Chapter 122
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Caesar could vaguely feel something rough pressing against his back, coupled with the bright sun rays gleaming on his face, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and stood up, albeit shakily.
Before Caesar could even open his eyes, he could smell the abnormal freshness within the air. The softness he had expected to feel from the bed was absent, and instead, he could feel the hard ground.
Caesar massaged his forehead and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a dense forest with vigorous trees all around him… he tilted his head and scratched his long and unkempt hair that draped over his shoulders.
"Am I dreaming?" he mumbled to himself in a bewildered manner. He had specifically remembered walking back into the mansion and entering his and Ahri's room, even the clothes that he had remembered removing were back on his body.
Suddenly, he could hear loud snoring from behind him, he jolted his body around and could see an unconscious Joe, lying in the tree. He had a twig in his mouth and was entangled within a few branches and thorns.
Caesar stood there in shock for a few minutes, and suddenly, he could hear yet another snoring sound, causing him to turn to his right, and there lied an unconscious Magni, half of his body was embedded deep into the ground, leaving only his head and a long beard on the surface.
He scanned his surroundings and could see quite a few empty flasks, horns, and cups, littered across the ground, hell, even a few torn pieces of cloth were on the ground. Caesar couldn't help but crease his brows, he didn't remember one bit of what had happened last night.
If everything went the way he remembered it, then he would be on his comfortable bed with a beautiful Ahri lying next to him, however, instead, he had two gremlins snoring into his ear and the only company he currently had was the hard ground and luscious forest.
Caesar shook his head and slicked his hair back, revealing his lustrous red eyes, he walked towards Magni and crouched beside him whilst softly poking his forehead.
"Ah, huh, Caesar…?" Magni squinted his eyes and turned his head around, and once the abundant trees and grass entered into his sight, his face became extremely confused, similar to how Caesar awoke.
"W-where are we… how did we get here?" Magni asked whilst trying to move, however, contrary to his expectations, his body was submerged into the ground.
Caesar grabbed Magni by the beard and helped pull him out of the hole, "to perfectly honest, I'm quite bewildered myself. The last thing I remembered was leaving your gnomish encampment and entering into my room" Caesar said while stroking his clean-shaven chin, he was hoping that Magni or Joe would know what had transpired, alas, it would appear that was not the case.
"Hmm, the last thing I remembered was you seducing my daughter and taking her into my personal tent, I was so excited that I could die" Magni replied with a reminiscent expression plastered on his face.
Slight discomfort and disgust appeared on Caesar's face. if he remembered correctly, Magni's daughter looked like a mere child, thinking to here, Caesar couldn't help but want to throw up in his mouth… "I assure you, no matter how drugged or drunk I am, I will never seduce your daughter," Caesar said confidently and moved towards Joe.
He crouched down and leaped into the tall tree whilst cutting the branches with the sides of his palm, resulting in Joe falling down and face planting into the ground.
"What the F*ck" Joe screamed out in pain while holding his nose, he scanned left and right only to be left in a baffled and confused state.
"How the hell are we in a forest?" he asked with a tilted head, nearly forgetting the pain from falling down.
Caesar rested his forehead in the palm of his hands, "I was hoping you would be able to tell us…" he replied.
"Heh, the last thing I remember was beating Caesar in an arm wrestle and then getting beaten into a pulp right after," Joe said with a silly smile.
"I can see the latter part being somewhat true, however, the beginning is a little unbelievable" Caesar dismissed and leaped atop the tall tree, they weren't very far from the stronghold as the outer gates were visible from their location.
"At the very least, we aren't very far…" Caesar muttered whilst atop the tree while both Magni and Joe were still attempting in recollecting their memories on the ground.
Caesar jumped to the ground and broke both Magni and Joe out of their thoughts, "let's head back… we can just ask the gnomes what happened" Caesar spoke after a moment of consideration, to which Joe and Magni nodded in agreement.
Seeing them readily nod their heads, Caesar crouched down and put both of them on his back, Joe sat on his shoulders while Magni sat on Joe's. Caesar wasn't willing to wait for both of them to walk there on their own. He didn't even want to imagine how long it would take to reach the fox-kin stronghold considering Joe took five-minute breaks after walking for three minutes.
