Chapter 230
Hiccups POV:
It's been three days since I helped gather the kids for school and got a good laugh when Obelix was forced to join the class after he failed to answer the multiple questions and setting a bad example for the children. He was still attending the classes with the children much to my amusement but since then, things have been pretty quiet with me enjoying the peaceful days with my family. Things weren't always so peaceful though since there was normally a brawl in the middle of the village between the men for one reason or another with the main reason being the dislike the local fishmonger, Unhygienix and the blacksmith Fulliautomatix. It would normally start with Fulliautomatix making a comment about the fish Unhygienix selling either smelling or not being fresh which would get him a fish thrown at his face and from there things would pick up until it was an all-out brawl.
Now I was laying down in the grass of a field with Toothless acting as my cushion while the sound of wood being smashed echoed through the area. The reason for this is the Gaul's were attacking a nearby roman army camp while we watched it happen since I wanted to see what it was like when they attacked, and I had to say it was impressive. It had only been three minutes and the camp looked ready to collapse with roman legionaries, screaming in pain and begging for mercy before some of them went flying into the air. I turned to Toothless and said.
"Well bud, I'm beginning to understand why Caesar sends his men here to either toughen them up or punish them." He crooned as the sound of a person screaming caught my attention and I looked up to see a single legionary, flying towards us and coming to land before us, groaning in pain as he fell unconscious. "If this is what the new legionaries have to go through, then it's no surprise the roman army is so tough." Toothless growled and nodded before I pulled out my Ganges water statue. "Better get to work on this poor guy before we head back since I promised Brant, we'd be doing some training today." With that said I got to work on healing the poor guy.
1 hour later
I was in the middle of a forest clearing with Toothless and Brant, but I was standing shirtless with Brant standing across from me with heavy weighted bands around his arms and legs. He looked down at the bands before looking up at me as he asked.
"Dad, why are you making me wear these weights for training when you said we'd be practicing kung fu?" I nodded.
"We are!"
"Then why am I wearing weights when they hold my limbs down?"
"Because, you can still move your limbs and by training with these bands on your muscles will strengthen as will the power of your strikes." He nodded but muttered.
"Still makes training harder." I smiled and kneeled while placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Son, I push you hard because I want you to be ready to face any enemy who comes to attack you, our family or those who are weak."
"Those who are weak?" I sighed.
"Back when I was young and before I met Toothless, I was a runt who got picked on and bullied by nearly everyone and nobody would even bother to take notice other than to give me a disdainful look." I placed my free hand on his other shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "I don't want you to become like those who ignore the weak being bullied nor do I want you to become one of the bullies." I pulled him into a hug. "I want my son to be the better man and be the one who is able and will protect those who are in need." I felt Brant wrap his arms around me to hug me back and for a few seconds the only thing that could be heard were the birds singing before I let go and smiled down at my son in all but blood. "Now let's begin todays training." With that said we began todays lessons.
4 hours later
Our training session had come to an end and now I was smiling with amusement at the sight of Brant laying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out as he groaned out how he was aching in places he never even knew he had. I rolled my eyes before walking up to my boy and kneeling when I got to him and began taking the weights off his wrists and legs as I said.
"You did great today son and don't worry; I've spoken with your mothers and they'll have a nice hot bath waiting for you to help ease the aching in your muscles." He smiled at this as I picked him up and put him on Toothless so we could get going.
1 hours later
It's been two hours since my training session with Brant came to an end and after I dropped Brant in the care of Blanca who took him so he could ease the aches in his muscles in a hot bath while I went to enjoy the free time that was left in my day. I couldn't go enjoy time with my wives since Blanca was taking care of Brant and Astrid was out doing her own training in the forest while Chara was off with the other kids playing. That time was mostly spent enjoying a quiet walk through the village and having the conversation with the villagers who I passed by, but I mainly spent time with my Uncle Vitalstatistix, Unhygienix and Fulliautomatix for different reasons.
