Chapter 78: Chapter 76: Volume After Stories (4)
The Lord of the Hall estate, Marquis Ban Ket Hall. Blessed with beautiful wives and children, intellect and strength, the Marquis had everything men would desire.
Maybe not.
But the implication was there. There were a few events too big to call hiccups, but he was an accomplished man.
Yes, accomplished.
He had hoped for nothing more than to let his children live a comfortable and happy life now. And that included the child estranged from him. The child himself had no sins, after all.
The concept was too tough for a person to accept, the Marquis Ban Ket Hall whom did not just hate but utterly despised Charlotte Fonias was still the father of Eugene Hall.
Even if he reminded him of her, he still wished that the child would live a happy life.
And seeing his growth now after all these years made him realize that Eugene was a person of his own. He didn\'t have any right to criticize him.
Even if he was uncomfortable, wasn\'t it human to learn to get above that sense and to learn to accept?
The kid was also smart enough to raise a decrepit village into a city, and also smart enough to compel the Baron, the Count and even the Marquis himself into helping that city of his. Strong enough to bring down a historic group of bandits who had seen an uprising and to level forests as per what others said.
It was quite the achievement. The Marquis was sure his children would be having an overall positive growth by learning from him.
So when he saw his eldest daughter walking around with a swollen cheek and a look as if she had just seen the end of the world, the Marquis was shocked.
"W-what in the world happened?" He ran toward Vienna asked. "Who did you fight?"
It was then, the Marquis was set to receive a round two in terms of getting shocked.
Billy, Leon and Sydney all stretched their hands and handed a chocolate to the Marquis.
"Take this dad."
"Uh,hm."
"And don\'t tell anyone."
He was being bribed!!
His cute children had learned bribery and one of them was also beat up! Who did this? He was going to tear that person apart.
"Vienna, tell me now!"
"N-n-nothing…"
"Big sis was fighting with big bro!" Sydney took no time to snitch on Vienna. She was prime example of a corrupt child who took a bribe and still did not do anything. Conscience be damned.
The positive influence the Marquis hoped for was gone.
He spent the rest of the day trying to get bribery out of the children\'s options and teaching Vienna to look up even after facing a defeat.
The Marquis was a busy man.
.
.
.
**Don Chiik, the Master of the Nut**
A new sensation had appeared all over the Marquis\' territory.
Starting from the grand founding festival, a great new super villain icon had made his name in the annals of history by appearing as a giant dome for the people.
A cunning, almost devious scheme had led the people to manhandle bombs. There were dozens of way it could have gone wrong, but Don Chiik had managed to snap everyone\'s attention to the game and not at the items in their hands.
Behind the scenes, a great battle had raged on which led to a large part of a mountain being destroyed.
Well with that behind the scenes, the front of the scenes were completely taken over by Don Chiik.
In days people had started selling masks of the vile fictional criminal, in months picture books, as seasons passed and spring came around, young orators took the streets for a picture theatre.
Parents and children would gather alike as the Don Chiik lore was expanded.
The Marquis was pushed into a great peril.
"You\'re saying that Don Chiik has become a cultural phenomena in Dienin, Bartholomew?"
"Not just in Dienin, my lord, but in the entire fiefdom. Export of Don Chiik based material has shot up in the skies, and many people from all kinds of places are rushing to Dienin to see the Don Chiik shows."
"That\'s not good…"
Dienin was a fortress city. Many people going in and out was never unwelcome, it boosted economy, but it was sudden, far too many preparations had to be made to ensure proper movement like this.
It didn\'t take long for the phenomena to spread.
From there, the Dienin and Apollon theatre groups partnered and performed and extended play from Don Chiik\'s point of view.
People being the suckers they were for evil characters, ended up getting hooked to the Don Chiik play. At the same time, an officer from the Confederacy was present in Apollon who became extremely infatuated with Don Chiik.
Being a member of the forests, the officer empathized deeply with the character of the Master of the Nut. He took back dozens of books and paintings and stories depicting the villain\'s not so villainy tales.
There was even a book talking about how Don Chiik had actually appeared in Dienin that day to save the people from a bomb, which was met with widespread critical acclaim due to its rooting in real life events and further push of Don Chiik\'s tragically heroic character.
The author of that one was some suspicious guy only named Keith. He was lucky the book wasn\'t found by anyone he knew.
Eventually, the confederacy established a cultural trade with the Schwarz kingdom, exporting and importing more and more of Don Chiik. Don Chiik themed cafes and endorsed nut brands littered the streets of the confederacy.
On a trip, the saintess of the theology further west eventually picked up a plush toy of Don Chiik and that started yet another aggressive cultural exchange from the theology that wanted to impress the princess.
Not long after, be it in the Kingdom of Sages or the Kingdom of Pinot, everyone soon knew of Don Chiik.
Don Chiik.
Was bound to return.