Volume 2 Chapter 4 (1/2)
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Chapter Four: Port City La Rochelle[]
Although dawn had just broken, Saito, Guiche and Louise had already started preparing the saddles for their horses Slung over Saito's back was Derflinger Because of its length,
it could not be attached to the waist
Louise was dressed in her academy unifor boots instead of shoes Judging froreat deal of ti the horse
How far would Albion be fro a horse Most probably ht to himself
Just before setting off, Guiche spoke rather aardly
”I have a request”
”What is it that you want?” Saito responded with hostility while putting his belongings onto the saddle He still could not forgive Guiche for hurting hiht some time back
”I wish to bring ”
”Do you have a familiar in the first place?”
”Of course I do All icians have one”
Louise and Saito looked at each other, then looked at Guiche again
”Where's your familiar now?”
”Here” Guiche replied while pointing to the ground
”But there's nothing on the ground,” Louise said
Guiche responded by tapping his feet on the ground Just then, a giant brown creature popped out of the ground
”Verdandi! Oh, my cute Verdandi!”
Saito, dumbfounded, asked, ”What in the world is that creature?”
”What do you mean creature? This is my cute little familiar Verdandi”
”Youover there?”
Upon closer inspection, that giant brown creature was actually a mole with a size equivalent to a small bear
”Yes Ahh My Verdandi, you look so cute frole I look Have you eaten your meal of earthworms before you arrived here?”
The gigantic mole hemmed happily in response
”Really? That's wonderful!” Guiche said while rubbing cheek to cheek with his familiar
”Actually I don't think that you could bring it along with us” Saito said in disgust
“That's right Guiche That creature ht?”
“That's right Even though it's slightly bigger that usual, Verdandi is still a ht”
“How are we going to bring it along? We're all riding on horses” Louise said in perturbed fashi+on
“That's all right Verdandi ht, Verdandi?
The gigantic reement
“But we're going to Albion! We can't bring creatures that round!” Louise explained
Guiche, upon hearing that, knelt onto the ground and replied, “I cannot bear the separation with my dear Verdandi Oh! The pain”
At the saiant mole seemed to pick up some scent from its nose and drew nearer and nearer to Louise
“What is this stupidto do!?”
“Like irls” Saito said
“Stop! Stop this right now!”
The giantall over her
“Ah!!! Watch where you're sniffing! Stop it!”
Louise being constantly poked by the giant round All that rolling disheveled her clothes and exposed her underwear Louise was starting to get very annoyed
Saito unconsciously started to be i Verdandi and Louise just as if he was ad a beautiful picture
“Ah How beautiful is the scene of a gianta damsel”
“I totally agree”
Both Saito and Guiche nodded in unison
“Stop blabbering nonsense over there, you oafs! Come over and help me quickly! Ahh!!!
The giantit with its nose
“You insolent hness has bestowed to me!”
“I see now It's the ring Verdandi loves jewels”
“Such an irritating pest!”
“Please don't call Verdandi an irritating pest It's because of me that Verdandi searches for precious stones and jewels For an Earthmore helpful than this”
Just as Louise was preparing to blow her top, a sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere and bleay Verdandi
“Who is that!?” Guiche shouted agitatedly
A rather stout looking noble wearing a feathered cap appeared out of the faint daylight behind him Saito looked rather surprised
“ThatThat person is”
“What have you done to my Verdandi!?”
Guiche hastily took out his rose shaped wand but the noble wearing the feathered cap was faster Before Guiche could cast any spell, his as already out of his hand
“I'hness to accompany you on your journey The princess is worried about just having you few going to Albion, but then again sending a whole troop of soldiers with you will be too conspicuous Therefore, I was appointed to acco off his feather cap and bowing
“I'hts, Viscount Wardes”
The gru Guiche quickly shut hisable to join the Griffin Knights e
Wardes looked at Guiche and spoke apologetically “Sorry for what I did to your fa harassed”
“What!?”
