Authors note: Not going to lie, this chapter was supposed to out before Christmas.
Then I had a crash as the AutoSave didn't kick in properly, so I lost almost two thirds of the whole chapter. So yeah, that killed my desire to touch it for s while and made it very hard to finish for a variety of reasons.
But now it's done, so sorry for the wait, and hope everyone enjoys!
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Agnes De Milan's eyes slowly opened to see twilight falling across the land. Shifting a bit she found she was half buried in a pile of hay of all things and let out a low growl as her memory began to work.
"Those insolent girls! I gave them an imperial order and they, knocked me out!?" She nearly roared as she forced herself out of the hay and brushed herself off, finding her weapons nearby leaning against a fencepost. Picking them up as she brushed herself off again growled as she stormed back into the village itself, straight for the village Tavern.
When twilight fell, most villages went to sleep, with the only places still alight being the local taverns in most cases. Tarbes appeared no different at first glance, but when she caught sight of the tavern, she found its windows were either barred with wood or cloth. And the noise that she could hear from it was not the usual noise of a taverns nightlife, but of some kind of assembly.
Crouching down she crept over to a window with cloth covering it, a window whose frame appeared to be in need of repair, and poked her sword into its corner. With a couple light twists the frame came loose, creating a gap that allowed her to hear what was going on inside.
"And that is what this thing is for. It is a terminal that will be able to bring us back to our ancestors land, the lands of the Goddesses! Because of that it must be protected at all costs, and some of us each night will have to input our families information and history into it at the behests of the goddesses oracle!" declared a woman's voice.
"But what of the goddesses and their companions? Did you not state they were heading to the capitol for some reason?" asked a man.
"Yes. The goddess are heading to the capitol to find those who moved elsewhere, so they can return with us if they wish it." The woman answered.
"Why wouldn't they?"
"I'm more worried about some others, didn't you aunt move to Albion a few years ago?"
"Yes, and I am sure here are others that we have lost contact with. How are they to be found?"
"The Goddesses have a way to find them all. That is why they are leaving in the morning. They have told me that they will send those they find to us if it is safe to do so, or will guide them back themselves if it is not safe to send them here on their own."
"But, what if they can't? What of those who could get in trouble leaving? Doesn't Siesta work for a noble house? If she just disappears . . . . . "
"I'll send Siesta a message explaining the situation. If she takes some time off right before we leave, there should be no problem."
"Well, I guess. . . how do we use that thing then?"
"The goddesses explained it to me as-"
Agnes crept away from the tavern as quietly as she could with a smile on her face. Bursting in would have caused far too much trouble, and could have ended very badly, but now she knew what those girls plan was!
And since she knew, she could act accordingly!
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5PB awoke from a beam of light sniping her eyes through the window of the room they all were in. with a groan she sat up and stretched her arm above her head and then looked about the room. Everyone else was asleep, including Louise who lay on the bed next to her, and judging from the light coming in, it was probably a good way into the morning.
Getting up off the bed she walked over to the window while fixing her clothes, and silently bemoaning the fact that none of them had spare clothes with them, pushed aside the curtain and looked out. The sun was over the horizon, and the village was alive with people walking around and doing work already. She could even see a large numbers of flags in the distance, likely from the Tristanian war camp.
Opening the window to let the air in, she took in deep breath, being reminded how badly she wanted a shower, and threw the curtains open completely. The effect was immediate, and that effect was Brave, Louise, Uni and Nepgear, all suddenly making noise and squirming. Uni and Louise even tried to hide under their covers, making 5PB smile.
Unfortunately they had quests they had to start work on, and her producer always told her that if you don't get up when the sun tell you to, you'd regret it! "It's morning! Time to wake up!"
"Ugh, it appears it is," Brave said with a yawn as she and Negpear slowly, but surely, got up.
Uni and Louise however, did not want to participate in morning.
"Ugh, five more minutes," Uni groaned as she tried to wrack the covers over her head.
"Ugh, same, let me sleep,' Louise added, doing much of the same.
"No, you need to get up. The plan was to head to the capitol today to hunt for the legacies, remember?" 5Pb said as she walked over to the bed she and Louise had used, grabbed the covers, and began pulling them back.
Louise resisted by grabbing the covers, but she was not really holding on, and they came out of her grip easily, allowing the light from the window to bathe over her. "Ugh, Legacies?"
"Um, I think that was what the terminal ended up referring to the people who were ancestors of people from Gameindustri, right?" Nepgear said with a yawn as she was already standing and doing some stretches.
"Oh, right. Those quests we basically have to do," Louise said, sounding none too pleased with the idea as she rolled to the side to get away from the sun.
And then fell off the side of the bed.
"Uh, are you okay?" Uni asked instantly.
Louise's hand rose up from behind the bed and gave a thumb up, then fell back out of sight.
