『You were forced into a portal.』
『You were teleported to Baldwin County.』
These notifications popped up before the unconscious him as he fell down the air.
"Bam!"
Roy crashed to the ground butt first. This helped him regain consciousness, but it also made him cry out in pain.
He blinked, finding out he was in a crowded street with many eyes on him and that there were two notifications in front of him.
Going through them soured his mood.
This shit of a system just added insult to his injuries.
Under his tightly closed fist was a shard that he didn't want to be seen.
Thus, he hurriedly but unsuspiciously put his right hand inside his pants pocket. Secretly, he stored it in his subspace.
It wasn't just him who was teleported this way. There were two people in the same predicament as him.
"Plop!"
Three meters to his left, Julian popped out of thin air and landed face first on the ground.
And… almost at the same time, Delilah fell down the sky and landed on his lap; her blurry eyes were signifying she was dizzy.
She could be seen slipping off of him and falling to the side, but worried that this would lead to her head hitting the ground, Roy wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping her from falling off his lap and safe in his embrace.
Her eyes blearily glanced at him before closing shut.
"Hey, are you fine?" He asked with concern.
No reply came.
Roy checked her pulse, finding that although she was breathing, her blood flow was somewhat slow, but it also meant that she was fine.
'She has fainted out of exhaustion.' He diagnosed. 'So she was putting up a strong front all along. Maybe she didn't want me to show concern for her. Maybe she was trying to endure the pain so that I can focus on fighting my battles without worrying about her.'
Thinking that sitting in the middle of a crowded street with a woman in his lap was too shameless, Roy princess carried her away.
Julian saw them walking away and immediately stood up.
"Bro, wait for me!" His short figure caught up to them in seconds.
Roy was carrying Swift Death in his arms. But that's something only lovers do. Actually, he wasn't interested in getting in her pants, and he wasn't in love with her either. Sure, she was gorgeous, but she wasn't as precious as his life. He would rather train every day to prepare for the war against Chaos than waste it simping after a woman.
But this made Julian think that Roy was his destined love rival. There was only one such beautiful woman in Northern Dukedom. She could only belong to one man. And Roy was better than him in all shapes and forms. If he really had an interest in her and she liked him back, he wouldn't interfere in their love affair. But… but if it was a one-sided affair and Roy was forcing his feelings on her, Julian decided to fight against him for her hand.
Though for now, he could only kiss his boots. After all, Roy was his ticket back to his home.
If Roy knew what was going on in his head, he would've heaved heavily and kneaded him like dough. A young child like Julian should be thinking of taking class and finishing exams, not chasing after skirts and how to flirt!
"You promise to send me back home. So I will be sticking with you."
As those words sounded out of Julian, his pair of appealing eyes looked at Roy.
"I wouldn't have let you out of my side anyways; you still got to give me a thousand magic scrolls to pay off the debt you owe me," Roy said. This was said in a steady voice that was also tight like puckered wires. He wasn't joking around. That could be discerned from his tone.
"You gotta be kidding me." Julian cried out in dismay.
"No, little one, I'm quite serious. If you don't fork it out, expect hell to crash down on you." Roy said, giving him a meaningful look that said, 'I would really do what I said.'
Julian: "(ಥ﹏ಥ)!"
Feeling bullied by him, Julian could only internally shed tears.
'He's too strong for me to handle. I can't go against him. I can only comply with his wishes and create a thousand magic scrolls for him. Who would've thought that I, a noble, would go from being bullied by my family to becoming a slave of another noble?' Julian sighed in his heart.
"Alright, I will do it. But you gotta provide me with the raw materials needed to create a thousand of them. I don't have money to afford them." Julian accepted the terms put forth by Roy, the loan shark, without complaints.
It's not like complaining would change anything.
Like a rich man, Roy chuckled, "Money is one thing I don't lack. I'll get them for you by tomorrow. I want them done before the start of the Adulthood ceremony. Be mentally prepared to create them over a week."
Julian was crushed by these words. 'This person is a devil who is going to overwork me to death.'
They were teleported to the Southern District. Across the road, the gateway could be seen. Chairs were placed around it, and Amelia, Roy's uncle, and the elder mage were sitting on them.
"Master is back!" The second she caught sight of him, her face lit up, and she stood up to go to him and ask about his well-being, see if he was injured in any way.
Waiting for Roy to return, Arlo had fallen asleep out in the open, but her voice was loud, and it burst the bubble popping out of his nose and woke him up.
"Who is?" His eyes opened wide, and he caught sight of his nephew.
Seeing him alive brought him great joy.
Baldwins were low in numbers; he didn't want to see a single one, especially someone as talented as Roy, die.
