Everyone was stunned in silence. All of them were baffled of Basil's quick decision. He didn't even defend himself, nor he showed any indignation out of it. He merely accepted it.
Nicholas was petty, however he wasn't stupid enough to ignore such quick response of Basil. While he was thinking of what was Basil scheming, Irene and Shirley was worried that Basil had just made a haste decision out of indignation.
"Very well. I will give you the money enough to afford an inn."
At last, Nicholas broke the silence. Basil didn't even give him a glance as he moved away from the dinner table. He was going to pack up his things.
"I do not need any money from you. I have been doing fine without your support for all of these years."
"This brat...!"
After a quick jab at Nicholas, Basil, with Deacon in tow, left the dining room. Nicholas was fuming. His face was red, however he tried his best to calm himself down.
'It is not good to lose control here. Shirley's expression is not good either.'
He frowned when he looked at Shirley. She had been acting strange since he had announced he would punish Basil for his action this afternoon. She was agitated.
Not long after, she stood a abruptly from her seat, surprising her parents. Then, she ran away from the dining room and went to chase Basil.
"I will take care of Young Mistress."
Irene bowed her head and said in a shaky voice. Both Nicholas and Catherine were baffled.
What the heck just happened?
It could be seen on their faces. They could understand Irene. However, they didn't get it with Shirley. To think Shirley would take an interest in Basil, it even surpassed their wildest imagination.
Sadly, they were parents who barely knew their own daughter. Therefore, they just ate silently while the maids observing them awkwardly.
Nicholas' mind had already spinning at miles an hour. He had planned to provide Basil the place to stay so he could plant some supervision on Basil.
However, now that Basil had refused his money, he didn't have any reason to force him to stay in his chosen place. He knew if he did that, Basil would figure out something wrong. He didn't want to just get rid of Basil, he wanted to play it beautifully.
He merely gritted his teeth, then in the next moment his Spatial Bracelet flashed for a second. Quickly, a crystal orb was in his hand. It was no other than a Communication Orb. He quickly channeled his Mana inside it.
The orb shone for a brief second before he saw a blurry image reflected inside it. Without minding the rather suspicious display of the other party, he quickly opened his mouth.
"Tail him."
A cold mutter rang out of him. He didn't even hide it from Catherine. He was sure Catherine wouldn't know the meaning. However, Catherine was having an incomprehensible glint in her eyes.
If only he knew.
....
"Young Master... I am sorry, I couldn't stop the Lord."
Irene bowed deeply to Basil who was sorting his thing in his room. Deacon was back into his small form and sat calmly on the bed. Basil merely stopped his moving hands for a moment before resuming what he was doing.
"I have gained my freedom today. Why do you have to be sorry?"
He asked her calmly with a small smile hanging on his face. Irene raised her head and felt her eyes getting hotter by the second.
She knew it. Her Young Master truly felt free. She could only imagine how hard it must have been all this time for her Young Master to endure. She wanted to be happy for his sake too.
However, she couldn't just let him go. She had a feeling that if she were to let him go, she wouldn't be seeing him no more. It was instinctual, however if Basil heard it, he couldn't refute that either. He really had no plan to return here.
"Brother, I.. I am sorry. It must have been because of me..."
This time, it was Shirley's turn. She was already tearing up. She kept swiping the tears in her eyes but to no avail. Everytime she looked at Basil who was packing, her eyes quickly got wet once again.
Storing away his packed things, which weren't much, to his Spatial Bracelet, he looked calmly at the bawling duo. His heart felt warmth. Their feelings over him were sincere. There was no deception in their expression.
"Birds throw their child from the tree to teach them how to fly. I am not a bird, therefore this is no act of throwing. I am but a caged lion. Today, being freed from my cage, I am ready to explore the world and grow my wings. Is that a bad thing?"
Silence greeted him for a while. Irene and Shirley were looking intensely at him. He received their gaze calmly. Then finally, the silence was broken.
"Lion do not have wings..." Shirley muttered softly. Basil calmly replied, "They do. They even have an eagle beak." Shirley looked at him blankly, and said in a flat tone, "That is a Griffin, Brother."
In a nonchalant manner, Basil said, "They are all the same anyway. No one can refute that Griffin is a lion."
The reaction was instantaneous. Both Irene and Shirley were twitching their mouths. Shirley was about to tell him the fundamental differences between lion and Griffin, when she felt a hand on her head.
She lost the urge to say anything as she merely enjoyed the warmth on her head.
"Worrying over me is not something you can ever do. There is a gap of over half a century between us. You will always be a half century younger than me."
He said the truth without people knowing that as a truth. Shirley merely closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face. Irene who was looking at the scene felt an indescribable feeling in her heart.
'Poor siblings. Their relationship was ruined by their parents. Just when they had mended the broken relationship, their parents once again try to ruin it.'
She was feeling warm and sad at the same time. There was also slight resentment toward Nicholas, it was indescribable. In the end, she merely sighed.
Quickly, they were already outside seeing Basil off. Irene was assaulted by a sense of deja vu. She had seen the scene before. The scene where Basil was wearing a black clothing with Infiltration Robe to complement them.
