Kapitel 64: The Zanuki
In the southeastern part of the Hargan Empire, Herza City.
"Hey, Mara are you sure you get the correct person?" Henova asked after looking at the document in front of him.
"You know my brother is a mercenary, right? He got this from one of his trusted friends who work with the Dark Moon mercenary groups. Those fellows mostly trade information as their main product," Mara said convincingly.
"But why would such a person come here though? And why would he help me?" Henova still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of getting help from one of the most prominent clans in the empire.
"How could I know? People said they are kind of eccentric despite being crazy rich and powerful clan. There was indeed one of the clan member with the name Ares, the youngest grandson of the current Zanuki matriarch and the only sibling of the clan's official heir. Your life will be smooth sailing if you can get him to back you up," Mara tried to motivate the pessimistic Henova.
To be honest, Henova wasn't pessimistic but he was more worried that instead of getting rejected like he already used to, he might get killed instead. The rumours said that even the royal family wouldn't mess with them.
"Didn't you get his family insignia badge? Maybe it was a kind of identification or something. I don't think anything bad will happen to you. Just try going to Soga Town and looked around. Maybe you might come across something," Mara suggested.
"You wanted me to look around? And then what?"
"Look around, relax your mind for a bit. It's been too long since you give yourself a vacation right? Just go and then you can come back here again."
Henova started to consider Mara's suggestion. The robed man didn't seem that he would come to meet him soon and he also wasn't that busy at the moment.
"They say the Zanuki created many entertainment-based businesses that are family-friendly. Maybe you can take a look and tell me if it is really as fun as I imagined from seeing the advertisement on their website. By the way, if you're curious this is how Ares looked like."
Mara showed a few pictures of a red hair academy student standing beside the second prince of the Hargan royal family. There's also other pictures of him with other people seemingly his family and also other nobles.
He looked contrastingly different from the one Henova had met.
The lavish cloth along with noble and high-ranking friends around him made Ares look even more dignified than he originally was.
"Did his face too ugly that he had to wear a face mask like that?" Henova asked curiously.
"Oh, no one knows about that but there are many witnesses who said he was actually good-looking," Mara also wasn't sure.
"Maybe I can ask him if I managed to meet him," Henova said jokingly. He himself wasn't sure if he could even meet with Ares again and for what?
"Send my regards to him and ask him to come here again so I can help squander his money. His family must have given a generous allowance to him," Mara said excitedly. She really hopes her long-time friend and also her one-time crush, Henova could find what he really wanted this time around.
"I will let my son accompany you to Soga Town and help you look around so how about it?" Mara suggested.
"No, it's ok. Just ask that brat to book a train ticket for me and book me a decent inn to live in for a few days in Soga Town. I should go alone," Henova declined since he didn't want to burden anyone.
"If you say so...oh welcome sir. Are you new here? May I take your order," Mara quickly greeted a customer that just arrived and sat beside Henova at the bar counter.
The black-haired and grey eyes young man looked docile and beaming with a smile that make him look a bit foolish, "I want to eat hot lemon steamed salmon with salad and rice, please. Give me a glass of ice tea along with it."
"We will serve it in a minute," Mara quickly went to the kitchen and shouts at the cook and waiter there.
Henova glanced slightly at the young man sitting around a meter away from him. The young man just flashed a smile at him.
"Hey, what is an upright-looking young man like you doing here? People like you usually went around the main street and not a hidden rat hole like here," Henova asked directly.
He had become more sensitive since he met Ares and the strange-robed man that he quickly felt prejudice and vigilance toward anyone that he saw for the first time, especially the young man beside him who looked clueless and ignorant.
"Oh, I just randomly walked around. I already tried those restaurants in the main street and coincidentally I found this pub while I was walking around, that's why I'm here," the young man didn't seem offended and just answered Henova's question sincerely.
This made Henova to have slightly mixed feelings, "Ehem, where are you come from? You are obviously not a local."
"I came from the north, Soga Town. I get a few days of vacation from work and randomly chose Herza City."
"Oh, you're from Soga Town. What is your job, young guy? You looked pretty well off," Henova tried to probe.
"I work as an assistant manager in a winery. Soga Town is famous for its wine and rum. There were also many more entertainment base attractions being built around the town to attract more tourists," the young man told Henova excitedly as if he was a kid telling a story to his father.
"Oh it seems the Lord of that town seems pretty decent," Henova commented.
"Yes of course. Our lord isn't like any other nobles. Do you know that one of the young master even close friend with a prince from the royal family."
"Have you ever seen him yourself?"
"Unfortunately no since he always stays in Kazigare Valley. That's what most people in the territory knew"
'Kazigare Valley? That was where the second Demonic Realm was located right? The one that Rosaria told me,' Henova thought.
"Sir this is your food. Hope you enjoy," Mara came back with the young man's order.
"Mara, can I get your son to settle everything this weekend. I will go by then," Henova suddenly said.
"Hm, where are you going Sir? Is it an emergency?" The young man asked.
"Oh just want to go on a vacation and after listening to you maybe I can try going to Soga Town," Henova replied while glancing at Mara slightly hinting not to say anything.
"Wow, that's great. Maybe we can meet again Sir," the young man said excitedly.
