CHAPTER 14


    A FISHBONE IN THROAT


    "Zwoom!" Right at the entrance of the Edenberg mansion, the familiar yet strangely extraordinary phenomenon unfolded. The light pillar, a trademark method of travel exclusive to Parvians, shimmered to life. The servants, already prepared to greet, awaited the arrival of their masters and the youngest of their house, now known as the Parvian prince.


    However, they weren''t the sole anticipators for the Edenberg couple; one so formidable that none in Edenberg dared to oppose him waited for Hans to arrive.


    They stepped in and noticed the awaiting guest. Hans grinned, “Aren’t you too far away from your natural habitat, Knight Association Chairman? Or is Uncle still running you on errands?” His teasing tone echoed, though the Warlord of the fifth rank managed to contain any visible reaction.


    “Believe me, this is as charming to me as it is to you,” Kansas bit back, bringing out his communication orb, already connected to Hans’s so-called Uncle, the king of Grimgar, Samwell.


    “Well, hello there, Uncle. What can I do for you?” Hans greeted Samwell, stretching his lips into a mocking smile.


    However, just like Kansas, Samwell too showed no hint of agitation. Instead, he spoke in a solemn tone, “You are on foreign soil, Prince Parv. So before some idiot goes messing around with you and your dear Parv has any excuse to point the fingers at me, I sent Kansas to guard you—”


    “Screw guarding, he’s just here to keep tabs on me. Isn’t he?” Hans interrupted.


    “You are a smart boy, nephew. Believe whatever floats your boat, but Kansas has officially planted roots there.” Samwell pleaded with a weary sigh. “Just don''t stir up a storm, or we might find ourselves in the midst of an unexpected international drama.”


    “I understand.” Hans nodded sagely, adding with a smirk, “But do I have to endure his face? He''s looking at me like I raided his family vault and made a clean getaway… oh wait.” Hans paused, gloating and aimed his words at fuming Kansas, who was finally showing some reactions. He teased again, “Do you want the International Drama!”


    Annoyed yet still somehow keeping his cool, Kansas turned the communication orb toward him and asked, almost pleading, “Do I really have to be here? I’ve many people—”


    “I can’t trust that ticking bomb with anyone. Kansas, it’s just for three months.”


    “With the way he''s talking,” Kansas breathed deeply, “I ain''t sure who will cause trouble first, me or him?”


    “Deal with it. You are the adult; he is not. Shack!” Samwell closed the communication, leaving Kansas with a sour taste in his mouth. Before Hans could cause any further damage, Hodges, the trusted butler, rushed to welcome them and formally invited them inside as Kansas vanished somewhere.


    Hans gestured where Kansas stood before and asked Hodges, “Since when is he here?”


    “Three days.” Hodges promptly shook his head, sighing.


    “Tsk!” Clicking his tongue, Hans kicked the air, “So, I’ve restraints here? Big deal. I’ll manage.”


    He was cranky, and the kitchen knew a lot of ways to shoo away their young lord’s bad temper. One after another, they offered several desserts, and as usual, Hans forgot that there was another existence lurking somewhere around their mansion.


    After some time, when everyone was settled down, Hodges came disturbing Hans’s lazy session with the couch. “What, Mr. Hodges?”


    “Nothing, it’s just… I wanted to ask. If there is some place you wanted to go today?” Hodges asked hesitantly.


    “Why the sudden interest?” Hans rolled his eyes.


    “You see. I need to inform your diplomatic escort. You might be the prince of Parv, but here we are still the citizens of Grimgar. We can’t just oppose a royal command. Sir Kansas will follow you… everywhere.”


    “Agh. The hell is wrong with these people. It’s not like I will just go and blow something up—”


    “You might.” Hodges interrupted and reasoned, “But that is not the point. Even if it seems troublesome. It is for your own good. There are many who might use you to light some of the sparks that have dimmed. The last thing you want is to be used by these cowards.”The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Hodges’ words touched Hans’s sore spot and eventually got him to agree. “Fine, fine.” He clicked his tongue and pointed, “I’ll be going to the Dwarves… so tell that diplomatic escort to get ready.”


    Hodges didn’t ask further and relayed Hans’s wishes to Kansas. The good thing was that neither Kansas nor Hans had to face each other. The knight association chairman was quietly shadowing him.


    There was only one settlement of dwarves in Grimgar, and that was in Edenberg. The sole producers of dwarven technology had agreed to settle there with the one condition that no one from Grimgar would disturb them, so when Hans entered the dwarven community, Kansas had to stop his snooping. However, he was surprised to see the shortlings were happy to see the Parvian prince.


