Chapter 196

Chapter 196.

Part 1.

General Sundar is trapped in the castle along with some of his surviving forces. The city is still going through the siege. Though Porus’s rampage cleared the invaders, a new bunch showed up before they could take advantage of the opportunity the king provided them, and they also blocked the reinforcements coming to their aid.

So, the city is trapped between the general, who is also restricted in the castle, the forces of the enemy outside, and the enemy force itself is trapped by the reinforcements. This has resulted in a stalemate which has persisted so far, despite the best attempts of all sides to break it.

On top of all this, the general has received the news of various regions rebelling, no doubt seeking to establish their autonomy now that the throne is weakened, and the general himself is trapped and unable to act.

Sundar does not know where the king is, or where the team is he sent to track him. though he told Porus that he would get him out of the castle, he put him in the hospital rather than let him go. But despite his weak state, he disappeared, and the general has to send a squad to track him down, and bring him back if possible.

At least his apprentice is doing well, even though he broke the chain of command. No one has called him out on it, particularly because there was no chain of command at that time, and they got better things to do than berating a green lad.

Part 2.

the team is facing the sailors and those in charge of this port. though these are young-looking boys, the man is not taking any chances. He cannot afford to in these times. though he did let them have a moment to deal with their headache. Looks like they have recently taken the language potion.

One of them steps up, and asks in the perfect Gallian, “Where are we?”

“This is a port in the Gallia.” Said the man in charge, not revealing anything further. “You would know this if you have a map.”

“Yeah, no. we ended up here by complete accident, also because we don’t have a map.” Said Avinash. “We also have to find that ship.”

They turn to the rickety old thing. The fact that it is above the surface is a miracle. They do get some sympathy in their salty hearts for these kids, but that is not enough to give them a long-term place to stay here.

Avinash decides to get on the point. “Look, you don’t want us, we don’t want to stay here either. Just give us a map and some supplies, and we will leave.”

a man comes to the in charge. some hurried words are exchanged, and Hatori hears about the team, tournament, shipwrecked, and now lost. it perfectly described their situation. “Tell you what, I will host you here for a day, tomorrow we will let you know.”

so, they waited for an entire day on the island. during this time, they got some food, and a shower, which did wonders for their self-esteem. Still, they are not out of the hostile territory. Until they are back in their homes, anything and everyone is hostile as far as they are concerned.

the next morning, the port in charge comes to meet Avinash. “We cannot give you an airship,” he said, which does not come as a surprise. “However, your request for supplies and a map has been approved. Your ship is also being repaired currently, and you can leave tomorrow.”

next day, they get their ship returned, freshly stacked with supplies and a map, and also repaired. Hatori senses a familiar signature, and he then sees Lewis coming off from the ship. “So, you work here now?” he asked.

“Yeah. didn’t expect to run into you like this here,” he said. “Anyway, here’s your ship. You are free to leave any time.”

“Great.” Said Avinash. They all pile up, and without thinking of how will they navigate in the sea with no experience, they all leave for the ocean.

“Thanks for the help. I will go easy next time on you; you can surrender to me then.” Said Hatori as a parting shot, leaving a mad Lewis behind.

Part 3.

Dimitri shows that he has the passport to be here. the prisoners back at Albion did not have time to unravel his storage runes before he escaped. Therefore, Dimitri is now having an easier time in moving around and requesting an audience with the king of Gallia.

Given he is the coach of the recent winners of the International School Dueling League, his request is granted. He tells what has happened to him, and how he is searching for his team. The king listens to his entire account in the grim silence.

“That is concerning,” said Henry, leaning back on his throne. “Albus has gone at a deep end. I fear the rest of us are going to pay the cost of his madness.”

Dimitri opened his mouth. He does not care anything about any cost right now. he wants to find his team. The king deduced his thoughts from his face, so he smiled and said: “Yes, your team did end up on one of my ports. Sadly, the matter was brought to me too late. They have already left with some supplies.”

“Then give me a boat of my own,” said Dimitri. “I wish to track them down.”

“Very well,” said Henry. “I will grant this request of yours. Just be careful, the waters are quite deceptive these days.”

Dimitri nodded. the king is not only referring to the ocean but the world in general.

Part 4.

On the ship in the night, Hatori is working with some runes. By this point, it is not strange for them to see some symbols floating around him every now and then, and Hatori has also lost his worries about them copying his scripting style. The work he does with his runes is pretty advanced, and the scripting style he uses is pretty niche. Coupled with the securities he has built to prevent someone from copying his work, it is pretty hard for anyone to steal his work for their own.