Thus, he devised this plan, although Joe was considerably heavy for his height, It wasn't something that Caesar couldn't handle, and soon, Caesar clenched his teeth and ran forward… his speed was pitiful in comparison to when he is by himself, however, he ran at a much quicker pace than both Magni and Joe could accomplish on their own.
They passed by the luscious forest without much difficulty and the fox-kin stronghold was only a few minutes away, however, this did not lighten Caesar's mood in the slightest as his nose was currently being assaulted by the abominable smell of both Joe and Magni… he could feel the two of them fidgeting in embarrassment as they surely knew of their own stench.
Caesar scrunched up his nose and increased his speed even further. Caesar hated filthy things, especially when they were near him, alas, he couldn't just drop them, thus, he sucked it up and continued moving further, until finally, the outer gates were only a few meters in front of them.
Without hesitation, Caesar flung both Magni and Joe off of his shoulders and tore off his blazer, directly freezing it with his ice magic and hurling it to the ground. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air and couldn't help but feel relieved. It took every ounce of his willpower to not discard those two foul-smelling fools.
Whilst Caesar was breathing, a few fox-kin men approached him with a strange expression on their faces, "s-sir strategist, you are back… late." one of them said awkwardly causing Caesar to raise an eyebrow.
"When did we leave?" he asked.
"You don't remember?" a middle-aged guard spoke up from the back, he had an unkempt goatee and weathered facial features.
Caesar glanced at the middle-aged man and urged him to continue with a nod, "ah yes, it would appear the alcohol we drank was not entirely safe, It also seems to produce hallucinations" Caesar replied while stroking his chin.
Seeing that Caesar truly didn't remember anything, the middle-aged guard took a step forward and bowed, "sir strategist, last night, you had informed us that you were going to take a stroll with…" his words trailed off as he glanced at both Magni and Joe.
"We were opposed to you going, alas, you would not relent and decided to break one of the gates…" his words continued while he gestured to the outer gates, and as it was as he said, the left side of the gate had a relatively large hole, seemingly to allow passage for a 6 foot 5 or so tall man.
Caesar studied the hole for a moment and looked back at Magni and Joe, "my goodness, you two decided to put a hole in the wall? Joe, I want you to fix the gates immediately as a token of our apologies" Caesar said sternly and looked at the middle-aged guard with an apologetic smile.
"I truly apologize for the actions of my company, It was not our intention to be the cause of such mayhem," Caesar said, completely ignoring the weird look he was given from everyone present.
"C-caesar, I think you were the one wh-" before Joe's words could continue, he was interrupted by Caesar's cold glare.
"Do you really think that I, the respectable and graceful strategist, would be so barbaric as to break a hole in the gates? Simply preposterous, please don't make any more of a fool out of yourself, Joe" Caesar replied eloquently.
"Am I wrong?" his words continued as his attention shifted to the guards, his icy stare made them shiver with fright and shake their heads, "n-no sir, i-it was the dwarf" they replied in unison.
Caesar clapped his hands and smiled widely, "well, it is decided then, shall we continue on our way, Magni? It would appear that Joe has some work to do" Caesar spoke whilst walking through the hole in the gate, that happens to be an incredibly perfect size as if it was made personally for Caesar.
Magni smiled wryly and closely followed behind him, leaving a dumbfounded Joe who was currently trying to relocate any memories of breaking a hole in the gates, alas, he soon gave up and started repairing the gates while acquiring pitiful looks from the many guards present.
Caesar, of course, didn't think much of it and continued on his way, his destination was the gnomish encampment, although it didn't appear that they did anything too drastic, he still wanted to know exactly what happened.
"A-are you sure it's okay leaving him back there?" Magni asked while struggling to keep up with Caesar's fast pace.
"It's fine, he should be able to repair that wall faster than the both of us possibly could, although it wasn't him who broke it, there is a method to my madness, I'll award him with something in return…" Caesar replied with a smirk.
Magni nodded his head in understanding, "hehe, what do you think really transpired?" He asked, abruptly changing the topic and causing Caesar to halt his footsteps.
Caesar turned around and faced Magni, "I believe that after I won the drinking competition, we all went for a stroll," he explained curtly.
