The sun was high above Budehuc Castle as the residents were going about their daily business. Percival out on the ranch, trying to beat his best racing time, Ace and Joker having their usual drunken argument, Landis scaring all of the kids in the castle (mainly Elliot), it was just another normal day for everyone.
Inside the castle, down in one of the lower levels, Muto searched through his storeroom for a bit until he found what he was looking for: A bottle of Medicine. Returning to the front counter, the cheery Kobold handed the bottle to Samus.
"These what you meant, Samus?" Muto asked.
"It is, Muto. Thanks." Samus nodded. "Anne's in the Tavern, trying to keep those two drunken mercenaries from killing each other and I think she could use this."
Muto chuckled. He knew about Ace and Joker's arguments and how they excelled when the two men were drunk. "Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks. I think I'm gonna need it." Samus sighed as he turned and left the storeroom, walking up the stairs to go back into the mansion.
After Samus had gone, Muto went back into the storeroom to search for something else. Peggi had told him earlier that he would be by to pick up his spare hammer and Muto wanted to make sure that he had it ready for the loud lizard when he showed up to get it.
Thankfully, Muto had an idea on where the hammer was, and found it in a fraction of the time it usually took for him to find something. The residents of Budehuc had to admit that Muto was getting better at finding things in his storeroom, but he still had trouble if he didn't know the generic area of where it was.
Leaving the storeroom with the hammer in his hand, Muto saw that Kidd was at the counter. Leaning Peggi's large hammer against the wall, Muto walked over to the counter to greet the small detective.
"Hey, Kidd! What brings you here today?" Muto asked.
"Business, I'm afraid." Kidd replied. "Gau hired me to find out something about you."
Muto's face fell. Gau had always considered Muto a disgrace to Kobolds because he wasn't as intelligent as people expected Kobolds to be. After all, most Kobolds were know to be pretty bright beings. After all, Ridley and Boris Wizen, father and son Kobolds, became strategists in a war a number of years ago.
However, Muto always knew that he had friends at Budehuc to back him up. The last time Gau badmouthed Muto by calling him stupid, Juan came up and silently punched the mercenary Kobold in the face, not giving anyone a reason. Seeing Juan do that surprised most of the people in Budehuc, but Sebastian, Martha, Piccolo and Eike knew why he had done it, but like Juan, they never gave any reasons.
"Uh…What is it?" Muto asked.
"How'd you get that scar on your face?" Kidd asked.
"Kidd, I told you already. I hit my head on a shelf." Muto replied.
"I know, but Gau finds the story suspicious." Kidd replied. "He told me to find out the truth."
"But that IS the truth." Muto insisted.
Kidd sighed. "I figured you'd say that, Muto." Putting his notebook away, he tipped his hat slightly. "Thanks for your time."
With that, Kidd walked away, probably going back to his little detective nook. After Kidd was gone, Muto sighed in relief. He was afraid that Kidd would be a little more nosey than that.
Muto suddenly paused, remembering how he had REALLY gotten the scar. The memory came back to him every time he was asked about the scar, and sometimes, the Kobold wished that he could actually tell the truth.
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A younger-looking Muto was walking through the main area of Budehuc, whistling a tune. His storeroom was currently being built, and Muto didn't have anything to do until it was finished. In fact, he had spent the past couple of hours in the library.
"I know that librarian is new, but I wish he'd just open up to someone." Muto mused, wondering why Eike always kept to himself. He then paused to think about what he was going to do next.
However, before he could ponder any further, something caught Muto's eye. Looking towards the mansion, the Kobold's eyes widened when he saw a mysterious figure sneaking towards the mansion, a sharp sword attached to his belt.
Muto's heartbeat quickened. The captain of the guards was gone on a mission to Brass Castle and his newborn daughter, Cecile, was inside the mansion, sleeping. From the look of the sneak's weapon, he wasn't there to steal anything.
Quickly spotting Sebastian exiting the Inn, Muto rushed over. "Sebastian, there's someone sneaking into the castle with a sword!" Muto said. "Get the guards! I need to get in there and find Cecile!"
