Chapter 262: Another Crazy Day Of Meetups (Mixed POV)

It wasn't like Timothy could perform the Spell he learned in front of everybody else—the [ Bolt of Affliction ] rendered its target with a certain degree of unbearable pain. And when he had used them on the rats, they dropped dead.

Not to mention that he had to overexert himself last night.

When they returned, Princess Iolanthe Sargon was gone—but the legion of rats invaded his room, and he had to deal with each one of them. Somehow he still hadn't gained the Mage Class after casting his Spells and even relying on external mana around the Academy's walls to fully put them all down.

It had taken him some time, and he even had to drink through at least three Healing Potions while he was studying at the Hidden Library, but he managed to learn one of the Spells in that tome he got from the even more secluded library.

And yet what he couldn't explain was his body's state now. There was a rush of energy that filled him when he was about to drop dead from running and avoiding all the blasts from the three Mages—only his experience in foraging for ingredients around the Rockfall Village and Enchanted Forest had helped him become quick on his feet.

But that wasn't enough to explain how he survived electrocution.

He burned himself many times before he actually started getting a hold of fire, and he was sure that lightning wasn't included in his Fire Affinity Skill.

"Timothy, are you alright?" Penelope asked him. She had a Healing Potion in her hand and had come all the way to him even with the Battle Mage still interrogating him.

The man shook his head and looked at the older man in front of him, "Even if I wish to have an artifact, I don't have one on me. I think it was Luck that saved me, Professor Carnus." And yet there was something that made him glance behind him, and he stared at Han.

Why did it feel like the guy was staring at him too much?

And yet it felt like he owed him somewhat.

He didn't like this feeling at all.

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"What... what exactly happened here?" Liam asked himself. Trepidation filled the air at the tavern that looked like it was rendered to shambles and the Bodyguard knew. The people littered outside still looked alive, so it wasn't that bad... But who was he kidding? It was still very bad!

Did the Beast Tamer get involved in some bar fight? Where was the man now? He needed the leads to find the Princess or else everything was going to turn into shambles. He soon glanced around and noticed a kid about a few feet away from him, he was checking the bodies.

Well, if he had to be honest—the kid was pick-pocketing the passed out men.

"Hey, you there, stop that."

The young child looked at him and pocketed a purse, "What is it to you? Hasn't your mother already taught you to not bother with anybody else's business?"

Liam blinked and felt like he was attacked out of nowhere by the kid, but he then adopted a more kind tone. He had other things to focus on than this situation; he had to let this one go. "Well, there's something I do have business with and it's with a person in a tavern... what exactly happened here?"

"Now that here is information, you gotta pay me up for that." the child opened a hand out to him. "Depending on what you got—it'll probably help jog my memory. Right now it's all fuzzy."

This kid! He was being robbed, and yet when Liam looked around the area... it was pretty deserted. The young Bodyguard dug out a silver coin from his pocket and tossed it at him, "Did you see a big man around this tall and with this huge build?" Liam gestured around himself for a man that was at least twice his size.

"Er..." the boy scratched his head and shrugged, "All I know was there was a bar fight and somebody threw all these folks here. They were stopped when the Guardsmen arrived and managed to capture the perpetrator. Maybe that's the guy you're looking for? Who knows?"

Liam massaged his forehead, "Why are all these grown men getting into these sorts of troubles! First it was Gesth, now it's Byron, who's next?"

"I don't know, but can you leave now?"

"Well... thanks, kid. What's your name? I'm Liam."

The boy gave him a look, "It's obvious that you're not from here—we don't go around here giving our names. That's just asking for trouble. Maybe you'll report me to the Guardsmen. Maybe next time you'd find yourself getting stabbed because you're a Liam."

"What's wrong with my name?"

"Beats me." Doug stood up and then approached the next body, "If your friend got in trouble with the Guardsmen, better prepare a hefty fine."

This was just great.

He didn't have that much money on him, so it meant that he needed to call for Gesth and then go to the Guardsmen office and then hopefully track down where the Princess was? Liam felt his blood get cold. Surely she hadn't gotten into any sort of danger, had she?

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A young woman stared down at the man in the shop, "You're paying for this whether or not you like it. I came all the way here and yet you refuse? Do you have no honor?"

He tried to impose a more dominating appearance to no avail. "I don't recall ordering at all—"

"They're fresh and I know that because I was the one who butchered them, mister." Becky stared down at the barbecue meat vendor with a blank look. She was uncaring of the man's plight when she had to put down her beloved cows for this crappy man's bet with Timothy. Speaking of which, she turned around and frowned. "Where exactly is this special Academy for Warriors and Wizards?"

"Do you think some Butcher can actually..." the man gulped and bit back his words. He was about to say why exactly someone like her was interested in going there, but it was better he kept his body parts attached together. The idea of getting skinned alive wasn't a good image, and the bloodied fresh meat she placed on his stall did look extremely well cut and proportioned.

Becky was in no mood for any fun or games. She had come this out of the urging of many, and if this man was going to refuse the meat that she had to prepare—well, she wanted to break a keg. She still had to give Timothy a headbutt and hopefully not meet up with a certain someone.

"Excuse me." A young man scampered past her and nearly tripped when he got elbowed by accident and fell to the ground.

Becky blinked and then glanced down at the man. She offered him a hand. "My bad, my strength's a little too much sometimes."

"Hah, no worries, Miss." the man grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up.

She pursed her lip and assessed the man. "You look like someone who needs meat in their body—are you interested in buying fresh meat from Rockfall Village?"

"Huh…" He scratched his head and bowed his head, "I'm really sorry, but I am in an urgent business and need to get to the Sleepy Cat's Inn now… but will this shop be selling your products? I'll make sure to buy them here if that's the case, yet for now I wish you a good day, Miss!"

Before she could even say anything, he was gone.

The Rancher shook her head and turned back to the Shopkeeper, "Well? Will you be buying this meat or not?"

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Boaz's days were supposed to be peaceful. He was one out of the hundreds of Guardsmen available in the City of Gloria, and most of his days were meant to be lacklustre, boring and tedious at best. There were times where one would come across a troublesome man trying to get into the city without the proper documents on their person, or perhaps some squabbles at the market and even the occasional thief or crook.

Despite also being known as a place for Adventurers, the Capital usually had most of these people on expedition—which was a good thing as most caused trouble wherever they went.

And yet once again, the Guardsman turned Diplomat soon found himself with an enormous man that was red-eyed and acting like some Minotaur on the loose. Which was fair, when they threw a fit at the bar? His current partner Deliah had the man tied up, while the rest of the other men that came with them were being treated at the clinic.

He sighed and picked up his parchment.

It was still too early for any of this—but the Diplomat used his skill, [ Soothing Voice ] and asked. "Good morning Adventurer Byron, can we ask you a few questions about the incident today?"

"I lost around fifty of them!" the brute like man said, and yet his voice was similar to that of someone shouting, even with Boaz's Skill at work. "Maybe I demolished the tavern, but I couldn't help myself—" A sniff came from the man. "I know they may seem like plague-inducing cretins to most folks, but those pink scaly tailed rats were good companions. They were good rats, and yet someone decided not to kill one or two, but an entire fifty of them? That's just murder."

... Somehow, Boaz now understood why some people decided to break out liquors even this early in the day. If he had to listen to some crazed sob story like this again, he might just want to quit this decent-paying job after all.