Faust was sitting on the grass in the entrance outside of Corehold back against the wall, waiting for Klint to finally show up. They were supposed to head out, and it had already been ten minutes.
Truth is, Klint had been ready even before him. But Faust couldn't hold back—he'd grabbed the guy by the scruff of his neck, dragged him all the way out of his room, and when they got to the stairs, he shifted his grip down to Klint's ankles and just yeeted him down.
The impact tore Klint's clothes and got them filthy, so he had to change into fresh ones.
And the reason all that went down?
* * *
[Ten minutes earlier]
"What do you mean The 10th Heir is there too!?"
"Easy, Faust, calm down. It's not that big a deal, you know… just chill… relax a little…"
Faust took deep breaths...
"Okay… okay. Let's look at this differently. How long has he been around?"
"About a month, I think."
"Hmm. And how long have you known?"
"About a month…"
Faust shoved Klint's hand off his shoulder, tilted his head up a bit, closed his eyes, and took a long, slow breath through his nose.
He stood up and started pacing the room in big, slow strides—four, five laps around.
"So…"
"One month…"
"Thirty days…"
"Four weeks…"
"And I'm only hearing about it now…"
"Great!!"
He tucked his left hand behind his back and started waving his right like he was conducting an orchestra. Then he began humming this weird little tune as he walked straight toward Klint.
♪♪Dapbarab…Dararararam....♪♪
"…? What are you doing, Faust? You losing it again? Want me to call Mike?"
Faust froze for a few seconds, head lolling to the side, arms dangling, staring down at Klint from above—empty, lifeless. He ran his tongue over his front teeth, clenched his jaw.
Klint stood up to talk some sense into him, hoping to get him to lift his head a little, but even then the height difference was still there…
"If you keep bending your neck like that it's bad for your spi—"
Before he could finish, Faust grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him to the floor. Didn't let go either—his hand was so big that even gripping the nape, it reached all the way to Klint's throat, cutting off his air.
He started gasping for air.,,
"F— Faust… S-stop… C-can't… b-breathe…"
After that, Faust dragged him out of the room, all the way to the stairs, and then hurled him into the middle of the house.
* * *
[Present]
Grumbling sounds....
Hm. The second he steps out now, he'll definitely start yapping like an idiot again...
"wHy dID yoU dO tHaT?"
He'll whine and whine until my head explodes…
Klint pushed open the big wooden double doors with both hands. They swung shut on their own behind him.
Creeeaaak…
Clack!
Faust was still staring straight down at the floor, rigid. The anger had passed, but now he looked like he'd lost his soul entirely. Those gray eyes—never exactly full of life—looked even worse like this.
"F-… Faust…? Hey, hold up a sec."
Klint crouched down next to him.
"You okay…?"
He understood that something was wrong with Faust.
He's usually either pissed off or cracking jokes. Something's gotta be wrong… right?
Faust stood up. Klint rose too, still watching him curiously.
He turned his head.
"Ah. Klint. No… Nothing. What? Yeah. I'm fine."
"If the job's bothering you that much, someone else can—"
"What? No! I'm good. I just need to stop by somewhere first. If that's cool with you."
"Me? Uh? Yeah...Sure, sure, whatever you want."
"It'll take two hours."
Klint nodded in agreement.
Faust disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Maria…yes... I need to talk to Maria…now!