Giliath demands your power stones!
Don't forget to vote in the poll!
*
Unbeknownst to me, several Bracers and aspiring Bracers have gathered in the guild, talking about the current happenings around them.
As for me, however, the shock still remained after finding out that Tamamo could speak the human tongue. She did hang around Celine, Emma and Rose a lot so it was bound to happen, I just didn't think it would happen so soon. Aside from that part, I do know familiars in the Trailsverse do have the potential to achieve human forms too, such is the case with Celine.
When I looked over Tamamo's panel, I did not see such an ability. If she's trying to hide even that, she's doing a pretty damn good job at it, or she hasn't managed to achieve it yet. Sadly, as much as I wish I could hear more of Tamamo speaking, she seemed to be pretty shy about it. The moment Ennea, Kloe and Angelica came dressed out of the shower, they immediately spotted me next to Tamamo, and could see Tamamo was acting a bit down.
"Is everything alright with Tama?", Kloe asked as it was quite rare to see the little fox behave like this.
"Haha, it's alright, if anything it might be something to look forward to. Isn't that right, Tama?", I said with a playful grin.
"Kyuu...", Tamamo replied, containing a hint of embarrassment in her tone.
"I still find my own curiosity with this creature. This fox behaves very similarly to that cat that was always with Emma, but you two would never go into the specifics. I for one have never seen a fox get along so well with a human. Tama here isn't a dog or cat you know.", Angelica said, placing her hand over her chin.
Hearing that, I smiled.
"I'll tell you about it someday. Given enough time, I'm sure you'll find the place of interest on your own. I do wonder if a certain someone has managed to achieve that feat yet.", I mused, thinking of the challenge Emma and I gave Lechter. If he did take it seriously, he's probably still searching for Eryn Village, or that he gave up and now is taking his studies seriously, haha!
"Well, as long as Tama is still fine overall, I don't see an issue to worry about it any longer.", Kloe responded with a nod of her head. "But you should go freshen up, Brother. You are meeting someone today, are you not?", Kloe asked with interest.
"Are you now?", Ennea also asked me as she looked my way, only to cause me to nod my head.
"That's right. Don't you worry though, we'll be departing shortly after I meet with this person. They did take time out of their schedule, on top of travelling here. It's in regards to this guy.", I said, only to go back to my desk, and picked up my combat orbment.
"They aren't even from here?", Angelica asked.
"Yeah. They're locals from Zeiss. But I bet you guys have heard of them. The Russell Family. It is said that even the Grandfather is one of Epstein's founding disciples.", I explained a bit.
"You're abusing your power, aren't you?", Angelica retorted me as she squinted her eyes the moment she heard that.
"Hey, I had a favor owed me. That's all. Decided to make use of it. Or did you forget what Professor Schmidt said?", I retorted back, which caused Angelica to giggle at me.
"Ahh, there was that, wasn't there? But I thought the Russells hated that Schmidt guy. Couldn't see eye to eye or something? I guess he takes owing favors pretty seriously.", Angelica mused.
"You aren't wrong there. It's quite known for the two to argue on every matter they try to discuss seriously. It is unfortunate, but Professor Russell couldn't come, so they sent his daughter in place. But she had just enough experience, if not more to work on this orbment.", I explained the situation.
"So that's how it is. Are you sure there isn't any risk though? This is passed down from Auntie, after all. You would be sad if it got destroyed, right?", Kloe asked, frowning a bit.
"There is always a risk, but it's something I'm willing to take. But if she down right says its impossible, then I'll only have to give up. But for now, we'll see what she says. But before that, I got something to show you guys.", I continued to say. Before deciding to go take a bath, I created some space from the desk, making sure there was enough room.
Before the three could react, I opened my Inventory. It was time to pull out all of those Reward Boxes I have piled up over the years from the Quest rewards. Seeing my hand not stop moving, their eyes became a bit wide, seeing various colored boxes start piling up into a tiny mountain.
"...What is all this, Brother?", Kloe asked, still surprised seeing this mountain of loot boxes now.
"Heh, didn't I tell you guys to be in a gambling mood? These are loot boxes. I'll tell you all about it sometime. Rose knows, you all will come to know it eventually too. It just takes time explaining, to which we don't have right now since Ennea and I need to head out after meeting the Russells. Ines should be ready too, right?", I asked, only to look at Ennea again.
