Book 1. Shifting Winds. Chapter 12. Pulled Around the City. (Part II)

“Anyway, I’m sorry,” Cran apologized again. “Please don’t tell anyone about this, anyone!” he asked of Laien, worried that this information would one way or another reach his father’s ears. Had Vatras learned that he was… gay, and that he had kissed a ten-year-old kid; Rudford’s disciple at that, he would surely disown him without the second thought…!

Laien smiled sarcastically, randomly recalling a situation from a few days ago. “So, when you invited me to take a bath with you, you also had perverted things in mind?” he asked playfully, refusing to get off Cran on purpose. He never expected that Cran would be so easy to tease!

Cran frowned a bit, trying to remember if he had said something like that. Then when he finally remembered, his face turned red and he facepalmed. “I don’t know what I was thinking back then, it just kind of came out by itself,” he groaned, finding it hard to believe that he managed to put himself in such a compromising situation as this one.

“Yeah, just like this kiss, I can believe that,” Laien said half-jokingly and chuckled, amused by the expression on Cran’s face.

“Can’t you just forgive me already…?” Cran pleaded helplessly, quietly promising himself to never, ever again get so drunk in his life.

“Sure, I can forgive you, but under one condition,” Laien declared with a wry smile, a certain idea popping up in his mind.

“And that condition is…?” Cran inquired, the smile of Laien’s causing him to feel worried for some reason.

“Teach me how to kiss,” Laien said straightforwardly and grinned at Cran. There wasn’t really anyone else he could ask about adult kissing at this point, so he decided to make use of the opportunity. As far as he could tell, Cran was pretty good at it and he had already kissed him anyway. After the first time, who would care if there ended up being a few more?

It took a good amount of time until Cran comprehend what Laien just suggested and even then, he couldn’t reply as he was utterly flabbergasted.

“What, will that be a problem?” Laien asked wryly, very much intent on getting what wanted. He was in the right mood, too, so it would be a pity to just cut everything off right there and right then.

“Well, if it’s just explaining…” Cran said hopefully, feeling really awkward and embarrassed now that the tables had been turned on him.

“Explaining is all fine and good, but what’s the point without practice?” Laien said and chuckled, then without waiting for Cran’s response, leaned forward. “Afterwards, tell me what I can do better,” he said with a smirk and kissed Cran, giving his best to imitate what Cran did to him a moment ago.

Pushed so far into the corner, Cran finally gave in and kissed Laien back. He went with the flow, deciding to worry about the consequences some other time…

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“That was fun,” Laien said with a laugh; him and Cran heading back to the Red Dragon School around half an hour later. “Say, why are you so stubborn about me keeping it a secret? I mean, it’s not like I feel like going around and talking about it, but why do you care so much?” he asked without beating around the bush and gave Cran a curious glance. He had repeated not to tell anyone like five times; wasn’t that being a bit paranoid? Would people really care so much if they learned that he kissed him a few times and snuggled with him a little while doing so?

“That’s…” Cran sighed heavily. He didn’t like to speak about his worries with other people, but given the circumstances, he felt that he had no other choice but to confess. “My father wouldn’t be happy if he heard any rumors about it. He is very conservative, I can’t remember how many times he spoke about anticipating me to marry and give him grandchildren,” he said and sighed once more. His father had often openly expressed his contempt for gay people. One thing was for certain; it wasn’t one huge misunderstanding on his part. It wasn’t some cheesy nighttime tale which always had a good ending of the kind ‘and everyone lived happily ever after’.

“Huh, so that’s what it was about,” Laien scratched his head, a bit embarrassed that he thought Cran had a more superficial reason for being worried about potential rumors. “I will keep it a secret, so don’t worry,” he reassured, to what Cran sent him a thankful smile.

The two of them walked without chatting for a few dozen seconds but stopped as someone called out.

“Oh, young master! You taking a walk with a friend?”

Laien turned around and saw three guards of the Valius family approaching. He nodded his head habitually; it could be said that there was some kind of a relationship between him and these three men. He had often chatter with either of them and has had a chance to spar with their sons a few times. If he remembered well, the tall, black-haired one who called out to him was called… Dinne? “We’re going back to the Red Dragon School,” he responded briefly to Dinne’s question, not really intent on initiating a long conversation.

“Judging by your clothes, it looks like the rumors are true,” Dinne said with a smile. “You’ve probably heard it a bunch of times already, but congratulations,” he added with a laugh, glad to see a reasonable noble like Laien climb up the ladder of society.

