Chapter 646: Surprise Return
With a trembling hand, Karma put his phone down, and warm tears ran down his cheeks while he was clearly shaken.
This wasn’t the phone call he expected to get today.
At that moment, a click sounded from over the door, and Aoi walked in with a grocery bag in hand.
Once she closed the door, she looked over to the living room and saw Karma crying.
"Father-in-law, why are you crying? D-Don’t tell me, is it Kiernan?"
Aoi asked, her heart immediately dropped to the bottom of her stomach as she feared the worst, and she dropped the grocery bag.
Everything spilled on the floor.
She covered her mouth with tears brimming in her eyes, and if Karma was going to tell her that they found Kiernan’s corpse, she might really break down.
"I-It was Kiernan. H-He called me... He is currently over in Montrael."
Karma said, wiped the tears off the corner of his eyes, and quickly went to his room to pack his things.
"W-What?"
Aoi’s eyes shook, and she ran after her father-in-law, storming him with questions.
"He really called? Where has he been? Why hasn’t he called? And why is he in Montrael? That’s so far from New Rakuya!"
"He didn’t tell me much, but it sounded like he was alright. Let’s just order some plane tickets and head there right away."
Karma said while his hands trembled as he stuffed his bags with his stuff.
She nodded and went to also get her stuff, but while doing that, tears began to uncontrollably fall from her eyes.
She had so many questions about where he had been all this time and how in the world he ended up in Montrael without anyone knowing.
There would have been a paper trace or something about Kiernan, but the government had been keeping an eye on his bank accounts, and it didn’t seem like he had spent any money.
However, Aoi knew that Kiernan wasn’t really using any bank accounts and had his own way of storing his money.
However, there still should have been some traces of him, like a phone camera capturing him or something.
But nothing, as if he had completely vanished for all these six months.
After finishing packing his stuff, Karma pulled out his phone and opened Bella’s number, whom he had few phone calls with after Kiernan’s disappearance.
She was asking everything that he knew of his disappearance.
With a deep breath, he called her number and pressed the phone against his ear.
...
Somewhere in the World Seas.
The mighty battleship of Karl-Michael Abracadabra smashed through the waves, and the crew was hard at work.
In that moment, Bella’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see Karma calling her.
It was the first time that he actually called her, as he didn’t want to bother her.
She answered the call and pressed the slim phone against her ear.
"Karma, do you have anything new about Kiernan?"
She asked.
In that moment, as Karma started speaking, Bella’s eyes slowly kept widening, and her lips broke into a relieved smile.
Her heart blossomed with happiness, and all the fear of the unknown got lifted off her shoulders.
She felt so much lighter now.
"Alright, we will be there."
Bella said, ended the call, and walked to the front of the ship, where Karl-Michael was standing with his navy coat flapping against the wind.
"Kiernan called Karma. He is apparently in Montrael."
Bella said with a smile.
"What? Now? Out of nowhere? How in the world did he end up in Montrael without anyone knowing?
"Montrael is known as the city of a thousand dojos, and it has big population. Are you sure that this Karma fellow didn’t hallucinate that phone call?"
Karl-Michael asked.
"Montrael happens to be a city that is right next to the World Sea. We can get there on a ship. It is a few days away. Let’s get going."
Bella said, and while Karl-Michael shrugged his shoulders and went to tell the helmsman the new destination, she pulled her phone to make a few more calls.
It was time to end the search finally.
...
In the cave, Pankratios used a pestle and crushed various herbs and roots into a fine powder before adding them to the boiling cauldron.
A powerful smell of spicy herbs filled the air.
At that moment, a flash of lightning came from over the long stone table as someone teleported to the cave.
"...Who?"
He walked out of his back room, washing his hands with a wet rag, and in that moment, he saw Kiernan standing before the long stone table.
"Kiernan...?"
Pankratios looked pleasantly surprised and, with a smile, approached him.
"You’ve made many people worried sick, young Kiernan. I had to do some ancient prophecy telling, and I was able to tell that you were still alive.
"However, I was worried that something else might’ve happened to you. So, what happened that caused you to be missing for so long?"
He asked.
"...That’s the thing. It is really hard for me to explain it, and I’d like you to not ask either. I hope I can trust you to do that."
Kiernan said.
"...Very well. It sounds like it is a very important secret to you, and I shall respect that. So, why have you come here?"
Pankratios asked.
"I don’t have my phone with you, so I need you to convince everyone that I am alright, and I need to create an excuse for why I have been gone for these six months.
"I hope you can help me with that."
Kiernan said.
"...I can think of one excuse. That Dark Warlock from the Dark Countries, who was a user of time martial ability, attacked you. Just say that you were trapped in his time prison, but while it was only a minute for you, it was six months for everyone else."
Pankratios said.
"...That could work, but I also like travelling halfway across the world somehow."
Kiernan said.
"...I wonder what happened to you, but just act ignorant in that part, as you seem to already be.
"It is an effective excuse, as Dark Warlocks don’t have real identities, so no one can find out who attacked you. Unless one of them actually happens to have time martial ability."
Pankratios said.
"I’ll use that. Thanks."
Kiernan nodded with a smile and headed back to the teleportation circle.
"And for the record, I am glad that you are alright. Losing you would’ve been an enormous loss for both humanity and Martial Order."
Pankratios said, pressed his hand on his chest, and bowed.
With a nod, Kiernan entered the teleportation circle and vanished from the circle while Pankratios started contacting the entirety of the Martial Order, saying that Kiernan had returned.