Saito was shocked
“Fiancée?”
“Thisnoble is Louise' fiancée???”
“Wardes-sa up
“It's been such a long time My Louise, my dear Louise”
My Louise??? What kind of joke is that? Saito thought to himself
Wardes approached Louise and with a bea smile on his face, carried Louise up
“It's really been such a long ti red with embarrassment
“Still as light as ever Just like a feather”
“Viscount please don't be like this There are people over here”
Wardes, who placed Louise back down and replaced his hat said, “Care to introduce your companions to me?”
“Erm That is Guiche de Gra at the them to Wardes Guiche who did not dare look at Wardes directly, lowered his head Saito followed suit though a bit unwillingly
Wardes said with a rather surprised look on his face, “Are you Louise' fa a familiar”
“Thank you for taking such good care of my fiancée”
”You're welcome”
Saito took the opportunity to size up Wardes He was indeed handsoh Guiche could also be considered a bishonen hi irrational decisions He could even rub his own cheek with a giant mole
However for Wardes, not only he had the looks His eyes were like that of an eagle – keen and sharp That mustache he had further enhanced his suaveness
In addition he had a ht that all icians would have a body like Guiche, but he was proven wrong Even in hand to hand coic, Saito could be subdued in seconds
Thinking about all that, Saito gave a deep and long sigh Wardes seeing that, approached Saito and gave a pat on his shoulders
“What's wrong? Are you having doubts about this trip? There's nothing to be afraid of! Aren't you the one who caught Fouquet of the Cru is impossible”
Wardes who had finished saying that, gave a broad se of remorsefulness
Is he really that good of a person? I don't think that I can coht I think Louise would beof that has made me alone and empty
Louise, not able to cal restless with anxiety Saito had to turn his head away, he did not want to see Louise that way
Wardes gave a whistle, and a griffin appeared out fro clouds It was a le and a body of a lion And on its back ings that were made up of beautiful white feathers
Wardes had clirace, and then extended a hand to Louise
“Come over, my Louise”
Louise lowered her head in hesitation and bashfulness, just like a girl who is in love This made Saito even more jealous
What does he think he's doing? “Come over, my Louise?” Your Louise!? Your Louise!? What an obnoxious freak!
Saito being a hts to himself and went up to the horse in silence in the end
Louise, as still hesitating, was suddenly carried up the griffin by Wardes
With one hand on the reins and his wand in the other, Wardes shouted, “Well everybody, onwards!”
The griffinfull of ad very down and dejected
Saito thought to hi at the blank sky
How far would it be to Albion?
Fro Saito and group departing for Albion Closing her eyes, she starting praying
“Founder Brihout their journey”
Next to her was Head his nasal hair
“You aren't going to see them off, headmaster Osman?”
“No, as you can see, I'hness”
Henrietta shook her head in disapproval
Just then, someone knocked at the door
“Enter,” said the headmaster
Mr Colbert entered room with an anxious look on his face
“Bad news! Headmaster!”
“You say that quite often What seems to be the problem now?”
“Frouards, Fouquet has escaped!”
“H his beard
“According to the guard as on duty that tiic The person used the opportunity that most of the manpoas diverted to protect the princess to help Fouquet escape! This means that someone inside is a spy! Isn't that bad news?”
Henrietta's face turned pale upon hearing the news
Head him to leave
“Okay Okay We'll hear further details from you later”
After Mr Colbert left, Henrietta placed her hands on the table and sighed deeply
“We have a spy in our s of the Albion nobility!”
“Maybe it is OUCH!” said the head his nasal hair Henrietta looked at him helplessly
“How can you still be so relaxed? The future of Tristain is at stake!”
“The opponent has already made his move All we can do now is to wait, isn't it?”
“Even so”
“It's all right If it's hi their journey”
“The person you're speaking of is Guiche? Or Viscount Wardes?”