Besides, there is not much point in thinking about the scripting. Sooner or later, they are broken. Just take the example of the room of frozen time, which Hatori and James dismantled after a few trials and errors. However, Hatori thinks that it would not have been possible should the creator of that room be there to guard it.

“What are you doing?” asked Avinash.

“Creating a storage array.” Said Hatori. “To store this ship should we need to.”

“That is a good idea.” Said Avinash with approval.

The path to their homeland is a long and filled with danger. It is best to secure their ship in the meantime, rather than lose it, and end up in their previous situation, trapped on some rock while they slowly die of thirst and from the lack of food.

Part 5.

The nobles meet, called by Jeevan Reddy. At this point, they are effectively under his leadership. They discuss the topic of the siege going on in the City of Throne, and the missing Porus, and a closing statement shocks all of them.

“I plan to invade the Academy.” said the woman.

“There she goes again, the mad Aarna.” Taunted one of the Sharmas.

“Yeah, what makes you think you can take that fortress?” asked Jeevan.

“It is not that difficult.” Said Aarna. “Besides, we Chatterjee can be quite persistent when it comes to taking down heavily warded places. that headmaster is quite old, and once we remove him, it will mark another blow to the previous regime.”

“That sounds good in theory. But I don’t think you can pull this off.” Said the Sharma once again. “Besides, what good it would do us anyway?”

“Why, teaching the children their proper places from the very start.” Exclaimed Aarna. “I hear that a revolution of sorts has taken place there recently, in which our noble children have been removed from their rightful place. I will fix that by taking over that place.”

“Fine.” Said Jeevan. “But don’t expect any assistance from us.”

“Trust me, I don’t,” she said confidently. “When I take over that place, you all will be bowing to me all the same.”

In a huff, she leaves the meeting. The other nobles look at her leaving and exchange a look between them. She is playing with fire. It is one thing to rebel against the throne, but it is an entirely different matter to challenge the Institute, something which none of them are willing to do.

Part 6.

In the morning, they all wake up to see a boat chasing them. “How the hell? I thought this sort of thing would be impossible in the sea.” Grumbled Ravina.

“Magic.” smiled Hatori.

“You shut your mouth!” she screamed at him.

“Wait, the guy looks familiar.” Said Josh.

As the boat gets closer, they recognize who is on that boat. “Dimitri.” Said Avinash.

As the boat comes closest as it can get to the ship, they give him a rope, and Dimitri is then pulled to the ship. “That was very dangerous.” He complained.

“You are here, aren’t you?” said Avinash.

A beam of light comes to the ship and disappears into Hatori’s sleeves. “Well, I can store the boats. I should be able to store this ship soon enough.” Said Hatori.

“That is good.” said the coach. “We need to keep our options open, given what has happened.”

“Yeah, tell us what happened to you?” asked Shin.

Then Dimitri talks about his kidnapping, his escape, his meeting with the Gallian king, and his arrival to the sea. “It proved hard, but I knew where you would go, so I kept on the same path, and caught up with you.”

“Wow. I never thought it would be possible to get angry so much,” said Daphne.

“I always knew there were new limits to my anger.” Said Hatori with a smile. “But I think we can’t express it just yet. We need to go home first.”

“Hatori is right,” said Dimitri. “It doesn’t matter what happened to me. the important thing is that I must bring you to your homes safely, fulfilling my responsibilities as a coach. Nothing else matters.”

Part 7.

James reads the newspaper in the morning, still hoping to get some news about his friends. but apart from the chaos gripping the country, he hears nothing about the missing dueling team. given what is going on in general, James thinks it is nothing unusual that a bunch of boys and girls have disappeared, though given their importance overall, he thinks they do deserve some articles at least, not this complete blackout.

Of course, this can be explained by the invaders and noble families taking over the press. The team contains many people who are problematic for their vision. So, it is natural for them to silence any news about them.

A civil war is a new experience for the Subcontinent, something which it has not gone through for a long time now. during such chaotic times, the healers in the Academy become even more valuable, as they can heal anyone who can reach them.

As he puts his newspaper down, James feels the tension of the wards of the school. ‘Looks like there won’t be many people coming for quite some time.’

He goes to speak with Slaughter and learns from him how to handle this situation. James is certain that the experienced man will know how to best use his current skills.

(End.)

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