ROSES HAVE THORNS

High in the upper VIP section of the Eldorian stands, the atmosphere was a mixture of tense anticipation and lingering disappointment. Down in the arena, the medical priests were helping escort Summer out of the ring following her loss against Yukimura.

Sitting in one of the most lavish seats in the coliseum, Duke Reuben Valentine rested his elbow on the seat’s arm rest.

His calculating eyes swept over the remaining representatives of Eldorian, quietly evaluating. After a moment, his gaze shifted across the expanse of the arena and locked onto the Myrian representatives.

Done with his assessment, Reuben let out a quiet breath. He leaned back in his seat and turned his head toward his wife who was currently watching the arena with mild interest.

"Julie. I’m going to use the restroom. And I’ll be stepping out for a quick smoke break."

Julianne, with her elegant features, turned to look at him fondly. "Alright. But don’t be long, Rubi. Otherwise, I’ll come looking for you myself."

Reuben gave a short nod and stood up, smoothing down the front of his tailored coat. He turned to the impeccably dressed butler standing at attention at the exit of their seating row.

"Do you have the communication orb?"

"Yes, My Lord," the butler replied respectfully.

He reached into the pocket of his coat and produced a smooth, crystalline orb roughly the size of a tennis ball.

"Good. I’ll contact you if anything comes up."

As he turned around, Julianne called out after him, raising her voice just enough to be heard over the rising cheers.

"Twenty minutes! That’s all I’m giving you!"

Without looking back, Reuben raised one hand over his shoulder and gave her an acknowledging wave as he pushed open the doors and stepped into the cool, shadowed corridors.

......

A few minutes later, having finished his business in the facilities, he made his way down the sweeping staircases, heading toward the front plaza. However, his peaceful walk was abruptly interrupted.

As he rounded a corner near the exit, his path was blocked. A group of three private security guards was standing in a tight circle around a disheveled, red-faced man who was currently kneeling on the polished floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You have to listen to me!" the man cried whilst desperately clutching one of the guards’ boots. "You have to detain that one-eyed man! Keep him here for the prefects! They need to come and arrest him immediately! I feel so violated!"

"Sir, please let go. Stop talking about this nonsense. You’re drunk, and you’re causing a scene."

"I am not drunk!"

"What’s going on here?" Reuben’s authoritative voice cut through the echoing hallway.

The three guards instantly stiffened.

Recognizing the crest on his coat and the oppressive weight of the aura surrounding him, they immediately snapped into perfect salutes, greeting the duke with the utmost respect.

The weeping man on the floor, however, saw an opportunity. He scrambled forward on his knees and clasped his hands together in a prayer.

"My Lord! Please, I beg of you, you must find and punish the one-eyed man! He is a demon!"

Reuben looked down at the pathetic display and turned to look at the guards. "What exactly did this ’demon’ do to him?"

"N-Nothing, My Lord. This man is just spouting drunken nonsense. We were just about to throw him out."

"It’s not nonsense! He forced me! He made me defecate upon a bald man’s head!"

"""...."""

"... What?"

"That is enough out of you!" the lead guard barked, completely mortified that Reuben had to hear such filth.

He and the other two guards bent down, grabbed the weeping man by his armpits, and hoisted him roughly into the air. "We apologize for the disturbance, My Lord. Have a wonderful day!"

Reuben stood bewildered as he watched the guards dragged the flailing, sobbing man away down the corridor.

"JUSTICE! I DEMAND JUSTICE FOR MY SOUL!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Reuben letting out a long exhale. Deciding it was best to simply pretend the last two minutes of his life hadn’t happened, he continued making his way out of the coliseum.

Once he pushed through the doors, he stepped out into the vibrant atmosphere of the front plaza.

Although the matches were still going on inside, the massive field market was in full swing. Packed nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists, merchants, and academy students helping out where they can.

Reuben expertly navigated his way through the dense sea of bodies, until he reached the quieter edge of the plaza near the main decorative fountain.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a beautifully engraved, vintage metal cigarette case. With a soft click, it popped open. As he reached for a cigarette, his sharp hearing picked up the murmurs of a group of tourists rushing past the fountain.

"... Did you hear? The guards are still looking for it!"

"... The toilet demon? Yeah, I heard it drowned three people in the bowls!"

"... And then, it took the stinkiest shit on all of them."

Reuben paused with the cigarette halfway to his lips. Before he could piece together the bizarre connection between the sobbing man and a mythical bathroom fiend, a sudden but faint surge of mana picked up on his keen senses.

He looked up toward the sky.

Two figures had just launched themselves into the air, flying rapidly away from the academy grounds. Reuben easily recognized the silver hair and the telekinetic aura of Emelie as well as the silhouette of Kurt being carried alongside her.

