A Party in Flanders

by BobDoorman

A couple Royal Candidates and a couple Sin Archbishops got a little bored on the same day.

Priscilla Barielle was bored. She'd grown tired of pushing Aldebaran off balconies and into ponds. She'd grown tired of watching bandits burn from the cut of her Yang Blade. She hadn't grown tired of admiring Schult's cuteness, but that'd never happen. At least not until Schult grew up, even though she'd ordered him not to, she knew it was an impossible task. His youthful cuteness would be lost, but she wasn't bothered by it.

When Schult had grown, she was sure she'd have a great butler. Trained in everything someone of his rank would need. And then he'd learn more, he had so much potential. One day she would admire that instead of his cuteness.

Yet still, she was bored. So painfully bored. Everything was so dull. She'd killed all the bandits threatening her domain. She'd killed some 'zombies' as Aldebaran had called them. She'd made the worst, most backwater, barony in the kingdom into one of the greatest.

The result left her with little to do.

So Priscilla contemplated a way to rectify that. Once she found out what she wanted to do she summoned Aldebaran to her room.

"Princess?" he asked as soon as he arrived, "What did you need me for?"

Aldebaran messed with a piece of his helmet as he waited for her to speak. Even his fidgeting had gotten boring, it was all so dull, like everything in this mansion.

"Al, I have grown unsatisfied with this monotony," she said.

"You're bored, Princess?"

"I just said that, fool."

He stopped fidgeting, "Damn. Alright, are you pushing me off a balcony again? Do I need to grab a towel?"

"You do not need to do something as foolish as that, I have already grown tired of pushing you off balconies. I have done it with every balcony in this mansion."

"Uhuh, I know, Princess."

"In fact, I have done everything there is to do in this mansion, so I have decided-"

"Oh no."

"We're going to take a trip, Aldebaran," she finished, using his full name.

Aldebaran's eyes, which she could see through the slit in his helmet, narrowed. His hands balled into fists. The muscles on his arm flexed, "I told you not to use that name."

"Then do not interrupt me, fool," she said looking down at him even though he was taller than her. It was only natural for her to look down on him, so height was unable to interfere.

After a second Aldebaran relaxed and spoke in his same apathetic tone, "Alright, where are we goin'?"

"Flanders," she answered with the first city that came to her mind.

"Cool. Are we going now?"

"Of course we are going now. I need to alleviate this boredom immediately."

Aldebaran chuckled to himself, "You're too much, Princess."

"Yes, I really am too much for your feeble mind to handle."

The man didn't protest her words. Priscilla smirked at that, of course he didn't protest. What she said was perfectly correct.

In a few moments, the two left her room and ordered a dragon carriage readied.

"Priscilla-sama," the moment Schult heard the news he came up to her, "would you like me to accompany you?" The boy tried his best to be proper. Priscilla smiled at his adorable butler outfit.

She let her gut decide this time, it would give her the most interesting result, "Not this time, Schult. Keep the mansion in order while I'm gone."

"Uhm…Priscilla-sama, I'm not sure I can do that," he said.

Priscilla frowned at that, "I have spent months training you in how to be a butler. Of course you have the ability."

"Yeah you got this kid," Aldebaran said, flashing the boy with that thumbs-up gesture of his.

Schult's eyes jumped between them both for a minute, then he straightened his back and bowed, "I will keep the mansion in order, Priscilla-sama."

Priscilla's smile returned in full, she ruffled his hair then turned to leave the mansion.

"See ya, Schult-chan," Aldebaran called out as he followed her. The two soon reached the carriage, which had been prepared quickly and was already outside the front door.

"I guess they just expect you to go on random trips," Aldebaran commented while cracking one of his knuckles.

"My trips are not random, Al, they only happen when I am bored."

"I don't see how that one follows, Princess, but ok," Aldebaran said, opening the door of the carriage for her. A driver was already waiting, sitting on the seat outside the carriage itself.

"That is just your lack of intellect, fool," she said, her smile widening. A bit of humor entered her mood. She climbed up into the carriage, its plush seat cushioning her back as she sat down.

After Aldebaran followed and sat down, the carriage driver set off.

"Alright this'll take a while," Aldebaran said, "what are we going to do for your entertainment on this trip."

Priscilla closed her eyes to think for a second, after she opened them again she said, "You could lick my feet. That entertains your disgusting mind."

"Yeah, no. I have some limits, Princess."

"If I ordered you to do it enough you would. Do not attempt to fool me," she called out his lie.

"Damn, you caught me, Princess. The chest really sucked me in, so now I'm hooked, even if it's weird feet stuff," Aldebaran said, his gaze dropped from her eyes to her cleavage. She didn't even have to think about where he was looking, he did this all the time.

"It only makes sense that my being would drive away your reasoning, Al," she said.

"Mhm."

After that silence took them. No sound came from outside thanks to the ground dragon's Divine Protection of Wind Evasion. Their conversation had come to a halt. Boredom took Priscilla once more.

Her smile rose quickly though as she figured out something fun to try. Aldebaran was always cool in the face of danger, so it might be fun to test that.

She stuck her hand out a little before her, grabbing for the sunlight.

"What are you… ah—" Aldebaran said, cutting off when a massive red sword coalesced in her palm. For a moment a second sun burned in her palm.

She held the Yang Sword close to Aldebaran's left shoulder.

"Now how close can this get before you yelp?" Priscilla asked him.

"Oh you got bored fast this time, huh," Aldebaran said.

"I got bored in the proper amount of time, fool."

Aldebaran didn't say anything. Priscilla tried to find where his eyes were. They were on her heavenly cleavage. Not that she blamed him, and the reaction was interesting.

"You are an odd man, Al," Priscilla mused while pulling her fan out of her cleavage. She held it in front of her face and finished, "A very odd man. Quite the jester."

"Uhuh, jesters fools I get it. Now are you going to warm me up over here or what?"

When those words left his mouth a long trip began. A trip full of Priscilla engaging in ever-growing insanity to satisfy her curiosity, all the while Aldebaran stared at her cleavage. Sometimes she'd lower her dress around her breasts to see how he reacted. Other times she'd put her feet on his thighs. All elicited more and more entertaining responses.

It was an interesting trip. Though for the most part, nothing substantial occurred.

When they reached the gates of Flanders the journey came to a close.

"And we're here," Aldebaran said.

Priscilla followed him out of the carriage, into the city of earth dragons. Her lips pulled into a smile, finally, her boredom would be alleviated.

---

A large mansion stood before him. It remained undisturbed by the surrounding areas. It was so isolated it had taken him hours to get here. Though he hadn't tried his absolute hardest.

In any case, it was incredibly isolated. If the mansion's owner hadn't shown him the way he doubted he would have ever found it. An annoyed sigh fell from his throat as he walked inside.

When the boy entered the massive mansion a woman greeted him.

"Husband normally does not accept visitors," she said to him.

He pulled his cloak aside, revealing a dagger strapped to his arm.

"Oh," her face almost took on an expression, but she shoved it down, keeping her face passive, "it's you, well then come this way."

The woman gestured to him, then led him further into the mansion. They passed numerous other women, each one with the same passive face. In the entire massive building he didn't once see a single facial expression. And he'd passed fifty-two women. The fifty-third was currently leading him to the man he sought.

"Ahhhhh…" a short sight escaped him, "this place is so big, why does he need this much space?" He himself was quite small and couldn't understand wanting a house this big. On most nights he slept in a hole in the ground he'd used Earth magic to dig on the spot.

The woman said nothing in response to him. Almost like she wasn't thinking at all. He shook his head, these women were creepy, but adults were always weird.

Except for the one who owned this mansion. He was weird, but a good weird. Not like most adults.

Why did he like hanging out with these women though? It made no sense.

"We're here, guest-sama," she said, pushing open a door and leading him into a room.

Inside the room, a man sat on a large chair. Stillness reigned in him. A statue would have been more expressive. Not a person had been bothering him, or interacting with him before this. As soon as the man saw him his perfectly content expression changed to one of pure fury.

"Hey, this is trampling on my right not to be bothered, what are you—" the man cut off when he realized who'd come.

"Come on old man!" he shouted out, "You're gonna get bored and all dusty sitting alone here ~tsu! Let's go for a walk or something."

"Batenkaitos," he whispered. As soon as he said the boy's last name his anger melted away.

"So what do you say?" Ley asked.

"I'll stay here, stop bothering me. I was perfectly satisfied before this."

Ley walked up to the man resting his hands on the arm of the man's chair. In a childish voice, he said, "No. You're coming with us, we're gonna have some fun, understand, ~tsu?"

The man's fury wrinkled his ordinary face, "Don't violate my right not to be bothered."

"No," Ley stuck his tongue out, then reached into himself, activating his Lunar Eclipse, "We're going for a walk, Regulus."

"Hold on-" Regulus started, Ley didn't listen and grabbed his arm, then activated Leaper.

"Come on, idiot," Ley said.

"FINE!" Regulus screamed, then he turned to the woman who'd led Ley here, she was still standing in the doorway, "You, get some of the others ready, we're going for a walk."

The woman went off. She still moved like the same robot. What would happen if he tried to eat her name? Would he even be able to eat her? She was certainly Gourmet, albeit to a small degree. However, Regulus would never give more of a name for the women here than numbers, which was unhelpful.

After he finished pondering that, Ley got annoyed that Regulus' wives were taking more than ten seconds, "Can't we go now, ~tsu?"

"Stop trampling on my right to take my time," Regulus stood up from his chair and stepped over at a boringly slow pace.

"As long as you don't trample on our right to take a walk with our favorite old man, ~tsu."

Regulus didn't say anything more to the boy.

Ley giggled.

"Are you embarrassed, Regu-kuuuuun?"

"Arrogant brat!" Regulus turned, raising his hand in the air, "Drop the nickname otherwise I'm just going to remain here, unbothered, satisfied."

Ley shook his head, a smile spreading across his face, "Fine…Regulus."

A few moments later the woman returned with a few others and Regulus said, "Now let's walk this little dog of a child."

"Hehe, yeah let's go, everyone grab onto us," Ley pointed to himself. Regulus grabbed him, as did the other women, "Leaper."

A moment later they'd moved outside of the mansion. The women had to strain themselves to hold in their vomit, Regulus didn't have to do that, he just had to ask one question, "Where are you dragging me to?"

"Uhm," he didn't know, so he put on an innocent face, "where are the best wine tasting places?"

"Don't try and convince me you haven't gone to each one in Lugunica. That would go against my rights," Regulus said.

"But Reguluuuuus, we spend most of our time in Vollachia."

Regulus stared down at him, a bit of anger in his yellow eyes, "Fine. The five major cities here in Lugunica have good wine."

"We've been to most of those though," Ley said, attempting to annoy Regulus.

Which succeeded, "You said you don't spend much time in Lugunica."

"We did, but we've been to most of the five cities."

"Which ones haven't you gone to?"

"Flanders and Ganaks," Ley answered.

Regulus' face scrunched up. After a moment his vision flicked to Ley. The moment those yellow eyes landed on him Ley stuck out his tongue.

"Flanders is closer," Regulus said.

"Then let's go ~TSU!" Ley turned Leaper on once more and pushed them to the city. They arrived quickly thanks to Ley's stolen power.

When they got to the city's gates they strode inside, Regulus' wives following behind the two Sin Archbishops. They entered the city alongside a red carriage. Inside Ley caught sight of a red-haired woman, and a man wearing a steel helmet.

Other than that Ley paid them no heed, and continued into the city with Regulus.

It didn't take them long to find some small church in the center of the metropolis.

Once they found the owner Regulus said one word, "Leave."

The man only tilted his head, "What're you talkin' about, man?"

"Hey, that's against my right to let my wives remain where I want, die," Regulus said, then waved his hand, cutting the man down with a blast of air.

"Husband?"

"Don't talk, now remain here, while this child drags me around," Regulus commanded, moving toward the exit of the church where Ley was waiting for him.

"Bye," Ley waved to the women, then walked outside with Regulus.

"Alright, Batenkaitos, where are you dragging me?"

"To the nearest winery, we need to find out who has the best wine in Flanders, ~tsu!" Ley grabbed Regulus' hand and started to race toward the nearest one.

"Hey hey hey! What're you doing? This goes against my right to walk at a leisurely pace!"

Ley turned back, "And you're going against our right to enjoy some wine!"

Regulus' anger rose then disappeared, a sigh fell from him, "Fine."

Begrudgingly Regulus let Ley drag him to the nearest winery.

---

"C'mon Rein!" Felt shouted. Reinhard followed his mistress through the streets of Flanders.

"Where are we going, Felt-sama?" he asked.

"I got no idea, but we're here, so let's see what this city's got."

The two of them had come to Flanders—along with Rachins, Camberley, and Gaston, who weren't with them right now—to see the city. Felt had insisted she was tired of constant stuffy studying. Reinhard hadn't protested his lady, so now they were here.

"Yes, Felt-sama, what should we do first?" Reinhard asked.

