Second Genesis

Grey tumbled into the office, popped back up to his feet, yanked the french doors open, and then raced out.

He skipped across the hallways and into the kitchen. Then as though having a thought, he summoned a fang dagger with a flip of his palm and punched out.

Chi.

The sound of shattered glass echoed as a window above the sink was shattered.

Without hesitation, Grey rolled through the glass shards and then bounded outside of the kitchen, skidding to a stop with an awkward smile on his face just moments later.

Grey coughed, clearing his throat. His Skrill Mask was already gone.

"Nice weather we’re having, hm?"

Stella, Brad, and Mauve sat around a tea table with Silva. All four seemed to be visibly irritated, even Silva who had just gotten up to check what all the commotion was about.

Grey cleared his throat. "I wouldn’t check the kitchen if I were you."

Silva frowned. "Sir Temolt, what is going on?"

Honestly, Grey looked a mess. He was still wearing his squire’s clothing, but he was caked from head to toe in his own blood. There were even shards of glass sticking out of his body like he had been skewered through by some sort of glass porcupine.

"It’s a little embarrassing."

The four of them just stared at him.

"You see, I was a bit late to our little meeting here—" the irritation in their eyes made it clear that he was more than a little late. To be fair to them, Baron Giyoto had been trying to get a hold of him for the last two days, Edmun just hadn’t told him. Then, even after Edmun had told him, Grey went to hang out with the squires, go retrieve the tome, and only then did he stumble his way back here after yet another little adventure that included kicking a Vector Class’s ass.

You could say he was a little busy.

"—so I was thinking ’let me surprise them with some food’. But you see, my master is stingy, and I’m broke, so I was just going to snatch some snacks from Baron Giyoto’s pantry. But to do that I had to sneak in and well..." Grey coughed again. "As you can see, that didn’t go too well."

Silva’s lip twitched. What kind of ridiculous story was that? Who the hell would believe it.

"Is that so?"

A voice from behind made Grey stiffen. He slowly looked back to find Baron Giyoto standing there with a calm expression on his face. He didn’t look like he had been doing any running, unlike Grey who was covered in sweat.

Though, the blood was doing quite a bit to cover that up. The trouble was that it wasn’t doing much to mask his heavy breathing.

"You seem out of breath." Baron Giyoto said.

"Oh man, you can tell? What a philosopher of our time. That must be some special Baron intelligence you’ve got there."

"Would it kill you to not be an asshole?" Stella said coldly.

"Would it kill you to not have a stick up your ass? If you put something else up there maybe you’d be less uptight."

Brad stood up and Grey put his hand out in mock surrender.

"I don’t make the rules. You know it’s always the most prim and proper ones that love anal."

Brad roared and threw out a punch.

Grey sneered. He had already killed this idiot twice before. And now, he was practically infinitely stronger than before. He could see a thousand different ways to cut him to ribbons right now.

But before he could take action, it was Baron Giyoto who had suddenly appeared, his robes fluttering elegantly as he blocked Brad’s fist.

Surprisingly, Brad didn’t even go flying, he didn’t even seem particularly hurt. The fist just stopped abruptly without any backlash as though the laws of physics and momentum had stopped meaning anything.

Grey’s pupils constricted. This man wasn’t just outrageously strong, he was also just as skilled.

This was a problem. Paladin Spirit couldn’t even sense how he did it.

Using Paladin Spirit to fight beyond his power level was something he did quite often these days. But he could tell that it wouldn’t even remotely work against Baron Giyoto. It wouldn’t even be able to decipher the data streaming in from the man.

The gap was actually that large.

And if Baron Giyoto’s target was Bishop Calixan like Grey was starting to assume it was, it meant the man was probably just as dangerous if not more so, even if Baron Giyoto had to be so cautious.

Now both of them probably wanted to kill him. Fantastic. This was really shaping up perfectly.

Unfortunately for everyone else, these truths didn’t do much to wash Grey’s mouth clean of the jokes.

"Sorry, Baron. I would offer to pay for your broken window, but as I was saying, my master is kind of stingy."

"Mm. He seems to be also quite stingy with your time. It’s unfortunate. We are now behind schedule."

"Behind schedule?" Grey asked. "On what, exactly."

"Right. You haven’t truly been briefed on what we will be doing or why I need your services. First—." Baron Giyoto pulled out something from the lapel of his robes, shifting the fabric back into place after he was done and handing Grey a letter. "—this is for you."

Grey took the folded paper only to realize it wasn’t a letter. It was the rental permit to Globb’s shop.

—

[Quest, {Blessing of Baron Giyoto}, cleared]

—

[Rental Permit of {Globb’s Shop} has been transferred over to you]

[Rental Agreement...]

—

A long list of things popped up but what really caught Grey’s attention was at the bottom.

—

’I know that’s not what I think it is.’

—

[Biweekly commitment: 12,750 Credit]

[Amount Due: 25,500 Credits]

—

"What is this?" Grey asked.

"The cost to run a shop is not free, unfortunately." Baron Giyoto said calmly.

"Is that so?" Grey chuckled. He didn’t know much about prices, but he knew that a mech blueprint alone was worth 25,000. He didn’t believe a small shop in the middle of a terrible neighborhood would cost him that much in just a month.

"Let’s cut the bullshit, Giyoto. What do you really want from me? Say it very clearly because my patience is limited and these little games of politics only work against people who actually give a damn. I, for one, don’t mind taking a dump in your sink if you piss me off enough."

The only reason Grey had needed the rental permit in the first place was because he needed to make money and find a method of establishing himself in the city to protect himself.

But now he had a Vanguard Class master, soon-to-be Holy Knight status, and not a lick of patience left.