The night was dark, and even if he was still in front of them, it felt like he had been entirely engulfed by the darkness. It felt like yesterday that her Young Master got on his trip. Now, she was seeing him leaving the house for possibly an eternity.
Her eyes felt hot. She knew finally what a mother felt when she sent her son to a battlefield or Obelisk Subjugation. Although, she believed her Young Master wouldn't lose his life, the probability of him not coming back was high.
Suddenly, she felt someone hugged her body warmly. It was a sturdy body that a normal Mage would never have in their life. She hugged the body of Basil tightly as if afraid to let go.
"I pray for your well being. May my blessings always accompany you."
She let go of him and kissed his forehead. He knew what she was about to do in prior, therefore he had lowered his head in advance.
Shirley who had seen it for the first time was taken aback. A noble and their servant weren't supposed to be that close. However, when she thought of how they had treated Basil over the years, she lowered her head in shame.
She had been loved for her entire life. However, how about Basil? He got none. A child would naturally seek attention and love, she knew it, as she had been so. She felt a lump in her throat.
She thought she could finally clear her guilt, however she couldn't now that she had finally realized the depth of the matter.
"Concentrate on your improvement. A child has no obligation to think of complicated matters."
She felt a hand patting her head gently. She looked up at Basil with teary eyes and nodded in determination. Normally, she would refute by saying she wasn't a child. However, only for that day, she didn't want to refute it.
Her determined face was as cute as it was comical. Basil had a small yet pleasant smile adorning his face. To say he didn't regret ignoring all her attempts to mend their broken relationship in the past was an utter lie.
He regretted it. However, he had no more of that regret. Things were getting better between them. Almost too good if he had to say. Naturally, he couldn't treat her as someone with an equal standing.
In front of his eyes, young girls like her were no more than a daughter if he had had one. He shook his head at that thought and let his hand off her head.
"Take care of her for me, Irene."
"I will, Young Master."
He didn't say a farewell directly, however they knew of his meaning. When he turned around and putting his hood on, together with Deacon hiding in his hood, the night quickly engulfed them. They lost his sight and presence instantly.
However, none of them moved. They were still looking at the direction Basil had just disappeared as if hoping he would return. They put their hands on their chest. They knew instinctively that they wouldn't meet him in a quite some time.
Their guess was proven to be true.
...
Basil was moving on his top speed. He hadn't been really eating at the dinner, he had been replenishing his energy for this moment. Surely, he had already known this thing would happen.
"I feel six presence, two of them are quite skilled."
He muttered under his breath while running. The six people could follow him with no problem so far. However, he was merely running without any Movement Technique or Step Art.
He scanned his surrounding quickly. There were many trees, as he had intentionally chosen the Forest route so he could weed out pest like them.
"It would be a tough fight. However, what makes human scary is not their power. It is their ability to think."
He propelled himself toward a tree and used the bark to climb on top. Two of the people quickly followed him so they didn't lose his track. Basil was naturally aware of them. He had intentionally lured them.
Quickly jumping from tree to tree like Ninja, he chose the hardest route to maneuver. The two people showed some signs of being overwhelmed, and it was enough for him.
He turned his body abruptly at the time the two people least expected, and propelled himself toward them. The two people were extremely bewildered as they were focusing on their tree jumping.
Quickly using their experience to be combat ready at any situation, they took each of their weapon. One of them was using a needle like dagger, while the other was using a well crafted short sword.
Basil took on the dagger wielder first. He knew what that dagger could do. It could inject a poison that was troublesome to neutralize. Although he could still defeat them while poisoned, he would be caught by the other four by then.
Clank!
The clash quickly started. All of them had used their Qi to their weapon right off the bat. Every one of them was determined to finish their targets.
Swish!
Basil dodged an attack from the other assassin. All of it happened in a moment while they were still in the air. They quickly searched a stepping ground while they distanced themselves. However, when they stepped on a branch —
Break!
"!!!"
— they instantly fell of the tree.
Basil wasn't the culprit, he had the small and black Deacon to do that. The power of his wind blade in his small form wasn't enough to cut a bark, however it was more than enough to cut a mere branch.
Basil quickly took this chance and charged at the two people.
[Drill]!
He muttered a name of an Art. It was an Art that was usable for Battle Mage at any stage. By engulfing one's body in [Gale] the body would spin like a drill. Basil used this Art to attack the assassin.
They went rigid. To dodge the attack while mid-air was close to a dream. Therefore, they used all of their Qi to reinforce their body. Their muscles tightened to the point of breaking. However —
Swish!
— Basil merely passed by them while spinning himself like a tornado.
They couldn't understand the situation. It was absurd! One moment he spun like a drill, and one moment he spun like a tornado. How was that even possible!
However, they couldn't think any more than that. Their head reached the ground even before their bodies. Blood was gushing from the place where the head had belonged to. Basil didn't even glance at the dead bodies for a second.
He went South, and quickly utilized [Slip] and [Feather Step]. His Ultimate Circle was now visible to the eyes. He was traveling in his top speed while utilizing his Qi and Mana.. The destination was Fortescher County.