"Ren Hakuto... that's Arba—no, Gyokuen's child, right?"
"Yes, Lady Falan."
"He's been quite an eyesore, that naive Princess, Serendine, is quite attached to him."
"What should we do?"
"What should we do? Isn't it obvious?"
"Should we dispose of him?"
"Well, Gyokuen has so many children... I'm sure she won't mind one missing."
The ship that Ja'far had arrived to the island on left Ria Venus quite a bit fuller. The children who were enslaved by Maader were all freed and they had gotten onto the ship rather warily. It was only Sinbad's presence that prevented them from being outright suspicious.
Ja'far sighed as he leaned against the wooden barings of the ship. Sin was below deck, taking a bath to get rid of the grime and blood that was on him. He glanced behind him, the kids were running around, braiding hairs and laughing, but there was a slight tension in the air.
Before he could approach them, an impact hit the side of the ship, causing it to swerve like a carriage. Ja'far braced himself against the ship as the sailors desperately tried to prevent the ship from tilting and sinking them all.
"Get to the starboard! We need to balance out the wait!"
"You! Head for the bow and full the sails!"
"Hey!" The a voice barked above them, a group of three men were floating, "The guy's not on the ship! I guess we drew the unlucky lot!"
The man on the left smirked, "Well, we just need to trash this ship then." He pointed his sword at the ship, Ja'far's eyes widened as the sword began collecting air and forming it into a ball.
"Hah!" The man yelled, shooting the air ball at the ship, knocking overboard some boxes. He brandished the sword, "This is some damn good stuff," he complimented the sword.
As that moment, Sinbad rushes up deck, wearing his trunks but not his shirt—he had gotten out in a rush. He grabbed his sword and gritted his teeth as he managed to slice through the air ball that was headed for some of the kids.
Ja'far threw his darts and he manipulated them to capture the man in the middle, pulling hard, he was surprised by the resistance the trapped man was showing.
The man laughed, "This magic weapon has the ability to push and pull! For example... this is a pull!" The strings tensed as Ja'far almost lost his footing when the man suddenly jerked back.
"And this... is a push!" The magic tool fired a blast of air at him, Ja'far dodged the blow by flipping to the side and slamming against the wooden walls of the ship. The man was laughing.
"You know..." Ja'far said, drawing on the power of his vessel, "Only idiots reveal their powers and explain them."
"Haaah?—Argh!" A line of electricity traveled up the string at fast speed, eletricuting the man.
"Household Vessel: Bararaq Sei!"
Taking the chance, Ja'far threw his second dart and snagged the man's magic tool, pulling him in and tackling him to the wooden deck. Turning around, he saw that Sinbad had already succeeded in subduing the two other men and was unequipping his djinn.
Tying the man he restrained up, Ja'far threw him with the other intruders and glared at them.
"Well?" Sinbad asked them, "Why did you guys attack this ship?"
The man in the middle scoffed, "I don't know either, we got these goods and, the person who gave 'me to us told us to use 'em to get rid of some dude and that they would be either 'ere or on the road."
"Get rid of someone? Who?"
The man shrugged, "I 'unno they said to attack some guy with a spear and a wolf."
Ja'far stopped short. Spear... Wolf..? Hakuto...?
"You're after Hakuto? Why?" Sinbad asked, urgency entering his previously calm voice.
The man shrugged, "I told you, the person who gave us the weapons told us to go after 'im, I 'unno."
"How many are there?!" Ja'far demanded, grabbing the man's shoulders, shaking him.
The man struggled against his grip, "...maybe fifteen or so armed men—!"
Releasing his grip, Ja'far turned to Sinbad, paler than he normally is.
"Hakuto... he's alone, I sent him to Romulus to pick up a package for King Rashid! He's alone!" Ja'far exclaimed loudly, "if all the men are equipped with those magic tools...!"
Sinbad clenched his fists, "Knowing him, that guy would prioritize protecting the goods since its gifts for King Rashid, against that many alone..." The President walked towards the captain's room, his pace swift. "He's gonna have a much harder time than us!"
A hole had opened up in the road.
Stopping Kiba, Hakuto hopped off the carriage, going to examine the strange crevice that wasn't there three days ago when he passed the road.
"What is this...?" Hakuto muttered under his breath as he crouched in front of the crater, brushing his hand against the coarse dirt. "It's too small to be a desert hyacinth, the dirt is too dry to be a mating Wyrm and it doesn't..."
He took a handful of the dirt and sniffed, "—doesn't smell like any kind of animal..."