I spent time my uncle since in addition to being family, he was also the chief of the village so I was able to get some pointers on being a good leader and he appreciated the help I was able to give him in handling the daily brawls. My time with Fulliautomatix reminded me of my time with Gobber since he was a blacksmith, so we were able to talk about the different forging methods we had, the designs of our gear and materials we liked to use. Although I also had a good relationship with Unhygienix, it was mainly because I had become his best customer since I brought so many fish for my dragons and we enjoyed some small talk while I tried to pull the dragons from his inventory. Because of all this I had a pretty good relationship with the three of them and intended to revisit this village some time with my family since it was nice.
Now I was enjoying a lunch of roast boar prepared by my aunt Impedimenta at her and my uncles house with both them and my family since she was curious to know how things were going for us today. It was then aunt Impedimenta turned to my uncle and said.
"Remember to be on time for dinner tonight."
"I'm sorry sugarplum but as the village chief I have many duties to tend to before I can enjoy an evening in."
"Well that's no excuse to let your dinner get cold." Seeing this I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry, this just reminds me of something Fulliautomatix told me when we were talking and although I don't agree with his opinion, I did find it pretty funny." Uncle Vitalstatistix raised an eyebrow as he asked.
"What did he say?"
"He told me that he thinks before you give orders as chief of the village, you should first be able to give orders as a man in your own house." Hearing this Uncle Vitalstatistix stood up and walked towards the door as aunt Impedimenta asked.
"And where are you off to?"
"For a walk." When he was out of sight, I turned to aunt Impedimenta and asked.
"Why do I get the feeling what I just told him is going to lead to a brawl in the middle of the village?"
"Don't feel bad about it since if I know the men of this village, it's that if you hadn't started it then someone else would have later today." I shrugged and nodded, knowing she was right before I continued with my meal.
2 days later
It's been two days since I told Brant about why I trained him so hard and accidentally caused an all-out village brawl caused when Uncle Vitalstatistix went to confront Fulliautomatix about what I said which lead to my uncle punching him in the face before Fulliautomatix threw a hammer at him which missed my uncle and hitUnhygienix instead and from there things just picked up. Anyway, when Uncle Vitalstatistix came home we'd all finished lunch and enjoying a little small talk while he had multiple bruises and wreaked of rotten fish showing he'd been beaten with at least one of them. When he sat down, he finished off his boar that had gotten cold while we all continued our talking with the conversation eventually turning to family members.
It was then that aunt Impedimenta told me about her brother Homeopathix and his wife Tapioca, who live in Lutetia with his wife and is a very wealthy merchant who owns multiple stores and even a vineyard making him very wealthy. She then recommended we pay him a visit since her brother and his wife were family as well and she's been wanting to go to Lutetia to do some shopping. It was easy to tell that Uncle Vitalstatistix wasn't too big on the idea and although he claimed it was because he had work to do here in the village but that was obvious lie.
This was something aunt Impedimenta called him out on, telling him that he was just trying to avoid visiting her brother and from there he was doing his best to calm her down but aunt Impedimenta had one hot temper which is when I got my family out of there. I saw my uncle later that day in the evening and confronted him about it and learnt that Homeopathix had no trouble showing off his wealth and whenever they visited, he'd do everything he could to make Uncle Vitalstatistix feel like a hermit who lived in the slums. To make matters worse, whenever Homeopathix visited the village he'd make his opinion of the village being nothing more than a couple of shacks filled with madmen clear. Heck last time he was in the village they served him food that had literally been seasoned with Caesars laurel wreath and he still complained about it being overcooked and not being a prime cut. I had to say the guy reminded me a bit of some of the chiefs and heirs of other tribes I've met before so I couldn't fault the man for delivering a hard punch to the face. Still, the guy was family and I was curious to know what Lutetia is like and if they had anything worth buying for the house or any new foods for me to try.
