NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28 (Double Meanings) Part One
Glancing directly at me. He pronounced his next words very deliberately, letting each one hang in the air and nearly implicating my only granddaughter.
[Mariam's grandpa Elric] “Truly a tragedy. Can’t the heavens give this old man’s heart a rest? This, still not as bad as when that grade 8 appeared above Domica, now that was a bloodbath. But at least that one makes sense…”
Pausing for a moment, he clutched his cane to lean further above the table, close enough to me that I could see his hairs sway with every breath. His tone shifted from remorse to one of curiosity
[Mariam's grandpa Elric] “Makes a good headline that those three lads sacrificed themself to save others?, lost in the obscurity of bad luck, hmm? Not impossible either, but alas, for them, those three happen to die in there, such a shame isn’t it, strange how you were unharmed during the whole thing, but I suppose some people are just luckier than others right?”
Pointing down at the ground, he stared into my eyes while lightly coughing, apparently overexerting himself. My heart pounded in my chest; part of my racing mind told me to run, to hide, surely he wouldn’t attack me just for that, right? However, I didn’t move, not even an inch. Those feelings didn’t come from the threat of imminent danger; they were instead the animalistic urges born from facing something much stronger than yourself.
No, now was not the time to be rash. Though I didn’t know why he had suddenly brought up that incident in the goblin rift, there was clearly a point he was leading to, and my intuition told me it was likely more important to me than him. If it was important to him, he wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place. This performance was likely for my benefit; it was a word that didn’t make sense to think, meaning to improve, though thinking rationally, if he wanted to threaten me, he could have already done so, and there was no need to do it in his granddaughter's shop in the first place. Thinking this far, the image of Mariam appeared in my mind, calming my nerves enough to meet the man's eyes, however to my surprise a coughing fit caused him to lower his gaze before we could meet.
[Mariam's grandpa Elric] “It's a shame you know one of those lads had a weapon of mine, one I poured my heart into, it might be a little shallow, but I do hate to see something like that lost in a rift, such a waste, well just an old man’s idle thoughts pay them no mind”
Sighing deeply, as he spoke, his tone was sour and self-mocking, something that only comes from someone who has lived a long life, like the old oak trees that sway in the wind but do not break, he continued, my body still scared stiff from the man’s gaze despite it no longer even being focused pausing for awhile his body seemed to tense up, as his gaze returned to me, the previous coughing fit somehow abating as the air seemed to shake with pressure.
[Mariam's grandpa Elric] “In the end, their weapons were made by me. They shouldn’t have had to fear even the worst of grade threes, to die in one that got away with classifying as a grade one, huh? The artist inside me would never put out such a failed product, even to my worst enemy.”
Ending his speech with a sneer, he looked in my direction almost mockingly, his thin face stretched in a wide smile. As he leaned back in the chair and pushed the tip of the cane in my direction
Pondering over the man’s words, I couldn’t find any room to retort. Thinking back to the fight in the goblin forest, if those punks hadn’t been overwhelmed by the Monarch's reach, I didn’t even think the goblin mage would have lasted long under such intense heat. Ahh, it really was a shame that the system wouldn’t let me use it, wait I don’t think that was the point here, wasn’t he trying to say I did it?.
His eyes looked at me like I was a prisoner on trial, though at the moment, I couldn’t tell the sentence nor the charge. From the sounds of it, he wasn’t a fan of those punks to be fair, I’d be surprised if their own mothers were, but I couldn’t stop the doubt from creeping into my heart. So what if he didn’t like them, compared to me, at least they had some connection in this world.
I felt like holding my face in my hands, it’s not like I did anything wrong in the first place; I was the one being constantly attacked. That’s right! Even if this was a real trial, I still had the truth on my side. Umm, so what if wrongful convictions happen all the time; they probably weren’t as good at communicating as me. Yeah, that’s it.
Luckily, before my mind could get more sidetracked, the old man spoke, while slowly reaching into the pocket of his waistcoat. Once again, each word pushed out of his mouth with an invisible pressure that was entirely different from the feeling they had before.
“My granddaughter asked me to be direct, though it’s against this old man’s style, those weapons you took have a consequential connection to me.”
While he spoke, his arm tensed as it reached further into his coat before a rustling sound, as if an object was being pulled out, could be heard. Slowly, a golden rod with a shining blue gem at its tip was pulled into the open.
[Maraim’s Grandfather] “I fear my old age has turned me cynical, but my granddaughter's safety is at stake. Surely you understand.”
As soon as he finished speaking, leaving a meaningful drawl behind, the tip of the staff began to glow with a faint light, exactly the same as when the fire had erupted out of it in the goblin forest. Before I could even react, my body, which had been subconsciously waiting for an excuse to act, burst into action despite my better judgment. In the blink of an eye, the blankets covering me fell to the ground, floating onto a chair that now sat empty. Pushing off the ground I lunged toward the weapon in the old man's hand, but as I approached. My hand passed through the spot where the staff should have been, only grasping empty air.
My body came to a halt on the other side of the table, a cold sweat ran down my back as my mind raced to follow what was happening. In the past few days, I had been struggling with what to do with the weapons I had “rightfully” gained in the rift. Knowing Mariam, I doubted she would say anything even if she did find them, but it’s not like I left them lying about so that this old man could find them that easily. Besides, who the hell would try to fire that thing indoors? If he wanted to kill me, there was no need to take out the innocent building too, right? did he not care about his granddaughter? Maybe he didn’t even know what he was holding? As my evaluation of the man's intelligence plummeted, I hurriedly looked around for where he had gone. Scanning in front of me, my breath came heavy as only the empty shop greeted me. I half-expected to feel fire pour over me; however, instead of fire, all I heard was a mocking voice behind me.
[Mariam’s grandfather] “Quite impressive for a youngster, but if that’s all you have, then it should… won’t be enough."
I was a little confused; from what I could remember, there was no reason why the weapon shouldn’t have fired by now, but I wasn’t about to throw away my second chance. Taking a deep breath, my body blurred before it disappeared entirely.
System:>
- Kleee Kleee Clone -- active
- Wlee Wee Warp -- active
When my body reassembled behind the old man, there were two more identical figures beside it. All three rushed forwards in perfect unison, causing, for the first time since he appeared in front of me, a hint of surprised concern to creep into his face as his wrinkled brow raised at the incoming attacks. His lips moved as if he was trying to say something, but though I had a bad feeling nagging me, it was too late to change my momentum.