"So this is the place you want to venture into first?", Estelle said as two figures arrived in Grancel City's East Block. These two were quite a bit a way from the other three thanks to the running Estelle did. A violet haired boy and a twin tailed brown haired girl could be seen standing in front of a rather fancy building, but with its gates closed.
Further to the south was the main marketplace of Grancel City, while to the direct east was the Grand Arena, which was known for hosting several martial arts tournaments. It wouldn't be a surprise to see several of them hosted today, to which we may even go in to take a sneak peak.
And beyond that to the furthest south was the Calvardian Embassy. Thankfully we were in Liberl, to which Calvard was still LIberl's ally to the east. If we were exploring Erebonia right now, that would be a whole another story. This Calvardian Embassy is a lot more peaceful, to say the least.
But right now, my interest laid in the opposite Embassy, the Erebonian Embassy.
After all, it was where Prince Olivert and Princess Alfin were currently staying at during their stay in Liberl. After hosting that tea party, Prince Olivert had several business meetings to attend to while Princess Alfin was on break from her studies at St. Astraia. They had yet to depart back to Heimdallr, but I promised I would give them at least one day to tour Liberl, especially to Princess Alfin. She was very much looking forward to spending the day with us.
"That's right. I have a couple of friends inside.", I answered, nodding my head.
"Didn't I tell you that we need to stick as a group, Estelle? Cassius would definitely give me an earful if you ended up getting lost in a big city like this one.", Joshua's voice said, only to reveal three figures quickly approaching from the entrance of the East Block.
The moment Estelle heard that, she saw a black haired boy dashing their way with a violet haired girl and a plum haired girl beside him. For some reason, the plum haired girl looked even more tired than she looked a couple moments ago.
Estelle stuck her tongue out at Joshua.
"Blehhh. I have Naoto with me, don't I?", Estelle retorted Joshua as she stuck out her tongue.
"Well yeah, but...", Joshua tried to say as the five of us were now regrouped. He then looked at me. Seeing Joshua do this, I only revealed a smile.
"Haha. It's one thing keeping Estelle in check, but with these eyes of mine, no one can escape me. Did you happen to know that detection is likely my strongest point?", I proudly said. At this moment, I channeled my Mana, which caused Emma to blink at me. The others were not sensitive to Mana as she was, but she could tell where the direction of my channeling went, right into my eyes.
It didn't take long before before a vermillion hue began to wrap around my golden eyes.
"So cool!", Estelle immediately responded, quick to see what had changed and looked right at me.
"Your eyes...", Joshua also said in surprise.
However, perhaps it was due to the hidden pressure from activating my Vermillion Eyes was releasing, but the few soldiers keeping guard in front of the closed gate finally noticed us. Maybe they didn't at first considering we we just kids. It didn't take long before one of them spoke out to us with a stern voice.
"Halt. You kids are approaching foreign territory. We are closed today and are not accepting visitors. Go play somewhere else.", One of the guards said while trying to shrug us off.
"But we need to get inside, don't we...?", Estelle asked, tilting her head a bit.
"I'd say using my eyes would be sufficient enough to enter, but I have a more direct way.", I answered Estelle, which drew everyone's interest, only for me to reach into one of my pockets. It looked normal from the outside, but I reached into my Inventory. Emma looked my way again seeing as she sensed another small fluctuation of Mana again, but no one else noticed. Afterward, I pulled out a token of sorts.
"Would this suffice for our identification? We do have a scheduled appointment here.", I suddenly said, drawing the guards' attention. Before the two could react, I tossed the token I grabbed at the left guard, which depicted a vermillion phoenix on it, soaring into the skies. The left guard blinked at the token for a moment before his eyes turned wide.
"T-This is...!", The left guard tried to say in shock, which immediately drew the other guards' attention.
"What has gotten you so worked up all of the sudden?", One of the other guards said, only to have the couple of others quickly reach his side. The moment their eyes landed on the token, their eyes turned wide too. Thankfully the first guard was quick to act. He looked back up, only to see a violet haired boy smiling back at him while his eyes were curved up into a crescent moon. For some reason, the guard felt cold sweat start to trickle down his back.
"W-We weren't expecting a visitation from someone like you today, Your Excellency!", The first guard said, switching to a sudden respectful tone. "Go present this to Ambassador Crainagh immediately!", The guard continued to say as he gave me a salute. As he did, the other guards took the phoenix token, only to rush back inside.
"Your Excellency?", Joshua tried to ask, only to look at me, full of confusion.
"Didn't I tell you I stayed in Erebonia for a period of time?", I looked back, responding to Joshua.
"You did, but what did you exactly do there to cause a reaction like this?", Joshua asked, still confused.
"Haha, I'll tell you about it sometime. For now, let us go greet them.", I answered Joshua.
"Does that mean we can go inside now?", Estelle asked, ready to head inside. I grabbed her shirt, preventing Estelle from moving.
"It's best to wait for the Ambassador. This is still foreign territory after all.", I said, ensuring Estelle didn't just wander on in.
