43 Grief and Agony

[Spoiler/Author note: There is a lot of hypocrisy in this chapter for character growth. Either bear with it or skip it :3]

Mr. Fler looked calmly at Jason whose gaze flitted at the big beast cage in the back yet again.

"Is this greater storm eagle really not used for breeding? Wouldn't it be dangerous to form a contract with a wild magical beast without getting any real benefits from it except a small share of strength and mana? It is way too dangerous, even after considering the benefits. Waiting for a hatchling should be much easier. The only thing needed is time.

The only real benefit I can really tell is that some nobles want to use this greater storm eagle for other purposes instead of forming a sincere soul contract.."

After Jason finished, the hall fell awkwardly silent for a short moment before Mrs. Fler broke the silence

She didn't really like the kind of situation they were in now. The fact that Jason had found out about the greater storm eagle´s real purpose bothered her, but it was almost exposed, so she could explain it at the least.

Sighing, she began her explanation.

"You´re smart Jason and it's true that this magical beast won't be used as a normal soulbond, but we didn't lie that it will be used as a soulbond for our client.

However, the reason is different than one would think."

Gabriella hesitated for a moment before she continued.

"To be honest it´s a pity because our client is a noble who involved himself with someone he shouldn't have.

Putting it simply, our client has accepted a soulbond life or death battle which is to be fought in a few days, because he was provoked or something like that... We don't really know the exact reason that caused our client to accept it, but our client wasn't aware of the kind of beast his opponent formed a contract with recently, which was his first big mistake.

This client already has a greater storm eagle but its potential is just a hair's breadth away from reaching the next rank while his opponent has bound a beast that is already on a higher rank and belongs to Canir or some other island.

We were only employed to catch a greater storm eagle as a `sacrifice` and it doesn't matter how high its potential is…

It's cheaper to sacrifice a part of one's soul that can regenerate over time with a non-potential wild greater storm eagle than sacrificing a high potential greater storm eagle that has already been tamed..."

Her eyes turned slightly wet as she tried to hold back tears, and Jason felt that she was agitated.

"We really hate this situation and despise everyone who uses beasts as if they are objects but unfortunately we cannot afford to displease our clients' clan. They have many high-ranked individuals and strong connections that could completely ruin our reputation within minutes, if not worse.

Our only worth is that we are adept at catching beasts and our strength is decent, but unfortunately, we are just two and it's easier to please big families than upsetting them.

Both of us are ashamed of the situation and we are sorry for the greater storm eagle but we couldn't find another way to please our client.

And if we didn't catch this greater storm eagle, a different one would be caught by other captors... though we are aware that it doesn't justify our excuse."

Listening to Mrs. Fler's explanation, not only Jason was shocked, upset, and also slightly disgusted …but even Malia and Greg had heard something like this for the first time.

Their shock was reflected on their faces that bore identical expressions of surprise and confusion. Malia jumped up from the couch before throwing her mother a disgusting look, before rushing out of the room.

Greg was rendered momentarily speechless and he followed suit without a backward glance at Jason or his mother.

That left just Jason and the Fler couple in the wide hall. Unsure of what to do next, Jason simply sat there looking at Mrs. Fler and scratched his head awkwardly

He was still able to be relatively calm, even though he found the fact disgusting.

But this disgust wasn't directed at Mrs. Fler, rather it was concentrated on the oblivious behavior the noble´s displayed, playing with lives as if it was nothing.

"Was it okay to say something like that in front of Greg and Malia?"

He was slightly worried if he had destroyed their relationship, but Gabriella only shook her head before replying with a sigh

"That's okay, It was time for them to face reality. To be honest, we don't like doing something like that, and we prefer capturing beasts with high potential. We love to see our client form a contract with sincere feelings which makes us proud, but sometimes situations like this can't be prevented.

I don't want to make excuses but we wouldn't do something like that if we weren't forced to do it.

Unfortunately, the reality is different and we can't afford to upset any of the bigger clans and families, as we are too weak and probably only one of the thousands of pawns in this giant game of power. 

