Rule N°6: If it bleeds, we can kill it. If it's already been killed, well...

It's been a while so: I don't own KKM! I don't own Zombies either.

Yuuri smiled reassuringly at Conrad, as the man told him he shouldn't go alone for the umpteenth time. He knew it was dangerous, as no one had the slightest idea what the woman wanted, but he'd be with Sara, and Belies, most probably, so things were going to be okay.

"We won't be away for long, and we will have come here for nothing if we don't meet with this woman."

Conrad frowned and was about to reply, when a knock at the door made him sigh instead.

Murata had been silent all the while. In fact, he'd been silent since they came back from dinner, the night before. He'd told Yuuri once that was a stupid thing to do, and as Yuuri wouldn't hear it, he'd started pouting (as Yuuri saw it).

When he left, Murata didn't even utter a farewell.

That wasn't nice, even if he wasn't going away for long.

And anyway, Yuuri thought it was the only thing he could do, and he was so fed up with doing nothing, and also tired of always being ordered around (even if he had to admit he was well advised nearly every time). And Sara said it would only take a few hours to reach the palace where he'd hidden the woman. She still had no name that he knew of, and Yuuri hated calling her "the woman", even in his mind, so he was looking forward to meeting her.

It wasn't that he hoped something about her, or her child, for he had no intention towards her, not even if she turned out to be very pretty – though he'd like her to be. He was, after all, already engaged.

But he had to know. Something made him feel he needed to see her, and soon. And though he'd have found it cool, to have a sixth sense, he thought he was only very curious. Sara seemed to be in the same state of mind, as he came himself, grabbing his hand to take him to the stables, where they found Belies readying a carriage.

The three of them would go, no one else.

Murata observed the Shou Shimaron King while he took Yuuri away, and smiled at Conrad. Yuuri would have been suspicious if Conrad had said nothing, and the Lion of Ruttenberg had played his part well. But they'd never let their King go alone with that guy, to no one knew where, of course, so the carriage had not left the domain that they were going out to fetch the horse Conrad had prepared some hours earlier.

Saralegui would be expecting this.

In fact, Murata wondered why the King had not organized something to stop, or at least slow them down, and therefore guessed they would encounter something later. Things weren't so bad anyway. Yuuri had not asked them not to follow, so Conrad didn't need to lie to his King. Murata wasn't sure he would have done it: Conrad had no problem hiding things from the Maou, as long as he thought it was needed to protect him, but lying in his face was another matter.

So there they were, following a carriage that was taking two Kings to west.

Gwendal had knitted a duck, a bearbee, a dragon and a wolf, since he'd been back from the Bielefeld's lands. He was currently working on a kohi, which was a hard thing to knit. Especially since he'd been tired from running and hiding from Anissina.

Fortunately, he'd managed to escape her long enough not to share Gunter's fate. He glanced at him and sighed. Anissina's experiments made him go back to being a doll. Now, he had to beware of those red rays that came out of his eyes as well, while Gunter's real body was in Mr-coffin-thing, or whatever Anissina called it. The thing seemed to work: A non living body in it would stay inside.

Gwendal failed to see how that would help now the undead were already out of their tombs, but he wasn't in the mood to argue with a crazy "scientific". Maybe it would be useful later, at least to prevent grave robbery. And while she was working on this, she didn't need someone else as a test-subject.

Now was not the time (anyway, it never was) to give her the idea she should create something else.

It would be nice if she managed to open it again for Gunter to have his body back, though.

He'd received news from the Ten families. Still no other undead, except the ones from the family vaults, but those were still alive. Well. Not dead anymore.

In the Von Christ land, they'd been chopped to pieces. Those pieces were still moving, attacking whoever they could reach. Word had been sent to lock them up: The soldiers were to prevent them from roaming around, but not to approach, nor attempt to kill.

The Von Christ experience had been a try, and now, the soldiers hurt died quickly but painfully, if bites or even scratches were not healed with maryoku really quickly. Then they came back from death. It had happened to nearly ten soldiers, for now, since healers had exhausted themselves on the first casualties.

Seeing as things were going, most of the leaders of the Ten families had already noticed the things were very dangerous, and didn't seem "rekillable", so they used Earth wielders to trap the things.

Now, they were all demanding answers, and what the King was doing about this situation. Answering the truth, nothing, wasn't an option. The King was taking care of another matter, that may or may not be linked to this, there was no news from him yet.

