Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 31. Insanity filled boredom
While riding away from the mayor’s office, the capital building of Constal. They’re all confused, mainly about Julius and how they should feel about him. “Is he a trader, or did we betray him” a thought that’s passed through their minds. He may be doing something they don’t fully agree with, not something that’s evil in nature.
Rosemary: “Did we really need to leave so quickly? I mean, we could have kept talking with Julius.”
Gray: “Sorry, but I just wanted to leave. Constal is its own thing, owned by its people. Julius has been doing this the entire time we’ve been here. Take us somewhere, make some weird deal with them which is mainly morally wrong, and he just takes us there.”
Soku: “Is it really that bad? He’s trying to grow his country before he becomes king. It’s pretty smart, ya know, to get stronger.”
Edward: “Would he even be king? He’s partnered with the Montgomery family, and they’re trying to stop the monarchy. It would go against what he wants.”
Peter: “He’s smart and calculated, even things he’s ever done have had a motive. Going with you guys to escape the Sect, going to Athens and building some sort of connection, saving Walgonia to get a name for himself and get connections, and now he’s here. I don’t know if this is because I’ve never really liked him, but I’m just saying, he’s not trustworthy.”
Gray begins mumbling to himself, trying to think of what to do. He goes far enough to bite his lip subconsciously. His eyes widen as he repeats what Zhao's note said, “Keep the people you trust far, and keep the people you think you can trust as far as possible.” But he’s still resisting it, the idea of ditching his friend, or who he thinks is his friend.
Rosemary: “It would be wrong to throw him out because we don’t like something he did. I’ll stand on this unless he does something unforgivable, I won’t treat him any differently than we have been so far.”
Soku: “Whatever, I don’t care either way. I’m the one agreeing with him, I don’t get why you guys dislike it so much.”
Edward: “He’s strengthening his country, it’s what we’ve been doing. At first, I was a bit thrown off, but the more I think about it, it makes more sense. So I’d say I’m on his side as well.”
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Gray: “Ugh, I guess. But still, we should be wary of him. He’s cunning, so how do we know he’s not playing us, fattening us up y’know.”
Peter: “So we’re on his side then. I guess It would be bad to hate the guy that got us here until New Year…but still, this is gonna be a long couple of weeks.”
Everyone nods their heads, and for the rest of the ride home, they’re silent. The same thing goes for the next couple of days. They just follow the same routine for over a week, missing the Friday and Saturday party. They wake up, eat breakfast made by Rosemary, train or relax, and Peter works on the Silver Chariot, all delving into their minds.
Every night Gray and Eward suffer from nightmares, pulling down their enthusiasm by the day. And it’s all building towards the day Grays’ has been fearing since the deal was made. The assassination of Chezera, the slave master. Doing so would achieve a real partnership between the group and the Montgomery company, as well as Jimmy All, The Duke of the Sea, and possibly Smolder, the Anarchist. As the days get closer and closer, his OD burns hotter and hotter, as if the stress is eating at him. Something’s whispering in his ear, telling him to stay still, to calm down, and to remain cold. It’s almost the opposite of Edward, something’s still whispering in his heart, but it’s telling him to move forward. To delve within his mind, and let it go, to transcend to a new way of life, one he’s been holding back. The way of the warrior, a barbarian, but unlike Gray, he’s pushing it away. Push the anger down, it’s being filled into a pool of emotion he’s abandoned since he was a boy, and it’s overflowing. Ever since Edwards met the others, fallen into this never-ending journey, a journey that’s fueling the fire. Fire and Ice, hot and cold, day and night, complete opposites that cannot exist without the other, and they’re running to the point of failure.
Peter’s having the same issue but with pride and ego. Both the lack of having one as well as having too big of one, it’s deeply enraging. So to leave this hate away, to stop all the stress, he’s been putting it into his work. Better tools, weapons, and more until he realized he hadn’t slept in days. After two weeks of insanity-filled boredom, and skipping out on the Friday party, it’s finally Saturday. It’s finally time for Gray to kill Chezera, and he’s livid about it. But, since he’s kept it a secret from the others, he’ll need to think of an excuse, which he does.
Rosemary: “What do you mean you need to go!?”
Gray: “Calm down, Julius asked me to go back to the capital with him. We weren’t doing anything important, he just wanted me to kinda be his bodyguard.
Rosemary: “Can I come with you?”
Gray: “I want to have some time to myself…sorry.”
Rosemary sighs, but she understands. With a quick hug and a kiss, she and the others wave Gray off, watching as he begins walking away.
Gray {I should probably just go to the underground bar thing, hopefully, Rupert will be there. On the walk, I can finally get some peace to myself, not some awkward silence with everyone around.}
Gray slowly walks down the street, dressed in the clothes he had bought a week earlier, looking into stores, watching the families walk around, and relaxing. The streets are quiet, filled only by the mumbles of the passerby. The cold fall wind blows through the air, whistling as it does so, furthering the isolated nature of what’s about to transpire.
Gray {Julius…I still can’t believe he’s threatening to take over Constal. I wonder if I should astral project to Ryo and tell him all this…but I wouldn’t want to move too hastily…ugh this sucks. I’m all mopey, Peter and Edward are as well, and it’s dragging everyone down. We just gotta get back to Greenvale and everything will be okay…hopefully.}
Gray continues moving to Rupert's gentlemen's club, walking alongside the flowing stream. The Misuri River is a river that leads from a large lake, a lake that flows from the ocean. On the river, Gray sees small boats filled with cargo, which is most likely imported overseas. Flags blow in the wind, Constal's red stars, and the people of Constal respect and love their home, which can’t be said for most of the places they’ve been to. The tall buildings block the sky, the people block the street, and the gondolas block the sea, but it still feels spacious. Walgonia was homey but separated, Valatrocitus was gloomy, Athens was broken, Mier was lively, but Constal’s alive. An organism with sweat, blood, and tears built into it, with a bit of artsy love. And Gray’s walking right underneath it, the pit.
End of Chapter Thirty-one