This brings us to now, with me on the drivers' seat of my carriage with Uncle Vitalstatistix sitting next to me while our wives were in the carriage with the kids and Toothless as we travelled to Lutetia. The reason Uncle Vitalstatistix was with me instead of in the carriage is because he was acting as my navigator and keeping me company on this long journey since we'd been on the road for three hours. While the women looked after the kids and chatted in the carriage alongside Asterix and Obelix, me and my uncle enjoyed some friendly small talk and a couple of jokes together as we enjoyed the peace that could only be found in the countryside.
The reason Asterix and Obelix were coming with us was to both act as escorts for my uncle, but I convinced him to give them some time off as well by showing him both my ninja and the forces I could summon. Summoning my forces though may have been a mistake though since Obelix wanted to see if they'd be as fun to bash as the Romans but fortunately Asterix convinced him to leave them alone since they were technically friends. Anyway, it was through the druid I learnt that the parents of Asterix and Obelix live in Lutetia so I figured it would give them the chance to visit them since they'd been kind to me and my family with Obelix letting the kids play with dogmatix while Asterix kept an eye on them.
It was then I was brought out of my thoughts when Uncle Vitalstatistix placed a hand on my shoulder getting my attention before gesturing ahead of the hill we were on to show a large village, built on an island in the middle of a river. This was obviously Lutetia, with a quarter of it having Roman architecture while the rest was Gaulish which made it quite the impressive place to look at. I had to say it looked pretty impressive but using the eye of the dragon I could see something that ensured this place was going to be a massive headache and that thing is the large amount of wagons and people covering the road. Seeing this I turned to Uncle Vitalstatistix and said.
"Perhaps it'd be best if we continued on foot from here and allow my dragons to travel in my mystic Celtic bag." He nodded in agreement.
"Wise choice lad." With that said I brought the carriage to a stop and we got dismounted before getting to work.
5 hours later
It's been five hours since we arrived in Lutetia and that time had been spent mainly doing one thing and that thing is shopping at nearly every available store there was. Well to be honest it was really the women doing the shopping while we men acted as their personal haulers who carried around everything they bought. Even my wives who were never big on any kind of shopping had gone on a bit of a shopping trip and had bought their fair share of items but it was times like these I was grateful for my spiderpack since it made life a little easier, especially once Asterix and Obelix left us to visit their parents. After four and a half hours of endless shopping, we went to the house of aunt Impedimenta's brother and his wife and after five minutes with the man I could understand why Uncle Vitalstatistix didn't like the guy despite him telling me to call him Uncle Homeopathix.
The man bragged more than the Jorgensons and Ulrik combined and I didn't think that was possible and to make matters worse, it was easy to tell he was doing everything he could to degrade Uncle Vitalstatistix, going so far as to just call him whatsisname. His wife, Tapioca on the other hand was a lot humbler and bothered to remember Uncle Vitalstatistix name and treat him kindly. She was also a little like aunt Impedimenta when it comes to the children and made sure they were happy and well fed before offering them each a small treat. She also was kind enough to try and get uncle Homeopathix to stop rubbing his wealth in our faces and make him act a little humbler, but it was a lost cause.
Now we were all sitting at the dinner table enjoying some of the interesting but tasty food that had been prepared for us, but it was easy to tell that the food was made with the idea of showing off his wealth. The dinner talk was mostly Uncle Homeopathix bragging about how well his business expansion was going while subtly insulting Uncle Vitalstatistix village and way of life. It was then he asked aunt Impedimenta.
"So how was your trip here, pretty rough I bet since you must've had to walk all the way here." She shook her head.
"Actually, it was a wonderful trip since Hiccup here was kind enough to allow us to use his personal carriage, so it was a rather pleasant trip."
"I do suppose a trip in a small carriage is a bit more pleasant than walking but if it held all of you it must be large." He turned to me. "If you don't mind telling me lad, where is your carriage since you could park it behind the house along with the beast you use to pull it." I swallowed what was in my mouth and answered.
"They're both somewhere safe so don't worry."
"You sure about that lad?" I raised an eyebrow. "There've always been bandits roaming the woods but recently they've been quiet which for this group is unnerving to say the least."
