Genhuis City Gate.
Skullius wore the facial incarnation of shock.
What he was seeing...
He had truly underestimated his Apostle's abilities.
He had thought the effects wouldn't be as potent since he was still a Tier 2 at the end of the day but no!
Of course not!
They had just had to be insane!
Damn that [Blessing of Serenity]!
He should have been the one to get it!
"<Sniff>, <sniff>," a male Capital Order Knight by the gate sniffled while wiping away his tears. He had taken off his helmet just so he could fully express himself without any regard for his image, as in the grand scheme of things, this was more important.
The other Knight by his side patted his back as a gesture to comfort him but both were ultimately looking to the figure decked in a white armour for fulfilling words.
"Don't worry, dear boy. Your mother is merely travelling to another world beyond this one. She carries with her all the memories you gave her and the memories you cherish about her to the next world. Whatever it is she shall find, rest assured, the memory of her life with you and your sister will keep a smile on her face," the figure in white said as he wiped the tears from the Capital Order Knight away.
"Yes, sir... <sniff>. You're right. In fact, she said something similar before she passed," the Knight said.
"Indeed. Now wipe that sadness away, duty calls. I'm not going to search myself now, am I?" Red Rage said while slapping the Knight's shoulder lightly.
The man wore his helmet once more, feeling an invigorating pump of energy through the Apostle's touch!
When he took in all that Red Rage had done for him in the few minutes they had interacted...
"Kind sir, I cannot complicate this process for a man like you. I feel better just by having talked to you. To needlessly worry you with this would be a heavy offense for me," the Knight said as he offered Red Rage passage.
"No, no. There is protocol and I must follow. I Prisma, pride myself on following the rules!"
Skullius' eyes went wide when he heard this.
'Bro, are you insane?! He said you can go, so just fleshing go! You're carrying a high level spatial storage tool with hundreds of Cluster beasts and under that helmet, you're a skeleton!' he raged from within, his skin colour changing from the burning fury.
"Please sir. Take this as a token of my gratitude. I'll handle the consequences if anything happens. I swear by Quintess," the Capital Order Knight said with a smile.
"Yes, sir. Please, go in," the other Knight also encouraged.
"Well, if you insist..." Red Rage said before humbly passing between the two and several other Knights.
Since the Apostle had said he would be only be visiting, as Skullius had told him to say, there were no other strict procedures for him to follow.
After he passed, it was Skullius' turn. This was the problem with exiting the City even for a short while. When coming back, a verification would also be needed and with the constant switch in shifts by the Knights at the gate, there was little room to be recognised by someone he had seen before when leaving.
Worse yet, some of the Knights disregarded positions, rendering identifications from the Association or from low to middle level Families useless for trying to get past the verification and search process.
"Ah, who's this shady character?" the Capital Order Knight said while gazing at Skullius with a stern face devoid of the earlier emotion.
Skullius rolled his eyes.
Of course.
When it came to him...
"Pardon me. If it's not any trouble, can you let him pass as well? He's with me," Red Rage pulled back up to save Skullius.
The Knight's face showed delight when he saw Red Rage's figure but after hearing what he had to say, he turned back to Skullius with glaring suspicion.
"Him?" he asked. "Are you sure you have the right person?"
Skullius almost slapped his own face.
"Haha, I'm very sure. He looks like a handsome crook but he's a stand up citizen. I can vouch for him," Red Rage said.
'A crook, huh?' Skullius shook his head.
It was only after five seconds of scrutiny that the Knight finally let Skullius go.
Such a hassle.
When the two entered the city, Skullius warily looked up. He couldn't help it.
He felt exposed.
It was as if he was carrying loads of stolen cash in an open street... in broad daylight. It was just too uncomfortable.
Red Rage on the other hand greeted the people he saw on the way with an affable energy, receiving smiles from many within the crowd, though the opposite was true for the more shady looking individuals and a percentage of those who looked upright.
The contrast between Apostle and Master could not have been more apparent.
Both of them saw the world in different ways after all.
*
Upon reaching the Bryne Family Mansion, Skullius was met with a sombre atmosphere that dripped from the closest room.
The lounge.
Several familiar figures were sitting on the couches, some standing as they all donned sullen expressions.
The maids, the guards, Daggs, whom Skullius hadn't seen in a while, Ed, Terese and Stylla.
The female red head had just finished summarising the new development at the estate, revealing what Setkh had done, the attack and all.
She paid particular focus to Terese as she spoke.
It was easy to overlook as a bystander, but Terese was actually closer to Setkh than she was to Stylla. She supported everything he said and did before this point, proving to have been the only one to view Setkh in a perfectly favourable light despite how he had abandoned the Family in such an unsavoury manner before.
She had welcomed him back with open arms and had been keen to know more about his candidate for the Premium Age Royale, Karrun.
Now...
The small girl sat with a downcast expression, not speaking a word.
Then, in a fit of whatever the spawn of rage, sorrow, despair and loneliness bore, she sped out of the room while sniffling softly.
No one made an effort to stop her.
She needed some space.
"Poor child," Red Rage said with sympathy.
"Welcome to the world outside hunting and killing," Skullius said as he took steps into the lounge, the Apostle following after him.
"I hope I'm not intruding."
Stylla gave a small smile as she saw him.
"No. I have just finished giving a briefing. I felt everyone deserved to know of this before going about the day," Stylla said.
Indeed. She couldn't bear to withhold this for too long since her arrival.
Her father being moved from the large carriage and into the house would have garnered questions away.
Daggs walked up to Skullius and gave him a warm greeting.
"It's good to see you, Master Festos."
"Good to see you too, Daggs," the Hybrid Luman gave a perfunctory reciprocal. He didn't have much of a relationship with the man but it was good to 'see' a familiar face.
Daggs smiled with a pleased visage. One would think he was about to break into tears.
After having been the accompanying companion to Terese since she was sent off by Stylla to now, he truly appreciated seeing people who wouldn't chew him out a whim.
Daggs was about to start a long, casual conversation with Skullius, asking about his wellbeing and all when...
He looked behind the Hybrid Luman.
"Master Festos. Who is this?" he asked.
"Ah, this?" Skullius voiced.
With that, a formal introduction was made.