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Chapter 409: Chapter 371

"Okay, Watermelon." She replied as non expressively as possible, which just added to the stinging feeling in my gut.

"Dammit Roman." I laid my head on the counter. Artoria gave me a little pat on the back and I pulled myself back up, putting an arm around her.

"Oh boo hoo." The flamboyant Thief puffed out some smoke from his cigar before pushing it into an ashtray. "Not even a \'thank you\' for making you a free man again? Just right to the gut-wrenching insults. What I go through for my little baby boy." He wiped a non-existent tear from his eye.

"Yeah, Schweinorg, be nice to your dad." Rin snorted.

"I like her." Roman snapped his fingers pointing at Rin. "I give you permission to date my son."

"Yeah, no." I immediately denied.

"Ugh." She made a choking noise.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I glared at Rin.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

I flipped her off with the hand I had behind Artoria.

"Saber~ Your boyfriend, Watermelon is being mean to me." Rin whined.

"Wil, please don\'t make rude gestures towards Rin."

"You didn\'t even see what I was doing."

"Rin, please stop antagonizing him."

"Boo."

"Whipped." Miltia said, adding a cracking noise.

"Kinda cute though." Melanie added. "When he said he had a girlfriend last time, I didn\'t believe him. And I definitely didn\'t picture someone like her."

"What\'s that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Hell Kid, even I can see that you two don\'t look like you\'d mix." Junior spoke up, wiping a glass in his hands. "Honestly, if her hair was white, I\'d mistake her for a Schnee. And you....well, you\'re you."

"I feel like you\'re insulting me."

"You got good instincts." He didn\'t even deny it.

"They\'re not wrong." Rin chimed in. "Honestly, I wouldn\'t have put money on you two getting together if I hadn\'t seen it myself."

"Alright, tell me the truth." Roman took his hat off, placing it on the counter. "My boy is actually gay and this is all fake, isn\'t it?"

"Fuck you, Roman."

"Kind of proving his point then." Melanie remarked.

"No wonder he rejected me." Miltia nodded.

"You should see how much time he spends on his hair and clothes." Rin joined in. "I knew something was up."

"Alright, alright." Roman put his hands up. "We\'re not animals, and this isn\'t back in the day. We\'ll accept you no matter your preferences. I\'m sure I can find you a nice boy to settle down with."

"Do you see what I put up with?" I looked at Artoria who genuinely looked amused by the whole thing.

She leaned over, placing her lips against mine in clear sight of everyone. "Do you feel better now?" She asked. There was a hint of shyness now, as Artoria was always bashful about being affectionate in public.

"Brothers, they\'re fucking adorable." Melanie scoffed.

"My teeth are gonna rot from the sweetness." Miltia agreed.

"Welp, that\'s enough wholesome for me. I\'m going to need to go kick at least three orphans to get back to normal after this." Roman snapped his fingers. "Junior, hit me up I need something to wash this sugary taste out of my mouth with."

"It\'s not even 4pm, Roman." Junior gave him a side-eyed look.

"I\'ve had a shit day, honestly, I need another drink." The Thief slumped. "Just found out that my Melodic Cudgel isn\'t salvageable. Going to have to get another one made."

"Your....cane?" I blinked, trying to remember. "Yeah, I remember you named it something stupid."

"Hey, it\'s a good name. Classy, even."

"I\'m sure the people you hit over the head with it agree."

"They should be thankful. At least it isn\'t Neo dealing with them."

"That\'s....fair." She\'d probably just stab them. "Speaking of, where\'s the murderous munchkin?"

"Oh, that\'s a good one, I\'ll need to remember it." He hummed. "And she was here a little while ago." He swept his hand towards Artoria and Rin. "While I was entertaining your wonderful Girlfriend and friend like a good father figure—"

"I could point out several things wrong with that sentence."

"When he was making our proper identification." Artoria clarified. "And I did not express proper gratitude. I can imagine that such a thing was not an easy endeavor with the systems they use to track residents."