"Sounds to me like they may be up to something big." He nodded.
"The city guard agrees with you on that lad." Aunt Impedimenta then asked.
"Is that why there are more guards roaming around the city and those two large men outside?" He nodded.
"The guards have increased in the city for the protection of the citizens and the two men outside the door are guards I've hired for protection." I nodded in understanding while looking all over the city through the eyes of the multiple scouter automatons, I'd let loose around the city during the shopping trip so I could keep an eye on things in the city but I was brought out of my thoughts when Uncle Homeopathix shook his head. "Now enough about the unpleasant things so we can focus on more pleasant things happening around us like visiting family members." He turned to me. "So, tell me lad, what is it you do for a living?"
"I don't really do much to make money other than travelling the world and helping people where I can but I do occasionally do some bounty hunting which pays a bit and I also loot wreckages beneath the sea."
"Why would you do either of those things when you have a family to support." I raised an eyebrow at him. "I admit bounty hunting does pay well lad but it's incredibly dangerous and what could you get out of some old shipwrecks." He then pointed at himself. "Take it from me lad, there's good money in wine and exotic products." He then lowered his hand. "I'm sure you've been to some places with some great items that can't be found around here and if you've been helping people then you must have made some connections." I nodded.
"Yeah, a few with some nobles, villagers and a couple of merchants." He smiled.
"I'll tell you what lad, I'll give you a job as one of my men so you can use those connections to arrange some trade routes for my company and don't worry about payment, you'll get a regular payment and with each new trade route, I'll raise it." He stood up. "A lot safer than the bounty hunting and more profitable than checking out those dumb wreckages." He held out his right hand for me to shake. "So, what do you say lad." I sipped my wine.
"I appreciate the offer but I'm going to have to turn it down." He frowned and lowered his hand, but I could tell he was disappointed while Uncle Vitalstatistix was holding back his laughter. "I do the bounty hunting not just because of the money but also because it gives me a little thrill while also making the archipelago a little safer for my family." I could see the gleam of pride in Uncle Vitalstatistix's eyes when I said this. "As for me looting old shipwrecks." I smiled. "Do you have any idea how many treasures went down with the ships themselves." I spread out my arms. "The ships have a fortune in gold, jewels and priceless artefacts and since nobodies been able to get to them, I've been able to collect years of treasures lost to the world."
"And if these items have been hidden at the bottom of the ocean, as you say then how have you been able to get to them?" Before I could reply, Chara beat me to it by saying.
"Daddy travels underwater in the ship strapped to Tephra the dragons back and his metal sharks that he sends out to collect the treasures." He stared at her for a few moments before chuckling.
"What an adorable imagination you have little one." I could tell she wasn't happy about him not believing her but before she could complain I said.
"She's not imagining it, that really is how I loot sunken ships." He looked up at me to reply but before he could, there were multiple screams from outside. "What in the world?" The door slammed open making us all turn to its direction as the guards from outside the door ran in.
"The Eastern bridge has been destroyed and the bandits are on the west side with catapults and multiple armed men." Uncle Homeopathix stood up.
"What about the city guards?"
"Captured by the bandits who were posing as travellers or citizens." Astrid then said.
"So in other words, they've taken out the guards leaving this place defenceless andthey've also got heavy weaponry that they're using it to hold us all hostage." He nodded.
"They're leader is already making his demands from where the catapults are and demanding to meet with the chief while the ones in the city are forcing everyone back into their homes." I sighed and turned to Blanca.
"Is a normal vacation too much to ask for?" She smiled at me.
"It does seem that way at times." I smiled and stood up.
"Girls, watch over everyone." I then began walking towards the door as aunt Impedimenta asked.
"And where are you off to?"
"To deal with these crooks so we can return to a peaceful meal." I pulled out my shrunk down bo staff and put it in my mouth like a toothpick for my weapon but it was then a voice asked.
