36 Make'em Vanish

Raymond exited the guild in a dispirited mood. If what he had heard from Rumi was true then he wouldn't be able to find any spells related to gravity any time soon.

"Haha, don't be so down, Ray. I always have you to protect me."

Jasmine said soothingly, seeing him in a dejected mood. She hated seeing her master like this.

"Huh! I can only protect you from others."

Raymond whispered in a barely audible tone but Jasmine heard it loud and clear.

"What do you mean?"

She asked curiously. What did he mean by protecting her from others? Does that mean she was a threat to herself?

"Yeah, I can't save you from your stupidity."

Raymond replied as if he had read her thoughts.

"Heeee~ not fair, you are being a bully again."

Jasmine whined and punched him in the shoulders. Raymond chuckled seeing her sour face and pinched her nose.

"That's why, I want you to grow so strong that even your stupidity can't harm you."

Raymond remembered what his grandpa used to tell him when he was younger. He would often say that a person can only be called powerful if even his stupidity and recklessness can't kill him.

"That's very profound."

Lyla said, thinking over Raymond's words. She too wished she had that much strength, enough to break free from her shackles.

"Aww! Leave my nose alone."

Meanwhile, Jasmine struggled to break free from his hold on her nose but failed miserably.

"If you don't let go now, I will sneeze in your hands."

"Ewww! You are gross!"

Raymond quickly let go of her and took a step back. In response, Jasmine struck out her tongue at him and rubbed her stinging nose.

Looking at their playful banter, Lyla sighed inwardly. She had already resolved her heart to kill Raymond but that didn't mean she wasn't wishing for things to be different.

Maybe in another life, she would have been good friends with them but that was not meant to be in this tragic life of hers.

Lyla quietly followed them as they led her through a series of familiar streets. Finally, they stopped at a roadside stall that was selling skewered meat.

"Sister Becca, you should definitely try these. They are very delicious!"

Jasmine beamed happily and ordered a few sticks of skewered meat. There was a variety of beasts' meat used to get several different flavours and tastes.

For example, the meat of 'Fiend Boar'— a level 2 beast— grilled using charcoal after being soaked in a marinade of commonly found spices, tasted heavenly.

Jasmine, in particular, liked the skewered meat made of 'Blazing Fox' meat. Just the fragrance emanating from the grilling made her drool. She couldn't wait to sink her teeth into the meat as the spicy juices filled her mouth.

"Hmmm…So~ good!"

Jasmine cooed in contentment as she felt the mixture of sweetness and sourness gushing down her throat with every bite of the meat.

Raymond munched on his share of the salty skewered meat made of 'Rock Turtle' meat and enjoyed its taste.

He hadn't eaten one of these in years, back when he was a kid, Jasmine used to bring these skewers to him.

'Ah! Good old days…'

Raymond felt nostalgic after taking a bite from the skewer. For many, being not allowed to go out would sound like a pain. But to Raymond who had gotten used to staying in one place, it wasn't that bad.

With enough space for him to train and servants taking care of his every need, Raymond could spend his whole life like that if he was allowed.

Alas, he couldn't, or rather his curious mind wouldn't have allowed him to live like that. His dream of travelling the world would have finally overcome his habit of staying indoors.

But now that he had enough strength, he could fulfil his dream and might even get to live peacefully afterwards.

Lyla ate silently by the side. She showed no outward expressions that indicated whether she liked it or not.

She was just stalling for time until they were somewhat isolated from the crowd. The reason she was a bit late for breakfast today was that she had gone out early in the morning to make some arrangements.

Ever since she heard from Jasmine about going out to roam the Capital, she was thinking of gauging Raymond's strength.

So, she had hired two thugs to make trouble with Raymond once they were in a remote place away from the bustling crowd.

After finishing their share of the skewered meat, the trio made their way towards the other parts of the Capital in search of other forms of entertainment.

By the time they were done with their wandering, it was already past afternoon. Jasmine was having the time of her life as she excitedly showed the places she used to visit and beamed happily every time her master complimented her choice of places for entertainment.

The fact that some things she liked were also matched with her master's liking made her particularly happy.

To think that he would be so willing to buy things from the roadside vendors brought happiness to her face. She had been worried that he would make fun of her tastes since she didn't like the things those nobles usually liked.