"Depends on how much money ya got," Felt said.

"I have very little on me right now."

Felt made an exasperated face, "Really…jeez man you need to carry money on you. Fine, how much is very little? Can we at least get some food with it?"

"If you're hungry I could run back to the Astrea manor and prepare some."

"And how long is that gonna take you? A few hours?"

"I apologize for going against your expectation, but at most it would take five minutes," he said, a bit of remorse entering his heart. Why did he have to break her expectations like that?

"Aw right I forgot, you're freakishly fast. Mmh," she grumbled and shook her head, "let's just go find someplace to eat."

"Of course, where to?" he asked, ready to obey anything she said.

"Let's find the most deevy place in the city!" Felt said.

"I'm sorry once more, but I have no idea what that word means."

"Huh?" Her red eyes landed on him, then filled with excitement, "Finally, I found something you don't get! Anyway, let's find the most run-down scummy place we can find. We'll probably find those three ex-thieves as well."

"Let's hope they don't get into too much trouble," Reinhard said as Felt began to lead him into the less noble parts of the city.

"Eh the big guy'll keep 'em from robbing anyone, probably," Felt said.

"Of course, Felt-sama. Your intellect is truly stunning," Reinhard commented, not a hint of mockery in his entire being.

"Eghhhhhh…" Felt groaned, "You're the worst Rein."

"I'm sorry, Felt-sama."

Felt waved her arms in anger, "Ah!" she grimaced and turned back to him, "I didn't mean it literally!" She leaped off the ground and threw a kick at him. Thanks to her Divine Protection her strike moved at the speed of the wind, blasting toward his face.

Reinhard caught it with no trouble at all. The impact of her attack barely even registered in his mind. A bit of fear entered him, he desperately held himself from gripping too hard. If he made any sudden move he could crush Felt's foot into a twisted bloody mess.

"Please don't do that, Felt-sama, if I grip too hard…" he trailed off, he'd told her what might happen before.

"Then figure out how sarcasm works. Does Od Laguna got a Divine Protection for that?" Felt squirmed and pounded on his hand.

In response, Reinhard let go of her foot, from there she got herself into an upright position with little trouble. With his hand now free Reinhard rested it against his chin. He tilted his head, reaching for his connection to Od Laguna. Once he had it he requested a Divine Protection to understand sarcasm.

"No…" Felt whispered.

The great force that was Od Laguna granted him the Divine Protection of Wind Reading. Nothing more.

Ahh, that's not what Felt-sama requested.

"You fucking aren't," Felt said.

Reinhard continued his search for the Divine Protection Felt had said he should wish for.

Felt kicked him in the knee. He took his hand away from his chin, "Felt-sama, what did I do wrong?"

"You weren't actually supposed to wish for the Divine Protection of Sarcasm Understanding!"

"Oh… was it sarcasm when you asked me if Od Laguna could grant me that Divine Protection?"

"YES!" Felt threw her hands up into the air.

"Ah… I'm-"

"Don't you fucking dare say 'I'm sorry'" Felt grabbed the front of his knight uniform, "Don't you fucking dare."

Reinhard stared down at his mistress and, for the first time in a long time, felt fear.

---

Wine spread across Ley's tongue. The taste rushed into his mind and the corners of his mouth lifted. After savoring the alcohol he set the glass back down.

"OOH! This is a good place. But the last place was better, ~tsu," he carefully went through all his memories of the different flavors he'd tasted in Flanders so far. This one had the second-best wine using that framework.

Regulus grabbed his glass, "Alright this is what the fifth place we've been to? You're done. We're going back to my mansion. Then you're going to leave me alone. And I'll go back to being the most satisfied existence while you help make her happy."

"Yeah…but Reguluuuuuuus…we gave her a tasty meal before coming here. Roy can do it. He can keep her fed," Ley's voice dropped, "one of the few things he can do. Idiot, listening to that woman. Anyway, Louis won't get hungry!"

"Don't violate my rights."

"What rights?"

"My right of understanding that the Sin Archbishop of Lust and all her followers are truly disgusting, deserving of pity."

Ley's arm dagger flashed in the dim winery light. The steel grazed the air as he brought it up to Regulus' neck, "Our brother is not worthy of pity. He may be an idiot who follows that woman, but he is not someone to be pitied."

Fury spread across the Sin Archbishop's face, "Fine," he said, "Now stop talking to me and enjoy your wine."

Ley stuck his tongue out and pulled his dagger back, "Hehe you adults are so weird, ~tsu."

After a few more minutes trying a couple of different types of wine and vintages a man who worked in the place came up to him and said, "Uh, kid, I'm not sure who let you in here but you shouldn't be drinking that stuff," the man said, then turned to Regulus, "is he your kid?"

Regulus' face filled with anger, "Don't talk to me, don't bother me. You're trampling on my right to be left alone in nice silence. You truly are the worst!"

"Uhm… alright," the man said then turned back to Ley, "yeah you're too young to drink."

He reached over and snatched the cup from Ley's hands.

"Hey! That's not nice ~tsu!" Ley shouted at the loss of his wine, "You adults are always doing this. First you let us in, then you take our wine! Why do you always all change your minds? It's like when you all act so nice, then you take off our clothes. Adults are so confusing!"

The man paled at Ley's words, then he asked a question, "Are you alright, kid?"

Ley felt it. A horrible, deep, evil sensation. Something worse than even eating the wrong name, or being beaten. None of the lashes he'd taken came close. Rem's flail digging into his flesh hadn't hurt anywhere near this much. Roy following that woman and rejecting his Gourmet hadn't hurt this much. This man. With a brown beard and a bald head. Who did he think he was? To feel this way. To look at him like that.

With those eyes that PITIED HIM!

Ley snapped his hand to the side, his blade cut the air. "DON'T PITY US!"

A moment later Ley stood behind the man. Two thuds followed not long after. One for the man's body, another for his head. Blood covered Ley's dagger. Ragged breaths fell from his throat.

Standing above the man's body, questions rushed into Ley's mind, "Why do they all have to pity us? Adults, so confusing. So mean. Why do they think they deserve to pity us?"

"AH SHUT UP AND LET ME BE IN PEACE!" Regulus shouted, "Stop trampling on my rights. They're mine."

Regulus slammed his hand down, a massive hole drilled into the ground from the shockwave.

"My rights, mine!" Regulus screamed, "Don't talk to me. Don't drag me to a random city. Don't try to bring me along for your awful boring adventures tasting wine. Disgusting, horrid, what is wrong with you interfering with my dutiful service as Sin Archbishop of GREED! You're just a little kid stop trying to drag your elders into things stop trying to force me into things I don't want I am the most satisfied existence!"

Regulus stepped toward Ley. Gluttony stuck out his tongue.

"Alright, old man," Ley's anger melted away at Regulus' antics. They were always entertaining. And he could get a little taste of combat as he tried to not get killed. It would only be a few moments before Regulus calmed down, but those would be fun moments.

"Don't call me old man don't speak to me don't respond to me don't stick your tongue out at me I know you want to stop stop STOP IT just don't talk to me don't speak to me you horrible abomination!" Regulus shoved his foot into the tile floor, shoving a barrage of stone at Ley.

"Lunar Eclipse ~tsu, catch up Reguuuuuu-kun!" Ley leaped, teleporting behind Regulus, then he tapped him on the shoulder.

Regulus' neck twisted around, "You." Wrath contorted his face and he swung the rest of his body around, creating a massive shockwave.

Ley leaped once more, this time into the main room of the wine house. As soon as his body solidified from the leap the wall to the private room they'd been in melted.

Regulus stood straight in the dust cloud.

"C'mon Reggie!" Ley shouted, twisting Regulus' name as he laughed to himself.

Regulus stomped after him. Ley ducked behind someone, "Don't attack us! If you do, you'll hit them. That'd make people very mad, you know, old man?"

"I don't care I don't care who it'll make mad it's my right not to be spoken to it's my right to be able to do whatever I want with my AUTHORITY!" Regulus pulled chunks of stone off the wall and hurled them at Ley and his human shield. Ley activated Leaper, vanishing out of the way. He didn't take the person though, so their body melted when Regulus' stones touched them.

"Aw that wasn't nice, ~tsu," Ley said. The other patrons of the establishment all sprinted toward the exit. Their screams were a brilliant serenade to make Regulus even angrier.

"Shut up! Stop yelling stop trying to run just stop be quiet be quiet all of you let me think and exist as the most satisfied existence in peace! Don't you all understand, disgusting. I could kill you all with a wave of my hand!" Regulus did wave his hand. It created a massive blast of wind which cut down ten people.

"Regulus that's not nice," Ley leaped right up next to him, "if you keep doing that our hero will be mad."

"Your hero?" Regulus scoffed.

"Yeah, Subaru-kuuuuuuuun! He'll get mad at you, we don't want him to get mad at you. You know, so just quiet down, also if the guards come we won't be able to get any more wine."

"Shut up, I don't care about your wine. I don't care at all. Why should I care? I'm the most satisfied existence, not you."

Ley threw his head back and laughed at the man's words, "Okay, old man."

"Mmh!" Regulus held his hand up, readying to swing it down and cut Ley in half.

Ley stared up at him.

"Don't you dare," Regulus said.

Ley stuck his tongue out, earning a growl from Regulus. The man clad in all white let his hand fall to the side. Regulus let out a sigh, shook his head, and closed his eyes.

The man stopped trying to kill Ley and simply stood there, unmoving. He exuded rage, but he didn't act on any of it.

"Anyway, we should go find the next place, ~tsu."

"Let me stand here in peace, don't try and trample on that right too."

"Mmh, fine," Ley said, turning to stare at the remnants of the wine house. On the wall next to him, which had narrowly evaded Regulus' assault, was an intact bottle of wine. Ley moved to grab it, but a shout outside interrupted him.

"Men, we have two dangerous guys in there, keep your guards up!"

"Well that isn't good," Ley said. He could fight the men outside, it was always fun fighting big groups of people. There was one problem though. A big tall white-haired problem named Regulus. He'd get in the way of Ley's combat. It would be no fun with Regulus there, he wouldn't be able to draw out the true Gourmet of any of the guards. So he—

The butt of a sword shoved through the door, wood flared out as it exploded.

"Regulus let's go! ~TSU!" Ley shouted, crossing the entire room in a few footsteps and grabbing hold of the man.

If Ley was to get out unseen, to enjoy the other wine in the city, he would need to move fast. So he activated his Lunar Eclipse and grasped Leaper's memories, then clung to Regulus.

"What do you think you're doing, stop infringing on my rights to exist in peace and quiet!" Regulus shouted as they blinked outside. Ley didn't stop there, he pushed them further and further, trying to get to the other end of Flanders.

In the middle of his leaping, Regulus screamed, "Get off, little right-abusing bastard!" He shook Ley's arm away, snapping the bones inside.

Ley yelped and dropped Regulus. In his pain, he forgot to stop his leaping and reached the other side of the city before he could stop.

"Mmh…" Ley breathed out when he finally came to a stop. He turned to his arm, hanging limp at his side.

He held his other hand up to the appendage and applied healing magic to it. The bones began to knit themselves together.

"So interesting, so Gourmet, too bad we can't eat you Regulus," Ley said, his arm snapped back together, "We'll just have to settle for hanging out with you, and enjoying the fun, until Subaru-kun kills you, hehe, ~tsu."

As soon as Ley's arm finished healing he looked back in the direction he'd come from and set off. He had to find Regulus. Maybe, actually probably, Regulus would get mad and start destroying stuff, then strong people might come to fight him. If they could survive Regulus, Ley could bait them away to fight and consume them. That would be nice.

So Ley started to walk, and walk, and walk, hoping that maybe he could meet some fun people on the way. But there wasn't anyone. It was so boring.

Regulus hadn't gone rampaging for some reason so Ley had nothing to do.

The only thing that rose over the noise of the city was a single man, "Fuck, why does she do this every time?"

Ley's eyes, seeking something to alleviate his boredom, turned to the man who'd spoken those words.

There. They stood a few meters away, just outside of an inn, a man with one arm, a sword on his back, and a Vollachian helmet. Which was weird to say the least. Especially in the streets of Flanders, in the middle of Lugunica.

Ooh, there's someone interesting! Ley walked over to the man and grabbed his arm.

"Hey mister," Ley said, "who're you looking for?"

The man turned to him, Ley caught a glimpse at his eyes in the light. There was such a deep error in those eyes. Something was fundamentally not human. Ley almost jumped for joy.

GOURMET!

---

Al stepped out of the inn. Priscilla had tasked him with the boring job of checking in and getting them a room while she waited outside. When he got out into the city he looked around. And found one problem.

Priscilla wasn't waiting outside.

"Fuck," he whispered, "why does she do this every time?"

Al thought about the situation, then laughed and shook his head. What else had he been expecting? This always happened. With the swiftness of habit, he set off looking for the woman.

After a few minutes, he asked himself, "How far did she go? That's the real question."

He shook his head.

Another's hand grabbed his.

