CHAPTER 16


    PEACE AND QUIET WAS A HARD THING TO ASK.


    “Shweek!” with a whisper-like release, the shot was fired. The finger-sized seed streaked through the air, a metallic glint amidst the vast distance. It followed the supercharged mana path, until it met its mark with an explosive resonance.


    “Clank!” A resounding clang reverberated through the air as the SedBullet shattered the silence, leaving behind horrendous faces of the dwarves and a grin on Hans. The dwarven metal, once called a formidable obstacle in the path of projectiles, succumbed to the force of the impact.


    “Now this is what you call power,” Hans yelled excitedly.


    Meanwhile, the onlookers stayed aghast. “Fuck the fire, what just happened?” Kronof cursed aloud. This was the same thing that flew at him before. He was both startled and terrified. “If it was a little lower, my head would be a minced pile of shit.” He mumbled beside Hans, but the aggressor had no time to listen to his dwarf friend.


    “Hey, you human child. Do it in moderation, will ya?” He repeated while others ran to see the penetration power of Hans’s attack on their cherished metal alloy. And just like any other time, instead of despair, Hans’s attack instilled inspiration in Dwarves, and they began researching a way to imitate it.


    A month had passed since that incident, and Hans found himself spending more time with dwarves than at home. He only returned mansion to sleep, and sometimes Aldrich had to coax him back.


    This was one of those days. Aldrich was practically begging Hans to return. And it had been quite some time since he saw the familiar faces, so taking pity on Aldrich, Hans returned to the mansion.


    However, he found the welcoming scene quite contrasting. Delimira and Aredhel were locked in some sort of argument, but mostly the daughter was getting schooled by her mother. “What’s happening?” He hushed to Aldrich.


    “Well, young lord. Your friend there sold her father’s keepsake,” Aldrich pointed out.


    “Why?” Hans asked back.


    “For some money—”


    Before Hans could ask more, the argument there got heated, and Deli raised her voice, “It was just a useless thing of the past.” She scoffed, “I can’t believe people still buy things which have sea monsters’ names attached to them—”


    “Show some respect. He is your father, Delimira Winters—”


    “Then ask him to come here and correct me himself.” Delimira fumed.


    “Slap!” Aredhel’s hand met Delimira’s cheek strongly. “It was what your father left you. How dare—”


    “It was mine.” Delimira bit back, caressing her cheek and reasoned, “Whether I sell it or keep. It doesn’t concern you.”


    “I’m your mother, you stupid—”


    “Finally, Aredhel Winters remembered having a daughter.” Delimira scoffed, her eyes laced with moisture. “Humph! Mother? Don’t joke, a mother never abandons her child to get devoured. Where were you—”


    “That’s it, Deli.” Hans quickly came and closed her running mouth and whispered, “Don’t say something you’ll regret.” He then turned to the fuming Aredhel and said apologetically, “I’m sure she doesn’t mean that.”


    “And you.” Hans turned back to Delimira, “You are coming with me.” He then dragged her out of the hall, straight to his backyard garden.


    He finally let go of her mouth and said, “Damn it, Winters. You really shouldn’t have sold that. It was from your father. Didn’t you say you wanted to avenge him? You should’ve kept it.”


    “Me avenging him… Listen, Hans, people do not avenge others. We are selfish by nature. Do you think ‘the gone’ would want their loved ones to burn in revenge and hate? NO. We do it because their absence haunts us.”


    Hans had no response for her. He didn’t hear what happened to escalate this between mother and daughter, so it was not his place to offer her advice. But he knew he had to say something, and he did, “Take it from someone who also never saw his father, Deli.” The sentiment behind the left objects is what keeps them alive in our hearts.”Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    “Humph! Father.” She scoffed, “Mine is not like yours, Hans. Yours made sure that you’ll live without bowing to anyone, even if he is gone. Meanwhile, mine saw receiving acknowledgement of the elders more important than keeping her infant daughter safe… and my mother encouraged him.” She paused staring right at his eyes, “You’d never know.. Don’t ever take their sides.”


    “Woah! Woah!” Hans gestured. “I ain''t saying nothing, Winters.”


    She remained quiet for a while as if her mind was sorting things inside and after a dejected look, she said with a lost smile, “I want to leave the past behind. It held me back, but now I don’t need it anymore.”


