"And this seemingly useless information is for??" Caesar couldn't help but ask with furrowed brows.
"Haha, the guy is hilarious to listen too… I think his name is Robby, or Rodney? Ah, no! It's Ronny!" Musashi thought for a few seconds before blurting out the human male's name.
"Ronny, huh? That name sounds strangely familiar" Caesar scanned through his memories with squinted his eyes, but he just couldn't put his finger on where he had heard that name.
"Now that I've gained your attention, shall we move towards his jail cell?" Musashi asked while getting up and taking one last puff of his pipe.
"I suppose, although it seems like a waste of time, I am indeed intrigued by this figure," Caesar responded while stroking his chin.
Musashi placed his pipe on the nearby table and patted his buttocks before walked towards his bedroom door with rushed footsteps.
"Let's not waste any more time. I'm dying to see his reaction once he sees that a man with similar features to a human. Perhaps, his insanity and incoherent mumbling will stop," Musashi spoke excitedly, destroying his image of a wise old man.
Caesar sighed in exasperation and followed after Musashi, 'I hope this Ronny is as entertaining as he says' Caesar thought inwardly while catching up to Musashi, who was practically jogging.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Caesar followed the excited Musashi down the long corridors, and they soon approached a strange cellar located in the very far back of the mansion.
Musashi squatted down next to the cellar and put his hands on the steel slab covering it, he breathed out a deep breath, and a strange violet strand of mana entered into the steel.
Suddenly, the cellar door split in half and opened up, revealing a large set of stairs leading downwards… Musashi turned his head around and smiled back at Caesar.
"Come on. We don't have much time until we start our weekly training session!" Musashi said, and without waiting for Caesar's reply, he started hurriedly walking down the stairs.
Caesar shook his head with a wry smile and followed him down, the air was musty, and the cellar was slightly dark. The amount of oxygen was also much less, resulting in it being harder to breathe.
This uncomfortable atmosphere continued for about 30 seconds until finally, Caesar walked down the entire seemly endless stairs. He could see Musashi standing in front of a jail cell while beckoning him with his hands.
"Sigh, this old man is a weird one" Caesar sighed in exasperation and observed the underground cellar.
Lit torches hung on the side of the wall, perfectly illuminating the four or so jail cells in the room. The air was clearer than it was on the staircase. However, it was still humid and uncomfortable.
As Caesar was inspecting the surrounding area, he soon reached the jail cell.
"Oi, Ronny, wake up… you got a visitor," Musashi called out, interrupting Caesar from his thought and causing him to look inside the cell.
A man with long and unkempt hair greeted his eyes. He had an unshaved beard, filthy rags, and a half-eaten potato in his hands. After hearing Musashi's words, the unkempt man raised his eyes.
The potato in Ronny's hand fell to the ground, and his eyes widened in surprise. He visibly shuddered as he crawled backward as if he wanted to escape a rabid beast's grasp.
"Hmm, that's weird, he's never had this reaction before… do you two perhaps, know each other?" Musashi asked curiously while stroking his beard.
Caesar carefully examined the man in the cell for a few seconds before shaking his head, "I don't recall ever meeting him, and besides, most of the people I know are in Rahvin kingdom… how would they get all the way over here," Caesar spoke with traces of doubt reflected in his eyes.
Ronny visibly calmed down once he heard Caesar's words, he reached out for his potato and continued eating it.
"Haha, I've tried letting him out a few times, but he just stays inside here. At first, he detested it, but now, he doesn't want to ever leave" Musashi said with a chuckle… he wasn't so cruel as to lock up a man for an extended period of time just for trespassing. Alas, he didn't have much choice in his current situation.
Caesar nodded his head in understanding and reached for the jail cell. He broke the lock with his raw physical strength and opened the cell.
The cell opened, and almost immediately, a foul stench assaulted Caesar's nose, Caesar, as if he knew this would happen, expertly moved his slender fingers to the bridge of his nose and squeezed tightly.
He approached Ronny and squatted down next to him. He peered into Ronny's sky-blue eye for a moment before nodding his head and patting him on the shoulder with his free hand.
Caesar stood up and looked back at Musashi, "it doesn't seem like he has any disabilities. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that he is acting this way just so that you would continue giving him food for free" Caesar spoke casually as he exited the jail cell.
Musashi was at a loss for words, but Caesar soon continued.
"As a great man once said, if you want to eat, you shall work. Thus, I recommend we invite him to that weekly training session you were talking about. If anything, he could at least become a foot soldier," Caesar said with a sly smile.
His words caused Ronny to shake and Musashi to nod his head, "indeed, I can't just continue giving food to someone that doesn't work when even our soldiers are going hungry," Musashi replied after some thought.