"Louise, don't even try to go back to sleep," 5PB said with a huff as she walked around the bed and stood there, staring at Louise. "We need to get to the capitol, and like it or not, you're the only one who can likely guide us without causing issues!"
"We're in Halkeginia. Looking at a Noble without reverence could cause us issues," Louise grumbled as she sat up and squinted against the sun. After a few seconds of silence she then growled a bit and got up off the floor. "this would be so much easier if we had gotten to sleep at a decent time."
"We had to explain the Terminal to the villagers. It couldn't be helped," Uni said, sounding a little annoyed as she spoke. "If they didn't make it difficult we could have gotten to sleep easier."
"There is little help for it. We are in a fantasy world where technology the likes we are used to is foreign to them," Brave spoke up in the villagers defence as she sat on the one bed looking over her sword.
"No, knowledge is foreign to them," Louise said in a sickened tone. "Only the children of nobility, merchants, and the church are given official teaching in how to read, do math, and things like that. Most common people only know basic math if they learn it over years, and most cannot do more than that."
"What? How does the economy work then?" Unki asked in surprise and shock.
"Badly," Louise said with a huff as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "I'll explain it while we're on the road I guess. Let see if we can get some food and then head out. If I remember correctly, Tarbes is about a day or two's ride from the Capitol by carriage."
"Is that far?" Brave asked curiously.
"Not for us if we fly," Louise said with a shrug.
"Is that smart? Isn't being seen after what happened yesterday a bad idea?" Uni asked cautiously.
"Our glow won't be very easy to see during the day, so we should be fine," Louise said as she stretched side to side and then let out a heavy sigh. "ugh, I need a bath, or a shower."
"What is stopping us from finding one then?" Nepgear asked curiously.
"The fact that this is a small village and that plumbing as we know it does not really exist in Halkeginia," Louise said simply. The only places with any sort of plumbing are the big cities, and all it does is move the water, not heat it. Baths are made by magic or boiling water manually."
"Wait, this place is that far behind!?" Uni asked aghast.
"Yes. Most villages like this one get their water from a well," Louise said with another yawn as she stepped up to the door.
"Wait, the capitol will have baths though, right?" Uni asked hopefully.
"It does," Louise answered with another yawn before rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Oh good, that will be nice. But shouldn't we get something to eat before heading out?" Nepgear asked with a smile. "Flying while sleepy will probably be a bad thing."
"Yeah, we don't want to start imitating your sister and falling on people," Uni said with a wry grin.
"Yes! . . . Wait, what?"
"If we're going to get food, why don't we gather our things to head out?" 5PB suggested, earning instant agreement as they all went down to do just that.
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The Capitol of Tristania was a huge city, the biggest in the country. While it paled in size when compared to the Captols of Albion, or Romalia, it was still a strong and active city. Its castle was the second tallest structure in all of Tristania behind the magic academy's main tower, and its streets were covered in people going about their business. It was the busiest city in the country, but to those from Gameindustri there was only one word to describe the city.
Quant.
"This is a city?"
"It's kind of, spacious I guess?
"There's not that many people here, huh?"
"Well, it matches fantasy games at least, right?"
"Yes, yes, this city is tiny compared to Gameindustri, I know. Can we get going already!?" Louise groaned as the others just stood around at the entrance to the city staring around at everything around them.
"Oh, right, we need to start looking for the legacy," Nepgear said in realization as she looked around for a few seconds. "Um, where do we start?"
"Well our maps should-" Unu started to say as she brought up a map, and then scowled. "Oh, right. Not Gameindustri."
"Does the map not work?" Brace asked curiously.
"No, it does. But we don't know where anything is, so it's not naming things, and doesn't show me anything but the place we are right now."
"Well, your map isn't," Louise said with a shrug as he brought up her own, allowing the others to see that, while it was not complete, had all the major roads and places in the capitol already shown and marked.
"Oh! That will help!" 5PB exclaimed happily. "So where do we have to go?"
"No idea," Louise said with a shrug as she looked up and noted a number of passers-by, and a couple of guards eying them warily. "This way, we need to stop just standing in the middle of the gate, its attracting attention."
"I think it's our clothing that's attracting attention," 5PB said as she glanced around warily and then shrunk down a bit. "It feels like people are staring at our clothes, and our skin, more than actually us."
"They probably are, most people seem to be wearing little more than rags compared to what we are," Uni said as she looked at peoples clothes, little more than dresses made of one or two clothes, pants and shirts made of simple material and held up by belts and little else. Their clothing was clearly fantasy, but of so low quality it made most fantasy game clothing feel absurd in compare. Heck, their own clothing felt absurd in compare as their clothing was tailored to them, fit them perfectly, and was durable on top of all of that!