“So, did you call out to me just for that?” Laien asked resignedly, sensing from Dinne’s attitude that there was something else he wanted from him.

“Sharp as ever,” Dinne chuckled and nodded admittedly. “We were told to invite a certain person by Lord Garon. Seeing you here, we wondered if you could help us out…” Dinne brought up in a roundabout way, knowing what he and his friends had said about that certain person to Laien.

“… Master Shire, right?” Laien asked with a sigh, to what Dinne nodded helplessly. “You really think he will go? It’s a waste of time,” Laien shook his head. Apart from the two days per week Shire would go out of his way to train with him, he would be… hardly responsible for anything. Even were he to be sober, given his unpredictable temper and his contempt for the nobility, he wouldn’t accept Garon’s invitation anyway.

“I’ve heard some things about him, but is he really what rumors say about him?” Cran gave Laien an intrigued look. He might have known Laien for well over a year, but only recently did he start seeing him as a friend. He knew Shire was Laien’s master, but he has never had a chance to ask about that mysterious eccentric before.

“Some points are exaggerated, but yeah, most of it is true,” Laien admitted with a helpless laugh. “That’s why I’m saying it’s a waste of time, he won’t listen to you anyway,” he repeated, gazing at Dinne and his two friends with a mix of resignation and pity. Garon would probably be angry with them for failing to bring Shire over; little did Garon know that he had assigned them one hell of an unreasonable task.

“Even if it’s unlikely, we need to at least try,” Dinne said sourly, quite obviously not thrilled by the perspective of coaxing Shire into an agreement. “Please, lend us some face. We will remember it, even if a favor owed by mere guards might not amount much to the current you,” he said with a sigh, gazing at the black dragon on Laien’s shirt.

Laien frowned slightly. He disliked being rubbed the wrong way; just asking was enough to make him consider to agree, there was no need to imply anything. “Eh, fine. I have something I need to speak about with Master Shire, too,” he agreed in the end, not wanting to seem like a total ass.

“Thank you,” Dinne said with a smile, relieved as the possibility of them disappointing Lord Garon decreased.

“I would love to tag along, but I really need to go and apologize to Elder Hauman,” Cran mentioned in a low voice. Hopefully, Elder Hauman wouldn’t be too angry with him… hopefully.

“Sure, see you later,” Laien shook hands with Cran and exchanged a meaningful smile. “So, let’s get going,” he said to Dinne and the other two men, his lighthearted attitude returning quickly.

The four of them headed to Shire’s house. They arrived after roughly twenty minutes of walking and the three guards, seeing the place for the first time, couldn’t help but allow ugly expressions to show on their faces. The building looked like a fairly big dojo, but it was completely run-down to the point of making one wonder how it hadn’t fallen apart yet. The outer walls were dirty, the wooden walls seemed to be beginning to rot. As for the windows; they were so smudged it was impossible to see through them at all.

In contrast to the three guards, Laien didn’t really pay much attention to how Shire’s house looked. He led them inside, entering through the always-open door. Knowing Shire’s habits, he headed straight to the backyard and as expected, saw Shire sleeping by the training field, on the wooden floor and with a large bottle of alcohol at his side; which likely had been dropped by him the moment he had fallen asleep.

“Tch, for a Great Master to turn into something like this. What a disgrace for our Sarkcente Kingdom,” Ethane, the most foul-mouthed of the three guards commented loudly upon seeing Shire’s appearance. Just one glance was enough to tell that Shire was thoroughly drunk, without even a brink of consciousness in him… or so it appeared.

“If you want him to go with you, you’d better save these comments for yourself,” Laien commented sourly. Once, when he had been stupid enough to try waking up his master from a nightmare he had been having, he ended up being blasted away by a powerful blast of Qi, He had barely escaped death as by the last split second, Shire came to his senses and withdrew all his strength from the attack. Thus, the next time when he had needed to wake Shire up, he threw cold water at him… but alas, still ended being roughed up by Shire in the pretense of ‘sparring’.

Having backed off by around a dozen meters, Laien eyed his master carefully. He gestured the three guards to move further away, then took a deep breath and yelled. “Oi, master! If you don’t wake up I’m going to eat the dinner without you!”

The three guards stared at Laien with disbelief. Things like those worked only in old stories and fairy tales! Who in their right mind would try waking someone up in this way and actually hope to succeed? Yet, their expectations were quickly proved wrong as Shire’s body twitched, then the man actually sat down and yawned greatly; his eyes still half-closed.