A childlike voice came, "Hey mister, who're you looking for?"

Al turned and had to look down. Next to him was a small boy, his brown hair reaching to his knees. From the strands sticking out it looked to have not been combed in quite a while.

He didn't care about the boy's circumstances much though, so he thought on his own then said, "A Princess, she's about this high." Al made a gesture indicating how tall Priscilla was.

The boy tilted his head, his green eyes meeting Al's. He felt a bit unnerved as those eyes touched him. There was an odd glint in them.

"You know that's a little vague mister, we'd like some more information," the boy said.

"Who's we?" Al asked.

"We," the boy pointed to himself, "we're we."

"Huh, you're weird uh…"

"Ley, we're Ley Batenkaitos, ~tsu."

The last name was a bit familiar, but the feeling was gone before Al could grasp it.

"Alright Ley, you want to help me find Princess."

"Sure, as long as you help us find our friend."

Al pondered the request, as his mind worked he tapped his helmet in a steady rhythm. He couldn't find a reason to deny the kid, it probably wouldn't get in the way of Priscilla's safety. She could take care of herself. "Alright," Al put his hand out. Ley hesitated in taking it.

"Hey, do you want to fight?" A childlike glint entered the boy's eyes.

"Nah," Al answered, "I don't want to fight you, kid."

"That's smart ~tsu," Ley responded with a grin, "Alright, deal, we'll help you find your princess, and you'll help us find Regulus."

"Wait, Regulus?" recognition sparked in Al's mind. Regulus. A name Al remembered quite well.

"Yes, that's our friend," the corners of Ley's lips rose further.

"You're a Witch Cultist aren't you?" Al asked. As he looked closer it seemed obvious with the twisted Witch's Cult cloak around him.

"Yep, ~tsu," Ley answered, his smile not disappearing.

"Huh," Al scratched an itch on his back, "You gonna try and kill me?"

"We mean…we'd like to fight you…but we're not that hungry right now, so no."

"Cool," Al's eye was a bit dry, he blinked to get rid of it, "Right. If you're that guy's friend can you keep him calm?"

"Can we keep Regulus calm," Ley held his chin in his hand, thinking. Then his face grew innocent, "A little."

"Huh. If he tries to kill me, can you stop him for long enough for me to get away?" Al fidgeted with a piece of his helmet, out of boredom, not fear. Al didn't care all that much if he died. It would be a bit of a shame if he died permanently. He wouldn't get another kiss from Priscilla ever…but he couldn't bring himself to care about the concept of dying. He could understand the concept with ease, he'd come close many times, but being scared of it, that didn't come with any kind of ease.

In reality, it didn't come at all.

"Sure," Ley broke him from his thoughts with an answer to his earlier question.

"Cool, then let's get searching," Al said.

The two set off walking. After a few minutes, Ley decided to break the silence.

"You're remarkably calm about us being a Sin Archbishop. You do know we've probably killed people before, destroyed lives," Ley said, "we've done a lot of stuff you know. When most adults find out we're a bishop they get all mad and stuff."

Al looked down at the kid, met his eyes, then shrugged, "Meh. Don't try to do anything to Princess and we won't have a problem."

"Ehehe, you are very Gourmet, we'd like to fight you some time, ~tsu," Ley giggled to himself.

"You're nuts, kid," Al said.

"Aw that's mean, stop being mean."

Al only laughed at the kid's words. The two continued through the populated city, people streaming around them as they walked. Al wasn't in that much of a hurry so other citizens brushed against him while passing him. He didn't acknowledge it though, getting bumped on the street wasn't that much when compared to getting ripped in half.

"Why're you walking slowly?" Ley asked, "Aren't you looking for this girl?"

"Yeah I am, but it's not like she'll get herself killed. Without me, she's got things handled. And if not I'll arrive in time to get to her," Al said.

"How're you so sure, that's dumb, unless this one is Gourmet as well," Ley spoke his normal insanity as they weaved around a few market stalls.

"Well the world works in her favor, she's pretty lucky," Al said, "she's always said so anyway. And after all this time I'm inclined to believe her. She's hot and smart, you know."

"Uhm what does hot mean?" Ley asked.

Al tilted his head, "How old are you?"

Ley thought about it for a moment then shrugged, "We dunno."

"Eh," Al shrugged again, he found himself doing that a lot in this conversation, "So hot means she looks good, like really good, like sexy…you know?"

Ley shook his head, "Nope, we don't know."

"You're a weird kid, but I guess that makes sense, considering who you work for."

"Yep," Ley said, "so this lady looks really nice. Like cute?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"Like reaaaaally cute?"

"Yep," Al answered.

"So she's blonde?" Ley asked.

"No. You into blonde girls kid?"

"Uhm…" Ley thought about that one for a moment. While the kid contemplated it, Al looked down a back alley, trying to find if there was anyone in there.

Nope, nothing here. She's always in some back alley doing something interesting. I should head toward the red light district. That's the weirdest part of this city, so she'll probably be there.

"Hey… what does it mean to be into blonde girls?" Ley asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh. You're fucking with me," Al realized.

Ley laughed, Al only shook his head. But Ley kept going, it took him a good fifteen seconds to stop giggling.

"Ya done?" Al asked.

Ley nodded then asked, "So how hot is this lady?" for a moment sounding really old. He flipped between seeming like a normal kid and seeming old, quickly, and often. It was another weird thing about Ley.

Huh, weirdness comes with being a Witch Cultist though. Finishing that thought he moved to the next task, responding to Ley.

"Really hot," Al gestured to his chest, "like really hot, and big tits too."

"You're a weird old man."

"Hey. I'm not old."

Ley wiped all joy from his face, "That's something an old person would say."

"Kid," Al made the sound from deep in his lungs.

Ley's grin returned, "Old!"

"Alright, fine I'm old," Al said, moving further into the city.

An air of smugness emanated from Ley.

The two walked in relative silence as they reached the red light district.

When they arrived Ley turned to him and asked, "And why do you think she'll be here?"

"Most interesting part of the city," Al said.

"Interesting ~tsu? She might be Gourmet."

"What're you talking about?" Al's muscles tightened. To his ears, honed by a decade on Guinihive caught on those words, they were a threat.

Ley paused to clutch his stomach, "Don't worry, we're not thaaaaat hungry."

"Huh, aight," Al's muscles loosened.

After a while searching the red-light district they caught the sound of an imperious voice.

"Ah, it doesn't matter who you three fools are. Entertain me," a woman commanded.

"There she is," Al began to follow her voice, "c'mon kid."

Al walked in that direction, alongside Ley. The two of them quickly arrived in a small alleyway. They found a woman clad in an ornate red dress.

"Why did you have to go this far, Princess?" Al asked.

"Shut it, Aldebaran," Priscilla said, "these men are going to entertain me."

Al suppressed his rage at that name then, along with Ley, stepped up to Priscilla's side. Three men were standing opposite Priscilla. One short, another lanky, and the final beefy.

"Bitch," the tall one said, "shut up. Camberley here was just taking us to see some whores."

"Ha, pathetic, why do you need a friend to take you? Do you need him to hold your hand?" Priscilla asked.

"Nope I just got a free ticket," the short man said, "the world blessed me on this front."

"Blessed?" Al asked.

The beefy man jumped in, "Camberley's not wrong, prostitutes always pay him back, no matter what."

"Is that some Divine Protection?" Al asked.

Letting out a dangerous breath Priscilla butted in, "It doesn't matter. Clearly these three are not going to entertain me"

"Yeah it's his Divine Protection," the beefy man ignored Priscilla and answered Al.

"Did I ask?" Priscilla stepped up to him, holding her hand out to the side. Al weakly grabbed her hand. It would be a bit weird if she burned these guys alive right here.

"Princess—"

"No, you didn't, but the helmet guy did," the beefy man didn't back down from Priscilla. Her face held no expression for a moment until a small smile chipped her stony countenance. The smile was predatory, yet she let her right hand fall back to her side.

"Let's go, Al, we have entertainment to find," Priscilla said as she left the three men behind.

Al followed her, and Ley followed him. Once they were out into the main street Ley tugged on his hand again.

"What about finding Regulus?" Ley asked him.

"Oh yeah, sorry Princess but we gotta go look for this guy," Al said.

Priscilla turned back to the two of them, "I hadn't noticed this boy you brought with you."

"Eh, he seems pretty noticeable to me," Al replied.

"Yeah you got bad eyes, ~tsu," Ley insulted, staring at her, there was a hungry look in his eyes. And he licked his lips.

"Why would I notice something so disgusting, weak, and uninteresting?" Priscilla asked.

Al shrugged.

"You're going to need to come up with a better response than shrugging, Al," Priscilla said.

"Come on, you should fight us," Ley called out to Priscilla, "don't ignore us. That's boring. Let's fight, we can already tell you're Gourmet."

Priscilla's distaste was plain on her face.

"Ey Princess, let's just find Regulus," Al said, "it'll be a bad look for your candidacy if you try to decapitate a kid in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the country."

"Is this man we find going to be interesting?" Priscilla asked.

"Uh…I think so," Al said. He still didn't fully understand how she decided something was interesting.

"Well, that doesn't help at all Aldebaran."

Al's fist tightened, "Let's at least see how it goes, eh Princess."

"Fine, let's find this man. What is his name, you disgusting child?" Priscilla asked Ley.

"Regulus Corneas," Ley said, a wide smile on his lips.

Priscilla nodded and the group set off in search of Regulus.

---

Reinhard was always good at dealing with monsters. He was one himself, after all. So when news of an odd attack in a nearby winehouse reached him and Felt, Reinhard thought it prudent to aid in the city's investigation.

But he had to get through Felt first.

"We should figure out what is going on, Felt-sama, and help the people. I apologize for the inconvenience I am causing you."

Felt shook her head, "Rein, do you really think I'm gonna stop you from helping people? Also, it's something to do, your broke ass doesn't have the money for anything else."

Reinhard laughed at his lady's words. It was a fake laugh. Something about the hollowness made his chest throb with pain. He shoved it down for the good of the kingdom. Someone as powerful as him could not experience heartache.

"Also can you run back to the Astrea mansion and get me some clothes that aren't a damn dress!" Felt shouted.

"But the dress suits you," Reinhard said.

"Suits me my ass."

Reinhard hesitated to obey her, she should be proper if she was to be the Queen of Luginica. After a moment Felt said, "Fuck you go get it or you have to call me a bitch."

"Felt-sama," Reinhard whispered. Why did she have to put him in this position? A bit of emotion rose, he squashed it. "I'll go get your other clothes," he bowed.

"Alright, then why the hell're you still standing here?"

At Felt's words, Reinhard blasted into the sky, then jumped off the water vapor in the air, aiming himself toward the Astrea estate. Within a minute he slammed down in the manor's courtyard. He ran inside, quickly grabbing his lady's clothing. On his way back out he weaved out of the way of Carol, Grimm, Flam, Grassis, and Ezzo. He couldn't speak to any as Felt would want him back soon.

With a change of clothes for her in hand, Reinhard shot back toward the city. He arrived soon after, in the same spot he'd left Felt, to find her counting with her fingers.

"One-hundred and twenty-nine seconds, how the hell are you real?" Felt asked as he handed her the change of clothes.

Reinhard offered a false smile to try and calm her, "I don't know Felt-sama, another failing of mine I suppose."

Felt's hand trembled at her side, "Imma slap you one of these days."

Reinhard tilted his head as the girl dipped into an alley. He didn't follow. A moment later Felt popped back out, her clothes completely changed, instead of a dress she now wore the same outfit she'd worn when they met.

"Amazing, my lady, to change so fast and so well," Reinhard said, praising her with only honesty in his words.

"Gotta learn when you're a girl in the slums," Felt said.

"I apologize for bringing it up," Reinhard said.

"Do you have to apologize each time we've had this exact exchange?" Felt asked, "Seriously. We've done this same go around like fifty times. By the damned shitbag Dragon, I'm going to order you to never apologize one of these days."

"I'm sor—"

"Not another fuckin' word," Felt grabbed his arm, dragging him along, "now we're gonna go check out this winery."

"Yes, Felt-sama," Reinhard said, following the girl along.

---

Regulus Corneas walked alone in the middle of the city. There was noise around him, but it was a city, there were so many people, at least none were talking to him. No one bothered someone like him. Most couldn't even see him in the middle of the crowd. That was exactly how he wanted it. They shouldn't talk to him.

Shouldn't address him.

Shouldn't notice him.

He was Regulus Corneas, the most satisfied existence, he didn't need any other existences to interrupt his own. He should just be able to enjoy himself and his wives in peace. Why could no one respect that?

Why did they have to infringe on his rights? WHY?

Why did they have to trample on them? He should have never agreed to that walk with Ley Batenkaitos, he should just go home. Leave that little bastard in the city. But for some reason, Regulus didn't.

For some reason, Regulus Corneas set his sights on the side of the city where Ley had run off too and went in that direction. His walking was slow, and he made very little, to almost zero, progress on his walk. But that's because if he moved too fast, then people would bother him. Regulus didn't want to be bothered. He was fine on his own.