Henova just slightly nodded his head, not taking the young man's words seriously.
*************************
[Master, I sensed Henova going further away from Herza City]
That day, Ares just finished his second hunting inside the Dark Forest. Prof Theo wanted him to collect more of the Demonic lake water, collect some plants and maybe caught one or two more monsters in the meantime.
He seemed satisfied with Ares's meticulousness especially when he got the pupa and eggs, Prof Joseph looked elated but he tried to cover it up.
However, when he just wanted to take a break, Tuah suddenly contacted him using his water strings.
Currently, Tuah just finished smuggling Johnny into the capital of Midas City where Ares's private villa was located.
"Where did he go? Is it outside of Hargan?" Ares asked since he thought Henova might go to find the Divine Hammer of Hephaistos.
However, Tuah gave a different answer from what he expected, "Nope, it seems he go further north."
"North? Soga Town?"
[Didn't you ask him to come to find you? Why are you acting shocked?]
"Ah great, it seems Ron don't tell me anything about Henova going out of Herza City. It seems he chose my grandfather over me," Ares had a slight frown between his brows.
[You don't sound disappointed]
"I already expect that much. Can't blame Ron. He just did his job and I'm not the one paying him. Hey, prepare to teleport to Soga Mountain. I will use a teleportation portal to teleport to the villa."
[Yes I will wait for you]
Ares quickly went to his Grand's mansion to take all the weapons he left behind along with his Guzheng since he knew he might not have time to come here for quite some time.
On his way out, he stumbled upon his great-grandmother.
"Brat, why is it so hard to see you nowadays? And where are you going in such a hurry?" Grand directly asked Ares who was holding a huge metal box containing his guzheng.
"I want to go meet grandpa," Ares answered honestly since he knew it was useless to lie to her because of the ability she possessed.
"And then what? Are you going to argue with him?"
As expected, if his grandpa knew something was amiss, there was no way his Grand wouldn't know. She just didn't say or meddle as much as grandpa did.
"Grand, I have my own reason for what I do"
"What is the reason? Are you going to leave your family just like your mother?" Grand looked sad the moment she said that.
Ares never get any familial affection in his last life thus he really grateful for the Zanuki to care about him so much. He even thought that he would take care of his future niece and nephew while his sister, Eris became the matriarch.
He indeed knew that the original Ares's mother voluntarily leave the family for some unknown reasons thus they might be worried if he did the same.
Even though the original Ares in the novel did indeed leave the Zanuki, he never thought of leaving the Zanuki. Plus he never really interested to know more about the original Ares's mother since she wasn't mentioned at all in the novel.
"There are so many things that I'm not sure and I don't want to implicate you guys. That's the main reason and the other reason is that I'm confident that I won't die so easily."
"Ares, did you know what family is for? We will remain with you even if you decided to create an insurgence to topple the royal family and become the emperor, we will all support you. You have to at least realized that much"
"Pftt" Ares chuckled but he quickly covered his mouth before he managed to laugh.
"Ares I'm being serious here," Grand looked at the red-haired in front of him. She was the one who took care of him the most thus the one who was pampering Ares the most was also her.
Ares strode towards his Grand and out of nowhere hugged the old woman whose height only around his shoulders.
"I'm sorry but I will explain properly after I confirm a few things. By the way, I don't want to be an emperor because that kind of job is too troublesome. I just want to live a long and rich life," Ares said sincerely while still hugging his Grand.
It was his first time seeing his Grand look sad when usually she always looked proud and stern while indulging him.
"Tskk this cheeky brat. When did you learn how to talk endearingly like this?" Grand tried to maintain her composure but she still lightly patted Ares's back.
She didn't remember when was the last time she hugged his youngest great-grandson. Maybe it was a few years ago before he went into a coma. He was so small and skinny back then.
But now she could feel that he had grown up properly. She could feel a sense of relief at that moment.
"I learn from Uncle Zenin and grandpa," Ares shamelessly throws away his uncle and grandpa's names under the bus.
"Ok enough. How long do you want to hug me? You're not a kid anymore"
"I won't have time to come here for the next few weeks so let me hug you a bit longer," Ares said and released the hug after a few moments.
"Promised me not to argue with your grandpa and don't do anything dangerous," Grand said to him.
"I try"
"Tchh, now go or you will be late," Grand said as if she was driving out Ares from the mansion.
"I will contact you when I need more money," Ares said in a good mood before he tore the teleportation scroll and instantly vanished.
"That money-hungry brat. Did my daughter didn't give him enough allowance," Grand asked his butler, Jax.
"Young master Ares had more allowance than young master Adrian, Lady Kara and Lady Karin. His allowance can buy a decent house in the capital every month," Jax answered honestly.
"But Eris has more allowance right?"
"Lady Eris always give a portion of her allowance to young master Ares."
"....Should we increase his allowance? He looked too skinny and he is indeed skinny when I hugged him just now."
Knowing that his master tend to become unreasonable when it came to a certain someone, Jax felt he needed to say something, "Maybe we can hire a nutritionist to monitor his food intake so he can always eat healthily. Overeating is also not good."
"That sounds great. Go informed Ares's butler after you found a good one"
"Yes, Madam."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein