With his head down, Akuma followed Brann who was walking confidently through the gates of the royal palace.
One of the guards approaches the duo before he is stopped by another guard. Akuma overhears a bit of their conversation.
"What are you stopping me for?" The guard that at first approached Brann and Akuma asks.
"The man you tried to stop is the king's trusted friend. Don't make a fuss out of it, when he visited last year, you weren't a guard here yet." The other guard replies.
Brann simply walks past the guards.
Akuma follows Brann as he walks into the main hall, there a servant is already waiting. As soon as Brann spots him, he starts greeting him, loudly. "Hey, long time no see, Will!"
At first the servant doesn't react, but when Brann approaches him he gives a polite bow before smiling. "Yes, it indeed as been a long time. Unfortunately, however, his Majesty cannot see you at the moment, due to certain complications he is currently attending a meeting. The meeting should, however, end in a while. Do you wish to wait in the guest room until then?"
"A meeting, huh? That's alright, i still have to go see Simon so this may be a good opportunity." Brann responds.
"I see, i will inform his Majesty of your arrival once his meeting is over, after that i will come for you." With another bow the servant leaves, leving Brann and Akuma alone in a half empty hall.
"So we're going to see the blacksmith first." Brann turns to Akuma, proclaiming their plan.
"Fine by me." Akuma responds as he again catches up to Brann who left him in the dust already.
A few minutes of walking through decorated corridors and steps later Brann and Akuma finally arrive at the site. An ordinary wooden door stands at the end of one of the corridors. Almost feeling out of place, seeing as everything is decorated.
Brann opens the door slowly as not to make a sound. Once he enters he sees a man enjoying his breakfast. [Must be nice. Walking up at 10 am and getting to work even later.] Akuma pouts to himself.
As soon as Brann sets foot in the workshop, he quietly creeps behind the man. [How can Brann even creep around like that?] Akuma asks himself.
Just as Brann is about to scare the poor, unsuspecting man, he speaks up in a tired tone. "You do this every time you visit, do you never get tired of it?" The man asks as he turns around with a smirk on his face.
"Finally! You learned it!" Brann cheers the blacksmith on.
After a few minutes of greeting each other Brann finally states why he came.
"So, besides just drinking i came here to get a weapon." The blacksmith Simon was getting ready to scold for losing or breaking his own weapons before he noticed the two longswords attached to Brann's back, parallel to each other.
"The weapon isn't for me this time." Brann says confidently. "Who is it for then?" Simon asks. In response, Brann only points at Akuma who is looking out od the window, watching the birds fly by and people down in the streets.
Simon sighs as he places his hand on Brann's shoulder completely irritated. "Don't tell me you got a slave or else i'll crush your shoulder like i would an apple." Simon's grip was getting tighter by the second, making Brann spit out everything about Akuma, hiding the color of his Kriya in the process.
After a while the temperament blacksmith calmed down. "I see, i don't get it." Simon proclaims.
Brann in turn, assures him. "Don't worry, you don't need to understand. I just want you to make a weapon that he can use."
Simon nearly jumps out of his seat this time. "So you want to give a kid you found on the side of the road a weapon and expect him to fight? Are you an idiot?!"
The heated discussion continues on with Akuma worrying how it'll end up. At first he wanted to intervene, by lying and saying he asked Brann to get him a weapon, but later he chose not to. Simon apparently knows him very good, so what if Brann is out of those who can't be convinced. That would just spell more trouble for Brann.
After a while the discussion ends with Brann standing at the top. With a frown, Simon looks at Akuma's wrist from a distance before making him come closer to inspect it. Due to the fact that weapons require a lot of wrist movement, custom made weapons have to be extra detailed, as to reflect the wielder. They're also very expensive at most places.
After the inspection and Simon's breakfast is over, he immediately gets to work. A few minutes later a servant comes into the workshop. "Sir Brann, his Majesty requests your presence."
Without many words Brann follows the servant through the corridors with Akuma being right behind Brann.
Just as they are about to enter a large hall, Akuma is stopped by the guards crossing their spears right in front of his face.
Brann seems surprised by this as he turns around. Brann of course defends Akuma "He's here with me, you can let him pass."
The servant's condescending voice explains the situation. "I am deeply sorry, but sir, his Majesty requested only your presence. No one else is allowed to enter."
With a sigh Brann asks the servant to accompany Akuma back into Simon's workshop. To which the servant replies "Most certainly, sir." Adding a polite bow at the end.
The guards lower their weapons as the servant passes by, after which they close the doors to the hall.
"Shall we be on our way, sir?" The servant asks in a neutral tone. Akuma responds only by nodding.
The servant has black hair split in the middle, running down each side of his head and glasses. As a proper servant, he is dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt underneath.
As Akuma follows the servant he gets the idea of striking up a conversation. He is far away from everything he knew, so making some friends wouldn't hurt.
"S-So, what's your name?" Akuma asks, questioning how he could stutter while making a first impression.
"Roland Fullinger, why do you ask?" The servant answers the question with another question. Still, with his expression unchanged.
Akuma has to quickly think of an answer and in a situation such as this, it is best to be simply honest. "W-Well, we're going to be walking for a while so i thought that we should at least talk. You know, to pass the time faster."
Roland looks at Akuma in surprise for a few moments before smiling. "Well, i certainly wouldn't mind a conversation. What do you wish to talk about. Your adventures with Brann of the Great Three, perhaps?"
Akuma looks back in confusion. "Great Three?" He asks.
Roland glances back, partially as confused as Akuma. "Do you not know who the Great Three is? How is that even possible."
Akuma looks back at the ground before answering. "Well, i don't remember anything from before past few days. The first thing i remember is Brann finding me lying in the grass." Akuma lied, of course. But nothing will come out of something this small.
"I see, it must have been rough. You have my sympathies." Roland turns back to look at the path before him. "The Great Three were the three heroes who defeated and sealed the Black Flare nearly fifteen years ago. Sir Brann was one of them."
Akuma slowly processes all of the information given to him. Suddenly, he found out the man he is travelling with one of the strongest men in the kingdom.
As Akuma is lost in thought, he trips over an untucked piece of carpet. The fall itself isn't bad. After all, Akuma managed to damper the fall with his hand. All it did was shake him and his hair a bit.
Almost instinctively, Roland reaches a hand covered in a white glove out to Akuma. "Are you alright?" He asks. Akuma lifts his head, allowing their eyes to lock.
As he reaches out for Roland's hand, Roland suddenly retracts it. "So that was your plan, wasn't it? Become friendly with me so that you could taint me with your cursed blood, hybrid? Am i correct?"
Roland starts to look down upon Akuma. As if he's looking at the lowest of trash. Only now does he realize that Roland must have seen his left eye.
Akuma looks back on the ground, feeling far too afraid to look up.
"Do not fear, i will not tell anyone of your sick plan. Only of course if you leave this instant. You have no place anywhere, not in the Tsukoto kingdoms nor the Nikoto kingdoms. Now, begone." The cold, superior tone is causes Akuma to freeze, infuriationg Roland even more.
"I said get lost you piece of trash!" Roland yells as he kicks the left side of Akuma's face.