    With Kansas finally out of his hair, Hans quickly paced towards the familiar bar. “Creek!” He pushed the small door, which was a bit tall before, but now Hans was almost reaching its top casing. “Hmm! I’ve grown—”


    “What sorry excuse brought you here, kid? You carrying anything fascinating?” The bar owner greeted Hans in his usual condescending tone, interrupting his happy thought of becoming a bit taller.


    “Business.” Hans declared, patting his fat space pouch.


    “What? You robbed your house—”


    “I’ll leave that to your drunken thoughts.” Hans stopped him and said, “I need to sell something discreetly.”


    “How discreet?”


    “Very.” Hans stretched his tone, and both dwarves and his words turned to whispers.


    “You really didn’t rob it, right? Even in the black market, if that comes to bite our assess…” The bar owner hushed.


    “No,” Hans patted his fat pouch once more. “But for assurance, it’s better if you dismantle and sell them as resources.”


    The bar owner hushed as he searched for peeking eyes in the bar. “Follow me.” He led Hans deeper inside the bar.


    As Hans followed, he smelled the strong, earthy scent of ale right away. He looked around in amazement at all the barrels stacked up against the walls. Each barrel was made of sturdy oak and had beautiful carvings showing how skilled the dwarves were. Some barrels were small and easy to hold, while others were big and looked powerful, like they were protecting something important inside. Seeing the huge collections, Hans stressed, “Booze must really be important.”


    “Enough with the nonsense.” The bar owner cleaned a huge table and prompted. “Show me the goods.” His moustache twitched slightly, a subtle gesture that betrayed his growing impatience. Yet, despite his outward demeanour, there was a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes, as if he was enjoying the moment.


    “Hmm.. whatever.” Hans unloaded everything he had fitted inside the space pouch, a plethora of potions, weapons, mana stones, and even the torn cloths of the dungeon raiders.


    “Hmm..” The bar owner raised his eyes in doubt and said, “I don’t give a fuck where it came from. I’ll sell it so none can trace it, but it will come with a price tag, Parvian Prince.”


    “How much of a cut do you want?” Hans asked, frowning.


    “You think I’m crazy to let go of this opportunity for a mere cut? I need your favour…more exactly, the favour of the last imperial.


    “Oh, man. First Deli and now this midget. It was easy before when everything just got settled with money.” Hans thought deeply, “I’ll cross the bridge when I’m there. But I need to sack the Eclipse for good. Only with my own treant army can I face his undeads.” He nodded, gesturing his agreement.


    In response, the Dwarf laughed like a maniac, but it didn’t take him long to calm down. “Come here, little prince,” he asked Hans to come closer and pointed, “You really have big galls robbing the alchemist of Concordia; almost half of your potions are marked with tracking spells.”


    “Really!” Hans breathed in relief; it was really a good decision to not sell these outside. He cursed inside, “damn it, why didn’t my great-grandfather mention it?”


    “Oye, Parvian prince.” The bar owner dragged him back to reality and pointed, “A word of advice, always check everything for tracking spells.”


    “I don’t know what you’re talking about, just sell it for mana stones, gems if feasible—”


    “Do you plan to carry it in that film pouch?” The dwarf interrupted, pointing at Hans’s waist pouch.


    “Yeah.” Hans nodded, asking, “Can’t I?”


    “First, it’s small and second—” The dwarf frantically turned Hans and closed his face to Hans’s butt, “One crafty son of a bitch. I just told you to check everything for tracking spells. This is transmitting your real-time location to its original owner.”


    “I can’t believe my own stupidity.” Hans cursed and pulled the pouch which Xandor had given him. His vines sprouted instantly, ready to tear apart the space, but the dwarf stopped him. “Don’t ya wanna know where this son of a bitch is?” The midget pointed at the pouch, “I can’t, but there is someone who can reverse the spell for you.”


    “Wait,” Hans gestured, asking, “So I can find this person—”


    “Not me, but someone who owes me a little.” The bar owner sighed saying, “She is in Sunfall.”


    “So—”


    “Yeah, you need to visit her personally. This spell is no joke; if not a dwarf, you can’t even detect it. This is a dwarven trick. Only a very capable dwarf could have merged a tracking spell this beautifully.”


    “Figures, Xandor has dwarves working for him too. Just what I needed.” Hans frowned, thinking.“Now I know he is tracking me. But why?…no, it’s easy. He called me a variable. But Xandor, I’m a constant. I’ll bash your head real good, just wait a while.”


    Hans shook off the thoughts and said to the bar owner, “Fine by me. But now, just sell these. I have something else to handle now.”


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