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The Pope isn't entirely sure what to think when Blake breaks the news of the heavy blows dealt to the Reconquista in no more than one fell stroke after he dropped the suggestion of the elusive mage and the sky-splitter dragon dealing with it and saving everyone involved substantial effort. On the one hand, the Reconquista will be fearful of Aoi coming back to demolish them again, so they'll be less likely to start back up somewhere down the line. Toss in the fact that the remaining Albion nobility now knows the price of complacency and corruption, and both groups will most likely be scared straight, thus causing the nation to gradually reform on its own with no outside intervention necessary.
Ultimately, having them do it saved countless lives and resources from every nation except maybe Gallia. By all means this should have been a complete victory as far as Vittorio is concerned.
On the other hand, there are just two problems.
First off, Blake reports that Sheffield appeared to be collaborating with Cromwell, and may very well be the reason the Reconquista gained any traction to begin with. That alone troubles the pope greatly, since it means that Joseph is perfectly willing to engage in covert operations to cause chaos and upset in the other nations. Given how politically weak and/or fractured Tristian and Germania are, it wouldn't take much for the Mad King to start something up in either of those two nations. Perhaps even both simultaneously.
It's a small comfort to know that Cardinal Mazarin is guiding Princess Henrietta, so it should at least be somewhat more difficult to lead a proper rebellion against her.
The second problem lies with Aoi himself. It's no secret that he's powerful, so much so that even Karin the Heavy Wind can't seem to actually finish him off. He knows full well that his own Conquistadors would only fare marginally better, but they're highly trained and there's a lot of them. There'd be losses, but the Pope was confident that they could eventually take the dragon down should it come to that. Now? Vittorio finds himself less certain.
Killing an elf at least has hard, reliable numbers, after all. It takes about a hundred human soldiers to take down one elf. This one, solitary dragon wiped out thousands of human soldeirs in mere minutes, and from what he understands showed no signs of fatigue or slowing down.
Blake describes the 'battles' remarkably clinically, mostly just providing elapsed times and body counts and sparse descriptions of how his partner fought. When pressed, the elusive mage revealed that this is simply because his partner didn't bother putting much variety in his fights, as he prefers to end lethal combat as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Were the mirage duo firmly on the Pope's side, this wouldn't even be a point of consideration. With that much power, it may even be possible to fight the elves on even terms with just these two. However, Vittorio knows full well that Aoi seems to disdain organized religion, and that Blake seems to distrust the entire system.
Hence why the steampunk mage seems to be giving out information in such a careful way.
...Though the Pope finds himself needing to be honest with himself as well. As much as he would love nothing more than to put stock in them both to fix everything, he finds himself almost needing to put them at arm's length. Both are mavericks in the end, and are just so different that it's extremely likely that they're foreigners at that. They have no real stock in Halkeginia's problems, let alone the Romalian Church.
"The only matter left to attend to is what to do about this Ring of Andvari that Aoi retrieved." Blake states as the Pope's attention is brought back to the forefront. "It appears to be an artifact water ring created by a spirit of some kind."
Julio chimes in first. "Curious... The name isn't wholly familiar to me, but I think I have some coincidences that tie into that. Ragdorian Lake has been increasing in size rather rapidly lately. Given how a water spirit lives there, I would have to wager that someone struck a deal with it and promptly broke it."
Vittorio adds in after that. "Perhaps it would be best if you started there, then. While it may be possible for enough mages to simply slay the elemental spirit, they are an important aspect of nature and should not be eliminated lightly."
"Alright then, I think that adds another small task on top of everything else." Blake checks his pocket watch out of curiosity. "...Oh dear, I think I may have to cut it off here for now. It seems that something's come up."
"See to it, then." Vittorio responds. "May the Founder's blessing be with you."
"And may your own fortune hold. I get the feeling we're going to need quite a lot of it before all is said and done." Blake states before stepping through a portal.
...
Vittorio sighs. "He still doesn't trust us."
Julio comments next. "To be fair, we don't fully trust him either. I suspect that this Aoi fellow at least may have picked up some kind of power boost recently." The Right Hand then frowns. "But since we have no idea where they actually live, it's hard to check them out personally."
"One being who can destroy an army by himself. It's possible that he may be the Gandalfr, and by extension they both must know the location of at least one other Void mage." Vittorio closes his eyes as he thinks. In truth, he's grasping at sticks and he knows it, but there's flecks of evidence left behind here and there. "Assuming they aren't ahead of us and are aware of all four."
"As much as I hate to admit it, they may just. Blake is becoming remarkably well-informed about local affairs." Julio crosses his arms in annoyance. "And given just who he was with before... Professor Eleanor would be one of the prime people to go to if they need information about how a land functions."