His words made Magni tilt his head in confusion, "what drinking competition?"
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Caesar could vaguely feel something rough pressing against his back, coupled with the bright sun rays gleaming on his face, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and stood up, albeit shakily.
Before Caesar could even open his eyes, he could smell the abnormal freshness within the air. The softness he had expected to feel from the bed was absent, and instead, he could feel the hard ground.
Caesar massaged his forehead and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a dense forest with vigorous trees all around him… he tilted his head and scratched his long and unkempt hair that draped over his shoulders.
"Am I dreaming?" he mumbled to himself in a bewildered manner. He had specifically remembered walking back into the mansion and entering his and Ahri's room, even the clothes that he had remembered removing were back on his body.
Suddenly, he could hear loud snoring from behind him, he jolted his body around and could see an unconscious Joe, lying in the tree. He had a twig in his mouth and was entangled within a few branches and thorns.
Caesar stood there in shock for a few minutes, and suddenly, he could hear yet another snoring sound, causing him to turn to his right, and there lied an unconscious Magni, half of his body was embedded deep into the ground, leaving only his head and a long beard on the surface.
He scanned his surroundings and could see quite a few empty flasks, horns, and cups, littered across the ground, hell, even a few torn pieces of cloth were on the ground. Caesar couldn't help but crease his brows, he didn't remember one bit of what had happened last night.
If everything went the way he remembered it, then he would be on his comfortable bed with a beautiful Ahri lying next to him, however, instead, he had two gremlins snoring into his ear and the only company he currently had was the hard ground and luscious forest.
Caesar shook his head and slicked his hair back, revealing his lustrous red eyes, he walked towards Magni and crouched beside him whilst softly poking his forehead.
"Ah, huh, Caesar…?" Magni squinted his eyes and turned his head around, and once the abundant trees and grass entered into his sight, his face became extremely confused, similar to how Caesar awoke.
"W-where are we… how did we get here?" Magni asked whilst trying to move, however, contrary to his expectations, his body was submerged into the ground.
Caesar grabbed Magni by the beard and helped pull him out of the hole, "to perfectly honest, I'm quite bewildered myself. The last thing I remembered was leaving your gnomish encampment and entering into my room" Caesar said while stroking his clean-shaven chin, he was hoping that Magni or Joe would know what had transpired, alas, it would appear that was not the case.
"Hmm, the last thing I remembered was you seducing my daughter and taking her into my personal tent, I was so excited that I could die" Magni replied with a reminiscent expression plastered on his face.
Slight discomfort and disgust appeared on Caesar's face. if he remembered correctly, Magni's daughter looked like a mere child, thinking to here, Caesar couldn't help but want to throw up in his mouth… "I assure you, no matter how drugged or drunk I am, I will never seduce your daughter," Caesar said confidently and moved towards Joe.
He crouched down and leaped into the tall tree whilst cutting the branches with the sides of his palm, resulting in Joe falling down and face planting into the ground.
"What the F*ck" Joe screamed out in pain while holding his nose, he scanned left and right only to be left in a baffled and confused state.
"How the hell are we in a forest?" he asked with a tilted head, nearly forgetting the pain from falling down.
Caesar rested his forehead in the palm of his hands, "I was hoping you would be able to tell us…" he replied.
"Heh, the last thing I remember was beating Caesar in an arm wrestle and then getting beaten into a pulp right after," Joe said with a silly smile.
"I can see the latter part being somewhat true, however, the beginning is a little unbelievable" Caesar dismissed and leaped atop the tall tree, they weren't very far from the stronghold as the outer gates were visible from their location.
"At the very least, we aren't very far…" Caesar muttered whilst atop the tree while both Magni and Joe were still attempting in recollecting their memories on the ground.
Caesar jumped to the ground and broke both Magni and Joe out of their thoughts, "let's head back… we can just ask the gnomes what happened" Caesar spoke after a moment of consideration, to which Joe and Magni nodded in agreement.
Seeing them readily nod their heads, Caesar crouched down and put both of them on his back, Joe sat on his shoulders while Magni sat on Joe's. Caesar wasn't willing to wait for both of them to walk there on their own. He didn't even want to imagine how long it would take to reach the fox-kin stronghold considering Joe took five-minute breaks after walking for three minutes.