"You've got a good head!" A voice rang out from in front of the hole. A man with a massive hammer stood in front of him, "that's right! This beautiful hole was the work of my Magic Tool, the Axe of Sunken Dirt!"
"That name doesn't really sound that impressive..." Hakuto sweat dropped.
"S-Shut up! You don't need to be so blunt!" The man slammed his hammer on the ground, widening the hole as the dirt around it sunk.
"I'm not." Hakuto leapt up, landing on the carriage, urging Kiba to step away from the hole. "I'm just being honest."
The man grinned crookedly, "Hah! It doesn't matter, men, do it!"
"Ohhh!" A group of five men stepped out of the surrounding the trees, all of them stood behind the hole. The first man laughed, "We'll flatten you!"
A loud rumble sounded as Hakuto turned behind him, a group of eight men laughed, rather nastily in his opinion, and launched their magic tools, yelling, "PUSH!"
A boulder was rolling down the hill, how it got up there, Hakuto had no idea, gaining momentum as it picked up speed. The men on the hill laughed, "This is the power of our new toy: the Push-Pull Sword!"
Hakuto cursed, jumping in front of the boulder, he was grateful to feel the familiar tingle of his Household Vessel. Seems like Sin has been successfully rescued.
Household Vessel: Bararaq Makhlab!
Hakuto grunted as he coated his arms and legs with electrical Magoi, pushing against the boulder, constantly pushing at him, trying to reach the hole the bandits had prepared for it. The hole that was right behind the carriage that carried the fragile goods that was to be gifted to King Rashid.
Fuck. This is heavy.
The Bandit Leader laughed as he waved his men forward. "Well, our target's that guy, but what bandits would we be if we don't loot his belongings?"
His men roared loudly, moving around the hole and approaching the carriage, Kiba growling menacingly, trying to keep them from reaching the goods.
Hakuto braced himself against the boulder, leaning the weight to his left as he sent a blast of electricity at the bandits, yelling in pain when he felt his left shoulder give out from the weight, the men on the hill were laughing as they increased the pressure on the boulder, determined to crush Hakuto with the boulder's weight.
"What the—? Hey, hey, you're supposed to sit there like a good boy," the Bandit Leader walked up to Hakuto, "That's right, we never got to introduce ourselves, men," the Bandit Leader grinned with his teeth, mismatched and yellow, as he gestured for the other bandits to leave the goods, "Let's give this guy a proper a greeting."
"Listen up!" The Bandit Leader growled, "I'm Marcus, the leader of this fine bandit establishment," he grinned, "You, are the payment to our checkout... for these fine, fine, weapons."
He turned around, stalking to the carriage. "Men, entertain him."
Hakuto felt sweat roll from his temple as one of the men stabbed his side with a sword, it's crooked.
The man laughed, "Well? Cry, the moment you open your mouth..." he placed his blade next to Hakuto's cheek, the cool metal fogged against Hakuto's heated skin, electric sparks still jumping off his body as he kept up the use of his Household Vessel. "...I'll cut off your tongue!"
Kiba howled loudly as the Bandit Leader attempted to muzzle his jaws with a rope. "—Aw, Shut up, you mutt!"
"Maybe we'll start by chopping off the ears..." the bandit taunted Hakuto. Another bandit laughed, their high-pitched voice tells Hakuto that it's a female. "No! Let's cut off his muscles! Layer, by layer!"
A third bandit growled, "You idiots! We can't kill him yet, we gotta let the boss finish looting and then kill him, can't have the boulder crushing the goods."
The woman bandit laughed shrilly, "Yes, yes. This idiot won't be letting go of that boulder if the carriage is right in front it's path! Not even until death, just like that woman told us!"
The three bandits laughed, the one who stuck the sword into his side grabbed the sword, twisting it, widening the wound as Hakuto lurched from the pain, nearly losing grip of the boulder. Careful! The... Gifts!
"Hey! Be careful there, I don't want to be crushed if he accidentally let's go." The third bandit snarled. The first one laughed, still holding onto the sword, "don't worry, we'll get behind the hole in time."
Hakuto glanced behind him, the Bandit Leader, Marcus, had successfully wrestled Kiba down with the help of five other bandits. The wolf was tied against a large, old, tree. The men were opening up the carriage, Hakuto cried out in surprise when he felt another sword stabbed into him, his injured shoulder.