"Well." Roman leaned on the counter, looking rather smug. "Aren\'t you a polite young miss. My Watermelon is lucky to have you. It\'s finally nice to get some recognition for all the hard work I do around here."

"It\'s really not difficult. Roman just has people to push the right paperwork at the right times without any questions being asked." Junior remarked.

"I feel underappreciated." He huffed. "Anyways, before I went off on a tangent. I was going to say that Neo was slipping the paperwork to the right places, she had to quickly go do it after getting their pictures so they got in before the offices closed in a few."

"Thanks for handling it, Roman." I said genuinely without the joking nature of our earlier back and forth.

"Yeah, yeah it\'s no problem." He waved it off, the usual smug and arrogant demeanor slipped away for the brief moment.

"You said your cane broke? Got it on you, I might be able to help." Rin was looking at the empty glass in front of her before facing him.

"You a blacksmith or something?"

"Or something." She smiled lightly.

Roman shrugged, reaching behind his back and taking out two halves of his cane, setting them on the counter and pushing them over. "Was probably just going to keep them on the shelf as a memento, but have at it."

"Damn Roman, that\'s a clean cut. What did you do, put it through an industrial Saw?\' Junior snorted.

"Hey, don\'t look at me, you know how much I cared about that thing. It was the first weapon I ever designed. And some little – little brat." Roman spat out in annoyance. "Cut it in half with a stupid and overly large farming instrument!"

"A tractor?" I asked.

"No, a scythe you nit-wit." He huffed. "Why would a kid be using a tractor as a weapon? That\'s ridiculous."

"Right, because I should have assumed a weapon when you said \'farming instrument\'. But a scythe you say?" I rubbed my chin, recalling a younger girl who had such a weapon.

"Some abomination, a combination between a sniper and a scythe or some other stupid nonsense. She wouldn\'t shut up about it. But she did this thing where the blade shifted and another blade came out, kind of green-like. Didn\'t think much of it, and I blocked her with my cane and it just sliced right in half!"

"What the hell is this thing?" Rin blurted out, looking at the two pieces of his weapon. "How many moving parts are there? Why are there so many things stuffed inside?"

"That my dear, is perfection compressed into a carriable and fashionable form. It\'s a 40 inch, sleek, atlas military grade steel cane, complete with working Dust-compatible gun mechanisms with alternating flare chamber –" He paused, raising a finger up. "With detachable grappling hook, complete with a 30 foot carbon-steel wiring mesh that can support up to 1200 pounds."

"Or at least it was." I added.

"That\'s a spanking when we get home." Roman\'s lips thinned. "But yes, it was."

"Yes, your stupid cane is impressive." Miltia rolled her eyes. "Maybe get something less ostentatious this time?"

"First, I\'m surprised you even know what that word means." Roman countered. "Second, that is a masterpiece of engineering. Do you have any idea how hard it was to work all of that in there? The mesh wiring is 30 feet long when fully deployed!"

"Sounds overly complicated and unnecessary."

Roman scoffed. "Unnecessary? Complicated? What is this, the dark ages? Everyone uses more sophisticated weapons these days."

"I use a plain sword." I pointed out.

For what little value my swords counted as \'plain\'.

"Basic Claws."

"My boots are pretty minimalistic. No mecha-shift."

The twins chimed in.

"I use a sword as well." Artoria chimed in.

"And I guess I use a spear? Also Martial Arts." Rin shrugged, examining the cane.

"Uncultured heathens." Roman looked aghast. "Atleast Junior here is using something presentable, even if it\'s something brutish and inelegant."

"Really, what do you use?" I asked him.

"A bat and Rocket Launcher combo." He replied.

"That\'s pretty neat." I noted. "And you said your cane has 30 feet of wiring in it? How the hell does that work?"

"Oh that was hard." Roman perked up. "It sort of works like a zipper. The wiring Mesh isn\'t intertwined until the hook is launched."

"That\'s....surprisingly brilliant."

"What do you mean surprisingly?" Roman looked aghast. "I am the epitome of intelligence and cunning."

