Chapter - 4

ta ta ta

The closer Arthan got to the place where Topaz moan in pain, Arthan finally saw who had made Topaz petrified earlier.

At the right intersection of the corridor stood an elderly man in a butler suit with a black walking cane in his right hand.

Although he seems so old from his wrinkled skin, his standing posture was still straight like a pole, indicating that he didn't really need a walking cane in his right hand.

‘An elderly man, butler suit, a wrinkled and emotionless face, and aged eyes that could still send bone-chilling cold to whoever he stares!

Old TERRY!'

Terry Douglas Butler, he had been the butler of the Douglas house for three generations. There were no secrets that the Douglas house had, which he didn't know about it.

Arthan had heard a lot of stories about this immediate boss of Topaz.

He thought that Topaz was exaggerating when he described Old Terry as an existence scarier than the walking dead.

'Topaz is not exaggerating at all, not even a bit!'

Knowing who he is, Arthan rushes towards this elderly man and gives him a salute by placing his palm flat to his left chest, “Mr Terry, I'm very sorry for my uncle being a disturbance.” apologies Arthan washing his hand clean from Topaz mess.

"At ease, child." with a deep raspy voice, old Terry responds to Arthan salute.

‘No addition? Are you not going to start a play and ask who I am?’ Arthan has prepared a script inside his head, yet Old Terry's face that looks indifferent throw him off guard.

With a little bit of an awkward tone, Arthan quickly answers, "Thank you, Mr Terry."

Cracks Cracks

"O-Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

As Topaz tries to stand up, his joints create clear cracking sounds and announce that its master, still alive.

"I'm very sorry, Mister Terry, we have disturbed your rest," said Topaz apologetically, taking in Arthan as accomplices.

‘Darn old punk!’ curse Arthan giving a finger to Topaz inside his head.

Stare!

Old Terry said nothing in response to Topaz and merely stare at him, and yet Topaz began oozing cold sweats.

The oppressive power of bone-chilling stare from old Terry can even be felt by Arthan and make him take one step backward to distance himself from Topaz.

‘Dominance intent? No! It's just his stare!

God, without mana and he, can emit this chilly aura, how strong does this walking dead is?’

Dominance intent is some kind of mana manipulation, where the manipulator made mana in the atmosphere to favour them and suppresses whoever they wish to suppress.

Still, the manipulator has to expend some mana as a medium to interact with mana in the atmosphere and unlike what old Terry did.

In silence, times passed as old Terry kept staring at Topaz.

“Have you packed?” asks old Terry after a long silence.

"I-I'm very sorry, mister Terry. I have yet...”

Glare!

"I-I'll be packing my belongings soon, Mister Terry… a-after I introduce m-my nephew to the rest of the castle."

Topaz stuttered at 'my' part, not sure if he should call Arthan his nephew or not.

'Is that a glare from human eyes?’ from the side, Arthan sweating for Topaz to have such a scary immediate boss, 'Oh, dear Topaz... you can rest in peace. Your soul will enter heaven, pal! I guarantee it!’

“Done it as soon as possible! We are urgently in need of a trustworthy delegation in Albea.”

"Yes, mister Terry!"

Done ending Topaz's childish behaviour and ordering Topaz to hasten his preparation, old Terry turns around, walking with his cane towards his own room.

tap tak tap tak

Arthan and Topaz were soundless at the intersections, waiting for old Terry to walk away.

Feels old Terry is far enough, Topaz preparing his joint to cast a healing spell.

crack crack

“Water magic - Water blessings,” Topaz mutters. blinding light blue coloured mist coming from both of his hands as a sign he casting the spell with high-tier casting technique.

He needs to boost up the spell power because the wounds in his butts are not merely superficial ones like before.

‘Kekeke… good job, Head cracker!’ thought Arthan praising his staff as he saw how Topaz was trying so hard to cast spells while enduring the pain.

There are three levels of magic casting in this world, low-tier with fainter mist glow as the sign, middle-tier with standard mist glow as the sign, and high-tier with glaring mist glow as the sign.

As for in practical’s way, low-tier is one-handed casting, the power is the lowest but has the fastest casting speed.

Medium-tier is casting with both hands. The power and casting speed is medium, but it was the most used by a spellcaster.

And high-tier is casting with both hands plus the uses of sub veins. It can be the fastest or the slowest, but it always has the highest power of the three.

