Chapter 65: Meeting Earl Rais

With Circe's Salamander leading the w ay, all the monsters that roamed the plains stayed far away from their group. Fen was still fidgeting on Jay's lap. Jay handed him a piece of jerky, and Fen calmed down immediately. "That's the last piece I have," said Jay, patting Fen's head. Fen nibbled on the small piece of dry meat, slowly savoring every bite. Jay felt a unfriendly gaze, looking around, he locked eyes with Bill. Bill's gaze was filled with ill-intent, he looked like he wanted to kill Jay.

Replying with a smirk, Jay redirected his attention on a approaching mount. It was Vlad, and he was staring at Myra with lustful eyes. Riding a black stallion, Vlad tried to strike up a conversation with Myra. "You are simply stunning, may I know your name?" Vlad said, eyes glowing red. "Charm? You are a disgusting bat," said Myra, disgusted. Vampires and Wargs never got along well, always fighting for territory and prey. Noticing Myra's wolf like pupils, Vlad said, "A warg, how interesting." Vlad willed his mount to speed up, and when he passed Louis, he whispered, "Don't forget our deal."

The rest of the journey went well, and soon enough, they were at the gates of West Tawghull. The refugees outside that were trying to seek asylum were still waiting in line, and there seemed more villagers than last time Jay was here. "What's with the long line?" Louis asked, looking at the villagers that were dressed poorly and looked famished. "The soldiers were sent to war, so the monsters began to run rampant," explained Jay, telling Louis about the events in Treemare. "We should help them," Louis said, watching the poor people. "Unless you have a way to kill most of the monsters that inhabit the plains, I don't think we could help," replied Jay, although he felt empathetic for the people, there was only so much they could do.

With the flag of the Corinth Kingdom waving, the guards instantly came over to welcome them in. They skipped the long queue, passing right through the gates. "I wish that it was this easy last time," said Jay, remembering the schemes he came up with to skip the long line. The guards led them directly to the Earl's residence, where they were scheduled to stay the night. They passed the fortress that Jay rescued Behemoth from. They were led to a large mansion, larger than most buildings that Jay had ever seen before. Passing through the luxurious gates, the group dismounted. The horses and mounts were led to the stables, and before Behemoth left, Jay said, "Don't get mugged this time, fight them if they try to force you." A servant was going to lead Circe's Salamander away, but Circe said, "Don't." With a snap of her fingers, a white array appeared beneath the Salamander, and it disappeared after a bright flash of light. "Space magic," said Malum, observing the spell. "She sent the Salamander to a different dimension, that spell will definitely be useful," Malum said, still trying to analyze the spell.

A butler led the students to a dining hall, where each of them were individually seated at a long table. After they were all seated, an middle-aged man wearing expensive but plain-looking clothes appeared. He sat down at the end of the table, observing every student one by one. When his vision landed on Jay, his facial expression changed, but was quickly suppressed. The small change of expression couldn't escape Jay's keen observations, he felt the ill will hidden beneath the grin that was plastered on the man's face. "He must be Earl Rais, that will explain the unfriendly gaze," Jay thought. Somehow, Earl Rais knew what he looked like.

Earl Rais's gaze also stopped briefly when it crossed Jeanne, his gaze showed some guilt, some shame, and some killing intent. Jeanne, who had decent intuition, could feel Earl Rais's emotions. She stared back at him, not backing down. Arthur, who noticed Jeanne's abnormal behavior, asked if everything was alright. "He was the one who caused my family to go bankrupt, he set my father up," said Jeanne, words covered in thick anger. "Calm down, revenge is never the answer," Arthur advised. "I will revive my family's name, I'll make the Card family rise up from the ashes," Jeanne swore. "And I'll be glad to help," said Arthur, looking at Jeanne with affection that was slightly more than just simple friends. After spending the past month with Jeanne, Arthur had grown to like her. She was smart, pretty, hardworking, and very talented. "Thank you," Jeanne said, with a beautiful grin.

"I'm honored that the Third Prince will come visit a city that is as rural as this, we are all delighted by your arrival, " the Earl said, as he recognized the Third prince. His ego being fed by the Earl, the prince was delighted. It was lunch time, so Earl decided that they should have lunch first. Servants pushing food carts entered the room, handing out dishes to everyone. Everyone, including Fen and Myra, all got their plate of meat and vegetables. However there was still nothing in front of Jay. "I'm sincerely sorry, our chefs didn't prepare enough food for them," Earl Rais said, without any genuineness. "How dare you let our guest starve, bring him something to eat right away!" said the Earl, ordering his servants.

Couple minutes later, the servants brought a bowl of porridge for Jay. The food looked disgusting, and it gave off a putrid smell. "I'm actually not that hungry," said Jay, not taking the risk of trying food that has probably gone bad. Seeing Jay get treated unfairly, Arthur offered a portion of his meal to Jay, who refused. "It's fine, I'm not hungry at all," said Jay, smiling.

After they finished their meals, the students were led to their own rooms. The guest rooms weren't luxurious, but they had everything a room needed. But when it got to Jay, the servant said, "Your academy's numbers exceeded what we've expected, so unfortunately, we have no excess rooms left," the servant said to Jay. Bill and the Third prince chuckled, silently mocking Jay. "Nonsense! Is this how you were ordered to treat him?" Arthur was furious. He knew that Jay had to do with the death of Earl Rais's son, but it was the demon that killed his son. Jay wasn't to blame.

"It's alright, the Blazing Chariot has a branch here, I could stay there," Jay said, preparing to leave. Jay left with Myra and Fen, Louis decided to stay behind. "I'll be there when you guys leave tomorrow," Jay said as he left the mansion. Walking outside, he summoned Behemoth. After a glowing array and a bright flash of white light, Behemoth appeared. Hopping onto Behemoth, and helping Myra and Fen get up, they decided to go shopping for a while. Jay needed new shoes, Fen wanted to try some new foods, and Myra wanted to get her hands on some good alcohol and food. They checked in at the Blazing Chariot first, where Behemoth was led to the stables to rest.

Leaving their luggage at the inn, they went towards the shops and stalls. It was around noon, so the food stalls were all opened. Although Fen has already eaten his share back at the mansion, the alluring scents of roasted meat stimulated his appetite. He asked Jay to buy him all sorts of food, ranging from roasted meats to weird fruits. He was just like a little glutton. After about a dozen food stands, the little furball was finally satisfied. He followed quietly besides, Jay, savoring each food he tasted today.

As they walked down the streets, they entered the street vending part of town. There were all kinds of people, from merchants to demihumans, all searching for treasure that was hidden among old antique garbage. The street vendors sold everything, from herbs to magical trinkets. The only problem was that people have trouble distinguishing real powerful magical trinkets with cool looking ones, so a lot of them waste money on junk. Jay searched for a shoe vendor. He finally found one, the vendor sold all kinds of shoes, sandals, leather boots, and crakows. Although Jay really wanted to buy the crawkows because of the pointy ends, he settled for a pair of leather shoes, which was the closest thing to his sneakers.