Sebastian's eyes widened. "Y-Yes! Right away!" And with that, the portly man was rushing off.
Muto wasted no time in rushing into the mansion. In a flash, Muto was racing upstairs to the captain's room, hoping to reach the sleeping baby girl before the sneak did.
However, when he arrived at the door to the room he was searching for, he saw that the mysterious man was sneaking towards it, confirming that he wasn't here to steal, but rather to kill.
Without thinking of the consequences, Muto rushed at the sneak and stopped in between him and the door, staring him down.
Although Muto's sudden appearance surprised him, the sneak narrowed his eyes and drew his sword. "Get away, fool." He threatened.
"No way!" Muto replied. "Tell me! What do you think you're doing here?!"
The man smirked. "The captain of the guards here was the one responsible for the death of many of my men." He replied. "And seeing as how he's not here, I figured that now would be a good time to exact revenge by taking his daughter's life."
"She's only six months old!" Muto shouted, angered by the man's thoughts. "How could you do such a thing?!"
"You've wasted too much of my time already." The man replied. "Step aside."
"You'll have to kill me first." Muto said coldly.
"Very well."
In the blink of an eye, the man swung his sword. Muto howled in pain as the sword sliced through his face, blood spraying into the air and spattering against the floor, walls and clothes of the attacker. Muto dropped to the floor, a long and nasty cut going down the middle of his face, blood running over the rest of his face.
Ignoring the fact that his sword was dripping blood, the man looked down at Muto. "Don't worry. I'll finish you off now and you won't feel it anymore."
However, before the man could run his sword through Muto, his face became frozen with shock and pain. The assassin fell over, revealing a guard behind him. The guard removed his sword from the dead body. "Men! Check on the captain's daughter and see if she's alright!" He ordered.
As the guards rushed into the room, Sebastian ran over to the bleeding Kobold on the floor. "Muto! Muto, speak to me!"
Muto weakly looked up at Sebastian. "Is…Cecile…Okay?" He managed, slipping off into unconsciousness.
The last thing Muto heard before blacking out completely was Sebastian telling the guards to get him to the Infirmary.
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Muto was brought out of his memory and gingerly felt the scar going down the middle of his face, a reminder of his act of bravery against the assassin whom would have ended Cecile's very short life.
Out of the staff that was there before Thomas became Castle Master, Cecile was the only one that never found out about Muto's sacrifice. Everyone else that knew about it told each other not to let Cecile know, because if she found out what Muto had done, Cecile would freak out, and that was something no one wanted.
When she was young, Cecile asked where Muto got the scar. Not wanting to tell her the truth, Muto simply told her that he ran into a shelf when he wasn't looking. It seemed to work, because Cecile didn't press the matter any further after that. The same method of getting the scar was used on the other inhabitants of Budehuc, and for the most part, it was believed.
Unfortunately, Muto's sacrifice didn't come without a price. The cut was deep enough to inflict damage on poor Muto's brain. Because of this, part of the left side of Muto's brain was shut off completely, and thus made it harder for the Kobold to keep track of everything in his storeroom.
This was exactly the reason why Juan punched Gau in the face for insulting Muto behind his back. Juan wasn't the only one, either. Lilly insulted Muto once and Martha stepped in to scold her. Lilly tried retaliating, but it did her no good, because Martha simply talked back in an even louder voice. After that, Lilly laid off the insults for a whole week.
Another time, Borus was frustrated at Muto for not being able to find something (Borus later remembered that he didn't even give it to Muto in the first place) and muttered several crude remarks about Muto in the library. All it took was a cold, emotionless glare from Eike to make the Swordsman of Rage to shut up.
Suddenly hearing a loud voice coming down the stairs, Muto was brought out of his thinking. Seeing Peggi appear at the bottom of the stairs, Muto quickly grabbed the hammer he had ready for the loud lizard.
No one would ever find out about what Muto had done for Cecile, but in all honesty, Muto was fine with that. He didn't want a medal for his good deed, and he was glad that at least a few people knew about what he had done and respected him for it.
And thus, the day went on as normal for the cheery storeroom keeper of Budehuc.
END