Chapter 56 - Setting The Stage

I informed knights, guarding carriages, that I'll take a look around since it's my first time here which they didn't mind so I took off.

I walk down the street when I finally reached a certain area.

There was a welcome board, on which, welcome was the only word I could actually read so it was uncertain to me what to call this place.

It was like the entrance to a whole different district. A was market with no fancy or a standerd shop. All the selling was handcrafted items. Most of the people seem to be belong to lower caste of the social hierarchy. The area wasn't much developed and, was really conjugated and heavily populated.

I stepped on the underdeveloped land and started my search.

As I walked around the market, I witnessed sights that made me realised that condition of lower castes wasn't much stable.

On every two steps I encounter beggars, both men and women, old and kids.

𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥...

I couldn't help but feel sorry for those kids.

As for adults, they are doing what they deserve. Expect for those who were disabled, most of the adults seemed physical fine.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘐𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬.

If they are fine living on others riches then so be it. Not like I could force them to do work.

But it does made me think that why there is so much unemployment.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴...

As I roamed around, I heard ruckus.

I made my way through crowd only to see a fat bald guy, who gives off an expression of luxurious, yelling at a man. He was surrounded by many men seemingly his body guards or underling.

"What do you mean, you won't buy?! Be grateful that I, as a noble man, is even providing you material for fabricating!"

"Forgave me, lord! I-I, e-even if want I-I can't... T-They are so expensive that—"

"Shut it! It's such a waste of time. I shouldn't have entered this nasty place. All of you Sūdras are good for nothing! Disgusting."

For those harsh words, no raised a voice.

"Tch, oye! Give me a rod or something. I'll tell this Sūdra it's place." Bald man smiled as one of his lacky brought him a wooden stick.

The fact that bald man used 'it' to refer a sūdra hit me quite hard. But,

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...

I sighed as I turned my heels.

Just as I was escaped from crowd, I heard a cry.

"What in the—"

As I felt someone flying over my head.

Actually, they were crashing.

The same bald guy, who was about to hit poor man, crashed into a hand cart as all the stuff and hand cart itself fall apart.

"Damn you!"

I turned to check out as I witnessed all underlings of baldy beaten down one by one.

Without any weapon, a young man defeated all thugs as they couldn't lay a scratch on him.

He turned around.

I finally got the clear view of him.

Young man, he looked in his early 20s. He was exceptional attractive. If it's his face, it was well structured and was symmetrical. He was tall, around 7'4" and one may not realise due to his clothes, which was cover his torso and arms completely, but he had that lean yet mascular build.

He had dark brown hair, and the hazel green eyes of his' were like gems.

His face... Sun shined on his face itself. He was emitting a glow that made me looked up at sun subconsciously.

No. Even the sun was incomparable to this luminescence.

"Haah... haha.. Hahahaha!"

𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺! 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮... 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙊𝙣𝙚!

The one had been searching for finally appeared in front of me.

"Magnificent..." I muttered those words.

Ever since Amelia told me about him, I was impatient to meet him and now, that I witnessed this dignified sight... It is saved in my memory and I could never in my entire life, will forget this very first encounter with this elegant being.

"Huh,"

One of thugs was closing from the blind spot.

...𝘊𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴

Within a swift, I launched a kick to thug.

Hitting right on his neck, he was turned upside down.

"Gruuuhh..." Foaming from his mouth, thug lost consciousness.

"...Thanks," Young man was starring at me as I saw a reflection in his eyes.

Baldy, who previously was knocked by the young lad, rushed towards us with a sword in his hands.

"Behind You!" He screamed. But I did't reacted at all.

"Tch!"

As soon as he sees me unable to respond in time, he pushed me back and stood tall in front.

"Dieeeeee!!!" Bald man tried to stab young lad to death but, it never happened.

As Baldy stabbed young man, sword didn't pierced through.

Young man wasn't pushed back by all the momentum created by Baldy. As he lifted sword in front of him, the tip of sword was shattered.

"Wh-What the—?!" In absolute disbelieve, Baldy tried to attack young man out of desparation.

As he slashed, there was no effect on young man.

"It's useless." There was no affect of the weapon on young man at all.

Everytime Baldy try to cut young man with sword, he was recoiled back.

"W-Why you—?!"

"I am done with this."

With that, young man punched Baldy hard in gut as he fell on ground.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Voice caught everyone's attention.

I turned to see source of voice and recognised them in no time.

A group of knights were matching towards crowd led by a single man.

"...Why is he here?"

And it seem to me that even young man was familiar with the person.

𝘏𝘮𝘮...

"You're not going to escape?" I asked young man.

"Huh?" He passed me a confused look in return.

