Chapter 822: They Just Misunderstood
I had just managed to find the Mana Crystal in the pile of pulverised remains of the monster when Haddock finally recovered enough to address what I did.
"What… What just happened?" Find your next read at m_v l|e-NovelBin.net
"I beat the floor boss. What else?"
"No… No you didn't…"
"I literally punched him into what you see in front of you. What do you mean I didn't?" I asked, cleaning the Mana Crystal with an [Aqua Ball].
"That… That was an illusion… That must be an illusion…"
I threw the Mana Crystal into my Pack of Folding before turning to face the boy, "I don't understand, why are you so stubborn about this? Have I done anything to wrong you before?"
He pointed a finger at me, "It's not us! It's Big Sis that you wronged!"
I blinked at them for a good long minute before pointing a finger at myself, "I… Wronged Odeta? How?"
"So you don't even know… I suppose that's not surprising… Considering how you just treat her like your follower."
What the heck?
"Ok, hold up. What the hell are you talking about? You speak like you know Odeta better than I do. Have you even met her before this?"
Haddock sucked in a breath, "Yes… Yes we have. We have met Big Sis Odeta before."
"When? Because I definitely don't remember you at all."
"When you abandoned her after beating her up of course!"
Huh?
"Err… When did I ever do that? No wait… Who are you all really? What is your relationship with Odeta?"
"Hmph! We have nothing to tell you!"
This brat…
I rolled up my sleeves and started walking towards him, "You know… I've been really patient so far… And you're really taking advantage of my patience I see…"
A look of worry crossed his face, "What… What do you think you're going to do? You can't do anything to us! If we get hurt, you'll be the one in trouble!"
"Still so bloody cheeky even now… Seems like I really need to punish you."
"What are you--"
I grabbed him and pulled him to me as I sat on the ground, forcing him to lay on my lap facing the ground.
Before he could say anything, I raised my hand and brought it down with a resounding smack on his bottom, the sound loud enough to echo around the room.
"AHHHHHH!!!" Haddock screamed, the pain overwhelming his senses.
What? Did you think this was the sexy kind of spanking? Oh no, this was not that at all.
I was quite literally using my full strength on that spank while I made sure to cast [Heal] on him so that he doesn't actually die from the smack but still able to feel the pain.
I kind of overdid it a little because I accidentally caused his balls to explode and blood was flowing freely down his pants.
Which is why he's currently screaming like a mad man right now while the other boys immediately shrunk back while clutching their crotch.
Ah fuck…
I quickly poured more mana into my [Heal] spell to fix my mistake, regenerating his balls back to normal.
His pained screams slowly turned into a pained groan, obviously still feeling the aftershocks of his balls exploding.
I managed to pretend I meant to do that and cleared my throat, "Ahem… So do you still want to act tough?"
"Ughh… Oww… This… This proves it… You really were… Abusing Big Sis Odeta… All those years ago…"
What the heck is this idiot even saying?
I raised my hand again, "Alright, talk now. How did you meet Odeta?"
He clenched his jaw and it looked like he was going to refuse answering the question again when he finally let out a sigh before relenting.
"We… We were escaped slaves… We met her in the forest near Elhiria Republic after the merchant caravan transporting us was destroyed by monsters… We were the only survivors when Big Sis Odeta rescued us…"
Huh… When did this even happen? Wait… I think I know… This was after she left Dragon Sanctuary and went on a training journey, right?
Ok, I at least got the timeline down I guess…
But now I have another question, "What exactly did Odeta even tell you guys that made you think was abusing her?"
"Tch… You know full well you did… Big Sis Odeta was suffering the entire time and she kept wanting to take revenge on you!"
"Huh? What did she say exactly?"
"Hmph! She said that you beat her so badly that she went out on a training journey just so that she can train herself to become stronger than you! So that when she meets you again, she will show you how much stronger she's grown and she won't be the pathetic weakling she was when she met you!"
…
Oh my god… Ok, now everything makes sense.
I shoved him off my lap which made him fall on his haunches, the boy shooting me a look of anger before remembering I could literally bust his balls if I wanted to and averted his eyes.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "Did she ever say that she resents being weaker than I was back then? That I actually specifically beat her up?"
"Yes! She said that you beat her a lot!"
"Did she say that it was a spar between me and her?"
The boy paused for a moment, "... No?"
Ugh… No, I don't blame Odeta… She's really straightforward with herself and I remember what she was like when we were still young…
I groaned, "Did she even tell you guys why she felt like a 'pathetic weakling'?"
"Wasn't it… Because you were beating her up?"
"No… My first meeting with her involved her party being attacked by a Wyvern and her sister almost lost her life while she couldn't do anything. Her sister was hurt and they might have gotten wiped if I didn't jump in to save them. That was what she was talking about…"
Haddock's brows furrowed, "How do I even know if you are telling the truth?"
I stood up and dusted myself, "Firstly, you could just go back and ask Odeta about this and she would tell you the same thing. So I don't really have a reason to lie as you could verify this fact quite easily. Secondly, I should be the one questioning you because Odeta doesn't seem to recognise you at all. How do I know you're telling the truth?
Why would she tell all that to a group of nobodies she just met?"
"We weren't nobodies! She… She saved us and took us under her wing so that she could train us while she was on her journey!"
Ah… Ok… All the pieces are fitting together now… Although there's one final piece that I know that he doesn't, which makes his case really sad.
Odeta definitely had a sense of inferiority back then because of what happened with the Wyvern so she was focusing on training herself to be stronger.
On her journey, she just so happened to run into this group of boys and she decided to save them and taught them the training regime I gave her to train alongside them.
She definitely didn't intend on staying with them long term and was most likely only training them as a way to encourage herself to become even stronger to prepare for our reunion.
But because of her straightforwardness, these boys had a misunderstanding which leads to them thinking Odeta hates me and wanted to get revenge on me.
Thus, they started harbouring such negative thoughts towards me and believed I made Odeta suffer in the past.
As for the really sad part that he doesn't know but I know… Odeta didn't even think she would reunite with these boys and absolutely believed that she would never see them again… So she completely forgot about them…
Damn dude…
I had to explain to them about how I let them stay at my place while her sister recuperated and then I taught her a training regime which also involved us sparring and Dungeon diving from time to time.
Then when her sister was healed, we parted ways and she promised to become stronger for our reunion.
As I was telling the story, I could see their faces grow paler and paler as my explanation continued, probably because they finally realised how much they screwed up and how big of a misunderstanding they had of our situation.
By the time I was done, they looked like they just wanted to dive into the nearest hole and hide in there for the rest of time.
I sighed, preparing myself to guide them back to the top floor of the Dungeon when Haddock leapt to his feet to point his finger at me.
"Aster! I wish to have a duel with you!"
…
Dude, are you being serious right now?
Did you seriously forget that I literally smacked you around and one shot the monster that was going to kill you?
Not to mention the fact that I've literally beaten all of you in class before?
Ah fuck it, let's make this quick then.