Lord Joyde: Heylo Everyone! How are you all doing?
Here comes chapter 29 of The Heart Of Blaze! Finally we are beginning to inch closer and closer towards the end of the anime, when I can finally start this story for real.
Ugh, I'm tired of following Cannon like a well-trained dog.
Anyways, lets get on with the story!
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
The outskirts of South Gotha – Guiche and Louise's Campsite – Louise's Point of View.
After making Guiche's new sword, grabbing necessities and some money, taking Pyre of Agnes's hands, excusing ourselves from school and then having to make arrangements with the Academy staff to make sure Verdandi isn't left to starve, Guiche and I managed to mount Pyre and fly all the way over to Albion.
Kirche and Tabitha naturally tried to follow us. Keyword Tried. Tabitha's dragon may be fast but my Phoenix is faster, thank Zeus for that.
We managed to lose them somewhere near the Harbor to Albion.
Once we finally came close to South Gotha, it was already midnight, so we decided to set up a campsite near the city, but still far enough so no soldiers would notice the gigantic Phoenix flying in the skies.
Pyre, tired from flying around so much, in a cold environment no less, decided to transform back into her ring form and refuse to budge from there on out. Neither of us could blame her, she had to be much faster than her usual air glide in order to lose the two who decided to follow us.
We landed in the middle of a forested area. Figuring all three of us could use some nutrients and energy, I went hunting and eventually returned with five elk, one wolf and two bears. I was thinking of quickly skinning the animals in order to make tents, but Guiche had a better idea.
He used earth magic to tear the earth apart and create an artificial cave beneath all that snow, along with a ventilation system and a couple uprooted trees laying inside of the cave.
I'd say, he really outdid himself this time.
Guiche created a giant stone slab with a perfectly smooth upper surface, which he then placed horizontally in the middle of the cave, we couldn't risk being seen by using fire, cause black smoke is pretty visible in an otherwise blasting white environment.
I superheated the stone slab, which we then used to cook the spoils of my hunt.
We took the hearts of the bears and cooked them in an Iron pot, made via magic, which was filled with wolf blood mixed with regular water extracted from the nearby ice and some leaves from the trees and surrounding bushes. Then we added cut up elk meat from one of the elks and left it to boil.
This dish is called, quite appropriately, The Winter Hunter Stew. It's pretty popular amongst Germanian hunters. While cooking, it gives off an amusingly hunger-intensifying smell, which seems to work on us Evolved as well.
Guiche made another pot, this time thrice the size, out of the iron inside of the earth beneath our feet. He then drained the elks and bears of their blood. Then he did something I didn't expect was even possible.
He extracted salt... from blood.
"How in the name of Brimir... did you do that?"
He smirked somewhat smugly."It's a Gramont family survival secret, but I guess I can tell you. You know how salt is also a mineral right?"
"Oh, so you mean you can extract salt from blood if you think of it that way?" Magic is scary... could it also be possible to extract blood from living people if one was a water mage?
I'm going to have to find this out one day.
"Yup." He says simply.
I turn back towards what I'm doing and use the simply iron knife to cut out the remaining venison from the other four skinned elks.
I took all sixteen pieces of raw meat and neatly placed them to roast on the superheated stone slab, then throw the remaining carcasses to Pyre.
The smell of meat cooking was nearly enough for us to lose our senses, as we were both pretty hungry at the moment. It almost made me join Pyre in eating the insides of the animals, but the disgust of that thought is what stopped me.
Then Guiche and I decided to skin the bears, planning to use their hides to sleep on once we've eaten our fill.
After skinning the bears, we took their beef parts and threw the remainder away
Guiche created another stone slab, a lot smaller this time, while I prepared the bear streaks, using the iron knife, now super sharpened via wind magic, to clean them of unnecessary veins.
Heating the slab to a set one hundred and forty degrees, I place the steaks upon the stone.
Just as I'm done doing this, Guiche creates a stone table along with two ceramic plates and some iron utensils.
The Stew finishes cooking and Guiche pours equal amounts of soup into each place, then creating another slab nearby, he neatly sets the cooked meat upon it. I heat this slab as well, in order to keep the meat appropriately hot.
Each of us takes one of the bear hearts and some meat, depending on our preferred tastes.
I take a spoon and gulp a bit of the soup, my eyes going wide from the variety of taste flooding my mouth.