"Yes, Young Master. You allowed Ines to stay in one of the guest rooms in the castle, she should be up by now. Hopefully you meeting this person won't take too long. The Garden is on the move, so we need to make sure they don't launch an attack.", Ennea said in a serious tone.
"Got it. I'll go freshen up and ask Julia to see if the person has arrived yet.", I said, only to look back at Tamamo. "Come too Tama.", I urged her.
"Kyuu!", Tamamo happily replied, only to jump off the bed. The two of us quickly made toward the bath, and we got freshened up. However, after spending time in the bath, Kloe decided to go ahead and ask for me. I came out feeling refreshed for the day. Instead of Julia, we saw Hilda, who could only stare in surprise at the large pile of boxes further into the corner, but she didn't ask about it.
"I see that you're here, Hilda. Is Julia busy with her military exercises?", I asked Hilda, who remained with a couple maids at the entrance to our private quarters.
"That's right, Your Highness. We do apologize, but we've come to inform you that your visitor has successfully arrive in the reception area. It seems....they brought a guest of their own. We do hope that is alright.", Hilda said, which drew my interest.
"Erika Russell brought in a guest?", I asked with interest, which caused Hilda to nod her head. I wonder who it could be, perhaps a fellow engineer to assist her should the task prove successful? Thinking that, Kloe was now wearing a formal frilly dress, as did I with a regal robe. It wasn't the Phoenix robe, since I was currently in the castle. I had a second robe with Liberl's crest on it. For receiving visitors, one had to play the part right? We can't be casual for every person we come across.
With that thought, I grabbed my combat orbment, and tucked it away inside my robe. Ennea and Angelica knew this visitation was serious, so they decided to call in a couple maids to make them some breakfast and hang back while Kloe and I departed for the terrace. Ennea also took this time to ask a maid to go ask Ines to join them, since we'll be leaving after this.
Hilda could feel the pressure that I was currently releasing acting as the Crown Prince for once, but she couldn't help but smile. She was the head maid for a reason, she's experienced not only in being assigned to me, but also to Kloe's Father, and Grandmother as well. She is quite professional in her work. To which I could only have respect for. She did appear annoying to Estelle the moment Estelle first met her, but she still did her job well.
As for us, we enjoyed the morning breeze over the terrace, before making our way to the second floor of the main room. The kitchen was right below us, and two arching staircases could be seen on both sides. We could see two figures in the distance. The moment the two of us arrived, the figures tensed up a bit.
It didn't take long before we saw two figures. An aged blonde haired woman who was in her engineering uniform, but the unexpected part was the smaller figure who was with her. She was quite young compared to her, but aside from the longer hair, she looked as if see was a miniature version of Erika Russell, donning her own engineering outfit of sorts. She also had those goggles on her head. And when this small girl saw us arrive, she became flustered.
The aged woman became happy seeing her daughter flustered as the two of us arrived, but she still gave us a small bow.
"It is nice to meet you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, and Your Highness, the Crown Princess. On behalf of the Russell family, thank you for giving me a chance to work inside the castle. It's not every day an engineer gets called into this place.", Erika politely said, giving us a smile as she welcomed us.
"Haha, it is no problem. You can ease it up on the honorifics, you're a guest here after all, Miss Erika. Still, I didn't think you would have such a cute daughter.", I replied with a smile.
"Right? Tita is just a world of cuteness. I could show you her pictures if you want, Your Highness.", Erika immediately retorted as her eyes started to beam.
"M-Mom, quit it...", Tita replied, already feeling embarrassed at her mother's remark. But it appeared as if she was used to her banter like this. Hearing this still caused Kloe to giggle.
"Hehe, regardless, it is nice to meet you two. Hopefully you'll be able to work on with what we'll request today.", Kloe said, welcoming the two.
"There's only one way to find out. But Tita, you should introduce yourself. They are Liberl's royalty.", Erika said, urging her daughter.
"R-Right. It is nice to meet you two, Your Highnesses...", Tita responded, still feeling shy and shock seeing the two of us in front of this small girl. She seemed to be no more than nine or ten years old. At the start of the sky games, she was only thirteen. She was one of the younger girls, almost as young as Renne.
Still, I welcomed them. After all, this was Tita Russell, one of the main playable characters in the sky games. There's no doubt we would often cross paths once sky's story begins in a couple years, but I didn't think I'd get to meet Tita so soon.