Thus, he devised this plan, although Joe was considerably heavy for his height, It wasn't something that Caesar couldn't handle, and soon, Caesar clenched his teeth and ran forward… his speed was pitiful in comparison to when he is by himself, however, he ran at a much quicker pace than both Magni and Joe could accomplish on their own.
They passed by the luscious forest without much difficulty and the fox-kin stronghold was only a few minutes away, however, this did not lighten Caesar's mood in the slightest as his nose was currently being assaulted by the abominable smell of both Joe and Magni… he could feel the two of them fidgeting in embarrassment as they surely knew of their own stench.
Caesar scrunched up his nose and increased his speed even further. Caesar hated filthy things, especially when they were near him, alas, he couldn't just drop them, thus, he sucked it up and continued moving further, until finally, the outer gates were only a few meters in front of them.
Without hesitation, Caesar flung both Magni and Joe off of his shoulders and tore off his blazer, directly freezing it with his ice magic and hurling it to the ground. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air and couldn't help but feel relieved. It took every ounce of his willpower to not discard those two foul-smelling fools.
Whilst Caesar was breathing, a few fox-kin men approached him with a strange expression on their faces, "s-sir strategist, you are back… late." one of them said awkwardly causing Caesar to raise an eyebrow.
"When did we leave?" he asked.
"You don't remember?" a middle-aged guard spoke up from the back, he had an unkempt goatee and weathered facial features.
Caesar glanced at the middle-aged man and urged him to continue with a nod, "ah yes, it would appear the alcohol we drank was not entirely safe, It also seems to produce hallucinations" Caesar replied while stroking his chin.
Seeing that Caesar truly didn't remember anything, the middle-aged guard took a step forward and bowed, "sir strategist, last night, you had informed us that you were going to take a stroll with…" his words trailed off as he glanced at both Magni and Joe.
"We were opposed to you going, alas, you would not relent and decided to break one of the gates…" his words continued while he gestured to the outer gates, and as it was as he said, the left side of the gate had a relatively large hole, seemingly to allow passage for a 6 foot 5 or so tall man.
Caesar studied the hole for a moment and looked back at Magni and Joe, "my goodness, you two decided to put a hole in the wall? Joe, I want you to fix the gates immediately as a token of our apologies" Caesar said sternly and looked at the middle-aged guard with an apologetic smile.
"I truly apologize for the actions of my company, It was not our intention to be the cause of such mayhem," Caesar said, completely ignoring the weird look he was given from everyone present.
"C-caesar, I think you were the one wh-" before Joe's words could continue, he was interrupted by Caesar's cold glare.
"Do you really think that I, the respectable and graceful strategist, would be so barbaric as to break a hole in the gates? Simply preposterous, please don't make any more of a fool out of yourself, Joe" Caesar replied eloquently.
"Am I wrong?" his words continued as his attention shifted to the guards, his icy stare made them shiver with fright and shake their heads, "n-no sir, i-it was the dwarf" they replied in unison.
Caesar clapped his hands and smiled widely, "well, it is decided then, shall we continue on our way, Magni? It would appear that Joe has some work to do" Caesar spoke whilst walking through the hole in the gate, that happens to be an incredibly perfect size as if it was made personally for Caesar.
Magni smiled wryly and closely followed behind him, leaving a dumbfounded Joe who was currently trying to relocate any memories of breaking a hole in the gates, alas, he soon gave up and started repairing the gates while acquiring pitiful looks from the many guards present.
Caesar, of course, didn't think much of it and continued on his way, his destination was the gnomish encampment, although it didn't appear that they did anything too drastic, he still wanted to know exactly what happened.
"A-are you sure it's okay leaving him back there?" Magni asked while struggling to keep up with Caesar's fast pace.
"It's fine, he should be able to repair that wall faster than the both of us possibly could, although it wasn't him who broke it, there is a method to my madness, I'll award him with something in return…" Caesar replied with a smirk.
Magni nodded his head in understanding, "hehe, what do you think really transpired?" He asked, abruptly changing the topic and causing Caesar to halt his footsteps.
