Next chapter. This one focuses on Karin, so its just a tad more serious. The POV switches back to Marianne after this chapter, so its back to comedy then.
Karin loved her friends. While she would likely never say those four words out loud so long as she lived, it didn't change that they were the closest people she could consider family right now. God knows her own family would never approve of her antics right now and would rather she dress herself up like some doll in order to attract the attention of a prospecting fiance. Her friends were the only one who stood by her, though she still felt somewhat wary about telling them her secret.
It would come in due time, she supposed. She was a growing girl still going through puberty and, while Centurion was an idiot who couldn't identify a girl even as he was groping her chest, she was slowly but surely going to mature at some point. She would have to start binding her chest soon if she continued to grow at the rate she was going now, although she had to find a way to- No, she was getting off-track. The final point of the matter was that her friends were the few people she would be willing to risk her life for and they for her.
So why did she feel the sudden urge to murder them right now?
"This...is the Enchanting Nymphs inn?" Karin twitched, forcing her voice to remain level as she was sorely tempted to take out her sword-wand and blow apart the three idiots, "This is what you three thought would be a good welcome-back venue? This..." She couldn't even find a word to describe the atrocity in front of her. It was just too much.
The building looked normal enough from the outside: A small but sturdy foundation made of wood, a few decorations and signs here and there - Nothing out of the ordinary. When the pink haired knight had first seen it she assumed it was a simple inn that had a signature dish or two that distinguished it from the rest. She hadn't seen Barkus' supressed grin as she led the way inside.
The first thing she had seen inside were bunny ears. This was quickly followed by low cut tops, frilly dresses, and much more risque choices of clothing that would no doubt have gotten this fic banned considering its current T rating if it was described in full. Karin's eyes widened into dinner plates at the sight and she forced herself to stop looking, lest her eyes become branded with the horror in front of her. She needed to focus on something else.
Like killing a certain three idiots with a tornado spell.
"Hey, calm down, Karin," Centurion placated, stepping between her and Barkus, "I'm sure this isn't like the place you got dragged to last, alright? So calm down before start a scene again."
"Don't act like you're not at fault here," She snapped back at the monocle wearing fallen noble, "It was your idea to come here in the first place, or did you forget" The ashen knight sweated at his younger compatriots accusation and back away, "Wasn't it bad enough that you three dragged me into a brothel? Thanks to you I nearly...did something I regret," She cut off quickly. No reason to tell the others that she nearly had her virginity forcibly taken, "And now you're doing it again!"
"Hey, this isn't a brothel" Barkus cut in quickly, "It may look like this, but there's no sex or other things like that. The owner here takes care of all the girls and there's a rule that any customer that tries to force a girl to do anything gets immediately kicked out. This is just an ordinary inn, so relax," The glare Karin gave him made it abundantly clear she didn't buy the explanation, "Look, how long are you going to hold the brothel thing against us? I'm already paying for this out of my own pay and we're doing this to welcome you back from that week long mission you had. So stop being so angry and just smile for once."
"Right!" Rancis agreed, "This inn provides a service, but there is no doubt that the maiden's in this fine establishment are pure of heart and innocent!"
"...Fine," Karin forced herself to smile, although her lips quivered from the effort. She still wanted to cast a tornado, "I'm doing this because you're paying for everything. Its not like I'll get to spend much time with you three over the next week anyway," She supposed that she would be spending the next week throwing off the amorous advances of a certain princess. She sighed. Life always found a way to mess with her.
Barkus was the one to lead the way. Judging by the smiles and greetings some of the customers had given him, he was a regular at this place. She rolled her eyes; of course the big lug would be a regular here. He probably spent most of the week she was gone going here rather than actually doing his job. One day she would put him and Rancis through a training regiment and then they would fear slacking off.
Karin quickly found that their little group had become the center off attention. As they made their way to their table near the back of the store, many of the waitresses - though they certainly didn't look like any waitresses she'd ever seen before - began eying all of them. It made sense, in a way: They were dressed more finely than the other customers and she carried with her the cape of a chevalier. A group of knights would garner more attention than a worker from the docks.
What caused her to shudder, however, were some of the stares the serving staff had thrown her way. While the princess was obviously smitten with her, the looks she had given her had a sense of purity and innocence about them. They were devoid of those, filled with other things: Curiosity, want and many other things she didn't want to think about. She shivered and wrapped her Chevalier cloak tighter around herself. One of them had looked her up and down and she could have sworn her gaze lingered just a bit too long on her rear.
If these girls were innocent, then she was a duchess.
"We're here," She quickly grabbed onto the nearest seat and sat down. Centurion sat next to her and immediately opened the bottle of customary wine sitting on the table. Barkus and Rancis sat across from her and began to call for one of the serving staff. She sighed in relief. She should be at least safe so long as she kept sitting with her friends. If there was one thing she learned from spending time with her friends, it was that people were reluctant to approach them when they were in a group.
