My eyes ran over the consecutive series of perfectly placed letters and large words that I had a hard time trying to understand, I glanced over to the pile of paper next to me and let out a huff of frustration. Till now I'd only been pretending to be some well-versed nobleman with the odd name of Clairvoyas along with my servant Flaire who was the actual genius here.
'That son of a bitch Erebore didn't tell me guard division leaders went through all this work, when was the last time I slept!!?'
Slamming the paper I was reading and slouching into the uncomfortable chair I was forced to sit on for hours on end, I went into a state of internal curses directed towards Erebore who'd practically trapped me in the job with a bet over drinks.
'what idiot even makes a bet over drinks.....'
"To think you lost such a bet, we could've been great thieves you know"
Flaire entered the room with a bottle of ale and two glasses which she neatly placed on top of the desk in front of me as she poured for the both of us, she slid one of the cups to me and quickly chugged down her own.
"I can't believe you can even stoop to such levels, knights can't be thieves-"
"To hell with that since when were we knights, hell you don't even have the armor"
I made a sarcastic hurt expression and chugged down on the ale as I grabbed the bottle for another, Completely enticed by the first taste however my elbow accidentally knocked over a few of the papers and a large poster I'd so untidily stacked beside me on the desk. Both curious and bored Flaire picked them up and stopped at the large poster to read it.
"Galehound the sorcerer of...the dead, what the hell is an advertising poster like this doing here.....are you perhaps a fan of this?"
"Of course not, it's some weird traveling preacher who wants to reside here for a while and needs my permission to enter the front gates. He sent me a formal letter and a poster"
Flaire stared at the poster and back at me a few times while stifling a laugh and throwing the paper back onto the desk.
"why would you let him in any way, Foreign religions don't sound like good news to me"
"He's not coming in for free and what Loridea needs right now is money"
Flaire rolled her eyes and poured another glass for herself which she quickly chugged down once more.
"you can be way too in character sometimes"
"I'll just accept that as your first compliment to me"
"Just act yourself no ones here-"
A knock resounded from the door causing Flaire to hurriedly place the glass on the desk and straighten out her red and black robes while readjusting her crow badge as she made her way to the door and answered it with not only a dignified stature but a dignified voice to with it, looking at the spectacle from the third person I truly came to realize where Flaire's frustration was stemming from.
'Constantly switching character is tiring'
Staggering while holding up a silver medallion the size of a fist with my fake name written in gold and the familiar signature right at the bottom, Flaire took the medallion and listened as the soldier wheezed but managed to explain the message by a bird that was sent to the watchtowers with a letter presumably from Erebore ordering to hand over the medallion to me. Proving his claim the soldier handed the letter to flaire who quickly skimmed over it and humbly set the soldier off before quickly clicking out of character and slamming the medallion right on my desk. She leaned onto the desk and crossed her arms in anger.
"tap it idiot he's your problem"
Confused I was just about to tap the item before it sparked red and the voice of Erebore came loud and clear from the medallion causing my frustration to reach new heights as I heard him.
"the jobs been treating you well right?"
"Don't even open up that conversation I never asked for all this work"
"A bet is a bet besides half of what you're doing now doesn't compare to the work you did in the 3rd calamity so why complain?"
I rolled my eyes and clicked my tongue while Flaire carried on happily drowning herself in ale.
"Fuck you and what's even got you in such a happy mood weren't you Yelaine's partner or something?"
Erebore went silent for a while as I'd struck a chord, minutes passed till Erebore answered with a darker tone than before.
"I was wondering what Yelaine would do if she heard of our deaths and I've come to the conclusion that it wouldn't involve wasting herself in some tavern or sulking so I'm at least trying to avoid that"
Taking the bottle of ale that Flaire had drained nearly half of its contents I poured myself a second glass and chugged it down before sighing to pour another, I refrained myself from mentioning the pearl-haired woman who'd come in stating to be her. It seemed impossible her mana flame was pathetic, to say the least along with there being no signs of her being even remotely related to the knight's corps, I frowned a bit in thought as I remembered the woman's devastated expression after I'd mentioned the death of Yelaine's parents however I quickly brushed this away and chugged down on my third drink.
'Besides even if it was her what use is she now? making up a believable and dignified appearance for her and certifying her death at least keeps her honor.....Dam why am I going to such lengths'
"Just forget what I said and explain why the hell you're even calling me at this hour"
"Aha right, I'm on my way back with Leia and Curtis we should be arriving in a few days but there's a favor I'd like to ask from you"
Chugging down another glass I raised an eyebrow at Erebore's sentence.
