It wasn't often that he got to venture beyond the capital or the Astrea manor, so he couldn't help but walk slower then he typically would.
It didn't help that this was the first time he stepped foot in Picoutatte, he had briefly passed through the city on a dragon carriage during his journey to Vollachia, but that was vastly different then being able to walk through the streets on his own two feet.
He had been dispatched from the capital a few days earlier due to sightings of the Black Serpent between Lifaus Plain and Picoutatte, the capital became swamped after traders bound for the regional capital turned back, deeming the presence of a Great Mabeast too dangerous to consider continuing.
It was during emergencies like this he was given the rare authorization to leave central Lugunica and head southwest, something that he was able to accomplish in blinding speed.
He had made it to the beginning of the plain in only a few hours, passing by the remnants of Flugel's Tree before beginning his search for the third, and, if the rumors are true, final Great Mabeast.
It wasn't a new task, in fact he had been dispatched to combat this very calamity a few months prior, usually the time between incidents were longer, typically more then a year, but recently it seemed to be more active.
Despite spending several days looking for the Serpent, he came up empty handed, it was no longer in the area, meaning he had technically accomplished his goal, but he couldn't shake the feeling of failure that came as he ended his search.
Despite not subjugating the serpent he still needed to head to Picoutatte, no doubt they were experiencing the same issue with trade that the capital had, he'd stop there and inform the local garrison before making his way back to the capital.
He had made it onto the main street a few minutes ago, instantly sacrificing his otherworldly speed as he made his way down the populated road, taking in not only the atmosphere, but also the sights, with the marketecture of the buildings differing significantly from the orderly rows of brick houses that shadowed the spiderweb of roads that made up the capital.
The very placement of structures was vastly different as they lacked the orderly nature of the capital, favoring a more sporadic dotting of buildings that occasionally formed small clusters, a few needlelike towers also dotted the skyline, rising far higher than many of the buildings.
Overall everything was much more vertical, with large hills that formed almost smooth sections of stone causing parts of the city to be tens of feet higher then others.
It was also disappointing when he came in view of the local garrison, it's standardized brick appearance making it standout noticeably.
It didn't take him long before he was pushing aside the entrance to the building and stepping onto the smooth stone floor of the garrison.
Like most garrisons the first room was merely the entrance, sporting both the entrance to where the Knight's facilities were but also an area where civilians could report crimes.
"Welcome to the Picoutatte Knight garrison," Came a bored tone, its speaker sitting at a desk leisurely writing in a book, her long hair obscuring all but a few details. "If you're here to report a crime…" The girl trailed off; her gaze now firmly fixated on Reinhard.
It was second nature to fix his signature smile on his face before he spoke, "I was dispatched following reports of the Black Serpent to the north, it's no longer in the area."
It took a few seconds for the women to compose herself, unused to speaking to something like him, "G-Great, I'll sent out a notice," Her hands frantically searched through the overflowing piles of paper on the desk, stopping abruptly as she scooped up a piece of paper and extended it towards him.
"I wasn't expecting you here so quickly" She admitted, forcing the decorum of her position back into her voice.
"I was unaware I would be expected of all, my apologies for underestimating you." The elegantly shaped black letters taking the majority of his focus.
"The capital sent a runner not long after you were dispatched, it was only due to his arrival that I expected you."
Sending a runner through an area that likely still housed a Great Mabeast was not something done lightly, typically done accidently due to the slow sharing of information, to be done intentionally…
"I see," Folding his letter and stowing it into his pocket he regarded the women one last time, "Thank you for your time,"
"One more thing," The women gestured to the side of the building, "You can take one of the carriages outside the building, I doubt your companion would want to be carried to the capital."
He paused, not having thought about that himself, with his speed riding in a carriage was almost foreign, something not done out of necessity.
"It seems I'm in your debt," Giving the women a short bow before making his way to the door.
As he opened the door, flooding the doorway with natural light and letting the energetic sounds of the city into the room, the contents of the letter replayed in his mind as he made his way towards one of the dragon carriages.
Who would have thought he would see her again so soon?
"You can be such a pain, I suppose,"
"I'm aware Beako, but would it hurt to be a little gentler?"
"This is your punishment for being an idiot contractor, hopefully you'll learn so Beatty won't have to do this again."
Natsumi hissed as Beatrice dapped the alcohol coated cloth against the raw wound on her shoulder, the torn fabric of her shirt making the task relatively straightforward.
"Aww Beako, I knew you loved me,"
"As if Beatty would allow herself to stoop so low, I suppose!" The spirit huffed, apparently deeming the wound clean enough as she threw the rag to the ground.
The blond-haired spirit continued to huff and quietly rant to herself with Natsumi unable to make out the lowly uttered words.
