SSS-Knight in a Hero World-Chapter 117: Crystal ball
"Its been a while."
Mediman walked over to the bewildered Ferris with a concerned look. "You don’t look well, here." He reached out his hand without warning.
With Ferris’ increased reflexes and advancement to layer 8, he was quick enough to back off from the old man.
That was close. Ferris sighed, leaving the man confused and bewildered himself.
Ferris was worried that Mediman would overexert himself with his healing blessing, and if Mediman were to go into an "incident", the liabilities might go to Ferris.
"No need sir, but thank you." he politely declined.
The thousand dollars I have became useless today... I have to be more careful of what I’ll do from now on.
Mediman scoffed and shook his head, "After all the work I’ve done today, the kindness I extend despite that, is refused."
Work at his age?
Ferris twitched the corner of his mouth, due to what the old man said, refusing goodwill certainly went against his knight’s creed.
After calming down, he noticed a pile of cardboard stacked atop one another over a push cart.
Recycling? Ferris immediately thought, he knew that the former hero was clearly out of his years.
"Don’t you have a pension for your age? And also another one for being a retired hero?" he asked, looking at the elephant in the room.
The former hero laughed, "I have nothing to do, and besides I’m collecting a little extra for my daughter.
Frankly, it’s been years since she’s been missing.
But when I saw the news on TV, I almost had a heart attack when I saw her name on one of the lists!"
Without needing to think, Ferris already knew that the man was talking about the incident he experienced. "That’s good to hear." he smiled.
The old man nodded back in appreciation before taking a deep breath and continuing on with his side job, but suddenly.
"Ow ow, my back!" he yelped.
Ferris watched in silence as the old man cried for help, however he did not move an inch as he could immediately tell that something was wrong.
...He’s trying to... make me pity him so I could help him. Ferris blinked.
Then he sighed, but not because the whole act was convincing him to help.
"Quit embarrassing yourself."
Ferris was already planning to do it from the beginning, since he wanted to take his thoughts off from no longer having a home.
"Oh, you’re so kind to this old man!" he cheered.
***
Elizabeth Foundation, one of their many buildings in all cities.
Beneath the high-rise was a large space solely catered to the foundation’s "defense" force.
Clash!
Punch!
Clang!
The man crashed onto the safety mat face first. When he got up there was a picture-perfect stain of his face dyed with sweat and blood. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Although the knock out was hard, he quickly got himself up, bowed, and retreated to the lengthening line of injured in the corner of the training room.
Meanwhile, Lionheart focused on his breaths to regain his footing and stamina. Although he had just taken on more than a dozen men, he would eventually give in to his decreasing strength.
Although it was almost a week, he still couldn’t move on from Ferris’ words to him.
You. Are. Boring.
Reminiscing on that line for the hundredth time, Lionheart was ready for another round.
. . .
There was no one.
"Um... boss, that was the last guy—
"Then is there anyone up for a second round?" he immediately asked, looking at each individual face he threw down not too long ago.
Again, there was no one to step up.
With a disappointed look, Lionheart relaxed his back and dismissed the room.
As everyone left the room, there were only a few people left who stayed who were Lionheart’s closer companions.
One of them stepped up towards Lionheart and asked, "Are you really forcing all of us to train with swords?
And you also forced us to stop using our blessings during training."
Lionheart eyed his comrade with a deathly gaze, but his friend was stubborn and stood strong before the much bigger Lionheart.
"...Hmph!" Lionheart turned around and left the training room without much of a goodbye.
The man and the rest scoffed at their leader.
"He’s been so stubborn lately, with all the ’hmph’s and shit."
"I agree."
"So true."
Far away from the sneers of his suspicious comrades, Lionheart tidied himself up in a shower and presented himself properly with a plain suit that hugged his figure.
Thanks to his background in the military, the whole ordeal didn’t take too much of his time, as he was already inside an elevator on the way to the upper floors.
Once the doors quietly parted, he made his way over to the main office where Queen Elizabeth usually stayed.
He was before a tall door, finished with fine wood under a glossy coat.
With the reflection he barely saw on the wood, he used it to tidy himself further up.
Usually, he would enter not even having to take a shower.
Lionheart hummed peacefully as he tried shuffling his silver hair into a position he liked the most, though even if he found one that suited him, he quickly became unsure, and messed his hair up again.
Finally, after a couple more attempts, he nodded at himself with a confident smile.
"A knight must always look presentable.~" he sung to himself quietly.
With two heavy knocks, Lionheart entered a vast room with a long conference table in the center. On one side was a seamless glass panel that overlooked the shining cityscape of City 3 at night.
"Reporting, my miss." he said.
Back then, he would instinctively scream it due to his background, but being Miss Elizabeth’s bodyguard for a long time, he knew his way to not piss her off randomly.
He saw his benefactor sitting at the honored table in front of a laptop that displayed the daily news.
She was also with Miss Asmadeas, who was standing right beside her.
Lionheart stood straight and prepared to say what he needed to say, but since his job was solely in security, there honestly wasn’t much for him to say actually.
"The new training I’ve created is... not doing so well." Lionheart announced with great depression.
Miss Elizabeth listened as she scrolled past articles that rarely ever interested her. "That’s fine, you’re doing well."
Lionheart blinked. "A-are you sure?"
"Yes, when was I not so sure of myself?"
. . .
After a while of awkward silence, Asmadeas brought up something unusual. "Lionheart, you just look so bright these days, I’m sure good fortune awaits you."
He blushed before laughing at himself awkwardly. After having nothing else to bring up after the seemingly positive review from Elizabeth, he left the room with a bow.
When he left, Elizabeth yawned unsightly at the air then relaxed her posture into a slouch.
"I wish I could see what you mean by bright," Elizabeth exclaimed.
Asmadeas laughed. "He still doesn’t outshine you, sis."
That statement was true. In Asmadeas’ eyes, Elizabeth was a shining star that could blind anyone.
But she knew that Lionheart’s brightened fate wasn’t so easily ignored, that in itself was strange.
Could it be related to Ferris’ effect? Asmadeas went silent for a few seconds.
She wasn’t able to see Ferris’ fate, but she was able to conclude the fact that Judas’ bright fate played a role with Ferris’ presence.
If Ferris had not been with Judas, then Judas’ fate would weaken. Likewise, it would strengthen if he was with Ferris.
Along with the fact that everyone’s fate seemingly dimmed and brightened, it was also a sign.
With her lack luster blessing proficiency, the fact that the change in everyone’s fate was strong enough to be noticed by her, it’s a clear sign of Ferris’ strange effect.
She began to wonder if he was her sister’s polar opposite.
A shining fate that blinds the world.
And nothing.
No, it was more likely that something is preventing her from seeing something within Ferris.
"Hmm..." Asmadeas began to hum a tune as she gave her sister a small massage. "I see... a new visitor coming into your mail."
Ding!
"Hmph." Elizabeth sneered and shoved Asmadeas’ hands away, "My head isn’t a crystal ball!"
After giving Asmadeas a mean look, she looked at the notification on her laptop.
Usually, emails with pings were important.
Elizabeth clicked the notification bar on her screen and saw the letter. "It’s from... Tailor?"
