[A/N: Check para comments for some visuals.]
Tears in the eyes, pain in the heart and hopelessness in mind. Sylvester had faced the demons, the bloodlings, murders, mad kings and whatnot—But today, he lost to food.
"Is it really so good?" Xavia wondered. "Can I have some?"
'No! You shan't have my mother, you evil witch!' Sylvester stood up instantly.
"Mum must only eat simple rice and milk porridge. Don't give her anything, Aurora. Be mindful of her medical state." Sylvester saved his dear mother from a sad fate akin to his own.
"Do you want more, Sylvester? Don't be shy. Your big sister made a lot of it." Aurora tried to pour more into his plate.
But Sylvester was ready to fight for his life. "No, no, I'm fine. I also ate outside with Baron Loveland while talking about buying the land. Don't waste so much food here; save some for the rest."
Bam!
"Woah! It smells good." Felix barged in excitedly. "What did you make, Lady Aurora? I hope it's good because I'm starving. When you told me this morning about the dinner, I decided to go on a whole day fast so I could eat more tasty food now."
"..."
Sylvester tried to signal his friend to run away by the movement of his eyes. But, alas, he expected too much from Felix as the man just walked over and sat opposite Sylvester.
"Haha, look at your face, Max. Is it so tasty?" Felix asked.
Knock knock!
Just then, more victims for Aurora to exploit appeared. Gabriel, Bishop Lazark and Elyon were there.
"Oh my! Please come in and take a seat." Aurora chirped from the kitchen.
In a few minutes, plates arrived and sat in the laps of all, steaming like a volcano of doom. But sadly, none of the newcomers knew their death was about to touch them.
"Thank you for the meal!" Felix dug right into it. He broke a bit chunk of the bread and scooped a significant portion of the stew. With him, the others followed suit and took a bite.
"..."
Yes, there was silence—utter and complete silence.
Yes, Felix and Gabriel's jaws stopped chewing as their faces turned from excitement to utter horror. Then, finally, their eyes went dark as death seemed to seep closer.
Sylvester shook his head and felt no sympathy for the two. Instead, he nudged at them with his forced smiling face and eyes so wide they were fighting to pop out. "Oh, isn't it delightful, my brothers? Lord Inquisitor loves it."
Felix and Gabriel's faces also turned similar to Sylvester's. They forced gritting smiles, and at the same time, veins appeared all over their eyes. They knew Sylvester's last words were warnings.
"Y-Yes, Max… This is quite exquisite… I feel like packing it and taking it home to eat slowly over the days." Felix spoke.
Gabriel wasn't far behind. "Me too… This is nast… I mean tasty! Aren't I right, Bishop Lazark and Priest Elyon?"
"Indeed… Not the best, but quite nice." Bishop Lazark replied.
"Agreed! I've tasted much worse out there." Elyon added.
Sylvester, Felix and Gabriel glared at the two men with deep hatred and sympathy. What could be worse than that, they wondered. But it also made sense. Bishop Lazark was a necromancer, and god knows what kind of things he had probably done while pursuing knowledge.
Meanwhile, Priest Elyon was a Tiger Beastkin, so he had likely eaten some nasty rotten raw meat sometime in his entire life.
Bam!
"Oh! My hand slipped!" Felix acted and let his plate fall.
Sylvester jumped in to help and, in doing so, let his plate spill. Gabriel also dived, taking the cue, trying to save Sylvester's plate instead, letting all his stew spill on the floor.
Clank!
However, as Sylvester, Gabriel and Felix started to get up triumphantly, they heard more clanks. To their shock and anger, Bishop Lazark and Priest Elyon had also dropped their plates to the floor and hurried to help them stand up.
"Are you alright?"
"You wasted so much food." Said Bishop Lazark.
Sylvester and his two brothers dumbly stared at the two hypocrite bastards. They were acting as if they were fine not long ago—definitely a lie.
Clank!
But, to all their surprise, one more clank resounded. It was confusing as they had all dropped theirs, so only one was left.
'Fuck! Lord Inquisitor also dropped his plate!' Sylvester cursed inside, as did the others.
Shamelessly, the Inquisitor High Lord stood up. "Ah, it fell. It's quite hard to hold the plate with a metal gauntlet. But now I must take my leave, Aurora. I need to meet his holiness. I wish you a healthy and speedy recovery, Mother Xavia… And the young bard… Come with me."
Sylvester didn't spend a second in wait and followed behind Inquisitor High Lord to the exit.
"Oh no… My robes have been spoiled. I should get them changed. See you later, Lady Aurora." Felix excused himself.
"Likewise. May the holy light enlighten us…" Gabriel did the same. While the remaining two didn't say anything and silently left.
Once the living room was silent again, a loud laugh erupted. It was not Aurora but Isabella. She laughed with no shame and even got teary-eyed.