Bielefeld was still pretending the King was in his lands, but wanted know more as well, especially about his nephew. Gwendal could give him nothing: He had answers for no one, he wanted news from his brother as well, but then again, had none.

There was some news, though.

Worrying ones.

The King of Francia had answered their first missive. They had no undead problem. Now just a few days had passed, and things had changed: Queen Leila had taken measures to guard cemeteries and royal vaults after receiving their letter. Then they'd received messengers from towns on their border, relaying suspicious activities in some of those places.

Nothing too serious, at first. Grave desecrations, they thought.

There were noises, some stone graves had been moved.

Then graves had been dug out, coffins opened, and some corpses disappeared.

That was when they had first noticed the corpses feasting on a rotting carcass.

They'd been put to rest violently.

But whenever someone was hurt during one of those fights, he'd soon die, and rise again not long after that.

As time passed, the whole country appeared to be plagued. People who died from illnesses or anything, even if they didn't encounter zombies, started decaying, and mere hours after their death, they appeared as corpses dead for weeks, and they rose to attack the living.

They asked for help.

They weren't even sure what caused this, but word was spreading fast that it happened first in the Mazoku's land. And people were afraid.

Very, really, frightened.

They wanted a culprit as much as they wanted a solution. Leila informed hem that sending help now may be a needed thing to keep good relations between their two people.

She'd ordered a curfew, as it seemed the things avoided the light of day, mostly. It didn't kill the creatures, but it weakened them, at least, and they stayed hidden until night most of the time. Answering to Gwendal, she said once they were killed (again), as long as the head was hurt, they stayed dead.

Gwendal had exchanged letters with her, and now concluded that what was happening in Francia wasn't exactly what was happening in Shin Makoku, though there obviously was a link. Which meant they had to keep a close watch on their own cemeteries.

Considering there had been no sign of this "plague" in Shin Makoku, Gwendal assumed maryoku was what made the change: In Shin Makoku, maryoku healers had prevented too many people coming back from death, but in Francia, they had healed people with other means, that obviously didn't help enough, and therefore, the "plague" was spreading.

As a military man, he expected these attacks to be just the beginning. He always expected the worst, took steps to be ready if it was to come, that way, even if matters didn't become too serious, things had been done. Seen. For even if they couldn't do anything purposeful yet, the people had to be reassured the King and his advisors were taking care of the situation.

He never appeared surprised, nor worried, or clueless, for anything affecting him would soon be affecting the people, the nobles, making them seditious (at worst), or panic.

That was one thing he hoped would change, about the King. He lacked experience, so perhaps he would learn, but for now, he always appeared clueless.

And what did that tell to the people witnessing this perpetually lost expression he had? That his advisors didn't keep him informed (argument used by Gwendal's uncle, most of the time. Stoffel knew this could work, as he worked this way when he "ruled for", more than advised, his sister).

Or it told them that Yuuri was cute, but stupid. The thought crossed Gwendal's mind from time to time.

Or that it was all too much for a young king, someone who didn't grow up in Shin Makoku, argument that was used by Waltorana some months earlier. Gwendal was worried about that, since the King didn't seem to understand that he was always watched, and that some things as stupid as "appearing" clueless could endanger his rule, even if Shinou himself had chosen him. Even if he'd proven already he was a good, and was becoming an even better King.

Gwendal loved dearly his King: Yuuri was a good boy, caring for his people, ready to put himself at risks if needed. But he was only a boy. Maybe he felt like this because he was so cute, something that still happened about his youngest brother as well. Wolfram had grown up a lot, since Yuuri's arrival.

More and more, he acted like a man.

More and more, Gwendal felt proud of him (although he'd never show it).

That was the same about Yuuri, despite his laziness, and the fact that he still often went back too Earth, he was acting more like a King as time went by.

He was impatient to see the men they would both become.

He glanced up, as his mother entered the King's study. She said nothing, came behind him, and hugged him. She did this for herself, he knew, but he felt more focused, and his heart was a little lighter after that. He had no right to worry her: She had two sons away, the youngest gave no news, the other one was with the King, in the country of another King that no one, except Yuuri, trusted.

And she took care of Greta, who was bright, for her age, enough to be worried sick about her fathers.

Then again, he was worried as well, and that was another thing he'd never admit or show, he found the castle much more alive when the King was there. In just a few months, even Gwendal had got used to his King. He'd grown to trust him, and love him, just like everybody else. He loved even more the changes Yuuri brought.

