“You guys wanna come in?” Devlin offered.

  Eurig and Letha declined. Eurig wanted to check on his father's condition. He was feeling better so Eurig wanted to stand by him in case there's anything he needed help with.

  Letha was basically the head of the orphanage. So she had to go back and take care of her brothers and sisters. Plus, she wanted to continue studying the magic books Raynel and Janis bought for her. She was determined to ace the qualifying test at the academy.

  Having heard that, Devlin did not insist. After watching his friends walked back the tunnel, Devlin climbed the stairs out of the underground tunnel.

  To his horror, a surprise was waiting for him at the entrance. Or rather, two surprises.

  “EHHH?! Teacher? F-FATHER?!”

  Janis looked at him with a sly grin on her face. As if this moment was worth all the troubles he had given her.

  “Clean yourself up. Then go to the study. NOW!”

  Devlin had no choice. “Y-yes father.”

  ###

  ‘Heh, this must be how I looked earlier. So pathetic!’ Janis lamented in her heart.

  She was so glad that Devlin came home late, and did not witness her state earlier. Or he would mock her for all eternity.

  “Where have you been?” Raynel asked calmly. But it felt like there's a sharp sword hidden in his tone.

  Devlin pondered about his answer for a moment. “Urm…just playing with my friends?”

  “Oh, ‘playing’ is it?! So all those people you beat up in the underground ring was your friends. I see now.” The mockery in Raynel's voice was visible even if you saw it from the moon.

  Devlin panicked. His father already knew.

  “Well?”

  “Huh? Well, what?”

  Fumes started coming out of Raynel's ears. “I want you to tell me what you've been doing these past few days.”

  “...but you already knew…”

  “TELL ME!”

  Defeated, Devlin started to regale his father with the tales of his adventures. By the end of it, Janis wondered how Raynel could kept calm, for she had turned every shade of color ever existed.

  The story actually began over a week ago. And it involved Eurig’s father, Nidhi Chapman.

  A week ago, Chapman Trading Firm received a shipping job. A slaver had hired Chapman zeppelin to transport the slaves to Tentigo, an island Northwest from Pulcra.

  During the inspection however, Nidhi somehow found out that these slaves were to be sold to a Dark Warlock. And they are to be used as sacrifices. Hearing that, the honest Nidhi rushed to report the Dark Warlock to the authorities

  Slaves are criminals. And although it's a punishment, their wellbeing is strictly monitored. Protecting them from abusive owners. That, coupled with the crime of trying to revive Black Magic practices, cause the Vario mages to capture the Dark Warlock.

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  That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately, the slaver was a part of the underground network. She demanded compensation. Which have been vaguely stipulated in the fineprint of the contract.

  Since it was a Blood Contract, Nidhi cannot escape the consequences. He had to pay. Thus, he became a slave himself.

  Of which, the only way to win back his freedom was to fight it out in the Battle Royale. Where winning the Royale gives you the right for one wish.

  Nidhi cannot fight. Eurig tried to fight, but he was too weak. He could only last until the second round. And Letha only learned the theoretical part of magic. So she can't fight either. So who else is left to fight?

  The heroic Prince Devlin Alden of course.

  When he received the news, he sneaked out, and jumped straight into the ring. And one by one, the scum fell. It was a really inspiring scene.

  As a bonus, Devlin even managed to kill off a few bandits that constantly terrorized the slum and the orphanage. Even Letha curses at the dead bodies of those bastards!

  Long story short, he won. Devlin managed to free Nidhi from his contract. The whole thing took just a day to settle. He could've come back last night. Or early this morning.

  Unfortunately, misery loves company. The gang of bandits wanted revenge. They kidnapped a few of the orphans, and demanded Devlin to surrender. So the trio had to go and rescue them too.

  Thankfully, it didn't take long. The bandits were eradicated. The orphans are safe and sound. At the end of it, it was too late of a night to go back. So Nidhi invited him to spend the night in Chapman's mansion. To which he readily agreed.

  Raynel stayed quiet through the entire story. Janis was the one who reacted. She rushed towards Devlin, and activated her magic to check Devlin for injuries.

  “Hihihi, that tickles, teacher.” Devlin said as he squirmed to try to wriggle free from Janis's ticklish magic skill.

  Janis was unrelenting. She immediately used Bind magic, making Devlin to freeze in one spot.

  “There. Now be quiet while I check on you.”

  Raynel kept quiet throughout the entire ordeal. And Devlin had no choice but to stand there and listen to Janis nagging at him.