"Only the nobility and perhaps merchants have clothing of above average quality," Louise said as the group walked slowly down one side of the road, being eyed cautiously by the city guards, and warily by everyone else. "We probably should have asked for names, it would have made this so much simpler."
"Well, we know they would be people who were from that village, right? Why don't we just ask around?" Nepgear suggested with a smile.
"In a city this big, it would take quite a while to ask around for such information," Brave provided.
"No, that might be the best way to do it. If one of us gets information our objectives should update for the rest of us, right?" Louise asked.
"Well, we are in a party, so I think it should?" Uni said, more questioning it than confirming it.
"Alright," Louise said as she tapped a few places on her map, making a waypoint on everyone's as she sent them her map data. "Let's split up and ask around, and we'll meet here at this market square at lunch time, so in three hours. Does that sound good?"
Everyone nodded as they began looking around, Nepgear speaking up first. "Uh, should we split areas of the city?"
"That would probably be a good idea, we should probably split up as well," Uni added.
"That would get us spread out to find information," Louise agreed with a bit of nervousness. "Just, be careful. I'll take the noble districts, so the rest of you should split the merchant, business, and commoner's districts. No one should go near the castle district, or the slums, or the uh, red light district."
That got everyone a little red in the face for a second, but everyone agreed, quickly deciding that 5PB and Uni would go to the merchant district, Brave would take the business district, and Nepgear would take the commoners district. And after a few moments of passing tips, they each ran off down the streets to go hunting for information.
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The Noble district of the capitol, the area where most nobles had homes for when they visited the capitol or where their extended families would live, was just as Louise remembered it.
An entire district of pointless gaudy opulence that only continued to be in good repair because of the hundreds of servants that served each family and took care of them.
When she had been younger, much younger, she had once witnesses a Noble family publicly berate and punish a pair of their servants in the streets for some minor inconvenience and it had disgusted her then. Now it pissed her off even more as nothing seemed to have changed as nobility walked the streets like they were the most important things in existence, the servants that walked the streets being force to bow to everyone they pass, and then to pick up their speed to finish what they were supposed to be doing, lest they be punished for being slow.
Someone unknowledgeable could claim that the CPU's and candidates were the same, but they were not. There were some minor similarities of course, like the fact that CPU's and Candidates ran their countries and could hold sway very a large amount of rules and power over business and people, but because their power came from the belief of the people, acting selfishly or rudely was never a smart idea. The CPU's and candidates did not have servants either. Yes they had some people who worked in the Basilicoms and sometimes their homes, like the two cleaners who came and cleaned the halls of her own home once a week, but they were paid well and both respected and thanked. She, Vert and Chika had even helped them on a few occasions when a public party or gathering had created a little more mess than expected.
The lack of servants also meant that the CPU's and Candidates also had to either buy food and know how to cook, or buy easy readied meals, which in her own opinion were disgusting. Chika knew how to cook, and while she was not good, Louise was learning.
Vert wasn't allowed in the kitchen by Chika's order, because things happened.
Louise shook her head, realizing that her mind was wandering. The point was that the CPU's did not have servants by some sort of imperial decree, and those that worked for them were exceedingly well paid and could quit if they wished to at any time just like any person at any job. So the fact that almost every servant, maid or butler she could see looked miserable whenever they were not bowing to a noble, and some of them when they were, was both disgusting, and a bad sign.
When she was young there were bad nobles, something that was clearly a known issue. But she also had known back then that not all nobles were bad. The servants at the Valliere mansion usually seemed content and happy for the most part after all. But the feeling of anger, of hopelessness she could feel off of every commoner she saw in the noble quarter actually caused physical pain in her body.
One of the problems of being a CPU Candidate she figured. Both CPU's and Candidates to a lesser degree gained their power from the people's feelings and faith, but their other emotions could also affect them to a lesser degree as well.
Whish was the reason why she never left her room when a major film company put out romance movies. It made her feel rather, uncomfortable, for a variety of reasons.
"Haaaa, I shouldn't even be here," Louise grumbled as she stopped at a cross street and looked down the road to her right, right at the Valliere mansion in the city. She was supposed to be looking for the legacies, " Not indulging my curiosity and past."
With another shake of her head she turned down the left road and headed down it, somewhat recalling a tavern for nobles somewhere down the road. And as noble's loved to gossip, it would be a perfect place to hear and rumours they might be passing along. To each other and -.
"You there in the odd clothing! Hold for a moment!" Came a demanding, and very familiar voice that made Louise freeze up, turning around only a second later to see the voices owner.
Standing only a few meters away in outdoor clothing, clutching a large back that looked to be filled with books stood a tall blonde haired woman, her glasses covered eyes staring down at her analytically. Eleonore Albertine Le Blanc De La Blois De La Valliere, the eldest daughter of the Valliere family.
"Y-yes, miss, do you have some business with me?" Louise asked, trying to shift her tone and be as calm as possible. After all, her hair was now blonde, not pink so Eleonore could not possibly recognize her.
