Mia, Villenus Plateaus

Seeing the Emerald Knight's blade fly out of his hands provides Mia and the girls some relief. Sir Renly's choice of weapon is not the sword, but he displays excellent swordsmanship as expected of the Order of Integrity Knights. She had no doubts Sir Renly would win the fight, but the tension came from the Emerald Knight's ability to keep up.

"This duel is over," Renly states as he lowers his blade and turns away. "We'll be on our way."

The opposing swordsman grunts and backs off. "Impossible."

As Renly steps back to the girls, Ronie is first to congratulate the powerful warrior. "Good job, Renly."

Renly nods and sighs as he hands Tiese back her sword. "That was easier than I thought." Mia almost let her inner thought slip out, but decides not to. Maybe what she saw as Sir Istalk being somewhat of a contest for Renly was actually the latter holding back. Given she doesn't know the definition of "holding back", how would she know?

"Renly, sir! I'm sorry for causing trouble!" TIese bows and apologizes, but not as Renly's girlfriend or whatever, but as a page to her knight. It doesn't seem to bother Renly, who gently holds her should with a warm, comforting smile.

"Don't worry about that, Tiese."

"The Emerald KNight just lost in public view, so he should just leave us alone." Ilia determines that since the people of Scolea Village came out to view the spectacle themselves. "Now then, we should get back on task and let's confirm the hunter's story with Tiese."

Mia sighs ahd shakes her head. "Loosen up, Ily. Didn't you enjoy the duel? The timid Sir Renly defending the lovely Tiese against the man who bears a resemblance to her former mentor? In a weird way, it was two men fighting over the girl they love. If it wasn't so scary, it would be a realization of every girl's dream."

"I don't recall ever having such dreams."

"That's because you are like your lady. Too focused on your goals and such to enjoy what's around you. However, this once I do agree, so my master can shower me with praise."

Ronie rolls her eyes. "Right… So, Tiese, while we searched for you, we learned that a hunter named Tahmul is the only one who could've seen the Divine Object, but he doesn't drink."

"Does that mean my uncle's been lying?"

"I don't know… I mean, why would he even lie?"

"Tiese, what kind of man is your uncle?"

"He's an earnest man… A bit of a coward, but not a bad man, not at all."

"Hmm, someone has a type, hehe."

"Disregarding that, maybe the hunters just didn't hear the story, then?"

"I'll take you to my uncle's home. He can tell you the story himself."

"Hold," Ilia pauses the group, "shouldn't we wait on Lady Medina and the others?"

Renly shakes his head. "We shouldn't stall our end of the investigation. Although I did not expect them to be gone this long… Guess we've got no choice. We need to be sure that the Divine Object's at the Taboo Knight's Tomb."

"Sir Renly! Ladies Ronie, Ilia, and Mia! Thank you for coming all the way out here from the capital!" A middle-aged man with short, brown hair bows to the girls and Renly as they come to the highest house on the mountainside village. "You must have heard from Tiese, but I'm not sure if it really is a Divine Object."

"That's fine. Lord Lieulinen. We've known that's a possibility all along."

"Thank you for understanding, Sir Knight. In that case, I'll show you to Tahmul's house. He can show you to the Taboo Knight's Tomb." The hunter who, in one story, found the sword in question while drunk, yet in another, doesn't drink at all. No matter the story, it seems Tahmul did find the blade in question.

Returning to the village proper, the lord escorts the group to a home and knocks on the door. Moments pass before a cute woman in a long blue dress opens the door. "Sorry to bother you."

"Oh, you're no bother, my lord!"

"Is Tahmul home?"

"No, but he hasn't been gone long. He left for the valley with the knight you sent."

"Huh? I don't recall sending anyone."

"Can you tell us about the knight," Ilia inquires.

"Oh, where to begin…' Tahmul's wife looks at the group of girls then to the other male and gasps. "Ah! He looked quite a bit like this fellow. Different hair and eye color, but the face and amount of green is remarkably the same."

"Sir Renly, it must have been the Emerald Knight."

"Mhm, but why?"

"He might have overheard us when we weren't looking. Maybe he thinks he can steal the Divine Object?"

"You mean Istalk," Lord Lieulinen asks. "Lord Carbunculius' son? Why would he do such a thing?"

Renly frowns and turns away. "As much as I would suggest we wait on Jaymes and the women,.. There's no time. Let's just hurry over to the valley. We can fill you in on the way. The way to the tomb, where is it, lord?"

"You can get to the valley from the shrine near the Western Ravine."

"Would you mind leading the way?"

"Not at all. Follow me."