"Says the guy who got done in by a little girl." Miltia snorted.

"That was bullshit!" Roman crossed his arms in annoyance. "I don\'t know what she did, probably some semblance crap that I didn\'t expect. My Cane could take a hit from one of Irondick\'s ship cannons and walk away fine!"

"Question." I raised my hand, interrupting his rant. "Did she happen to be wearing a red cape too?"

"....she did."

"Well....I do believe I may be at fault then."

"Bastard!."

"You\'re not wrong there." I hummed.

"What did you do?" Artoria looked at me. "I hope it is not something illicit."

"Damn, kid really is whipped. Did you give him a spanking after his little crime spree?" Roman chuckled."

"Fuck off, Roman." I chose to ignore him. "Nah, the girl, she was nice and helped me when I got disorientated from traveling." I think she understood what I meant by the way I said that. "Anyways, she helped me and went on about how she made her own weapon and everything and I gave her an ingot of Orichalcum as thanks."

"That was kind and thoughtful of you." She smiled.

"Thoughtful my pert behind." Roman Grumbled. "And what\'s this Orical-whatsit?"

"It\'s a rare metal, stronger than steel." I said simply.

"Interesting." Roman rubbed his chin. "Got anymore?"

"Oh, does dear old dad want something from little ol\' me?" How the tables turn. "Can you repeat what you wanted? I\'m just so unbelievably happy at my new adoption that I missed what you said."

"Well well well, if it isn\'t the consequences of my own actions." He sighed. "Alright, what do you want?"

"I\'ll think about it. For now, Rin should probably be able to fix your stupid toy."

"Not a toy!"

"Yeah, I can fix it." Rin replied. "Not as bad as I thought."

I knew she could. Just some meticulous use of Alteration and Structural Grasp should do the trick.

"How much you think it\'ll cost?" Roman asked. "I don\'t mind spending a bit, but if it\'s going to cost as much as –"

"Eh, don\'t worry about it." Rin cut him off. "You didn\'t charge us for the IDs and stuff, consider it as thanks."

"What\'s this, Rin not being a money grubber?" I looked at her in shock.

"Did you say something, Watermelon?" Rin shot back.

Damn, she must have really made a killing back in Skyrim.

"Why was Ruby even fighting you, Roman? You didn\'t go kick her puppy, did you?" I realized the missing core piece of information in what he said.

"Hey, I\'m a law abiding citizen and I resent that" He puffed up. "At least according to Vale. Every where else still has a warrant for my arrest. And you for that matter. I wouldn\'t suggest going to Atlas or Mistral."

"Yeah, I already saw the shit show that happened after it was revealed to the public. But why were you fighting her?"

"Oh, it wasn\'t public knowledge yet when she saw me. I may or may not have said something to invigorate her inflated sense of \'justice\' which led to us coming to blows." He said nonchalantly.

"You just egged her on because you were bored, didn\'t you?"

"You know your old man so well." He grinned.

"So what happened? Y\'know, besides your toy getting cut in half."

"About what you\'d expect from Huntsman – or huntsman lite in her case – fighting in the middle of the street. One of Beacon\'s teachers was nearby, the Deputy Headmistress. She intervened once things got a little out of hand. I of course completely claimed self defense and walked away without any repercussions."

"Roman, did you seriously manipulate a 15 year old girl into getting in trouble? I know her – sorta, and I\'m gonna be pissed if she\'s getting in trouble because of that crap."

"Oh, stop being a baby. She got bailed out by the Beacon staff. Heard them offering her a spot at Beacon to avoid any criminal charges. Technically, if she were an official Huntress in training and attending beacon, she wouldn\'t get in trouble – yada yada. And It\'s not like I would have pressed charges."

"You\'re such an ass."

He shrugged, in a \'what can you do\' sort of way. "Enough about that though, I\'m curious how you landed a woman that\'s clearly out of your league. So, what\'s the story? And is it embarrassing? I can trade you a few of my own. Did he ever tell you the time he was getting robbed and in return robbed his robber?"