    “So, what is turning your gears now?” Hans asked with a faint smile.


    “For starters,” She smiled, wiping her eyes, and pointed at him, “Your million-gold debt—”


    “Haa! And here I thought you grew a heart or something, ” Hans sighed and asked, “So whom did you sell?”


    “Someone I know in Concordia Node.”


    “You mean in the Deadlands?” Hans asked, confused.


    “Mhm.” She nodded in response, prompting Hans to ask, “You got contacts there?”


    Delimira nodded again and answered, “If we are talking specifics, it’s your Professor Aredhel’s.”


    “So,” Hans rolled his eyes, “you aren’t calling her mother now—”


    “Shut up, Hans.”


    “Already did.” Hans gestured. He really didn’t want her to turn angry for some reason. “So who is this buyer of yours?” He asked, nudging.


    “Why? You plan to buyback?”she asked, maintaining her furrowed brows.


    “I think so.” Hans rolled his eyes again.


    Delimira mused and asked, “So, you are going to pay me back double of what you owe me and buy that junk back too?”


    “That’s nasty, Winters.”


    “Yeah, I’m a bad bitch. So don’t do anything foolish and focus on the return you promised ‘cause even if you buyback that thing, I won’t clear up your debt.”


    “Yeah! Yeah!” Hans gestured and asked what he was curious of, “But why did you sell it anyways—”


    “You asked for 500,000 gold. Where did you think I got it—”


    “What? I thought you had it with you.” Hans startled.


    “What kind of a girl has that amount of money?” Delimira asked, frowning.


    “The rich bitc…type.” Hans corrected him before he could do some damage to himself.


    “It’s not my money. It’s…mother’s. She just gave me a lot to elevate her guilty conscience.”


    “Ah! Man.” Hans almost brooded. This was turning into a burden since now he knew where the money came from. “This doesn’t seem alright.” He mumbled, “What about my guilty conscience now? You sold something precious just to satisfy my whim—”


    “Hey, hey, don’t get ahead of yourself. I just found a better opportunity. I might start living independently after you pay it off. And even if you can’t,” She chuckled, “I guess I’ll live reminding you that I lent you the money when you needed it so desperately.”


    “Screw the guilty conscience, let’s just pay her off first and get done with it. Arat was right, an imperial must have no mercy, sympathy, or sense of guilt.” Clenching his fist, he resolved, but soon his thoughts broke as Delimira asked him, “Enough about me, what were you working on with dwarves—”


    “Ah, that.” Hans interrupted, “Something to blow you off.”


    “I reached the third circle yesterday. You sure—”


    “The fu.. I’m not doing nothing, you know.” Hans rebuked, but his obvious jealousy made her smile back.


    “So what can I expect to see?” She teased.


    “Even you weirding out won’t save you this time.” Hans said, proud.


    “It’s not weirding out.” Delimira defended, “I just changed into—”


    “Oh, give it a rest, Deli.” Hans shook his head and continued, “Growing scales, serpentine eyes. Don’t you think it’s weird?”


    “It’s called morphing, genius! Not weirding out, and I’m not the only one. I know an idiot that turned into a walking forest monster—”


    “No,” Hans shook his head instantly, “Elderform is a spell. W.E.I.R.D.O.” And before she could come up with a response, Hans added, “Sir Aldrich mentioned you were looking for me. I hope it wasn’t just so you can rub reaching third circle on my face, right?”


    “You got half right. Another reason is that there are some fascinating things going on in the western Duchy of Grimgar.”


    “Sylvetor Duchy?” Hans prompted, and Delimira confirmed it, so he asked, “What happened?”


    “Their second son was robbed blind, and the rumours are that some classified documents that can shake up the Western stronghold were also lost.”


    “I like to laugh at them, but why does it concern me?”Hans was puzzled.


    “Because they chased the thieves to Edenberg Duchy. Now everyone wants the piece of pie called ‘leverage over Sylvetor family,’ so we have a lot of guests in this county.”


    “So, where are you going with this—” Has was still not getting her point. But, Delimira only smiled back in return, throwing him into further suspense. “Oh, just spill it, Winters.” he said, annoyed.


    “A familiar face reached out to me yesterday. You remembered the fire Warlock that helped us in the Capital.”


    “The school with a ominous name… D..Devildom?”


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