Western Ravine

Mia's group makes it to the westernmost end of the Empire's side of the End Mountains in just over an hour. They hadn't encountered her master, Lady Asuna, or Lady Medina, which now begins to weird her out. Where had the three of them gone? These thoughts plague Mia's mind as she hears a shout come from in front of the group.

A man runs down the path carved out the cliffs, nearly tripping over himself as Lord Lieulinen calls out to him. "Oh, Tahmul! Where's Sir Istalk?"

Tahmul drops to his knees. "P-Please forgive me, milord…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I know I said I saw a Divine Object, but...a passing noble asked me to tell you the story, you see. H-He said he was a friend of yours, that it was all a prank. It got out of hand."

"So you lied to me?"

"E-Eek! Forgive me… Forgive me, please."

Mia was under the assumption that, while the Taboo Index remained, the system of nobles and commoners system by the Axiom Church was ousted by the Unification Council, but it seems some remnants of it remain. Then again, of course it does. Renly wouldn't have cared to hide his identity as a Integrity Knight if it mattered that Sir istalk would (potentially) act differently. Medina's family owns a valley in the northern region, and back at her personal estate outside North Centoria, she still manages the region. The system of lord and subject must still be in effect, but modified to fit the empire's new governing body. Lords don't rule the region as they once had, but more or less "manage it" at the discretion of the council.

In other words, certain nobles retain their hold on land and some of their former power, but at the expense of their submission to the Council.

Her third clue about this is that, instead of immediately chastising Tahmul, Lord Lieulinen looks to Sir Renly. Renly shakes his head, then Lieulinen acts. "Calm down, Tahmul. Explain yourself." Tahmul is more bent on apologies than explanation, so Renly cuts his sight to the path ahead.

"Seems we'll get nothing more from Talmul. Let's keep on moving." With no other option, the girls follow, but something bothers Mia as Lord Lieulinen leads them to a cave. Tahmul claims the story isn't his own, but a prank from a 'passing noble' who claimed to know Lieulinen. Yet…

"Something wrong, Mia?"

Mia must not have known her walking speed was slowing. She's quite the distance behind the group, but only Ilia linger behind. Normally she'd make fun of Ilia, but like her master, she knows when to be serious, and this is one of them. Talking to the apprentice of her master's right-hand woman in the empire might help her out. "Certain things don't add up."

"You realized it too."

"Yes. But what troubles me most is that if the story is fabricated, why would the hunter lead the knight here?"

"That is true. But I'm more concerned about the 'passing noble'. Whether they truly know Lord Lieulinen or not, the issue is that Tahmul did not identify the noble. Granted, as a noblewoman myself, I don't know every noble in the north, further less the entire empire. As a trainee, some of the knights' names are clouded in my head. But a commoner to not know…"

"But you just said it's hard to recall… Ohhh. I think I understand you. If Lord Lieulinen and this other noble were friends, you would recognize them, right?"

"Right. But let's play devil's advocate to that assumption. Most of the population of the four empires live approximately between the capital and halfway to the End Mountains. Most of the bigger towns, like Cliffia, are located pretty much around that mark. Go beyond, and the civilization becomes more and more remote as you get closer to the End Mountains or the bordering walls. If you find a village, it's overseered by a low-rank noble like Scolea if not one of many villages a high-rank one might look after."

"So?"

"Just by experience alone, most nobles of high-rank birth wouldn't concern themselves with lesser nobles like Ronie and Tiese's families, or even my own. Most of them, unless they're the adventuring type, wouldn't go to the remote areas of their empire, especially the End Mountains. And I highly doubt many, if any, know of the Taboo Knight's story. So a noble, who knows the story of the knight, the location of the valley, and knows Scolea's lord...the chances are slim. Which brings us back to your point."

"The fact that the hunter brought the knight here despite the story being fabricated?"

Ilia nods. "Yes. If the prank was just for the lord, why did Tahmul not tell the truth then...unless there's some truth to the story."

"So you're saying there's something there at the least?"

"I'm saying that our 'passing noble' knew more than what Tahmul could have suspected…"

???

"Seems all this noise about a legendary sword has attracted all kinds of riff raff... Are you going to use that kid?"

"He's easily corruptable compared to the first subject. Turns out I barely needed him to do anything before he listened to my every command and unleashed bloodshed."

"Hmm... And how has your first subject fared?"

"See for yourself. There's a knight outside making his last breaths. He didn't stand a chance by normal means, but without hesitation he was struck down... If you want what belongs to the Emperor, there's our best bet. All yours to use against the incoming whelps and the lone knight who guards them."

"I thought the Emperor and the Swordswoman Delegate were coming too... No matter. If anything, this does fall into our plans... You may begin your own preparations for the dark realm, it'll be time soon enough."