He was a proud man, and had been raised as a Prince, but he'd never wanted the crown for himself. He loved power, because he hated leaving his fate, or the fate of people he loved in the hands of someone else. And he was good at it. He knew his faults better than anyone, and he'd never considered he'd be fit to be the Maou, before Yuuri came, or whenever he left. But he knew how to rule a country, how to make it work, how to make it thrive. He lacked the charisma Wolfram and Yuuri had, or rather, he had a different one.

He was fit to be a leader in a time of war, but wasn't the better choice if one wanted something else. And he himself wanted something else. Shin Makoku had had enough wars. He felt a lasting peace was something Yuuri could bring. He still found it hard to follow his King's wishes, at times, of course, and more than once, he'd argued with the boy because he'd have sent troops here or there, when he felt it was needed. He still wasn't convinced, and he doubted he'd ever would be, that all wars could be avoided.

He doubted all should be.

But Yuuri tried hard, he had to give it to him, and so far, he did well. Gwendal didn't approve of many things he did, but he was grateful for many as well. The Maou had saved the country more than once, and the changes he brought affected his family more than the others. Wolfram had matured a lot, but Gwendal was perhaps even more grateful about Conrad: He was becoming again the man he used to be, prior to Julia's death.

Gwendal loved both of his brothers, and seldom showed it. He guessed he probably seemed to be more concerned about Wolfram, but that was because he was the youngest. Gwendal worried all the same about Conrad. Just because he wasn't the kind of man who showed it didn't meant he didn't care.

He thought without Yuuri, the three of them would have drifted apart, and he'd probably not have done a thing about it. Wolfram had been a brat for years, and nearly worshipped Conrad until he learned about his human father. Only then did they become closer, but well, he was not really close to anyone. He never was easy-going as Yuuri and Conrad, or even Wolfram, who despite his temper had some kind of brightness that drew people to him.

It simply didn't feel natural to Gwendal, it just wasn't who he was.

And he was only starting to trust Wolfram: He had been a good soldier, but reckless, distrustful and at the same time, naive about many things. It was still true, but he really was becoming a dependable man. He was not there yet, though. But maybe he'd never would be, Gwendal guessed, with a tiny smile, as he'd always be his baby brother.

Conrad, on the other side was someone he truly depended on. He trusted his King's life with him, he valued his opinions, however, his brother was too kind most of the time.

Like Wolfram, Gwendal had despised Conrad because of his human half, but not as long as his youngest brother did. It took him some time, and Dunheely's death to think again his views about humans, but his growing respect for the man, and the mixed feelings his death brought gave him new perspectives. So he considered whoever lived in their lands had to be protected whether they were human, half-human or mazoku.

And after all, two of the men he trusted the most, Gwendal and Yozak, were half-human. Of course, after the Battle of Arnold, one had to be really obtuse not to admit half-mazoku could be real patriots.

After this battle, and Julia's death, Conrad had been a different man. He'd still smile almost permanently, but his smiles started to reach his eyes again only when Yuuri arrived. Gwendal never felt the urge to protect Conrad as he did when Wolfram was concerned. Conrad was stronger, and older, an experienced soldier and man. He'd never been sheltered as Wolfram had been, either.

After the events that gave him his nickname of Lion of Ruttenberg, Gwendal saw his younger brother as an equal, therefore, treated him as a subordinate.

They trusted each other, he thought, but there still was a gap between them. He really thought Conrad would have left for good, at some point, if not for Yuuri.

The Maou drew them back together, and even if it was something he'd keep for himself, he loved it. He loved his family, and the effect Yuuri had on them. It had been decades, since he'd thought he loved his family, for some reason, and that as well, was something he was thankful for.

He wasn't going to show it, thus, he stayed still as his mother hugged him. She didn't stay long, as he had no news for her, and she didn't want to leave Greta alone too much. She made fun of the Gunter-doll and left.

While he watched her leave the room, he thought she was stronger than he was. She managed to put a smile on everyones face, even as worried as she was, she still was joking and flirting around. He knew her enough to see through the mask, but that was something very few people could say, and so, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, everything was well: Lady Celie was preparing her next love-trip.

He spend the next few hours organizing the help he'd sent to Francia. They had to try and stop the plague, even if it was on humans' lands. And he needed to sent enough to help, but to keep enough in case something else happened in Shin Makoku. He also answered to letters he'd received from the Ten families, which took some time.