Vittorio opens his eyes not long after. "Perhaps we need to speak with the Valliere household. No inquisitions, no nonsense. Treat this as a polite, formal inquiry as to whether or not they're aware of any Void mages."
"A direct approach may not be the best. If it does wind up being one of the Heavy Wind's daughters, we can safely assume that she won't just hand one over." Julio notes while relaxing his stance some. "...And last I heard, the middle daughter is perpetually ill, as well. A shame, she's quite the beauty."
Vittorio grimaces when he hears that. "You know what has to happen if she is indeed a Void mage, or could possibly become one."
Even Julio cringes at the possibility. "That would end horribly and we both know it."
The Pope sighs once more. "Perhaps it might be wise to somehow bring that frailty to Blake's attention. He seems quite advanced, perhaps he possesses medical skill on top of everything else."
"...I'll see what I can do." Julio concedes.
-
"You're late." Eleanor taps her foot impatiently as Blake steps through a portal to meet her.
"My apologies, I had to be careful about what I said to the Pope." The steampunk mage states with a measured calm. "Honestly, I think that even with me withholding certain pieces of information, he may be guessing at what it is I'm not telling him."
While the eldest daughter's aggravation hasn't subsided, she at least nods in understanding. "Fine, I'll let you have that one. I'd be a failure of a big sister if I admonished you for helping protect Louise."
"That being said, you never did mention what you wanted me out here for." Blake notes as he observes his surroundings. It seems as though the eldest daughter has rented out a room in an inn of sorts.
"Well, I do want to speak with you about a few things while I have the time to do so, and while we're at it I figure it might be good to take you clothes shopping." Eleanor states flatly as she observes the rather... unique fashion sense Blake has. While she thinks his choice of outfits is somewhat ridiculous, it's not truly bad either.
"Clothes shopping?" Asks Blake quizzically.
"You stick out like a sore thumb, you dunce." The eldest daughter yanks part of Blake's coat up. "Anyone with two functioning chunks of brain to rub together could figure out you're not from here."
"...I hate to be a downer on that plan, but how precisely do you think you're going to get me to a clothes shop to buy clothes to let me blend in without people realizing exactly that?" Asks the steampunk mage, feeling as though there's some small logical step that got missed somewhere along the line.
Eleanor smiles as pulls out a measuring strip. "Measurements. I can get your measurements, get something myself at one shop, then come back and have you change so you can come with me to another one I'm familiar with."
Blake raises an eyebrow. "That seems needlessly convoluted."
"Maybe, but I'm willing to go the extra step." The eldest daughter steps forward, seemingly more amused by what's coming than she really should be.
"You're exuding an aura of predation." Suddenly the steampunk mage feels much more uncertain about this.
"Perhaps~" And that was the last warning Blake got before Eleanor started demonstrating her physical strength.
-
Cattleya and Louise portal into the room some time later, and the former gasps and covers her mouth with her hands with the latter just looks exasperated.
Eleanor, on the other hand, seems to have gotten a little too into what she's doing and appears to be demonstrating her knowledge of knots to the poor steampunk mage. She freezes and feels her face flush red when she hears her younger sister gasp. "Er..."
"I'm sorry, big sister, I didn't know I was intruding~!" The middle daughter seems pleased by this for some reason.
"Weren't you the one saying you shouldn't do this sort of thing with him?" Asks the youngest with a hint of disapproval in her voice.
"Funnily enough, this started off with her taking measurements." Blake states flatly. "We're supposed to go clothes shopping."
"T-that's right! This fool hasn't figured out that going around with such a distinct and identifiable style is a bad idea, so I want to help him pick out something that will let him blend in better!" Eleanor's voice is a little higher than usual as she stammers out her explanation. "That and I have a few academic things to talk to him about."
"So a date then!" Cattleya reaches the other possible solution in an instant.
Meanwhile Louise moves to untie Blake before anything else can go wrong.
"Thank you. Come to think of it, shouldn't Aoi be with you, Louise?" Asks the mage as one arm comes free.
"I'd like it if he could, but he'd cause widespread panic by just being out in public." Louise sounds at least somewhat unamused. "Besides, he spent some time with me already for a while. Cattleya spent a good chunk of that time drooling over his dragon form though."
"It's so cute, I can't help it." Cattleya all but pouts as she justifies herself.
Eleanor rubs her forehead, as she's predicting that this will turn into something of a headache before the day's out. Now that Cattleya's here... She narrows her eyes and looks at her sister. "You haven't been pushing yourself lately, have you?"
"I've been good, big sister. Besides, I have the usual potion stock on hand just in case things go badly." The middle daughter smiles honestly as she reveals a few phials on her belt.
The eldest daughter sighs in resignation before glaring at her younger sister. "I already know you're going to come along, so I'll give up on that point. But if you push yourself too hard I will make Blake open up a portal straight to your room and cart you to bed myself."
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