"Get your filthy, peasant hands away from !" Uttering through his lips as soon as Layn got close, Kerren could only throw a look filled with hate at the approaching archmage.
"I don't really care what your circumstances are, " stopping in the man's track, Layn rose on his knees and looked coldly at the man sprawled on the ground, "but I dare you to call a peasant ever again."
Just for this mont, Layn invoked all the bloodlust that remained in his psyche after his years in the hero party. All those bottled-up feelings of disgust, anxiety, wrath and despisal. All those feelings got him through the toughest of tis, earning him the unfaithful wife and life in the most comfortable prison in the world.
For the mont, the old Layn, the sole cause of the hecatomb of the city of Karrieta, returned.
"I…" Even if the techniques and ways of killing each other have changed over the vast millennials that spanned between their respective tis, one thing remained the sa. Not even noticing, but more like feeling the aura that the archmage surrounded himself with was more than enough for the acclaid ace of the soaring dragon group to remain on the ground.
Layn knew very little about the society of the ancients. But from what Kerren said himself, it was easy to assu that since a peasant could be used as an insult, class awareness was pretty high in this age. As such, flying into a rage when one's status was to be challenged, was sothing that Layn deed to be the most reasonable way out of the situation.
'This is bad…' With his emotions calming down, Layn finally noticed what a ss did he put himself into. Right in the middle of a foreign city, going against soone of a potential high status…
But there was an excuse for his rashness. After years and years of life as one of the most respected mbers of the entire human society, having this kind of low-life act arrogant in his face crossed Layn's bottom line. And with how the archmage was starting to figure out the entire ancient magic thingy, the danger that those people posed for Layn was diminishing at a steady rate.
"What's the hell is going on here?" Before the situation could turn any worse, a loud, deep voice broke through the commotion. Akin to a sea parting its waves to let the chosen tribe pass through, the crowd opened the path for a small group of guards.
Even though they didn't wear the sa type of uniform, just the coat of arms, exactly the sa as the one on all the flags around, was enough of a giveaway of their profession.
"Layn! Co here…" Shouting archmage's na only to turn silent and order him to go back in a calm voice, Irea managed to achieve what her shouts alone wouldn't be able to. While there was a factor of Layn's unwillingness to stand against the guards of the city, it was still the girl's call that pushed him into making the decision.
"It's okay, I'm not doing anything." Raising his arms to the level of his head, Layn backed out a few paces before standing down beside the girl. Seeing his willingness to cooperate, the guards only threw him an angered glance before directing their sights towards the pumled Kerren on the ground.
"Wait, isn't he…" Quickly alternating their eyes between the archmage and his victim, the initial anger of the guards disappeared, replaced by a strange feeling of relief and pity.
"Well, it's good that soone finally taught him a lesson… Hey, Irea, who is that idiot?" Clearly hinting at sothing that was common knowledge for the locals, the guard addressed the girl by the na, proving that she also had a fair bit of sha in this war camp.
"He is not… This man is well… Under our protection? Or maybe I am? In fact, it wouldn't be a lie to claim that he is a benefactor of my entire group." Lowering her head, the girl turned her attention to the guards as well before explaining the situation.
Leaving her sentence on an open note, Irea scratched the side of her chin for a mont before suddenly shaking her head and smiling uneasily. "Either way, I hope you won't pay any mind to the friendly spar that was the cause behind this entire situation, " said the girl as she reached with her hand to the side, only to place her palm on the back of Layn's head before forcing his entire upper body down as she bowed herself.
Initially startled, Layn didn't put any resistance to her guiding moves. Once Irea's intent clarified, the archmage actually lowered his head on his own, accepting the way that the girl has chosen to diffuse the tension in the air.
In the end, he started the entire affair because of his own reservations. No matter what, Irea knew far more about the world of this ti than Layn did, making her judgnt far more likely to be correct than whatever Layn would be able to co up with on the spot. As such, rather than blindly trying to find a way to get away scot-free from pumling the other guy, just lowering his head to the guards appeared as a simpler option.
"As if I would let the situation end like that! I…" Noticing how the entire situation was calming down and heading to a peaceful solution, Kerren jumped up. With the threat of Layn's cold eyes already phasing away into nonexistence in his mories, he was clearly keen on making things hard for Layn and his guide.
"You really, " squinting his eyes, the archmage looked towards the location of that pitiful, arrogant man, when a familiar voice broke through the noise created by all the people that already gathered to observe the situation.
Raising his eyes towards the source of the sound, Layn saw Karter walking towards him in big strides, with his arm raised in a way that made it look as if he wanted to draw everyone's attention to his forearm.
"Kerren will let this situation be as it is. Let's just all go our own way, okay?"
Ignoring Kerren who was trying to add sothing to the side, the leader of the Irea group pointed at his forearm before looking at the guards with a look of steeled resolve in his eyes.
"I'm willing to get marked for that."
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