Karin kept quiet and let Barkus order; he was the 'expert' here, after all. Centurion was already drinking, though Karin chose not to chide him this time. They had found 'Noir's' body in an alley a week prior and he was still coming to terms with moving on from her death. And if he had to drink to do it, she would let him...for now. He would need to stop at some point. She preferred milk to alcohol any day.
"So how did you find out about this place?" She asked Barkus.
"Huh? Oh, I just stumbled into it, I guess," He laughed awkwardly and Karin gave him a skeptical look, "...Alright, you got me. Truth is the owner of this place found me and helped me out when I got too drunk one night. Took me here and let me sleep in when most people probably would have robbed me blind. I became a customer after that and I even got a discount."
"One night? More like every night," She jibed sarcastically, "Anyway, the owner of this place helped you?" He nodded, "Alright, then I guess this place can't be all bad. Are we going to be meeting this mysterious mademoiselle you keep talking about?"
"Uh...yeah, probably in-"
"Oh, Barky~!"
Karin turned to the source of the voice and nearly fell of her chair at the sight of the figure running towards their table. The first thing she noticed was purple - A lot of purple. This was quickly followed by her deducing that said purple was the fabric of the tight shirt clinging to said figures chest. She looked down and noted grimly that their muscular legs were covered with nothing but a pair of boots and shorts that covered absolutely nothing except their buttocks. Really, who would be shameful enough to wear...
...
Well at least she wore stockings!
Now, this attire would no doubt be appealing if it was a voluptuous teenager wearing this. Or given some of the age of the clientele around here, even an older woman could be found attractive in such an attire.
Problem: The person running to them was undoubtedly a male. And an older, muscular one at that. And an older, muscular one at that. She bet that he could overpower the some of the knight recruits she'd seen around the barracks. The recruitment standard had been slipping a lot lately.
"Jeez, Barky, why didn't you tell me that you were coming to visit" Rancis nearly vomited as the unknown gentleman pouted and wiggled his backside. He had seen a lot of things, but that right there was horrifying, "I would have asked the girls to prepare for special treatment! Its not every day that we get knights!" He eyed all four of them. Rancis tried hard to keep calm, Karin was looking down at her clothes, and Centurion was already into his third cup. Karin noticed that his gaze seemed to linger on Centurion a bit.
"Ahahaha, sorry about that, Amau-"
"Oh, nonono!" He interrupted the large knight, "Don't call me by that cursed name! While I'm here, everyone calls me Mi Mademoiselle! Right?"
"Right...Mi Mademoiselle," If Karin wasn't so much in shock, she would have been laughing at how her normally headstrong friend was being cowed by a man wearing short-shorts, "Well, we didn't really plan to come here, actually. You see, our friend Karin just came back from his mission and we thought that it would be a good idea to treat him to a night here. That's all."
"A friend-"
Karin shook her head and stood up from her seat. She needed to get out of here before she got questioned by the flamboyant male. She was stressed enough as it is and she didn't need more things getting to her head.
Karin sighed and leaned back against the wooden wall, looking up at the red and blue moons dotting the night sky. She had wanted to spend time with her friends, but she wanted to do that.
"This place ridiculous," She commented aloud.
"You're telling me," Another voice joined her, "I can't believe this place is still running."
She looked to the side and found a male sitting down against the wall a few feet away from her. He looked young, possibly no older than twelve or thirteen, and was dressed in clothes that indicated that he was a commoner: A patchwork brown tunic, a pair of dark pants and some rough shoes. There was nothing physically unique of note about him save for the dark hair and the slightly tanner skin he sported.
"Why are you so surprised?" She called out to him.
"Why? Because of that idiot inside," He clicked his tongue and grabbed a rock before throwing it against the wall of the alley frustratedly, "Running around dressed like a woman, trying to act like he's not a guy anymore just because his wife's sick. Its disgusting, and because of it rumors are starting to spread about this place being heretical. Its so troublesome.
"I admit that he has issues," She started out slowly, "But maybe you should lighten up on the judgement. We all do a lot of things to keep our careers," She knew that more than anything else. She looked down at her Chevalier cape again before a brief smile played on her lips. She had earned this. Despite her gender and fallen house, she earned the right to be called a true knight.
"Issues?" He turned to face her and gave her an incredulous look, "He's running around dressed like a woman and keeps telling people to call him 'Mi Mademoiselle'," He chucked another rock, harder this time, "He's a father and he's acting nothing like it. What kind of kid looks up to a father who acts like that?"
"A father? That guy?" She wasn't one to judge, but that was more than slightly unbelievable. She had a hard enough time believing that the man had a wife, let alone a child, "Forgive me for saying, but that seems unlikely."
"...Well, I suppose its no secret," He sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I'm his son," Karin raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "I don't blame you for not believing me. I don't believe it myself sometimes. Ever since mom got sick he's been acting like that. He told me that it was because he didn't want me to live without both a mother and a father, but all he's doing is embarrassing me. None of the other kids want anything to do with me now that father's acting like that and all of the adults talk behind our backs, saying that I'm going to grow up just like him and that our family's doomed. I'm embarrassed of my own father."
