Chapter 216 - Past The Gate (2/2)

Lydia gave John the 'I saw this coming' look, while John simply smiled back before saying.

”I was invited here.” John proudly declared

”Where's the invite? And why didn't you come in a carriage?” He asked as he looked Them up and down.

”The invite? It's right here, of cours-”

John suddenly stopped talking once he remembered what he had done with the invite

[I gave it to Master and Serena...]

”You were saying?” One of the three guards asked as he approached John

There were quite a few guards, two guarding the gate, and others guarding the ball from the inside. John could tell due to the amount of magic which was oozing out of it.

”I just remembered, I handed it to my party who's inside. If there are any other ways to confirm my ident-”

Before John could finish, one of the guards placed their hands on his shoulder before saying

”Listen kid, go somewhere else, don't start causing problems here. Some of the most well renowned families in the city including the duke himself, are here.” Said the guard

John listened to this without saying a single word.

”Rather than just causing problems for yourself, why don't you just make things easier and head back home?” The man asked

As Lydia moved her hand towards John's shoulder to pull him away, She noticed a drop in the air's temperature. Everything was getting colder.

John let out a sigh, his breath visible due to how cold it had gotten as he said

”How impudent, to not recognise the very own S-Rank adventurer which you invited to your party... Perhaps I should remind you?” John asked as he stared straight at the guard

Intimidated, the Guard stepped back for a moment, his expression changed from one of the realisation to despair shortly after.

”You're really him...? I-I apologise, I failed to notice something so simple. You even match the description... I hope you'll find it somewhere in your heart to forgive this old man.” Said the guard as he suddenly crouched on the floor and bowed

[Eh? What?]

Confused, John quickly looked around, the attention of the some of the other guards were on him. One of them even whispered something to another, before that say person went running off as if he were trying to make a report.

”I-It's fine, I'm not mad, I was just trying to prove a point. There's no need to bow, please raise your head.” Said John with a troubled look

”T-Thank you... I had no idea that you were that S-rank adventurer... P-Please, pass through.” He muttered as he pointed towards an entrance beside the gates.

[Are S-rank adventurers really that scary?]

***

Lydia let out a sigh of relief as the guards let them through the entrance without noticing what they had been hiding.

The two stayed quiet after passing the entrance, and once they were a good distance away, she finally opened her mouth

”John... while it was a good idea, you should be more careful, people are quick to misunderstand when it comes to cases where the other has a large amount of power.”

”Yeah... Sorry, I didn't know he was going to react that way, and I doubted that he'd believe me.”

”N-No, it's mainly my fault, so sorry... More importantly, where will we put them?” Asked Lydia as she pointed at the two kids who were invisible two others