The sun had set, when he went back to his room, and he knitted for a long time before falling into a dreamless, restless sleep.

The unfinished knitted kohi had been put in a drawer. The wings were the hardest thing to do: he'd save those for last, so it was a half skeleton for now, something he didn't want to see.

The white lion he was working on would be cute.

Yuuri glanced up as he heard thunder. The sky was some shade between whitish and greyish, above the coach. At some distance, it was dark grey.

Following his gaze, Saralegui sighed.

"A big storm is coming."

He started playing with a strand of his hair.

"I pity riders. It'll be pouring soon," he added, with a small smile.

Yuuri smiled warmly.

"The thunder is so loud already, I'm sure everyone will take shelter before it starts raining."

Saralegui chuckled softly.

"True. Everyone will."

Yuuri nodded.

"Hmm is this place far from here?"

"A little. As I told you, it will take a few hours."

"Why so far away? Your castle is big enough, and I remember there are many hidden rooms from last time, if she wanted us to meet alone."

Sara seemed to hesitate, and with a sad smile, he took Yuuri's hands.

"I'm sorry, Yuuri. There is something I have to tell you."

Yuuri watched their hands for a few seconds, half-wondering if somehow, Wolfram was able to see this. The other half-wonder was about Sara's hands softness. His own hands were callous, because of base-ball. Wolfram's and Conrad's were as well, because of fencing. Sara's felt like a girl's. He'd probably never worked with his hands. Even Greta's hands weren't this soft, and that felt weird. As if they were brand new, and Yuuri wondered about Sara's feet. Rather, he wondered if, while he wasn't looking, Sara found someone to walk for him, because clearly, he never did anything with his hands, and maybe his feet were soft as well.

He cocked his head, now wondering why the heck he was thinking about Sara's feet. Well, Wolfram's were soft, even if he kicked hard at night. So maybe Sara walked as well.

"Huh? What?" He asked, a little confused by his own train of thought.

"I don't know if she lies. In fact, I believe she's telling the truth, but..." He marked his pause. "I know you won't like this, so allow me to ask... Did you hear anything about this woman before reading the letter I sent you a few days ago?"

Yuuri raised his eyebrows, and shook his head. That wasn't what he'd expected. He wasn't sure he should be glad about it either.

"So... you were never told she went to your castle?"

"Eh?"

"I see." Saralegui said, with a sad smile. As the silence was getting on his nerves, Yuuri squizzed his hands.

Saralegui answered him with an encouraging smile. An obviously fake one, even to Yuuri.

"I'm sure they only wanted to protect you," started Saralegui, before he fell silent again.

"Who did what to protect me?" asked Yuuri, as his patiences was wearing down.

Saralegui heaved a long sigh before answering.

"Your... fiancé, and his older brother, I guess. She said the one wearing dark green."

"Gwendal?"

"That's what I thought! They're the reason why I hid her. She claims she came to your castle to meet you, and they refused to let her. She said your fiancé threatened her with fire, and that his brother said that if she told anyone she was your wife and had your son, she'd be silenced... permanently."

Yuuri took it all without moving a muscle, and finally let out a feeble, shaky laugh.

"That's not..." He shook his head. It was ridiculous to even consider this could be true. With the same sad smile he had earlier, Saralegui shrugged.

"That's why she came seeking asylum in my kingdom," he said flippantly. "That's something we kings learn very fast. People around us often try to grab more and more power. And then, who rules? Even now, while you're here, who rules your kingdom?"

Yuuri frowned.

"Gwendal is... He always does, while I'm away. He know I..."

"Trust him," finished Saralegui. "Yes, he knows you do. They all know it, maybe too well. I heard it wasn't the first thing like this, in this family. Didn't their uncle..."

Yuuri shook his head.

"They're not like him at all! It's not like this, Sara. I know you mean well, but..."

Sara cut him again, with an innocent smile:

"I'm sure they all have the best interests of their loved ones in mind, Yuuri. But ruling, and keeping things from you to protect you isn't a trivial matter, since you're their King. And well... they could be protecting your fiancé more than you."

Yuuri smiled. It was true they all were capable of many things, for his sake. And he knew as well, even if Gwendal hid it well most of the time, he loved dearly his younger brothers.

"You don't know them enough. We should do something, all of us, someday, and you'll understand. They're not like that."