"And what makes you think you can do that lad?" We all turned to the curtains leading outside and saw a shirtless man with a shaved head, orange moustache and leather pants, holding a large bludgeon smirking at us.
"I take it your one of the bandits who've taken the city." He nodded as I took my bo staff out of my mouth and pointed it at him. "Alright, since I really want this entire thing done fast, why don't you surrender now and I won't use this on you." He looked at my bo staff while Uncle Homeopathix and aunt Tapioca looked at me as if I was mad before the bandit laughed.
"And what are you going to do with that tiny thing lad, pick my teeth?" I smirked.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of this." I quickly made my staff grow in thickness to normal size before extending forward at a highspeed, right into the crooks stomach, pushing him back until he hit the back wall so hard that it knocked him out. "Too easy." I pulled my staff back to its normal size while pulling out my mystic Celtic bag and pulling the guy into it. "Time to go to work." I walked out of the house before summoning my ninjas and letting them know what was happening and what the plan to deal with the bandits was.
Back in the house
Nobodies POV:
Homeopathix along with Tapioca and the guard stared at the door Hiccup just walked out while everyone else just went back to enjoying their meal with a bit of small talk. It was then Homeopathix turned to them and asked.
"Did that lad just turn a toothpick into a long staff that extended into the bandit before pulling him into a palm sized bag and walking out to deal with the bandits?" Astrid answered.
"Yes he did."
"You're all just sitting there eating as if this was a normal thing?" Vitalstatistix answered.
"We've spent a couple of days with the lad and in that time he was kind enough to demonstrate what all his weapons could do and how he received them." Impedimenta then said.
"And after seeing what he's gone up against, it would be ridiculous to think those bandits even have the smallest chance against him." Astrid then said.
"Take it from me and Blanca since we've been through this before." All eyes turned to her. "It's best to relax and wait for him to come back and knowing him, it'll take an hour at most." Blanca then said.
"Less if his ninja are helping him alongside his dragons." Tapioca looked at them.
"Did you just say, dragons?" Blanca nodded as Homeopathix asked.
"As in the flying, fire breathing beasts?" She nodded before Vitalstatistix poured some wine and said.
"Indeed but the two he brought with him to the village were quite the friendly creatures." Astrid then said.
"Yeah, he trained them well but I think it helps that Toothless is pretty much just an overgrown puppy, personality wise." Homeopathix then asked.
"How in the world did that boy train dragons?" Astrid sipped her drink.
"Well it goes like this." She then began the tale of how Hiccup met Toothless.
5 minutes later
Hiccups POV:
It's been five minutes since I left the house and in that time I've taken on no less than seven bandits with Toothless and Shāndǐng bringing in another four from above, eight if you count the ones they knocked down from the roofs. My ninja had brought in another five of these crooks for me to deal with but using my automatons, I could tell that there were still a lot of them left in the town and more outside. A minute ago I entered a dark grain storehouse and hid in the rafters, after luring in three men so I could quickly deal with them without alerting others. From above I was able to watch as they split up to cover more ground but I smiled since this simply meant I could divide and conquer, meaning I could deal with them one by one.
Now I was standing on top of one of the crates looking down at one of the men who was walking around and looking at the various crates while muttering to himself. Seeing my chance I slowly released the bottom legs of my spiderpack and lowered them down towards the thugs turned back while extending my spiderpacks upper legs. When the bottom legs were close enough I quickly had them hook the crook beneath the arms and yank him up and before he could react I quickly began cocooning him. He didn't even have the chance to let out a scream before he was cocooned, making me smile as I pulled out my mystic Celtic bag and pulled him in while pulling the spiderpacks legs back in and saying.
"One down, two to go."
I began quickly but silently running across the tops of the crates to find the next one and doing so, did not take that long since the next one was only a few crates down. I looked down at him from before pointing my mummy wrapping bands and in a matter of seconds, the wrappings were around his head, gagging him while wrapping around his upper body, pinning his arms to the side as he was pulled up. I quickly pulled into my Celtic bag as I smiled and began searching for the last of the men who were in the storehouse with me and he was as easily dealt with as his friends since all it took was a single punch to the face and he was down for the count. Once he was tucked away I rolled my shoulders and smiled as I looked out the door and saw a patrol of five men coming towards me and said.
