Chapter 4: Unluckiness

"By Eranous, what was that sound just now?" The tremor caused by my magic invites unwanted attention toward Fellendules's Mansion. Many feet marched toward this mansion, but at the heart of the problem, only one foot approached.

That man, defined by his age, gray pink complexion, and black dots in his face, slapped the leaf off the door, causing the second tremor in the room.

What happens next was best explained chronologically. Just as he happened to peek up into the room, Astraea slips on one of the papers laying around, causing her to fall down on all fours. Fortunately, she did not sustain any long-term injuries, but she did drag me down, putting both of our falling bodies in an awkward position.

It was just a moment, but his expression told me he was flabbergasted by the sight of his unmarried daughter being in an indecent position with a foreign man; ordinarily one would assume he would shout with all his might, yelling offensive words, yet Don Westel, the man of this mansion, the hardened veteran who was one of the few who survived the "Siege of Trimea," approached this situation with a cold, calculating act. Swinging his arm up, the small green cape on his shoulder was lifted, revealing a sabre on his waist.

"O' Trevor Herscher, foreign traveler of far away land! As the current head of the Fellendules family, I therefore found you guilty of inappropriate behavior." He unsheathed the sabre scabbard, revealing black-colored steel that reflects light better than any silver weapon I've ever seen. "Our meetings may have been brief, but the time for parting has finally come." "If you have any sort of pride left, then come, my precious Damascus Armatoli will deliver you a swift death."

I was frozen to the spot by the sight of that black sabre. I've seen many deaths done by firearms and other deadly weapons during my expedition, but that sabre somehow gave me a more sinister feeling than the other weapon I've encountered. Even then I couldn't let someone from this lunatic family kill me right here, right now, I still had a mission to complete.

Bang! Bang! Astarte launched about three projectiles at Don Westel during his speech. With swift movement however those projectiles that were supposed to be near the speed of sound were easily deflected.

"You shitty uncle!" "What the hell do you think you're doing? Declaring to break my toy just now!" A toy huh? More and more reason for me to leave this mansion as soon as possible.

"Please, my dear Astarte, that foreign man is clearly a bad influence for you and so I must execute him immediately to preserve our family dignity."

He swung his sabre at my direction, a really strange decision since I was outside the sabre reach. That's when I realized my head felt somehow dizzy. A red liquid was rippling beneath my feet, and I braved myself to look at the source. "A....ahhh... My....Ahhh... My...my hand!"

Lying in the floor coloring the scattered document with red ink, my dominant right hand was there, among the wood splinter and paper. I would have thought my hand was still attached to my arm if I hadn't seen the clean cut.

"That first strike was for your action of touching my daughter inappropriately. Be aware you could not run as this whole room was within my reach." That's absurd! He just cut me up with airwave created by his swing! "I'll make sure your head rolls nicely in the second strike. Be still while I delivered you a swift death." He truly meant it. Unlike Astarte that naively picks on others and hesitate to do any kind of real violence, this man in front of me was a bonafide warrior who did not have any kind of hesitation to kill his target.

The pain on my hand could definitely be felt; it stung my nerf instead of numbing it. My body felt hot, and sweat dripped from my forehead to my brow. If my brain had the ability to speak, I'm sure it would say, "We're going to die! We're going to die! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're going to die!" My body couldn't expel any more sweat in the millisecond since death was standing in front of me and it began to shiver violently. Even if I used my newly developed magic, it would be useless against that man; at least I could say that much.

"Stop! I won't let you hurt him any further than this." Astarte stand between me and Don Westel. From the back, I could see her leg trembling, yet she stands tall against her fierce uncle.

"Move along, my dear Astarte. You are well aware that I always uphold the ethical and legal standards above anything else. Even if you despise me for it, I still have to deliver his execution."

"B-but this man was our guest, hurting him will only damage our reputation."

"Blah! That's a naive way of thinking! If I let him live and the news was picked up by the crowd outside of our mansion, the reputation of our family will be tarnished even more than if I killed him." "After seeing your mother run away from this house, you should know better how important it is for one to preserve a respectable image."

Wow, even if I was afraid of him, I still admire Don Westel for giving such a logical argument against the stubborn Astarte. If only the meeting hadn't been so awkward, I might have been a good buddy with him.

"Then uncle..." Astarte fidgets with her finger, her eyes dull and her cheeks blushed. "Do you have any more points to make? What's so special about this man that you want him anyway?" Astarte answered his question with a whisper. No one could her answer really well. "My dear Astarte, have that man turn you into such a wimp!? If you want to voice your opinion then say it with a loud voice. Besides, you should know that my aging ear is not that good anymore." Astarte start straightening her back. "Uhm... if he becomes my fiance then..."

Fi-fiance!? I didn't want anything to do with it. "Fiance but that's just too much Astarte! I mean, I was already married..."

"Shut up, your opinion doesn't matter! I'm talking to Astarte right now," Shit he did not need to yell at me. "Astarte, why do you choose this foreign man with no notable background after you rejected all the fiance candidates up till now?"

"Because he is an otherworlder with latent magical talent. He didn't know anything about magic until I cornered him, and yet the moment he learnt it, he used a magic that could even put me down. Don't you think it's cool to see someone wielding that kind of enormous power?" Astarte's eyes sparkled, and for a brief moment, I thought she was cute.

"Otherworlder eh? No wonder you're so interested in him. Even so, I still can't approve of your relationship." Damn right you were; even I didn't approve of it if my life wasn't the one at stake.

"Then Trevor, please cast your spell on Don Westel." "If he sees you in action, maybe he will change his mind."

"You! Do you seriously believe my magic would work on that terrifying man?" "If I cast it, I'm sure he would just cut me up and say it was for self-defense even before I could react!!" I pointed at Don Westel as I yell at Astarte.

"You are correct O' foreigner guest, no, Trevor, you do have good eyes for judging someone intent. Not even Astarte could predict my action after living with me for 10 years."

"Then what does that mean? Will you forgive him then?" Astarte looked gratefully at Don Westel.

"I do respect your judgement at least but I still need to execute you Trevor," Awww, I knew this kind of man who follow his order to the end like him would never forgive me, "But I might change my mind if you prove your strength and show you are the right candidate for Astarte."

"Gulp—and how should I go about proving it?" "Surely you don't mean I should wage a duel against you."

"Heh. A battle against otherworlder does sounds interesting, but the current you is still too green to fight me." He took a wrinkled piece of parchment from his garment's pocket. "Win and bring me the prize; only then may I approve of your strength." I saw the parchment, and it had a picture of a bearded man carrying a giant axe; underneath, in bold red, was written

"Jorm Gladiator

The battle of this century

All weapons are allowed"

So this was my first ordeal here, and it might prove to be difficult. "Then Don Westel, if you want me to participate in this gladiator fight, could you restore my hand with magic or something? I don't think I can hold even a small sword with my dominant hand gone."

He snarled at me. "No I can't. While I can provide you with a medical service to stop the infection, your hand will not be restored unless you come out as the victor." "Heh, I can't wait to see how you will win without your dominant hand." That's dirty! So he knew he cut my dominant hand, and yet he still insisted upon me to fight in this so called gladiator!

"Fight on, Trevor! If you win, I will give you a special reward" said Astarte as she blinked at me.

"The only prize I want is to get away from you and this whole family drama." I said it with such a low voice to make sure Don Westel won't hear it.