Chapter 26: The real threat isn't as scary as it seems
Now that both Raul and Carlos were sent unconscious by Kayn, the remaining goons were left questioning what they should do next without both their leaders telling them what to do.
In the goons' minds, they were having conflicting thoughts about whether they should fight for Raul and Carlos or just run away from this place. If they choose the former and try to fight against Kayn, then they'll only be sent unconscious sooner or later as well. Whereas if they choose the latter, they will no doubt receive punishment once the two woke up and discover that they didn't do anything to help and instead just run away.
But on second thought, they'd actually also experience the same with the first option, especially considering the type of character Raul and Carlos are, albeit with a lesser punishment, but if they add the pain they will experience from fighting against Kayn, there's almost no difference at all.
In the end, none of them were able to reach any conclusion. They simply stood rooted in the same spot as they watched Kayn walking in the direction of Rowan Starlight.
Unfortunately for them, Rowan Starlight wasn't planning on just letting the goons be after all that they have done to him.
As soon as Kayn was far out of range, the Pest Killing Machine started firing a bunch of nets.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
In a blink of an eye, all the goons were caught by the nets and were sent convulsing on the spot for a brief moment due to the strong electric shock that was sent by the nets before they eventually started losing consciousness.
"That wasn't necessary, right?" Kayn can't help but ask. Those goons were already going to suffer from Raul and Carlos anyways regardless of Rowan Starlight doing anything to them or not.
"It was for the bullying they have done to me," Rowan shook his head before jumping out from the Pest Killing Machine.
"Fair enough," Kayn decided to just drop it.
"By the way, why did you decide to help me, Kayn?" This was the question Rowan really wanted to know the moment he saw Kayn wanting to help him. After all this time, no one has chosen to help him against Carlos and his goons' bullying. Yet now someone actually decided to do so. On top of that, this guy was one of the recognized brightest stars of the Starlight Hero Academy. He is feeling curious about it and at the same time suspicious if there were perhaps any ulterior motives behind it.
Hearing the question, Kayn didn't answer immediately as he choose to continue approaching Rowan.
Nevertheless, Rowan simply stayed on guard against the approaching Kayn. He wasn't feeling the least bit afraid of the latter despite seeing his ability to take down both Raul and Carlos seemingly in an instant. Compared to those two, he is a bonafide Hero, so there's bound to be a difference between them if Kayn decides to fight him. In his mind, he even believes that he is capable of taking down the latter as long as he expends all that he got.
Contrary to what Rowan was thinking about though, Kayn doesn't intend on fighting against him the least bit. As soon as he arrived in front of the former, he stopped walking and raised his hand before saying, "Give me your hand,"
"Why?" Despite not knowing the reason why, Rowan still decided to put his hand in front.
To Rowan's surprise, a skull-shaped ring dropped from Kayn's fingers straight toward his hand.
It was the Sitan's Ring, which Kayn quickly and secretly stole from Raul before he punched the stomach of the latter a while back then.
"My Sitan's Ring!" Rowan felt shocked and at the same time disbelief at seeing his ring being casually dropped onto his fingers by Kayn. He could already guess that the latter know clearly well just how powerful the Sitan's Ring is. Yet despite that, Kayn actually still decided to give it to him.
In the midst of confusion, Rowan kept on changing his glance from the Sitan's Ring on his hand back to Kayn in front of him and then back to the ring once more before repeating the same process all over again.
It was quite evident the degree of the emotions that Rowan was feeling at the moment.
That behavior lasted for dozens of seconds before Rowan eventually decided to stare solemnly at Kayn. "I don't know why you helped me, but I own you a very huge favor for this,"
"I can't answer your question of why I decided to help you. But time will eventually show you the answer," Kayn smiled sheepishly. No matter how he thought about it along the way, he seriously doesn't know what to say in order to leave a memorable impression on Rowan. He was so used to showing actions rather than words that he was left completely helpless right now and could only decide to act mysterious.
Well, on the other hand, although he wants Rowan to be his ally, he can't just go around revealing every single detail about his plan. After all, the one that truly helped him was the future Rowan. There is no telling for certain yet what kind of path the present Rowan would decide to walk now, especially considering the fact that he plans to intervene in his fate. If by unfortunate circumstances Rowan decides to betray him in the far future, then there is no doubt that he will reveal all the secrets he learned about him.
Simply put, until Rowan earns his trust, he won't reveal any secret information to him.
"Whatever it is, that doesn't change the fact that I owe you for returning this ring to me," Rowan didn't mind Kayn not telling him the truth. "If it's okay to ask, how did you get here?"
"Well, let's just leave it as nothing more than a coincidence," Kayn said as he started walking towards the exit of the underground warehouse.
"Alright," Rowan nodded his head before quickly following behind Kayn. There's nothing left to do here anyways, so he might as well leave. "But do you know who those people you beat up are?"
"Probably some big shots,"
"I won't label Carlos as a big shot since his household basically hates him, but Raul is different,"
"I heard him calling you brother,"
"Yes, he is one of the many brothers in my family,"
"Is that a problem?"
"Not really. The problem is that he belongs to the same Starlight Family as me. In case you don't know, the Starlight Family is one of the most influential Households in the Dragon Beast Republic and could represent one of its strengths,"
"I know that the Starlight Family is a huge, great, powerful, and mighty household. But what about it?"
"What do you mean 'What about it?' Obviously, you're going to get in big trouble! Worst, you might even die,"
"Are the people behind this event the Starlight Family itself?"
"Technically, no. It's probably the scheme of my brothers and sisters, at least a third of them,"
"Then do they represent the entire Starlight Family?"
"I guess not yet,"
"There you go! Since it's not the Starlight Family that perpetrated this mess, then I don't have to worry about them. All I have to worry about are your brothers and sisters,"
This was something that a lot of people greatly misunderstand about huge and influential households like the Starlight Family. To tell the truth, as long as one doesn't actually mess with the real powers behind the household, then they will at most only be suffering from those that belong to it.
That might still spell trouble, and depending on some factors, there might be a chance of suffering from really unfortunate consequences. But nevertheless, there is still a limit to the extent of power those people who simply belong to a certain powerful household could use. Not because one had offended them, it automatically means that they will face the wrath of the entire Starlight Family or the likes. Actions like that are what narrow-minded people do, which is a very rare trait for those on the top. How else would they reach their current status, right?
It was because of that misunderstanding that's why no one would casually mess with the likes of the Starlight Family. And honestly, that is quite advantageous for them as they don't have to deal with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes their way.
However, he is not like those types of people. As someone who is familiar with and understands extremely well how influential and powerful households like that work, he doesn't fear those mere cats and dogs that likes to play house under the pretense that they hold the banner of their family. Instead, those wolves and lions are the real ones he needs to pay close attention not to offend.
In the case of Rowan Starlight, he already understood long ago that even if he intervened in this scheme, he won't be offending the Starlight Family, rather it's just going to be Rowan Starlight's brothers and sisters, who in fact isn't that useful in the family as of the moment. Well, maybe some of them are. But the people who truly stood on top of the food chain in the Starlight Family and stand a chance to fight for the position of the next heir to their household won't care about a single tree burning, especially if the tree isn't important.
Looking at Raul, although he belongs to the Starlight Family, considering the capability he had shown so far — getting helplessly bullied and all of that. He is far from being considered a threat in the battle of who will become the next head of the Starlight Family.
The real threat isn't as scary as it seems if one simply looks at it from a different angle.