Saralegui nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Of course. I'd love to, Yuuri." He frowned. "But we are friends, and... Well, As I said, it's something I learned very fast, but you weren't raised in court. Some people are ready to..."

"Don't worry, Sara, They're not trying to steal the throne," Yuuri said, with a smile. It was a funny idea, really, for when it happened, his closest advisors, the former Maou's children, had been his strongest support. Wolfram more than anyone else, though he was the one competing for the throne, unwillingly.

Saralegui nodded.

"I'm not saying they are. I..." He opened his mouth, but closed it, and looked outside. Yuuri cocked his head. When Sara faced him again, his expression was serious.

"They know you trust them. They know you won't doubt them, even if..." He shook his head, gazing outside again.

"They've got no need to steal the throne." Finished finally the King of Shou Shimaron.

Yuuri withdrew his hands from Sara's and crossed his arms.

"Meaning?"

"You know what I mean. As a ruler, you have to..."

"I'm not... I don't..."

Saralegui sighed as if he was explaining something very simple to a stubborn child. Yuuri's eyes darkened.

"Well, let's say they're not taking more power than they should, don't you think it's something you should have been aware of?"

Yuuri's grip on his upper arms lessened.

"That's... They would have told me, if..."

"Really? I heard, as well as I saw how jealous this... fiancé of yours is, and I heard you weren't even willing to propose him in the first place. Don't you think he'd do anything to get rid of competition? And his brothers wouldn't want him to get hurt bec..."

"No, that's not... It's … Wolfram and I, we... It's... complicated, but he'd... You know, it was the same about Greta, and I was told, so really, there isn't any..."

"But things have changed, have they not? You'd been there for a very short time, when she came to your castle. I'd suspect some would have used this against you, had she really been your illegitimate child. Now..." Saralegui shrugged.

Yuuri stubbornly shook his head.

"No, really, there's some explanation for all this."

Saralegui smiled again.

"Of course there is." He nodded, and pushed his glasses up, staring directly in Yuuri's eyes. "All I know is that she doesn't lie."

Yuuri's mouth opened slowly, but he had nothing to answer to that.

As he sneezed for the third time, Murata thought he hated this kinglet. He was used to Yuuri getting along, and even liking everyone, but really, this guy?

Maybe it was because he was too much like him. Saralegui manipulated people nearly as well as he did. But they were, he really, really hoped, very different. Their gift at manipulating was all they had in common, he hoped. Because (he sneezed again), he wouldn't orchestrate a chase like this one, with such a weather and... Ok, maybe he would. But that told something about his feelings towards Yuuri's friends, really...

They'd been following the carriage for less than one hour when rain started pouring. The sky had been clear earlier, so maybe even Saralegui didn't forecast that, but still, Murata wanted to punch him.

Riding behind Conrad, he checked their surroundings, and tried to keep track of where they were going. He'd never lived in this part of the world, in his previous lives, but he knew well most of it's geography. Even though he was a different person every time, he always had his brains.

They didn't have a hard time following Yuuri, at least. For now, the carriage followed the main road, according to Conrad, and Murata trusted him on that.

But even though he didn't think they'd lose them, he wasn't feeling at ease. There was something he'd missed. He hated that, when he missed something. He was used to understanding everything before every one else, and he felt he let down everyone whenever he failed. People expected him to know everything, and sometimes, it was really frustrating. The fact that he expected to understand everything didn't help.

He knew Saralegui foresaw they'd follow, so why didn't he do something about it? He still had no idea if the girl, if there was one, was really asking for Yuuri to come alone, or if it was the kinglet's doing.

He didn't know yet where they were going, nor how long it would take them to reach their destination. He'd been expecting some stunt from Saralegui even before they left Shin Makoku, of course.

He only didn't believe Yuuri would fall in his trap that easily. Even if he trusted the guy, to accept to travel alone with him was not the cleverest thing to do.

Sometimes, he wondered if Yuuri realized he was the ruler of thousands of people and what it meant. Yet, it was true they needed to learn what all that was about, because he was more and more convinced this girl had something to do with the theft of Wolfram's father's corpse. Or rather, his awakening. He probably was roaming around somewhere.

He hoped if that was the case, he wouldn't cross Lord Von Bielefeld's path. But that was something he had no way of controlling, whereas he could help Yuuri, if they reached him soon enough. Because obviously, Saralegui prepared something. He just had to understand what. He'd been really evasive about the girl, so maybe he invented her altogether. But for what purpose? To get Yuuri to come here, and then make him travel by himself?