Caesar turned around and faced Magni, "I believe that after I won the drinking competition, we all went for a stroll," he explained curtly.
His words made Magni tilt his head in confusion, "what drinking competition?"
Caesar could vaguely feel something rough pressing against his back, coupled with the bright sun rays gleaming on his face, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and stood up, albeit shakily.Before Caesar could even open his eyes, he could smell the abnormal freshness within the air. The softness he had expected to feel from the bed was absent, and instead, he could feel the hard ground.Caesar massaged his forehead and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a dense forest with vigorous trees all around him he tilted his head and scratched his long and unkempt hair that draped over his shoulders."Am I dreaming?" he mumbled to himself in a bewildered manner. He had specifically remembered walking back into the mansion and entering his and Ahri's room, even the clothes that he had remembered removing were back on his body.Suddenly, he could hear loud snoring from behind him, he jolted his body around and could see an unconscious Joe, lying in the tree. He had a twig in his mouth and was entangled within a few branches and thorns.Caesar stood there in shock for a few minutes, and suddenly, he could hear yet another snoring sound, causing him to turn to his right, and there lied an unconscious Magni, half of his body was embedded deep into the ground, leaving only his head and a long beard on the surface.He scanned his surroundings and could see quite a few empty flasks, horns, and cups, littered across the ground, hell, even a few torn pieces of cloth were on the ground. Caesar couldn't help but crease his brows, he didn't remember one bit of what had happened last night.If everything went the way he remembered it, then he would be on his comfortable bed with a beautiful Ahri lying next to him, however, instead, he had two gremlins snoring into his ear and the only company he currently had was the hard ground and luscious forest.Caesar shook his head and slicked his hair back, revealing his lustrous red eyes, he walked towards Magni and crouched beside him whilst softly poking his forehead."Ah, huh, Caesar?" Magni squinted his eyes and turned his head around, and once the abundant trees and grass entered into his sight, his face became extremely confused, similar to how Caesar awoke."W-where are we how did we get here?" Magni asked whilst trying to move, however, contrary to his expectations, his body was submerged into the ground.Caesar grabbed Magni by the beard and helped pull him out of the hole, "to perfectly honest, I'm quite bewildered myself. The last thing I remembered was leaving your gnomish encampment and entering into my room" Caesar said while stroking his clean-shaven chin, he was hoping that Magni or Joe would know what had transpired, alas, it would appear that was not the case."Hmm, the last thing I remembered was you seducing my daughter and taking her into my personal tent, I was so excited that I could die" Magni replied with a reminiscent expression plastered on his face.Slight discomfort and disgust appeared on Caesar's face. if he remembered correctly, Magni's daughter looked like a mere child, thinking to here, Caesar couldn't help but want to throw up in his mouth "I assure you, no matter how drugged or drunk I am, I will never seduce your daughter," Caesar said confidently and moved towards Joe.He crouched down and leaped into the tall tree whilst cutting the branches with the sides of his palm, resulting in Joe falling down and face planting into the ground."What the F*ck" Joe screamed out in pain while holding his nose, he scanned left and right only to be left in a baffled and confused state."How the hell are we in a forest?" he asked with a tilted head, nearly forgetting the pain from falling down.Caesar rested his forehead in the palm of his hands, "I was hoping you would be able to tell us" he replied."Heh, the last thing I remember was beating Caesar in an arm wrestle and then getting beaten into a pulp right after," Joe said with a silly smile."I can see the latter part being somewhat true, however, the beginning is a little unbelievable" Caesar dismissed and leaped atop the tall tree, they weren't very far from the stronghold as the outer gates were visible from their location."At the very least, we aren't very far" Caesar muttered whilst atop the tree while both Magni and Joe were still attempting in recollecting their memories on the ground.Caesar jumped to the ground and broke both Magni and Joe out of their thoughts, "let's head back we can just ask the gnomes what happened" Caesar spoke after a moment of consideration, to which Joe and Magni nodded in agreement.Seeing them readily nod their heads, Caesar crouched down and put both of them on his back, Joe sat on his shoulders while Magni sat on Joe's. Caesar wasn't willing to wait for both of them to walk there on their own. He didn't even want to imagine how long it would take