Chapter 390: Sorrows

"W-what did you do?!" Seeing his men sprawled out, fainted, and possibly even in worse, critical condition, the unshaven, black-haired man was immediately alerted. 

Unlike most of the haughty, arrogant, and drunk local thugs, he was rather clear-headed. If someone could knock two of his officers in an instant, without anyone seeing it, is not normal and definitely not someone he should be crossing arms against.

At least not over something as some spilled beer.

Taking a couple of breaths, a thin smile appeared over his face as he took a step back and raised his palms in front of him.

"Now, now… There is no need to be hasty. It was just, after all, a mistake, which he already apologized for. I may have reacted harshly, which I apologize for." Turning around, he grabbed the old man's shoulders and pulled him back up on his face. "Here you go, old man. I apologize for my behavior."

Hurriedly, he looked over the rest of his men, giving them the signal to scatter and bring their two away with them as well.

"Everything is okay, I accept your apology as well, Mr. Barkeep! It was just a stupid mistake! Ehehehe!" Seeing that the boy's expression did not change, an awkward laugh escaped his lips. He looked at the youngster with a wry smile, patting the back of the old innkeeper who at this point was barely conscious.

Seeing how he was about to faint, the black-haired man shoved a vial of health potion down his throat. 

"Here, down it old man, and get better! Ehehehe! You have to exercise a bit, you can't be this weak! How would you protect your family!" A nervous chuckle escaped his lips once again. The pressure of this youngster's unfaltering gaze was starting to get heavier as time went on. 

As his mind cleared out and the cloud of madness was wafted away, he obviously realized the outrageous action he did. He almost killed an innocent man just because of some drink? What was he thinking?!

"Ehehe… I am truly sorry… I am not sure why I reacted that violently. I was stressed out I guess…"

He muttered as he helped the elder sit down on a chair and backed away slowly.

"I really want no trouble. I… I will now excuse myself…" He muttered as he slowly backed towards the door still being under the heavy, scrutinizing stare of this peculiar youngster.

Still, neither side took any action. Aiden watched as the man left the building and ran away. Once he could no longer feel his presence or his men, did his stern outlook eased up. Still being under the duress of the crowd, he stepped over to the innkeeper. 

His face revealing a look of worry, he crouched down and gently touched the still trembling knees. 

"Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?" He asked.

"STEP AWAY FROM MY HUSBAND YOU MONSTER!" A hysterical cry echoed from behind, the wife alerted by the commotion finally emerged from the kitchen and rushed to her husband's aid. 

When she saw the state of her beloved husband and the same youngster that kept tormenting them in the last couple of days, she almost lost it. Holding a wooden spoon, she charged forward, no longer caring about her health.

Her eyes were blurry, hazy with all the tears that gathered, she threw herself between his husband and this black-haired monster. 

Maybe because of the guilt of the events of yesterday, or just the pure hatred, but from her stance, her determined look, it was clear that she was ready to even offer her own life if it was necessary.

She looked at Aiden with a fierce gaze, filled with desperation and hatred, her only weapon, the wooden spoon raised in a defensive position in front of her body.

"LEAVE US ALONE YOU MONSTER!" She howled with desperate anger. Her tears were flying against the wind as she shook her head.

Her 'fearsome' weapon swaying madly in her trembling hands, Aiden wasn't sure how to react. In the end, he smiled bitterly and nodded. Without saying anything, he turned around and walked towards the stairs, not even looking at his team that has already left the small box they found and almost made their way through the gathered, thick crowd.

The middle-aged woman kept waving her kitchen apparatus, following the young man's movements until his figure left her sight. Only then, did she turn and embrace her husband as sadness and sorrow overcame her.

Her silent wailing was the only sound, all chatter died down, nobody said a word, nobody came to the young man's defense, despite many witnessing what had truly transpired. 

This strange tranquility only lasted a couple of moments, when a feminine, light voice echoed from the side, quickly filling the surroundings and replacing this heavy silence.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL?! MY BROTHER CAME TO THIS OLD MAN'S DEFENSE AND YOU CHASE HIM AWAY INSTEAD OF SAYING THANKS?!" The owner of the exclamation, Lily cried out, with a face filled with anger and reddened eyes. She stepped out from the crowd and pointed at the middle-aged woman. 

"MY BROTHER SAVED YOUR HUSBAND, AND YOU CALL HIM THE MONSTER?! YOU, WHO CALLED THUGS ON US ALL BECAUSE OF A MISTAKE ON YOUR PART?! That's just nice!" She yelled, her tears quickly filling up her eyes. 

"He helped you not once, not twice but many times, while what did you DO? HMM? You got his only friend taken away, kidnapped from THIS VERY place, called your local thugs to bully us, and now, you have the FACE to call him the monster?!" 

Her words filled the room, echoing through the walls, causing murmurs, silent shushes amidst the crowd.

Lily was incredibly mad, upset. Her tiny hands were balled into tightly clenched fists. Her entire body was shaking with the helpless anger she was feeling. Before things could take a wrong turn, and she would do something she might regret later, a gentle, slender hand reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. 

"Come, let's go meet the Young Master, Miss," Galina whispered into her ears from behind. 

Gently pulling, Galina pulled her Young Master's upset sister away from the stunned-looking woman and shushing crowd. The two war hounds, feeling their young mistress' sorrow, growled at the woman before turning away and following them.

Drake and Scarlet didn't say anything, but the cold look in their eyes was more than enough to completely shake the woman and cause her knees to buckle under the heavy emotional baggage. She fell down in her husband's lap, and just kept crying, sobbing desperately.

The commotion soon eventually ceased, but the husband and wife remained in their place for hours…

—

'Young Master, if it's not too much of a problem, I would stay with the Young Miss tonight. She got upset from what happened and is still crying.' Whilst he was standing against the window, alone in his room, suddenly the mental channel he shared with Galina activated and her voice came to his mind.

Listening to her report, Aiden clenched his fists but released them a moment later. He gave a heavy, long exhale, calming his rapidly beating heart and boiling rage to acceptable levels.

Like his sister, he was also upset, once again disappointed by the actions of humanity. Though he could somewhat understand the actions of this middle-aged wife, it was still way too hard of an emotional punch, to take it frontally.

No matter what he did, he would always remain the same in the eyes of the common folk.

With a bitter smile on his face, Aiden shook his head, responding to his little Galina's request.

'Stay with her. Let me know if she calls for me. Until then, I will stay here.' 

He was about to close the channel when Galina spoke again, this time talking about something else completely.

'Young Master… the others should be returning tonight… right?' 

Aiden nodded, although there was nobody in the room. He released a small smile, the way she asked was way too cute, innocent. 

'Yes. If you would like to talk to them, I can open the portal tomorrow morning and you can return to them.'

'I would like to stay if that is possible. Could the young master call them out instead? I would like to show them my new self!' 

'Sure… That works as well!' Finally, a small chuckle escaped Aiden's lips, lighting his previously gloomy mood just a bit. 'Keep my sister safe and let me know if anything happens. Good Night, Galina.'

'Good Night, Master!' 

As he closed down the connection, Aiden heaved one more sigh, but this time, his lips curled upward rather than downward. He shook his head as he looked out from the window, gazing at the gradually thinning crowd down the streets and the last bits of the struggling sun before it completely ducked below the horizon to rest for the night.

Aiden stood at the window, unsure of what to do. He couldn't rest, nor could he meditate. On one hand, he was too eager, as the system should come back in just a bit more than 2 hours…

On the other hand, he was mentally spent. Weird things kept happening, people acting crazily, losing their mind over meaningless matters…

Something was not right… A dark shadow was looming over the city...