Intrigued, he placed the cigarette back into the metal case and snapped it shut. After putting it away, he reached into his other pocket, pulling out his own communication orb.

He poured a small fraction of his mana into the crystal. It flared with a blue light.

A moment later, the butler’s polite voice came through, underlaid with the muffled, roaring cheers of the crowd. "Yes, Your Grace?"

"Hand the orb to my wife."

There was a brief rustling sound. A few seconds later, Julianne’s voice came through. "Rubi? It hasn’t even been ten minutes. What’s wrong?"

"Nothing’s wrong," Reuben replied, keeping his eyes locked on the two distant figures shrinking against the clouds. "But I have to leave for a bit. I’ll be back by your side before the matches end."

"Leave? Leave where? Where are you going?"

"... To capture a toilet demon."

"... Excuse me?"

"I’ll see you later," Reuben cut off the connection and slipped the darkened orb back into his pocket.

A faint, nearly invisible gray aura began to swirl around him. Without bending his knees, he vaulted straight up into the air.

Once he was high in the sky, he placed both of his hands casually into his pockets, and with a calm, effortless stride, he began sky stepping forward. His cape fluttered in the wind as he shot across the sky with terrifying speed, rapidly closing the distance between himself and the two flying figures.

........

Further ahead, Kurt and Emelie were speeding through the air when a deep voice suddenly asked from behind, "So where exactly are you going in such a rush?"

"OH CRAP–!"

"JESUS–!"

Without a single conscious thought, Kurt drew his black blade from his waist, twisted his torso in mid-air, and swung a full-powered backhand slash directly at the source of the voice.

CLANG!!!

Sparks rained down through the clouds. Reuben had half-unsheathed his signature red blade, catching Kurt’s strike perfectly on the flat of the steel with only one hand. His other hand was still casually resting in his pocket.

""REUBEN?!""

Casually pushing Kurt’s blade away and clicking his sword back into its scabbard, Reuben tilted his head slightly and asked. "Who is Jesus?"

"What the hell are you doing up here?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Kurt then turned his head toward Emelie. "Didn’t we sneak past him at the plaza?"

"We did. He must have seen us leaving from the sky."

"Yes, I did see you. But that is not why I came after you."

Kurt stared at him and asked, "How are you even... flying?"

"Advanced wind magic. Now, answer my question. Why are you running away?"

"Running away? Running away from what?"

Reuben narrowed his eyes. "You are the toilet demon, are you not?"

"Toilet demon? Kurt, what the hell is this old man talking about?"

"Oh, for the love of... yes. That was me."

He looked at Emelie, waving a hand dismissively. "This group of losers jumped me while I was trying to use the bathroom. They tried to ambush me, so I beat the hell out of them. And then I made this one random guy shit on their leader’s head."

She stared at him for three seconds, then completely lost her composure.

"Pfft–HAHAHAHA!"

Emelie burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as tears slid down from her eyes.

Reuben, however, did not find it amusing. "If you were attacked, that is one thing. But why involve someone who had nothing to do with it? Making an innocent man soil in such a way seems unnecessarily cruel."

"Innocent? The guy deserved feeling shitty about taking a shit on the bald guy’s shit head! I overheard him cheating on his wife, y’know? *Tsk* What a shitty guy he is!"

Emelie was laughing so hard she was actually wheezing. "Ahaha– S-Stop it! Stop saying shit! I’m going to drop us!"

Reuben sighed and shook his head at the vulgarity of the conversation. "I see. Very well. But if you are not fleeing, then where are you going in such a rush?"

"... We’re headed for the orphanage near the church. I just got word that one of the kids I feel responsible for went missing."

"A kid you feel responsible for? Rossana... don’t tell me you have a secret child with another woman."

"What? No! Look, it is a very long story, but we’re not related in that kind of way. She’s just an orphan I’ve been watching over."

Reuben studied his face for a moment.

Feeling satisfied that Kurt was telling the truth, he stopped squinting and relaxed his posture. "In that case, should I come along and help you search?"

"... Are you sure? I mean, I appreciate the offer but..."

"If I assist you now, we won’t have to meet up later. We can handle everything at once."

"Right, there was that. Well then, I greatly appreciate the help, Reuben."

"Hm." Reuben nodded. He then turned toward Emelie, who was still giggling softly to herself. "Get it together, Herst. Let’s leave."

"Right, right, sorry. Man... I really wish I could’ve seen that bathroom fight."

Focusing her mana once more, Emelie smoothly controlled her telekinesis, banking them hard toward the orphanage. She and Kurt shot forward through the clouds, with Reuben effortlessly sky stepping right behind them.

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