《Forgotten Heroes》Chapter 59
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Once the guards from sector three arrived all those present were escorted to the police station.
After brief questioning, what happened, and those involved were identified. Then, all civilians who had not been able to evacuate the arena before the arrival of the guards and those who could not move due to injuries were allowed to go out of the barracks. The captain himself assured each of the injured that they would be properly compensated for what happened.
Due to the large number of people involved, in the captain's office only Darthañan, Frigglene, Amgu, and the owner of the arena entered. All the others were taken to one of the hills of the barracks under the supervision of two dozen guards.
The barracks in sector three were built to the preferred parameters of Neanderthals. The building was only one story tall, from a distance the barracks seemed the union of eight rooms, each on a small hill, linked by stone paths in the open air, decorated by simple gardens. The prison or dungeon was hidden in the basement, its only entrance or exit within one of the central rooms.
The meadow and hills around the barracks were used by the soldiers' mounts, which grazed in the open air without any restrictions.
“Where are we?” Theodor asked after giving a big yawn.
The little boy woke up disoriented.
"We're grounded," Elizabeth replied appearing in front of him.
Theodor settled into Sigurd's arms and began to look around. His sister and all his friends were sitting under the shade of a lonely tree on the top of the hill.
Joining them were Lord Amgu's followers and those in charge of security in the arena.
Around all of them, the Neanderthal guards from sector three watched them from the robust buffalos they used as mounts. Theodor's eyes widened at the sight of the impressive beasts. Their fluffy brown fur made him want to hug them.
Sigurd was carrying the two little ones. The powerful Nerthus was amid all the followers of the family, uncomfortable with the scared looks directed at him by all those with any martial skills in energy control.
And as if he had just realized something, the little boy turned to see his sister.
“What about mom and dad?”
"Down there," Elizabeth replied pointing to one of the wooden houses.
In the building that the little girl pointed out, the atmosphere was extremely tense. In front of Captain Yonka's desk were Darthañan, Frigglene, Amgu, and Tolgo, the owner of the coliseum.
Yonka was in a difficult position. The people inside the office, the witnesses, and the recording magic all coincided in the same version. The perpetrators themselves did not even deny it.
In any other case, he would have had the couple and their followers executed, but both the human and the vampire belonged to the second magnitude. And he could not forget about the Nerthus, that werewolf with deer antennae gave off a much more terrifying aura.
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“I don't want to make things difficult for you, but what happened was something pretty serious. The young man who was taking care of the creatures is in critical condition and we do not know if he will be able to survive.”
Yonka ran his robust hand down his neck trying to wipe the sweat off his head. The fear he felt was not due to Darthañan and Frigglene properly, but to the fact that his only perception of the beings of the second magnitude came from the overseers of the seven sectors.
Neanderthals, known for their physical strength, love of battle, and violent character are the typical example of those who oppress the weak and fear the strong. Faced with them the scholars have no merit.
And right now the fact that three, second magnitude beings in front of him behaved so politely made Yonka prefer to fix this situation without having to go to the overseer in sector three.
At best the overseer would kill one or two of his men and at worst Yonka could lose his life.
But this attitude that the captain saw as polite, Amgu saw it as a weakness. The young Neanderthal sought to make this problem as big as he could.
"The captain is right. The medical bills of all visitors and injured employees will not be cheap,” said Amgu, highlighting his concern for the people, but emphasizing the danger of everything that happened.
The delicate way in which Amgu tried to complicate things was due to the same reason that Yonka found himself covered in sweat. His closest knowledge of second magnitude beings came from the overseers.
Fortunately, these people seemed mentally handicapped by not using their strength to get out of this issue.
“Lord Amgu is telling the truth, and not only that: the structural damage the arena received is quite severe, all the beasts prepared for this weekend are nothing but pieces of meat, and our star gladiator for kids shows lost a leg. The losses amount to several million royal credits,” Tolgo added with concern.
As they walked towards the barracks Lord Amgu asked him to exaggerate all the damage he had incurred. And upon noticing the attitude of these foreigners he decided to win the favor from Lord Amgu, which would be something of great value in the future here in sector three.
