Chapter 36

City of Grotica

Pita!! pata! klink!! pita!!!

[haa...] A long sigh escaped from Haru's lips

He lifted his face with closed eyes as he felt the gentle tapping of raindrops against his skin and could not help but recall that These was his favorite kind of days back on earth, where he didn't have to feel bad as i watched the rain from the windows of his room, Seeing the drops trickle down always brought a sense of calmness within him.

The percussion of the given water varies according to the surface it wets, the outline of what the streets once was, was still there, a ghostly shadow of what it was before the bloody battle that pounded the city not too long ago.

Above, the sky was dominated by tumbling greys, and smoky silver. he shifted his eyes to the fallen knight at his feet and then across the once cobbled streets and another sigh escaped his lips as not long after, his facial muscles began to twitch.

Getting punched severally seemed to have hurt his pride earlier and his unwillingness had boosted his abilities. He calmly pulled up the notifications he received earlier,

<<warning!!warning!! Unspecified Energy detected within the Host's body.>

<Requesting Permission to Transmute into Chakra for Host's Safety.!!!>

<Request granted...Proceeding with transmutation... Success!!...>

< 3rd effect of Champion of Pride title is now active: 30% boost in stats>

<+ 34>

<+29>

<....>

"Just how many effects does the title have?" Haru finally asked after a while and got no response, when he wanted to press for more information, He soon heard a series of gallops and the sound of a wheel splashing through a puddle on the ground. He turned in the direction of the sound in a rather indifferent Manner.

It has been raining for hours and the roads were full of puddles of water. There were now people coming around with a few city guards pushing them back, but only the smaller groups were cleared off Completely.

"A horse wagon?"

Haru watched it with a bored face the moment he saw the church Crest on the side of the Carriage. he remember seeing it on the paladins in Primux.

"come to think of it, how come Primux has no Church?"He thought Casually.

It was an average cabin that seemed to have a three to four person Capacity.

[HALT!!!...] The coachman bellowed as he comically pulled the Horse, if you looked closely you would notice that he was sweating under the Rain.

With this scene, the atmosphere in the already ruined Victorian Era street erupted into chaos. The Crowd was boisterously discussing whoever was within the carriage, debating if it was Priestess Nuwa or a priest called Osas with the latter being called a pig in most of the sentences.

The people on the streets spoke with each other while Haru observed them. The people here seemed much well off than "Primux", men wore neat suit like attires, and the women wore long parasol skirts.

Most of them even used several kinds of umbrellas to withstand the rain.

Soon the Coach man jumped off the driver's seat and walked towards the crowd while some armored knights caught with the carriage. Clearly they had been running after it for quite a while and only caught up to it now.

Gasp!!

The crowd gasped as the coachman forcefully took an umbrella from a middle aged man and dashed towards the carriage door with a flattering Smile.

[My Lord please] He said.

[Tch!!it had to be the pig!!] a voice in the crowd said almost viciously. Haru couldn't help but laugh in his mind as he wondered just how much hatred that person must have.

[If you don't want to die a gruesome death, you best mind your words. Even if you can't, you will have to go and seek death somewhere else] another voice warned, soon several other side comments popped up. Although they spoke in a relatively low voice, it was still clear to Haru.

Soon a Huge meatball stepped on the carriage stair,causing it to visibly tilt towards that side. with this sight even Haru could not agree more with the earlier statement about this being a pig.

The meatball had beady eyes with a wide flat nose which really did have the shape of a pigs nose, he had his mouth raised towards the sky as he tried to look haughty. He was wrapped in what looked like a bed sheet than a robe.

"-100 Points in charm for him, but his highest stats would be constitution and infamy." Haru could not help but think in an amused manner, he probably broke 300kg.

It has to be said that, Although Haru's calculations were just an estimation, they were not too far from reality.

He could imagine the state that he would be in if such a creature fell on him while he was out on a walk. It would be an abysmal death cycle.

"Haa!, why am i imagining such a bleak future?." He questioned inwardly.

While he was having his one man play in his mind, he still had an apathetic look on his face.

Meanwhile, the priest "Osas" stood there with his mouth facing the sky under the Umbrella.

He kept wondering why this man hadn't greeted him, so he looked down only to see the look on Haru's face and the latter mumbled something in a low voice.

[I doubt he can see his feet at this rate.]

[What??!!!I can] The priest Hurriedly defended himself.

[Eh??!!if you say so] Haru said with a shrug as he didn't feel inclined to argue as It would just go on and on and on… It would be an endless vicious cycle with self-explanatory results and a shameless opponent that wouldn't admit anything.

