Giliath demands your power stones!
*
Later that night.
At the Schwarzer Mansion.
Rolling grey clouds drifted in the skies above. Despite being in the start of the summer, Ymir was known for it to snow all year round, and it was forecasted to snow today. Those who were still out and about could see their breaths escape from their mouth.
Yet no one seemed to complain about the cold weather today. In fact they wore smiles as they looked up into the grey clouds. It didn't take long before the first snowflake started to fall. After all, it was summer now. The chances of snow was far less, so Ymir's residents were happy to see the snow start to fall. A bit of romance swept around its atmosphere for the couples out and about, only for them to hold hands seeing the snowflakes.
At the same time, all of the lights could be seen lit up inside the Schwarzer Mansion. A warm and festive mood echoed the halls as many figures could be seen inside the dining area on the first floor. Despite not being a holiday, several guests were currently at the Schwarzer Mansion, as they were invited by the Lord himself after arriving from the Eight Leaves One Blade School further up north.
The busiest room of the mansion was of course the dining area on the first floor. Several figures sat in chairs with several kinds of dishes laid out before them as each one grabbed different foods to put onto their plates or bowls. Among the dishes stood two or three larger pots consisting of different kinds of meats and vegetables stewed together in a bubbling broth of a hotpot. It was a similar meal to the Valestein residence further up north, but it was easy to tell the differences between the two sets of dishes presented.
Among the figures present, an aged short brown haired haired man could be seen be seen on the right end of the table at its head. At the other end sat a twelve year old violet haired boy. He was no longer dressed in a casual outfit, but donned his purple and white robes with a phoenix crest embedded on it. Likewise, A purple haired girl sat beside him on one side with a plum haired girl on his other side. Another similar crest could be seen as the violet haired girl wore a semi-formal dress to tonight's dinner. This crest was in the shape of a bull compared to a phoenix, denoting them belonging to the Rogner Estate.
Those of the Eight Leaves One Blade School who sat in the middle part of the table felt a hidden pressure being released from both sides, perhaps due to their current stature, but they tried to pay it no mind as they grabbed food onto their plates from the available dishes. Once everyone was satisfied with what they had on their plates, everyone saw the violet haired boy raise a glass that had a red drink of sorts with one of his hands, obviously non-alcoholic this time.
"Once again, I do apologize for dropping in like this, Lord Teo. I thank you for gracing us with your presence at your home.", I began to say, only to look at Angelica. "You are too, right Lady Rogner?", I asked Angelica. She happily nodded her head with a smile as she responded.
"Yes. It is always nice for us nobles to have a get together like this every so often. The food presented tonight also looks scrumptious. Thank you for inviting us, Baron Teo.", Angelica also said in response to my words. Hearing us two say that, a brief defeated look appeared in Teo's eyes before he replied with a laugh.
"Haha, Master Kafai was the one to bring you guys along. If you are considered acquaintances of Master Kafai, you are to us as well. So there is no need to stand on ceremony regardless of your background. Still, even if he didn't, it's not like I can go against two of the Great Houses. Otherwise the others would berate me like no tomorrow.", Teo responded with a laugh.
"You really are a Duke then? Even father is only a Baron.", Rean said with a hint of amazement in his tone back at me.
"That's right. But I don't partake in many activities as the other Great Houses do. Besides, I don't spend a lot of time in Erebonia, considering where I currently hail from.", I answered Rean with a nod.
"Right. What's that Auslese thing about?", Shizuna decided to ask. "The name is familiar but I can't put my finger on it.", Shizuna continued to say. Hearing that earned a chuckle from Master Kafai.
"Hoho, that is because His Highness is currently in line to ascend Liberl's throne as its Crown Prince. It does beg the question as to why you wound up here of all places though.", Master Kafai said as glint of light streaked across his eyes while he rubbed his beard a bit. At the same time surprise appeared in the other's eyes.
"A prince? Really?", Anelace's eyes beamed as she said that.
"It's not like I was trying to hide it, but let's just say I'm currently enjoying an excursion so to say. It's almost over though. I still have a couple years before starting school back in Liberl. But if you guys really want the specifics, you can ask Lord Teo here later.", I answered everyone, keeping my travelling vague for the moment. I truly did not have many stops left after visiting Roer and Ymir. After wrapping up business here, I plan to return to Grancel Castle and spend some time there.
After all, it has not been long before I received contact from a certain someone I knew. It seems like they were doing well in Leman State. I wanted to be back in Grancel Castle as it seems they were going to be doing a test run of some new equipment they will be setting up soon in a certain cultural hub. That's right, I had received contact from Tio as she studied hard at the Epstein Foundation. And the equipment they were going to test was the Orbal Network to be set up in Crossbell next year.
Originally, Tio wasn't supposed to even enter Epstein Foundation until S1201, but they had already seen how her genius worked, and was successfully recruited by them. Ever since we parted ways back in Calvard, she has been studying there. Hopefully it will give her a chance to shine to those crazy scientists there. And speaking of them, is that asshole professor currently there?
Either way with that said, I saw Lucia reveal a smile before she started to speak.
"So it is like that. Even I found it hard to believe that you were that young boy presented by His Majesty back then. Both my husband and I were present among the other nobles of the Great Houses then. It was quite hard to see you from that podium since we were quite a ways away.", Lucia said.
"Hehe, hard to believe you're that same boy in the chair beside me now, Naoto.", Angelica also responded.
Yet Rean blinked his eyes as he looked back at Teo.
"You've met Naoto before, father?", Rean asked with interest.
"Yes, but not personally. It was as Lucia said. This is the first time we have interacted since. But that's enough of that. This meal is for you guys tonight, so let us give a toast.", Teo said as he also raised his glass.
""Cheers!"", Everyone present said. After everyone said that, they all took a gulp of the glass they held, and dove right into their meals. The snow outside kept falling down outside the open windows, allowing to observe the falling snow should one want to see it. Before everyone realized it, we all had our bellies stuffed with another delicious home cooked meal presented by Rean's mother.
It was now well into the night now. The plan was to use the guests room at Rean's house to rest for the night while Master Kafai would return to the dojo in the morning and for us to use the hotsprings then. However, after dinner finished, I received an unexpected invitation to visit and have a small chat with Elise Schwarzer, Rean's younger sister.
It seemed she wanted to speak with me alone, so I told Emma and Angelica they could hang out for the rest of the night before I made my way toward Elise...