The time of day was noon, however the Sun was obscured behind some cloud cover, and there was a cold breeze
on a small dirt road, quite the fancy carriage made its way towards the capital after having departed from Carne village. within the car was the new Baron. Arthur Pendragon, seated beside him, were the two members of Blue Rose, Evileye and Lakyus.
The three of them were engaged in conversation, Arthur had finished his business in Carne Village for the time being.
He managed to negotiate with Nfirea and secured him as an employee, having hired the young pharmacist, who would be beneficial to both him as a Baron with territory and as one of the leaders of eight fingers
It's beneficial to his territory in the sense that he doesn't have to buy potions somewhere else or have to pay an exuberant fee for the temple healer to come into his territory to cure people.
That was another thing he wanted to fix when he and Renner took the throne. He needed to stop the monopoly the church had on healers.
On a side note, it seems the magicians guild and the church are having and a feud over the localion he used Excalibur on for the first time, he'll have to use that to his advantage In the future
Back on the Carne village issue, he also needed Nfirea to study the drug black dust more thoroughly.
He wanted to see if the drug could have beneficial effects and it's possible to make it less addictive. This way, it could be ethical to sell it and maybe rebrand its name to realise it.
There was a very fine line between poison and medicine, after all. Maybe he could even have Nfirea create a vaccine for certain diseases, although Arthur's knowledge on stuff like that was shallow, so it may take a while
He appointed Enri Emmot as his representative since he can not always be there, and He needs someone to rule in his place.
The old village chief was apparently not willing to take the position again, so since in the og she was made chief, he thought why not repeat that.
"You cannot be serious!"
Evileye stated, questioning the legitimacy of the story Arthur was telling them.
"I kid you not, Zeus was one hell of a God, him turning into rain is hardly the worst thing he has done to have sex"
Arthur said, and Evileye could not help but shake her head in disbelief. She wasn't much of a believer in gods and hardly thought about such things, however Lakyus was different.
"what kind of God is this Zeus, isn't he supposed to be a wise God king, looking out for the mortals and ensuring their continued prosperity"
"Yes but remember gods are their own people. Why should they conform to your idea of what a god should be after all you aren't a god"
Evileye countered Lakyus's statement, and Arthur concurred with her.
"But they're gods, they have a responsibility to care for mortals and protect them?"
Lakyus reasoned.
"well to an extent you're correct but thing of this way, just because you're parents have a responsibility to take care of you doesn't mean that they will and even if they do they might not do a good job or you might not want them to"
Arthur said as much and seemed to enter a state of contemplation before nodding to his words.
"I suppose you're right, but that still doesn't mean they shouldn't be responsible, especially since they know better and have more power"
"that's a bit hypocritical, isn't it Lakyus?"
Evileye questioned, and Lakyus understood what she meant. After all, Lakyus herself ran away from her home to pursue her dream of being an adventurer despite the supposed better judgment of her parents.
"I personally think it's fine to be a little hypocritical. You can never be perfect besides. In your case, your father still wishes to see you"
"He does?"
She asked, turning her Head up to look at him, she was certain that her father only let her use the family name because he didn't want to completely disown her but she was sure he didn't want anything to do with her.
"Yeah, at that's what it seemed like"
"But I betrayed his expectations and ran away from home without ever talking to him. I acted selfishly and did things for my own self-interest. How can he want to see me after that?"
She informed, her father had great expectations for her.
Azmith wanted his daughter to become the pillars of the Re-estize kingdom and help the country, and he did everything to instill good values and morals into her.
Yet she threw all that away just to become an adventurer? How could he not be mad at her?
"Do you hate being an adventurer?"
He asked, from what she was saying, it seemed like she didn't like the current lifestyle she was living, but of course, he knew that wasn't the case.
"of course not, I get to help people and contribute to kingdom's safety and I have my friends too and I get to live the life I want for myself so I don't hate it, it's just I feel bad for betraying my father's expectations"
She stated with a downtrodden. Look on her face. Her voice was subdued, and she felt guilty about the whole thing.
"That's true, however, that just how you feel, you don't know if he's actually mad at you for it"
Too many people tend to make conclusions about other people without ever actually talking to those people, and that always leads to misunderstandings and sometimes resentment.
Never overlook the importance of communication and dialogue. Understanding and acceptance are what ultimately lead to peace.
"How can he not be?"
"You'll never know unless you speak to him and besides Even if he is mad at you, I'm here to support you, your friends are here to support so it's fine I've got Your back"
He explained as he patted her back just lightly and gave her a nice smile.
Lakyus could not help but feel a nice warm feeling in her chest as she realised that Arthur was quite the nice guy, she couldn't help but like him more.
"Thanks but aren't you my friend, though? Why did you exclude yourself"
She asked curiously.
"Well I'm just saying I could be more than a friend"
He said while giving her a smile, and Lakyus turned her face away from him, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.
"I'm right here, you know"
Evileye stated with a deadpan. Her face wasn't visible, but her tone conveyed it well, and that only further caused Lakyus to be embarrassed.
"And?"
He asked, returning the deadpan back to her
"aren't you literally engaged to Renner?"
"Yes I am"
Arthur did not deny her question, and besides, she couldn't prove anything.
"Then why are you flirting?"
"Was that flirting?"
Once again, Evileye gave him a deadpan look, however this time, she didn't say anything, but her masked face could clearly convey it.
Nobody said anything for a full minute, creating a very awkward atmosphere, at least to Lakyus it felt that way, so she decided to speak up.
"you didn't finish she story"
She informed before their conversation got slightly derailed. He was telling them the story about how Zues impregnated a woman by becoming golden rain.
"Oh right, after that…."
Arthur continued, and Lakyus smiled just slightly as she intently listened and enjoyed his company.
.....
A/N: thoughts on the chapter? Anything out of place or rushed? What do you think of the interactions?
I thought I'd deepen the relationship between Arthur and Lakyus and Also, the lemon between Arthur and Renner is coming, but I need to make them more intimate first and slowly progressing towards it.
8 chapters ahead on patreon
Got some other stuff on there too.