"Hey, hey," the woman bandit was the culprit, she leaned forward, pushing the sword deeper, "Pay attention to us! It's pretty rude to ignore the people in front of you, totally not what I'd expect from a cutey like you!"
The gifts... their getting into it... even though Ja'far trusted me to safely retrieve it—damn it! Hakuto tightened his grip. If only he could destroy the rock, no, the angle I'm at... the rubbles would crush the carriage!
Is this... the end?
—SMASH!
In a second, Hakuto felt his body relieved of the burden of the massive boulder, dust scattered around as a flash of purple caused the boulder to be destroyed, from the side, the debris hitting the bandits in the forest.
A familiar voice called out, a voice he hadn't heard in many weeks—"Hakuto!"
The bandage felt odd as Rurumu applied more ointment onto the sword wounds, Hakuto flinched at the sting, not expecting it to be so strong.
"It's a good thing you're safe—these wounds could've been infected." She said after she scolded him for his carelessness. "Even if the gifts are important, you shouldn't risk your life so recklessly, Prince Hakuto."
Hakuto winced at her condescending tone. "My apologies, Rurumu-san."
Rurumu nodded as she tightened the cast that was on his left shoulder, satisfied. "You may go, but you are not to work until you are completely healed."
Hakuto nodded, "Yes, Rurumu-san."
Leaving the room, Hakuto was surprised to see Serendine standing behind him. "Seren-san! What a surprise!"
The Princess was staring at the ground, fidgeting with something behind her back. She lefted up a blue tunic—much like his old one—and said, "Your old one was torn up so... I made you a new one." She said quietly before raising her voice, "I-I'm not sure how to make Kou style clothes s-so you don't need to wear it!"
Clutching the blue clothing to his chest, Hakuto smiled, "Thank you, Seren-san! I'll be sure to wear it!"
The woman flushed before rushing off, leaving Hakuto alone in the hallway, excluding Mystras and Pipirika, who heard them and Vittel and Mahad, who were loading boxes without them noticing.
"...It's great to be young and in love, huh?"
"So you don't feel like you fit in?" Hakuto sat next to Masrur, who had just gotten off a fight with Hinahoho. The Fanalis stared at Hakuto in confusion, wondering why he sat with him. He heard that the man had been injured, he looked injured too, but he still sat next to him. Him, who could easily break his right shoulder just as badly as he somehow injured his left.
Hakuto grinned at him, "I know a few Fanalis, they're all very nice and—despite their superhuman strength, I think they're my comrade-in-arms, like how I think of my cousins, my comrades are family and family..." he reached out and ruffled Masrur's hair, "are the most important to me."
"Family..." Masrur grabbed onto the hand on his head, closing his eyes, he reminisced a far off memory.
A warm hand, a gentle smile.
"We're Family, Masrur."
"Masrur?" Hakuto looked at the child curiously, the boy stared at Hakuto with concentration.
"I... think my father used to do that."
"Father?" Hakuto looked at the boy in confusion for a second before he rubbed his head again, "I'll be your father if you want."
"...Yeah. I'd like that."
"Hakutooooo!" Mystras cried as he restrained himself from tackling the Kou Prince, mindful of his wounds.
"Mystras!" Hakuto and Mystras clasped their hands together in a friendly high-five. Mystras cried a river as he rambled about how worried he was when Sinbad and Ja'far returned in such a rush to leave yet again, only dropping off the kids before rushing off to the road that led to Romulus, returning with a bloodied Hakuto and Kiba, but brought along with them, a perfectly unharmed carriage of gifts.
"Honestly," Mystras sighed, "you've got to stop giving us heart attacks."
Hakuto chuckled sheepishly, "I've been reprimanded enough, Mystras. You don't need to add salt to the wound."
Mystras laughed along with him, "I'll catch you later, Pipirika's been asking for my help with something."
"Oh? Pipirika-san?" Hakuto grinned, "the two of you did seem awfully close lately, be careful though, Hinahoho seems like the protective type."
"W-What do you mean by that?!"
"Adopting at fifteen? Aren't you a bit young, Hakuto?" Sinbad stood by the window, addressing the Prince in the doorway. Hakuto chuckled,
"We can't just leave all the kids to Hinahoho, could we? Don't worry, I believe I can be a great dad!"
"Haha, yeah right."
Ignoring Sinbad's disbelief, Hakuto decided to change the subject."So I heard Ja'far punched you in the face."
Sinbad sighed, rubbing his cheek absentmindedly, "Don't remind me, for such a pale, skinny kid, he's strong."
