Chapter 69 69: The Bathroom Incident [Pt1]
'Home, sweet home. It took so long to come back that I am even feeling a little emotional right now.'
Keith forced his imaginary tears back into his body as he looked at the guild building in front of him. It was then that the feeling of back sank into his body.
At his side, Shinu seemed to be gasping at the marvelous beauty that was the guild hall and its living quarters. It looked more like a movie set than a real place.
"T-This is where you live Keith? This place is awesome. So, what do you do here? Is your job tough? Do you need to work a lot?"
Shinu questioned rapidly, wanting to know everything he could about Keith and this place.
His interest was genuine and Keith felt like he would be able to groom Shinu into a good guard dragon soon. But first, he needed to show his face to ensure everyone he was back for good.
He did not even need to go far for the first person to come running toward him.
"G-Grandmaster, welcome back. I-I missed you so much. Where were you? Why did you not take me with you this time? D-Don't tell me that you find me annoying. I promise to do better next time."
Shimi ran toward Keith in all her dramatic glory. Her eyes were filled with tears and her begging posture gave Keith the perfect view down her breasts.
Keith tried not to look at the 'view' Shimi was giving him but it was difficult when his eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. It was a miracle that Keith's face did not show anything he was feeling.
Otherwise, it would have been red and ready to combust by now.
"It's nothing like that Shimi. I just had to pick up someone important that I needed to do alone. Now, I need you to take someone under your wing for the time being. Shinu, come here."
Shinu looked a little startled at seeing Shimi and her inhuman features. Her elf ears were especially prominent and separated her from the humans.
Shinu seemed to be glaring at Shimi with his eyes hooded and his pupils spilt into slits.
"This woman is not normal. Is she even human? Her energy does not feel human to me."
Shinu growled lowly in his throat as he looked at Shimi. It seemed as if he had never seen an elf before.
"O-Oi, is this a -but I thought they were all. I see why you brought this kid here, grandmaster. We need to protect him."
Shimi, for some reason, was suddenly a lot more perspective than any time Keith had seen her before. Her dumb act seemed to have disappeared as she looked at the half-dragon in front of her.
She looked up at Keith, then at Shinu, and then back at Keith with a determined expression. And suddenly, Keith wanted to take back his thought about Shimi being perspective.
Now it seemed like whatever she had thought of was dumb.
"I understand that the grandmaster wants to bring his secret son back to the guild. Did the mother die? Did she abandon your son? Do not worry kid, I will be your new mother. You can call me Mom if you want to."
'See, I knew it. Shimi did reach the wrong conclusion after all. Why did I have to run into her out of everyone here?'
Keith sighed as he watched Shimi try and capture Shinu into a hug. The half-dragon looked freaked out as he tried his best to avoid Shimi.
Keith felt bad for both but he refused to step in and save Shinu. He chose to keep quiet and save himself all the headaches.
And because Keith did not immediately clear up this misunderstanding with Shimi, the servants who heard this conversation formed their thoughts. One gossip melted into another until weird rumors began to circulate.
"Shimi, show Shinu to the room I asked you all to prepare. I will go and take a bath right now."
Keith was tried and filthy. He needed a long and hot soak to make all his worries from the past few days melt away. And his big bathtub was the best way to ensure no stress captured Keith.
He quickly changed as soon as he got into his room and submerged himself in the warm water. It covered his chest and his chin as well.
The spiritual essence Keith had mixed into the water caused him to fall asleep in the water, leaving his body exposed for anyone to come and see.
...…
Rumors had a habit of spreading even if no one ignited them. By the end of the day, everyone and their kids knew that the grandmaster had brought back a kid.
But due to Shimi's interference, everyone thought that this kid was the grandmaster's offspring with their mother dead.
"Did you hear? The grandmaster brought his kid back here."
"Yes, I did. I heard that the grandmaster confirmed it when Shimi asked him this question."
"I also heard that the mother is dead and was a dragon. The son is half-dragon."
"Really? As expected of the grandmaster. He's an excellent person who even managed to capture a dragon's heart."
"Well, what more can we expect? The grandmaster is too good for us humans and mortals to engage with. Of course, his partner would be a divine being."
This was how Master Fushi came across these rumors and she froze as soon as she heard them.
The grandmaster had a kid he had never told the council about. When did that happen? Was the grandmaster married? And when did that happen?
'No, the grandmaster cannot be married. If he was, then he would not have taken me to bed to help me out during that mission. I am sure there is something wrong here. Maybe the grandmaster was forced into that relationship and he had no idea he had a kid. That seems plausible, right?'
It was not plausible but Master Fushi had come to her conclusions by the time she finished thinking. She suddenly pities the grandmaster and vowed to be better to him next time.
She also needed to meet the unfortunate kid and be nice to him.
'The kid might be a disgrace but he is still grandmaster's kid. I will make sure no one bullies this kid if he is under our protection.'
"Hey, about the mother. I do not think she is quite as dead as we are making her out to be. Do you remember how I work in the central building? So apparently, the grandmaster asked servants to clean up a quarter for someone to live but that place is too huge for a child to live."
"You don't mean! *gasp* Grandmaster's mistress is coming to live here? Oh, the scandal."
Now that gave Master Fushi a pause as jealousy filled her mind and body.
This! This could not be allowed. Grandmaster could not bring in a mistress as he pleased because he had a role to uphold. He was the grandmaster and his partner needed to be carefully selected.
He could not go and bring anyone he wanted into the guild.
'I need to go and have a talk with the grandmaster right now. I will not allow him to ruin himself because of a single woman.'
Master Fushi was sure she was right. She was virtuous and she also held her always head up. If anything, she was the perfect mistress for the grandmaster to take in-
'No, do not think about that. Focus on the topic at hand for now.'
Master Fushi quickly made her way to the central building where she knew the grandmaster was. The people at the door looked at her approaching with a confused look on their faces. They did not know what to make of her.
"Is the grandmaster in? I need to have something important to talk to him about."
Fushi asked, wanting to go in right that second. The guard hesitated but did not move his spear away.
"I-I am sorry but the grandmaster is busy right now. Maybe you can come back later, Master Fushi-"
"I need to go in right now. You both better go away if you want to keep your lives. Or else-"
Fushi did not need to finish her threat to get her point across. The two people in front of her looked stressed and scared.
They still held their ground for some more time but ultimately folded in front of her.
"M-Master Fushi, you can go in but please wait in the outside area for now. Grandmaster is busy and he will come to meet you as soon as he is done with this business."
For some reason, the guard stressed this part. It confused Master Fushi but she agreed to it nonetheless for the time being.
She entered the room and made a bee-line for the place where she felt the grandmaster was.
"Grandmaster, I need to"