The position of Amgu and Tolgo also complicated things for Yonka, as Amgu's father had a lot of power in this sector where he worked. For this reason, he could not oppose the intention of the young Amgu to demand several million royal credits as compensation.
"And among the creatures that I tried so hard to bring to this event were some exotic ones that came from the high and middle islands," Amgu said painfully.
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“It's not just the cost. The time it took to capture them and the lives that were lost in that painful process is something that no longer has any meaning. How can I tell the families of my men that their deaths were in vain? That a four-year-old boy blow up everything they worked for?”
Frigglene's face turned red when she heard Amgu's words. How could she not notice what the two Neanderthals were trying to do?
But when she was about to explode she felt Darthañan's hand on hers. Her husband's face was worse, but the situation was not as simple as it seemed.
Unlike Lhimkio, here they had no allies, the presence of second magnitude beings could trigger an investigation. This might not yield results, but the mere possibility that their identities would become known on one of the low islands that bordered the middle islands put the whole family in danger.
Right now the best thing to do would be to solve things discreetly and fast.
Fortunately, his and his wife's power of the second magnitude coerced the young Neanderthal at his side. Of all those present the only one with murderous intent was Amgu. Had everything been unleashed in one battle, their identities would be easily exposed.
“If we are compensated for all the damages caused, we are willing to let this incident pass. After all, it's not their fault that they are not able to control their son,” Amgu said showing an air of magnanimity.
But this was the last straw for Frigglene. This idiot had just told her she was a bad mother.
"Shut up inept!" Frigglene snapped.
“A four-year-old boy circumvented all of your security. It doesn't surprise me that several of your men died trapping a sad Laigard calf ...”
“We will pay!” Darthañan interrupted his wife before the insults escalated to something else.
Yonka turned his gaze to see if Amgu would nod, but seeing his face as red as a tomato, he decided not to wait.
"Okay, I'm going to call my secretary to fix the paperwork. We will complete the transaction as quickly as possible.”
Yonka couldn't take any longer to get rid of this problem.
On the other hand, Lord Amgu was silent because he couldn't find the words to counteract what Frigglene had just said. He was not proficient fighting with prose but with fists. And in the later, it could end much worse.
Once the procedures were completed, the five left the captain's office. The happiest of all was Tolgo, the large sum of money he got could be used to repair and remodel the arena about a hundred times. Just thinking about the number that was transferred to his account made his cheeks blush.
Lord Amgu was not so happy. Although he had obtained a sum of credits much greater than Tolgo, he still had great tastelessness in his mouth. No matter the amount of money nothing could be more satisfying than beating his enemies to death, but his opponents were far more formidable than he could face. Direct combat could end in tragedy, so he took comfort in the fact that he was able to inflate prices exorbitantly.
And only Darthañan and Frigglene knew the serious blow they had received. Almost the vast totality of funds they had received from Helvella had disappeared in an instant.
Losing money was not the problem neither of them had a lust for material things. Frigglene was a martial arts maniac, and Darthañan had only one priority after his family: magical knowledge.
The big problem was what that money meant. At this time, they did not have the resources to even buy two tickets to travel to the next island.
Once they left the office, with the permission of Captain Yonka, everyone was able to free their followers and leave the barracks.
Once Elizabeth and Theodor saw their parents coming up the hill, they both ran towards them.
“Dad, Dad, were we able to save the animals?” Asked the little boy, grabbing his father's leg.
Frigglene bit her lips at her son's question. They couldn't tell him that it was because of his actions that all the animals had died in the explosion he had caused. So she simply lifted Elizabeth and let Darthañan speak to Theodor. But at no point did she imagine that her husband would explode right at this moment.
“Theodor! Do you have any idea what you've done?” Darthañan yelled furiously.
“Not only did your recklessness kill all the animals, but you have left us all in a dire situation!”
“SLAP!”
In the outburst of rage, Darthañan slapped Theodor.
With a red cheek and watery eyes, Theodor couldn't believe what had happened, and without thinking twice, he ran out into the street.
“My love,” said Frigglene, also surprised at what had happened.
Hearing the voice of his wife, Darthañan realized what he had done and started running after his son.
" Go back to the inn, Theodor, and I will catch up with you later!"
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