novelraw Chapter 242 242: Joining the Fray
Chapter 242 242: Joining the Fray
By the riverbanks of the Iron Fortress, Kaito retracted his useless fishing rod.
An entire morning had passed without a single bite.
It is definitely the rod's fault. It has absolutely nothing to do with my
technique, Kaito thought, nodding firmly to himself as he gazed at the sky.
Today was a day of mild winds and gentle sun—perfect weather for "slacking off."
According to his self-appointed itinerary, after failing to fish, he was
supposed to head to the park in the Central Plaza. There, he intended to utilize
his invincible Briefs Formation to educate the arrogant novices of the board
game circles. Afterward, he'd stop by the dessert shop to buy a King-sized
Strawberry Cream Pudding Mountain for Bochi, who was still attending the
Evernight Academy.
It was meant to be a perfect day.
Kaito adjusted his cloak and began his walk toward the park. However, before he
even reached the plaza, a cacophony of shouting erupted from the direction of
the city gates.
"Down with the House of Pass-Anger! Restore justice to the Empire!" "The Empire
belongs to the Sovereign! Not to the Pass-Angers!" "Why are the Pass-Angers
allowed to drink and ride while we, the Sovereign's loyal subjects, are
detained?!"
Kaito's footsteps halted.
The House of Pass-Anger?
His soulfire flickered with confusion. When did a family named 'Pass-Anger'
emerge within the Empire's core? Among the non-undead administrative staff,
there wasn't a single official with that name. Had some obscure noble lineage
from the old world managed to flourish in the shadows of his reign?
This sounded significantly more entertaining than teaching old men Gomoku.
Kaito immediately altered his course, drifting toward the rowdy crowd gathered
at the gates. He saw a group of five or six men clustered by the roadside. At
their head stood a white-haired human elder—Pete—perched atop a makeshift wooden
crate. He was waving his arms wildly, delivering a sermon of high-octane
indignation.
"Brothers! Sisters! We are all legal residents of the Evernight Empire! We love
the Sovereign! We obey the laws!" Pete pointed a finger toward the gate, his
voice thick with tragic fury. "But this morning, I, Pete, witnessed corruption
with my own eyes! I saw privilege festering in this land of light!"
"A carriage! The people inside had been drinking! They had consumed more than I
had! Yet they rolled through the gates with their heads held high! Why? Because
the guards said they were members of the House of Pass-Anger!"
Beside him, a Dwarven blacksmith slammed a warhammer into the dirt with a
resonant clang. "Damn right! I only had two pints of ale and I'm stuck here! Who
is this 'Pass-Anger'? Is his ale brewed with gold?!"
An Orc hunter let out a guttural roar. "Unfair! Absolute tyranny! We demand an
audience with the Sovereign! We must purge these parasites!"
A crowd of curious residents had gathered, but most looked bewildered. They
whispered and pointed, but few joined the shouting. In the Empire of today, the
concept of "Fairness" was etched into the very marrow of society. A sudden
"House of Pass-Anger" sounded like the delusional ramblings of a drunkard.
Kaito merged into the crowd, listening to their accusations. The more he heard,
the more certain he became that something was very, very wrong. If such a family
existed, Skele-Pride's Punishment Legion would have been the first to know.
Given Pride's clinical obsession with order, he would have dragged the
"Pass-Angers" to a dungeon himself, even if they were fellow Generals.
Kaito squeezed to the front, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Gentlemen, I too have suffered under the heavy hand of the Pass-Angers. Might I
join your cause?"
Pete's eyes lit up at the sight of a new recruit. "Of course, brother! Come,
tell us—how did that wretched house wrong you?"
Kaito cleared his non-existent throat and began to weave a narrative, his tone
dripping with practiced grief. "Years ago, when I was but a newly spawned
skeleton who could barely rattle, my roadside stall was crushed by a Pass-Anger
convoy. They didn't even stop to apologize; they simply trampled my dreams of
commerce! My very first business venture... gone in a cloud of dust!"
Kaito used a bony hand to wipe away a phantom tear. Pete and the others nodded
in shared pain, their indignation reaching a fever pitch.
"Despicable! Utter lawlessness!" "The Pass-Angers would even bully the Undead!
They truly are the rot of the Empire!"
As they huddled together in their shared misery, a patrol of the Punishment
Legion noticed the disturbance. A column of skeleton soldiers marched toward
them with a synchronized clack-stomp-clack. At their head was a Centurion,
who—ironically—had a wooden Knight chess piece hanging from his belt as a
charm.
"What is the meaning of this public clamor?!" the Centurion vibrated. "Disperse
at once, or face detention for disturbing the peace!"