Right?
Eleonore stopped a meter from her and stared at her inquisitively for a few seconds before sighing. " I apologize, or a moment I thought you looked familiar to someone I know."
"I see. I am sorry for binging up memories then," Louise said, still trying to shift her tone to make it deeper, and hoping that the conversation would end. "If you have no business with me though, I must be going."
"Wait!" Eleoonre ordered as Louise tried to turn away. "I do not recognize your clothing. Where are you from?"
"I hail from a far distant land and am here with friends of mine whom I am traveling with," Louise responded curtly.
"Then where are your friends?"
"We split up to better see the city and will be meeting up later. May I ask what business it is of yours?"
"You are unfamiliar, and your clothes are as well. You also did not answer my first question. Where are you from?"
"A distant land-"
"Called what?" Eleonore interrupted, looking very annoyed. "I have travelled across Halkeginia, and have never seen clothing such as yours. It also does not match what clothing from Rub al Khali looks like either. So where are you from?"
"I have told you I am from a far distant land. As I know your lands have not heard of it, there is no point in speaking further. Now please excuse me as I have business elsewhere," Louise said curtly as she turned to leave, only to be stopped when Eleonore grabbed her one wrist.
"I do not think so. I know that tone, and I saw the recognition in your eyes when you saw me. Where have you been?!" Eleonore demanded to know.
"Miss, I do not know what you are getting at but this is assault and-"
"That will not work Little Louise! I know it is you! Where have you been! Answer me!" Eleonore screamed, garnering the attentions of others down the street in both directions.
"Fuck this," Louise muttered as she looked up at Eleonore and stared into her eyes, her own flashing and turning green. An act that combined with her rough choice of words, had visibly surprised Eleonore, making her loosen her grip just a bit. "Let, go of me. Now."
"You think you have any right to order me around?! No, I am binging you home and-"
Eleonore had no chance to continue as Louise summoned her spear into her free hand at an angle that was clearly in Eleonore's view, and swung it in a broad arc toward her.
Knowing she would be caught on the point otherwise, Eleonore let go of Louise's wrist and jumped backwards to get out of the way, though the very tip of the spears point still caught her clothing, cutting a perfect slice into the stomach of her coat, and her blouse. "You, just attacked me!?"
"You would not let go," Louise said as she internally swore to herself and tried to calm herself down. If she didn't then she knew that she would make a bad choice. Especially considering that a number of other nobles on the streets were taking wands out.
As was Eleonore.
"You should know better than that, Little Louise," Eleonore stated coolly, her tone filling with rage as she gripped her wand tightly. "to attack a Noble like myself, ,in broad daylight no less, I will drag you home and make sure you are punished for this, and for disappearing for so long without any words!"
"No, you won't," Louise stated as she twirled the spear in her hands with obvious mastery and skill before stopping with its point toward the ground and smirking. "Don't look for me. In fact, forget this happened," She said as she stabbed the spear into the ground and silently activated a skill, causing an explosion of force to erupt out from her and the spear.
The resulting blast knocked Eleonore, and a number of other nobility, to the ground even as it cracked the cobbles, the walls to noble yards, and sent up a cloud of dust so thick none could see. By the time a bystander used wind magic to blow away the dust, Louise was gone without a trace, and the only proof she had been there was the half meter deep crater in the sidewalk.
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While it was clear that Louise was not enjoying being back in her first life's lands, Nepgear found it to be extremely informative, and figured that 5Pb probably thought the same.
Things were just so different in the village of Tarbes to what she expected, and the Capitol was proving to be just as interesting. The main roads had been kept clean and in order, but once she had arrived in the commoner's district she found the entire ambiance and feel of the place to be so different it felt like she had moved to a different land entirely.
Unlike the merchant district and the main roads the buildings in the commoners district were not uniform or made entirely of stone, but instead made mostly of wood, with only the rare few buildings having stone foundations. Their roofs were made of everything from simple straw and thatch to tile or wood planks seemingly at random, and no building was without some form of visible wear even if it was so simple as looking like they needed a new coat of paint. Some even looked like the buildings were on the verge of falling apart, as if they were held together with string and good intentions.
And that was just the buildings.
The people looked different as well as none wore clothing that looked nice or enjoyable to wear. The men were wearing simple pants, sometimes only pants, while the women all were wearing simple dresses, many with aprons, all of simple mute colors and no detail to them. As if following the buildings around them as well a number of people seemed very tired or irate , giving her only the shortest of glances before looking away or outright scowling at her. The only ones in the entire district who seemed happy were the children that played in the dirt covered yards or on the streets covered in dust, refuse and straw.
"I really need to find some information for our quest, but everyone moves away as I try to go closer to talk to them. Maybe they don't like foreigners?" Nepgear asked herself as she walked down the streets.
