Chapter 102 - Leo's Palace

As the light from the teleportation faded from his eyes, Rynold blinked to refocus his gaze.

"Where the hell are we?" he asked while looking around. There was no way for him to tell since they seemed to have landed at an area similar to a courtyard.

Rubbing his eyes, Leo looked around. He actually knew what coordinates he inputted on the console beforehand, but, naturally, some visual confirmation would actually help.

"Courtyard of the palace," Leo said as he pointed at the gigantic building that was behind them.

Rynold turned around to see where Leo was pointing at. And, just like that, his jaw dropped.

Any sort of aristocratic family that has been in power for who knows how long would definitely be living a very comfortable life. Looking at the palace right now, Rynold could tell that Leo's family lived a very, very, extremely comfortable life.

"So, this is where you live?" Rynold asked as he stared in pure awe at the magnificent building in front of him.

In an artistic sense, Rynold wasn't blind. He wasn't an uncultured swine where he can't appreciate something of such beauty and magnificence. It was clear to him that the structure was built ages ago and had stood the test of time.

However, in another sense, Rynold couldn't help but think that the building stood as a testament to something else entirely.

'How long have they stood like that, then? Oppressing the people and all that. Leo wasn't kidding when he said that the distance between the classes being wide as a canyon.'

Leo chuckled, full of pride. "Yeah," he answered, "It's big and all, but I'd rather have one room to myself, considering I have so many."

Rynold's attention instantly moved to Leo by the end of the sentence. He raised an eyebrow in utter doubt, looked Leo dead in the eye, and said, "Did you seriously just brag about how rich you are?"

"For fuck's sake, man, I was just kidding," Leo said before heartily laughing.

To which, Rynold sighed in utter disbelief. He couldn't believe that he'd have to help this guy throughout all of this. 'Man, this is going to be a rough few days,' he thought to himself as he took a step forward.

"Can we actually get going?" Rynold asked as he continued walking to the palace, almost leaving Leo behind.

"Right, right," Leo ran up and overtook Rynold, "Sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes."

With Leo leading the way, they soon found themselves inside the Main Hall of the palace. Rynold couldn't help but exclaim his wonder at the architecture from inside the palace.

It didn't stop there, though, as the two continued until they arrived before the throne room. Just outside the door, Leo started to explain the nuances in greeting the royal family. Even Leo himself, the heir of the throne, had to be respectful in front of his own parents.

"...And whatever you do," by the end of his explanation, Leo was rather serious, "Do not. And, I mean, DO NOT, have eye contact with them."

Rynold nodded in acknowledgment of what Leo had just explained to him. Essentially, Leo's parents' standards are to keep whoever approaches them be less than human.

Whether it be the handmaidens or their own family, it was important to the royal couple in charge to be on top of everyone. It meant that anything or anybody other than them isn't even worth two cents of their time.

Leo motioned for the guards to open the door to the throne room. Since he was the next heir, the guards didn't hesitate to let them in.

Walking straight down the middle, the two maintained eye contact with the marble floor. It's a shame, though, because Rynold could see the beautiful ornaments on the ceiling from the reflection of the marble.

"Father. Mother. I have returned," Leo said as he knelt about three meters where his parents were sitting. Rynold immediately knelt as soon as Leo did while simultaneously trying to catch a glimpse of their faces.

"Ah... yes...," Rynold heard a musky and somewhat slurred voice he presumed to be the King's. "Who are you again?"

'Are you fucking kidding me? How can it be this bad?' Rynold internally cursed at the question that the King blatantly asked.

"Your son, Leo, My Lord. I have returned from my journey and have successfully chosen a champion for the tournament," Leo answered without the slightest bit of hesitation as if the same thing happened before.

'Tournament? What tournament?' Rynold thought to himself as Leo had just mentioned it. 'Did I miss a memo or something? What the hell?'

"Ah yes, you..." This time, a woman with a somewhat mature voice spoke out. Rynold presumed the one who spoke to be the Queen. Rynold noticed, though, that both the King and Queen said words that were a bit slurred.

Suffice it to say, having a ruling power that was constantly drunk clearly isn't a good sign.

"Guards...," the Queen continued, "Throw this filth into a cage at the colosseum."

The guards from outside the door moved without hesitation, opening the doors and marching to where Rynold was kneeling.

Truthfully, the series of events that followed Rynold and Leo's initial entrance was nothing but textbook oppression. He was caught off guard by the sudden revelation that there was some sort of tournament going on, but, otherwise, there really wasn't anything worthy of praise.

Well, Rynold admitted that he was impressed by the guards that were seemingly able to hear the Queen's command even though they were behind closed doors. If only the guards weren't manhandling him right now, Rynold would surely compliment them.

Walking on his two feet, Rynold walked through numerous hallways and corridors that were too many to memorize.

Along the way, he was being shoved and pushed by the guards that were supposedly guiding him where he needed to go.

Rynold, of course, bore all of that because there won't be a point in trying to resist now. He was just one person, after all. Resisting now would only place him in a somewhat dangerous spot.

He soon arrived at the colosseum dungeon. From the looks of it, the Queen's description of cages seemed to be rather accurate.

Initially, Rynold held on to the hope of the fact that they might be other humans around. However, from the sounds that the creatures were making behind the thick doors of each cage, Rynold knew that he might have to fight alone.

Tuning his ears as he walked to where his supposed "cage" was, Rynold picked up on some of the sounds that he heard along the way.

'Ghouls, some animals, and possibly a Behemoth Ghoul? But..., what the hell is making that sound?!'

Rynold heard a creature making some sort of sizzling sound. It reminded him of the sound of bacon hitting an oiled-up pan. Unfortunately, the smell was anything but.

The aroma of something burning brought chills down Rynold's spine. He couldn't point it out as to what it was, but he knew he won't be able to kid around when he would have to fight it.

Regardless, Rynold continued walking forward, never stopping.

In order to convince the guards that he was practically useless, Rynold had to act as underwhelmingly as possible.

Any sort of surprise strength that Rynold would reveal will put him at an advantage.

Turning around the corner, Rynold was suddenly shoved into a cage that was less than comfortable at the first glance.

Rynold dropped to the floor and looked back at the guards who have so eloquently guided him here. Rynold could actually see the discriminating gaze that they had on him. In which, after a very brief moment of eye contact, disappeared as soon as the guard closed the door.

'Even the guards are like that, huh?' Rynold thought to himself as he looked around his cage, 'This place is a shithole. The entire city probably looks like this too, huh?'

Knocking on the walls and door, Rynold could tell that he was practically in a concrete box. No part of it was hollow. Breaking through using his drill would undoubtedly work, but the amount of noise it'll make would alert the guards.

He sighed as he took a seat on the ground facing the door. It wasn't quiet, nor was it comfortable to be in a cage such as this. The best word that Rynold would use to describe this place would be "depressing."

'What do we do now, hmm...,' Rynold let his mind wander in the cage where he was sitting. There wasn't much to do other than wait, of course.

'That son of a bitch Leo could've at least said something about this,' Rynold's thoughts instantly went to what happened in the Throne Room.

'Man, I swear to the gods, why the hell am I going through all of this nonsense. Although, the whole colosseum tournament thing is kind of a nice twist.'