District 42-Chapter 283: Too late part 2

Ari couldn’t say what made him react that day. Some could assure that he was crazy, others that he was courageous, and a few probably would be right if they affirmed that it was destiny.

However, the only fact is that his body acted on its own. He rushed out of the middle of that crowd, his legs working out of will. His mind was still trying to register what his body was doing. It was a strange feeling.

When he realized, he was already near the carriage after passing through all the other guards and trying to get up on there.

His mask allowed him to do so because he didn’t have any evil intentions when approaching the Princess. He wasn’t even caring about getting near her. The only thing that the boy wanted was to stop that arrow.

During that course, Ari couldn’t help but remember the words that Tani said to him that day. About punctuality.

When trying to save Vick from that shooter, Ari’s thoughts were directed to one specific fear: get too late to save her. He wanted to be fast enough, bold enough, selfless enough, to react quickly and get there just in time.

That was the first experience that he had using the clock. That imaginative clock kept floating on his mind. It seemed that, when he used the clock, he could grasp every second that passed around and everything started to get in slow-motion as if Ari was controlling the time itself.

The boy calculated the course of the arrow, seeing how many meters away Vick was from the shooter, how fast that arrow would travel, and which point it would possibly struck her.

He jumped into the carriage, stretching his arm and trying to reach the elegant and cute girl that seemed like a doll and was sitting there.

Nonetheless, before he could do it, a sword was placed on his throat. And, soon, a robust pistol aimed at close range, poising its barrel just some millimeters away from the side of his head.

Ari’s instincts stopped him right away, making his body get paralyzed. He knew that one more step would be his last.

’I didn’t take into consideration her other guards! And how are they so fast? That’s unbelievable. These guys aren’t just normal Ridires. They are the real deal!’

Of course, like every person in District 42, Ari knew who they were. Looking at their blue outstanding capes and unique uniform, no one could mistake those people.

"Aesirs..." He turned his head hesitantly to the side, looking toward the man who was holding the sword positioned on his throat.

A wide smile was present on his face. Ari couldn’t see it, but all his being knew deep inside that the man was smiling at that situation. His eyes told the same, a gleam of joy appearing in his pupils. His entire body was basically telling Ari to continue moving, so he would have a reason to kill him.

The other Aesir on his right side seemed to be normal. The only outstanding thing about him was his pistols and the technology attached to his back that seemed a metallic backpack with tubes connected to his body coming out of it.

"I think you need to learn good manners, commoner." He cocked his gun, looking at the boy with calm, but cold eyes. "I will teach you when I get in Helheim together with you in the afterlife."

"Heeeey, Freygar! Not fair, you killed the last time!"

"C’mon, Ivar... It is not about who kills more, ok? Stop looking like a murderer or something."

Ivar snorted, getting annoyed by his greedy partner.

"Ok, ok, let’s go. Finish him already!"

He looked to the side while getting his sword off Ari’s throat. A strain of blood came out of the tiny cut that its sharp blade made there.

Ari finally could gather the courage to talk now that he was free from that pressure. He thought that his head would be ripped off if he even tried to spell something.

While they were distracted arguing, he never took off his eyes from the man with the crossbow. His good vision saw him positioning his finger on the trigger.

"There!" He pointed, shouting as loudly as he could.

Everyone in the crowd was looking at the commotion. They barely could believe that someone was bold enough to try to invade Vick’s carriage. Once they heard that shout, they switched their attention to the buildings, searching for something there.

The Ridires that were patrolling around looked there as well and got surprised once they realized what he was pointing at.

The arrow was shot. It traveled faster than the boy could ever imagine. The clocks on his head went crazy, their pointers spun abnormally. Ari was thinking about what he could do.

He didn’t notice, but Ivar was looking at him intently, squinting his eyes. He noticed the arrow coming but wanted to know what the boy would do.

’There is no way that I will let it happen!’ In an impetus of courage, he punched Freygar’s gun away, boosting his body forward and bursting into the carriage.

However, what his eyes showed to him wasn’t something good. The arrow was coming in Vick’s direction too fast. He wouldn’t be able to catch up.

That projectile was about to hit her head, but the blade of a sword appeared and brushed it off easily.

Ivar appeared suddenly in the carriage, looking at Ari with impressed eyes.

He defended that attack naturally as if just throwing a rock in the sea, which was incredible in Ari’s perspective.

Freygar appeared right away, pointing to that window where the shooter was and aiming a perfect shot right on his face, targetting the man efficiently.

Both Aesirs looked at each other intently.

"You don’t have any idea of what you just did, boy," Ivar said, giggling. "You will get in serious trouble now."

...

Ivar and Freygar were standing in front of Ari. The boy was lying on the ground, with his head lowered. They said to him not to look up, otherwise, they would rip his head off.

The Ridires were also gathered around, looking at each other. Most of them had bothered eyes. They didn’t want to lose their time talking to a brat who messed with their plans.

"Hey, buddy, how did you know that there was a shooter there? Was it by chance?" Ivar crouched beside him, breaking the silence.

"Hey, Ivar, don’t you think that it is better to wait for the Boss?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Fenrir, however, ignored his comrade and kept looking intently at the boy.

"Go ahead and answer my question. Don’t bother listening to this inconvenient guy over there." He pointed with his thumb to Freygar, who just snorted and looked away while crossing his arms.

"H-Hmm, well... It wasn’t by chance. I just noticed him." The boy also didn’t know how his mind could work that way. He always had such a high capacity to sense things around. It was as natural to him as calculating.

"Are you saying that you had enough perception to find someone standing on a window, among a lot of other buildings with dozens of aleatory windows? That’s just crazy boy." Ivar was getting more and more impressed with Ari. If everything that he said was true, then he had great potential.

’Also, his mask didn’t stop him when he tried to save her, which means that this boy has clear and pure intentions. That’s something that I don’t see too often. Even I wouldn’t be able to approach Vick’s carriage like that while out of a mission.’

The Fenrir thought for a while on that matter. He stood up again, looking at Freygar.

"I think we should take him."

"Are you kidding, man? Just because he has good perception?"

"He is intelligent as well. When he stretched his hand to reach Vick and protect her from the arrow, he was aiming at the exact point where it would strike her. Which means..." He raised one brow, letting Freygar finish his conclusion.

"Which means that this boy calculated the angle and speed of the arrow in his mind in a matter of seconds..."

Ivar nodded to Freygar.

Ari was hearing that exchange of words while feeling mixed sensations. He didn’t know if he should be fearing them. Those people didn’t seem to want to harm him in any way, but they weren’t sounding too friendly in certain statements.

"I think that he is worth it." Someone appeared, his voice echoing in the room. All the Ridires that looked at him gave him a proper salutation, and so did the Aesirs, but with less anxiety.

The man walked near Ari, who didn’t dare to turn to him and see his face. He feared for his life.

"If everything I heard now is true, then he might be more interesting than we think that he is."