Changing The Course of Fate

Chapter 3 - Badge

Pier continued to follow the brick path that led from the main mansion to the Western Area. He could hear explosions from a distance, which he guessed were from the scholars dueling against each other. The thought excited him. He wanted to see magic itself!

A few minutes passed, and the young master found himself nearing the said arena. He could feel his heart beating faster. It was normal. He was someone from another world who only read about things like this in comics and novels. 

He wasn't shy to admit that he would gladly take the position as president of an organization focusing on fantasy novels and comics if he were to be given a chance.

When he was near enough, someone spotted him from afar.

"Who goes there?" The guard asked. Pier paused. For a second, he panicked because he forgot he was Pier Belmiunde and not the nerd he was back in the lifeless planet he came from. Clicking his tongue, he pretended to be annoyed and stood there with his arms crossed while his eyebrows were furrowed. He wanted to act like the usual Pier would, but considering the original Pier did not show any interest in magic before, he understood that the guard never knew him in the first place.

Pier grabbed the pin that was attached to his suit. The silver pin, which contained their family symbol, shone brightly in the sunlight, which the guard instantly recognized.

When the guard saw the pin, his eyes widened when he realized who the person he had just stopped was. He immediately grabbed an umbrella and ran straightforwardly without stopping.

"Y-Young Master Pier! It's my first time seeing you come here! Forgive me for not knowing immediately!" The guard said, and he looked like he was about to cry. The news of Pier firing all of the previous maids and butlers and how their sins were spread across the whole territory of the Belmiunde's made everyone afraid of the rumored young master, and the person guarding the entrance to the Western Area was not an exception.

Pier smiled at the extremely nervous guard and patted his shoulder as he was about to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

"It's fine. I understand, and it was my fault since I acted on impulse and came here without prior notice. Forgive me," Pier responded as he took the umbrella and opened it. The shade was cooling him off a little bit. A sigh escaped his lips as he felt relieved. It wasn't hot and sunny when he went outside earlier, but the more he walked, the sunnier it became.

He hated sunny days.

The guard looked up at Pier and smiled widely. He looked like he was about to cry with how tears seemingly brimmed his eyes, yet the young master decided not to make any comments about it. He did anticipate the news of what he did to reach certain areas of the land, but what he didn't expect was for even an unknown guard to tremble at his feet like this.

Eliam was originally thinking he could mask the incident off as Pier's volatile nature and attitude because it wouldn't have been suspicious at all. Sure, some might question Pier's sudden change, but it wouldn't pique further curiosity from the masses since the original Pier was known to be a ticking time bomb that could explode any given moment.

"T-thank you, young master! I knew you were different from the rumors! Did you know I def-" the young guard started blabbering when he came to a stop midway.

"Rumors? There were rumors about me?" Pier asked him, and the guard paled once more. It was as if he told the mafia something he never should've and now they're coming for his life.

"A-Ah... W-well, you see, young master... Uhm... Rumors are going around about how you fired all the servants in the main household and b-banned their families from working with other families..." The guard said while scratching the back of his neck. It was as if he were embarrassed to say such a rumor directly in his master's face. His stuttering did not help either, seeing that Pier's eyebrows became more furrowed.

"Hmmm..." Pier thought about it, and the rumors were indeed a little bit exaggerated. He did fire all those servants, not just because they were lazing around, but because of what they did to the previous Pier. Pier had to constantly suffer and do things all on his own because no one wanted to help the pitiful young master of the Belmiunde Family. However, he did not mention anything about their family not being able to work for other families, though.

'I guess I need to check about these rumors later,' he thought as he looked at the guard once more. The young man flinched under his master's gaze, and he started sweating bullets.

Pier found it a little comedic but chose not to speak on it. As much as he loved the attention, he was not bad enough to laugh at someone who was clearly walking on eggshells around him.

"It's fine, you don't need to be so nervous around me, or you'll make mistakes when you're not supposed to because you can't focus," he reprimanded the young guard as he started walking towards the entrance, leaving the young man gaping at his seemingly angelic young master.

Pier entered the gate, and immediately the guard assisted him as they started wandering around the place.

"Young master, this area right here is the resting area for the scholars," the guard said as he pointed at a large villa-like building on the east side of the Western Area. Pier casually walked towards the resting area. In the modern world, as Eliam, the resting area was like a vacation house for a rich family on a beach.

The people resting or doing some mild work in the resting area started whispering to themselves when they saw him walking, but Pier did not bear any intention to converse with them. He was simply trying to see the resting area up close. He also sensed that he was not welcome with the people in the Western Area.

He would have poked his tongue out at them and blown a raspberry if only he weren't the infamous Pier Belmiunde. 

Pier then proceeded to go to the area where the explosions were happening.

"This right here is the Arena, young master. This is where the scholars fight and duel against each other to test their strength." The young guard said respectfully. Pier gazed towards the arena. It was as big as a colosseum in the modern world, and it was made of finely stacked pieces of stone. He can also feel faint energy coming from the rocks themselves.

"May I ask what's with the rocks?" He asked the guard, who flinched at the sudden question.

"A-Ah, the rocks... Uhm. The rocks, young master, are strengthened with reinforcement magic to prevent them from being destroyed or blown up during intense battles." Pier chuckled at the nervous young guard. They seem to be the same age.

"I see. Can I watch them train?" Pier was curious about the explosions so he wanted to come inside the arena and watch these infamous scholars battle against each other.

"Ah, forgive me, young master, but the headmaster has instructed everyone yesterday not to let anyone enter the arena for now except the scholars. They will be undergoing intensive training, for they will be deployed as the mages of the kingdom soon." Pier was disappointed at the news but decided not to push it further anyway. He nodded at the guard and started to walk back into the entrance he came from when he caught sight of a greenhouse in the distance.

"How about that? Can I visit that place?" He asked the guard. The guard squinted his eyes in the direction Pier was pointing.

"Forgive me, young master Pier, but I cannot see what you're pointing at." The guard even had both of his hands covering on top of his eyes to prevent the now extremely bright sun from blinding his vision. Pier raised his eyebrows at the young guard because he was pointing at the greenhouse up ahead of them.

"I'm talking about the greenhouse," he said, and the guard seemed shocked at what his young master said.

"A-Ah, the greenhouse? Yes, young master, you can visit the greenhouse," the guard said while looking bewildered.

"What's wrong?" Pier asked the guard who keeps stealing glances at him. He was starting to walk towards the greenhouse, and the young guard kept on looking at him.

"Oh... Uhm, I was just wondering, young master, how you can see the greenhouse? It's around too far away from here..." Pier's eyes widened at the young guard and looked back at the greenhouse. Surely the guard was bluffing, right? He can see the greenhouse from up here and even the plants that are inside it.

"Maybe you just have bad eyesight." Pier chuckled at the young guard and started walking again. Meanwhile, the young guard was questioning his eyesight.