Seeing the Legion arrive, Kaito immediately shrank back, positioning Pete and
the others as a shield while he suppressed his presence and melted into the
crowd of onlookers.
The Centurion waved a hand, and his soldiers surrounded the protesters. Pete,
seeing an official, didn't recoil. Instead, he grew even more animated.
"Officer! You've arrived just in time! We are filing a formal report! We wish to
report the corrupt practices of the House of Pass-Anger!"
"The House of... Pass-Anger?"
The soulfire in the Centurion's sockets flickered with visible confusion. He
circled Pete twice before stopping directly in front of him, tapping a bony
finger against his own helmet. "Speak clearly. I have no record of such a
lineage."
Pete recounted the morning's events with even more "flavor" than before. "The
Knight said it himself! As long as you are a Pass-Anger, you get a free pass!
Such blatant nepotism cannot stand!"
The Centurion fell silent. He didn't argue. Instead, he initiated a Soul Link
with the gate-warden, pulling the morning's logs and alchemical sensor data.
A moment later, the Centurion looked up, his soulfire locked onto Pete.
"I have reviewed the archives." "A carriage did indeed pass the checkpoint ahead
of you this morning."
Pete wore a smug look of "I told you so."
The Centurion continued, "The driver of said carriage registered a zero on the
alchemical alcohol test. However, a young apprentice seated beside the
driver—out of idle curiosity—blew into the device and triggered a high-level
intoxication warning."
"According to the Imperial Transit Code: The operator of a vehicle is strictly
prohibited from consuming spirits. Passengers, however, are exempt from this
restriction."
"Therefore, the carriage was authorized to proceed."
The Centurion's voice was as flat as a tombstone.
"As for your 'House of Pass-Anger'... the original statement from the Fearless
Vanguard was: 'If you were sitting in the Passenger seat, you could pass too.'"
"A Passenger is a person traveling in a vehicle who is not the driver. It is not
a family name."
The explanation hit the crowd like a thunderbolt.
The clearing fell into a deathly, ringing silence. The tragic fury on Pete's
face froze into a mask of pure horror. The Dwarf's warhammer slipped from his
hand, hitting the dirt with a dull thud. The Orc hunter's jaw dropped so low a
fist could have fit inside.
Kaito, still hiding in the crowd, had to physically hold his jawbone to keep
from laughing out loud. All that drama... for a linguistic misunderstanding.
After several seconds of frozen air, the Dwarf was the first to snap. He turned
his head slowly toward Pete, his teeth grinding with an audible screech. "You
old fossil... what did you just say? The House of... Passenger?"
The Orc hunter's knuckles cracked as he balled his fists. "I skipped my wife's
special roast to support you today. And you're telling me it was because your
ears are full of cobwebs?!"
The mercenary who had joined them silently pulled a dagger from his boot. "I had
an escort contract worth fifty silver. Because of this 'protest,' the deadline
has passed. The contract is void."
Pete looked at the predatory glints in the eyes of his "allies." Cold sweat
poured down his face. "Wait... wait! It's a misunderstanding! I'm a victim too!
I was misled!"
"Wait! Where is our Undead brother? He was bullied by them too! He can testify!"
Pete whipped his head around, searching frantically for the "brother" who had
shared his tragic story about the trampled stall.
But there was no sign of a vengeful skeleton. Aside from the Punishment Legion
patrol and a crowd of residents struggling to suppress their laughter, the
street was empty of "allies."
"Misunderstanding, my foot!"
The Dwarf roared, lunging forward with a textbook tackle that sent Pete
sprawling.
"Give me back the ale I didn't get to drink!"
The Orc was next, pouncing on Pete like a starved lion. "Give me back my special
breakfast!"
The mercenary said nothing, merely joining the fray to see if Pete's fine silk
tunic could be stripped and sold to recoup his lost contract fee.
Kaito quietly retreated further into the shadows of the alley, watching the
group of men who had united for an absurd reason now tearing each other apart
for that very same reason. The Punishment Legion stayed on the sidelines,
showing zero intent to interfere.
The Centurion even began to offer a play-by-play commentary to his subordinates.
"Observe the Dwarf—excellent center of gravity, but his follow-through on the
punch is sluggish. The Orc has raw power, but zero technique. As for the
elder... mmm, surprisingly durable."
Kaito shook his head. He had seen enough "entertainment" for one day. His mood
for Gomoku was entirely gone.
Pudding. Bochi needs pudding.
Kaito turned his back on the chaos and drifted toward the dessert shop.
☆☆☆
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