The cooked elk and bear, mixed with the toxicity of Albionese wolves, make for a somewhat unhealthy, but surprisingly tasty combination.
But hey, most of whats tasty is usually also not good for you so what the heck.
We quickly finish the soup and then turn towards the roasted elk venison. Guiche covers his with no small amount of salt, while I don't use it all that much, preferring the meat as it is.
Each of us ate eight venison's, which was many times more than what we should be capable of eating and yet, instead of getting fat, I notice myself growing a bit more muscled. The same thing happened to Guiche as well.
Lastly, we turned towards the bear steak. Granted, it would have probably been a lot better if we had the spices to complete the feeling, we didn't mind as steak was still steak.
It wasn't beef steak, but it was still tasty.
Finishing our feast, we decided to finish it all by drinking the remaining blood. Whatever was in that stew.. made us a tiny bit more beastly than we thought was possible.
We bid each other good night and fell asleep in our makeshift beds, respectfully far away from each other.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
The Following Morning – The City of South Gotha – Louise's Point of View.
"Yaawn." I yawned loudly, as we approached The City.
Guiche turned towards me."By the way, do you have a plan on how to do this or do we make one now."
I nod sagely."Yes, I do have a plan. And it starts with us going to a tavern and maybe getting some coffee or at least a beer and some wine."
The nearby guards laugh and Guiche does as well. Disaster averted.
Funnily enough, we find a tavern just inside of the city walls, it was literally the first thing the both of us saw as we entered the city.
The tavern is called The Sleeping Dragon Inn. We walk inside, gathering the attention of nearby groups.
Some soldiers, fallen nobles, typical bandits and otherwise common folk stare at us in silence.
"Uh.. hi?" Guiche mutters out, somewhat stupefied.
The crowd looks away, laughter filling the air, as another disaster is averted.
I give Guiche a thumbs up and he grins.
Anyway, we sit at an empty table on the upper level of the inn, where nobody else was currently in earshot and order a couple drinks, paying for it all upright, which seems to make the barkeep really happy, considering he just earned ten gold coins, for all the coffee and wine.
After we receive our order, we begin to talk about our plans on how to disrupt the enemy forces.
"We're both really strong, but to beat an army of two thousand and then some, we need an advantage." I say quietly.
"Yes, I advise we use the town gates. Our intelligence suggests that the soldiers may burn out this towns food stores later this day. Then they will gather outside the city and start marching towards the capital." Guiche replies.
"You mean to trap them between us? That is a good idea, yes. But how are we going to make sure they don't escape to the sides?"
"We could set up traps beforehand."
"Hmmm... yes. That would work, but only for your side."
He nods."I'm going to visit the nearby blacksmiths and buy out as much iron as I can. I will hide this iron in between the houses. That means I'm going to be inside of the city while you take the outside. If that's okay with you."
"Yes, that makes sense. The city is full up on stone roads which you can use to your advantage, plus earth magic is good in tight spaces. I, as a fire mage, am the opposite and need a whole lot of space to do cleanup."
Suddenly, an idea pops in my head."I could feed Pyre a lot of fire before the fighting starts, hide her somewhere outside of the city. Once the battle starts she could sweep in and kill pretty much half the enemy force at once."
"You do that. And once they start running back inside of the city for cover from Pyre's initial assault, I'll come out of the shadows and attack. Then I'll use the iron to make as many Iron Valkyries as possible to help hold them trapped."
"You can always use the armor of the fallen soldiers to make more of your pets." I say with a smirk.
He laughs."That's genius, I didn't even think of that."
"While you do this, I'll start my own assault on their front. Expect to smell a lot of burned flesh."
"You won't need to cast more than four of those fireballs to deal enough damage. Then, after the initial assault, we both only have a few minutes before they regroup. What if some survive after it and do that?"
"I should be able to break thought their lines before that happens, we'll meet up after the initial assault in front of this tavern. This will make them chase us around the city."
"Since we will be focusing mostly on ground units during the assault, we should kite the remained of them around the city whilst focusing on the air units. They only have around twenty nobles, all of which are dragon knights. I suggest that Pyre focuses on them after her initial descent."
I nod once more and look towards my ring."You got all that?" The ruby brightens in positive and I smile.
I turn towards Guiche."Well, all that's left to do now, is drink up and then get ready for the show." I say as we both take a glass full of wine and knock them together.
