Chapter 2: Rumor of the Coast's Guardian
Okami stood there nearly dumbfounded, "So you came from your city, you, a highly respected and high-ranking knight, just for a rumor?!" she was nearly shouting at him, but Nova was completely serious in his approach.
"Listen, I've heard the whispers of this rumor in nearly every town I've traveled to, so it has to have some truth to it, and it's about some power warrior too! I just had to take this chance," Nova quickly glanced around the town, searching for a specific stand, and as soon as he located where he wanted to go, he quickly approached the stand, where the man who was working there greeted him with a smile.
"Sir Nova! What brings you to our humble little town today?"
"Hey Mr. Respota, I'm just here to investigate a rumor, and this lady with me was getting chased by this Scabbard Boa, so I slayed it and thought you might like to sell it at your shop, free of charge."
The shop owner looked at Nova with glee, "Oh Nova, you treat this old man with too much kindness for someone of your status, if you're ever hungry and in town, you can have some free, fresh cuts on the house!"
Nova thanked the man and placed the large carcass behind the man's stand so it could be prepared.
As Nova and Okami went from person to person, Okami was amazed by just how friendly Nova was with all the townsfolk. He treated everyone no differently than anyone else for such an important figure. It was strange to her, but it was quite nice to see.
By the time Nova finished gathering enough information about the rumor, they both went to the town's library, to discuss where he had to go and find where this rumor was most likely taking place, of which there weren't many.
Nova placed the map that showed the many towns, and cities, and it showed the many different settlements, from the biggest kingdoms to the smallest settlements across the lands.
"The most important thing I heard is that the warrior was told to appear when a city was being invaded by pirates, so it's a coastal city," Nova explained as he circled all the settlements on the map which were close to the sea."
"What about this one in the middle of the ocean? It could also be invaded by pirates, no?" Okami pointed out.
However, Nova dismissed the possibility quickly, "No, Atlantis being invaded by pirates is a death wish for the pirates, so it's most likely not there."
The discussion went on for hours, slowly eliminating every settlement, town, and any other populated area they could find. However, each time they whittled down the possible locations, it took longer and longer between each elimination. The last locations shared so many details between each other, that they were nearly carbon copies of each other.
Feeling discouraged, Nova was about to cancel his search and research some more potential fighters, however, he was tapped on the shoulder, and when he looked back, he saw another young lady, probably in her late teens. From what Nova could tell, she was likely of hydros mana descent, as he noticed her cerulean-colored hair.
"Excuse me, Mr. Nova, forgive my intrusion, but I couldn't help but overhear you researching the rumor that has spread all over the town," she asks, seeming cautious, but still inquisitive, "may I ask for what purpose?"
Not believing he had anything to hide he just told her blatantly, "I'm interested in meeting the person who happens to be the subject of this particular rumor, would you happen to know anything more information about it?"
The girl began to sit down at the table, "You could say that, however, I'm gonna need something in return," looking Nova straight in the eyes with a serious expression.
Now beginning to believe the girl had some sinister intentions, as they both locked eye contact, Nova began to use a technique that he was taught while training to become a knight. A minuscule amount of dark blue mana began to emanate from his mind, and as it appeared, it allowed him to peer slightly into the girl's mind. Although he could not completely read minds as if it was a book, he could find enough to know if she was being deceitful or not, Okami looked confused at first, but just as soon as it arrived, the dark blue mana disappeared, and Nova finally responded
"I see you know where this man is living, which is just about the only thing we haven't found out yet, what do you need?"
"Well you see, I just want to know what you plan with him?" The girl looked at him with the seriousness that could rival a war general.
"Well, I just want him to join my team, I heard he has some impressive abilities, so I wanted to see if he'd like to join the newest team that the king of Nexus wants to create, and I thought that if this rumor could reach even Nexus, then it must be worth checking out. So please, any information would immensely help me."
The girl once more gazed at Nova with increasing seriousness, but after a few moments of contemplating his words, and then smiled. "Well, that's all I needed to hear. I don't know why I even had to question you, Sir Nova, you always have only the best of intentions behind you, come with me," she gestured both of them out of the library.
"The person you want to speak to lives in Lazuli, though a fair warning, he prefers to keep a low profile, and he also doesn't speak to many people, especially outsiders, but I'll try and convince him to listen to you."
As she described the mysterious character, they walked towards the town's stables, which held the mounts of traveling visitors, and the lady retrieved her own oceanic stallion, a brilliantly colored, equestrian-like animal who aside from being able ride through both land and sea, sport a massive tail to better swim through the ocean.
"Follow me, Lazuli isn't too far from here, I can carry your companion here though you may need to summon your own mount Sir Nova"
Nova reassured her "Oh there's no need for that, I'll just keep up with your stallion on foot, but I do have one question, how do you know so much on this one rumor when we could only gathered a few scraps of information on them?" He asked.
"Oh, did I forget to mention?" She laughed to herself, realizing what detail she left out completely. "The rumor you're asking about is about my brother!"