No one answered her question, but after a few more minutes of walking a pair of men, large and shirtless came off a street and interpose themselves in front of her. "You should not be here, girl," one of them said to her gruffly.
"Oh, I'm just looking for-"
"We don't care what you're looking for!" the other man almost yelled, interrupting Nepgear from speaking. " Nobility don't belong here, so get lost before we make you!"
"Easy," the first man said as he placed a hand on the others shoulder and pulled him back a bit before looking back at Nepgear. "It is not safe here for the nobility girl, you should run along and go home."
"Oh, I'm a traveler, I'm not from these lands," Nepgear said, realizing there must have been a misunderstanding due to her clothing.
"That doesn't-"
"Enough," the first man said, stopping the other from speaking as he pushed him back. "I'll deal with this. Go back to the others."
"But,"
"Now!"
"Fine,"
"I apologize for that miss," the man said to Nepgear in a humble tone. "However you really should not be here. I would suggest going back to the main streets. There is nothing for you here."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I'm just looking for some information. I don't mean to cause a problem,"
"You're not causing the problem yourself if you are from other lands, but your clothing marks you as a noble, and there are people here do not take kindly to them. Leaving would be the safest thing for you to do."
"Oh, I see. Alright," Nepgear said. "May I ask you before I leave then?"
"Fine. What is it you need?"
"Well, me and friends of mine are looking for-" Nepgear began before a sudden shriek puled both her and the man's gazes down the street in time to see a carriage pulled by a pair of horses to speed down the road and almost hit a young girl.
Unfortunately that was not what truly was scary. As people moved off the street, a young girl of maybe six dropped a small doll out of her hands, and broke free of her mother's grip to go retrieve it. Putting herself right in the path of the speeding carriage in the middle of the street.
It took barely a second for Nepgear to realize from the screams of people that the wagon was not slowing down, and in that exact moment she rushed out onto the street faster than most people could even see, scooped up the little girl in her arms and rolled out of the way of the horses and carriage mere feet before she and the girl would have been trampled.
Unfortunately the horses were spooked by her sudden appearance and disappearance, and did not listen to the carriage driver as they swerved to dodge nothing, causing the carriage to tilt and crash to the ground, skidding uncontrollably until it crashed into a low wooden and stone wall surrounding the broken ruins of a building at the streets end.
The commoners were more focused on Nepgear however, as she sat up and held the girl in her arms, who was now crying from nerves and fear. "It's okay, your all right now, okay?" Nepgear said as she smiled at the small girl in her arms, which stopped crying for a second to try to say thank you. Instead she began crying again and grabbed hold of Nepgear, hugging her tightly.
"Elicia!" A woman said as she ran over and fell to her knees in front of Nepgear, looking terrified and worried for who was clearly her daughter.
"Don't worry she's fine, just a bit scared I guess," Nepgear said as she very gently pulled the girl off of her and handed her to her mother, who immidiatly hugged her with all her might.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the woman cried as she hugged her child. "When she ran out for her doll I thought, I, i-"
"It's alright, she's safe now," Nepgear said with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you. . . I almost lost her. Thank you so much!"
"What madness is this? Who is the one who has destroyed my carriage!?" Came a roar of anger that grabbed everyone's attention as a man climbed out of the side of the carriage. He was portly, dressed in a fine coat and pants that wee scuffed and damaged, and his head of short hair did nothing to hide his progressing age, or his angry snarl as he stood up and pulled out a short, roughly foot long stick of wood.
All of the commoners around took visible steps back while the mother held her child closer, but could not seem to yet stand.
Nepgear looked at their faces, easily noticing their expressions mixed between fear and anger, and then saw that the portly man was approaching, looking angrier and angrier by the second. '
"Well? Which of you rabble of worthless commoners got in the way of my carriage!? Which of you is responsible for this!" the portly man roared as he swung his stick to the side, making many of the people visibly flinch and back away in fear.
"My liege, I, there was a child, and your carriage would have hit them," the man who first spoke up to Louise said as he stepped forward, his muscles tense and expression worried.
"A Child? You caused my Carriage to crash, my horses to be injured, my noble self to be hurt, because of a child!?" the portly noble asked incredulously, making Nepgear worried as to where this might go from his tone.
"No, we would not ever intend such a thing sir, but the child was in the way so the girl there-"
"Know your place you worthless commoner!" he noble yelled as he pointed his wand at the man, causing him to take a step back, hands in front of his body in a protective stance. "If a choice must be made between a commoners life and the destruction of a nobles property, obviously my property and my person are more important!"
"Enough, how can you say such a thing? You should be ashamed!" Nepgear exclaimed as she stood up and stepped in front of the people and between them and the noble, shocking everyone. "Your carriage was going too fast and could have hurt someone!"
