Chapter 30 - Volume 2 (1/2)

Isaac was spending his day just as he always had, reading a book as he sat on a cus.h.i.+oned chair in front of the City Hall. This time, however, there seemed to be a commotion on the streets which disrupted his focus. He raised his head to see what was causing it.

Isaac saw Ratt leading a girl toward the Police Headquarters situated at the plaza. Ratt stood well inside the girl’s personal s.p.a.ce, his hands skimming over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and a.s.s as he dragged her behind. Isaac breathed his cigarette deeply and muttered to himself.

“I didn’t know people of this city are so creative when it comes to suicide.”

“Huh? What are you standing around for? Move it!”

When the girl stopped moving after spotting Isaac, Ratt slapped the girl’s a.s.s as hard as he could. While Ratt savoured the soft yet firm sensation he felt on his hand, the girl shouted toward Isaac.

“Sunbaenim, can I hit him?”

“He’s not my subordinate.”

Ratt saw the two exchange words to each other and a thought crossed his mind. The girl knew Isaac. Ratt’s face went pale like paper, but before he could get himself together, he noticed the rope he held in his hand loosened. When he turned, he saw the girl smiling at him, her hands holding the shredded rope that once shackled her.

“Do you know what a b.l.o.o.d.y pancake is?”

Reisha pummelled Ratt so hard that even the onlookers could feel the impact of her blows as they watched. Only when both her hands were painted red with blood did Reisha walk toward Isaac with a bright smile, dragging Ratt’s motionless body behind her.

“Yo! It’s been a while.”

Isaac greeted Reisha casually with a limp wave. Reisha’s shoulder drooped at the sight of such effortless greeting.

“Sigh, I see you’re the same as always, Sunbaenim. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, yet you greet me like you don’t even care.”

Isaac noticed that continuing this conversation was only going to get worse, so he quickly changed the subject to Ratt.

“Why did you bring him here?”

“Huh? Then what do I do?”

“Throw him out.”

“Umm, my mum told me I shouldn’t litter….”

Isaac spoke without a hint of emotion towards Reisha, who didn’t know what to do.

“Then bury him.”

“Should I?”

Reisha’s search for a suitable spot to bury him forced Ratt’s survival instinct to kick in. He quickly begged to Reisha, his voice whistling through his broken teeth.

“Keek… Help me.”

“He’s saying ‘help me.’”

“Isn’t killing him better? I don’t think he’ll have any regrets after touching an elf’s a.s.s.”

“Would it? But taking care of the aftermath is annoying, so I’ll just make him follow me as my personal punching bag.”

“Go ahead.”

With Isaac’s apathetic nod, Reisha threw Ratt into the air with just one hand. Ratt’s body landed on the ground, but his body rolled further into the distance thanks to force of Reisha’s throw. Once Ratt’s twitching body came to a halt, the police officers who watched from the side quickly took him away to somewhere else.

“So, how did he wrong you for you to get arrested?”

“Hehe. You see, there was a story that was pa.s.sed down in our tribe, so I wanted to test if it was true.”

“A test?”

“There was a book named ‘Varying Human Reactions When Acting Innocent and Clueless’ written by an elf who travelled the human cities. It was a chronicle of the author’s adventure. There was one chapter which detailed how the police officers groped the author when a small incident occurred.”

“Do elves have a different law when it comes to s.e.xual hara.s.sment? The author just went with that?”

“The author acted like a clueless elf who thought this was just a standard procedure.”

“I mean, there’s a limit to acting. Sure, you are different races, but letting a man have his way on a woman…”

“Huh? But the author was male? He later paid him back in kind by giving them a cursed artifact as a gift.”

“So in order to see if they’d really hara.s.s, you got arrested?”

“Yes.”

Isaac smirked. Despite not seeing her for so long, it seemed her special personality was still the same.

“So why are you here? Have you graduated already?”

“It’s the holidays. Mazelan Sunbaenim asked me to visit you on the way back to my tribe to send you a message.”

“Hm, is it already that time?”

It did seem the days were starting to get colder. Perhaps it will be winter soon.

“Why did he send you when he could just send a letter? Is it cla.s.sified information?”

“I don’t know?”

“I thought you came to give me a message?”

“I knew it. I guess you really are living under a rock just like Mazelan Sunbaenim told me.”

Isaac just watched Reisha as she sighed, still oblivious as to what she meant. Reisha realised how seriously behind Isaac was on recent events and made a fuss as she spoke.

“Do you really not know? The Empire as a whole is in a huge ruckus because of the newest invention, the Communicator!”

“Communicator?”

Isaac asked her to elaborate, trying to confirm if the object in his mind was what Reisha meant.

“Yes! Communicator! You can talk to someone as if they’re next to you no matter how far away they are! All of the professors and lecturers praised it, saying its creation will revolutionise the world! Even Campus brought one in and made a policy where students could speak to their families once a month!”

