Emperor's Reckoning

Refl periodically tapped his finger on the table. He looked up without tilting his head. The cobwebs were still on the ceiling and they seemed more prominent and darker than the last time he remembered. He had to filter hard for that the dust lingering in the air didn't make him sneeze.

"Gamael is dead and so does the entire camp?"

Lenu was lounging on the sofa with his head facing the ceiling. "I swear you never see anything like that."

"You expect me to believe that?" asked Refl. ( They are probably the reason why the forest was in such a state, however, to kill an entire camp of Burgeon Swan is... overwhelming ). "I'm serious here, Lenu, I didn't buy all that crap for you to make a lie."

"What do you mean crap? This sofa is soft and made out of the highest quality leather you can get in the market," said Lenu. "It's true, you can check the camp yourself... or should I say, why not ask Teacher Lyon himself."

"Teacher Lyon, hmm," Refl grunted as he crossed his arms on top of the desk. His eyes were sharp as he looked at the papers under his arms but his contemplation was somewhere else. "That guy Lyon and his wife, I did some digging."

"Oh?" Lenu looked over in Refl's direction.

Refl took a deep breath, "Apparently, the infamous Class Six is having a new teacher with a rather... questionable background."

"What do you mean?" Lenu furrowed his brows. "Don't tell me he is also a bandit?!"

"Wh-? A bandit? Where did you have that notion from?" asked Refl.

"Well, back in the camp he was acting quite, bandit-like," said Lenu with a wry smile. ( Taking the bandits' treasures all for himself, killing them mercilessly, and that boisterous laughter at the sky ) he gulped but with a heavy heart shaking off his suspicion.

"Bandit-like..." Refl sighed, "Based on his ridiculous background, I don't think he is a bandit."

"Ridiculous? That's not a word you said often," said Lenu before his eyes sharpened, "Is he actually the son of a famous cultivator or something?"

"Quite the opposite," said Refl." That man literally came down from Mortal World, or should I say came up."

"Huh?!" Lenu stood up. "The Mortal World?"

"I won't stutter mentioning that place," said Refl. "From the sources that I can gather, Lyon is from the Mortal World."

"The Mortal World..." Lenu shook his head before sitting back down, "That's wild. Did you further investigate his background back in the Mortal World?"

Refl answered, "Hmm, not yet, nor do I have the expense to go to that place."

"What's wrong?" Lenu asked.

"I fear that I won't— I mean, we won't have the time to even drink in a bar with Gamael's sudden death."

Lenu tightened his upper lips before he said, "Teacher Lyon has something that might interest you."

"Something that might interest me?" Refl furrowed his brows.

"He found a Returning Jade Stone that I believed to be Gamael's. According to his guess, this Returning Jade Stone will provide a pathway toward the meeting of the other bandit leaders," said Lenu.

Refl slapped his desk excitedly, "That's great news!"

Lenu waved his hands in a gesture for him to lighten up and chill down. "Calm down, will you, it's not like you can get it from him."

"We can't?" Refl furrowed his brows. "But we have the same goal."

Lenu sighed, "I tried it using the same reason as yours but the guy is hard-headed and secondly I don't want to piss off his woman, dear lords, if you piss off his woman, tsk, tsk, tsk, your head will fly with your eyes opened."

Refl's words stuck in his throat before he turned them into a grunt. "Is that how Gamael died?"'

Lenu smirked, "Heh, to think that we have to play low and long to invite him out only for him to lose his head with a single swing from a tender and supple arm."

"W-Wait, you meant to say that he was dead with a swing of a sword?" Refl furrowed his brows. "Don't be ridiculous! You're clearly overselling the story here."

"Even if you serve me liquor, I would still tell you the same thing," said Lenu. "They didn't even stand a chance— and I meant that literally."

Refl swallowed the reality from his words before sighing. He looked around but the dirty room didn't help him at all. He found a thin spider hanging on the cobweb before the latter hastily ran away and entered a small opening in the ceiling, gone from his sight.