"You seem to be wary of that guy and he is a knight too. All the chaos you caused may came to bite you back."

"...You're right. But that guy is no ordinary knight."

He was, by no means, wrong.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘥-𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘪.

"That man, or I must say, commander of Southern wing of knight order, mighty Neulon. He is the bearer of divya arts. By the blessings of Lord Skanda, he has an ability to enhance his physical capabilities which allows him to be far more qualified then a mortal in terms of possible strength, speed, agility and other dimensions of physicality." Young man said as he starred at Red-hairs.

What he basically meant is that even if he tried to escape, there is a very low chance of succeeding.

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘥-𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮... 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥.

There are officially ten 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. One of them is Skanda, The God of War.

Just like all the others, I am acquainted to him though I didn't expect him to be mentioned here but... I might get some use out of this. Or I'll leave it to that.

"You don't have to bother about such things, just go ahead and escape. I'll handle the rest,"

"Huh? What are you saying?" He was aware of my identity so it was obvious. Not like everyone present here also is too.

I gave him a pat on shoulder to assure him,

"Don't worry, that man is my friend too."

"...Does that mean that you're a knight too?" Young man suddenly adopted defensive attitude as he glare at me.

"No no. Moreover, you should start moving yourself."

He starred at me for a while, then made his way through crowd.

"Oi! You right there! You think you're allowed to leave." Red-hairs yelled from distance. He didn't notice me since I had my back turned on him. However, he did noticed young man.

People who move are first ones to be noticed in these sort of situations.

Young man stopped dead in his track as Red-hairs slowly approached him.

He passed me by without even noticing who he just passed by. I realised tension building in young man's body as he waited for Red-hairs to approach him.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳...

Before anything, I put my hand on Red-hairs shoulder stopping him or, forced him to stop moving any further.

"...What do you think you're doing?" He asked with even looking back.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦...?

"Knights! Grab this person and arrest him," He order his knights but non of them approached me.

"B-But, sir... Atleast check him out first,"

"Hannh!? You dare to refuse,"

"B-But, sir..." Knights glanced between me and Red-hairs awkwardly to which I sighed.

"Well, then—,"

"You know, it would be much if you just turned around for once, Red-hairs." I said, to which he just exploded at me.

"For God's sake, I am not Red-hairs! I am Neulon. All mighty, Neulon!!— Wait a second."

He turned around and looked me in eyes.

Taking advantage of situation, young man disappeared in crowd.

"...What are 𝘆𝗼𝘂 doing here?"

"I could ask you the same, what are 𝘆𝗼𝘂 doing here?"

"Hmph, we were on a round when we heard all the ruckus. But, you... weren't you supposed to accompany princess to the church?" He was suspicious of me.

"I did. Royal family is offering their prayers in church. Since I don't worship any of the gods, I too thought of taking a round around this area. Honestly, this is my first time here,"

"And you made a scene on the very first time," He glared at me.

"I just whooped some asses who were the source of ruckus, that's it,"

He observed surrounding and came to realise that most of the men does look like thugs.

"That's doesn't tell everything. That guy, I am going after him,"

He turned his back on me but I grabbed his shoulder which only made him more infuriated.

"Sorry, but I can't allow you to do so." I gave him a provoking smile.

"...Just so you know," He turned to me.

Invading my personal space, he reduced distance between our face.

"I'm not afraid of you..." He said as he looked me in the eyes. Putting a brave front.

I couldn't deny that he is too intimidating for a person. But,

𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩...

"You... Did you just finished another novel?" I asked.

"I-I what?! W-What are y-you even talking about— No, I didn't read a single novel!—"

"You are lame."

He tried to deny but he was all flustered.

𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤'𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘢𝘢𝘳... 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘩-𝘴𝘰-𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵.

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

"A-Anyways, I-I am going after that guy—"

"You're just wasting your time,"

"Why so?"

"I am, too, involved in this. That brave man protected impotents and I too lend him a hand in the process. I witnessed everything from beginning and latter got physically involved too."

"Look, even if you say so, things doesn't work like this. I don't think I need to explain this to you that in judicature, both parties are equally legitimated to speak for themselves."

𝘏𝘮𝘱𝘩, 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?!

"I understand, but..."

"But, what?" He looked at me.

I was starring at the fallen baldy. Red-hairs followed my gaze and did the same.

"What I'm pointing out... Couldn't you see it too, Neulon?" I looked at Red-hairs and smirked.

Red-hairs checked me out in between, as he kept starring at fallen guy.

Suddenly, his eyes widened a bit.

He may have finnally understood the meaning behind those words.

𝘠𝘦𝘴... 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

. . . . .