People who talked to him were better off dead.

People who pitied him were better off dead. They were all scum! SCUM!

The father with poor earnings and bad drinking habits who still found it in him to give Regulus gifts was a horrible terrible horrific disgusting piece of scum better off dead. That's what Regulus had done to him.

PITY! THE MOST SATISFIED EXISTENCE DIDN'T DESERVE PITY!

The mother who prattled on endlessly yet still saying things like Apologies, I've troubled you is a piece of garbage left to the ash heap that became of Regulus' home country when he took up the WItch Factor and destroyed it.

APOLOGIES! Just another form of pity, Regulus hated it, all of it, why should he be pitied. It was wrong WRONG! He was not the one who should be pitied. He had a right to not be pitied.

The greedy brothers who with ravenous eyes looked upon his food, yet when his food got spilled they divided a new portion for him from among their meals were HORRIBLE DISGUSTING MUCK!

They all tried to pity him. He didn't need pity! PITY! Why should he be pitied! It made no sense, none at all.

So Regulus Corneas continued to search for someone.

For the little boy he'd taken in, given a gospel on the order of that Vainglorious bitch. For the little boy who he'd given a robe and two daggers. For the little boy hated by his family. For the little boy who when others pitied them he hunted down and slaughtered them mercilessly. For the little boy who loved to fight, and desired only to be fought earnestly by someone who hated him. For the little boy who understood how horrible it was to be pitied.

The little boy who'd not once pitied him, and only dragged Regulus out for entertainment. Regulus searched for him. For the boy who did not pity him. For the boy who bothered him more than any other, yet still never once pitied Regulus Corneas.

Regulus searched for Ley Batenkaitos.

His legs carried him through the city, along the main roadway. Slow footsteps sounded out from his shoes, Regulus was calm, peaceful, this was a nice walk. No one was talking to him, it was all nice—

A man bumped into him and said, "Ey watch where you're goin' and walk faster, by the dragon."

Regulus froze and turned to the man, "What was that? Talking to me? Bothering me? Violating my rights. I was perfectly content to just walk in peace. BUT NO! You had to interrupt, you selfish arrogant disgusting scum! I RESPECTED YOUR RIGHTS BUT NOW YOU'VE VIOLATED MINE!" Regulus screamed walking toward the man, who backed away at Regulus' shrill voice.

"Uhm…you're weird, man, I'm just gonna go," he said, waving his hands a little and walking the other way.

Regulus wasn't just going to let that happen, he kneeled down. THIS scum had infringed upon his rights and ruined his quiet search for Ley.

Reaching for his Authority Regulus held bits of stone he'd ripped from the roadway in his hand. The man kept going, trying to get to the other side of the street.

"You interrupted my existence, you scum. SCUM! SCUM! BETTER OF DEAD!" Regulus screamed, slamming his arm down and throwing all the stones in his hand. A barrage of time stopped particles went flying. Hundreds of people exploded from the debris. Their gore and viscera sprayed everywhere. The man who'd interrupted him was gone, pulverized into nothing more than a smear of blood on the floor. Exactly what he always should have been.

SCUM! SCUM! SCUM! Regulus picked up more rocks, tossing them in every direction, at the same time he kicked massive slabs of stone out of the ground towards the buildings around.

"SCUM! DISGUSTING HORRIBLE ABYSSAL SCUM! DON'T INFRINGE ON SOMEONE'S RIGHTS!" Regulus screamed at the top of his lungs, "Don't try to interrupt my most satisfied existence!"

A moment later a finger touched his nose, and a boy with emerald green eyes floated in front of him.

"BOOP! Hey old man we found you! ~TSU!"

---

Priscilla hated fools. Fools with no room to grow, fools stuck in a single disgusting self-sacrificial mindset. She hated them, all of them. With every piece of herself. Unless they were interesting, like Aldebaran, he was a jester, he had incredible potential.

But this Ley, this boy leading her and Aldebaran along. Disgusting. Every single part of him was disgusting. The way he drooled when he saw his betters, the way his eyes searched for things to eat. Disgusting. Absolutely awful. The way his eyes held sacrifice as if his actions were done for someone else entirely, awful. Horrid. Not even worth her time.

It was only Aldebaran's words, that it would be bad for her candidacy, that she didn't try to cut down the boy here and now. And she was only following in the hope he'd bring something interesting. But as it stood, she had to hold her hand at her side, had to keep herself from summoning the Yang Blade. He was just so awful. It made her furious, angry, and wrathful.

"Ooh," Ley turned around, "you're reaaaaaally mad at us…" he giggled, "would you like to fight, Priscilla Barielle?"

"Did you tell this mongrel my name Aldebaran, he doesn't deserve to know it," Priscilla said, "You'll be punished for telling him."

"Princess," Aldebaran said a little angry she'd used his full name, "stop calling me that, and no I didn't tell the kid anything about you other than you had big boobs, were really hot, and about how tall you were."

"Hah," a laugh jumped from her throat, "all true things, Al, yet none of them my name."

Then this boy had figured out her name without any hints other than her actions and appearance. Maybe there was more to him than that disgusting personality. She reassessed her earlier assessment on his potential. It was possible he had a little, if very little.

"Oh, do you want to know how we figured it out?" Ley asked.

"I don't care, nor do I remember asking," Priscilla said.

Ley spoke anyway, "Well it's because we're a genius you know, ~tsu."

"This'll be fun to watch," Aldebaran whispered.

"Quiet, Aldebaran," Priscilla said, "Now, child, I don't care for your story. You're forgettable. When we part ways I will not remember a waste such as yourself."

"Aw you're mean," Ley said, his eyes analyzing her.

At that moment Priscilla did not see some foolish sacrificial boy. She saw a beast, a lion out on the high plains, a hunter, seeking the best way to assault his prey. It was interesting.

"Stop studying us, weighing our existence on a scale, just like those merchants," Ley said.

"I will study what I like to study. Don't compare me to a merchant, all things like that are beneath me," Priscilla said.

"Yes, you're different, you're not like those merchants, those run-of-the-mill horrible adults. Nothing is special about any of them, they're all horrible, like you, Priscillaaaaaaa…oh, why are you holding your hand out to the right?" Ley asked.

"It is for if I decide to execute you where you stand, to burn you away to dust," Priscilla said.

"Ah…well, let's go find Regulus, he'll probably get in trouble soon," Ley said.

"Yeah with this many people," Aldebaran entered the conversation, finally, "that guy's gonna start getting pissy. Which might actually be fun for you to watch, Princess."

"From your tone, and the way you're talking I have the feeling that I will only be watching a fool flail around in anger," Priscilla's gut was starting to tell her how anger-inducing this would be.

She shook her head.

Aldebaran rested a hand on her shoulder, "Don't get too mad Princess, I'll buy you some really nice flowers, and find some cute new suits for Schult."

Priscilla didn't offer any rejection to his words.

Though she did pay attention to Ley's muttering.

"Weird, so weird…holding a hand out to the side. Burning. Red hair. Red bride…showed up in Lugunica at the age of twelve…oh, could it be…" Ley mused.

Priscilla stared at him. Could he be that intelligent? Could his mind piece it together with this tiny amount of clues? That would be a sight to see. It would be entertaining.

"Ahhhh," Ley giggled.

Priscilla's anger flared, she knew what was coming.

"You are," Ley whispered as a grin split his disgusting face, "Priscaaaaa Benedict."

Priscilla rejected his words, "She is dead."

"Uhm," Ley put his finger up to his mouth, "no you're right in front of us."

"To be so intelligent yet act so childish and self-sacrificial, truly a waste," Priscilla's disgust radiated through her words.

Ley turned serious, "Making Louis happy is not a waste."

"It is."

Ley's stomach rumbled, "Says the woman so weak she can't even acknowledge the past."

Priscilla shoved her hand to the air and yanked the sun out of the sky. She slammed down a hand wrapped around the grip of a red balde. It shimmered with the light of the sun. For it was a second sun.

Ley raised his fist, and batted the second sun off course, it slammed into the ground right next to him.

"Die, disgusting child," Priscilla commanded as she summoned the Yang Blade in her other hand and sliced at the boy.

"No, it's just getting GOURMET, ~TSU!" Ley jumped into the air, avoiding her attack.

"HEY!" Aldebaran pushed into the middle of them.

Ley's feet struck the ground, but the boy's vision was still jumping around.

"Aldebaran," Priscilla warned.

"Aldebaran," Ley growled, "don't get in our way."

"Oh you're both ganging up on me now?" Aldebaran asked.

"Get out of the way, Aldebaran," Priscilla readied to burn him away. This boy, he was so disgusting. She was no longer Prisca Benedict, no longer that weak child.

"Yeah, get out of the way, Aldebaran, we want to fight," Ley said.

"Alright, fine—" Aldebaran began, but a massive explosion rang out. It was followed soon after by a man's shrill screaming.

"Oh that's Regulus, ~tsu," Ley lost interest in her and disappeared. Priscilla blinked as her lips tilted down into a frown.

"Damn, kid's gone, alright let's go pick out some new clothes for Schult, eh Princess," Aldebaran said.

Priscilla turned to him and dismissed her Yang Blade. It would be unwise to kill him now. She banished that boy from her thoughts. Then raised her hand and slammed it down on the back of his helmet, creating a loud ringing. Aldebaran made no noise of pain, but he did rub the back of his helmet to check that she hadn't cracked it. Fool.

"Do not advise me away just as it's getting interesting, know your place, fool," Priscilla said.

"Yeah, sorry Princess," Aldebaran said. And yet, to see Aldebaran face down a boy like that, she knew he was pathetic, but he was strong. It was interesting to watch.

"You'll be licking the space in between my toes for that lack of judgment on your part," she commanded, then with a motion beckoned for him to follow her in the direction the explosion had come from.

"Could I lick in between a different space?" Aldebaran asked.

Priscilla turned to him, "Which space, Al?" She met his eyes inside his helmet.

He pointed to her cleavage, "That one."

"You perverted fool," Priscilla said.

"Hey, it was worth the shot asking."

"I don't recall ever denying or accepting the request," Priscilla said.

"Oh…" Aldebaran said.

Priscilla smirked.

"OH!" Aldebaran made a guttural sound. One of excitement, the fool.

"How you act today determines how I respond to your request," Priscilla said.

Aldebaran nodded as he fell in beside her. The two walked side by side toward where the explosion had come and Ley had probably run off to. Hundreds of people ran, screaming, in the opposite direction of Aldebaran and Priscilla.

"Ah, Regulus went nuts I think," Aldebaran said.

"I'd figured, Aldebaran."

"Yep, alright," he picked at a little piece of his helmet. A little clang came from his covering.

"A little further away from my acceptance than you were," she said.

"Aghh…fuck you're going to dangle this over me the entire day then make me lick your feet anyway."

"A little closer to my acceptance, for your good judgment."

That forced Aldebaran into silence. "Hmhm," she laughed at the back of her throat at his embarrassment.

Aldebaran shook his head and the two walked into a city square. Buildings surrounded them, with the roadway splitting into four directions. Bloody smears on the ground lay everywhere, and half the buildings lay in ruin.

"Damn, he really went off," Aldebaran said to himself, but he didn't seem concerned at all.

"Obviously, Al."

The two of them continued forward until Priscilla glimpsed the center of the square, where an incredibly ordinary man and that mongrel child were standing. The two were talking, almost bantering, and from this distance, they looked like friends.

Ley spotted Priscilla and Aldebaran then grabbed the man, who she figured out was Regulus and led him over to the two of them.

"Hey! Old helmet dude, Prisca?" Ley said.

Prisca was dead. Now Priscilla held her hand out to the side.

Regulus' gaze landed on her face, which had been emptied by surprise, "Oh, that's a nice face," he said, "Well, Batenkaitos, it seems this trip was worth it."

Priscilla's instincts forced a word from her mouth, "Disgusting."

"I'll ignore that, as I'm a good partner," Regulus said, "now tell me, miss."

Regulus stepped up to her, putting himself only a few centimeters away from her. Priscilla didn't back away, fury rose in her heart at those eyes. The way he looked at her.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Yes," she said, "Not a single romantic equal has come before me as of yet. Though there is one who could become one." She barely held the anger from her words. As Aldebaran had said, it would be a bad look to cut these things down.

"Excellent, now you'll be my wife, I'll have my other wives prepare a ceremony when we get home," Regulus said.

For a second even Priscilla Barielle was stunned.

"You dare," the words slipped from her mouth, "...disgusting. You try to make me your wife, without us engaging in courtship, in conversation, in the learning of one another's full personality. You skip the true romance, the slow beautiful warm development of love. You dare! To blaze past all of it! And declare that I'll be your wife, even without my engaging in the activity of romance with you! I would not engage in romance with you in the first place! DISGUSTING! YOU DARE TO INFRINGE ON LOVE, ON ROMANCE BEFORE ME!"