"Cheers!" We yell out in unison.
As we down our drinks, I open my eyes to see two people some distance behind Guiche that make my heart stop.
Kirche and Tabitha.. have followed us all the way here.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
A few minutes later – A Rented Room inside of the Tavern – Louise's Point of View.
To say that Guiche and I were pissed over our heads would be an understatement.
After we saw the two of them, Guiche cursed and went to rent a room while I went to "greet" the two idiots.
Needless to say, I slapped the both of them really hard and then dragged them into the rented room, Guiche opening and then closing the door.
I throw the two on the nearest bed and lock the doors.
Then we both turn towards the still stunned Kirche and Tabitha."Just... what... In.. the name of hell, are you two doing here?"
Kirche and Tabitha gulp somewhat fearfully."We wanted to see where you two were going, so we followed you. The old headmaster told us you were going towards South Gotha so even when we lost you we still managed to arrive here early yesterday." Kirche says while rubbing her cheek which I had slapped.
Guiche and I sighed."Listen, were not here to play around. We are here on her Highness's orders and it would be nice if you two left the city as quickly as you can since its going to become a battleground later today." He says as calmly and silently as possible.
Tabitha looks up."We can help. Kirche is not weak and I'm a square level mage."
We both shake our heads in negative."This is a Tristanian assault only. Germania won't be participating, which means Kirche can't participate either. And if Albion finds out that a student from Galia aided our forces, they might blackmail your country into helping them fight Tristain."
Guiche says coldly. And I finish for him."This means, no. You can't help us."
Kirche and Tabitha gulp again.".. Since when did you two become such great military minds? I seem to remember that just a couple months ago, you were just normal students. One now titled a Phoenix and the other having a badge which is given to people who display a good amount of leadership capability."
Kirche mutters and Tabitha continues."Not to mention that Tristain rewards skill, competence and little else... What happened to you two, you've changed so much in such a short time?"
All four of us sit at a table as me and Guiche sigh."Our country is at war. Both our families earned their glory via previous wars. Why is it so hard to see how we merely grew up and inherited our legacy. Louise is a Vallierie and I'm a Gramont. War is in our blood." Guiche states pridefully.
I look them both in their eyes and put one hand on each of their hands."Look, please get out of the city as soon as you can. I don't want to lose another friend, especially not you two."
They both blush and Kirche then turns towards Guiche."Okay, I can understand that... and we will make our way out of the city. But, please answer one of my questions you two."
We look at one another and slowly nod towards Kirche.
She gulps."Do you two even realize just how much you've changed?"
We blink, this wasn't what we expected."What do you mean?" I ask her, somewhat flabbergasted.
She breathes in and out, steeling herself."Guiche, in the short time since the war began, you've done a few things which I didn't think you were capable of."
Guiche blinks."And those are?"
"You've dumped Motmorency, you started training yourself so hard that you surpassed a square level earth mage, you haven't been seen with another girl since the war started... and you've managed to perfect your grades much like Louise did when she awakened her magic."
I turn towards him."You dumped Motmorency?"
He groans."Ugh, what would you do if a girl makes you drink a love potion, forces you to propose to her and then order you to strangle your familiar just cause hes ugly and all that in one night?"
"She made you strangle Verdandi?" I ask surprised.
"Yeah, good thing Verdandi managed to knock an anti-mind alter potion on my head while I was doing that. I spent half my allowance to buy him all his favorite treats just to say I'm sorry."
"Wow."
"Needless to say, I dumped Motmorency, quite dramatically I might add, in front of the whole Academy."
"She deserved it. That one went too far." Tabitha nods.
Then Kirche turns towards me."You.. I don't even know where to begin. There is so many changes happening to you recently I don't even know what to start with." She says.
"I know... listen, my story is kind of complicated. You can blame most of it on what my family is like, as I'm sure you've learned a good bit of that particular subject when Menvil attacked the Academy."
They nod."We understand, you don't have time to tell us all that right now. But please promise me that you will once you come back to the Academy."
"Alright, I'll tell you everything that happened then. But now, please get out of the city. I really don't want my two best friends dying right now."
We hug each other and they excuse themselves from our room.
After making sure that they left the city, me and Guiche proceeded with our plan.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
Lord Joyde: And that is it for chapter 29 of The Heart of Blaze!
I hope you've enjoyed it.
Anyways, Read and Review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!