"Excellent, I will be waiting at the training grounds for your arrival" Caesar responded and quickly made his escape, he didn't want to be near the jail cell any longer than he needed to. The Stench was beginning seep into his clothes.
Musashi glanced between Caesar's retreating figure and Ronny's filthy body before sighing deeply, " I've been played," he said with a scrunched-up nose… it was even worse for him since his sense of smell was superior to most races.
Musashi walked into the jail cell and grabbed Ronny by the waist and hurled him over his shoulder, Ronny attempted to resist; however, his flailing arms and legs posed no threat to Musashi.
"Boy, you need a bath!" Musashi couldn't help but shout while running up the stairs. He wanted to reach a body of water as quickly as possible.
"Whose fault is that for not letting me bathe!" Ronny couldn't help but ask indignantly, possibly the first words he has spoken since he first got captured.
"Hmph, why are you, a human, in the dark continent in the first place. Anyone would have placed you in a jail cell; it's extremely suspicious!" Musashi replied angrily
"Y-you don't understand my pain! I just wanted to escape from that damned Marshall. I traveled so far, in hopes of never seeing his face again. BUT, SOMEHOW HE HAS APPEARED IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN" Ronny roared at the top of his lungs while tears streamed down his face.
"Haha, so you did know him!" Musashi said with realization.
"You're laughing now, but just you wait. I thought he was just a good-looking guy that was absurdly strong for no reason, but I was wrong! His true colors come out when he's training people. he is sadistic, evil, and a man who would make us run laps until we coughed up blood!" Ronny spoke as if he was telling a scary story.
"I can't say you haven't piqued my interest, I will have to give Caesar a shot at training our troops at this weekly session, even though it's normally me who does it," Musashi said while stroking his beard.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Caesar passed by the many pedestrians with quick footsteps and soon reached the extensive training grounds. The concrete was relatively smooth and looked as though it was regularly cleaned.
In the middle of the training grounds, a few thousand or so fox-kin men were huddled together, presumably for the upcoming training session. All of them had excited smiles on their faces as they greeted each other.
Caesar raised his right hand and froze the water molecules in the air to form what looked to be a throne of some sort. Unfortunately, his control over his ice element was unrefined, as he was not capable of creating fine details.
&
nbsp; Caesar didn't mind his goofy-looking chair, or rather, makeshift throne, and sat down in it anyway. He rested his right elbow on the armrest and couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment while looking at the excited fox-kin.
'They have no traces of determination, fear, anxiety, or any other emotions they should feeling before a training session. Perhaps, Musashi goes easy on them?' Caesar thought, inwardly.
If the fox-kin men could hear Caesar's thoughts, they would all roar out in protest; however, in comparison to Caesar's training, their training could only be considered child’s play.
While Caesar was coldly observing the fox-kin conversing, the time slowly ticked by and the sun soon went down, although this would typically represent quietness, in the dark continent, it was the opposite.
The bright moon replaced the sun and illuminated the training grounds with its gorgeous glow, once the moonlight gleamed, the fox-kin's expression grew slightly serious as they lined up and faced westward with practiced ease.
Caesar turned his head and followed the fox-kin men's line of sight, at the very edge of the training grounds, thirteen figures were slowly walking towards them. Their appearance varied considerably between each other. However, one thing was in common; they all held incredibly serious expressions.
These were naturally the thirteen clan heads, each one representing a faction, their chins were held up high as they walked in front of the few thousand fox-kin elites.
Their arrogance was not disliked by the fox-kin elites in the least. The men were looking at the clan heads with respect and adoration even though the clan heads didn't even put them in their eyes.
Caesar clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his head in the direction where he could sense that old man, as well as Renee, heading straight for them.
Their blurred figures soon entered into everyone's sight as they marched with a slow pace, the men didn't have much of an exaggerated reaction, this type of training session occurred every week, so almost all of the soldiers were relatively used to this.
No one paid much heed to Caesar, who was currently seated in his sorry excuse for a chair. They were all focused on both Musashi and Renee.
As they approached, their figures soon became more visible, and a strange person, or perhaps thing, was hurled over Musashi's shoulder, while Renee was pinching her nose.
The fox-kin elites and even the clan heads included couldn't' help but tilt their head in confusion… 'what is that over the clan leaders shoulder?' they all quietly thought to themselves.
Once Musashi arrived at the forefront of the soldiers, the thing, no, the person on his shoulders became clear… it was an unkempt, unshaven, and filthy looking human male. Streams of tears and snot ran down his face making his appearance look even more unsightly.
As if Musashi was throwing a bag of garbage, he grabbed Ronny by his feet and tossed him next to the clan heads. Ronny arced in mid-air and landed just a few feet away from Leo, who then went to help him stand up.
