Chapter 187 - Pity Party
They made their way to Isabelle's shop and it felt like this was a normal thing for them now.
Something else is happening.
There were two large men arguing in the city's market. They were going to walk past the market to get to Isabelle's shop and they can't go past it since the crowd forming around the two men were so dense.
"Let's walk around the market," Connor said. "Or go through the roof or something."
"No," Elliot said, closing his eyes for a second. "Let's walk past here."
"Elliot, how are you going to pass this–"
Elliot opened his eyes, the surge of his red mist-like energy bursting from his body that was felt throughout the entire city's center. Everyone in the crowd snapped their heads to Elliot's direction, shivering in fear for the sudden burst of aura.
"Oh, that," Connor pursed his lips. "Now they stopped."
"What are you doing?" A voice spoke from behind them.
Elliot deactivated his aura and spun, only to be greetef by a man about twice as large as him. "Y-Yes sir?"
"Oh, an Adventurer," the man, who is apparently a Royal Guard based on his armor, spoke with a smirk on his lips.
"It's the Royal Battalion Commander Prius."
"I heard he beat a Grand Ox by himself."
"I heard that too. And he only used his sword against it."
"Yeah, Adventurers would use skills but he did it with one fell swoop."
…
"Oh, you people are very flattering," Prius said. "But no, I had beaten that Grand Ox not by my sword alone…" he trailed off and looked around, collecting tension in the air. "I did it all with my bare hands."
"He's so cool!"
"I suddenly want to become a Royal Guard instead of an Adventurer now."
"I don't even wanted to be a barbarian in the first place."
…
Elliot sighed after hearing the bad reputation of Adventurers. Even when they were the most decorated warriors of the kingom's arms, some people's labels to them as "barbarians" would never end.
Indeed the Guards wore shiny uniforms that would be seen from meters away, they were trained in the Royal Guards Academy for years and receive their own set of system that was comparable to Rare Adventurers when they just start becoming a Guard.
But the Adventurers risked their lives for the people's freedom too. They too were oftentimes in the verge of death, fighting beasts away from the cities, hunting beasts so their cities would remain secure.
For someone to say something bad like labeling them as "barbarians" would hurt any Adventurer. And Elliot was one of them.
"Now, answer me child," Prius said. "What were you doing?"
"I was stopping the fight," Elliot replied, a bitter taste in his mouth after he found himself being stared upon by the people.
He knew what Prius was going to do to him. The man was going to humiliate him by making him look like he did something wrong.
"You stopped the fight by showing off?" Prius asked. "And with that puny aura you have, you expect to fight these two large men?"
Elliot wasn't offended by Prius's words. In fact, he knew that the aura he exuded was too little. It wasn't even a quarter of his powers.
He knew all too well that the man was aiming for his downfall. And what better downfall will Elliot have then him getting upset or even angry and try to start a fight against a Royal Guard?
But he didn't want to let Prius have the upper hand. He just shrugged and smirked. "Good thing Adventures have the authority to stop a fight when it's disturbing a number of people, huh?"
"What do you mean?" the larger man narrowed his eyes, seemingly wanting to challenge Elliot even more.
"Let's just go, Elliot," Connor said, holding his friend's arm. "We won't spend our time with people like him."
"Oh, is it because you're too precious?" Prius snickered. "You see, this is the problem with you Adventurers. You think you're so special just because you have your guilds and your powers and your weapons, but you're not," Prius spoke, venom intentionally lacing his words.
"And do you know what's the problem with Royal Guards like you?" Elliot narrowed his eyes, boring daggers through Prius's face. If looks could kill, the larger man would be six feet underground now.
"What is it?" Prius equally narrowed his eyes, challenging Elliot even more.
"You all live a lonely life because the only way you can level up is when you get promoted by the Raven Justice," was the words Connor had waited to come out of Elliot's lips, but some other words snuck out.
"You don't try to befriend Adventurers before you judge," Elliot said. Connor even wanted to scoff by how pretentious his friend sounded. Elliot was bargaining the empathy of the people with his words while winning his argument with Prius.
Through this method, a lot of people would understand his side and the ones who already did will solidify their faith in them.
"Adventurers are the mercenaries sent by the people to get rid of beasts that would potentially harm, or already harmed them," Elliot continued. "And Guards should work with Adventurers because the Guards are the guardians of the cities 24/7. You only call us when a threat that involves beasts or magic happens and when it's between humans, you're the one to handle it."
"Your point exactly?" Prius quirked his brow up, crossing his muscled arms in front of him. Connor was gulping after seeing the tattoos under the armor he was wearing.
"My point is that, we should help each other. Because we don't communicate much, you don't communicate with us that much," Elliot said. "It seems like Adventurers are barbarians because we don't have uniform armor like you do, and that you also don't look at us at your level because we didn't train in the academy you went to."
"Look, kid–"
"Sir," Elliot said, trying to well up tears in his eyes to look pitiful. "But we only fight for the people like you do. For their freedom, for the kingdom's peace, for each and every person in each and every household to sleep at night without having to worry. So, why do you not see us like your equal?"
A smirk was about to form in Elliot's lips when he saw the confused look in Prius's face. His plan worked, the man was speechless. His empathy speech also garnered nods from the people around them, agreeing to him.
"Sir, we only want to be accepted too," Elliot said. "Is that too much to ask?"