Chapter 15

I returned to the mansion afterward. I was not physically tired. Being at that mysterious place really washed off my tiredness. But I thought that I still needed some rest after this hectic day.

Upon nearing the gate, I was stopped by one of the younger guards. He was wearing the standard guard uniform, had a pretty normal face with messy hair on his head. In short, he looked like the perfect epitome of a village boy.

"Hey! Stop right there!" the young guard yelled at me. They are not the lazy bumps they once were. The strict training implemented by the guard captain made them more diligent at work. 

At first, I was genuinely confused as to why they would stop their lord from entering the mansion. But after the guard yelled once again, it struck me.

"Who are you? What's your job at the baron's mansion?" said the guard pointing his finger at me.

'Ah! So that's how it is!' I lightly exclaimed in my heart. Then I looked at myself and thought.

'Well, looks like I completely forgot about my appearance. That teleportation thing really gave me the shock of the day. Heh~ I can't blame them in any way though, even I would confuse myself with anybody else if I were in their place.' A light chuckle escaped my mouth.

Seeing me chuckle, the guard's expression seemingly got twisted. He raised his voice and yelled at me once again. 

"Hey! You! How dare you ignore me like that?" His face turned red, "Do you even know where you are? Get lost! This is no place for a beggar like you!!"

Hearing him I furrowed my eyebrows. 'What the hell dude? Though I admit that my clothes are a little dirty right now, still you can't just refer to me as a beggar. Can't your eyes see my unnaturally handsome face' [ *Cringe ]

While I was going to answer the guard, a strong voice could be heard from behind the gates.

"What is it, Cloud? Who are you talking to?" asked the voice.

Hearing the voice, both I and the guard, who I presume is Cloud turned in the direction of the voice. And a figure of a robust man came into sight. He was wearing the same standard guard uniform as the guard but had a blue badge on his left chest. He had a strong-looking face, with grey hair on his head, indicating that he should be nearing his middle age.

After the man came into sight, Cloud hurriedly spoke up. 

"Guard captain, you came at the right time!" he exclaimed and continued, pointing his finger at me, "This beggar came here out of nowhere, and is creating problems here."

Hearing him I was genuinely stunned.'What the hell dude!? I didn't even say anything! And when did I create any problems for you?' I rebuked in my mind.

Listening to Cloud, the guard captain looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

Thinking that he would misunderstand the situation, I hurriedly tried to explain the situation.

"Unn, Guard captain-" but before I could say anything, the guard captain exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"Young Lord is that you!?"

Hearing him, I said in my mind, 'Huh! Dude, you recognised me? Damn..' and nodded my head.

"Where were you, young lord!? You were missing for three days! We had sent a search party to look for you around the barony, but could not find you!"

'WHAT!? Three days!?' I was shocked. 'How is that possible? I don't think I have spent that much time there!'

While I was in thought, the guard captain spoke again,

"And what happened to you young lord? Why do you look so different from before?

'Uhh!' breaking out of my thoughts I exclaimed in my heart, 'Now how should I explain this to him?'

I looked around to see Cloud, who was standing there in his place, with his face pale. Looking at the situation he was having trouble standing still, as his legs were trembling. I ignored him and glanced at the guard captain. 

Haaa~ I released a sigh. "Many things happened guard captain, I will talk about it after I 

go inside the mansion," I said addressing him.

"Yes! Yes! We must proceed inside first! Everyone is worried sick about you!" he said, nodding his head at my words.

"Yeah, let's go," I affirmed, and we walked inside the gate, leaving the still pale-faced Cloud behind.

Upon entering the mansion, I was directed to the various surprised glances of the servants. As we were walking, we came across a middle-aged maid, with a plum body.

"Martha!" I called her.

Martha turned to look at me and her eyes narrowed slightly, 

"You….." she muttered and at the next moment, her eyes became wider.

"Y-young Lord!?" she asked in a surprised voice. 

To which I slightly scratched my left cheek, and nodded. "Yeah.."

Hearing my answer, she dashed and stopped right in front of me. She looked at me with worrying eyes, there was no sign of the usual seriousness she shows on her face.

"Y-young Lord…..where were you until now!? Do you know how worried we were!? The guard captain even sent a search party to find you!...." She started speaking without any pause. But I didn't stop her, because I understood that she was worried about me.

After a few moments, I stopped her and said, "It's okay Martha, I am completely fine."

"Bu-but Young Lord, look at you, something must have happened, your appearance has changed so much, and your clothes are so dirty and ragged. Something must have happened." she continued without paying any heed to what I said.

"Ah! I tell you about that, but first-" As I was talking another loud voice was heard.

"YOUNG MASTER!! IS THAT YOU" It was Joseph. Saying so he ran towards me and grabbed my hand together, tears were flowing from his eyes.

"hick* y-young master hick* where hick*...." and he continued, half talking and half bawling. He switched to the grandpa Joseph mode from the butler Joseph mode. 

Haaaa~ sighing I stopped him from further wetting my hands with his tears and snot. And said,

"Joseph, please stop. And here, have a look." saying so. I began condensing a small amount of mana in my palm and slowly a small ice cube appeared in my palm. Seeing that everyone in the area was shocked.

"Y-young lord! Th-this…" Joseph stuttered, his eyes wide, looking back and forth between the ice cube in my hand and my face.

To which I smiled and said, "Joseph. While I was out, I came across an opportunity and after taking advantage of that I awakened my element."