Priscilla thrust her hand out to the side, sunlight burst alight within her fingers.

"DISGUSTING HORRIBLE PIG!" Priscilla screamed. The Yang Blade formed in her hand.

"Hey, that's no way to treat your future husband. Don't violate my rights if you want to be my wife," Regulus said.

"Oh, that one pissed her off, we should have tried harder to get her to fight. This would have been a fun fight. But she's set on Regulus," Ley whispered with an absent mind.

Priscilla didn't care for his words. She simply gestured to Ley with her empty left hand and issued one order, "ALDEBARAN KILL THAT FILTHY SELF-SACRIFICIAL FOOLISH MONGREL!" The imperious command boomed from her.

The man, whose name she'd already forgotten, twisted in even greater anger, "Hey stop! STOP INFRINGING ON MY RIGHTS!"

Priscilla ignored him and spoke to Aldebaran once more, "I'll handle this puny milksop of a man who thought to make me his wife."

"Alright Princess, good luck."

"Whether I have good or bad luck does not matter, all that matters is this man has attempted to defile romance."

"Hey I'm the most satisfied existence, I don't need your insults!" Regulus screamed.

"You are the most forgettable existence," Priscilla said, focusing her mind, time to kill this man.

Activating her Yang magic to its fullest extent she empowered herself. Her Divine Protection of the sun sent its rays flowing through her. Giving her strength.

Priscilla pulled back the Yang Blade, then thrust it into Regulus' chest. Surprise filled her as her blade bounced off. However, Regulus soared back. The strength of her thrust had thrown his body back.

As soon as he crashed into the building behind him, Priscilla followed, blood lust in her heart.

---

Al had faced more opponents than he could count, but he couldn't quite remember any as short as this one. But Al could feel something about this boy. Incredible strength radiating from him.

"I'm at a disadvantage huh," Al said.

"Yes, fighting us, you'd be at quite a large disadvantage," Ley said, "which is unfortunate. It will take away from the fun of the fight."

Fun of the fight? That was a mindset he could use.

"Alright I have a way to make it more fun, let's go into one of those buildings," Al pointed to a still-standing building behind him.

Ley tilted his head, thinking about it, "Okay ~tsu."

The two walked along, telling small jokes to each other.

Once they arrived in the building Ley licked his lips, and Al drew his sword.

"You know, we don't have to fight, kid," Al said.

"We do, you're Gourmet."

"Damn, okay kid, guess you really do just want to fight."

Ley held his arms out to the side, arm blades strapped to them, "Yes, you're Gourmet, you must be prepared, we must eat you."

Al held his sword ready, reaching into himself.

"All conditions are met, engage thought experiment, expand domain."

Ley's mouth twisted down into a slight frown, "You know you have to introduce yourself for the fight. Thought experiment isn't your name. You're weird," a massive smile split his face, "so weird. SO GOURMET!"

"Well then, kid, it's time to fight."

"Yep, fight time! Beautiful glorious combat, time for the preparation to begin. We will drag you to the end of your rope and win," Ley raised his arms, ranting.

"Drag me to the end of my rope, sorry kid, but that ain't gonna happen," Al said.

"Eh?" Ley stopped speaking, his mouth hung open, saliva dripping onto the ground, "Why not?"

"Trying to get me to hit a limit, when Princess ordered me to beat you, sorry kid," he said, "but if there's a one in a million chance I win this fight, then I'll find it."

"Why?" Ley ran his tongue along one of his daggers.

Al conjured an image in his mind, it was of two things. Both belonged to one person. Al vocalized his motivation, "Princess' tits."

Ley stopped licking his dagger and said, "What?"

"She promised if I did well I'd get to lick 'em," Al answered.

Ley responded with silence.

"It's better than the feet stuff you know," Al explained.

"So you'd roll a one in a million chance, just to lick some breasts, ~tsu?"

If Al had two hands he would have clapped them, as it stood he said, "Precisely."

Ley's smile returned, "Gourmet. Now let's see if you can hit that one in a million, Aldebaran."

Al's grip on his sword tightened, "You'll regret using that name."

"Ehehe, ready Aldebaran, ~tsu?"

"Stop using that fucking name. And yes, I'm ready, and sorry kid, but your stars were just bad."

"Don't pity us," most of the childishness in Ley's voice dropped away. His entire bearing shifted. Gone was the little child just following him around. Ley's green eyes jumped around analyzing Al and the entire room. Al could feel Ley creating a plan.

The boy launched toward Al, "Shit!" Al yelled as he brought his sword up.

Ley was fast. Al's sword sparked as it met Ley's. He'd barely gotten it up in time.

"Ah, slower you can react to this, as we'd thought," Ley whispered. His tone was steel, this was a fighter, a warrior. Not a child at all.

Al would have to get into it as well, he pushed his mind into rationality and launched an attack back, raising his sword and slamming it down on Ley.

The boy put his blades in an x-shape to catch Al's sword. The clanging of metal filled the room.

"Can you keep up?" Ley asked, then threw a barrage of attacks at Al. Al tightened his singular hand and blocked, parried, riposted, and turned away any attack Ley hit him with.

"Yeah kid, I may be old, but not that old," Al said, after turning away each strike.

"GOOD!" Ley shouted, attacking more and more, faster and faster.

A strike that Al had to block with the stump of his arm earned a gash and a bit of blood loss. A slice Al had to kick away. A stab Al had to weave out of the way of.

Then using his strength Ley launched himself at Al like a missile, both blades raised above his head, he slammed them down on Al, who put his sword in between to block.

Shoving his sword up Al knocked Ley off-balance then barreled toward the kid, uncaring to the consequences.

"AHH!" Al swung his sword sideways, Ley flipped his small body over the strike. Al's eyes followed, Good.

Ley approached the ground, Al flipped his hand around on his grip, then swung his sword backward, trying to catch Ley mid-air.

"Dona!" A spike of earth launched from the ground, trapping Ley in.

Al's sword slammed into the boy's skin.

It bounced off.

Al's mouth fell open.

Ley smiled.

"A nice trick, do you have more? We want more! We need to prepare you right!" Ley landed on the ground, unharmed, then ran at Al once again.

"Yeah, I got one, El Dona," Spikes of earth surrounded Ley, trapping him in. Al ran forward, his sword raised, he tried to spear Ley, who was caught in those earth spikes.

"Are those your only tricks?" Ley asked.

Al continued running, trying to get his sword into Ley's body, the boy grabbed his sword, then snapped it in half with his grip strength.

"Well, you've shown us all you have, it seems our preparation is done," Ley said, then sprinted forward, grabbing Al's body.

"ALDEBARAN!" He yelled, licking his hand. A moment later Ley's entire form grew shaky. Ley began to gag, again and again. Al could tell he was holding down vomit. An opportunity presented itself.

Al took the opportunity, and wrapped his hands around Ley's head, then attempted to break his neck.

"ACK! ROCKHEART!" Ley slammed his arm out, blasting Al with a shockwave. Every bone in Al's body shattered.

"Ow," Al breathed out, laying on the ground. His entire body had pretty much melted, one of his eyes had exploded. Blood was dripping out, brain matter would probably follow.

"Aldebaran isn't your name," Ley whispered, "what's your birth name?"

Al laughed, still fully lucid even in this state, "Like I remember. I barely even remember earth, you think I'd know my old name. You're funny kid."

Ley stared at the broken man. Al knew it was probably weird, that he was still talking with all his bones exploded and his brain starting to drip out.

But for Al, this was pretty much Tuesday. He'd had worse deaths.

Al blinked with his remaining eye.

Al was standing right in front of Ley, their fight about to begin, he'd said his catchphrase. The trump card was activated. But Ley's eyes, why did they look so weird?

"Hey kid what's wrong, you fightin' or not?"

"We just fought… what happened we fought. We killed you."

"Ah," Al knew what had happened, "it looks like I won the bet, kid."

"Huh?"

"You really were unlucky," Al raised his sword readying to throw himself into a suicide attack, he wouldn't remember it anyway so there was no downside.

"We…what're you talking about?"

Al sprinted forward, crossing the room and striking Ley. The boy, barely paying any attention, blocked him. Al was not deterred.

"What I'm sayin', kid, is that your stars were just bad."

---

Felt picked her way through the broken remains of the winery. Piles of destroyed people were strewn around the building.

"Huh, the fuck happened here?" Felt asked.

"I could do a sweep of the city to find any suspicious people," Reinhard said.

"Alright have fun with that," Felt waved the knight away. She didn't need to look to feel the shockwave blast from his feet shooting into the sky.

"Fuckin' finally, he's gone," Felt stepped over to the remaining wall of the winery and lifted a bottle off the shelf. She pulled a knife out and cracked it open. She could investigate and do a little drinking. And there was no harm in her not being able to solve anything. Reinhard could see fingerprints or whatever he called them. She had no fucking clue what they were, but he did.

Felt took a swig from the bottle. Then held herself from hacking it up. It tasted too fancy. But it was less fancy than the tiny amount they gave her at the Astrea mansion, a lot less. And if she got tired of the taste she could just toss it to the three. To this day Felt still had no idea why she'd picked them, just that an odd…intuition had taken her. The same intuition reached out and her body turned on its own. Right when she did Reinhard landed.

Her mouth moved on its own, that instinct giving her words, "You got nothing to report, figures."

Reinhard's mouth fell open then he smiled pure pride on his face. After opening his dumb mouth he said, "Brilliant Felt-sama, and there is a candidate in the city, one Priscilla Barielle-sama."

"That bitch," Felt said as she took another drink, "it really had to be that bitch ey, couldn't be big sis? Big bro would be with her. So it's just the helmeted dude?"

"Yes, Aldebaran-sama is his name," Reinhard said.

"Not even gonna ask how you saw them," Felt knew it was some Divine Protection or another.

"Yes you already know of course," Reinhard said, still completely genuine.

"Yeah anyway how many insults do I have to throw at you to make you insult me back?" Felt asked.

"Insult you, why would I do that, there is nothing to insult," Reinhard said.

"OH, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Felt screamed, "Just shut up unless you're insulting me."

"Ok—"

"Is that an insult?"

Reinhard shook his head.

"Then don't say it," Felt took another sip. The stench of dead bodies began seeping into the air. It was easy for Felt to ignore. She'd gotten used to that smell. It didn't surprise her at this point or disgust her.

"Alright we're not gonna find anything here let's leave it to the professionals," Felt said and walked out of the place where a door once stood. Now it was just a torn apart wreck.

They strode out into the city streets, Reinhard following behind. She kinda wanted to punch him, always standing up so straight, but she held herself back. He might be coming up with an insult and a punch would distract him. Reinhard's mind wasn't used to creating insults so she'd have to let him work through the process.

The sun beat down on Felt and she had to squint. She got used to the sunlight again a moment later.

"Oh hey Felt," three voices rang out. Felt faced Camberley, Rachins, and Gaston all running up to her.

As soon as they got up to her Rachins leaned over, "Hey is that wine?"

"Yeah here you guys go," Felt said handing it over, "shit's too fancy for me."

"Bro…" Gaston whispered, "what's wrong with you?"

"Shut up," Felt said.

"Alright," he said, then yanked the wine out of Rachins's hands and drank half.

"What the fuck?" Camberley and Rachins said at the same time.

Gaston ignored them and continued to drink. They both tried to wrestle the bottle away from him but he was far too big for either of them.

Reinhard remained silent. Felt socked him on the shoulder.

"Fe—"

"Is it an insult?"

Reinhard didn't say anything and stared at the ground.

"Alright Rein," she said, "it isn't hard, just call me a bitch or something."

Reinhard avoided meeting her eyes.

"Bro do I have to teach the fuckin' Sword Saint how to call someone a bitch?" Felt asked.

Reinhard said nothing.

"Well I found something you can't do," Felt said a smug smile on her face.

Reinhard's expression shifted to a frown.

"How hard is it to say the word—"

A massive explosion rang out. Felt dropped to the ground from the force of the shockwave. Across town, near the center of the explosion, buildings started to tumble to the ground. Reinhard rushed over and grabbed onto her, putting his body between her and the explosion. The three ex-muggers stared dumbly at the explosion. Gaston moved over to help Reinhard in protecting her. Camberley and Rachins moved over as well, though they'd snatched the wine bottle from Gaston and were drinking from it. Felt laughed a little at the two men. Still trying to get drunk even at a time like this.

But her laughter didn't last, as soon after the explosion ended more rang out all in quick succession. Felt stood up and pushed Reinhard out of the way.

"Hey Rein," Felt said, turning up to him, he'd get pissed about this one, which hopefully would push him to insult her, "you better insult me if you want me to stop."

Reinhard tilted his head.

Felt giggled then activated her Divine Protection of the Wind.

She blasted toward the center of the explosions like a gust of wind. Reinhard quickly caught up and moved evenly with her but she could tell he couldn't bring himself to insult her. If he wanted to protect her so badly he should have just nutted up and done it. It would have been so simple for him, but no the perfect Sword Saint couldn't insult his mistress. That was bullshit. Reinhard would insult her by the end of this. She'd make it happen. If that meant charging into the single most dangerous situation of her entire life then she'd do it.