Refl looked at his fellow Lenu before asking, "What is he planning to do with the Returning Jade Stone anyway, it's not like he could barrage the entire Burgeon Swan."

Lenu shrugged, "I have no idea, he is really out of the box."

"Coming from you?" Refl raised his brows.

"Yeah, I can't, I can't fathom what his next step would be. He feels, ethereal, you know, like out of this world," said Lenu. "I mean, I admire his words, but, they also frightened me. His morality is of his own. Unlike you and I, he doesn't even care if Guh City is burnt down."

"He said that?" Refl furrowed his brows. "Is he an evil person?"

"Why are you asking me? You're better at this than me," said Lenu. "I wonder if those kids would be alright under his wings."

"It seems I have to confront him," said Refl.

"Remember Refl, he is not our friend," said Lenu. "This is the case of the enemy of my enemy, is my friend."

"You don't have to tell me that," said Refl. "Where are he and the boys?"

"We parted at the entrance, I went straight to the bar and, " he gestured Refl's presence, "Met you— I will say though, they don't have the brightest faces, except for the lady."

"The lady?"

---

Lyon yawned as he sat in front of the three students under his wings. The table was still empty of food and Selena was nowhere to be seen, in fact, the whole restaurant was empty, except for the noise of hocus pocus and knife chopping in the kitchen. He smirked seeing the faces of the three, "Heh, why are you three looking so gloomy, smile— c'mon Reinhard, that's not like you at all."

"I... I'm worried," said Reinhard.

"Worried about what?" asked Lyon. "Is it something about this city?"

"No, it's about, what's coming," said Reinhard, "Can we really make him pay?"

"Depends on you three, do you seek revenge?" asked Lyon.

"Yes, of course!" said Noah. "He must pay for what he's done."

"We are trying to flip over a mountain here," said Rayus, "It's easier said than done."

"But is it possible?" asked Lyon.

Rayus smiled, "I don't care."

"Hahahaha!" Lyon laughed. "That's the right attitude! The more you think about it the more impossible it gets, all you have to do first is to take the first step, one at a time."

"I'm curious, teacher," said Noah.

"Hm? What are you, a cat? Hahaha!" Lyon laughed.

Noah's lips twitched before he forwarded his words, "How did you get so strong?"

The question immediately pulled his two friends' attention toward Lyon. They had never got the chance to ponder the answer. The man in front of them was coming from the dreaded Mortal World, a place where Mana was considered to have thin layers of mana floating by. However, here their teacher was, surprising and gobsmacking everyone in Second Heaven, even to whom other people considered paramount.

Lyon smirked and crossed his arms. "You're wondering, because of my mysterious circumstances, right? A man coming from Mortal World just stomped on the other teachers in the prestigious school in Second Heaven. Coming down from the sky and brought down terror to their pride."

After making the three students hyped up and wrapped with the brilliance of his words, he answered, "It's because I work hard, honest, kind, and never give up," said Lyon.

"..." the three students fell into the abyss of disbelief.

"That's bullshit," said Rayus.

"It is," Lyon smiled and made them pause again. "Being honest is good, but being too honest is bad... for you, everything is in moderation, you need to find the balance, no matter the situation."

Reinhard was about to answer before his nose twitched, the three students immediately opened their eyes wide as their noses seemed to wrinkle in an instant. A foul smell whispers at their nostrils. Their eyes unwillingly teared up but the teacher in front of them crossed his arms and laughed.

"Hahaha, darling, I can smell your godly cooking from here! Where will it be done, me and the boys are starving!" said Lyon.

"Just a minute, darling!" Selena said from the kitchen.

Lyon looked at the three students, "What you're going to experience is far more excruciating than choking the Burgeon Swan, brace yourself—"

Reinhard passed a napkin to Lyon, "You're crying, teacher."

"This is love, you idiot!" said Lyon as he wiped his tears with the napkin.