Emperor's Reckoning

Reinhard stood in front of the door. He raised his hand aligned to his chin, before knocking on the door with his knuckles. The other two students waited by his sides, tentatively looking at the old wooden door.

Lyon furrowed his brows before standing right behind Reinhard. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Reinhard turned and raised his brows, "We are waiting for them to welcome us?"

"Are you guys stupid?" asked Lyon before slightly pushing Reinhard out of the way. He looked at all three of them as he placed his palm on the old wooden door. Lo and behold, he put the most negligible force possible for a push, and the door creaked open. "It's a bar, not a house."

All three students had black lines over their heads. There was no open sign at the front either, only the name of the bar hanging on the balance. The place also looked deserted compared to Barc. They were forming a few reasons inside their mind but all came to naught. It was a bar and they forgot about it. That was it.

"You guys should have breakfast," said Lyon stepping over the little platform before entering the bar.

The bar was not even near Barc. The place looked deserted both from the outside and inside. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and there was dust almost all over the wall and tables. The roof was on the brink of collapsing and there were only empty bottles inside the shelves.

Lyon's nose twitched before he sneezed, "Holy crap!"

"Are you sure we are in the right one?" asked Reinhard. "It doesn't look like it."

"The last time we have a bartender to talk to," said Rayus as he looked around, "This time we don't even have a cricket to listen to."

Noah looked around and found a door. "Look over there."

"The backroom," muttered Lyon before he approached the door with furrowed brows. A hand suddenly pointed out at the door knob.

"Darling, this one is not covered in dust," said Selena.

"Right," Lyon nodded before he placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it around. He pushed it open and the door didn't creak this time. It was an empty room with a single window and a desk with a chair, much like Refl's room, but there was no one there.

Lyon sighed, "Well, apparently there is no one here in this place— Reinhard, Noah, check the backyard, Rayus and I will search this room."

"Alright!" Reinhard nodded before bursting out the door that led toward the aforementioned backyard. Noah nodded before following right behind Reinhard. They got out to a fresh scent of grass.

Noah's brows furrowed looking at the stacked barrels. However, Reinhard immediately turned on the faucet that it was attached to. There was no creak but there was also nothing coming out.

"It's empty?" Reinhard furrowed before Noah knocked on the barrel. The barrel replied with a loud thump.

Noah nodded, "It's dry and empty alright."

Reinhard took a deep breath before looking at the surrounding, "There is not a single wagon nor a horse that matter."

Meanwhile inside the empty room.

Lyon was sitting behind the desk with his legs up whilst Rayus was tracing the walls and the floors, looking out for clues or hidden passages.

"Darling, I think this Lenu guy is dead," said Selena.

"I think too," Lyon nodded before he casually pulled one of the shelves in the desk out. He pulled it all the way until it falls with a loud thud, "Empty."

He switched his legs and then pulled the other shelves out. "Empty— you find anything Rayus?"

"So far, nothing seems to be out of place," ( Well, everything is out of place in a certain perspective ) thought Rayus.

Noah and Reinhard came inside with dejected faces. The former said, "We found nothing outside."

"Not a single wagon? Not a single barrel?"

"Nope," Reinhard shook his head.

"We have the barrel, just not the content inside it," said Noah.

"All of them?" asked Lyon.

"No?"

"Really all of them?" asked Lyon as he put down his legs.

"N-No..." said Noah with his lips twitched. ( Can you at least do better in masking your intention ).

Lyon sighed, "Just my luck."

"What should we do, teacher?" asked Reinhard.

"Well, you can try and ask around for a bit," said Lyon. "I know it's deserted but judging by how well the passerby dressed, they might know something."

"That's a good idea," said Noah.

"Well don't look at me, I'm not the one who is going to ask around about some guy I don't know about, besides, I'm from, the Mortal World, remember?" said Lyon with one of his brows raised.

"I will ask around with Rayus and Noah, teacher," said Reinhard.

"Good!" Lyon nodded, "I know I can count on you, but I need to impart some wisdom first."

"What do you mean?" asked Noah.

"Since you three bullied a lot, and judging by how the guards treat you, you will find no luck. Besides, giving out your identity is dangerous," said Lyon.

"But we're from the Nirvana School, they can't possibly do something bad to us in the open?" asked Reinhard.

"Hahaha, you better slap your naivety fast, Reinhard," said Lyon. "Your identity has its merits, yes, I won't deny that, however, you can make your own life complicated if you always rely on that flower on your chest."

The three students were stunned by his words but they kept their ears open.

"Listen closely, the value of your status should be not from which institution you're joining, but rather you yourself, your character, your achievements, only then the people will respect or fear your name," said Lyon. "It's easy for the weak to rely on the strong, but you can't become strong if you always rely on others. Besides, if Nirvana School somehow becomes the public enemy, they will after your head too."

"B-But what about what you said about the honor of cultivator?" asked Noah.

"Throw that into the trash can then spit on it," said Lyon. "Your status is your own to build, not some general notion that the people build for you. If it happened to be aligned with the so-called honor of cultivator then so be it, if it's not, then don't force and mold yourself into becoming someone who you are not."

Lyon smirked, "Heh, you three should have realized this already, after all, your former teacher betrayed you, and boy was it costly, am I right?"

The three students had their heads down, contemplating his words. Despite at a fairly young age, they had experienced the bitterness of life.

"I'm sure you wouldn't understand what I'm saying right away, and you virtually can't change who you are just because of some words coming out from a guy like me, however, keep this in mind wherever you are."

The three students nodded before Noah asked, "Then, what should we do?"

"Your school identity might get people uncomfortable, you never know," said Lyon before putting a pouch on the desk. "Go buy something nice to wear and ditched that uniform inside your spatial rings—after you change, don't go back until you get the information that you need. You each will be your own judge of the information that you get."

The three students nodded before Reinhard stepped forward and grabbed the pouch. He looked at his new teacher with a newly formed confidence on his face. "We will not fail you, Teacher Lyon."

Lyon put his legs back on the desk before smirking at his hot-blooded student. ( That's a line a henchman of a villain would say before failing but go on ).

"En!" Reinhard turned around and walked past Rayus and Noah, "Let's go, guys!"

"Heh," Noah smirked before both he and Rayus followed right behind Reinhard.

The door closed before Selena stood right in front of Lyon and commented, "Darling, your regal charisma is showing just now."

"Hehe," Lyon smirked.

Selena smiled, "I almost see the past you reemerging within, and amusing enough, at the time, it was Graham, Kesya, and Jan."

"Jan?" Lyon raised his brows.

"Yes, darling, Jan," said Selena. "He is one of the Six Pillars that we nurtured."

"Six Pillars, eh? Hahaha," Lyon laughed. "I wonder where Jan is and the other two, I'm sure that I will meet them one day." His face shifted to a bit dejected. He put down his legs and stood up. He turned over and looked out the window. ( Speaking of the people that I want to meet, she really didn't leave any clue at all ) thought Lyon.

"Darling, are you okay?" asked Selena.

"Hm? I'm fine," said Lyon as he smiled at Selena. ( For now, I can't neglect what's in front of me and who's with me, but I'm sure that she is safe somewhere, after all, heh, she is also my wife ) thought Lyon.

"I saw a stove—"

Lyon's eyes immediately turned laser-focused. He quickly grabbed her hand and lead her outside, "Alright! Let's go eat! Boy, I'm starving, did I hear your stomach growl? Haha don't worry, I'm hungry too! What do you want to eat? Duck, noodles, vegetables? My treat!"