Chương 70

"This guy is going to be the death of us. Hasn't Darcy explained enough to him?" Jane thought. She had just arrived with Rei and was apologizing for the misunderstanding, only for this dude to go back to what he was yapping about before.

"Oh! Where do you come from?" Rei asked.

"As I said, he is from my hometown in Norway.." Erik came in and wanted to derail the conversation as he was already having a headache listening to this man.

"I am from Asgard." Thor didn't let Erik finish his words and talked over him. He, as a prince, would never shy away from his origins and would always say it proudly.

"Oh! You mean that one from mythology?" Rei asked. One would think, especially Darcy and Erik, that Rei was now mocking this guy, but he actually wasn't. He sounded as genuine as possible.

"Mythology? You mean history?" Thor asked.

"Umm.. okay, let's assume that you are from Asgard, and since your name is Thor, you are the son of Great Odin. Right?"

"So you do know about the All-Father. See, I told you, Jane, that people know about me and Asgard." Thor turned and looked at Jane, who was now increasingly getting surprised by the fact that Rei even dabbled in knowledge about Asgard. For a teenager of such a young age, he really seemed learned. But they were also a bit disappointed at how this elder guy was still beefing with Rei, though it was much more controlled and not fueled by emotions.

"Yeah." Jane could only sheepishly reply to that.

"I can understand the kid living in La La Land, but this handsome one too? Where are the good men?" Darcy complained under her breath.

"Being from Asgard, you must have been brought up as a warrior by the finest men out there, right?" Meanwhile Rei asked and didn't seem to be bothered that his hosts were feeling a bit of pity for Rei and embarrassment for Thor. Both were in their own small world of contradictions.

"Of course.. I was taught at times by the All-Father himself." Thor was very proud that he and his friends were at times watched over by Odin.

"So you, being the prince of Asgard, had the luxury of getting pointers from the All-Father, who is all rich and powerful. But the rest don't have access to that kind of teaching, just because they don't have the money or, in this case, the privilege. I assume the teaching of your father is of greater help to you than to the rest. And now you have a problem with us because knowledge isn't freely given to common folks, just like how the teachings of a warrior aren't given freely in your place.

Isn't that hypocritical?" The words of Rei suddenly turning the table over made everyone's eyes widen. All this time they thought that these two were locking heads like children, but never in their wildest dreams did they expect a kid like him to suddenly equate knowledge with the way of a warrior. They could take the fact that the kid accepted that Asgard exists, as he was a kid, but the fact that he could debate a grown man in this way wasn't on their bingo cards.

"Remind me not to clash with this kid ever." Darcy said and counted her blessings that she didn't go hard on the kid when they met the first time. While Jane and Erik were just speechless. Thor meanwhile flinched a bit hearing the rebuke from Rei. He was going to defend his father no matter what. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You don't know what you are talking about. Our father would give pointers to anyone who seeks his guidance." Thor said.

"And the common folks in your place are allowed to approach him, the Great King, casually?" Rei asked.

"Uh.. Yes.." Thor replied, but he himself didn't believe his words. It was Odin he was talking about. Almost nobody dared to talk to him casually or ask for his pointers. That would be absurd even if Odin allowed it. Rei squinted his eyes and looked at him, as if trying to find proof of his lies, which Rei knew they were. But there was no way he could prove that. What followed was an awkward silence, with Thor no longer getting on everyone's nerves and trying to act all bossy like a few seconds ago.

"To be fair, I also believe that knowledge should be free to everyone. But it's just that some knowledge requires a huge amount of money and our governments sometimes don't have the funding for that." It was Erik who finally stepped in, seeing the silence and the supposed defeat of Thor. He was sure that whatever Rei said was true, as knowledge wasn't always free everywhere. And if this man was really from Asgard as he claimed to be, then teaching him any kind of combat was costlier too.

For normal folks, trying to reach higher in the hierarchy always required sacrifices. May it be monetary, time, health... whatever it was, there was always a price.

"You are right, Erik.." Thor said, finally getting over the guilt. He was feeling guilty that he had just lied to a kid, but now seeing that Erik had just put his government under the bus, he was all aboard that bus.

"Your so-called governance has been nothing but utterly bad. They should fund you more for the work you have been doing."

"Right.." Jane said, as she finally felt relieved that the topic and the point of contention were getting swept away.

"Hey.. You said you want to learn about stars, right? Why don't I show you some great pictures of stars that we took recently?" Darcy held his hand and took him away. Rei could see that everyone was trying to get away from the topic and he didn't mind. He knew that morally he had won against Thor and that guilt on Thor was what he needed. This guy had made a bad impression on him the first time, so he needed to humble him a bit. And Rei was sure that his words did.

Rei then followed Darcy into the other room while Jane gave dangerous looks to Thor. Thor, now genuinely, felt terror seeing the anger in Jane's eyes and knew that he was going to listen to a lecture.

"What were you thinking, speaking about Asgard in that way? Didn't I tell you not to speak about your origin here? Do you wish to go back to that hospital?" Jane was furious, and Thor stepped back a bit out of fear.

"I didn't mean it. It was a reflex." Thor said, while his words were a bit fumbling.

"You are lucky that he is just a kid. Or else, if it was some grown-up, he would have just left and sued us since you don't have any proper documents nor any degree." Jane said. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if it was Daniel or someone from the higher-ups of Allied Universal. The career would be over.

"He is not just a kid.." Thor mumbled. He didn't believe his own words when he said that. When he had shaken his hand, he felt a force that seemed to be on par with this mortal body of his. Even though he had lost his powers at the banishment, it didn't mean that his body was weak. He even fought those agents without breaking a sweat and though he was distraught for being rejected by Mjolnir, it didn't mean he was dumb to his surroundings.

He was just sad that he lost Mjolnir, and even more so when none of his brothers or sisters came to send their regards. But this boy who had arrived out of nowhere didn't get intimidated at all despite his young age. So there was definitely something fishy. He just didn't know what.

"What?" Jane asked.

"Nothing." Rei was welcomed and shown where he would stay for this vacation, as he claimed. Erik and Jane were quite welcoming and Darcy? With her enthusiasm and occasional sarcasm, Rei found himself quite comfortable on the first day. Normally he would go back home, but this time he didn't as he had already told his parents that he would be here on a secret mission and if others came to inquire about him, they should tell them that he was a bit busy and to wait for his return.

Sasuke and Naruto were busy with Jiraiya, who had decided to teach them some things along the way, out of pity. Sakura meanwhile was busy practicing medical ninjutsu while Rei was out. So everything was set, and the very next night itself, Erik and Jane would decide to get more data and go for more stargazing experiments. Rei also joined in and he showed proper kid-like enthusiasm for it.

Sometimes Jane and the others wondered how this kid was allowed to go alone on such a far trip and that too with someone completely unknown. Were his parents so casual with their child?