to reach the fox-kin stronghold considering Joe took five-minute breaks after walking for three minutes.Thus, he devised this plan, although Joe was considerably heavy for his height, It wasn't something that Caesar couldn't handle, and soon, Caesar clenched his teeth and ran forward his speed was pitiful in comparison to when he is by himself, however, he ran at a much quicker pace than both Magni and Joe could accomplish on their own.They passed by the luscious forest without much difficulty and the fox-kin stronghold was only a few minutes away, however, this did not lighten Caesar's mood in the slightest as his nose was currently being assaulted by the abominable smell of both Joe and Magni he could feel the two of them fidgeting in embarrassment as they surely knew of their own stench.Caesar scrunched up his nose and increased his speed even further. Caesar hated filthy things, especially when they were near him, alas, he couldn't just drop them, thus, he sucked it up and continued moving further, until finally, the outer gates were only a few meters in front of them.Without hesitation, Caesar flung both Magni and Joe off of his shoulders and tore off his blazer, directly freezing it with his ice magic and hurling it to the ground. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air and couldn't help but feel relieved. It took every ounce of his willpower to not discard those two foul-smelling fools.Whilst Caesar was breathing, a few fox-kin men approached him with a strange expression on their faces, "s-sir strategist, you are back late." one of them said awkwardly causing Caesar to raise an eyebrow."When did we leave?" he asked."You don't remember?" a middle-aged guard spoke up from the back, he had an unkempt goatee and weathered facial features.Caesar glanced at the middle-aged man and urged him to continue with a nod, "ah yes, it would appear the alcohol we drank was not entirely safe, It also seems to produce hallucinations" Caesar replied while stroking his chin.Seeing that Caesar truly didn't remember anything, the middle-aged guard took a step forward and bowed, "sir strategist, last night, you had informed us that you were going to take a stroll with" his words trailed off as he glanced at both Magni and Joe."We were opposed to you going, alas, you would not relent and decided to break one of the gates" his words continued while he gestured to the outer gates, and as it was as he said, the left side of the gate had a relatively large hole, seemingly to allow passage for a 6 foot 5 or so tall man.Caesar studied the hole for a moment and looked back at Magni and Joe, "my goodness, you two decided to put a hole in the wall? Joe, I want you to fix the gates immediately as a token of our apologies" Caesar said sternly and looked at the middle-aged guard with an apologetic smile."I truly apologize for the actions of my company, It was not our intention to be the cause of such mayhem," Caesar said, completely ignoring the weird look he was given from everyone present."C-caesar, I think you were the one wh-" before Joe's words could continue, he was interrupted by Caesar's cold glare."Do you really think that I, the respectable and graceful strategist, would be so barbaric as to break a hole in the gates? Simply preposterous, please don't make any more of a fool out of yourself, Joe" Caesar replied eloquently."Am I wrong?" his words continued as his attention shifted to the guards, his icy stare made them shiver with fright and shake their heads, "n-no sir, i-it was the dwarf" they replied in unison.Caesar clapped his hands and smiled widely, "well, it is decided then, shall we continue on our way, Magni? It would appear that Joe has some work to do" Caesar spoke whilst walking through the hole in the gate, that happens to be an incredibly perfect size as if it was made personally for Caesar.Magni smiled wryly and closely followed behind him, leaving a dumbfounded Joe who was currently trying to relocate any memories of breaking a hole in the gates, alas, he soon gave up and started repairing the gates while acquiring pitiful looks from the many guards present.Caesar, of course, didn't think much of it and continued on his way, his destination was the gnomish encampment, although it didn't appear that they did anything too drastic, he still wanted to know exactly what happened."A-are you sure it's okay leaving him back there?" Magni asked while struggling to keep up with Caesar's fast pace."It's fine, he should be able to repair that wall faster than the both of us possibly could, although it wasn't him who broke it, there is a method to my madness, I'll award him with something in return" Caesar replied with a smirk.Magni nodded his head in understanding, "hehe, what do you think really transpired?" He asked, abruptly changing the topic and causing Caesar to halt his footsteps.Caesar turned around and faced Magni, "I believe that after I won the drinking competition, we all went for a stroll," he explained curtly.His words made Magni tilt his head in confusion, "what drinking competition?"
