Chapter 176 – Lets Do It Like This

Just imagine if a situation like that happened in his past life! The image created in Dante’s head was just too unsightly!

Dante couldn’t bring himself to stoop so low as to fight a child.

he was better than that. 

Well, at least he thought he was.

So even though these thoughts were raging in his mind, Dante suppressed his violent urges as he grit his teeth and replied to Lennox.

“Again Lennox, I’ve said this countless times before.

The distance to our destination is quite far so you may have to wait for some time.

But even with that, you shouldn’t have to wait too long this time.  we should be nearing Vainwatch city any moment now.”

But unsurprisingly Dante’s words didn’t do anything to ease Lennox’s impatience in the slightest

“Dante you can’t fool me again! last time you said the exact same thi-“

But Lennox didn’t get to Finnish his sentence before he spotted a strange sight on the horizon.

As Lennox and the rest moved along the road, the hazy blur started clearing up and the vague image of a city could be spotted.

“See Lennox,” said Dante 

“When I told you that it wouldn’t be long till we got to the next city and now look where we are. We’re almost at the city gates”

Even though Dante was right Lennox still couldn’t resist the urge to mutter to himself in displeasure.

But Dante and the rest had heard enough of Lennox’s nonsense and the group paid no more attention to Lennox than the rest of the group headed towards the city gates.

….

Dante and his group soon passed the city gates  as only after a light inspection, Dante and the rest  were finally let into Vainwatch city only having to pay the price of a few copper coins 

But as soon as they entered the city, the group quickly noticed something off about the place.

Simply put, It was just completely different to the other cities they passed through 

It strangely lacked the vibrance and vigour that the other cities had.

For example, whenever Dante and the others previously passed through a city,  they would instantly be greeted with the sight of bustling streets and smiling people.

but now I’m Vainwatch City all they could see were displeased frowns on the faces of the people as they hurriedly scuttled around.

It was almost as if they didn’t even want to be outside in the first place!

Even the children who are  usually the most carefree bunch and supposed to be laughing remained rather quiet and had a strangely sombre aura around them 

“What’s the issue with these guys?” Asked Lennox in confusion 

Hearing this question, Klent just once again  rolled his eyes at Lennox’s idiocy

“Well, if you lived near one of the largest bandit camps in the Kingdom,  I doubt you would be able to keep  a rather happy mood either.” stated Klent

“It’s not just that” added Dante saving Lennox from total embarrassment. 

“Recently there have been reports of  disappearing individuals from within this city and nearby villages.”

“Is this related to the bandit camp?” Asked Rebecca  in curiosity 

“Not that I know of” replied Dante 

“however, there has been talk of undead in the nearby regions which may have a part to play in these disappearances”

Dante and  the group carried on their discussion for a while longer, up until they began nearing a large estate

Soon, the group stopped in front of the estate, only a small distance away from a group of guards. 

Not long after the group stopped, Klent got off his horse and went to approach the guards.

“Stop!” Cried the guards as they readied their swords.

  but klent didn’t seem to pay any attention to them and continued approaching. His cold eyes just emotionlessly scanned over them as he slowly spoke.

“I come from the Hidden Dragon Academy.  I and my group request an audience with your City Lord!” 

As Klent said this he brought out his private token, showing off the signature symbol of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

But surprisingly, when the guards saw this they didn’t react how anyone suspected them to and barely had any reaction at all.

in fact,  when they first saw Klent’s token they sneered in disdain.

In their heads, Klent’s token couldn’t be anything other than an elaborate trick.

Why on earth would a prestigious member of the Hidden Dragon Academy come to such a far outskirt of the kingdom even the birds didn’t bother to shit? 

The man in front of them was clearly trying to get them with a basic trick! Well, at least that’s what they thought.

Seeing the guards’ failure to acknowledge his words,  the aura around Klent rapidly grew colder.

“Hey… are you ignoring me ?”

It was a simple question but Klents words were already starting to drip with murderous intent.

As he spoke  Klent slowly began to reach for his sword causing a bloody aura to start circling him!

  Seeing this tragic sight, the guards’ hearts started racing and beating erratically! But before a bloody scene could occur a calm yet powerful hand reached out to pat Klent on the shoulder as a commanding voice sounded out.

“Since our previous attempts weren’t enough to convince you, let’s put it like this.

I’m instructing you to tell your City  Lord that the Dragon Son of War is requesting his presence.”

As Dante said this he brandished his personal token 

As soon as the guards saw this they began to sweat nervously.

It might be possible that some individuals had the confidence to fake being from the Hidden Dragon Academy, but to fake being a Dragon Son? 

That was simply asking for death!

The people who could do this were either completely crazy, or they were the real deal!

Either way, these were both people a mere guard couldn’t afford to mess with! 

As this realisation hit the guards Dante’s voice sounded out again

“I’m sure you men won’t make me have to repeat myself.”

“Gulp!”

When faced with the terrifying aura released from Dante,  the guards couldn’t help but gulp in fear.

‘That aura…. He’s the real deal’ thought the guards in fear 

But their bad times didn’t end there as when  they turned to the side they could see Klent staring at them with a menacing smile on his face, his sword already drawn!

Despite being smiled at the guards still couldn’t feel comfortable.

The sword clearly wasn’t for play as the guards could feel the sharp and threatening aura around it. And if that wasn’t enough the chilling aura emanating from  Klent was enough to make them reconsider their life choices.

Seeing the situation was about to take a dangerous turn, the guards didn’t waste another second in the area and quickly fled inside the compound to try and notify the city Lord as soon as possible!

….

After a short while, Dante and the others could be seen sitting in a well-designed waiting room.

It was not long after the guards rushed into the building that they soon came back out saying that the City Lord would be out to see them shortly.

Afterwards some servants quickly came and led them into a luxurious waiting room  which they were currently in 

But this brief period of calm didn’t last long as soon some loud knocking could be heard stirring the group back into their alert state.

“Come in.” Called Dante

Even after saying those words, there was a slight pause of silence before the loud creaking of a door could be heard as it was slowly opened.

As the door opened a slightly older man could be seen.

From his face alone, Dante guessed that the man couldn’t be younger than 50  and this was made even more obvious by the highlights of gray that could be spotted in his head of hair 

The man was dressed in black servant clothes and had a plain, welcoming smile on his face 

“Good afternoon young sirs and young miss” greeted the man with a light bow 

“Sorry for the delay in seeing you. It’s just that The city Lord was quite busy today but I can assure you that city Lord dropped all  possible matters just to see you today.”

“If it’s not an inconvenience, I would take up to meet the City Lord now.”