“What were you saying about the dinner?” Shire asked along with another yawn. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Laien, simultaneously spotting the three men standing a few meters from him. Instantly, his expression turned angry. “You sure brought some trash to my home. Take them out, it’s a waste of time to speak to those dogs of the Valius family,” he said bluntly and laid back onto the floor, not even looking in the direction of the three guards anymore. True to his words, he really saw them as not worth any attention.

The three men, faced with such an obvious lack of respect couldn’t help but be furious. Dinne and Rishe were able to restrain themselves, however, Ethane was less patient. He was frowning heavily, veins bulging out on his forehead; it looked like he would lash out against Shire at the slightest provocation. After all, he didn’t see Shire as anything special; everyone knew that Shire’s power had deteriorated to an injury and that even weak nobles and their sons had been able to make a fool out of him at the price of a few dozen gold coins. What was there to fear from a disgrace like him?

Laien sighed quietly, ashamed to admit that he would want to see what would happen if Ethane actually attacked his master. He glanced at Dinne though, and the man appeared to have understood what he meant without words. There was no way it would be easy; if they wanted to get Shire to come along, they needed to swallow all their pride and try asking respectfully, no matter what they thought about him.

“Forgive us for intruding, Master Shire,” Dinne spoke up calmly, doing a good job in hiding the anger he was feeling. “We came by the orders of the Clan Leader. He wishes to see you, so could you please come with us?” he asked in the most polite way he could muster himself to and bit his tongue, stopping himself from adding something like ‘but before that, could you please wash yourself at least three times so you won’t stink like a wet dog’.

“Aaah?” Shire snorted at Dinne. “Are you dogs too stupid to understand words? I told you to get the fuck out of my house. Sho away, sho! You can tell your owner that if he really wants to talk with me so much, he can come to me on his own. Then, I might consider speaking with him, hmph,” he stated contemptuously while scratching himself under his tattered shirt. He had no idea why a Great Family suddenly got interested in dealings with him, but he couldn’t have cared less.

“You…!” both Rishe and Ethane were about to burst with anger and only a reprimanding glance from Dinne made them stand down, at least for the time being. While the two were keeping their mouths shut tightly as to not curse as Shire, Dinne glanced at Laien, pleading silently; without his help, Shire would never agree to go with them.

Laien suppressed a sigh. He knew what the outcome would be, but asked nevertheless. “Master, if you have nothing better to do, why don’t just go and see what Garon wanted from you…?”

“Even you want to annoy me, stupid disciple?” Shire said more resignedly than angrily, then finally took a proper look at Laien and… gasped. He jumped to his feet with an agility one wouldn’t suspect a drunk person of and walked up to Laien in quick steps. He took another look at Laien’s white high-quality clothes and most importantly, on the black dragon sigil on his shirt. He might not have seen Rudford for one hundred years, but he sure as hell remembered this damned mark of his!

“Oi, stupid disciple. This’d better not be some kind of a joke,” he growled and grabbed Laien by his shoulders, gripping them a bit too strongly for comfort. “What made this training freak interested in you? What was the deal? Speak!” he ordered angrily, unconsciously tightening his grip even further. For his own disciple to subordinate himself Rudford of all people! If the lady fate wasn’t playing a cruel joke on him, then what was it?!

Laien muffled a groan, feeling as if Shire was about to squash his shoulders into a meat paste. He was looking straight at Shire’s face, and he was honestly a bit scared. Even when Shire had roughed him up, he didn’t appear to be as angry or disturbed as he was now. Had he known his master would react so emotionally to the news of him becoming Rudford’s disciple, he would have approached him with it differently. He wanted to say something to calm his master down, but he couldn’t quite come up with anything sensible.

Luckily or not, one of the three guards finally lost his patience. “Put your hands away, you old goat! Can’t you see you are hurting him?!” Ethane shouted and approached the two. He might not have been the strongest person around, but he was at the eighth mortal realm. He saw no reason he afraid of a fallen ‘Great Master’, so he blatantly reached out in an attempt to grab Shire’s hand.

“Screw off,” Shire growled and made a light, sweeping motion with his hand. It appeared that he would only tap against Ethane with the back of his hand, merely sweep against his clothes… but instead, he blew Ethane away by a good ten meters.

Ethane staggered and fell to his knees. He started coughing and grabbed his chest, quite a few of his ribs having been broken. He raised his gaze, this time a true fear present in his eyes. When Shire swept at him, he felt as if a massive sledgehammer landed in the middle of his chest and yet, he could tell that Shire wasn’t putting up an act. He really hadn’t attacked him; he only shoved him away…!