At this time, we heard the sound of a faint crash further inside, which caused me to chuckle a bit. Before long, we saw the giant villa-like building to open its doors, with a rather pompous figure to come out dashing, slightly disheveled.
"Who was it that presented this to me?", The Ambassador said, trying to catch his breath. Hearing this, I walked to the gate, presenting myself.
"It was me. I apologize for taking some time out of your day. Ambassador Crainagh.", I said, greeting him with a bow. It took a second for him to look, only for him to look down, spotting a violet haired boy now in front of him.
"I...wasn't expecting Your Excellency to be...a child, to say the least.", Ambassador Crainagh said, changing his tone to a polite one. He then held out the phoenix token in his hand. "But this token is the real deal. I am sorry, but you only have me to come greet you today. We do have a couple of guests currently residing in the Embassy though.", Ambassador Crainagh continued to say.
"That is who we are meeting today. Can you take us to them?", I asked politely in return.
"Of course, Your Excellency. We were informed for anyone to present this specific token to us, we are to treat them in the highest regard. Please follow me into the Embassy. I dare say for your...friends to look after themselves.", Ambassador Crainagh said.
"Please leave that to me, Ambassador.", Kloe said, revealing a smile as she approached my side. Seeing Kloe do this, his gaze became distracted and started to observe her. For some reason, he felt familiarity.
"...Strange. Have we met before?", Ambassador Crainagh tried to ask Kloe. She gently shook her head in response.
"No. This is the first time we've met.", Kloe simply answered. Hearing this, Ambassador Crainagh turned back toward me.
"Pardon me for asking, but did you have a sibling, Your Excellency? You two seem awfully similar.", Ambassador Crainagh couldn't help but ask.
"You could say that.", I replied with a smile, but kept it vague. Seeing me not answer him directly, Ambassador Crainagh could only shrug his shoulders a bit before continuing to speak.
"...Very well. Please follow me.", Ambassador Crainagh responded. Thankfully he didn't press any further. I remember he did act rash at times during the sky saga, but he wasn't as bad as Duke Dunan was. While the latter did learn to repent his actions, Ambassador Crainagh showed quite considerable growth during that period as well.
As he started to bring us inside, I turned my head, only to look at Estelle who was to my right.
"Estelle, be sure not to break anything, okay?", I said with a light chuckle.
"Roger!", Estelle responded happily with a raise of her hand. An annoyed look appeared on the Ambassador's face, while Joshua could only shake his head at Estelle in silence.
"...Can we get a break, soon?", Emma uttered softly, who had been moving nonstop since she had left. Her breathing has returned to normal but she could still feel the burn.
I couldn't help but inwardly chuckle hearing that, but we pressed onward, and headed inside the Erebonian Embassy. It was just as fancy looking on the inside as it was on the outside. In fact, its floors resembled that of the Great House mansions back in Erebonia, except on a smaller scale. Instead of the emblem of the Great Houses, it instead had the emblem of the Erebonian Empire, the Stallion.
Estelle wanted to go immediately explore the place, but we were able to keep her in check, and we made our way to the right staircase, leading up to the second floor. We soon arrived to a drawing room of sorts with its door closed on the northeast side of the building.
"Do be mindful that past this door is the room where Their Highnesses are currently using during their stay here at the Embassy, Your Excellency.", Ambassador Crainagh said politely.
"I understand that very well, Ambassador Crainagh. It is why we have come here.", I answered him with a smile.
Hearing that, he nodded, and proceeded to knock on the door.
"Your Highness Prince Olivert, there are people who wish to see you today.", Ambassador Crainagh said, even more politely. It was hidden to them, but the figure who was inside the door revealed a smile before we heard a voice call out to us.
"Let them in. We have been expecting them.", Prince Olivert's voice said, reaching our ears.
"Very well, Your Highness.", Ambassador Crainagh responded, only to gently open the door. As he did, he moved to the side, only to let us in. As we entered, we immediately saw a golden haired man sporting his royal red attire suddenly stretch his arms out sideways, and welcomed us with a glitter in his eyes. To the right at the table, another golden haired girl who seemed no younger than eight or nine years old could be seen wearing a black school uniform of sorts.
Closing the door, the golden haired girl bloomed into a smile and placed her cup of tea down back on the table. She immediately stood up and walked toward us. Unexpectedly, she reached my direction, and gave me a hug.
"Teehee, I knew you would keep your promise.", Princess Alfin said with a giggle.
"How could I not? We were going to show you around Grancel City today. I hope you don't mind that I brought Estelle, Joshua, Kloe and Emma with me.", I answered Princess Alfin. I also received an urge to give her a head pat, so I did. Princess Alfin smiled again seeing me ruffle her hair, but I made sure not to make her black beret fall over.
"The more the merrier as they say.", Princess Alfin said, clapping her hands together, only to look at our group, and welcomed them.
*
Giliath demands your power stones!
The cold steel anime is now underway and is two episodes in. Will I use its content at some point? Most definitely. Just keep a note this anime takes place between S1204-S1206. We still have Sky-Crossbell-Cold Steel 1&2 to get through.