The majority of people in this world can only do casting in medium-tier because using sub veins to transfer mana to the finger without the correct method is a faster way to hell than even stabbing your heart.

High-casting is the sign of the strong, the one Arthan can't do, and the reason why his family has to disown him.

Thus high-tier casting is a sore spot for him, though he is still happy to make Topaz use it as that means his butts is hurting so bad.

Seeing that Topaz butts have healed and old Terry is far away enough. Arthan begins to ask Topaz about Old Terry's words.

“What old Terry meant by Albea, uncle?” asks Arthan, his widening eyes showing that he felt a little lost.

Topaz has been with him for approximately six years.

His existence beside him has become a natural thing for Arthan.

Now they must part away. Of course, Arthan feels a little lost. Still, feeling lost and reluctantly are two different things.

He is too old to be sad over trivial matters like this, or so Arthan thought.

“Ehem… let's talk about it while walking. As Mr Terry said, I need to pack up, ASAP!” says Topaz in a slightly higher voice, while eyeing old Terry back.

tap tap tap

Topaz and Arthan both walk on the left corridor, opposite the one old Terry take.

“You know…” while walking topaz keeps telling obvious tall tales and fake stories as if Arthan is an idiot.

“Grrrr… Can’t you just cut to the chase, and leave all the bullshit behind!” scolds Arthan, his hands gripping his staff tightly, indicating that he was giving an ultimatum to Topaz.

“Sigh... like what I said before, I gotta go to Albea, that's all. As for why I have to go to Albea, that's a secret.”

“Then why do you keep irritating me and creating farce in the corridor?”

“Hmm… maybe farewell skinship?”

Arthan rolls his eyes at the answer from Topaz, and then pinch Topaz belly.

Pinch

Squeeze!

“A-Ar-Arrgh! What are you doing Arthan!”

Release

“You know… it's farewell skinship! Wants some more?”

Topaz rolls his eyes, “Fine, you win! I don’t fight with a kid!”

tap tap tap 

Topaz continue their walk, and on his side, Arthan keeps barraging him with questions.

House of Douglas castle main building was in rectangle layout. All the servants were living on the first floor.

Thus, by only walking around, they would meet all the servants in the castle.

Hence, Topaz brings Arthan from the butler quarter at the north-west to the male servant quarter, the warehouse, and the male cook quarter in the northeast. Then going to the south into the kitchen and female cook quarter; then walk west into female servant quarters; finally, walk north crossing great hall in the middle of the castle and back to where they started.

ta-tap

After going around for hours of orientation about the castle, in the same corridor where they did their little farce, both of them halt their steps and fell on thought.

Arthan and Topaz now realized the politics in the castle were too thick, especially with old Terry getting older by the day, and no one knows when the Baron will need another head-butler.

Moreover, Topaz rivals seem to have won over the majority of servants hearts.

Consequently, when Topaz brags about how smart and strong Arthan was when he was only six years old, many people were deriding softly behind them.

“Hahaha… my rival seems to have been working very hard in the last three years!” chuckles Topaz acting like he doesn't care about them, yet his shaky tone and warmed breath says otherwise.

Care not about how Topaz is feeling inside, Arthan asks about what he wanted to know,

“Is that why you made all those farces since noon? To make them not bother me? Trying to be a good uncle, huh?”

When Topaz brags about how smart and strong, Arthan is, He also shows facts about how strong Arthan really is.

From how loud their farce on the corridor today is, the use of unique talisman, Arthan magical staff, and all the beans he knows about Arthan.

“Hehehe… You overthinking about it, young boy!" laughs Topaz, ready to explain the reason behind his strange behaviour today, "I just wanted them to be aware of what kind of fire they are playing with; if not, and they fell for your nasty little trick. The castle will never be in peace, and I will get a bad rep.” 

Yawn

"...Boring!"Arthan pretends to make a yawning sound, as if he didn't care about what Topaz had done for him and audaciously state, "I don't care what they thought and did, and if they are being bothersome, I will simply smack them in the head like always!"

"Really?" cheekily Topaz ask Arthan with an annoying face, where one of his eyebrows goes up.

“Your butts already getting better, aren't ya?”

whoosh

whish

Arthan launches another attack on Topaz. Topaz, who knew Arthan's inside-out, swiftly dodged to the side and ran away to his room.

Once again, the chase game between uncle and nephew restarts.