If she were to be honest, the sight was adorable, not that Beatrice would think so, voicing her thoughts would only embarrass the spirit further, something that, while appealing, wouldn't add anything to the interaction.
The sight of Beatrice out of the library was enough for her, despite being one that she had entertained for past few months.
Indeed, nearly half of a year had passed since the battle with both Sloth and the White Whale, in what was now called the Second Great Expedition.
As far as the public was aware this was the end of the story, but to those involved, the events of the Sanctuary were still a sore topic, with the only upsides being the pacification of Roswaal and Natsumi contracting Beatrice.
After liberating sanctuary, she had officially become Emilia's Knight, a position that she felt hopelessly inept for, as such she had taken to a rigorous physical exercise routine soon after settling in Roswaal's new mansion, which led to her current situation.
It doesn't help that you are knowingly overworking yourself, a traitorous sliver of her mind whispered, as she slowly rose to her feet, her overworked joints screaming in protest.
With shocking discipline, she threw the traitorous thoughts from her head, using one of the few skills that she had gained after coming to this world.
Her twin tailed companion had already started to make her way back to the mansion, creating a fair amount of distance between them as her short legs worked overtime.
"Seems I embarrassed her anyhow," Natsumi muttered, scooping up the discarded rag before finally starting her slow trek back to the manor, possessing none of the hast that accompanied her spirit.
Indeed, it only took a few short moments for the sight of Beatrice to disappear altogether, leaving her slowly walking through the forest.
The trip took considerably longer than she would have liked, having to stop multiple times to relieve the growing tension in one her ankles, more specifically the one that took the brunt of the force that caused her last fall for the day. The dull ache that continued to persist on her shoulder certainly didn't help either.
She was really regretting her choice in not letting Beatrice use healing magic on her injuries. The choice had been pragmatic at the time, with the meager amount of mana she could supply to Beatrice even the tiniest of amounts could waste weeks of potential mana, to someone who had been put in more life-or-death situations in the past few months then she could count, the choice seemed sensible.
By the time she finally stumbled her way out of the brush onto the deforested dirt path that served as the road that led to the Miload mansion the sky had started to darken as the world slowly crept towards twilight. It was likely going to take her until nightfall to return to the manor on her sore ankles, so she turned and walked down the path's side, every step carrying her a little bit closer to the comfort of her room.
There was a multitude of thoughts running in her head as she walked, why had she and Garfiel insisted on building their 'secret' training course so far away? Was all this training actually going to change anything? Why was the crunching of the dirt under her feet only growing louder?
That last thought caused her to pause to a moment, just long enough to realize that the sound only continued to get louder and that it was coming from behind her.
Turning as fast as her ankles would allow her, she peered down the path behind her, she was faintly able to see the spot she had emerged through minutes earlier, and far beyond that she was able to see a muted orange glow that was steadily growing larger.
You'd think after the past few months, filled with more horror then imaginable, that the simple sight of a lone light coming up a forested path wouldn't invoke any significant terror, but the sight invoked a type of primeval fear she couldn't shake, and as she tried to turn and flee it seemed almost as if her feet entrenched into the ground, rooted to where she stood.
Luckily enough for her, she did have a bit of cover, with a few low drooping tree branches slightly obscuring her figure.
It only took a few moments for the light to get close enough to her that she was able to make out the details of what it was illuminating, a small carriage pulled by a lone ground dragon, slowly lumbering towards her.
She still wasn't able to see the driver, the mixture of the light being too faint and the distance too great rendered them all but invisible.
Seconds continued to pass, and the light, and carriage by extension, only grew closer.
Tense seconds seemed to stretch on endlessly, and no matter how hard she strained she couldn't make out the visage of the driver.
Finally, when the carriage couldn't have been farther than 100 feet away, she was finally able to make out a few features of the driver.
A colorless white uniform, punctuated by purple accents, along with the yellow hilt of a sword strapped to the driver's waist.
A knight? Natsumi thought, her petrified state slowly receding into one of passive defensiveness, What could possibly bring a member of the Royal Guard out here?
Despite the signs that this wasn't an impromptu attack by the witch's cult, she still didn't make her presence known, after all, she wasn't on the best of terms with most knights.
If I am being honest¸ she thought, straining her eyes as the drivers features started to get clearer, the only reason I got off as light as I did was because of…
"Reinhard?"
The red hair of the driver was a dead giveaway, there was only one knight that could claim to have that distinct color of flaming red hair.
She didn't have a chance to even process the situation before the carriage was about to pass her.
Because of her ankle, sudden movements were out of the question, it seems like she just had to accept the fact that she was going to miss-
"Natsumi?"
She nearly jumped; the sudden sound having caught her completely by surprise. She had not accounted for the fact that he might have saw her.
"Long time no see, Reinhard, odd that I would stumble across you." She flashed him a smile, as he gazed down at her from aboard the carriage.