"A favor?"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NIEL
A swing followed by a sharp dodge and an upwards cut: killing the imaginary enemy in front of me, I panted as my grip on the sword loosened with exhaustion finally taking its effects on me. My arms throbbed in pain so intense that it was soon nullified by the transitioning numbness that led to me eventually dropping my sword onto the emerald grass, Belrog let out a disgruntled yawn while laying sideways as he detested the idea of being brought under the scorching sun with me.
"It's just a little hot today stop complaining"
I said this but I was sweating buckets as I fell onto my knees with my arms dangling by my side unable to move, they were drained to the bone from the excessive cleaning the tavern needed after the celebrations of the night before and the hard torturous training session I was putting myself through for no reason other than habit and to kill time. Thranduil had let me off for a day to simmer down from alcohol after I'd become the largest drinker there last night.
Sighing as I fell on my back with my self-torture far from over, I gritted my teeth fully ready for the pain from feeding my mana flame however whether it was due to my exhausted body or a weird growing tolerance to pain the experience was a thousand times more bearable than usual making refining and feeding the flames less of a challenge.
Hurriedly I checked the state of my mana flame half expecting a little fast progress but the deep blue flickering flame stared right back at me causing a large sigh of disappointment although it was something I should've fully expected but chose to put my hopes up on miraculous luck.
"I wonder what type of affinity I have or will that not change at least?"
The curiosity ate at me however I was rudely interrupted by a ball landing hard on my stomach, grunting in pain a bit I stood upright in search of the source when a group of untidily dressed children came rushing towards me while splurting out an entire list of apologies that I hurriedly dismissed.
"it's fine here's the ball just make sure to watch where you kick it next time"
Smiling as most of the group left except one boy with deep red hair and sky blue eyes stared at me with a seemingly sad expression.
"you've lost someone huh...."
Bewildered at the question coming from a child although refraining a surprised expression I scratched my head while chuckling, searching for an appropriate dismissive sentence however the child started crying and hugging at my arm.
"I see them they're with you, your parents. They're sad for you but happy"
My eyes widened in shock for a split second however I kept the politeness and gently pulled the child off me.
"You should probably go back to your friends now, their probably waiting for you"
"your parent's the-, right sorry for bothering you miss!!"
The child went from crying to wiping his tears confusedly and grinning energetically before leaving with an enthusiastic wave, I sat slightly creeped out but mostly sympathetic to the child.
'could it be trauma?'
*4 hours later*
Activity in the city quickly increased with the arrival of students as most schools were now fully ready for reopening and teaching, children at the average age of 12 and above hurried past with brand new books in hand and beaming faces of excitement while others were far from enthralled. My mind, however, wasn't concentrated on my surroundings, and instead of the words of the red-haired boy from before, I truly didn't want to think much of it but the entire odd scene kept playing in a loop inside my head like a song that you can't seem to forget.
I shook my head a few times but to no avail no matter how hard I tried it stayed permanently etched into my thoughts, frowning slightly I decided to avert my attention to something in the city in the hopes of later forgetting the event only to smash headfirst into the shoulder of someone. Rubbing my forehead a bit I looked up at the figure of a red-suited and top-hatted man placing and replicating few posters here and there on buildings and inn's.
"ah my apologies"
the man smiled and nodded before moving on to a different part of the city to place the posters, curious I ran my eyes over the clad black and red poster to find large bold worlds of "Galehound the sorcerer of the dead" above a man with a vivid crimson and gold suit with.....the same red-haired boy from before with a title of his own as "soul messenger".
'so it was all an act, god I'm gullible"
My worries washed away from me as the constant looping in my head finally ceased however I couldn't help feeling a little curious nonetheless for the place they'd be residing in but instead a phrase labeled location sat there.
"Felto"
Leaving for my comfortable spot with Belrog following close behind as afternoon slowly started ending, We entered the street of Cranborne stopping dead at the sight of a man and woman placing what looked like a lifeless young man on the ground, she sobbed a few times as two red sashed figures bent over the man who sported what looked like knight's armor and kneeled on the floor beside him before scooping him up by the arms and legs and mouthing something I struggled to decipher however it seemed to have stopped the sobs of the supposed parents, walking up the Cavey street I spotted the boy once more however this time in a long pearl white dress above his ankles, he turned back to stare straight at me with an expression void of emotion before turning back and trudging forth.