"Oh lord, why would you do this, Sister Aurora? That was so mean, Sylvester was crying… Pfft!" She laughed heartily.
Xavia was confused, however. "Can I taste it?"
"No!" Aurora exclaimed. "Don't taste that, my sister! I can not see you suffer like them. My cooking is absolute garbage, and what I made was probably just one step below poison."
"What? But why do such a horrible thing to those poor souls?" Xaiva asked.
Lady Aurora smugly folded her arms. "Well, I was just testing them… Now I know they love me so much that they'd rather not hurt my feelings by calling my cooking bad. This means… I can trust them wholeheartedly."
Xavia stared at Aurora for a few seconds before sighing. "That's so… Evil… and brilliant!"
"I know, right? But I will have to treat them to good meals for a whole month now. Well, I'm rich, so no harm done."
But Xavia was still a mother. "I will go and make something else for Max… Pranks aside, he must still be hungry."
Isabella chimed in, though a faint blush was on her cheeks. "I… I cooked normal food already, Mother Xavia."
"What a good lady you are, Isabella." Xavia was all praises, and Isabella was all blushes.
But Aurora had created some headaches for herself too. Now she had to clean all that mess alone.
…
At the same time, Sylvester was speaking with the Inquisitor High Lord on the terrace of the building.
Sylvester got handed over a small piece of folded paper. "This is?"
"The solution to your troubles, young bard." Inquisitor High Lord stoically said as he returned to his usual attitude.
Sylvester unfolded the paper and read it aloud. "Healer Darwin Hendrix of Graced Village?"
Sylvester kept his senses heightened and tried to perceive even the slightest change of the scents from the Lord Inquisitor. He did trust the man to some degree, but it was not blind faith.
'Anger as always, but there's some guilt combined.'
Inquisitor High Lord looked towards the sea in the distance. "Young bard, there exist some people in the world who reject power and authority. They'd rather live as a minority than rule the majority. This man is one of them—Darwin Hendrix, the only known Grand Wizard Healer in the entire world."
Sylvester's mind was blown instantly. For a fact, thanks to Xavia, he knew that finding a healer who was Arch Wizard was already near impossible. This was because most serious healers didn't get the time or opportunity to hone their physical skills and rank up.
So, having a healer who was also a Grand Wizard was a crazy concept. But that left him with more questions.
"Such an important person in a little Graced Village? That makes no sense."
The Inquisitor High Lord nodded. "Darwin is an enigma. For most of his life, he was a travelling healer. For many great healers today, he was a teacher. But his rise remains a mystery, hidden among the annals of history. All he wishes for is peace and calm."
Sylvester easily understood the reason. "He must be heavily coveted by many. So now he lives near the Holy Land, where he lives in the faith's protection—as a free man?"
The Lord Inquisitor continued to speak. "You are correct, young bard. You can trust his tongue for the many important folks he treated when they were young. Kings, queens, nobles and holy men, the list goes on. But… The price for his services, you can not pay with gold. Each time it's unique. Only he can decide if his talents can be sold."
'Of course. A man of his rank and talent is probably already filthy rich. I hope he's not a twisted man who will ask me to do something… unholy.' Sylvester thought to himself while staring at the parchment.
But the prospect of getting healed was enticing as the injury affected his talent and stopped him from going all out.
"Thank you, Lord Inquisitor. I will go and meet him as soon as my insignificant duties are finished."
"Nothing is insignificant in this world, young bard. All have a purpose, and our fate can only be decided by the lord. You know my permanent residence—You can report to me if you ever need guidance. Be well." Inquisitor High Lord proceeded to leave.
'So much scent of regret. There's sadness, hate, doubt and hope… It can only be that.'
Sylvester put the parchment in his pocket and followed behind the Lord Inquisitor. He still had to give Xavia her exercise session and cook something edible.
Sylvester obviously knew what Aurora was doing from the beginning. He knew she was lying about her questions, about her intentions. But he let it continue as he understood the value of such pranks for the sake of building long-lasting mind-occupying friendships.
'As long as I play my cards right, I can have Isabella's close friendship too… But first, I must kill her romantic feelings about me.'
Thud!
Thud!
"Hmm?" Sylvester stopped and heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs, running. Even the Inquisitor High Lord stopped in front of him.
Thud!
Thud!
"Max! Come quick!"
Sylvester recognised that voice, and now it was full of anxiety-filled fear. "Felix?"
In two seconds, Felix climbed all the stairs, passed by Inquisitor High Lord and stood in front of Sylvester. "M-Max! Dungface… I mean Zeke!"
"What happened to him? Did he return with the gate report?" Sylvester asked.
But Felix grabbed Sylvester and almost shouted. "A-At the gates! He killed a Bishop and two Archpriests! H-He's been arrested!"
500 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
Ape Together Strong
