Chapter 263 - Incoming Danger
"Alright kiddos, he will wake up in a couple of hours and won't remember what happened, so, don't worry too much, see you" Said Cerberus.
"Wait!" Shouted the little girl.
"What is it?" Asked Cerberus.
"You are the pet of the kind mister, right!?" Asked the little girl.
"I am not a pet, but yes, I come with him" Said Cerberus.
"Can- can you take us with him?" Asked another kid.
"Why?" Asked Cerberus.
"We-we can do a lot of stuff!"
"We aren't picky of food either, is fine even if we don't eat one or two days!"
"S-so please…" Said the little girl.
Cerberus looked at the desperate and teary look on the kids and sighed.
"Surely, this a cruel world" Though Cerberus.
"Usually, I wouldn't bother with this, but…" However, to Cerberus's mind, the image of Alfonso came. He smiled bitterly.
"I guess you have changed my view of the world, is that good or bad? Or maybe neither…"
After some seconds, Cerberus turned around
"Okay, come with me, that soft-hearted idiot will probably scold me if I leave you three behind anyway" Said Cerberus.
The three kids smiled and followed Cerberus.
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"I see" Said Alfonso while looking at the three kids.
The kids were actually pretty nervous, especially the little girl.
"For now, how about we go and eat something? You must be hungry" Said Alfonso.
The three kids could only nod and followed Alfonso to a nearby restaurant.
"Give me something that will not hurt their stomach, a soup would be good" Said Alfonso to the waitress.
"We don't serve that kind of dish here sir" Said the waitress.
Alfonso took out one gold coin and passed to the waitress.
"I-I will go talk to the chef!" Said the waitress while grabbing the gold coin.
The three kids didn't say anything and stayed in silence, Alfonso also didn't say anything and just smiled. Soon enough, three soups came, sure enough, the three kids were almost drooling while seeing the soup.
"Come on, eat" Said Alfonso.
"We-we can?" Asked of the twins.
"Sure" Said Alfonso.
After hearing the reply, the three kids devoured the soup, even Alfonso was surprised how fast these three kids finish, what's more, the dish wasn't that small, even Alfonso couldn't finish one on his own.
""Thank- thank you very much!"" Said the three kids.
"Don't worry" Said Alfonso.
"However, there won't be more free meals, from today onwards, you will work for me, of course, you will earn your own money and will give you the basic right of my citizens, however, if you don't do a good job, I will no longer provide the money, so, you won't be able to eat, understood?" Said Alfonso.
""Yes"" Replied the three kids.
Alfonso felt sorry for them yes, however, he also knew that if he provided everything for the kids, he would do more harm than good, that's why he wanted them to learn how important work was.
"Work dignifies people" Said Alfonso to them.
"Well, the heavy stuff is already being said, so, for now on, let's get you kids some clothes and a bath" Said Alfonso.
The three kids were surprised for what Alfonso said, however, after hearing that he was going to buy clothes for them, they smiled happily.
"Thank you, sir!" Said one of the twins.
"Call my Alfonso" Said Alfonso.
The three of them exited the restaurant, however, to Alfonso's surprise, when they exiting the restaurant, they encounter some people.
"Artemis, Demeter, how come you are here?" Said Alfonso.
"We could say right back at you, weren't you going to rest?" Said Artemis.
"I was, but these three drag me out" Said Alfonso.
The three pets looked to the other side.
"By the way Alfonso, who are these three kids" Said Demeter while looking at the kids.
"Is a long story, I will tell you on the way towards the tailor, however, can you help me? These roads are too grumpy" Said Alfonso.
"Sure" Said Demeter while grabbing Alfonso's hand.
The group walked towards the tailor while Alfonso recount the events that happened a few hours ago.
"Serve him right" Said Artemis.
"You were still too soft-hearted, Cerberus, you should just kill him, trash like that doesn't deserve to live" Said Demeter.
"I wanted to, however, Alfonso stopped me" Said Cerberus.
"We can't kill people just because they deserve it to, what's more, we aren't in Wasteland Valley, we are in Arcardia, they have authorities that take actions in these situations" Said Alfonso.
"Sometimes, your moral attitude irritates me" Said Demeter.
"Nothing I can do about it" Smiled Alfonso.
"Anyway, what are you planning with these kids?" Asked Artemis.
"I want them to work for us, I don't plan to give them anything for free, however" Alfonso turned around and saw the three kids enjoying their new clothes.
"I am sure they won't disappoint me" Said Alfonso.
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After everything was set and done, Alfonso went to his room to train like always, however, he couldn't concentrate because the incoming meeting of lords was like a mosquito crying in his ear.
"What is this feeling…?" Though Alfonso.
"…" Alfonso closed his eyes an enter the dessert.
Since his mastery with the concept of stagnation was only one step away from the master level, he become able to enter the dessert at will. It was a good place to practice since the particles of time were almost not existent in Leitol, plus, one hour of the outside world was equal to thirty hours of this world, in total, Alfonso didn't know how many years he had spend in this dessert trying to decipher the mysteries of the power of time and the soul power in general, since he wasn't born with soul power if was too difficult for him to felt the natural soul power of the environment like everyone else could, and since the time particles were too little to begin with, he couldn't practice in the outside world at all.
"Alfonso, you came again" A voice interrupted Alfonso's thoughts.
"Prometheus" Said Alfonso with a smile.
Since he came here, the one who helped him the most was Prometheus, although he didn't have any hopes in the kid to begin with, he still asked, the result was…
"Me? Teach you? haha, fuck you!"
He still remembered that stupid laugh, every time he remembered, his blood boiled.
"God, I hate that kid!"
"Alfonso, it seems that you didn't come here to train" Said Prometheus.
"Indeed, I came here for advice" Said Alfonso.
"I am listening" Said Prometheus.
"I have this weird feeling that something is not right, is not intuition, nor guts, is something else… but I can't pinpoint what is it" Said Alfonso.
"…" Prometheus looked at Alfonso for some time.
"You are already close to the second concept of time; however, this opportunity will come with an incredible danger, what are you feeling is the door to the second concept of time, [Precognition]" Said Prometheus.
"Impossible! The legacy of time was clear that I will earn a new concept of time when I cross another artifact of time, until this day, the only time that I came remotely close to another artifact of time was when I went to the underworld, and, even then, I didn't had this kind of reaction" Said Alfonso.
"This is why I said that this trip is dangerous. In the past, you felt the present of the artifact even though you were pretty far from it, however, this time, you are way too close to one and you don't feel a reaction, there is only one answer to that" Said Prometheus.
"Wha- what is it?"
"That the artifact of time already recognized someone else as it master" Said Prometheus.