Artoria smiled brightly, shaking her head with a small chuckle. "I was being foolish and Wilhelm refused to allow me to continue as I was, to the point where he challenged me to a duel. I was moved by his actions and we had our first date shortly after."

"That\'s boring." Roman grunted. "Extremely cute, adorable even, but boring. I was expecting something juicier."

"Yeah, well, my life isn\'t a comedy for you to –"

"Ask him about his Harem." Rin smiled.

Dammit Rin.

[***]

Salem POV

When was the last time I walked amongst these....lesser beings.

Other than the time I spent with the source of my current confusion; I could not recall. Perhaps a few decades ago when I briefly satiated my curiosity after learning about certain advancements in their technology?

Yes, I believed it was when their first \'airships\' were created. I had found it interesting enough to see them in person.

How time moved without one noticing when immortal.

I normally would not allow myself to wander amongst these lesser beings/humans/things but I found myself needing.....to breathe. To step away from what I knew and indulge in a different perspective.

I did not know what I was feeling at this moment. Discovering that everything I worked for, everything I sought was so.....insignificant left me with an unfamiliar feeling. I was the Queen of the Grimm, at my command, an army of black death could march and purge the world of every breathing person. Yet....at this moment, I felt wholly irrelevant, as if my existence meant nothing.

Was it hate swelling up within my breast?

No, I was not unfamiliar with hate. I had known hate for thousands of years. And.....I cannot bring myself to hate him when my cold still heart seems to beat in his presence.

It was vexing and made me even more annoyed.

A change of scenery.

The idea had sprung up in my mind and I allowed myself the whimsy. I cast a basic illusion over myself to appear as I did in my younger days. No paled skin or cursed marks, no red eyes and white hair. I looked as I did in my youth with vibrant blonde hair to match my fair complexion.

These ignorant mortals could not see through the simple disguise, so I cared not for the looks I received. Except for the few who stared at my behind for more than was appropriate.

They received a discreet chiding.

I felt a small annoyance when someone other than that foolish man did so.

Now, what was I to do? I simply came here on a whim, to this....human settlement. I commanded Cinder to fly me here, and I gave her orders to wait for my return, but I did not have a destination or plan in mind. How silly that I did this without any consideration.

Hmm, perhaps a tavern?

I turned to notice the gathering of patrons with drinks around.

Such a type of establishment was not uncommon in my era and it\'s obvious that it persisted through the millennia.

How nostalgic.

Ozma and I visited many places similar in our travels.

I found my feet carrying me without a second thought. Pushing the doors open, the patrons inside stared at me for a moment before turning back to their own matters.

I looked for an empty table in the corner and claimed it as my own. A piece of parchment awaited me, listing the services they provided. A manner of drinks that I did not recognize but were intriguing enough for me to indulge in this particular instance.

I barely noticed the next person to walk through the doors as I explored what this tavern had to offer. I barely gave them a glance, but my attention quickly was consumed by their presence.

They were staring right at me. The woman who walked inside, her eyes met my own and I knew that it wasn\'t merely a gaze casted in my direction or haphazardly on my person. No, they penetrated the illusion I had weaved around myself.

Did I stumble onto a Maiden by mere happenstance?

The thought was amusing enough that I found my mood ever so slightly lifted.

She walked towards my table, no amount of fear, nor hesitation on her part. I assumed she did not know who I was? A fly willingly moving towards the spider\'s web.

"You must be Salem." She spoke.

....or not.

"I am." I did not react. "Do you know me, child?" I raised a questioning eyebrow at her declaration. I wished to know with what confidence she approached me even knowing who I was.

"A child? I have not been called a child for at least two millennium. But yes, I do know you." She chuckled, taking the seat opposite at the same table as I. Her words did not quite register with me as she spoke again. "We share an interest, and he has spoken of you on many occasions. I did not expect to meet you here, but I suppose the whims of fate are thus."

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Scáthach."

[***]

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