Citrine Earth

Chapter Four

Jasper leaves the inn and makes his way to Galen's ranch. He looks around and does not see Chloe anywhere. What he does see are several people walking in and out of Galen's house.

Once in front of the door, Jasper knocks and Galen opens the door after a few seconds.

"Jasber!" Galen said.

"It's Jasper," Jasper said. "Who were those guys?"

"Them?" Galen nods towards a group of men walking around his ranch. "They're also recruits that Chloe collected."

"Recruits?"

Galen scoffs. "Hmph! You think you're the only one? Come on, kid! I'm going to need more than you if I want to make my ranch bigger than Andrew's."

Jasper looks around at the so-called recruits. They are men of similar heights and weights. Outfits consist mostly of jeans and buttoned shirts. Some are muscular and some are athletic-looking.

"Well," Galen said, still standing at the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! I took care of Jason like you asked. Found him at the river on the eastern side of the hills and took him out."

Galen grins. "Oh, yeah?"

Jasper grins back. "Yeah, he was difficult, but I managed to beat him. He won't be fishing anymore."

"Well, then! Come on in and tell me about it." Galen steps back to allow room for Jasper to walk into the house.

Stella and Renee go to the base of the northwestern hill to check on Jasper. Florian goes to the river to catch fish for Jason.

While walking to the base of the goat ranch, the girls see Chloe walking alongside them.

"Hey!" Chloe called out.

Stella and Renee stop walking for Chloe to catch up.

"Aren't you friends with that Jasber guy?"

Renee couldn't help but laugh at the mispronunciation of Jasper's name.

"You could say that." Stella answered.

"He's actually my brother's friend." Renee said.

"Oh, really? I haven't seen him around the river yet. Normally, he would try to flirt with me or something."

Stella and Renee look at each other in confusion.

"I also haven't seen Jason this morning either. I wonder what's going on."

"Maybe something happened with Jasper and Jason?" Stella suggested. "You know, maybe something like both of them got into a fight?"

Chloe's eyes brighten up. "Oh! I see it! I gotta go now!" She quickly walks to the northwestern hill.

Stella and Renee watch as Chloe quickly disappears from their line of sight.

"Nice, Orchis!" Renee smiled. "You made her think that Jasper had actually taken care of Jason."

"Yeah, now she's going to tell Galen about it. We were going to that place anyway. Now we get to see the drama unfold."

With that said, the girls continue their walk to the base of Galen's ranch.

Jasper went into Galen's house where the latter sat down and invited the former to have a sit.

"Now, Yasper," Galen said as he sat across from Jasper. "Tell me all about how you take care of Jason so fast."

"Well, it's Jasper not Yasper," Jasper began. "And you know, I went to the river where he normally goes. Once I saw him, I just beat him up."

"Oh, yeah? What kind of Midrash does he have?"

Jasper thinks to himself for a bit. Yesterday, Florian said he fought against Jason, but didn't say anything about his abilities. "Oh, the fight was over before he got a chance to use any Midrash moves."

Galen raises his eyebrows and moves his head back in confusion. "Really? You beat him before he got a chance to fight back?"

Jasper smirks. "Yep!"

"So, he didn't use any Construct to transform into a Goat or anything?"

Jasper shakes his head without realizing anything. "Nope! The fight was already over."

"Well, alright then! Come with me to the backyard and I'll show you the goats. You go first, I'll be back!" Galen said and nodded towards the back door.

Jasper doesn't think anything of it and goes to the backyard via the back door.

Outside, there are a few goats and a few men walking around. After about a few minutes or so, Galen comes out of the house followed by two more men. Counting the few men already present in the backyard and the two brought by Galen, there are a total of five men excluding Galen.

Galen smirks at Jasper and then nods to the other men. "Surround this guy, men!"

After a moment of confusion, the five men circle around Jasper per their instruction.

"What's going on here?" Jasper asked as he counted the number of men around himself.

"You tell me!" Galen said. "You said you took care of Jason, but I know you're lying!"

"What are you talking about? He wasn't at the river this morning because I took care of him yesterday!"

"I don't believe that you beat him up before he used any Midrash attacks. But the one thing that gave it away was your answer when I asked you about him using Maiden's Goat."

Jasper realizes he should not give out any more information. Instead he will play dumb. "And?"

"Jason doesn't have Maiden's Goat!"

"How would I know that? He was out before he got to do anything!" Jasper notices Chloe just came to the backyard. "Oh, there's Chloe! Ask her if she saw Jason this morning!"