"Sounds bad," She wouldn't really know. She'd cut contact with her own family for a while now and she was always distant with her parents. Her older sister was always slightly abusive and the last word she had told her upon their parting was that her dream was impossible. No goodbye's, no promise of reunion: Just a warning and a sneer telling her that she would fail. Guess she showed her.
"I suppose," He stood up and dusted himself off, "I'm going to get out of here before my dad finds me again. Goodbye..." He paused. He never actually found out the name of the person he was talking to.
"Karin," She introduced herself, "My name's Karin. What about you?"
"Scarron," He smiled at her before leaving, "See you."
When Karin returned inside, she wasn't even surprised to see that only Centurion was remaining on the table. She looked around briefly and found Rancis in another table, surrounded by admirers as he recalled the tale of Estashu's betrayal and his role in stopping him. Barkus was sitting in another table, although he was drinking with another girl who was giving him a longing stare. Pure and innocent maiden's her arse.
"Too much to drink again?" She pulled up her seat and smirked at Centurion, the older knight giving her an unfocused look in return, "Don't you think you've had enough? Drinking isn't going to help you forget about her forever."
"...t'helps," He poured another glass and gulped it down quickly, "I still don't understand her. She summons an Undead horde to attack a village and kill everyone inside, and then they just find her body in a back alley?" Another glass and another gulp, "Its...its hard to believe. I was ready to run away with her and then I killed her...I killed her because I was careless."
Karin frowned and patted the top of his head lightly. Drinking was Centurion's way of trying to forget his problems, but he was improving lately. She owed Centurion a lot and she would do a anything to try and make sure he go through this. Her senior knight deserved it after everything he did and risked for her. Saving her was the equivalent of turning back on the state and yet he had done it anyway. She owed him at least this much.
"Karin..." She nearly squeaked as Centurion wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, "Karin...I'm glad you're back..." She blushed before shaking her head roughly. He was just drunk. Drunk and reminiscing- He just pinched her butt! She grit her teeth and took deep, calming breaths. Centurion needed a friend, and she had no business thinking about romance now that she was a knight. She needed to calm down!
By the Void, she shouldn't have been thinking about romance at all! It wasn't like she had an interest in anyone! She closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from thinking of her fellow knight...which did little to stop her from thinking of the princess. God damn it all, she wasn't looking for a relationship! The princess had been popping into her mind recently. She remembered her promise to protect her. The young monarch had made a promise to help her people and Karin would try to help her. She didn't think of the princess because he found her beautiful or charming. Not at all.
"My, my. What do we have here?" Oh no, it was Mi Mademoiselle, "I never imagined knights would be so...bold," She twitched as the cross-dressing owner faked a swoon, "Just imagine it: Two knights, trapped in a forbidden romance, aware that society will never accept them! Truly a romance for the ages!" She twitched even more when she saw some of the serving staff pointing at the drunk Centurion and her. What were they whispering about!?
"No...no, its not like that," Just one push and she would have summoned a heavy wind to relieve her frustration, "Centurion is-"
"Dear, I understand!" He interrupted her, "We all have our own tastes, right? Why, just last week I met-"
"I don't have weird tastes!"
She snapped, and it was over in an instant. None of her fellow knights could even shout out a warning to everyone before a heavy wind surrounded the small pinkette, "Sweet mother of-" Whatever Rancis was about to say was blocked out by the sounds of screaming. Karin felt the wind blow around her and take Centurion with it before she forced herself to calm down. She didn't even need a wand to cast the spell;anger was enough.
The tornado she summoned spread around the shop quickly before dissipating at her command. She surveyed the damage around her: Broken tables and utensils, unconscious customers, and a damaged infrastructure. She looked around at the people before heaving a sigh of relief; none of them were seriously hurt, although they were going to be dizzy for a while. Centurion was the worst off since he had a few tears in his suit, but it was nothing a quick trip to the tailor could fix. Well, it was an improvement from their last incident in Dobier.
As she looked at the damage she had caused, only one thing popped into her head.
"...Barkus is paying for everything."
Mizuki00 - No, I don't copy paste save for that one time in Infinite Stratos: Reversal. This is purely my addition based on the summaries I've read. Karin and Marianne are pretty much Louise and Henrietta when they're younger, save for Marianne being really lovestruck.
Tiresias-135 - I meant it literally. Say you're playing a card game and then suddenly your friend bursts in and says "Hitler started World war II!". You already know that and you'll say that you do, but you weren't exactly expecting that friend to suddenly burst in and say that. Even in the same paragraph where it says they didn't expect that, the three don't actually act shocked or startled at the news. Just that they didn't expect Karin to suddenly greet them with it.
Bakapervert - The novel's aren't translated, so I can't add anything from them. I just read summaries on spacebattles.