Isaac went into deep thought as he let Reisha’s words exit out of his other ear. The more he listened, the more it sounded like telephone in its earliest version – one that was yet to be available for all households.

“I also had a go with it after hearing my family got one installed at home too. I found it amazing that I could talk to my mum face to face despite how…”

“Huh? Wait. You can see each other’s faces?”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

Reisha looked at Isaac, wondering if anything she said was that strange. Isaac quickly waved his hand, motioning Reisha to continue, and Reisha eagerly chattered on.

‘What the? Is that even possible?’

Isaac wasn’t aware of its full details, but he had the general knowledge of history of telephones. From Morse Code – back when it wasn’t even possible to send a word through a line – it developed into public phones, then cell phones, and finally video calls. This series of improvements took 200 years of constant inventions and development.

Yet this world somehow bypa.s.sed such development and leaped straight into wireless video calls in one go, globalising its trend along the way? Even magic wouldn’t allow such illogical conclusion.

‘I swear, this world gets stranger by the moment.’

“So Sunbaenim, what will you do about Kunette?”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s really really mad.”

“Mad? At who? Me?”

“Of course it’s you! She couldn’t eat honey ever since you graduated!”

“Why? Rivolden Merchant Guild must have held up their end of the bargain! They should be able to send ten pots of…. They couldn’t send it even if they wanted to.”

Isaac realised his mistake. Even the Rivolden Merchant Guild had no way to bring their goods to Campus if Isaac wasn’t there. Isaac had constantly nagged Gonzales about that fact, yet he managed to forget how it would also affect him. Basically, he ran away from Kunette after irresponsibly making a promise he couldn’t keep. It was Isaac’s fault since he failed to make any proper plans to deal with this problem.

“How mad is she?”

“It was really, really bad at first. I think she suffered withdrawal symptoms when she couldn’t eat the honey she’d had every day, and she absolutely demolished the lodge you used to live in.”

“Hmph.”

Isaac moaned, picturing the carnage in his head.

“Most of her anger is gone and the target of that anger has also changed, but she’s still very upset.”

“What do you mean the target’s changed?”

“We decided to use this Communicator once it was installed, so we called our homes.”

“You told me that before.”

“It seemed the Rivolden Merchant Guild simply stocked the honey they couldn’t send into their warehouse until warriors of Northern Bear Tribe a.s.saulted the guild, angered by the fact that they used Kunette as a tool for their business.”

“I can imagine the chaos.”

“That’s right! But when the guild showed the stacks of honey they had, the warriors simply left after emptying the warehouse. They also told the guild to send all honey to them instead.”

“To the tribe itself?”

“Yes.”

“I imagine there isn’t any left?”

“You’ve seen how much the Northern Bears love honey.”

Reisha’s replies were enough to give Isaac a headache. Kunette earned that honey by allowing Rivelia to cuddle her at the cost of her pride. It was obvious that she would be outraged if that honey disappeared.

“Is she going home now?”

“As soon as the holiday started. She said she’ll come here afterwards. Kukuk, good luck on dealing with her.”

Isaac wrapped his hands around his head. Even Isaac would feel guilty if those s.h.i.+ny puppy eyes of hers were filled with hatred as she looked at him – worse if there were teardrops in the corners of her eyes.

“How much is an elven honey?”

Reisha seemed as if expecting this request from Isaac. She arrogantly pushed out her chest as she showed off.

“Ohohoho. You do need my help right? Elven honey can’t be bought no matter how much money you have, but if you ask really nicely… I might help you out.”

“Yes, please. Get me some of it.”

“Umm, this isn’t what I wanted…”

Reisha had a complicated look when Isaac nodded to her words without hesitation. It seemed she wanted to see Isaac struggle against his pride, hesitating on whether to ask for help or not. She was probably hoping for Isaac to beg on his knees once he finished weighing his pride and his life against each other.

“So, when are you going back? Shall I find a ticket for a ferry?”

“I didn’t come on a s.h.i.+p.”

“Then?”

“All I needed was a raft to come here, just like in Campus.”

“You came all the way from the capital surfing on af raft?”

“Yes. That Grand Ca.n.a.l is really nice you know? The water flows steadily, so it’s really easy for me to pick up the speed there.”

Reisha continued to speak of her adventures, of how she overtook all the s.h.i.+ps that sailed the ca.n.a.l. Isaac listened to her story for some time and then stood up to head for Port City.

“I get it now, so you should go home.”

“Huh? Why! I was planning to play here for a while!”

“Then play here for a few days. Then, go home and get me that honey. Don’t come back if you don’t have it with you.”

“Wow! Are you threatening me now?”

“No, I’m asking you for help.”

“Hm. Well! Since you’re asking me for help, I guess I can’t just leave you alone!”