“If he really used some of his strength…” Ethane shivered, realizing how close to death he had been. But yeah, although he wasn’t in the right state of mind to think about it, he had achieved his goal; Shire let Laien go and now was only staring at him.

“You calmed down yet, master?” Laien asked grudgingly while massaging his shoulders. He spared only a brief glance on Ethane and the other two shaken-up guards. He had warned them, didn’t he? It was their own fault they chose to not listen.

“Just explain what I’m seeing,” Shire said with a sigh, trying to keep his temper in check.

“It’s a somewhat long story, but most importantly I have a message to you from elder brother,” Laien said with a little smirk. He knew it was a dangerous game, but at the moment he wanted to get back at Shire even if only a little.

“Elder brother? I’m asking you about Rudford, I don’t care about some stupid elder brother of yours!” Shire raised his voice, getting impatient. Just like he just said, why would he care about a message from this ‘elder brother’ of Laien’s?

Laien chuckled and continued without giving Shire any explanation. “That’s exactly it. Elder brother asked me to deliver a message to you, master. I believe it went more or less like ‘the next time you see this stupid idiot, tell him to stop being lazy and teach you his spear techniques and if not, then I will take over the training as he is obviously worse at sword-wielding than me,” he said with a smile, imitating the way Rudford accented this message. To his satisfaction, his master appeared to be speechless for a good dozen seconds before finally managing to speak up.

“You… elder brother… no, it can’t be… but only he and his peers called me a ‘stupid idiot’… ah, fuck! So annoying! Only Rudford would dare to call my sword techniques half-assed, this damned training freak…!” Shire went through muttering to himself, stomping at the ground and being conflicted as to whether to laugh or cry. He groaned, then asked with a mixture of helplessness and anger. “Oi, stupid disciple, did he tell you about Fianne? Did he tell you that I should already forget about her? How much did he blabber about my past, eh? Do you also think that I should just forget about everything and start living ‘decently’, eh?”

Bombarded by the questions, Laien was a little overwhelmed and at the same time, was beginning to connect the dots. He had always wondered why Master Shire became a drunkard, but he quickly learned to not ask him about it. Seeing how emotional his master was being about the matter, he now understood why Rudford had chosen to not speak with him about Shire’s past. Shire’s current behavior… was it caused by the loss of this woman, of Fianne?

“It’s not like I can’t empathize. If something were to happen to Siana…” Laien shuddered, discarding the ominous thought immediately. He didn’t even want to think about this possibility as to not bring forth an ill omen. Normally, he didn’t believe in those superstitions, but when Siana was involved in them, he just couldn’t bring himself to taunt the destiny.

“Elder brother didn’t tell me anything about your past, master,” Laien cleared up as soon as Shire calmed down enough to listen to him.

In turn, Shire stared at him for a long time. His gaze moved to the black dragon sigil on his shirt, then he sighed resignedly and winced the next second, recalling the message Laien delivered to him. “Bring a good spear for yourself and come tomorrow morning,” he said outright, some anger very clearly present in his voice. Rudford had always known how to get under his skin and by the looks of it, he still didn’t lose this skill.

“As for you three,” Shire glanced at the guards out of the corner of his eye and snorted. “Go hang yourselves at some tree. I don’t give a shit about your clan leader,” he said disdainfully and no longer paid the three any attention.

The three guards stiffened. They saw Shire display his strength and no longer viewed him with contempt; in fact, they were now scared of him. Thus, they didn’t say a word to rebuke Shire and simply left; very quickly at that.

“And I told them they were wasting their time,” Laien thought to himself, but soon enough switched to wondering about something more pleasant. “I should get Dan’s father, Master Duaran to forge a spear for me. There are quite a few top-quality weapons in my interspatial ring, but nothing compares to Master Duaran’s blades. Now that I have enough coins to pay for the best materials, I can request something amazing,” he mused with a smile, so enticed by the thought that he momentarily stopped caring about the outside world.

A few scenes of a man wielding his glaive flashed through Laien’s mind. If he could move like this, if he could fight like this…!

“Don’t be late tomorrow,” Shire said lazily as he left Laien to his thoughts and sat down at his usual stop and brought out a bottle of vodka.

Awakened by his master’s words, Laien shook his head and hurried outside. “I won’t be,” he called out over his shoulder, heading straight to Master Duaran’s smithy. If he wanted to have his spear finished today, he needed to get moving!