The group left the inn, with Klaus and Richard walking side by side, laughing on the way.
“Hey, do you know what’s wrong with him?” Reynolds leaned closer to Grey and asked.
“No, but from the way he’s smiling, it’s nothing good for them.” replied Grey.
“Hmm, I really wanna know.” Reynolds said curiously.
Grey rubbed his chin before replying, “He’ll tell us when we get there.”
The group soon got to the carriage alongside Smith and Richard. It was all white, with the decorations painted gold drawn by four snow-white stallions. The carriage looked quite luxurious, but there was an issue, it was a little too small to fit all of them.
“One person would need to walk over to the mayor’s villa.” Richard said when he realized the problem.
Klaus looked around and a smile crept up his face, all he wanted to do was annoy these guys.
“How about this, Alice will walk over to the villa?” He pointed at Alice.
Grey and the others looked at him in shock, only to see him winking at them. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“No, it’s ungentlemanly of us to allow such a kindhearted lady to walk to the villa when there’s a carriage here.” Richard quickly objected to it.
“Hmm, okay it’s settled. You, you’ll walk over to the mayor’s villa, the rest, come in.” Klaus pointed at Smith before going into the carriage, accompanied by Grey and Reynolds.
Grey and Reynolds realized what he wanted to do the moment he said that Smith should walk to the villa, so they quickly followed him inside the carriage without any delays.
Alice smiled softly but still climbed into the carriage, leaving Richard and Smith outside.
Richard and Smith stood outside shell-shocked, Smith actually had his mouth wide open because he could not believe what just happened.
Klaus knew that the only reason Richard and Smith approached them was because of Alice, if he had pointed at Grey or Reynolds, Richard might agree to it, but if he pointed at Alice, he would not. He also sensed that Smith was acting submissive towards Richard, even though it looked he had a high status in this city.
‘What the hell?! That’s my carriage!’ He almost screamed out loud.
Richard’s mouth twitched a couple of times before he whispered, “Don’t worry, they will regret this.”
Smith couldn’t believe his ears, first Klaus acted like he was the owner of the carriage, and now, Richard was actually telling him not to worry? Doesn’t that imply that he would have to walk to his father’s villa?
A cold glint flashed through Richard’s eyes before he climbed into the carriage leaving Smith all alone outside.
Smith stood outside, tears almost running down his eyes. And just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, it’s started raining.
“What?!” He exclaimed in surprise.
The sun was just about to set, and the weather was still fairly bright, there weren’t even any signs of rain, so, how the fuck did it suddenly start raining?
Unfortunately, the carriage had already departed, and even if it was still there, he couldn’t get in.
He almost wanted to cry, but his expression turned worse when the rain stopped after the carriage went out of sight.
Smith was an Earth Elementalist, but the surprise from Klaus’ actions, and Richard actually agreeing for him to walk to the villa stunned him to the extent that he didn’t form something like an umbrella to shield himself from the rain.
_____
In the carriage.
Klaus and Richard were talking enthusiastically with Klaus telling him of their travels. Of course, he didn’t speak of the trial land, or where they came from nor where they’re headed. In short, he lied all through the conversation.
He even said they were kicked out of their Academy because they couldn’t get to the target set by the Academy. Some of his stories are so enthralling that even his friends listened intently. There were times that they were shocked by what Klaus said they did.
Void looked at Klaus and couldn’t help but praise him, ‘This guy is amazing!’
‘He’s a good liar.’ Grey replied.
‘No, you saying he’s a good liar is an understatement, he’s a terrific liar. When were we robbed when coming?’ Void took at Klaus who was still speaking.
‘Or attacked?’ Grey added.
‘When did we even sleep in the forest? Okay, that might be true since we did sleep in a forest while we were in the trial land.’
If someone who wasn’t with the group heard all of Klaus’ bullshits, they would definitely believe it, just like how Richard was believing almost every word he was saying.
Five minutes later, the carriage got to the mayor’s villa. When the carriage stopped, Grey and the others looked out the window, only to discover they were just at the gates of the villa. Two fully armed guards talked to the coachman, before inspecting inside, above, and below the carriage before letting them pass.
Once inside the gate, and beyond the high grey walls, the carriage slowed down, allowing Grey and his friends to take in the full villa view. The park around the manor extended over eight hundred meters. The air smelled of cut grass, flower beds, and finely trimmed bushes adorned the cobblestone paths that went across the whole park.
Halfway between the gate and the villa, there was a plaza, surrounded by benches. At the center, there was a huge pedestal with a marble statue of someone that the group assumed had to be either the first mayor or an Ancestor they were proud of. There’s also the possibility that it was the current mayor as well.
The villa itself was bigger than the group imagined, it extended for at least three thousand square meters, divided into a main building, a left and a right wing forming a reversed U shape. It took almost three more minutes to actually get to the villa’s entrance.
Grey sent out his spiritual sense to examine the area, and he easily noticed the guards that were hiding behind the bushes, watching them. It was only after they highlighted the carriage did the guards stop watching them.
‘Void.’ He called.
‘On it.’ Void replied.
His senses were sharper and covered a greater distance compared to Grey’s, so he would be able to sense what Grey missed.
‘Nothing to worry about, they’re all in the Arcane Plane. There’s one guy hidden inside that seems to be close to the Origin Plane, or maybe he’s in the Origin Plane. I really can’t tell, but the person isn’t a problem, even Klaus can defeat him.’ Void reported.
If Klaus were to hear Void’s statement, he would definitely curse at him.
“We should wait for that guy.” Klaus suggested.
He acted like he had forgotten Smith’s name, when the truth was, he had also forgotten Richard’s name as well. But since they were now ‘friends’, he didn’t need to call Richard by his name, well, that was what he was telling himself.
Klaus’ behavior was currently strange for the group, but knowing that he wasn’t up to anything good, they decided to watch with folded arms.
They entered the carriage back to the plaza and sat on one of the benches around the plaza.
Richard had tried on multiple occasions to strike a conversation with Alice, but it had all been futile.
“Hey, do you like my friend?” Klaus asked Richard.
The duo was sitting on one bench, while Grey, Reynolds, and Alice were sitting on another bench.
“Yeah, I fell in love with her when I saw her helping that elderly man.” Richard nodded with a soft smile.
‘After tonight, you’ll all be dead.’ thought Richard.
“You saw her helping that old man that was pushed aside?” Klaus asked while wearing a surprised expression.
Richard nodded, but his expression changed when he heard Klaus’ next question.
“Why didn’t you step out to help the old man, instead of allowing her to do it?” Klaus asked thoughtfully.
‘This guy deserves death! I’ll make sure he suffers.’ Richard gritted his teeth hatefully but did it secretly so Klaus wouldn’t see it.
“You see, I was just about to walk out when she helped.” He smiled awkwardly.
“Haha, I knew you were a noble person. Oh! Why did you guys also allow the guards to extort money from us?” Klaus laughed before asking.
‘I’ll irritate you till you drop dead.’ thought Klaus.
There’s something only his friends knew about him, he was multi-talented! He could talk, annoy, and irritate someone all at the same time!
“You…see…actually…” Richard was left short of words.
How could Klaus ask him such obvious questions? Of course, he didn’t want to help, but he couldn’t say that. Just as he was about to try explaining, Smith walked in.
“Ah! You’re finally here!” Klaus stood up and swaggered towards him.
Smith tried to force out a smile, but his expression turned even sourer when he heard Klaus’ next words.
“How was the weather?”