Reinhard chased after her until she arrived at the spot where the explosions had come from.

"DISGUSTING!" a fiery red-haired woman screamed at an ordinary-looking man. She struck at him with a glowing red sword.

As soon as the sword touched him it shattered, coming apart on his skin. The man didn't even seem to notice it had touched him.

"Hey, that's violating my right to not be insulted. I haven't insulted you, this is downright despicable of you," the ordinary man said.

"So Rein," Felt turned to Reinhard as a new red sword formed from sunlight in Priscilla's hand, "you gonna call me a bitch so we can go."

Reinhard opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Aight fuck it," Felt smirked and drew her knife. With her Divine Protection intuning her to the wind Felt dashed forward. Her blade struck the ordinary man, it shattered in her grip.

"Ah the street rat," Priscilla said.

"SHUT UP AND STOP VIOLATING MY RIGHTS!" the ordinary man screamed and swung his hand toward Felt. Not a hint of fear passed through her, a sense deep within told her that she would not die here.

"Felt-sama," Reinhard appeared in front of her, grabbing the man's arm. The brunt of the attack sliced Reinhard's chest open.

"Hey that's not an—" Felt tried to say.

"Respectfully, you are a bitch."

"THERE WE GO!" Felt celebrated.

"Interesting," Priscilla whispered.

"Leave me the most exultant existence alone!" the ordinary man screamed again and attacked.

Reinhard punched the man in the chest, it did nothing.

"Huh," surprise came across Reinhard's face. Felt's eyes widened, she'd only seen that expression once before. After a second it cleared, "Priscilla-sama, please move away."

"No," Priscilla smirked.

"Ignore her, fuck him up, Rein!" Felt yelled.

Reinhard nodded and brought both his hands out to his sides. The ordinary man seethed and stepped forward, Reinhard took a step back, then slapped his hands together, a massive shockwave blasted the man back. Priscilla lunged back to avoid the force of Reinhard's clap.

With time bought, Reinhard turned to her and said, "Felt-sama it is advisable that you return to the Astrea mansion."

Felt thought about it for a second then said, "Only if you promise to have some insults ready by the time you finish this up."

"Felt-sama I—"

"Get some or I'll try to hit him again," Felt said.

Reinhard's frown grew, "Alright, grab on Felt-sama."

Felt grabbed onto his back. Reinhard readied to soar, but right before he could Priscilla said one last thing, "Quite entertaining. No wonder I remembered you, street rat."

Reinhard ignored her and shot into the sky. His Divine Protection of Wind Evasion made it so Felt experienced no effects of the whiplash or wind from his leap. There was no air even touching her. It was a bit difficult to breathe, but before she noticed it Reinhard had landed in the Astrea mansion's courtyard.

Reinhard set Felt down then said, "I'll return soon, Felt-sama."

"Better have those insults ready."

"I will."

"Then go fuck up that angry dude."

"I will do as commanded."

"That's not what I ordered."

Reinhard sighed then said, "I will go fuck up that angry dude, Felt-sama."

Felt flashed him a thumbs up before he soared back into the sky. As she watched him shoot away she whispered, "Motherfucker better come back and have those insults. Then fuck studying, I'm gonna teach you how to swear right, Rein, you dumb motherfucker Sword Saint prick."

---

Priscilla gripped her Yang Sword in her right hand. This man. DISGUSTING! He was horrible, atrocious; she'd never met someone more hateable. He stepped all over romance. Horrible. Horrible. The absolute worst. She swung her Yang Blade at him. It shattered and flashed before becoming sunlight.

As soon as Priscilla closed her eyes the man before her disappeared from her memories. He was so disgusting that he simply couldn't form in her mind as long as she wasn't viewing him fully. She opened her eyes to a man she'd never seen before.

But the quirk of his brows, everything. Terrible, awful. A part of the man was so horrible it stuck out to her, it couldn't leave her mind. This man destroyed romance, he hated it. She'd destroy him for that.

The man tried to attack her by shoving his foot into the ground. Pieces of upturned stone shot at her, she moved out of the way with ease. It was quite simple for her to figure out she'd been fighting this man for a while. The thing was, to continue the fight she didn't need to remember him. Every strike was so basic. Every kick was so uninteresting. This fight bored her to no end.

That Sword Saint better get back here and take this creature off her hands. She was tired of dealing with him. She'd force Aldebaran to lick her fingers clean after this. She couldn't stand the possibility that somewhere in this fight she may have touched this thing. Aldebaran had been wrong about this thing. He better have an amazing excuse for when she asked him about it, though she would only remember that this man trampled on romance. Maybe she could instruct Aldebaran in romance.

Priscilla grinned, her mind completely focused on things other than this forgettable man. It was so easy to fight him. Make a Yang Sword, dodge. Repeat, over and over again, tune out his screaming.

When Reinhard van Astrea touched down right next to her she said, "Have fun with this Sword Saint, you can't kill him, only drive him away."

Priscilla waved Reinhard on and walked away from the battle, she tuned out every word the forgettable man screamed back at her, she knew the Sword Saint would block all his attacks, a self-sacrificial fool to a fault. And he didn't even hold any pride in his way of life. He wouldn't defend it, only apologize if ever questioned. She hadn't seen that hypothesis demonstrated, but she knew it was true.

"I will handle this then, Priscilla Bariella-sama."

Priscilla didn't respond to Reinhard. Deep anger thumped in her chest. This man whose name she didn't even remember had pissed her off so much that she needed to do something about it. This feeling wouldn't escape her chest. She'd need to do something to invalidate this man's existence, then she could forget.

How would she accomplish it though? A plan snapped into place in her mind. Priscilla's anger gave way to determination as she got to work. She'd have to do some preparing for this plan to work. She looked to where the child and Aldebaran were fighting. They'd gone into one building and hadn't come out. But Aldebaran wouldn't die, she had a feeling about it.

"Those eyes are ones that have seen death too close and too many times for death to be the end of him," Priscilla remarked and got to work.

---

87. Ley thought to himself. He screamed out and slashed Al's head off once more. Aldebaran wasn't his name. What was it?

88. Ley leaped forward and wiped his hand along Al's skin, then shouted out a random name. Bile shoved its way up his throat. What was his name?

101. Al attacked. There wasn't a single ounce of fear in his eyes. Why did he have to be so GOURMET but inedible? WHY? Ley screamed again and let Palm of the Fist King loose.

102. Ley chewed on his lips and rubbed his stomach. He dashed forward and began to guess names again.

453. THIS MEAL! He had to have it. It would make Louis happy. Happy, satisfied, satiated, full! He had to get those things for Louis. Which is why he wouldn't die to Al, who was running toward him. This time Ley deflected Al's strike with a flick of his wrist then said, "Al, what's your name?"

Al stopped, "Should I tell you anything…eh fuck it I won't remember."

Ley smiled, "So what is it?"

"Oh," Al tilted his head, "I don't remember that, kid."

"So were you really not lying?"

"Nope, don't remember any name other than the one I have now."

Ley's eyes dropped, "Oh."

"You won't guess it either," Al said.

"Hey, we're smart, and we know a lot of people's names."

"You don't know what a Japanese name is," Al pointed out.

"What's that?" someone else's memories sung out to him. Rem. Japanese. She'd heard the word before. Her hero. His hero. Their hero. HERO! Japanese. But she'd not known what the word meant. Or how it could help.

"Uhuh. You have to figure out my birth name to get what you want, right?" Al started to scratch his back with the blade of his sword. Blood ran down the blade when he pulled it away. As soon as Al's eyes landed on the red coloration he whispered, "Shit wrong end," then he chuckled.

"So Gourmet!" Ley shouted then calmed himself down.

"Yeah sure, any way you won't figure out my name, because you've never heard of a name like it," Al said.

"We can figure it out," Ley said. He was familiar with one name like it after all.

"You'll spend so much time trying," Al shook his head, "you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. I pity you."

Anger exploded in Ley's mind. He leaped forward, arriving behind Al. His head, still in its helmet, hit the ground a moment later.

Ley blinked. And once more he stood in front of an unwounded Al.

Ley blinked again before joining the fray once more.

657.

Ley blinked and grasped his head.

702.

Ley ripped tufts of his hair out. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" the scream tore out of him. His sanity was beginning to fall away. But Ley would not give up. He would find Al's true name. For Louis. He'd do anything for Louis.

Ley Batenkaitos stood up for Louis Arneb.

He belted out a random name for her.

Even when he licked the name off his hand and almost vomited he did it for his little sister.

Ley Batenkaitos would do anything for Louis Arneb.

5,604.

Ley Batenkaitos would do almost anything for Louis Arneb.

---

Al said the activation phrase for his trump card. Ley dropped to the ground. For a second tears filled his eyes and he said, "We're sorry, sister, but we can't…"

"Huh, guess I won the bet, your stars really were bad," Al said, his voice apathetic.

Alright, Princess is protected from this guy—

Ley stood up blinking the tears from his eyes. For a long while he struggled, but after nearly half an hour Ley had regained his composure.

"First person to pull that off," Al whispered with a hint of shock in his voice.

"You're really Gourmet," Ley said.

"Hm?" Al fully focused on the boy.

"So, old dude," Ley continued, "wanna get a drink?"

"Why?" Al had no idea what this kid was doing.

"We can't eat you, and fighting you is bland now, so we can at least talk to you," Ley smiled with an innocent expression on his face. For a moment he seemed almost like a real child.

Al thought about it for a second, then said, "Eh fuck it why not."

---

Priscilla walked away from the battlefield.

However, Reinhard remained.

The angered man stepped up to him.

"I apologize for interrupting, but it is my duty to the kingdom," Reinhard said, bowing without a hint of irony in his bearing.

"YOU MADE MY FUTURE BRIDE LEAVE!" he screamed, "Couldn't you see we were previously having a healthy disagreement between partners?"

"If that is how you see it I do not fault you," Reinhard pulled on the hilt of the dragon sword. It didn't come out even a little bit.

The Sword God laughed in his head.

This was the same Sword God that had chosen him over his grandmother. Reinhard had been so appealing to him that the Sword God chose him. Reinhard had murdered Theresia van Astrea.

I'm sorry grandmother, even the one that I forced to kill you hates me.

Immense guilt stormed through Reinhard, he forced it down. This guilt was not going to benefit the kingdom. Reinhard couldn't let these emotions run free. He was a monstrous weapon to the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica. He suppressed all his thoughts and emotions and became the Kingdom's Sword.

"I apologize once more, but we will have to fight," Reinhard bowed again, "Reinhard van Astrea."

"Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Greed, Regulus Corneas."

Regulus swung his arm, sending a shockwave toward him. Though the aim was a little bit off, as it stood now Regulus' attack would miss Reinhard and hit a building behind him. That level of damage to the city could not be tolerated. So Reinhard put himself in front of the shockwave.

It sliced him down the middle.

A white world flashed around him, the Cradle of Od Laguna. A pair of blue eyes landed on him.

"We recognize you, Reinhard van Astrea ~tsu," a voice whispered from the white. Reinhard couldn't see the source of the voice, so he flicked his eyes around, but still came up with nothing. After a second he snapped around. A blonde-haired girl ran at him, her body low to the ground.

"Being connected to Od Laguna, a new and interesting experience, a satiating one" the girl said as she came for him. When she got close enough her hand jumped out and her tongue flopped out of her mouth.

The Cradle of Od Laguna flashed right before the girl could touch him. When it dissipated the white and the girl were both gone, leaving him right back in the city square with Regulus. Behind him to be exact.

Regulus had a bit of dirt in his hand, he wound up his arm and was about to throw dirt at one of the buildings. In an instant, Reinhard crossed the small distance between them and held Regulus' arm.

Reinhard punched Regulus with as much force as he could muster. When his punch landed the wind changed direction for a moment and a sonic clap rang out from the impact. The air hadn't been able to get out of the way of his punch fast enough.

Regulus' brows tilted down and he shoved his foot through the floor. Reinhard grabbed and tossed him into the air before he could inflict any damage.

"HEY, THAT'S VIOLATING MY RIGHT TO REMAIN ON THE GROUND IN PEACE!" Regulus screamed.

Reinhard ignored him and jumped up to meet Regulus, then he ran through the air. The tiny amount of water vapor in the atmosphere let him run. He carried Regulus as far as he could before the man screamed out again and slashed at Reinhard.

Regulus' hand cut straight through his shoulder. Reinhard suppressed the pain for the good of the kingdom. But Regulus' hand didn't stop there; it went deeper, into the Sword Saint's heart.

Once more Reinhard opened his eyes to a white room.

The pain and aftereffects of death lingered in his mind. He forced almost all of his emotions back down. But a single thought remained.

Felt-sama will be upset if I don't come up with even a single insult.

That blonde girl tried to get him once more.