"Who is this-, who are you girl, what are you doing here in the common district among these rabble?!" the noble asked, mistaking Nepgear for a noble herself it seemed.
"I'm a traveler, but that is not important! How can you even insinuate that a piece of property is more important than a person's life? Do you have no compassion? How can you even say something so evil?"
"Evil?! Now see here girl, they are but commoners, so obviously a Nobles property is more important than their lives. Even more so when it is one such as I who have been injured by their whelp who dared stand in the way of my carriage!"
"That doesn't make any sense! How can you think so little of their lives!?"
"Because they are but commoners of course!" the noble said finally as he held up his wand. "Now stand aside girl, I will not harm a traveler from another land if it can be helped. Move aside and let me do a nobles duty in punishing the one who caused my carriage to crash!"
"I was the one!" Nepgear then stated, much to the commoners surprise and horror.
"Excuse me?"
"I was the one. I jumped in front of the horses and grabbed the young girl to get her to safety!" Nepgear proclaimed.
"I see. So you are the one who must pay the price somehow," The noble said as he looked Nepgear up and down, his lips forming a grin as he did much to the commoner's collective horror. "Even if you are a traveler, I suppose we can come to an, appropriate arrangement, no?"
"Girl wait! You've saved one of us, I can't let you become the toy of a noble and pay our price! It is our problem to-"
"Be silent you worthless waste of space!" The noble said as he flicked his wand, creating a blade of wind that bit deep into the man's stomach and send him flying backwards onto the road, blood seeping out onto the cobblestone streets and maybe a couple people shriek.
"Oh my goodness!" Nepgear exclaimed as she ran over to the man and knelt down beside him. "Hold on, I'll help you!"
"Don't, waste your strength," the man said grimly as blood drenched his body and pants. "He cut my stomach; I am as good as gone. So let this be our punishment."
"Hmm, well I suppose that could be a part of it!" the noble said with a chuckle as he held his wand aloft and began eyeing the crowd. Right up until a white glow began emanating from the downed man. Or more accurately from Nepgears hands as she held them over his wound. A few seconds later she leaned back and breathed a sigh of relief, the man before her no longer bleeding, and all the blood, and the wound, gone as if they never existed.
"I, you, know magic? you saved me?" The man asked Nepgear as he sat up and looked at her in confusion.
"Of course. You were hurt, so why wouldn't I help you?" Nepgear asked with an honest smile.
"Fascinating! That was not water mafic, yet you healed that worthless fool. What was it that you did to heal him girl?" the noble asked, seemingly unconcerned about the previously wounded man himself.
"It was a healing skill," Nepgear said as she stood up and helped the man stand up before turning to the noble, her expression oddly neutral.
"I see, well I suppose I can find out more about it from you while we speak of how you will repay me, girl. Now come with me."
"No."
The noble stopped for a second and then looked straight at Nepgear. "I am sorry, I must have some bits of carriage in my ear. What did you just say?"
"I said no," Nepgear stated.
"You do realize disobeying a Noble is a serious crime, do you not? Even worse, you owe me, and I aim to claim payment from you."
"I am sorry, but I refuse to deal with a person who is clearly evil," Nepgear stated simply as she stared at him.
"Evil? You think me evil? I am a Noble of this fair country. How in the founders name could I be considered evil!?" he noble yelled, rage filling his voice.
"You hurt that man with that magic of yours and he would have died if I had not healed him. Only someone who is evil would attack an innocent with so much force!" Nepgear stated seriously.
The noble looked like he was about to scream, but suddenly stopped and chuckled bit before speaking. "Foolish girl, learn your place. You are coming with me, and you are doing it whether by your own choice, or by force. So which will it be?" The noble asked as he held out his free hand toward her, as if asking her pleasantly despite his words. When Nepgear did not move after a minute he lowered his hand and sighed. "I see, by force it is then!" He yelled as he swung his wand and conjured a wind blade that flew toward her.
Right before the blade would have struck, Nepgear summoned her sword and swung, countering the wind with a single swing. And utterly surprising both the commoners and the noble. After all, she had not been carrying a weapon on her seconds before.
"What? Where did you get that?" the noble asked before shaking his head. "Never mind, it does not matter. You are now not only defying a noble, but brandishing a weapon before me. Your crimes continue to escalate. Drop you weapon and surrender before I get serious, girl!" He spat out as he began moving his hand, making balls of wind that floated around him ominously.
"I am sorry, but I will never surrender to someone who is doing wrong!" Nepgear stated proudly, impressing all the commoners and galvanizing a number of them, while angering the noble even further.
"Then I suppose I will have to take just your broken and wounded body back to my manor with me to get the information I want out of you!" He declared as he swung his wand, sending four wind blades toward Nepgear.
