Novel Bin Chapter 48 - [Bonus ] Jumping Off The Ship
Joren had exited the room and of course, he lied.
\'I swear, I\'ll be your servant for a month once I returned.\'
He sneaked out with that thought while trying to shove away any feeling of guilt. When he finally reached the exit, however, he was blocked by a certain fellow with a horn on his forehead.
"Excuse me, Sir, can I know where you will be going?"
Garas asked with a serving smile.
Joren knew that this is trouble and said.
"I just left a few things back in the hotel so I want to get it."
"Sorry, Sir, but the cruise is leaving and it does not wait for anyone. It may leave earlier as well but never late. You may be a special VIP, close to the school leaders of Myth\'s First Level, however, Captain would not care about that. If you\'re a second late, you will spend the rest of your life… no, an eternity in Hades."
Garas gravely advised still with his serving smile.
"It\'s fine, I\'ll be fast."
Joren said, hoping to get past. If he can\'t get past this man then he wouldn\'t be able to make any excuse as to why he didn\'t get his soul.
"No, sir." Garas now dropped his smile as he raised his palm, "We are not risking it. List the items that you left. We\'ll get it in the next trip and contact you."
Joren\'s face twitched. He couldn\'t get angry because he\'s in the wrong and this guy is just thinking for his sake.
"As you know, the Lord of the Underworld doesn\'t like anyone leaving his place. You, guests, are technically not entering the underworld so you\'re not technically \'leaving\' either. To use this loophole, the Lord of the Underworld have given us a condition. Any person who stays for more than a week is considered a Hades dweller. Each trip has a gap of one week which Hades has planned. Do you understand why I\'m restating the obvious?" Garas said now with a sharp look.
\'So, it\'s common knowledge around here. I just learned it now.\' Joren felt really bad for thinking he should just exit by force. However, this guy seemed strong so that\'s more difficult and he would be getting himself more trouble.
"Is the cruise going to leave now? I need my things now, getting it by next week will be too late." Joren pleaded one last time.
"Sir, that is the consequences of your action. Please, think about what your wife will feel if you got stuck in the Underworld before your death. You will get your things next week, thank you." Garas said, closing the conversation.
"This is just really important." Joren said with a determined face, "I swear I\'ll come back to her no matter what happens."
Hearing the resolution in his voice, Garas was touched as his eyes got teary.
"I see, so much determination. This must be really important to you."
\'Yeah, just like what I said.\' Joren thought as the situation seemed to be turning on his side, "So, can I pass through now?"
"No," Garas said before telling everyone, "Alright, it\'s time, the ship\'s leaving, close all exits."
Joren sighed. It seemed that he failed.
\'I didn\'t know that this would happen.\'
Seeing that Joren had the face of defeat, Garas nodded, "Sorry, Sir, but it\'s for you own-" his words was stopped when Joren\'s hand landed on his shoulder.
"Sometimes, only by acting as the bad guy would you get what you want."
Joren muttered before using all of his force to push Garas to the side as his other hand dropped his pants.
\'I have to say a cool line then shove him away in one fell swoop!\' he though and as his strength increased, Garas left the ground and moved to the side.
Joren\'s eyes widened as he had already given a burst of his strength only to find out that Garas was as light as a feather.
Bam*
Garas hit the wall of the hallway to the exit and dropped onto the floor, trembling in pain.
"What the!? You\'re weak!"
Joren didn\'t mean it in a bad way but he really expected that Garas was strong.
"I\'m deeply hurt, Sir, by your action and by your words. However, I\'m telling you to stop. If you leave now, you will not be able to come back." Garas stood up as if nothing happened and still tried to stop Joren even though he was in pain.
"Shit! Sorry! But I gotta leave!"
Joren saw the doors were closing and jumped out of it at the last second before it closed. He landed on the stairs but tumbled down because he was unable to pull his pants up in time.
At that moment, he heard a shout from the ship.
"Joren!?"
\'Fuck! How tall is this staircase!?\'
Joren was still tumbling down when Ness shouted at him.
"What are you doing!?"
"Argh! I\'ll be back! I promise!"
He shouted back as he tumbled down but Ness knew that he had zero chance of ever escaping if he didn\'t get into the cruise by now.
Joren then saw that Ness was thinking and hesitating as the ship blew its horn and began moving. He knew that she\'s thinking of jumping out so he said.
"Virena will be worried if you jumped off right now!"
He said to which Ness stopped on her tracks. She then shouted back.
"But I will be worried about you then!"
"No need to worry! I got this!"
Ness was given a choice, jump off the ship right now and help Joren or come back to Virena and just hope that he will return. However, she was one hundred percent sure that he will not be able to come back. If he attempts to steal his soul away, he would be sent to Tartarus which, at that point, she will never see him again.
However, she can\'t jump right now. Even she didn\'t have the confidence of leaving Hades with her strength. Should she risk everything for Joren who they just met or just let it go and come back to Virena who is more important?
Ness didn\'t expect it but thinking about it made her tearful.
"Fine! Then, goodbye!"
"Yeah, see you later!"
"You will not see me later!" Ness cried and wailed as if in a tantrum. At that point, Joren could only hear the echoes of her voice before the ship became a dot in the vast River of Styx.
"Heh," Joren rubbed his nose, "For a shitty guy, I\'m pretty lucky for Ness to act like that."
Afterward, he noticed that he\'s in the center of attention. Everyone was looking at him as if he\'s the dumbest person alive.
"Did he just jump out of the Charon\'s Ferry?"
"So he really forced himself here?"
Hearing the whispers made Joren\'s face red. He even remembered how he tumbled down the long staircase while his undies is for everyone to see.
"I wouldn\'t be in his situation. I\'m having second-hand embarrassment."
"Well, at least he\'s not the guy who owns the sex demon."
"Yeah, ahahaha, the owner of that lower leg must\'ve died by embarrassment by now."
\'That\'s me too!\' Joren clenched his fists as he walked away, however, he didn\'t notice that someone was calling out to him before a hand held his shoulder. It\'s like he was caught by steel and he was stopped dead on his tracks.
"Excuse me, but could you spare me a bit of your time?"
An old man\'s voice called out to him.
"A bit of his time!? He\'s forever here now, hahaha- cough cough!"
Then, a second voice of an old man sounded from the same direction.
"A bit of his time, because if we confirmed that he really intends to escape, he will be spending the rest of his time in Tartarus."
Finally, a third voice of, again, an old man which came from the same direction sounded.
Joren froze up as he had a bad feeling about this. Well, probably because of what they just said. He turned around and saw a short old man who\'s wearing a cloak. The cloak\'s hood had uplifted corners resembling the ears of a dog.
But that\'s not what caught Joren\'s attention the most. It\'s the fact that there are three standing hoods above the cloak. All hiding the faces it covers with their shadows.
"Sh! Why can\'t you keep your voice down? Now he knows that we\'re about to ask him about what he meant by he\'ll be back."
The first head moved, suggesting that it was the one who spoke.
"What can he do about it? Lie? Even if he does, we\'ll put an eye on him."
Joren gulped. It seemed that shouting earlier was a dumb idea. No, even if he\'s aware, he will still say to Ness that he will return.
"Umm, who are you?"
He asked even though he already has an idea.
"Oh, we\'re Cerberus and we want to have a talk.." the first head said.