The Innkeeper

While Z felt that the fight had gone on forever, barely a few minutes had passed. Even with him holding back, being slapped in the face repeatedly by a card reinforced by his bloodline power made Sean and the kids lay on the ground with swollen faces, unable to get up.

Heidi instead, stood frozen.

It was not fear that painted her face, but shock! Sean and the rest may not be at Alexander's level - to be honest who was? Yet still, they had a decent standing within Troy academy. Their physical fitness was high, they excelled at sports and they had all taken some form of combat training.

Z's statement about fighting with only one hand had turned into a joke. From start to end, he had not moved an inch.

She grit her teeth, but as much as she didn't want to feel pain, the dire situation had woken her from her privilege induced rage. Vaguely, some of the things her father told her flashed in her mind, and, as much as she hated to do it, she walked forward.

The rage, the frustration, the bitterness on her face only accentuated the audience's enjoyment. It was like watching a scene from a drama. Most of them did not even know what had prompted the fight, but that no longer mattered. In situations like this, the winner was in the right. They were waiting to see what she would do. Would she attack? Would she scream? Would she accuse him of cheating?

Her actual decision surprised everyone. When she reached close enough to Z, she suppressed all her feelings and made herself say, "end it. I refuse to give up, and I don't want to be insulted by some 'I don't hit women' speech."

Z, who could already feel a bead of sweat roll down his forehead, could not wait to finish the match either. Like silver lightning, the card flashed through the air, followed by the resounding sound of thunder that was caused by the slap on Heidi's face.

Once she fell on the ground, she did not bother getting up, and only focused on holding back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She searched the crowd until her eyes landed on Pamela.

She had heard many people say that emotional pain was a lot worse than physical pain, but her stinging, throbbing cheek felt a lot worse than any embarrassment. Of course, the combination of being embarrassed and being in pain definitely superseded all of them.

"I apologize for insulting you," she said through gritted teeth. "It was my fault for jumping to conclusions."

Z nodded, at seeing her apologize, then walked off stage to ensure Pamella was alright.

Heidi, though, wasn't done yet. She then turned towards the Innkeeper who had been watching from the sky and said, "I apologize for my misbehavior. I was not able to control my emotions."

The Innkeeper only nodded at her apology, before departing. Having her apologize to him wasn't a part of the bet, she did it of her free will. Lex could clearly tell that she had forced herself, but the fact that she had done it all was a big deal.

Unwilling to stay the center of attention much longer, Heidi directly left the Inn.

The crowd was disappointed the match ended so quickly, but since they were all gathered here anyway, many people took this opportunity to promote themselves. Rivals began challenging each other in a public way, and another few rounds of fights were quickly scheduled.

Lex, however, was no longer paying attention to that any longer, as he had turned his attention to Ragnar. The General actually looked to be in a good mood, which was a nice change. Normally, whenever someone looked for him, it was due to some kind of bad news.

"It's been a long time, General. How have you been?"

"Great," he replied with a smirk on his face. "After Vegus Minima, we've retaken Vegus Prime as well. Now, only Vegus Maxima remains, and we should be able to regain control in a few weeks at most."

"It is good that your mission is going well, though I expect it is too soon for you to be coming for a vacation. What can I do for you?"

"Hah, vacation! I don't remember the last time I had a vacation!" the general could not stop himself from laughing. "Indeed, I do require your aid in a sensitive matter. Furthermore, I have to apologize in advance if any of my actions offended you."

Lex raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Ragnar, despite his reputation, struck Lex as a very friendly man considering his position.

He elaborated, "during the Midnight Games, I had the opportunity to encounter the devil Loretta and her counterparts. I used that chance to record their aura and energy signatures. While recording the energy signatures themselves do not in any way harm them, they provide us with the potential to possibly track them, or at least identify them should they infiltrate some highly secure auras. The Empire also has a few other uses for them.

"Loretta is a high value target, even though I myself am not privy as to why. I suspected that once I reported the matter, I would be approached by an envoy, asked to return to one of the main planets. This is because for the past few hundred years, I've been on reclamation missions - essentially taking back land lost to demons. Yet that is not what happened.

"Instead of being summoned, my existing orders were overridden and I was ordered to wind up matters in the Vegus system in 6 months, after which my entire fleet and I were ordered to the galactic front lines."

As he said the last line, Ragnar's face was extremely grim, and even without him saying, Lex understood what he meant.

"You think someone is sending you to a dangerous place to possibly harm you, and prevent you from passing on the recorded signatures?"

"Yes. As a general, my chain of command in the military is transparent, so it's easy to track where my orders come from. Yet my orders did not originate from the army, but from the home of a certain Duke. While my authority in the Empire is usually higher, in times of crisis, the authority of local administrative nobility is increased drastically, and so I have no choice but to obey the orders. Keeping the galaxy from being invaded takes priority over reclaiming some planets."

"You suspect this Duke?"

"No, I think the Duke's need is valid, but I think circumstances have been manipulated to create the need for reinforcements artificially. I also think someone brought attention to my information in front of the Duke, prompting him to choose me over other nearby forces.

"Maybe this is a conspiracy, maybe this isn't. Either way, I would like to deposit the recorded aura from you until I take it back, or in the case of my demise, an appointed successor might collect it."

"Unfortunately Ragnar, I cannot hold an item for you," the Innkeeper said in an apologetic tone. Yet before he could get too disappointed, he continued, "but I can guarantee that if you rent a room from me, and leave any belongings, that no one will touch those belongings for the duration that you have the room."

Ragnar grinned and immediately rented a room.

*****

Slowly, Rafael opened his eyes. Because his body had just covered, and this was the first time he regained consciousness in over a decade, his head was a little groggy, and he had not recovered his memories.

His blurry vision just showed him the ceiling, and time seemed to be moving in slow motion. A dull, ringing sound filled his ears, though he did not seem to notice, and for a few minutes he remained like that.

'Where... am... I?' he thought to himself, taking quite a while to complete the thought. But, as soon as the thought was complete, his memories started rushing back to him. They weren't memories just of right before his 'accident', but the memories of his entire life. His parents, his friends, his hopes, his dreams...

Tears started falling down his face as he lifted his trembling hand and brought it in front of his eyes. His youthful hand, free of scars and wrinkles, filled him with more joy than he had ever felt in his entire life.

At that moment, the doors to the room opened, and both his parents were struck by the sight of their son crying as he looked at his hand. They thought he was in pain, or that he was traumatized by the accident, and rushed to his side. They called out to him, and tried talking to him, but Rafael did not hear their words.

He only looked at his hands with unending joy, and thought to himself, 'I can't believe it worked! I did it! I really came back in time!'