That didn't really male sense, for Saralegui had already done that. They didn't travel really, but to meet Yuuri alone, he only had to invite him to his castle, to speak about treaties, or anything linked to peace, and Yuuri would have come. He knew it, and he knew Saralegui did as well.

And again, if it was only to meet Yuuri alone, he'd have organized something for them not to follow the carriage.

Then there really was girl. Why was she pretending to be Yuuri's wife, and why did Saralegui believe her? For he believed her, didn't he? He thought about every thing Saralegui said and showed for the sixth or seventh time.

He didn't think Saralegui was faking.

He really didn't.

So there was a girl, and she was convinced she was Yuuri's wife.

If the King of Shou Shimaron wasn't only pretending to believe her, it was the truth, or perhaps she was convinced enough she was telling the truth for Saralegui to be fooled. He didn't know enough about that guy's magic to be sure. Maybe she just had a strong resistance to his magic, and the kinglet wouldn't realize – or admit – it.

Anyway, there always was someone stronger, and since he didn't know who their enemy was, nor anything about his strength, he didn't have any clue: How much of the story as told by Saralegui was true?

Shinou may have been of some help on that matter, but he still was desperately invisible.

Murata was suspecting he knew something.

Either he didn't want to tell, or he couldn't appear to any of them, and that, as soothing as it was, was worrying. Whenever Shinou had something to hide, he hid hit to every one but him. Sometimes, he tried to hid things from his Great Sage, but more often than not, he'd fail, and every time he succeeded, he'd given hints.

Murata didn't know exactly what, but always knew, in those cases, something was fishy.

He knew he shouldn't have let Yuuri go alone.

It was very easy to take advantage of his kindness, but Yuuri curiously always managed to have it his own way, when he really wanted to. So there was no way he'd have convinced him to stay, or at least take Conrad with him. Conrad wasn't happy about it either.

With a smirk, Murata thought he was the only one to manipulate him with no ill intents.

His clothes were soaked, already, as were Conrad's. He frowned. No matter the place they were going to, it would be difficult no to leave trails with all this water and mud.

Well, it wasn't useful worrying about this now. They were not there yet. In fact, Murata was wondering if, just maybe, Saralegui was taking a longer road, just because he enjoyed knowing they were following under such a heavy downpour.

Wolfram sneezed, trying to keep it quiet.

Yozak turned his head to him and smiled. For a brat, he was not that bad. He'd not complained half as much as he thought he would, and even then, he still did what was needed, even if he (sometimes more clearly than others) hated it. He also was glad to see he was stronger than he looked. This trip had not been easy on him, and he sure looked like he needed rest, but he was still sitting up straight.

Hopefully, they would be able to sent word to the castle soon. They were near allied countries, maybe not in Caloria, as he wasn't sure where in the forest they were. But not far from there, and others friendly countries as well.

The roads were a little damp, so it was really easy not to miss the tracks. They had to slow down often, in fact, not to get too close to the enemy. But as they couldn't afford to stop to rest, it helped. They'd cut off some distance, and then slow down a lot, one of them leading the horses as the other one slept a little while riding. It wasn't a comfortable rest, and it never lasted very long, since it's not easy to fall asleep in these conditions, but at least, they wouldn't yawn at their opponent's faces, should a fight await them.

He'd been surprised he'd trust the Little Lord Brat to lead him that way, but they did it twice already, and he'd not fallen from his horse, and they were still on the trail.

They were mostly silent, as their horses made enough noise already.

Yozak never really felt comfortable with Conrad's youngest brother. In fact, he disliked him rather quickly, as he knew well how hard his behaviour had been on Conrad. That, and he was half-human, as well. The boy wasn't the first nor the last Mazoku full of hatred he'd meet, so he didn't think twice about it. It just was about Conrad. The man clearly loved his little brother, and Yozak had sometimes wondered why, exactly. Because he was family? Every grown man, especially one with ties to nobles, knew how insignificant that was. You didn't chose your family, but you didn't have to bear with them if they were jerks, did you?

Or maybe it was him, as he didn't like having ties.

