Chapter 818: Unwarranted Hate
SPLLLASSSH
The second they were out of the bunker and above the sea, the water suddenly splashed heavily, raining down onto both Ryuk and Iris, and they both turned forward to see a figure swimming with intense speed through the water.
"Finally. I get to swim in the sea once more." Within his head, Ryuk could hear the gleeful words of Zafree, leaving him speechless.
[It had been locked into that prison and a slumber for devil knows how long.]
The system notification panel blinked before leading to a silent hmm from Ryuk, who replied:
'So, it's like a fish returning to the water situation, huh?'
[Exactly.]
'Huh?'
All of a sudden, he felt a drag on his hands, and he noticed Iris, who tried to follow suit with Zafree, but he pulled her back up before she could come in contact with the water.
'Don't.' He said, and she turned to him with misty eyes.
'Whyyyy?'
'You'll get wet…and a cold.' He replied, to which she pouted, disappointed.
'Besides, don't you want to fill up that grumpy stomach of yours. I can hear its loud roars, you know,' He said, watching as her face turned red.
The truth was, Ryuk had only decided to come out because Iris was starving.
He could hear her grumbling stomach, and unfortunately, he had forgotten to consider getting some food when he bought the objects he felt they needed to live in the bunker.
It just never occurred to him at all.
"Hey Zaffree?" Ryuk called out, and immediately he felt a tsunami of water rushing towards him with speed, but just before it could rain down on him, Ryuk glided from where he was, appearing to the side and dodging the wave.
Turning behind him, he saw a familiar head poke out from the sea.
"I'm going to get some food outside? Wanna come?" He asked, Zaffree, who turned its head to the faraway island, staring at it for about three seconds, before.
SCOFF!
A scoff rang in Ryuk's head as Zaffree dove back into the water and resumed its swimming.
It clearly meant no.
"Just don't swim too far from the bunker, ok!?"
Ryuk screamed after it, but his words were drowned by the sound of a heavily splashing wave.
'She's quite a headache, isn't she?' Iris' words echoed in his head as they both looked at the disappearing wave, and Ryuk only sighed helplessly before he flew forward in the direction of the city.
'That's true. But the reason for that is at least understandable,' He said, but then paused, turning to look at Iris.
'You called her a …she?' He noticed and watched as Iris nodded with certainty.
"Yes. She's a female," She replied to him, a sentence that surprised Ryuk by more than a bit.
'That's quite Interesting,'
_________
"Tsk, tsk,"
"You know, it's not every day one sees an Archguard coming to spend time in such a low-level restaurant."
The words echoed loudly, leading to Ryuk pausing, his sight from the window he was currently looking at.
He was currently sitting on a round table meant for two.
Iris sat down opposite him, with about seven empty plates in front of her, and five more filled to the brim, yet to be finished.
The loud words brought him out of his silent pondering, and he turned to the side to find someone standing by their table, looking at Ryuk with a clearly taunting grin.
The one before him was a man in his late twenties, with lackluster, short golden hair that danced around with the breeze.
He seemed no different from the ordinary Fallen, but if there was one thing impossible to ignore about him, it would be his muscles, which bulged tight against the bicep-length round neck sleeve he was wearing.
"Is there a way I can help you?" Ryuk replied calmly, watching the taunting expression fade to a grin.
"Yes, there is Archguard." He replied, and Ryuk noticed his eyes faintly cross over the halo he currently had revealed behind him.
A brief emotion of jealousy and anger faintly crossed through, passing faster than lightning, but it didn't escape Ryuk's notice.
"Get out…and go to your high-grade restaurant, more fitting for 'guardians' like you?" He replied loudly.
His loud voice brought attention from the other Fallens sitting in the bar, and naturally, Ryuk found himself in the limelight.
A sensation that he didn't particularly like, but he felt even more irritated when he turned to look at Iris.
The little girl who had been happily gorging on plate after plate had now stopped eating, obviously disturbed.
"Hey, you deaf? I said, Get…"
The muscular guy pressed on, and just when Ryuk made up his mind to shut him up for good,
GRAAAAB
The sound of a heavy grab could be heard as a figure mysteriously appeared behind the man, holding his shoulder tight and forcing his words to a stop.
"And who the Fuck," The guy said, a vein popping on his head as he turned his neck, but froze in shock when he saw who held him from behind.
It was a scary-looking fallen man, seemingly in his middle-aged years, who had the left side of his face marred by blade scars, and what was worse, he was twice the size of the man.
"I am the Owner of the Restaurant, and my apologies for the breach of space," The man said, his face as hard as steel, even though he was apologizing.
"I felt it needed to inform you that everyone, including Archguards, is allowed to sit in the restaurant, just as much as any other Fallen is."
"Asking one out goes against our protocol, and if you continue, I'm afraid the restaurant will also have to forcefully interject," He said, his threat clear even when wrapped in the flowery words.
Anger was all Grazil felt, but in the end, he bit down on his lips.
As much as he was annoyed at the presence of the young man behind him, he was an Archguard, meaning he was more likely to be strong than weak, although Grazil would argue his life that he was better, and could win in a contest of strength.
But with this man who represents the will of the restaurant, he would be fighting not just one but two strong opponents, and what's more, he would legally be in the wrong.
That wasn't worth it, so in the end, he could only scoff loudly, snicker at Ryuk for being lucky before storming out of the place.