She parried each wind blade with a single swing of her strange looking blade that seemed to glow as if made of light. The noble sent more wind blades at her, as if that was all he was capable of doing, and each blade was flawlessly parried out of existence by Nepgear so quickly it was difficult for many to even watch her arms move. With each block and parry she moved close to the noble, who began slowly stepping backwards. Finally he bumped against the wreckage of his carriage and became afraid as Nepgear was a mere handful of meters away from him.
"H-hold girl, if you surrender now, I give you my word none of these common rabble will be harmed, how does that sound?" He offered suddenly.
"You will not harm any of them? In any way?" Nepgear asked even as the commoners behind her began yelling out for blood.
"I swear on my title."
"Fine, then leave," Nepgear stated as she turned to walk away, her sword disappearing from her hand into particles of light.
"I will do so. Now come along," the noble said with a sigh of relief. "It will be quiet a walk to my manor."
" . . . uh, I'm sorry, but I told you already I wasn't going with you. Please leave on your own," Nepgear responded."
"What? I ordered you to-" The noble began until a Pitch fork suddenly flew past and embedded itself into the wreckage of his carriage right beside his head.
"The girl said no," the first man said as another commoner tossed him another pitchfork, which he caught and held it like a javelin over his shoulder, ready to fly.
The noble stood there for a second before anger filled his face again. "Fine, slap at the hand that feeds you, you will all regret this! All of you!" He yelled as he ran down the street into the distance, clearly having difficulty doing so due to his portly shape.
"You should not have tried to help us girl," The first man said as he walked up to Nepgear a minute later, smiling as he spoke. "But I thank you for doing so all the same, even if it makes me fear for our future."
"Oh, um, you're welcome? No, sorry?" Nepgear said, not sure which she should be saying considering how worried the man sounded.
"Do not let it worry you girl, but now that a noble has a bone to pick with you, you should leave the capitol. Or even the country. Things are not calm or good here recently."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm looking for someone with some friends. Some people that are from Tarbes."
"The village?"
"Yes, the same. We passed through; and some of them asked us to look for them. They just forget to give us their names," Nepgear said.
"I see. . . alright, you're probably looking for the owner of the Charming Fairy inn. I've heard they are from Tarbes. Do what you need, but as soon as you are done you should leave, for you and your friends safety," The man said as he turned and began walking off, only stopping a second later. "Oh, and good luck."
"Thank you!"
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"So, did you find anything Brave?" Uni asked as she, Brave and 5Pb sat at a table of a café waiting for Louise and Nepgear to join them.
"Nothing of particular note other than the fact that people are expecting the army to return late tonight or early tomorrow. It seems that word of their, 'victory' has not yet reached here."
"Well, that's something at least," Uni said as she hung her head down in exhaustion.
"We didn't find anything, at least nothing useful to our search," 5PB provided, making Uni let out a low groan of annoyance.
"What is wrong Uni?" Nepgear asked as she walked up and sat down at the table, looking slightly shaken up.
"The merchants, none of them would tell us anything useful. All they kept doing was asking us where we got our clothes, if they could buy them . . . or if they could buy us. Perverted creeps the whole lot of them!"
"Yeah, that was not enjoyable," 5Pb admitted before shaking her head. "Did you find anything Nepgear?"
"I think so yes but, where is Louise?"
"I'm here," Louise called as she walked over, breathing heavily as if she had just a marathon.
"Are you okay Louise?" 5Pb asked immediately upon seeing Louise's tired appearance.
"No, but I'll be fine. But our time is just a bit limited now because I messed up."
"What did you do?!" Uni demanded to know, sounding more exasperated than angry.
"Someone recognized me somehow," Louise said simply before continuing on. "Did any of you find anything?"
"We found out that merchants are creeps here and that's it," Uni declared with a shudder that 5Pb copied.
"I discovered little aside from the fact that there is a definite divide between the haves and have nots here," Brave stated next, prompting Nepgear to speak up.
"I found the same, but I also found some information. Patently the owner of a Charming Fairy inn is from Tarbes."
"Well, that's at least one lead. Anything else?" Louise asked hopefully.
"N-no, sorry but that was all I learned. Aside from the fact that some of the nobles are evil," Nepgear said, earning a few raised brows, but not anything immediately said.
"Right, well, I guess that's our current lead. Do we want to head there now?" Louise asked, noting that they were sitting at a café.
"We have not ordered anything. Inns usually have food and board, so would it be prudent to stay there while trying to explain the situation to them?" Brave asked.
"That sounds like a good idea actually," Uni responded as she looked at Nepgear and Louise."
"Well, would an inn have a bath?" Nepgear asked as she looked to Louise.
"It might, but it won't be as good as what we are used to. Not by a long shot."
"Well, we could still get clean though, right?" 5PB asked hopefully.
Louise nodded and let out a sigh. "Alright, let's see if we can find this charming fairy inn."
