"The mad king…the mad king…" those words resounded inside Ling's ears as he stared outside the carriage window, watching the new environment of buildings, markets and restaurants pass by.
Was it this mysterious person that Mrs. Hampshire was referring to the cause of her death? Did whoever that was influence the death of Mr. Hampshire by making him explode?
The phrase hung in the air with an ominous aura. Suddenly, all of the attention in his mind dissolved upon hearing Hàorán's sudden words.
"It's beautiful. I'm glad to be out of our usual home for a while." He smiled as he looked outside the carriage window. Mrs. Kitonow, who packed her knitting kit, began to quietly knit in the back of the carriage.
When they arrived at their apartment, Mrs. Kitonow, Mr. Kitonow, and Hàorán stepped out of the carriage and approached the small, comfortable building.
"This was one of the best on the block. I hope it's enough." Ling said as he opened the door and allowed his wife and child to enter. The inside of the apartment was minimalistic yet homey.
In the corner of the lobby was an armor stand with a skeleton perched on it, its empty face glaring at them with a boney smile. The room was dimly lit and it had a slight smell of wood and embers emitting from the fireplace in the corner of the room.
I opened the door of the apartment and let Palsy in, who took off his hat and coat and walked towards the desk in the corner of the room, before sitting down in the chair and rubbing his temples.
"I assume this is our guest of honor?" Shinso asked gruffly, turning away from the balcony and looking towards the young man with red hair at the desk. I shot him a glance and nodded, before pulling out the chair across from him and sitting down as well.
"In the 3 weeks I've been here, we've had no visitors in Seraphis Kingdom. May I ask why you're here?" I asked, leaning in a little closer towards the man.
"Business purposes. My friend and I came here to investigate a case." Palsy replied calmly, parting his red bangs to reveal sunken eyes.
"But the voyage drained me, so a good nap would suffice." He groaned softly, before approaching one of the beds, the one closest to the balcony before lying down and closing his eyes.
Palsy actually took my bed, but I didn't mind. Shinso, who was putting on his daily attire, entered the bathroom to change in private, leaving me alone with our new guest.
"I think we're low on groceries, mind stopping by the market to get some?" Shinso asked from the bathroom, where I heard the incessant ruffling of fabric.
"Yeah, why not."
The market was quiet and calm in the chilly morning air. I walked over to the stalls and stuffed a few loaves of bread, mutton, cheese and milk into the basket, before tossing a new bronze Lumin into the buckets.
Seraphis Kingdom was among the safest in the east. So it wasn't uncommon for vendors to leave their stalls unattended and allow patrons to buy their groceries without a hassle or the possibility of shop-lifting.
"The mad king…the mad king…" I suddenly felt a cold rush fill my body, making me drop my basket filled with food. Those words that just muttered in my mind made me freeze.
"The mad king?" I repeated, unaware or unable to think. The Apocalypse sigil on my forehead began to glow dimly, and the tips of my horns glowed a dim red.
Suddenly, the entire market disappeared, turning illusory and blurry, changing and morphing. This is usually what Raymond would do to summon me, but I felt no trace of his presence in the area.
Suddenly, the smell of embers and flames filled my nose, and the loud and purging screams of people entered my ears in an overwhelming manner.
Around me stood an empire, one that looked like something straight out of a Viking movie. Citizens who wore run down and tattered clothing darted in all directions. In the air stood multiple, illusory green spears, each was about the size of an evergreen tree.
They crashed down like rain upon the kingdom. When they made contact with someone, they turned into a gush of green vapor, being incinerated on the spot.
Around the spears was a face I seemed to recognize. They had small freckles plastered on his face, his hair was a green mop on his head, and his green eyes were filled with malice and fury.
"Izuku, you bastard!" A loud and commanding voice called out from above. Not too far from him was another boy with blonde, fiery hair. His red eyes were fixed on Izuku, and he grew a spear made of a radiant, teeming red and orange light.
Before I could see the fight ensue, my surroundings changed again. I was back in the market, and my nose was bleeding and my head was pounding like someone had slammed a pipe into it repeatedly.
The sun was a lot higher in the sky, and when I looked up I saw numerous citizens looking at me with puzzled and fearful looks.
"It's the…" before one of them could speak, a woman put her hand over his mouth, shushing him instantly. The sigil on my forehead glowed dimly and red, blurry cracks formed on my forehead, running down my face and ending near my throat.
"The mad king's awakening spells the end of the world, The mad king's awakening spells the end of the world." Those words were whispered by everyone as if suddenly controlled by an unknown source.
Suddenly, everyone in the market suddenly looked up, and above the market stood a large green spear; one that was larger than all others I saw in the vision. It suddenly crashed down upon the market, destroying everything it encountered.
I suddenly awoke in the middle of the market. The sun was a little higher in the sky than when I bought my food, and everyone was staring at me with blatant concern. Blood was leaking from my nose and the Apocalypse sigil was glowing gently.
"Dear, are you ok?" An old woman asked, a concerned look on her face as she looked down at me, the wrinkles on her face prominent.
"I am, thank you for asking." I groaned, standing up and picking up my groceries. Everyone continued to watch me as I left. All the attention and energy focused on me was like a drill digging into the back of my head, so I pulled up my collar in an attempt to hide my face.
When I entered the apartment complex, Shinso approached me quickly and sighed in annoyance.
"Did you get lost or something? Why did you take so long, Isaac?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he took the groceries and stocked them inside the fridge.
"I had a particularly tedious bargain to go through." I said, wiping the blood from my nose before Shinso would notice. He looked at me for a few more moments before looking away and nodding with uncertainty.
Palsy was still inside my bed, except his eyes were half opened and he was staring at the ceiling.
"I see you're awake. We have food now." I said as I approached the balcony and looked down upon the market, realizing that everyone had now moved on from my incident and continued to their daily routines.
"Was that the mad king that I heard about in those strange ravings? Or could it possibly be connected to whoever Raymond wants to use the slates to resurrect the figure from history?" I thought to myself as I leaned off the edge of the railing and sighed.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. When Shinso approached the door and opened it, Cattleya and Damien were standing there. The young boy instantly ran into the room and wrapped his tiny arms around me in a comfortable embrace.
"Hey, Damien." I chucked as I ran my fingers through his hair. Damien chucked and let go of me, his white eyes looking at me with a pleasant expression.
"Hello." Cattleya said as she approached me and smiled. I smiled back at her before she spoke up in a slightly foreboding tone.
"Did you…hear those ravings?" She asked quietly, leaning against the doorframe. I raised an eyebrow as I turned towards Cattleya.
"The ravings about…this "mad king?" I asked.
She nodded, before taking out a piece of paper and handing it to me. It was an excerpt of the newspaper releases regarding the battle a few weeks back. Me and Raymond were clearly visible in the photo, although Aaron's face was blurry, as if edited out.
"There was a family who took residence a few blocks down. They had this newspaper and expressed interest in you. They said that their emperor would like to meet you." She said with a solemn tone before taking Damien by the hand and leaving the room.
Before she could leave I stopped her.
"Wait."
She turned back to look at me and raised an eyebrow of curiosity. "You didn't seem to dive too deep into the subject of the ravings, shouldn't such a matter be considered a lot more important?"
She nodded, looking down at Damien for a few moments before sighing. "Damien, would you mind waiting outside that room for a moment with Mr. Shinso please?"