"Time to go to work."
10 minutes later
I've been hunting the crooks in the city for the past ten minutes and so far I've taken down twenty-three more crooks with the additional crooks who were brought to me by both my dragons and ninja. Using my automatons I was able to easily find those who were still roaming the city and this meant I was able to easily track them down and deal with them while also being able to direct my ninja and dragons. Of course there were also the ones being taken down or up depending on how you look at it by none other than Asterix and Obelix who were smacking the bandits they find up into the air or smashing their heads in. Now I was standing in the streets, surrounded by the crooks who were laying on the ground unconscious since they were easy to deal with. There was still one who was awake and trying to flee but I just rolled my eyes while asking myself.
"Why do they always try to run?"
I activated my scarf and had it rush out and wrap around the guys neck and mouth to gag him, pulling him back by it, making him fall back before it began dragging him back to me as he struggled while trying to pull my scarf off. When he was right in front of me I pulled out my Celtic bag as I said.
"Struggling won't do you any good and trying to break out of here, also won't do you any good." I then let the tarp fly out of the bag and pull him in before doing the same with his unconscious friends. "Now let's see what's going on around the city and how things are looking outside."
I used my automatons and saw that my dragons and ninja were dealing with the remaining men meaning it best I deal with those who are with the catapults outside. With this in mind I let out a loud whistle to call Toothless who was happy to come to my call and then nuzzle me as I chuckled and said.
"I'm happy to see you to bud." I mounted him. "Alright Toothless, here's the plan." I then began whispering my plan to him and I could tell he was not happy about it but it was the best way to handle things.
2 minutes later
I was standing on top of one of the houses that was near the edge of the city and looked out towards the small valley that held the pathway from the forest down to the city. I knew this was the only escape route that the crooks would use to flee in case something happened to their plans and using my automatons to get a closer look at what was happening and they knew something was wrong when they realized their friends weren't back. I turned to Toothless who crooned as I brought out my spirit bow and said.
"Let's get to work bud."
He growled and nodded as I pulled out an earth arrow and took aim before letting the arrow fly towards the wall of the valley and smiled when the walls came down, blocking the path through the valley meaning there was no chance of those bandits getting away. I enjoyed watching the men running around in fear when they saw the boulders coming down on their only form of escape before I mounted Toothless and said.
"You ready to burn some catapults bud?" He growled and nodded. "Time to go to work Toothless." With that we took off and flew towards the catapults and the ones manning them and when we were in range I yelled out. "BARREL ROLL, MULTIPLE BLAST!" Toothless quickly did so, firing five plasma blasts at the catapults destroying them all and scaring the bandits. "Time to clean up the filth." I got ready to hop off. "Cover me from above." He growled as I leapt off his back and spread my wings allowing me to glide down and land in front of the bandits who looked at me in shock as I pulled my wings back in. "Yeah, people always have that reaction when they see my wings." I released my lion gauntlets. "So do you guys want to give up now or would you like to go a few rounds first." They each looked at me before they laughed at me and then began charging at me but I rolled my eyes. "Why do they always want to do things the hard way?"
I then channelled a mist white crystal in each gauntlet and slammed them together towards the charging men creating a sonic blast that threw them all back and knocking out the majority of them. There were a still a few of them who were now staring at me in shock as I just smiled and began charging at them with my gauntlets at the ready to finish them off.
