Chapter 122 - Art's Treat

Zachary Lancaster and Yin Sohaya felt disappointed that someone of their age group was cleaning house and making headlines and that it was not them.

Zach limped towards Gavin and whispered something in his ear as well.

"What's up, Zach?"

"I would like to take you up on your offer to have me stay in the Grand Castle so that I can be deployed much easier."

Zach whispered those words into the Serpent Summoner's ears.

"Very good. Then you shall be staying with Yin."

"Staying with who?!"

Zach was surprised.

"Why are you startled? You are not the only one who wants to be easily available, Zach. Yin is going to do his best to train as well, you'd best get along here while I am gone and please do not embarrass the Six Blades, got that?"

Gavin said.

Zachary responded with a grunt.

Kai had a look that meant that he was waiting for something which Gavin had forgotten.

"Oh, right. Regarding what Ignis said, he told us that he and Hector will be waiting back at 'home.'"

Kai just nodded with a satisfied expression.

"Alright, then." He went back to his bed and promptly lay down. "I will be leaving tomorrow morning at the first sight of the Sun, is anyone coming with me?"

Nobody replied, the room was dead silent.

"Come on, I could not be that horrible, right?"

He asked comically.

"Well, I am staying here, so…"

Yin awkwardly said.

"The same goes for me, Kai."

Zachary said with a wave.

"I live like ten minutes away…"

Cosette said.

Kai Xin stared at Gavin, hoping he would be able to save him from this conundrum he set himself up with.

"No can do, Kai. I have other things to do myself. Heh. Sorry."

The Serpent Summoner apologized.

"Maybe I can catch a ride with you and Amara, Art?"

The Basilisk Slayer pretended to be asleep while resting his head at the window.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry, Kai, she's a bit picky. Anyway, I am sure you guys have not eaten dinner yet, let us go outside this darn castle. My treat."

The Basilisk Slayer said as he walked outside.

"Hang on, Art, we do not know if they are well enough to be walking outside like that already."

Gavin said to his brother but he was already gone.

"I-It's fine, Gavin. He just said he would treat us, right? Or was I actually mishearing what he said?"

Yin was seemingly in a trance, even though he was still hurt, he could not afford to pass up such an opportunity to be treated for dinner by the number one ranked Slayer in the Corps.

The same goes for everyone else except for Kai.

Kai Xin was in fact amazed and saw Artorias Khalil as one of his inspirations to become the best Slayer ever, but he had already known him for such a long time that everything he did felt like something Kai saw as ordinary for him.

They all went outside the Grand Castle and made their way to the Grand City.

Whenever they walked and crossed paths with civilians, most of them would actually move out of the way with fearful expressions.

This was the first time that Yin and Zachary ever walked around the heart of Niflheim freely without the need to report to the castle, so this was a crushing blow to Yin.

He thought that people liked Slayers.

"Hey, Kai, is it just me or are they afraid of us?"

Kai Xin smirked.

"They are not afraid of us, Yin, only one." He said as he pointed to the Basilisk Slayer's back. Artorias definitely looked different from when he was still in his armor. 

Without it just like right now, he still looked imposing and huge. He was tall, his back was broad and his muscles were very toned with multiple scars from combat.

"Why would they be scared of sir Artorias? Shouldn't they be glad to see the top one Slayer?"

Yin concurred.

"Because of Art's playful attitude, they acknowledge that his strength is appropriate for his top one rank, but they question his loyalty and dedication towards mankind. This is mainly because of his close ties to the traitor – Adam Rosa."

Cosette answered Yin's question back.

"But even if the Reaper left Niflheim, that was his decision alone, right? There is no way the Basilisk Slayer would stay here if they were both in on it!"

Yin exclaimed.

"Calm down."

Zach told him.

Yin promptly did so.

The Basilisk Slayer's very presence itself carved a way for him to walk freely in these busy streets.

None of the people wanted any contact with him at all.

It was something that perplexed Yin so much.

"How could society doubt the man who was the strongest soldier currently? Isn't he doing a good job? He just annihilated a hundred Angels alongside Gavin, why would they be doubtful of his loyalty?"

Yin asked to himself.

"Do not think about it too much, kid."

Kai said as he shook his head.

"People are just confusing like that, even I do not understand it. But do not forget that there is a thin line between us Slayers and normal people."

"A thin line…"

"Yes, the people think that we are not doing our best outside the Gates and in combat, which is obviously a shitty conclusion to make considering the amount of bodies we bring back from our conquests in the morning down to the return in the afternoon or evening."

Kai was getting worked up.

"We're here!"

The Basilisk Slayer shouted.

It was a tavern which mainly sold chicken, whether it be fried or in a curry-like dish.

"Oh, yeah, this guy really likes chicken, so I am guessing this is where we will be stopping, kids."

Kai said with a smile, he himself was hungry also.

When they got inside, all eyes were on them, this seemed to affect only Yin and Zachary. Artorias Khalil, Gavin, Kai Xin, and Cosette were already used to these looks, it was nothing to them at all.

The waiter recognized Art and shook his hand.

"Rio!"

"Art-boy!"

They both greeted each other and the waiter who was oddly named Rio accompanied the group to where they were going to be sitting.

It was a large table which was seemingly reserved for them.

"Did you guys know we were coming?"

Gavin asked Rio.

"Yes, of course, monsieur Gavin, your brother told me the night before you went on your mission, let us see when that was…Ah! Yesterday evening!"

Yin thought that this waiter was very chummy with the Serpent Summoner and the Basilisk Slayer, he thought that perhaps there was some kind of connection between them, considering the fact that Rio was not as scared of them as the other people outside were.

After they all took their seats, Gavin wanted to ask his brother a question.

"So, you already knew that our mission would end in a success or that we would make it out of there alive?"

The Basilisk Slayer's smirk was all the answer that he needed.

Gavin smacked the back of Art's head.

"Ow! What did I do to warrant such a painful attack?!"

Gavin did not respond, however.

Yin and Zachary were amazed.

"Such confidence…He already knew that he and Gavin would make it back in one piece enough so that he actually scheduled a dinner the night after. Holy crap."

Yin said to himself.

"I wonder how strong you have to be to have that much faith in yourself. Is it even believing in oneself or the anticipation that the mission would not go south?"

Zach asked himself as well.

They were both looking up to the Basilisk Slayer now.

"S-Sir Art!"

Yin exclaimed.

"Oh, what is it, Yin?"

"Y-You are a Lightning Slayer, right? What color is yours?"

Yin's question left the SSS Rank Slayer dumbfounded.

"What do you mean by the color?"

He asked.

"He meant if your affinity is unique, as I have already told you, Yin here has black lightning instead of the standard lightning that most Slayers have."

Gavin said to his brother.

"Ah. That is what you've meant. Well, Yin, my affinity is nothing special, really, it is standard lightning."

Art answered with a chuckle.

"How did you manage to exterminate a hundred Angels in your mission, sir?"

Zach was the one asking now.

"Now, now, kids, there is a time for training and there is a time for eating. Tonight however, is the latter, enjoy the feast coming and I will answer all your questions when we are finished,"

He said.

The food could not come any sooner, the sweet and delightful aroma of different sorts of ways to cook chicken filled the air.

"I am surprised a cheapskate like you is treating others, Art."

Kai said to the Basilisk Slayer.

"W-What are you saying, I always do this to any of my juniors that I come across or make acquaintances of!"