  Soon, Devlin's torture time was over.

  “Fuh, you're one lucky brat. You know that? Thank god you're not badly hurt. What the hell are you thinking? You're 11 for god's sake. You should leave this kind of thing to adults!”

  Devlin rolled his eyes. “Had I waited, Mister Nidhi would have been sold already. It was late at night, and I'm alone in this castle. I can't just let my friends in trouble!”

  “...Still…” Janis wanted to say something further. But hearing Devlin's motive, she lost her words. That noble of a cause, scolding him wouldn't feel right.

  Luckily, there's another adult in the room. “I think you should say something, Your Majesty.”

  Raynel's face remains expressionless. “You may leave.”

  Janis sensed the tone. So she quickly bowed, and vacated the room.

  Now there's only two people in the study. Raynel sitting behind the desk, and Devlin standing in front of it. The silence devoid the room of breathable air.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Has Nidhi’s matter been resolved?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is the orphanage doing okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you hate me that much?”

  “Y…no!”

  That last question snuck up on Devlin. He was so surprised by it, his head jerked up immediately. Two pair of identical sets of eyes met.

  Raynel sighed. “Are you sure about that last one?”

  “Urmmm yeah. Why would I hate you?”

  Raynel paused for a bit before answering. “A number of reasons. Me hiding you from the world. Me telling the world that you died in that ritual. Me…”a wave of memory caused Raynel to choke on his word a bit. “Me killing your mother.”

  Devlin gave his father a smile, albeit bitterly. “You've done nothing wrong father. It was mother who decided to break the law and perform a Dark Magic ritual on me. Had you not stopped her, who knows what will happen to me.”

  “Your mother did that for you. I don't blame her for that.”

  Devlin became more bold. “I don't blame her either. But the ritual obviously is a failure. Luckily all it did was give me a stupid forge as a Soul Tool. I mean, no one else in the world had that stupid misshapen fireplace.”

  Devlin watched his father's expression. Seeing it soften, Devkin continued. “Dark Magic ritual always comes with a price. Since it's incomplete, I just ended up with something useless. What if it's completed. What price shall I pay?”

  Raynel gritted his teeth, then he let it go with one breath. “I understand your point. And please allow this old man to be a bit selfish when I say I am glad you don't blame me for your mother's death.”

  Devlin was relieved. ‘Finally, it's over. I can finally eat, bath and sleep’.

  Too bad, because it was still not over.

  “Then what's your excuse for this rebellious attitude?” Raynel added.

  “Huh? What rebellious attitude?”

  Raynel's eyes opened wide. “The hell did you call this? Sneaking out? Fighting? And don't tell me that it's to help your friends. You've fought before, haven't you?”

  “Hehehehe.” Devlin scratched his head awkwardly. “Of course, I had a good reason for that as well.”

  “And that is…?”

  Devlin approached his father, acting all coy. “Father, I am just a commoner. I'm not a prince, I'm not even alive. I'm just a normal folk with a rich dad. Hence, if I'm gonna be a common folk, I should learn the way of the common folk.”

  His father seemed to be enlightened. “Ahh, so that's what it is.”

  “Of course father. Everything I do has its noble reasons.”

  “Oh, how noble you are, my son.” Raynel cracked up a smile. And it was not a happy one.

  Devlin had a bad feeling seeing that mischievous smile. “Urmm…thank you?”

  “Seems that I have been neglecting your development for too long. Don't worry, I'll arrange it for you.”

  “...Arrange what?”

  “Pulcra is not a suitable place for you to develop your common ways. So I've decided to send you to Atrox. Where you'll learn the way of the blacksmith.”

  Devlin began to whine. “Awwwhhhh wwhhyyyy…”

  “This is good, my son. You'll master the art of smithing, then open up a shop of your own. Who knows, you could make a name for yourself. Plus, think of all the money you could make.”

  “But-but…what about your money?”

  Devlin scoffed. “Pfft, what kind of talk is that? Common people earn their own money. What kind of nonsense is that? Hehehe.”

  “But…”

  “That's enough! I have decided. Hehehe.” Raynel resumed his regal tone, but with a hint of a mischievous tone. He sounded like an evil king right now.

  Devlin knew what he said had backfired. And he can't do anything about it. “As you wish, father.”

  “Hahahaha, good! Come now, you must be hungry. Let's go and eat.”

  That afternoon, the father and son spent their day together. Closer than ever.