Chapter 19: Sneaking through City’s Central Plaza

Grand Marketplace, The Great Hall Main Entrance

A group of Royal Soldiers with the Royal Families emblem stares at Silver Beard's sudden appearance with Sir Wennen, a high-ranking Hall Officer and part of the leader of the Blackwell Union himself—one of their numbers immediately calls the main gate while others head to alert the Commander in-charge about what happened inside.

While they paced anxiously on either side of the main gate; suddenly they found a semblance of order and quickly retreated from the scene.

A dark figure slowly emerges from between the towering trees a distance away; staring deeply at the Royal Soldiers from across the distance before disappearing without a trace. A blood-red shadow had followed behind him—but disappeared seconds later.

***

Behind The Great Hall compound, a hidden door opens in the backyard garden, revealing two figures standing close together. The figure stares at his surroundings, looking around cautiously for anyone who might be watching them, his gaze stopping upon the army leaving in the distance.

They wait for several minutes until finally no one is left outside anymore; then quickly step out of the backdoor of The Great Hall's compound. Finally, it's time to go!

"You can go back to the dorm first," Rihan whispers quietly as he walks by Sung Li's side. "We'll catch up when I'm done here,".

"No, don't worry about me!" he pats Rihan's hand reassuringly. "I can't wait to see what you are going to do next." Then, he turns towards the Grand Marketplace walkway heading southward in front of The Great Hall, heading into town where most people have set up their shops.

Rihan stares at the retreating soldiers before turning towards the City's Central Plaza ahead of him—and looks up and down each street leading to the plaza. It's late noon but there isn't much movement since it seems everyone has gone home for lunch break already or is otherwise busy with work somewhere else.

He approaches the city square along the narrow alleyways, stepping out onto the paved road with ease. With the sun slowly setting but still high above the buildings and street lamps casting light all over the place, the streets of the Grand Marketplace begin to come alive—but not many people were about during this afternoon hours.

There wasn't too much business taking place in the marketplace during noon, but now that night is quickly approaching; vendors had started putting up new signs and opening new stalls which makes finding places easy for anyone looking for food. Rihan looks around cautiously, staying alert for anyone suspicious stalking him from behind.

There's nothing to worry about though, his action to quickly hide after the commotion in The Great Hall must've caught whoever might be stalking them off guard because they didn't follow him.

"Sorry Ijo," he muttered to himself under his breath. "At least your Royal Family will have the contract for the Golden Pavilion." The marketplace was filled with so many smells, pungent scents of grilled meats hanging from wooden poles of nearby stalls while others had freshly-baked pies made of rice flour placed on the edge of small clay plates lined together next to red onions and green beans sprinkled with black pepper and other seasonings.

There were several different types of seafood available here and there too: live fish hung inside large cages from stands by some merchants and those selling crab and clams on their backs. There were also deep-fried mussels steaming in a wok cauldron by one merchant who sells it hot along with their noodles which came wrapped in paper bags.

The marketplace looks beautiful littered with colourful lights lining up the streetlamps like fireflies; giving the city's central square a bright atmosphere as well. He glances back towards the main gate to make sure no one is following them before entering the square—and stops dead still in front of the Golden Pavilion signboard.

A smile creeps onto his face immediately—he has finally arrived! A warm feeling comes over him, filling him with happiness, excitement, and anticipation at what lies ahead, even if it feels like only yesterday that Rihan was making his way down these same streets and stumbling upon The Grand Marketplace for the first time ever. It doesn't matter that it's been destroyed in his past life, Rihan remembers everything vividly.

With his new memories from reincarnation, there are certain things about the past that don't make sense to him. Why would someone build a pavilion made entirely out of gold? What is its purpose? Why did they leave without any trace?

He recalls the brief history of his past life when the Ijohen's Royal Family received the news of the discovery of the Golden Pavilion's contract. This would be around 15 years into the future. While King Keisan wanted to take this opportunity to utilize the Golden Pavilion as a central defensive point against the invading Virah, Sir Wennen and the Blackwell Union believed otherwise and questioned the decision claiming that using such a precious resource and landmark will cause the citizens grief during times of war and will endanger the lives of innocent civilians.