She failed as he rejoined the world of the living using the Next Divine Protection of the Phoenix. He re-entered the world with two goals. The first to defeat Regulus Corneas and keep the kingdom safe. The second had just taken root, to come up with an insult for Felt.

---

Al and Ley sipped on cups of wine. Ley had to brush his hair out of the way so it didn't spill into the glass. And Al had to open the front of his helmet a tiny bit while also making sure it didn't come off fully.

"Damn, this is some good stuff," Al said.

Ley nodded as he rolled the wine around in his glass.

Noticing this Al remarked, "How'd you learn wine etiquette? You look homeless."

"We are," Ley said, "but we've eaten people who knew how to drink wine right."

"Ah, and I assume it's easy for you to steal some money from people," Al guessed based on the fact that Ley had teleported them to this winery.

"Yep ~tsu," Ley drank some more of his wine.

The two sat in silence, Al hadn't tasted wine in a long time. Priscilla only let him drink when it would be interesting to her, and she always said that him getting drunk slowly through wine wasn't fun to watch. Usually, when she wanted him drunk she would give him something really strong. He'd never complained, of course, she always made sure he got good alcohol.

And he was fairly certain she wouldn't be dumb enough to kill him. But she was Princess. She could do dumb things for entertainment. But Al died pretty often. What would be the difference if he didn't open his eyes? The only thing he'd ever managed to figure out was that Priscilla wouldn't have him to protect her anymore.

Well, there were also her boobs. Those were neat to look at.

"You're thinking about that Gourmet orange lady right, ~tsu?" Ley asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, how'd you figure that one out."

"We did like five thousand tries to eat you. Normally after we failed we got sick so we killed you to get rid of the feeling," Ley explained.

"Smart," Al put down his glass and rubbed at his stomach, it was pretty much empty.

Ah shit, do they have food in wineries? Al didn't know if he'd ever been to one of these things.

"So why do you like that lady?" Ley said.

An image immediately popped into his head, "The tits."

"Why do all old men have to be weird?" Ley asked.

"I'm only forty, kid, not that old."

Ley tilted his head, "No, you're old, ~tsu."

"I'm not even middle-aged, I think, actually I don't remember what middle-aged means."

"Well you're old," Ley said.

Al sighed, "And how do you figure that?"

"We're a genius, we know that you're old ~tsu."

"Again, forty isn't really old."

"To us it is."

"You're what, like fifteen kid, your life won't end once you hit thirty," Al ran his finger along the rim of his glass.

"That might be wrong, old dude," Ley said, "our hero will probably try to kill us first. That would be GOURMET!"

Al grew a little creeped out as the kid began to giggle.

"You Witch's Cult guys, always a bit crazy."

"You're a bit crazy too, mister, so that's no fair," Ley said.

"Mister? C'mon, settle on a nickname," Al licked his finger and circled it around the edge of his wine glass. A little whistle started to come out.

"OOH, that looks fun ~tsu!" Ley shouted and copied him.

"Never done it before?" Al asked.

"Not personally but we remember people we've eaten doing it," Ley answered.

"Anyway settle on a nickname."

"Old mister," Ley didn't hesitate in speaking.

"I'm not old," Al said.

Ley smiled, stopped playing with his wine glass, and said, "Or we could call you Aldebaran."

Al's finger stopped moving on his wine glass. His hand wrapped around it, some last dregs of wine sloshing against his nails. Ley stuck his tongue out at him, "Aldebaran."

Al's grip tightened on his glass, putting stress on the glass.

A moment later it shattered.

Glass shoved its way into Al's palm. Blood stained the glass while he started to calm down.

"Old mister is fine," Al said as he tried to pick some shards of glass from his hand with the fingers on the same hand. It was incredibly difficult. Shouldn't have lost that arm.

Ley grabbed his hand and applied healing magic to it while picking out the shards.

"Thanks, Ley-chan," Al said.

"Ley-chan?" he picked another shard out of Al's hand. The pain barely registered in Al's brain. Ley continued to work.

"Yep, if you're going to treat me like I'm ancient and bordering on dust," Al choked down a laugh, "then I'm going to treat you like a ten-year-old."

"Hey! We're fifteen, maybe, you adults messed with those first few years," Ley whispered as he finished up Al's healing.

Right when Ley completed his task Al's stomach grumbled.

"Can you pick up some food, Ley-chan?"

Ley gave a mock grimace, "No."

All humor drained from Al's voice, "Your stars were—"

"Fine," Ley rolled his eyes. But that didn't hide the fear there.

Beneath his helmet, Al smiled. The bluff had worked.

Ley got up and went up to the door of their private room.

Regulus Corneas burst through the ceiling.

---

Ley snapped around. Regulus lay on the floor for a moment before trying to climb up. Greed's ordinary fingers curled and uncurled over and over again. Ley tried to get a better look at the situation. His eyes took in Al. The man was in the process of finishing off the wine bottle. Al's muscles hadn't tensed or relaxed by any margin.

To remain so unbothered in the face of a Sin Archbishop, so Gourmet.

"A true shame we can't eat you," Ley whispered then his sight went to the hole where Regulus had come through. A red-haired man followed, landing in the room without making a sound.

"Ah, Al-sama," the man—probably the Sword Saint—said to Al, "please inform Priscilla-sama that I am close to dealing with this threat to Lugunica."

"When I manage to track her down in," Al looked down at his wrist, "I dunno how long, anyway when that does happen, sure."

Reinhard nodded, "Thank you."

Ley wanted to pounce on Reinhard. The Gourmet scent radiating from the man was immense. He desired to taste it. Ley leaned forward, his tongue dangling from his mouth.

Reinhard's sky blue eyes touched him, "Are you alright?"

"Don't pity us," Ley said.

"I apologize," Reinhard responded. His apology was genuine.

Saliva lathered Ley's teeth.

Regulus stood behind Reinhard. Fury lifted Regulus' arm and sent it toward Reinhard's neck. Reinhard grabbed the hilt of the Dragon Sword Reid. Then he ripped the entire thing, scabbard, and sword, from his belt. With the brilliant dullness of the sheathed Reid Reinhard parried his attack into the ground.

At that moment Ley learned the truth. He would die if he tried to prepare Reinhard van Astrea. He smothered his hunger. His death would leave Louis alone. So he held back.

Within his next breath, Reinhard had scooped Regulus up in one hand and leaped back into the sky.

"Huh, anyway wanna get some food, Ley-chan?" Al asked.

Ley giggled to himself, "Maybe another time, we have to go make sure Reguuuuuuuu doesn't get into too much trouble."

Al chuckled then downed the rest of the wine bottle.

Ley readied his Lunar Eclipse, reaching for Dorkell's ever-useful ability.

"Leaving?" Al asked.

"Yup, see ya, old mister."

"Have fun rolling that boulder up a hill forever," Al said, his helmet's eye slit on the place where Regulus had gone.

Ley turned to Al. The man didn't say anything more. Ley scratched the corner of his mouth, "Uh…your brain go bad, old guy?"

"Nah," Al waved his hand, "don't worry about it, Ley-chan."

"Okay, bye, old dude," Ley said, then teleported up into the sky. He stopped blinking upward once he got high enough. The world reached up and its eternal pull re-exerted itself. Ley began his descent back to that ground, but in that time locked onto the sight of Reinhard dragging Regulus out of the city by running on the air.

Ley smiled and reached out in that direction, then he chained leaps together. In an instant his hand wrapped around Regulus.

"PALM OF THE FIST KING!" Ley shouted as he hit Reinhard with his other hand. The force of his blow knocked the Sword Saint's grip off Regulus, but nothing more. Ley was happy with the result anyway. Within an instant, he and Regulus were in the same building Ley had tried to eat Al in.

As soon as Ley put Regulus down he started screaming. Ley stuck his tongue out at Regulus. The ranting stopped.

"Why did you do that, Batenkaitos?"

Ley tilted his head, "The Sword Saint was dragging you out of the city."

"I don't care, just let me keep existing in peace."

"He's gonna get in the way of that," Ley said.

"Don't violate this right of mine, Batenkaitos."

"Hmph, fine," Ley pouted, but in his mind began to form a plan. He knew Reinhard would be scouring the entire city for them, they needed to get out of here fast. But no Regulus had to be extra dumb right now.

"Hey, idiot," Ley said, having come up with a plan.

"Batenkaitos," Regulus' eyebrows tilted down.

"If you let us grab a bottle of wine to go then we can all go back to your mansion," Ley explained his compromise.

For a few long moments Regulus thought it over, then said, "Fine, go, bring my wives back with you."

Ley went and grabbed himself a bottle of wine, and picked up Regulus' wives.

"We got them!" Ley yelled when he got back.

"Stop violating my right to not be annoyed by your childishness," Regulus ordered.

Ley put his stolen bottle of wine on the ground and crossed his arms. He turned his head up to appear noble, said, "Nope," then giggled.

"I despise you."

"Oh, well we love you, Regu-tan."

"What?" Regulus' eyebrows shot up at Ley's words.

"You heard us!" Ley raised his arms in the air and yelled, "REGULUS MAJI TENSHI! ~TSU!"

For once, Regulus was speechless.

Ley grinned. He'd finally broken Regulus. It took the man's mind a minute to catch up.

"What was that?" he finally asked.

"We were just imitating our brilliant hero ~tsu!"

"Can you pick up your wine and get going?" Regulus rubbed his forehead with one hand.

"Okay, but remember, RMT!"

Regulus eyed him.

"REGULUS-TAN MAJI TENSHI ~TSU! RMT! RMT!"

"I…" Regulus worked for words, "Regulus…Sin Archbishop of Greed…Corneas…you… violate…rights…"

Ley gestured at Regulus while saying to his wives, "We broke him, ~tsu."

Regulus' wives said nothing. Their faces remained perfectly still, impassive, expressionless.

Even Regu is more fun. Ley thought.

While Regulus still tried to say anything he could Ley picked up his wine and touched the two wives and Regulus. Ley couldn't waste too much time waiting around for Reinhard to come knocking.

Right before they leaped Regulus said, "Batenkaitos, you've hit a new low."

"Corneas, you've hit a new low."

"Hey! I have the right to exist in silence without you speaking," Regulus' lips curled.

"Okay, Regu-tan," Ley winked.

Regulus cringed in fury, "OH YOU—"

Ley leaped before he could finish.

---

Reinhard searched the entire city of Flanders. Regulus Corneas was gone. Just gone. There wasn't a trace of the man aside from the destroyed buildings and roads. There were no parts of his body or anything from him. He'd vanished. Another failure for the monster that was himself.

His vision stuck to his shoes for a moment. But these human emotions were not something he deserved to feel. They would not serve the Kingdom. Reinhard bit down and suppressed all his thoughts and feelings. Then, with all the energy of a robot, he searched the city for the next two hours. He searched through every nook and cranny hundreds of times. Over and over again he searched.

But each time he came up with nothing. After a few sweeps of everything within a fifty-kilometer radius of the city, Reinhard gave up his search. He ended it right at the gates of the Astrea estate.

"Another failure," Reinhard said. Those words passed his lips almost every day. And each time they hurt just as bad. But Reinhard forced that hurt away. It wouldn't serve the kingdom. In fact, it may push him to act against the kingdom, so it had to go.

In complete silence, and with perfect movement, Reinhard walked into the Astrea mansion. He didn't think nor take note of his environment, he was too focused on keeping down his swirling emotions. With an absent gesture, he opened the door and took a few steps into the mansion.

"Ey ya bitch!" Felt shouted and dropped onto his back from above.

"Ah, Felt-sama," Reinhard said. His stance hadn't changed with Felt on his back. In terms of sensations, Felt wasn't even there.

"So you better have those insults," Felt wrapped her arms around his collar.

"I apologize," Reinhard grimaced, "but I don't have any ready. I failed to deal with Regulus Corneas properly and have now failed in this as well."

Felt jumped off his back and got in front of him. She looked up into his eyes with her hands on her hips. She thought for a moment then said, "How did you fail in Flanders?"

"I was unable to kill him for the good of the kingdom," Reinhard closed his eyes, readying for a punishment.

"How many people died after you got to Regulus?" Felt asked.

Reinhard opened his eyes and inspected Felt. Her eyebrows had turned down and there was a glint in her red eyes. Felt was angry, very much so. He'd accept whatever punishment she doled out.

"Zero died after I reached him. But he is still alive. The possibility remains that—"

"If no one died after you got there how the fuck did you fail?"

"Because—"

Felt groaned, "Oh right you're a massive idiot."

"Felt-sama," Reinhard nodded, "I apolo—"

Felt jabbed her finger into his chest, "Idiot."

"I'm sorry."

"You're dumb."

"Yes."

Felt pushed her finger further into his chest, "Really fucking dumb."

"Yes," Reinhard accepted his punishment again.

Suddenly, Felt stopped. Her anger vanished and her finger fell away from his chest. She put her hand up to her chin and started thinking. When she finished she turned to him and grinned, "Hey Rein you follow my orders, right?"

"Yes."