"Really?" Hakuto chuckled, "It might've been slightly my fault, I asked him to punch you for me." Hakuto joined Sinbad next to the window, "But if it makes you feel any better, my best military achievement, at least according to my Uncle and the Elders, is a Navy Bass raid called the 'Boiling Ocean.'"
"Boiling Ocean?"
Hakuto nodded, "Weird name, right? But it's fitting, take a seat, I'll tell you about it."
The two settled on the chairs in the room and Hakuto started his story.
"It was only months before you arrived, one of our enemies, Kai, was once a country ravaged by pirates, that's why they have a strong Navy. One of their most powerful base was the 'Hū Shī,' the Lake Lion. It was a cornerstone of their army, placed in a strategic position making it hard to attack and raid.
I was ordered to supervise the fleet sent to get rid of it. The plan was originally to do reconnaissance for two months, there was a town located near it, because it helps produce food and supplies for the base. A change of plans was made, however, a month into the reconnaissance; we had to attack ASAP."
"Why?" Sinbad asked when Hakuto fell silent for a moment.
"The army fighting in Gou needed back up so we were ordered to finish this raid and sail to the east, and help my brothers, the Generals Hakuyuu and Hakuren with facing Gou.
We had to cut short the raid and make up a new strategy with only half as much time as we did previously to scout. In a week, we made up a new plan..."
The water was burning, soldiers lit up more coal, making in burn even hotter, before launching the catapults at the ships, melting and burning the wood and metal completely.
Soldiers jumped into the sea, only to be boiled alive by the burning, coal heated, water. Hakuto gritted his teeth as he ordered the soldiers to move their ships onland as the Kai ships were distracted by the extreme heat.
The soldiers drew their swords and hacked away with no remorse, not even bothering to check if they were killing civilians or soldiers.
The sea was boiling, the bright orange embers reflecting off the surface of its waters as the depths of the ocean was lit up, showing off burnt and charred corpses, most unrecognizable, but some could still see the blue of their armor, melted until there's nothing left.
"...the battle was only two hours at most, but I've killed more in that two hours than I did in the entire war. But I would've done it anyways, because we made it in time to rescue my brothers."
"Speaking of rescue, who was the guy that rescued you today?" Sinbad asked, curious about the man who had smashed the boulder and helped Hakuto early this morning.
"Oh, you mean Muu?"
"Hakuto!"
"Muu?! I haven't heard from you in weeks!"
The Fanalis laughed sheepishly, "I was ordered to capture a dungeon," he raised his sword, "Barbatos!"
"You smashed the boulder with it?"
"Yeah! I was just returning from the capture too!" Muu's smile turned into a frown when he noticed the condition Hakuto was in. "You're injured! I'll handle these bandits! Take a rest."
"But they were after me—!" Hakuto protested, only for Muu to interupt him.
"They're bandits, I'll need to capture them regardless!" He brandished his sword, a purple light coated his sword.
"Barbatos!"
This chapter was just all over the place, how many of you were surprised by Muu's appearance? I was trying not to mention him in the previous chapters am to give you guys a surprise! Here's some Omakes for you!
Omake: Announcing the Adoption
"He's my dad."
"That's my son."
The group's jaws dropped as they watched the two point at each other. What?!
"B-But that's so sudden!" Ja'far sputtered, "Did you two really think about it?"
The two in question turned to stare at each other, before turning and nodding their heads in sync.
"Yeah."
Hinahoho sweat dropped, "They're already so in sync."
Rurumu clasped her hands together, "That means that Masrur is our new grandson!"
Hinahoho slumped, "I'm not even that old yet..."
"Calm down, Grandpa!" Mystras snickered, Sinbad joining in.
"Yeah! Don't want you to break something, Grandpa!"
"Shut up!"
Masrur went up to Hinahoho, "Hello, Grandpa."
The entire group burst into laughter, Hinahoho the loudest.
Omake: Sinbad's Clothes
"Here!" Serendine shoved clothes at Sinbad. "I just used leftovers from Hakuto's, so don't get the wrong idea!"
We've got some Omakes that are short and sweet in my opinion! And a longer chapter! This one's word count is over 3,000 which is pretty nice! Also, Masrur and Hakuto's relationship: I didn't want to do the classic older brother thing since Hakuto has quite a few younger sibs and the age difference between him and Masrur is bigger than the age difference between him and Ja'far.
Speaking of age difference, Mystras and Hakuto's age difference is actually smaller than a year, Hakuto is fifteen right now, and Mystras is too!