The conflict between the two sides eventually ended with The Blackwell Union gaining their approval in taking charge of the Gold Pavilion with The Blackwell Union's discovery of the Golden Pavilion contract—a key to controlling the central defensive point of the entire city—but it wasn't until several months later when tragedy struck their city—when the Blackwell Union betrayed them; the Virah attacked and destroyed most of the city within moments of breaking through the Aysen Stronghold.

Rihan stares at the entrance to the Golden Pavilion from afar, smack dead in the centre of the city square. The sturdiness of its golden walls still remained untouched despite how strong the invasion force must've been because nothing has changed. If anything, the building looks more beautiful than ever before compared to the time when the Virah invaded.

A flash of light catches Rihan's attention as it shines from inside the pavilion—the sun glistening on the glass panes that line the floor of the inner sanctum where no one can enter without permission.

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"The Key to the Pavilion lies in the Soul Binding contract," he muttered under his breath. "That is apparent from his past life, the ability to fully unlock the Golden Pavilion's full potential is given only after someone binds their soul with the two golden contracts and the golden key." Then his eyes widen at a sudden thought: could the Virah have broken through all the way here because of the Blackwell Union's betrayal?

"If so then this would mean—"

He pauses for several seconds in utter confusion and disbelief—the idea of humanity betraying one another never crossed his mind until now. There was too much trust placed in Sir Wennen or The Blackwell Union which eventually led to tragedy and even though the King didn't want to believe it; the fact remains that the Blackwell Union did indeed betray them.

His vision reverts back to the present day once again as the scent of grilled meats stings his nose, making him look around to see if anyone followed behind him.

I hope the Royal Family is all right out there! His gaze turns towards the Royal Palace that stood far in the distance overlooking the city centre like always. I wonder how they're doing these days. It's been nearly half a century since I've seen them, well that's before I was reincarnated but I still missed them. Maybe it's best not to visit them today but wait till everything is settled instead—maybe they'll be less burden by then.

"Don't blame me, you guys got the short end of the stick but still The Golden Pavilion is worth more than any treasure!" He shakes his head with an air of determination while watching the last rays of sunlight slowly fade away into darkness and night fall over the city square ahead of him. He sneaks into the Golden Pavilion amongst the bustle of people walking past each other into the building and comes face-to-face with a long staircase leading up from the entrance hall and continuing all the way up to the first floor.

"Where do we start?" Rihan whispers under his breath.

***

The Royal Palace, Courtyard

"HAHAHA! We've got them now didn't we!? How pathetic that some lowly country bumpkin has found the Golden Contracts," a man wearing glasses scoffs at The King who paces in front of his close advisors at the Royal Courtyard.

"I mean, really?" the man continues as the others join him in their own stares and chuckles of disbelief at what happened moments ago when Ijohen and Silver Beard walked in bearing the news about the discovery of the two golden contracts. Plus the confiscated Golden Key, no less.

Everyone stares intently at the golden key held and the two golden contracts held by Ijohen; everyone except for Silver Beard, who paces impatiently outside the doors waiting to hear how this meeting would turn out.

One of those stares came from Princess Heleenie sitting beside her father on his right side, taking all this rather personally—it wasn't too hard to see why because she had grown quite fond of the lowly country bumpkin—but unlike most of the rest of them, she doesn't show it openly.

No doubt, she'd prefer that nothing ever happen to him since he and his friend have done so much good for the kingdom despite the circumstances surrounding them.

"What does it matter if they have them or not; they are ours now! Let them rot out there somewhere! Now that the Golden Contracts and Key have fallen into our hands, we will finally be able to reclaim The Golden Pavilion and take control over its precious resources!" the man with glasses said.

"Yes Counsellor Rantama," King Keisan stares straight at the man and says calmly. "But do remember that they aren't just going to hand over the contract to us, especially if some teenage actually found it first."

"And what exactly is keeping them from giving it up?" Counsellor Rantama asks. "I mean, you could always offer an amount of gold and jewels worth enough to cover their losses."

With a loud bang, someone pounded on the table, "Offer gold and jewels to cover their losses? This is the Golden Pavilion we're talking about. How can anyone think to simply pay The Blackwell Union on top of that with gems and riches when the Golden Key in question here belongs to them? That would never work!" he wore a scowl that grew darker by the second before his voice quivered out through clenched teeth.

"We need the Golden Pavilion, but this could cause a civil war! They won't easily let go of something so precious!" Princess Heleenie shakes her head.

"We can only adjourn to later at the Throne Room for an Official Royal Council." The King announced.

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