Even if she knew her master wasn't stuck up to behave like he was an elitist, it still had her worried that he would find her tastes poor.

Raymond had no idea she was worrying about all those things, he just went with the roadside shopping since it was cheaper and this way he could save his money while also keeping her happy.

It was like hitting two birds with one stone for Raymond. So, he generously took out 5 silver coins that Jasmine had earned from their first mission and spent it all.

"Alright! That's enough roaming for one day, let's go back."

Raymond said seeing as the dark clouds were masking the sun making the sky appear dimmer.

"En. Let's go back."

Jasmine agreed readily, she would usually roam till evening but today she was much more tired than usual due to her previous excitement.

Seeing as they were heading back Lyla sneakily injected her mana into one of her talismans which alerted the thugs she had hired.

This was a special type of two-way transmission talisman that was used to send a signal to the other end by injecting mana. Thus, the talisman with the thugs sizzled, emitting sparkles.

As soon as the trio entered a relatively empty street, Raymond heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Pretty soon he saw two rugged looking guys coming their way while drinking and talking loudly.

Raymond had a hunch that they were up to something when he saw them making signals with their eyes.

-Crack!

"Heh! Look at this sissy, strolling around with two hotties as if he is the emperor."

One of the men threw his wine bottle on the ground in front of Raymond and started mocking him in his loud and obnoxious voice.

"Pfft, what is this? A trash in the Martial Minor realm? What are ya doin' with two pretty birds?"

Another one from the side jumped in to mock him, he was hired to rough up a guy but he never expected the guy to be this weak.

"I am warning you! Simply ignore us and walk away. Trust me, it's for the better."

Raymond said calmly, but inwardly he was cursing his luck.

'Dammit! Am I cursed?'

From the moment he had come down from the mountain, he had been involved in one fight after another. He was getting more and more annoyed with every fight because he couldn't even fight to his heart's content.

It was like playing with children to him, he had to hold back every time lest he ended up destroying half of the Capital.

'Urghh! I just want to have some peace. Is that too much to ask?'

"Hahahaha! What are you goin' to do eh? Cry for Mommy?"

Lyla cringed seeing their pathetic attempt at trying to be bullies. She should have done some research before hiring these guys, at this point, they were just trying to make a fool of themselves.

Raymond was lost in his thoughts and completely ignored them.

'That's it! I am going to hole up inside my room for a few days and relax after this.'

"Is this bastard ignoring us?" One of the thugs asked.

"Aye."

Another thug replied and gripping his bottle harder he tried to throw it at Raymond.

-Swoosh!

Raymond moved like a bolt of lightning and grabbed their collar before he yeeted them up into the sky. He did not care if they would live or die after falling from that height.

Lyla rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times to see what happened.

'What?! Where did they go?'

Even with her sharp eyes, she couldn't see what happened. They were just before her eyes a second ago and now they were nowhere to be seen.

She looked around in panic as if she couldn't make any sense of the situation. Raymond was standing where he was and Jasmine was too in her place.

"Wow! Did they just disappear?"

Jasmine asked with her eyes wide open and looked at her master.

"Yep! How is it? It's my special move 'Make'em Vanish',"

Raymond said proudly. This move was perfect, next time someone annoyed him he would just make them disappear.

"Hah! You and your naming sense!"

Jasmine scrunched her face upon hearing the name.

Lyla stumbled, nobody knew if it was because of hearing that name or because of how Raymond admitted to making two guys in the Martial Grandmaster realm disappear.

"Ah! Miss Becca, be careful!"

But before she could fall, Raymond grabbed her hand and helped her balance.

"Come on, Jasmine. Let's go."

With that, he started going in the inn's direction.

"Ray, wait! Are we going to come back tomorrow?"

Jasmine quickly caught up to him and asked hopefully.

"No way! Not a chance!"

Hearing the seriousness of his voice she nodded and didn't say anything further.

-Rumble!

Thunder made a rumbling sound in the sky which was drowned out by the rumbling in Lyla's mind.

'Did he just grab my hand?'

Lyla stood rooted on the spot, alone. Only the pitter-patter of the rain accompanied the chaotic storm brewing in her mind.

'How?!'

"Sister Becca! Are you coming or not? It's starting to rain."

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Jasmine's voice and she followed after them in a near catatonic state.