89 Protection II (1/2)

Launcelot shifted in his seat, setting himself for an extended talk. Under his armor-laden frame, the seat protested loudly, but it valiantly held on. One day, Li noted, he would replace all the old and failing things in this house with brand new versions. Although he did have a certain fondness for the disrepair – it added a bit of a rustic sense to the farm and the cottage.

”You are a foreigner, unknowing of the histories of our lands,” began Launcelot.

”I know more than you think. I'm more scholar than farmer, if I say so myself, and I've read up on this land's history.”

Launcelot shook his head, his blonde curls wiggling with the motion.

”What I say has been uprooted from the annals of history.”

”That, too, I already suspected.”

Launcelot raised a brow, and Li continued. ”All I'm saying is, you don't have to treat me like a foreigner. Speak your mind naturally.”

”Very well.” Launcelot's jaw began to set as his eyes narrowed, his mind beginning to wander into the past. ”I lived in the capitol when I was young, for my mother sent me there to receive my education, as all noblemen should. From when I was a boy of ten to a man of eighteen years, I boarded at Veritas, a premiere institution that opened its esteemed gates only to those of noble blood.”

”Interesting,” said Li. ”Veritas?”

He scoured his memory until he happened upon one small little page in the historical texts that Aine owned. It was a little excerpt describing how Veritas, beforehand exclusive to those of noble blood, had been rebuilt from the ground up and opened to anyone capable under the duchess's reforms.

”This duchy was founded in 1020, and if my memory serves me correctly, then Veritas ceased to be a private institution exactly a year after. The first anniversary of the duchy was its re-opening. The math doesn't add up. You're far too young to have attended it. You'd have to be almost thirty.”

”And that, I am,” said Launcelot, smiling a little bashfully. ”Or rather, in a month, to be more exact. I will make sure to invite you to my birthdate celebration.”

Li looked at Launcelot. The man had impeccably flawless skin. A little tanned from working under the sun, for sure, but it showed zero signs of wearing. His features were the very spitting image of youth, sharp as if chiseled out of stone and positively bursting with good-looking healthiness. With how big, almost child-like his smile was, it was easy to think him barely twenty.

”You don't look like it, if you don't mind me stating the obvious,” said Li.

”And I am certain many say the same to you. You do not look a day over twenty, though I suppose it may be partly due to us hailing from such different lands. Though from your actions, your mannerisms, your talk, I sense we are near the same age, no? Though is suspect you are older than me.”

”In a way, you'd be right.” Li had previously been a little over thirty in his past life. Just the right age for him to have worn away the lust for life that burned in his early twenties, right in time for his jaded outlook on his hopeless world to start settling in.

But now, with how fundamentally his mind had altered, there were times he felt immeasurably older.

”For you, it is your wonders of your eastern blood. For me, it is elven heritage.”

”You're elven?”

”Perhaps a little drop of elven blood would be more accurate. The first Lakely, perhaps two centuries ago, was an elven man accepted into human society for his exceptional building talents. He built almost the entirety of Riviera up as well as much of the capitol's wondrous architectural wonders. If you ever stop by the noble estates, then do give the Lakely estate a visit. It is a magical spire of wondrous design that cannot be missed.”

Launcelot spoke with evident pride for his bloodline, though it was quite a curious thing that he was not a builder of some sort if he revered his noble house's talents. Regardless, this was a matter for another time.

”I think I've seen it already, and it does stand out among the rest of the mansions,” said Li. ”But back to your education. I'm assuming something happened to it.”

”My education itself faced no challenges. I graduated from Veritas the year before it closed its gates in. My major is in military tactics, but I do have a minor in engineering, so if ever you need plans drawn up for some ambitious project, then feel free to call upon me.”