The headmaster shook his head
“Don't tell me that person is Louise's familiar How could that be possible?! Isn't he just a commoner?”
“Your highness, have you heard of the story of Founder Brimir before?”
“I have read most of the story”
The headmaster smiled and replied, “Then, do you know about Gandálfr?”
“Isn't that Founder Briest familiar? Don't tell me”
At this point of tied toothe secret of “Gandálfr” he alanted to keep that to hih he trusted Henrietta, he did not want the Royal family to know about it yet
“Yes, he's as strong and capable as Gandálfr and furthermore, he comes from another world different from ours”
“Another world?”
“That's right He coinia Or I should say, froinia I have always believed that this youth from another world will succeed That's also the reason that I' these perilous times”
“Another world different froinia really exists”
Henrietta gazed far away The sensation of the youth's lip still lingered on Henrietta's lips Touching her lips with her fingertips, she closed her eyes, smiled and said,
“Let me pray then, for the breeze that comes from another world”
It would take two days to reach Port City La Rochelle by horse froorge and because of this, it had a sateway to Albion, the number of travelers was ten times more than the local population
Boulders could be seen on both sides of the narrow mountain pathway People had carved holes in the boulders, turning thes looked ordinary, upon closer inspection one could realize that all of thele rock, a feat done by Square ranked earth es
On the narrow street, it appeared to be dark even though it was afternoon due to the gorges blocking the sunlight If one made a turn on the street, they could see an even narrower street leading to a bar
On the signboard rese of wine, the shop's na in the shop resembled its name; the shop was dilapidated like an abandoned house Piles of ruined chairs could be seen piling next to the door
Most of the patrons were gangsters and ht over the s incidents or minor squabbles
Whenever they'd fight, they would fight with their weapons Therefore, it was common to see people dead or seriously injured inside the bar The shopkeeper, not wanting to see any more injuries and deaths, put up a notice inside the shop
“Please use the chairs when you fight in here”
From the notice, the customers could feel the shopkeeper's helplessness So they started to use the chairs instead of their weapons when fighting each other Even though there were still injuries, no one was killed anyot piled next to the door
Today, the “Golden Wine Barrel Bar” was filled with patrons as usual Al from Albion which was in an internal strife
“The king of Albion is finished!”
“Don't thatto start a republic soon?”
“If so, let us offer a toast to the republic!”
The people offering toasts to theht along side with them However, faced with the imminent defeat of their clients, they all decided to retreat back here This was not considered to be a dishonorable act As mercenaries, they valued their lives more than their beliefs, and so they felt that they were not obliged to fight to their death for their clients
As they were drinking, the bar's door opened and a rather tall lady entered the bar The hood the lady wore covered most of her face except for the lower part However, from just the lower part of her face one could already be sure about her beauty As it was rare for such an attractive lady to come to such a place alone, all eyes on the bar were already on her
The lady, unfazed by all the eyes staring at her, ordered some wine and food and sat on a table in a corner of the bar After the food was served, she promptly paid up
“That That's a lot of ht?”
“That includes lodging Do you have any empty rooms?”
An elegant voice replied The shopkeeper nodded his head and left her table Several of the male patrons looked at each other and approached her table
“Excuse erous for you to be here alone”
“That's right! There are lots of dangerous characters around Don't worry though, we'll be here to protect you”
With a vile smile on his face, one of them lifted up the lady's hood Whistles and catcalls could be heard once the hood was removed The lady was quite a beauty, with her beautiful eyes and elegant nose
This beautiful lady was none other than Fouquet of the cru earth
“She's really top notch! Look at her skin! It's as white as ivory!”
Another patron attempted to lift up her chin with his arave a faint smile Another er and placed it on Fouquet's face
“Aren't chairs supposed to be used instead of weapons at this joint?”
“This is only to frighten you Chairs can't intiht? Don't act so innocent anymore, aren't you here to look for company? We'll keep you company then”