"Then don't accept any punishment from me. No kind. If anything could possibly be interpreted as a punishment don't accept it," Felt ordered.

"But, Felt-sama—" Reinhard tried to protest.

"Nope, you also can't protest."

"Then what can I do?" Reinhard asked.

"No fucking idea, you dumbass," Felt smirked.

"That leaves me little option," Reinhard pointed out.

"Exactly," Felt crossed her arms.

He accepted her punishment…but…he wasn't supposed to do that. Reinhard grit his teeth and said, "But that's a punishment, Felt-sama."

"What're you gonna do about it?" Felt tilted her head.

"Nothing…"

"Hah," Smugness took over Felt's countenance, "that's not what I ordered."

"I reject your punishment then."

"So?" Felt asked.

"That is a punishment," Reinhard said, an emotion he couldn't define building within him.

"Yeah, do somethin' about it," Felt taunted him and started to punch him in the chest over and over again.

Reinhard's face scrunched up. This was unfair. He was a monster but forcing him to not accept that and then making it so he had to be a monster to not accept it. It was unfair.

"This is unfair, Felt-sama."

Felt punched him in the shoulder with the smile still on her face, "No shit."

"Is that a punishment, Felt-sama?"

"It can be interpreted as one," was all she answered with.

"Then I reject it," Reinhard said.

"Like I care, you won't touch me," Felt laughed to herself.

This was cruel.

Felt continued to badger him with the same attacks. Over and over again. It was nearly fifteen minutes until his face scrunched up and he had another thought.

This was stupid. Felt wasn't acting rationally.

"Felt-sama you're being…" Reinhard cut off, unable to say it.

"Finish that sentence," Felt grew serious.

"You're being unreasonable."

"Your opinion is stupid," Felt said, "and yes that's a punishment."

Reinhard's fist tightened, that emotion from earlier kept on building.

"Felt-sama this is unreasonable."

"Yeah I don't see it," Felt smirked.

Reinhard's voice burst out along with that emotion, "Then you're dumb."

Reinhard froze. Had he just said that?

"No you're an idiot," Felt's voice burst him from that paralysis.

"You're unjust, Felt-sama," Anger took Reinhard. This was dangerous, he needed to keep his anger down.

"Ya dumb," Felt retorted.

"Stop being so unfair."

"No."

Reinhard's fists tightened, "Then stop talking."

"You can't order me to do anything," Felt remained smug, but something else was slipping into her smile. It was growing less smug with every word out of his mouth. What was that other emotion? It didn't matter.

Reinhard desperately tried to stop the words coming out of his mouth, but they came anyway, "You're correct, I can't, now stop hiding behind that like a coward!"

Felt laughed, it wasn't smug at all, what was the emotion there? He couldn't figure it out before Felt insulted back, "Then you stop hiding behind your knightly kissassing."

"I'm—" Reinhard tried to respond.

Before he could Felt cut him off, "Pussy."

Reinhard set his jaw, "Meanie."

"Wimp."

"Dumb," Reinhard insulted back.

"Pervert."

"Thin," Reinhard's almost childish insults kept coming.

Felt smiled wider, "Tall motherfucker."

"Short child!" Reinhard found his anger melting away.

"Can't even get his sword up in battle."

"Can't even…" Reinhard ran out of things to say.

Felt pointed and laughed at him, "Can't even come up with an insult."

"Your fang is weird!" Reinhard tossed out.

"Your dick is small."

Reinhard tilted his head, "Huh?"

"Virgin," Felt said.

"Virgin," Reinhard said.

"Loser can't even come up with an insult so he copies mine."

Reinhard's lips curled up into a bit of a smile. It wasn't fake.

"HA!" Felt yelled, "Got it motherfucker."

"Felt-sama?" Reinhard said.

"I made you smile, bitch," Felt gave her fanged smile.

"That seems to be a punishment."

"It's not you fuckin' idiot, anyway I'm revoking that order," Felt waved her hand.

"Then, for my conduct," he bowed, "I—"

"Shut the fuck up. You don't get to apologize for that," Felt punched him in the face, knocking him out of his bow.

"Why not?" Reinhard asked, "I insulted you, many times, Felt-sama."

"But it was fun," Felt shrugged, "So it doesn't matter."

"I think it does," Reinhard said.

Felt's hands balled into fists, "Shut it, now I'm hungry, make me some fucking food."

Reinhard's smile got a tiny bit wider, still genuine, "Alright, Felt-sama."

Felt and Reinhard walked toward the kitchen. A bit of emotion rested in Reinhard's chest. He had no idea what it meant.

But how should he? He hadn't experienced joy like this in a long time.

"Oh, and Rein," Felt tapped him on the arm.

He looked down at her, guilt rose to crush his tiny ember of joy. Felt's smile stopped his remorse in its tracks.

"Felt-sama?"

"When was the last time you insulted someone?" Felt burst out laughing, "Seriously," her laughter cut her off, "you sounded like hahaha a toddler."

For some reason, a small laugh rose in the back of Reinhard's throat.

The laugh didn't last and Felt missed it due to her giggles, but after a second she calmed herself.

With a serious face she said, "Tomorrow you aren't gonna be the one teaching."

"What do you mean?" was she replacing him? Had she found a better teacher, of course she had.

But those were not Felt's plans, "Yeah imma be teaching you how to actually insult someone. You sounded like a baby!" her laughter came again.

Reinhard's smile got a bit wider.

---

Ley leaped into the mansion, Regulus and his wives still held in his right hand, but now he let go of them and gripped his bottle of wine in both hands. With a bit of effort, he yanked the cork out of his wine bottle and took a sip from it.

While he was doing that Regulus said, "190, 194, leave."

At those words, the two wives exited the room. The first left in a perfect manner. The second rushed a tiny bit. Regulus, already annoyed from today, grabbed her arm.

"Husband?" she said, a shrill note in her question.

"You've violated my right to have a good wife who doesn't antagonize me," Regulus' hand, which was still on her shoulder, shoved down. It went straight from her shoulder through to her chest, cutting it like a sword through cloth.

"Ah we could have at least eaten her memories or something, ~tsu," Ley said.

Regulus ignored him, instead turning to the other wife, "Get some of the others and clean that up, don't bother us."

"Yay, we get to have some fun, ~tsu!" Ley clapped his hand on his bottle.

"You get to drink your wine and you don't talk to me," Regulus made his idea of fun known.

"That doesn't sound very fun," Ley said, his childishness slipping back into his voice, "so no."

"Smug right-violating bastard," Regulus shook his head and walked off.

Ley followed. It wasn't long before the two arrived in another room of the mansion. Right before Ley could start badgering Regulus, there was an odd feeling in his head. A thumping mixed with a buzz. He'd felt this many times before. In response, he grabbed a black book out of his pocket. Regulus had done the same.

The two men flipped through the pages until they reached their new orders.

"OOH!" Ley yelped, "that'll be fun."

Regulus tilted his head back and groaned, "Why does the most satisfied existence have to have his rights violated like this?"

"Hey! You're mean, you like hanging out with us, admit it," Ley activated Lunar Eclipse to put on his best cute expression.

"Eugh," Regulus groaned.

Ley stared up at the man, "Hehe, you're weird. Anyway how about it, Regulus-tan?"

"Stop violating my rights with that nickname!" Regulus yelled.

Ley's mind noticed the opportunity, he looked back at his gospel, "Go to Priestella with us and we will ~tsu."

Regulus bristled, "Tch, fine."

"~TSU!" Ley threw his arms up into the air and put his cute face back on.

"Bastard Batenkaitos," Regulus said, then he patted the top of Ley's head.

"Bastard Corneas, ~Tsu," Ley whispered as Regulus rubbed his hair.

The two remained like that for a little while. Later, they'd go to Priestella as the Gospel had ordered, but right now they enjoyed this.

A friendship without a hint of pity.

---

Al walked around the city in search of Priscilla. He had no clue on where to find her, but she was bound to turn up eventually. He let out a sigh and looked up at the sky. The sun had set a few minutes ago, and the city was acclimating to the night. Of course the city of Flanders didn't sleep at night, but it did change. The red light district glowed and Al could hear moaning around the alleyways leading to it.

Those same moans were how he was finding his way into the district. It was the most interesting place in the city at night, there was no doubt in his mind he'd find Priscilla here.

When he got into the district proper it was like an entirely different world. Red hues surrounded him from men with candles. As long as someone had a still burning candle they could go to any prostitute they wanted. Said prostitutes hung around on every street corner, under metia lights. Those lights were completely new to Al. Vollachia hadn't had them, especially not Guinihive. Earth had possessed similar lights, but he didn't remember them well, if at all.

The odd smell of alcohol, candle wax, perfume, and sex rushed into his nose. People strode around him, all ready to engage in whatever illicit activity they desired. So many young men walked through these streets, pretty much shopping for what woman they wanted to enjoy. Al laughed to himself. He may have been an utter virgin, a forty-year-old one at that, but even he knew they were wasting their candles. If they lowered their standards a tiny bit they'd get more.

A few women came up to him and asked him if he wanted to buy a candle, they promised if he bought it he could use it on them first. One even offered to do him without the candle. Al remained confused at that until he saw one man going at it with a prostitute. He wasn't in the best shape imaginable, certainly nowhere near it. Al looked down at his muscles toned from years spent on Guinihive.

"Huh," he grunted. He'd never thought of himself as all that attractive, but he supposed it didn't truly matter. None of the women attempting to solicit him were Priscilla.

"Where the fuck are ya, Princess?" he asked as he continued his search. He checked down every back alley he could as he continued walking along the main avenue of the district. None of them had Priscilla.

Eventually, Al decided to change his tactics. He went to the biggest, fanciest whorehouse he could find in the entire city. Once inside a wall of noise hit him. The groaning of people melted together, but one sound stood out.

"No, moronic commoner, put your dick there!" Priscilla's yell immediately greeted him.

Al's heart dropped until he found the source of Priscilla's voice. She was watching a man and a prostitute having sex.

"Princess," Al had no idea what to say, "are you providing color commentary on two people fucking?"

"I needed something to entertain myself, Al," Priscilla said.

"How voyeuristic of you," Al said.

"Do not think I enjoyed this in that manner, disgusting old fool. It is simply that I wanted to laugh at the man's shoddy performance," Priscilla corrected.

Al shook his head, "I don't get you, Princess."

"Feeble-minded idiot," Priscilla said.

Al burst out laughing. Priscilla eyed him with interest and the two walked out into the street.

"You do weird things for entertainment, Princess," Al commented when they were outside.

"I do what I desire to be entertained, now let's get something to eat," Priscilla led him to an empty building.

"Uh, Princess, what's this place?"

"A house that I now own," Priscilla said.

"Why'd you buy it?"

"Do you remember the request you made?"

"The one where I…" he suddenly remembered the lewd nature of that, "Oh."

"Show me something romantic and I will accept said request," Priscilla smirked at him.

"Well I think the request from earlier would be a bit romantic," Al commented.

"It could be taken that way if one likes to ruin romance by rushing it," Priscilla said.

"Who says we have to start with that?"

Priscilla's smirk widened.

Al wrapped his arm around Priscilla's waist.

"Careful, jester, if you go too fast or slow then you'll have failed my greatest order," Priscilla whispered into his ear.

"What're you gonna do, step on me?" Al asked.

"Of course, you would like to lick my feet," Priscilla said.

Al led her into the empty house, which was lit with ornate candles, "Hey, I never said anything about licking your feet, that was all you."

"Of course it was all—"

"You got a fetish for that, Princess?" Al interrupted her.

"Do not interrupt me again."

"Or what?" Al kept pulling her toward where he figured the main bedroom was. There was a path of rose petals and candles leading there.

"Or you will finally have to lick my feet," Priscilla said.

Al didn't say anything. There was too much blood rushing to his face for that. The reality of the situation had finally caught up with him.

"How red are you under that helmet?"

"Uh…don't worry about it, any way you really went all out on this didn't you," Al's embarrassment finally took over when they entered the bedroom. Red sheets covered it, they were rich, expensive silk.

"Of course, jester," Priscilla said.

"You really will do anything for entertainment," Al said.

Priscilla's eyes grew dangerous, she hooked her fingers under his helmet and yanked it off his head.

"Such a fool to have a notion like that in your mind," Priscilla said then shoved him onto the bed.

"Oh…" Al smiled.

"Such an odd expression on your face," Priscilla remarked, then she got on the bed herself.

Her red eyes stared into his own. Her normal pridefulness had not disappeared in the slightest, this was the same Priscilla Barielle as always.

After a moment of silence, Priscilla thrust her lips onto his own. For a second he was put off balance, blood rushing to his cheeks, but when that second passed he returned her kiss. Priscilla tore his vest off and Al pulled her dress off. The two fought each other to get the other unclothed first.

Priscilla won of course. But Al, even with only one arm, took second place only a breath later.

Priscilla gazed down at his waist, "Impressive, Al."

"I can say the same," Al stared at her revealed chest.

Priscilla kissed him once more.

Neither was bored for a long time after that.