Chapter 11: Changes
For three whole years, Zaven was not able to do anything for his family. Now that he finally awakened, he wouldn't remain idle!
"It's fine. I'm alright, I understand that a lot of things can happen within three years and it is my right to know what is happening, I don't want to live in ignorance" Zaven said calmly... too calm in fact.
If it was him before the coma, he definitely wouldn't be this calm. He was a 12-year-old kid, after all. He should still be very immature and childish but that is not the case. His mind was not unconscious for three years and the idle time is more than enough to make him mature.
"Zaven..." Elena softly muttered, still unwilling to burden her newly awakened son but Zaven shook his head.
"I am a member of the Ethelric Family, the ruler and protector of the City. I cannot be like any other kid" He said, still as calm as before. He even tried to get out of the bed.
Unfortunately, three years took a toll on his already fragile body. Since he didn't use his legs for a long time, he wouldn't be able to use them in a short period of time. It will take quite a long recovery period.
Sensing the inability to even walk, a small frown appeared on Zaven's face. "Fetch me a wheelchair" he ordered to the other servants, effectively dismissing them.
When only the three of them remained, Zaven stared at Butler Wern, waiting for his explanation.
At first, the butler looked at Elena as if he was seeking her approval but since Zaven already insisted, what could they do?
Her son's immaturity is still very much ingrained in her mind and she is afraid of how he will react if he doesn't get what he wants.
"Young Lord... the factions that want to replace the ruler of the Dragonhead City wanted to talk to you... They are saying that Young Master Raven has overstepped his boundaries countless times over the past three years. H-he... he is neither the City Lord nor the Young Lord but he was the one that made decisions for the city. They want to talk to you to help you regain your position"
"However, please don't listen to them, Young Lord! The Young Master was only making decisions because you and the City Lord were still previously unconscious. Now that you are conscious again, the highest decision power will be on you! These people just want to poison your mind!"
The butler's voice sounded quite desperate as if he was afraid that Zaven would side with these factions with evil motives. If this was the past Zaven, that would indeed be the case because of how jealous and bitter he was. However, he is not the same Zaven as before.
"How dare they badmouth my cousin? Do they have a death wish?" Zaven said coldly. While he didn't experience much, the rare times that Raven visits him, the former will narrate all the things he had done, especially the evil ones while he desperately asks Zaven not to hate him.
As such, Zaven was already influenced by his cousin, especially the part when Raven said "To defeat evil, I must become a greater evil!"
Naturally, Zaven also wouldn't give them mercy!
"Huh?"
Both the Butler and Elena were stunned by Zaven's reaction. He was actually defending his cousin? Shouldn't he be feeling jealous and hateful now? Thinking that Raven is taking away what should be his?
"I will go see them personally, invite them to the Manor. Also, ensure that there would be at least three Town-level guards that will accompany me!" Zaven ordered.
He knew that he was weak and that what he planned on doing required strength. He wouldn't be so stupid as to try to take everything on his own.
"Zaven..." Elena muttered but as much as Zaven wants to catch up with her, he doesn't have a lot of time. He can't be as idle anymore!
When the servants returned with a wheelchair, he asked them to help him sit on it.
"Accompany me to a stroll around the manor while explaining the current situation with me" Zaven ordered to Butler Wern. His calmness scaring both the butler and his mother.
However, this couldn't be helped. Three years engulfed in deep darkness honed Zaven's temperant. There are not a lot of things that can make him lose his calm anymore.
As much as he was stunned, the butler still didn't have a choice but to adhere to Zaven's orders.
"Currently, we have more Town-level cultivators than we had three years ago. This is because the Young Master recruited and supported a lot more guards than before. However, this is also taking a huge toll on our finances. It's not easy to maintain such a large number of guards and other non-essential areas are being neglected"
"These won't necessarily ruin the city but they still lowered the standard of living, causing many people to migrate to other cities. That and along with a higher death toll than in the past decades causes our population to drop sharply..."
As Butler Wern pushed Zaven's wheelchair, he started to slowly explain the current status of the city. While Zaven heard some bits of information from his mother and Raven when he was still in a coma, they are not that comprehensive.
Only when he had a more solid grasp of the city's situation could he think of a solution.
While they are on their stroll, one of the servants suddenly comes to Zaven while holding an egg that is very much familiar to him.
"Young Master, this is your cosmic beast egg" the servant presented.
Everyone knows how obsessed Zaven was with this cosmic beast egg. The family poured an enormous amount of resources into it. Unfortunately, even now, the cosmic beast egg still hasn't hatched.
With a mixture of emotions in his eyes, Zaven stared at the egg. In a sense, this egg could be said to be the start of calamity for his family and also the city.
It was because of this egg that City Lord Imba's grudge erupted causing him to poison Belthric. After the unfortunate event of the powerful cosmic beasts fighting that forced Belthric to use his power to save the egg-obsessed Zaven, both of them fall into a coma.
With the absence of a City-level cultivator, it snowballed into the current chaotic situation. As such, Zaven cannot help but feel some hatred for that egg. However, he was more mature now. It's not really the egg that was at fault but himself!
If he wasn't so obsessed with the mundane position in the past, his father wouldn't need to offend City Lord Imba.
While thinking of his father, Zaven can't help but clench his fist and he said to the servant "Take it to my room"
——
After Zaven understood more of the city's current situation, he returned to his room to sort out his thoughts. He has a lot of information to organize inside his head.
He used his hands to control the wheels of his wheelchair as he approached his bed. On top of his bed, he can see that familiar egg.
When he first contracted the beast inside that egg, he thought that it was a very majestic egg. Even now, the scene that appeared in his mind from back then is still imprinted in his mind.
It was something that he would never forget but so what? No matter how majestic this cosmic beast egg is, it is useless if it won't hatch.
Although he doesn't have much hope, Zaven still tries to sense the special connection he has with this cosmic beast as it is his contracted beast.
As usual, while he sensed that the cosmic beast was alive, it didn't give him the slightest bit of response as if it didn't have a mind at all.
"I should just ask the servants to store the egg" Zaven decided while shaking his head. While the egg might be useless, it is still the egg of a cosmic beast that has the potential to become a City-level lifeform. He cannot possibly just disregard it.
As Zaven was about to ignore the egg, he suddenly remembered something. Since he doesn't have a lot of new memories from the past three years as everything was always the same, the memories prior to the coma were still quite fresh to him.
"I remember that in the past, I felt that I could control the cosmic beast as if it were part of my limbs. However, since I was unwilling to risk it back then, I didn't try to do it. But now that the egg is about to become useless to me, why not try it?"
"Even if it died, it almost wouldn't change anything. If it cannot hatch and help me and my family then it wouldn't be any different than being a dead egg"