5 minutes later
I was whistling an old Viking tune as I made my way down the streets with Toothless and Shāndǐng on the roofs of the houses on either sides of me as we made our way back to Uncle Homeopathix house. As I walked though I could feel the eyes of the people on me but I couldn't blame them since a lot of them had seen me handle the bandits who were roaming their city. I had to say it was not going to be easy dealing with them since my mystic Celtic bag, spiderpack and of course my dragons were no doubt bringing up a lot of questions for the people who saw it. It was highly likely that I wouldn't be able to avoid them and their questions so for now I figured it best to head back to the house and enjoy a little bit of peace while I could. I pushed the door open and walked in to see my family calmly eating with Uncle Vitalstatistix and aunt Impedimenta while Uncle Homeopathix and aunt Tapioca just sat there, staring at me in shock. It was then Astrid asked.
"I take it the bandits have been dealt with?" I nodded as I reclaimed my original seat.
"Yeah, they're all now trapped in my mystic Celtic bag until we can hand them over to the guards." She nodded before Blanca asked.
"Will the guards be coming by soon then?" I nodded.
"Probably but I get the feeling that they'll also be coming for me to bring me in for questioning since they'll most likely want to know what I've been doing." It was then there were multiple knocks on the door before a voice on the other end said.
"City guard, open up." I sighed and stood up.
"They came faster than I thought." I turned to those at the table. "I'll be back in time for dinner." The girls nodded as aunt Impedimenta sipped her drink and said.
"Try not to cause too much trouble for the guards." I nodded.
"Yes aunt Impedimenta." With that said I allowed myself to walk out and be taken away by the guards.
Nightfall
I was finally let out of the guard house after spending my entire afternoon with them and my dragons, explaining to them who I was, what I was doing in Lutetia, what happened to the crooks I captured, what my weapons were and other such things. Fortunately, some of the guards had cousins in Rome who told them about me and this proved to the guards that I wasn't a member of the bandit group but a hero, wanting to protect the people. After that came a few more questions before the governor walked in after hearing everything and gave me a full release along with a large bag of gold for capturing the bandits that have been a pain for the city, for years. When that was done I was allowed to go back to the house where my wives forced me to tell them everything that happened and when I was done it was time for bed but I had the feeling the remainder of our stay here was going to be one massive headache.
5 days later
It's been five days since I took on the crooks and to describe those days in one word, it would have to be a nightmare since I could not get a moments peace with my family. The reason for this is the governor had made a big announcement of me saving the them, how I'd also captured all the bandits who were now in prison and how I was to be treated with the highest respect by all for my great deed. From then on people would not leave us alone for one reason or another with the majority of them wanting to thank me for saving them but the majority of them had ulterior motives since they were all business owners. They were all hoping to convince me to come by their stores in order to draw more customers to them while the restaurant owners were hoping I'd come and eat at their establishments to make it look like the hero of their town enjoyed their food. Along with this I had to deal with people asking about my dragons with some offering to buy them from me after they saw how they helped rebuild the bridge that the bandits destroyed.
If that wasn't bad enough they'd also been practically shoving their daughters down my throat when they found out I had two wives meaning I had to deal with fan girls and along with this, those who had child daughters would have them go after Brant instead. Because of this he and Chara had to spend their time close to me or their mothers to avoid them since the one time Brant took Chara out to play, they were swarmed by kids their own age. These kids were asking them all sorts of questions about me, my adventures and the stuff I used on the bandits or in the case of the girls, fluttering their eyes and trying to look cute towards Brant but they only succeeded in annoying him. To make matters worse, I couldn't even get peace at the house since Uncle Homeopathix was doing his best to convince me to help him expand his business to the places I've been in exchange for a share of the profits.
The only joy I found was when I was able to sit down and have a friendly chat with Uncle Vitalstatistix who still treated me like a normal person and for that I was grateful. Along with this I was able to enjoy a good drink and laugh with him, Asterix and Obelix about what a pain this city is being for all of us since while I had the people bothering me and Uncle Vitalstatistix had Uncle Homeopathix rubbing his success in his face, Asterix and Obelix had their parents trying to convince them to settle down and find wives. I am happy to say though, our trip was finally coming to an end meaning there'd be no more troubles for us, caused by those of this city so I'd find some peace back at the village by the sea.
