reliving the memories he had buried in the deepest parts of his mind.
“But it’s good he survived,” Damian said, his words meaning much more than it seemed at first glance, “You can tell how strong that child is. Think about it. Your daughter must have told you the Augmentations he can unlock with the Blueflame Hawk Monster Card. It wouldn’t surprise me if he unlocked most of the Hawk’s Augmentations. It is no surprise the assassin failed.”
Paul rubbed the back of his head, his eyes lingering on a document, “Their assassination failed miserably. Either they sent one of their weakest, or they underestimated Percy’s power. Sending only one assassin to deal with that kid was a grave mistake.”
“They didn’t want to attract much attention by sending only one of theirs, only for their plan to backfire. If we exposed where the assassin came from, we could…” Damian said, but Paul shook his head.
“We cannot do that. Not yet. We’re missing too many crucial pieces of information,” Paul grumbled, “Let’s give Percy some space and prepare him for the inevitable.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“You mean…”
“Yes. He has to go there. There is no other way.”
Damian swallowed but nodded. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a great honor to go there, but the head of the Glacia Knight Order couldn’t help but feel bad for Percy. The kid was pulled from one burning stove to the next. It was almost like someone wanted to keep Percy on fire.
“Where is Percy? Did you give him another room or bring him to the estate? The servants can prepare a room for him. Not even they would assassinate someone in my estate… not without starting a war in the capital!”
Damian smiled wryly while his friend waited for an answer.
“Where is he?” The Duke had to repeat for Damian to answer.
“I don’t know,” He responded, “Percy said he would roam around the capital to clear his mind.”
**
Is it really that difficult to find nice people? First, some idiot attacked me out of nowhere, and now the Glacia Knight Order doesn’t believe me and wants to imprison me. Am I that gullible?
Damian had been annoying to talk to, but he seemed decent enough to accept his mistake. The head of the Glacia Knight Order didn’t apologize for behaving like a jerk and demanded that Percy stay in the barracks with Ulfhar and his team until all problems had been solved.
Percy considered cursing the Glacia Knight Order but decided against it. He told Damian nobody would take away his freedom and that he would leave this place even if it meant fighting with his life on the line. It was probably his fortune that the Glacia Knight Order did not want to tarnish their reputation any further. Damian ‘allowed’ Percy to leave and roam around.
All I want is some peace and silence. How can this be so difficult? The Glacia Knights should have left me behind in Raewood. Why did I jump in front of the Mutant Pleacis to rescue Melissa? I shouldn’t have done that. No…I would still have rescued her if I had the chance. I would regret not saving her for the rest of my life.
Percy ruffled through his hair, his features distorted in frustration. He walked through the capital's bustling streets, only to bump into more people than intended. The people around Percy would have glared at him if he didn’t stand like a towering monster. His presence might have been suppressed, but his physical prowess was different from that of others. Ordinary people and some Gifted ran into Percy, but they were the only ones who suffered. Percy was rooted firmly on the ground and didn’t budge. He looked at the people who ran into him and reached down to help them when they fell, but they hurried up and disappeared, not daring to glance in his direction.
Percy avoided the masses and vanished into the side alleys. He picked the alleys where the least people were but stayed in the wider streets when he had the opportunity. Some people in the narrow side alleys glared at him like they were about to attack and rob him. Percy didn’t want to push them too far…or his Ego would escape his control again. Percy wasn’t in the mood for another fight or another disaster.
He had enough of both for a while. The same could be said about the nobles. Percy wanted some peace from the nobles as well. They got on his nerves more often than not.
Some time passed, but Percy didn’t notice anything. He was too deep in thought to recognize where he went or how much time passed. But once he noticed something odd, Percy’s ears perked up, and his head flicked upward.
“Why does it look so nice here?” He mumbled while scanning the area with his Augmentation.
The capital was already beautiful if one excluded the bustling streets, but this street was even more magnificent. The alleys were spotless and unblemished. There was no crack in the pristine marbled cobblestone used to build the streets, nor were there any weeds, and the buildings were not only larger but also built further apart than the others.
Is that the street of the rich and influential? I’m close to the Reeze estate, then.
He looked left and right to spot the duke’s estate but couldn’t find it. That was probably for the best. Percy didn’t want to talk to the duke or any noble for a while now. He also didn’t want to attract too much attention, which was a little difficult. The vicinity wasn’t packed with a myriad of people, but Percy discovered a few people staring in his direction. Some looked weirdly while others faced him with disdain.
Looking down, Percy made sure that he was still wearing some clothes. He had changed his clothes and bathed properly after the Healer finished putting him back into one piece. He was cleaned and wore a neat set of clothes. But then again, his clothes were simple, too simple for the rich. His clothes weren’t prestige enough, but that was fine.
Percy didn’t have to fit into the bubble of the wealthy.
He was fine staying out of it.
That was how his eyes drifted to the woods behind a few mansions. The woods stretched wide and deep.
The forest in the capital. Do I have to care who owns it? Not really. Nobody will find me in the woods either way!
All Percy wanted was to be alone. He needed some rest from…everything.
The events of the last few weeks and months had been too much for him. Raewood had been much better in regards to his mental health.
Maybe the life there pushed him less toward greatness but living a slow and happy life wasn’t too bad either.