Chapter 61

"If you choose to, you will be able to leave Bark Kingdom free of charge, but you will never be able to return. When decisions are made by kingdoms to excommunicate others, it is recognized by every other human kingdom so if you were to even try to make arrangements to return, as long as you make those decisions and arrangements in another kingdom, that kingdom becomes responsible in capturing you and returning you to our Bark Kingdom to stand trial."

"Now the excommunication would only be yours and not your family's. This only would mean that you would be unable to return to our Bark Kingdom, as far as doing anything else like sending money or treasures over, you would still be able to do this but you would have to put quite a bit of trust in whoever you gave the mission to." Cardinal Paul explained to Timothy, while he continued to smile.

"According to my calculations, you can have another twenty four hours to make your decision because that was granted to you since you were still not awake for the past four days since the incident. However, that is the only thing that the Emperor had given to you. So do not delay longer than that, otherwise I may not be able to hold others back." Cardinal Paul told Timothy because Timothy could only remain silent.

"I think that you have some potential and hope that you do consider being part of our Relic Church. We may not spare any resources, but you at least could remain here in Bark Kingdom and steadily continue to grow. Again, the decision is yours to make alone. Your family is not being suppressed by anyone either and can continue living a peaceful life. It was actually Boulder Village's mayor who came to their aid."

"When we arrived, our intentions were to pick them up and bring them here, but because your father apparently helped Boulder Village recover without much compensation, it was decided that they should be left alone. I understand that it does not necessarily help you while making this decision, but I am sure it will give you peace of mind knowing that they are safe."

Cardinal Paul chose to not keep anyone else waiting, so he and Jack's master quickly left the room and only left Jack and Timothy inside. "Actually Jack, I feel like I need some time alone to really soak in the situation that I am in, maybe in a few hours we could talk over a meal?" Timothy asked Jack, he mainly did this so that he could try once more to get Master Sei to respond to him.

"Yeah that would be for the best. George and the rest are worried about you and made me promise them that I would let them know when you woke up. The Cardinal and my master forbid anyone within Mist City to enter the Holy Sword Institute's gates and all of my senior brothers have joined the Cardinal's men to surround the school properly just in case an assassin were to be sent in." Jack told Timothy before heading towards the door to leave as well.

"Not sure if you remembered, but Leo's clan is in Stone Kingdom which is fairly close to our Bark Kingdom. We were actually debating whether or not trying to sneak you out and bring you to their headquarters there would be a wise decision or even possible. George already declared your family under his protection to his father, and so his father was forced to send someone from their clan's disciplinary hall to accompany them for the time being until things died down in a decade or so."

"You could trust Cardinal Paul, because he has been known to openly support commoners and give them the chance to serve under him. Not only that, but he has the most neutral position within the Relic Church which is why he was the one originally sent over to the Emperor to negotiate on your behalf. However, many outsiders would think that your life was not worth it to the Relic Church to protect and would simply look to kill you and just send an appropriate apology gift."

After giving Timothy his opinion, Jack finally chose to leave and to head out towards his group of friends, majority of who were still within Mist City at an agreed upon place. Two of George's other contacts were actually on their way out of Mist City during the day of the auction, and only delayed to support their friend. As for everyone else in the group, they remained with George.

"Master Sei, I feel like the best decision that I could make right now, would be to leave momentarily in order to allow my family to continue to live peacefully within Boulder Village. I just feel the need to stay with them even if it costs me my life because they are after all my family." Timothy was sent mentally as tears began to run down his face.

Such a decision should not have been placed on an eleven year old's lap even if he was technically traveling around the outside world away from his family. Timothy was at least smart enough to try to reach out to his master, but as he expected, he was unable to hear a voice replying to his plea.

"Why do I have such bad luck? I would have rather had no aura at all and have been left alone, instead of having the one that I have and being forced out!" Timothy thought to himself before punching the air in front of him. "I am in fact very weak with no background and so that is why it is so easy to be pushed around!"

Looking up at the ceiling above him, Timothy once more made a promise to the heavens that were most likely at least partially responsible for his situation. "Even if I must become strong with no help, even if I must take on the entire world, I will get my revenge on this place and I will one day return to my family with open arms!"