Our rank is high without a doubt, but there are so many big families with huge amounts of resources in Astrix alone, that it isn't uncommon for many individuals to reach our rank.

I can understand if you're disgusted by us or you don't want to have to do anything with us anymore. You can decide that on your own."

She said, sighing deeply and Jason could feel her being frustrated and seemingly helpless about the whole situation.

Jason was thinking carefully.. He was still disgusted but after he learned the entire truth, he was clearly appalled with the mindset of most nobles and big clans.

It was evident that the strong ruled the weak and it applied to Greg´s parents who Jason considered to be extremely strong.

He wasn't sure which rank they held currently but he estimated that they had to be at least at the Magus rank to catch a matured greater storm eagle without any issues. The liquefied mana drops inside their mana cores were also a fact that cemented this thought.

Astrix wasn´t especially abundant in resources, high-ranked rifts, or had many mana density regions compared to other bigger islands and the mainland of humanity. But it was also not the worst, and reaching the magus rank at their current age was considered a good achievement.

Jason thought about their situation and remembered his mother getting murdered by a mysterious heir who suffered no punishment.

Maybe he wasn't even scolded and rage began to build up inside his heart against those filthy nobles who didn't care about the victims and weaker humans, only because their life was easy and devoid of obstacles.

Mrs.Fler saw Jason growing furious and couldn't understand the reason for his sudden anger. She had just started to wonder when Jason´s facial expressions eased up slightly.

When their eyes met, Gabriella saw tears falling on Jason´s cheek, while he opened his mouth.

Agony and grief filled his voice that trembled as he voiced out the pent-up frustration.

"I can understand you...but why is this world so unfair?... The strong can do whatever they want to do, without getting punished and the weak ones have to suffer, only to please others...The strong can throw a fit whenever they want and murder to their heart's content…and nobody does anything against them...even my mother couldn't avoid getting dragged into their business…"

Tears streamed down his cheeks and Jason wanted to stand up and leave the mansion as soon as possible to avoid the embarrassing situation he had dragged himself into.

He looked down and covered his eyes before standing up.

"I´m sorry, I´ll take your leave…." However, before he could finish his sentence he felt two slender arms embrace him from the front.

"It's okay… you can cry if you want..there is no need to suppress your feelings, all the time.

You´ll only hurt yourself like that.."

Jason was only 13 years old and he had to shoulder a big burden all alone with him being blind and the loss of his mother who he had relied on for his whole lifetime.

Living alone in a dangerous world without a single person he could rely on was too much for him to handle and Jason let himself completely loose, crying bitterly.

Mrs.Fler had already done a background check on Jason but she only knew that his mother had died, because of an accident. It was pretty obvious that the information she had received was wrong and fabricated while the truth was kept a secret.

His mother had been killed by some noble and Gabriella immediately understood Jason´s grief and sympathized with him.

The strong could do whatever they wanted without caring for anyone except those who were stronger and it was suffocating for the ones who had to endure the pain.

Jason´s eyes got blurry and he continued to wail as tears splattered on the thin fabric of his shirt, while Artemis landed on Jason´s head, trying to console him with thick tears pouring down her eyes as well.

Being connected to each other's soul wasn't always pleasing and Artemis could feel Jason´s rage and agony, turning her field of emotions extremely chaotic.

While Jason cried for a long time, Mr.Fler returned with the scaled wolf thrown over his shoulder. He had been crossing a pillar along with Greg and Malia who had also returned after calming down a little. However, the scene in front of them made them halt in their tracks.

They didn´t know what had happened but seeing Jason cry in their mother's embrace, made them more than a little bit confused.

It took Jason some time until he stopped crying and Mrs.Fler released him from her embrace, after reassuring herself that Jason was fine.

Mr.Fler used this chance to intercept them without giving his wife a chance to beat him up later.

Clearing his throat, he loudly announced.

"I have the results of the scaled wolves basic potential test with me. It's quite fascinating." 

He hoped to diffuse the tension that was prevalent in the air with his words.