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The Charming Fairy, as it turned out, was not primarily an inn. It was a two story building, quiet large considering its location, and the bottom floor was outfitted as a well-kept and well-designed pub and restaurant, though alcohol appeared to be the main thing served. However the alcohol was clearly not the main attraction as each of the serving girls were dressed like maids. Maids whose skirts were a little shorter than normal, and whose blouses had more of a plunge to their neckline than a normal maids would.
It was, in essence- "A Maid Café. This place is a maid café?!" Louise said in exasperation.
Of course, in Gameindustri there were at least a couple of maid cafes in each nations cities as they were a common draw, many of them having different outfit designs or other niche settings or menu items to set them apart from the others. They were a relatively common thing, but as far as Louise had known, the concept did not exist in Gameindustri.
It seemed that it did however, to some extent.
"Good afternoon! A Table for five of you?" one of the maids asked as she sauntered over to them, her short shocks showing what was considered a scandalous amount of skin in Halekginia. Compared to what 5PB and Uni were wearing though, it was hardly that impressive, and the maid seemed to realize such by the way her expression shifted a bit. "Or, are you here looking for work?"
"No, a table would be fine, thank you," Nepgear said with a smile that destroyed any worry in the room.
"Of course, right this way please!" The maid said as she led them to a table near an edge of the room. "Would you like to order, or do you need menus?"
"We will need menus, yes. We would also like to speak to this properties owner when they have a few moments, if that is alright," Louise spoke up, making the maid look slightly worried, but not overly so.
"Okay. I'll talk to them before I bring you your menus," the maid said with a friendly wave before they went off into the back where the kitchen probably was.
"And now we wait," 5Pb said with a smile as she looked around curiously. "This place is well kept compared to that café we waited at."
"Yeah, I'm actually impressed by how clean and taken care of it is, even for an establishment in the capitol," Louise agreed, earning an odd look from Uni.
"You mean this isn't normal?"
"Not exactly. Any establishment would do its best to be tidy, especially here in the capitol because a single noble complaining could be their downfall, but it feels like this place is kept exceedingly so in compare to others. If the owner if one of the legacies, they probably wouldn't have a problem following Gameidusti's cleaning regulations."
"Well, that is not a bad thing," Brave commented before glancing up, pulling everyone attention to one person who was walking straight towards them.
He was a very tall and scarily muscular man wearing a pink muscle shirt of all things, and when he came up to their table he struck a pose that could only be considered girly and would have been somewhat cute I they had been a small girl, but as a tall and muscular man, it was anything but. "Greetings you adorable things! I am Scarron, the owner of the charming Fairy inn, though please call me Mi Mademoiselle if you would! What I can I do for you?" the muscular man said in what could only be the most flamboyantly Gay tone of voice any of the girls had ever heard.
Alternate lifestyles were not so uncommon in Gameindustri, but most men who were gay usually looked more, lithe or androgynous, trying to fit into the look they felt matched their personality.
This was not one of those cases, and the difference between his looks and personality was, stifling.
"Ah, yes, sorry, we are here because we've been asked to bring a message to you, I guess," Nepgear spoke up first, and then realized that none of them had figured out how exactly they would spill the news to the legacies.
"Oh, may I ask who from?" Scarron asked curiously.
"Um, well, from Tarbes?"
"From who though?"
"Uh, well."
"Oh goodness, let me talk Nepgear," Uni exclaimed as he stood up and let her eyes flash at Scarron. "We are from Gameindustri and are looking for people from Tarbes whose ancestors came from there so they can come back with us if they want to!"
"Oh I see, how wonderful, few would know that name outside of the village, and you certainly do not look Halkeginian, so I suppose you can be trusted in that matter," Scarron stated with a nod.
"Um, I guess you need some time to think about it, right?" Nepgear asked suddenly.
"Of course, I have to think about all my darling fairies, but I will think on what you say. If you have more information of course?"
"We are gathering the people to return, and once we have them all at Tarbes we'll likely be able to bring everyone to Gameindustri. It will probably take a couple of weeks though as we need to find the others with Gameindustri ancestors though," Louise admitted.
"Oh, how good to have time, I will be back in a bit with some Menu's for you!" Scarron declared before sauntering off, his hips moving a lot more than a mans should have.
"Well, he seems nice," 5PB said simply, being used to people that were more pronounce in personality due to her job.
"If a bit outgoing," Brave agreed before suddenly halfway standing up from her seat and looking around.
"Brave, what's wrong?" Uni asked.
"I thought I heard something, I guess I was-" Brave began to say before the door to the building swung open and six women in armour with flintlock pistols and swords walked in, straight towards the girls.
Before they could even react another three came down the stairs with their pistols aimed at them, and a second later, Agnes De Milan walked in with a very pleased look on her face. "For ignoring an order of the crown, the five of you girls are under arrest!"