But he had to admit the Brat was... maybe he was growing. When he first saw the way he behaved around the Kiddo, he thought the contrary. As months passed, however, the Brat began to change. He seemed now less self-centered, and he stopped calling his brother "Weller". That hurt Conrad every time he heard that name in his little brother's mouth, Yozak had seen it many times. But every time he'd told Conrad he should teach the brat some respect ( or should let Yozak do it, really, he wouldn't have minded), Conrad had smiled. "It's nothing", he'd say. As if he'd believed it.

As it was his turn sleeping – he'd tried, but he had too many thoughts on his mind, Yozak glanced at Wolfram. The young Lord Von Bielefeld was concentrated, watching the ground to lead the horses on the more even parts of the road, and following their enemies tracks. He looked tired, but wouldn't let it show. Yozak had wondered a few times if he'd been right to take him on this trip, and he'd even considered leaving him in the last town, where he could have gone back to Shin Makoku. But one, the brat would have refused to go back with nothing to tell to his brothers, two, it would have meant taking another ship, and three, Yozak couldn't have done it alone.

He was used to following people alone, but that had been a long trip, and he was tired as well. Not as much as the young Lord, as sea didn't make him sick, and he had therefore eaten normally during the last few days, but he had not rested a lot, as he had searched an entire ship. This kind of chase didn't allow rest, if one was alone. They knew almost nothing about the couple, they had no clue as to where they were going, and no informants to keep them notified of their enemies whereabouts.

So they'd followed the riders for hours before Yozak started to have a hunch on where they were going. They'd been going roughly on this direction for some time, but it was misleading: if he was right, the riders weren't taking the shortest road.

He didn't like it in the least.

Again, if he was right, maybe the riders did act with a king's orders, and he already knew he disliked that king. And if he was involved, the Little Lord Brat wasn't exactly the best travelling companion in the world. More likely to start a war than anything else, if truly the King of Shou Shimaron was linked even in the slightest to what happened in his family's vault.

And he didn't have any way to inform people back at Blood Pledge Castle that it could be the case. He'd have keep an eye on the brat, just in case. It wouldn't do if the young Lord did anything reckless. It was too late to go back to town and put him on a ship to Shin Makoku, anyway.

Thus, he said nothing, and thought about what he was going to do should they really be going to Shou Shimaron. Maybe they were attacking there, now? But even if that was the case, would he see things with his brains first? Yozak frowned.

He was being unfair. Maybe months earlier, the Brat would have been a liability in the situation they were in. But even he, who started not liking him in the least, had to admit he'd changed. He'd proven it a few times, already. What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh, but the Kiddo's influence may have tamed him a little. He really didn't feel the Little Lord Brat and the young man that was with him now were one and the same.

He smiled at the young Lord Von Bielefeld, thinking he was unexpectedly bearable and useful, as he moved to try to sleep again, before he yawned.

Frowning, he sat up, and took back his reins. Wolfram turned back to him, but kept his mouth shut and stopped his horse, as Yozak made him sign to.

He understood almost immediately.

The lush forest was beautiful, a little damp from a downpour they'd thankfully avoided. And quiet. Too much, eerily quiet.

Yozak cursed himself mentally. He didn't notice it earlier, but it had been too silent for a long time now. He'd not made any move to hide their tracks, as he didn't think they'd be followed. The thought never occurred to him, in fact. But usually, he felt it. Maybe that was because he wasn't used to this kind of work with someone. It had been a long time since he'd last had a partner.

He scrutinised the tracks they were following a few seconds.

"They haven't slowed down," he whispered. Wolfram frowned, and turned around, to see the way they were coming from.

"We were followed?" He asked quietly. Yozak looked around and nodded.

"Maybe. Anyway, there's someone near behind. Let's catch up with the riders a little." Looking behind them in the forest,he frowned.

"Whoever they are, they're not on us yet, but will be soon, if we don't go faster. If we stop to see who it is, we'll lose these guys," he said in a hushed tone, making a gesture with his head towards the road their enemies had taken.

Wolfram nodded, and with one last glance to the forest behind, he spurred his horse.

steph : Thanks :) Aaaah I think I didn't give any answer to your questions yet ^^ Some hints though. Sorry, I like taking things slowly!

Next chapter should give you answers (and some more questions if I do things well :D)

Thanks to all readers!

Tell me what you think and see you soon, space cowboys! :)

(as always, feel free to tell me of any mistake - for example I'm not sure Dunheely shouldn't be Dan Hiri, I found both in english :/ - and all. I'm trying to do better, and it helps :) )