This brings us to now with us being back on the road after spending the morning, sharing heartfelt goodbyes with those we were close to in the city. Like before, I was in the driver's seat with Uncle Vitalstatistix next to me as we spoke about our trip and with how we thought things went for us in the Lutetia. We both had a good laugh at what a major pain uncle Homeopathix was for the both of us for one reason or another and how we were both so happy to get away from him. We also spent the time talking about how different Lutetia was to the village and I had to say, I preferred the nice quiet village to the hustle and bustle of the large city.
Nightfall
It's been hours since we left Lutetia and to describe our ride back, I am happy to say that we didn't run into any issues on the way back and even caught a few wild boars for dinner along the way. Now we were sitting down at the dinner table enjoying a meal of vegetable soup and roast boar with a little small talk about our stay in Lutetia and how nice it was. It was then Uncle Vitalstatistix turned to me and said.
"I have to say lad, I've really enjoyed having you and your family here." I smiled at him.
"It's been a pleasure being here with you all Uncle Vitalstatistix though I could do without the village brawls since I don't think it was a good thing for my kids to see." Aunt Impedimenta nodded in agreement as she said.
"I don't think it's a good influence on any of the children in this village." The girls nodded in agreement as Uncle Vitalstatistix.
"If you don't mind me asking lad, do you have any more idea on how much longer you and your family will be staying in our humble village?" I shrugged.
"I figure we'd be staying one more week since they're probably wondering what's going on with us back on Berk." They nodded.
"If that's the case then why don't you join us in thrashing a romans in their camp since it's a good bit of fun and I'd love to see how your way of fighting acts when it's got the power of the magic potion backing it up." I smiled and nodded.
"I'd like that but for now, let's focus on enjoying this delicious meal." He nodded and we continued to eat our dinner.
6 days later
It's been six days since we got back from Lutetia and that time has been spent enjoying the peace that the village had which the big city of Lutetia didn't. Earlier today I was able to have a good gulp of the magic potion with the other men of the village before we went to destroy a Roman camp and pummelled the legionaries while destroying the entire camp, anyway we could. I had to say it was pretty fun, giving the romans a good punch up while destroying the entire camp and even got to take the Centurions helmet as a souvenir. I especially enjoyed throwing a few of the legionaries into each other and knocking a few of them far up into the sky and then doing my best to avoid them when they fell to the ground.
Now it was evening but unlike the previous evenings here in the village where it was a quiet dinner in the hut, this night was spent in the village centre with everyone enjoying a feast of boar and wine with the adults of the village. The only one who wasn't with us at the table was Cacofonix who was tied to the nearby tree and gagged to prevent him from singing anything and ruining the feast. This whole meal was definitely something I was going to miss and knew I was going to be coming back whenever I felt my family needed a little down time in a near peaceful village. For now though I just wanted to enjoy the remaining time I had in this crazy village with my family and those in the village I'd come to call my friends.
Nightfall the next day
I was back on my island with my family and happy to be back since as much as I loved to travel, there's no place like home and besides that, I brought back some souvenirs from my trip and not just the things my wives brought in Lutetia. The things I was talking about was a menhir Obelix had given me as a gift and a flask of magic potion from Getafix, telling me it was something to help me in extreme situations. The menhir was now in the great planes while the magic potion was in a gronkle iron vault I set up in the armoury while the weapons and helmets I took from the bandits and the helmet from the Centurion were now in my trophy room. Now I was in bed with my wives cuddling up to me like they always do when we head to bed but as we lay there, I stared up at the ceiling and wondered what tomorrow would bring but for now, all I could do was get some sleep and wait for tomorrow to come before going to sleep.
AN: And that brings an end to this chapter and by the way, I checked out the poll and it is unanimous, Brant shall never fall into the magic potion but I can't blame you since it was just a passing idea. Now, I hope you all remember to review kindly and stay safe during these times and I feel it also necessary to warn you all that the next chapter might be a little late as my family is going on a trip this weekend and will be enjoying game drives so no writing most of the time. Anyway till next time, review kindly and I will see you all next time.