[YOU!!!] Osas was speechless, when had anyone spoken to him like this, in anger he turned to the tired Knight and injected Qi into his voice as he let out a thunderous Roar at the tired looking young men.

[Don't just stand there, capture this heretic....dare to commit murder in the streets!!], this made the normal civilians shiver. To the commoners, his class 4 warrior level could make him seem like a God but to people like Haru?, might as well kill him with a glare.

[[[yes!!]]]They responded instantly, making their way through the now muddy ground. this scene made the commoners begin to scatter once more, after all they knew just how powerful the lone warrior was.

while all the chaos was going on, a voice suddenly tore through the tension [Stay your Hand!!, this is the Van family business!!! step aside]

It was Xavier!

A light flashed through the priest's eyes as he said [ah...if it isn't Sir Xavier!].

Honestly, when he had heard about the commotion, He felt it was an opportunity to get a powerful warrior under his wing but when he saw Haru's attitude, he felt he could still use some force to pressure him.

Unfortunately, the Count beat seemed to be connected to this so he decided to take a step back to avoid conflict, especially with the Assassination incident last night.

[Greetings... Priest Osas!. I would really love to accompany you but as you can see I'm a little busy presently.]Xavier said in a neither humble nor haughty manner.

But Osas didn't seem to be bothered, How could he bothered? after all Xavier was a class 6 mage(king) just a few steps from being a saint!. So he responded calmly[ of course] before grunting at his entourage.

Haru calmly watched the scene as though none of it was of his concern, when the people from the church were far enough Xavier cleared his throat and spoke while pointing towards a new carriage that had just arrived. [Mr Itachi If you please...]

Haru only appeared dazed for a second before he boarded the carriage, the change of tone seemed to have thrown him off for a second.

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Few minutes later, Xavier finally spoke within the carriage as he looked through the small window at the now clear sky.

[we'll be there soon]

After about 7 minutes, the carriage stopped completely, and the driver opened the carriage door.

Haru carried kusanagi as he jumped out of the carriage.

He started to inspect his surroundings. although it was't as he expected, it wasn't far off, it was a huge castle with fields of green grass on one side and a big fountain at the center. There was even a wall surrounding the main manor.

In front of him, at the center of the compound, was a big house with three floors. Soldiers came in and out, so Haru guessed that this was the Barracks.

He stood in front of a Bronze Statue of a Lord Melfron Van and looked towards the brown and deep gold exterior of the statue. It reminded him of an angry looking guard he once had.

[That was Papa Van, he founded this House about a hundred and fifty years ago.]Xavier said from behind him.

[I see] Haru nodded seriously, even though in his mind he was saying "hmph not my cup of tea, he just reminded me Guard Kanta"

[oh John, what are you doing here?] Xavier suddenly said in surprise, this made Haru turn in the same direction as well. [Right, Itachi...this is John, My son]

After the short introduction, a solemn-looking gentleman approached and greeted Haru curtly before turning to Xavier.

[On my way out of the city, I heard the explosions so I...] Haru zoned out of the story as he observed John. He had short white hair and looked to be in his early twenties, probably 23 at most.

he hard Xavier's eyes only less sharper but you could tell that he was a competent ice mage from his aura.

Meanwhile as the two discussed, the Carriage Driver, accompanied by a couple of young soldiers, pulled the horse carriage into the stable and parked it.

Haru briefly scanned over the young men. They all looked strong and fit. Perhaps they had been trained in combat as well.

As he was lost in thought, John directed a statement at him "Please, if you may, Master is expecting you."

With a wry smile, Xavier guided Haru inside while muttering [always so serious].

Haru followed with a nod, going up a flight of stairs and into the building.

There was a broad corridor, covered with a Deep Blue carpet, both sides of it decorated with candlesticks and dark empty armor.

When he reached the end of the corridor, Haru squinted his eyes as they were almost blinded by the light.

A grand, glamorous hall appeared in front of him, crystal lights hanging from the top, reflecting the lights, instantly brightening up the entire hall.

However, the master of the hall seemed to be in a gloomy mood as he stared at a lying figure in front of him.

He was a pale, stout middle-aged man of average height.

Behind him was a middle-aged woman who shared the same facial expression.

By looking at the paintings in the middle of the hall, Haru could tell that this was the master of the house, Count Van himself, and his wife.

Although the paintings had to be about a decade old, neither of them had aged much. They were both still recognizable.

When the master saw Haru come in, he immediately stood up and voiced his Thanks, "Sir Itachi! I cannot begin to thank you enough!".