"A-are you oka-" Leo's words stopped in mid-sentence once he got a whiff of the stench that surrounded Ronny's body… he stepped back in line with the other clan heads and subtly put two small pieces of cloth in his nose as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"W-what? It's not my fault your jail cells are so unsanitary!" Ronny roared and slowly got up to his feet, once standing, he anxiously scanned the training grounds as if looking for someone.
He couldn't see Caesar who was hidden behind a large number of troops, so he breathed a sigh of relief and got in line with the other fox-kin elites, his thick skin didn't budge even when everyone looked at him with disgust and steered at least 4 feet away from him, effectively isolating his position.
Musashi placed his hands on the shoulder he was holding Ronny and burned the entire top half of his kimono, fully revealing his well-defined muscles, although he aged, his body still looked healthy.
"Ahem, there has been a large number of recent events that I'm sure has overwhelmed all of you, whether it was the kobolds alliance or the announcement of the upcoming tournament" Musashi cleared his throat and started to give his speech. Not at all paying attention to Ronny, who he just happened to chuck amongst their ranks.
Musashi's words paused for a second as he examined everyone's expression, "the reason for this is because we require change… we have stayed the same for far too long. Our traditions have become old and inefficient. To defeat our great enemies, we need to grow and evolve!" Musashi roared and effectively riled up all of the men present.
"I have been your leader for a long period of time, and I am to blame for the hardships your generation has been put through, my body has aged, and my power dwindles by the minute… Because of this, I have decided to give you youngsters a chance at greatness!"
Musashi's words made the clan heads and the troops alike widen their eyes in surprise.
"In this upcoming tournament, I have staked my position as clan leader and my own granddaughter's marriage for those that win, even if you are a clan head, or maybe even a farmer, you will equally gain the same awards and rights" Musashi's words finished. The fox-kin men had a fire in their eyes.
Although they were briefed by their respective clan heads prior to this, getting informed by the clan leader himself was an entirely different feeling. Most of the men present shifted their attention to Renee with greed reflected in their eyes, causing Renee to shiver in disgust.
Even Caesar, who was still unnoticed, squinted his eyes dangerously. Caesar wasn't a petty man, and would by no means dislike a man praising Renee's beauty. On the contrary, he would appreciate it. However, the minute you looked at her as an object to be obtained, his anger would naturally become hard to control.
Fortunately for them, Caesar's self-control was extraordinary; thus, he just slowly stood up and approached Musashi with steady footsteps. The chair he was briefly sitting in melted into water and soon evaporated.
The sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the training grounds, and everyone looked over curiously just to see Caesar clad in his military outfit with an extremely devious grin plastered on his face.
"Musashi, may I ask for permission in leading the training session for this week, I believe my training methods could pose be more useful, not to mention, mixing up your routine is always healthy" Caesar commented while half-bowing with perfection.
"Haha, you didn't even need to ask, I had already planned in giving you the reigns for this training session… go wild!" Musashi roared with laughter and pulled his pipe from god knows where.
"Thank you very much" Caesar spoke courteously and walked to the front of the troops, although some clan heads didn't want to be ordered by Caesar. Orders from Musashi were absolute at the moment, at least until the old man lost some more influence.
Caesar soon made it to the very front and looked down at all of the fox-kin with his superior height, his long hair and military cloak fluttered in the wind as his lips curled.
Caesar was by no means an impulsive man; he would not let his rage show on his face, nor would he act impulsively. No, he would subtly give the soldiers a glimpse of hell, all the while disciplining them at the same time.
His entire aura underwent a profound change. It became more ferocious and domineering over the previous 'scholarly' atmosphere. his killing intent spread throughout the training grounds and caused every person that was present to shiver lightly.
The only person in the crowd that recognized this aura was Ronny, and his eyes were currently opened wide with dread.
"Well, shall we get started?" Caesar asked loudly, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Caesar put both of his hands behind his back and paced in front of the fox-kin, "I do, in fact, need to test your capabilities before I form a training plan. To do this, I want the fox-kin elites to face off against the clan heads in a friendly bout…" Caesar spoke loudly so that everyone present could hear him.
The fox-kin
elites and clan heads stood still for a few seconds to process his orders, once processed, they still didn't move and couldn't help but tilt their heads in confusion.
Caesar's brow furrowed, and he took a step forward, "did I stutter?" he asked coldly.
The clan head with green hair took a step forward and gazed directly into Caesar's eyes as if he was challenging him.
"They don't have the capabilities of raising their hands against a clan head, you see? How would you feel if you were ordered to raise your hands against your idol?" the man asked smugly, the disdain hidden in his voice was evident to all.
CEO in a Fantasy World 3 Page 10