Undoubtedly his gaze was full of confusion, just how long had he known that she was standing there? She had to fight to keep her face from flushing red.
"I assume you are heading back to the mansion, could I offer you a ride?"
With a grateful nod she climbed up the side of the carriage, careful not to put too much weight on either of her feet, all the while being acutely aware of a concerned gaze beside her, before finally collapsing on the seat.
With a jostle of the reins the carriage assumed its slow march forwards, lacking the signature speed that usually accompanied dragon carriages.
"Natsumi," came the distinct tone of the man next to her, "Are you, perhaps, injured?"
"Oh, tis just a scratch," she replied, with false bravado, while turning to face him, "Nothing to worry about."
He spared her a glance, his blue eyes only meeting hers for a second before they slid down her abruptly stopping at her shoulder line , "So I shouldn't worry about that?"
It took her a moment to think to find what he was talking about, with a blush she moved the ripped shirt farther up her shoulder, coving the previously exposed section of her skin, luckily the shirt she was wearing was slightly larger than usual.
"You know, its not very knightly to be sneaking peeks at women Reinhard." She admonished, attempting to skimp over her own embarrassment, "Some people might get the wrong idea."
"I'd much prefer that then letting you wallow in your injuries alone."
His voice didn't waver in the slightest as he spoke, keeping the serene, yet slightly detached tone of his voice intact, nevertheless the raw sincereness was nearly tangible.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence, with Natsumi unable to formulate an adequate response to the blue-eyed knight.
The carriage slowly rumbled over the loose dirt of the road bellow them, as it painstakingly lumbered to the mansion that was only beginning to become visible in the distance, its windows radiating a soft orange glow that spilled onto the environment below.
It was only when the mansion started to loom over them in earnest did a question come to Natsumi that, in hindsight, should have been the first thing she asked the man next to her.
Finally working up the courage to voice herself she forced out a question, "Say Reinhard, what are you doing over here anyway? I'm sure you were called out to defeat some big bad monster."
"`I'm afraid not," He responded, chuckling at the terrible fight sequence Natsumi was now demonstrating from her seat, "It's true I got dispatched to subdue the Black Serpent, but I fear I merely played a losing game of cat and mouse."
The knights tone became subdued as he finished his response, and for just a moment it seemed as if he had started to deflate, before it disappeared under his typical air of serenity.
"But that was far from here, in essence it would be fair to say not even I know exactly what I'm here for," He continued, before turning to face her, "Forgive me, but could you allow me to wait to answer your question until Lady Emilia and the rest of her camp is here? I'm sure they'll have questions similar to yours."
"No problem,"
The carriage finally finishing its twists and turns, stopping directly in front of the mansion, the ground dragons firmly grunting in what she could only assume was relief.
"It seems I pushed you too hard," He muttered softly, dismounting before running his hand along one of the ground dragons' heads, "I hope you'll forgive me,"
Carefully she also climbed down, rejecting any help from the concerned knight who made his around the carriage towards her.
With her feet firmly planted on the ground, she motioned Reinhard towards the entrance.
"Don't worry about the carriage, I'll have Otto move it, he might complain but secretly he'll enjoy the reprieve from his office."
"Otto?" he spoke, abandoning the carriage as the two of them moved towards the entrance, "I'm afraid I haven't heard of him."
"I'm not surprised, you likely missed him at the knighting ceremony, he was just a simple merchant up until a few months ago, but now he's the only reason the camp isn't financially bankrupt." Natsumi spoke, her earlier embarrassment gone, as they passed through the immaculate gardens in front of the mansion, someone it always seemed to be more perfect every time she walked through it.
"Quite the promotion," Reinhard spoke, his gaze traveling across the many different flowers, "He must be quite blessed."
"Lucky, more like it," She muttered, before a teasing smirk appeared on her face, invisible to the man walking beside her, "But you're one to talk, mister, compared to you he's nowhere near blessed."
For a brief moment a melancholic look forcefully implanted itself onto Reinhard's face, before he threw it off.
The reaction went unnoticed by Natsumi, who was a few steps in front of him.
Before he could respond, she continued, "After all, he's stuck in his office while you're with me, not much of a comparison, is it?"
Another emotion flashed across his obscured face before it once again gave way to a smile.
"I suppose in that sense I am indeed blessed,"
And that's chapter two, a sort of short prequal explaining the events that led up to the first chapter, the next chapter is also going to be set in the past, picking up where this chapter let off.
Natsumi definitely exhibits Subaru's playfulness, and I'm afraid to say that our resident Sword Saint isn't quite prepared for it.
Now onto some updates, the next chapter of the Everdistant Utopia is in the works, and I hope to have it out soon, I've just got to figure out how I want the Arc to flow.
I look forward to reading all of your reviews, and if you have any criticism, characters not quite in character, grammar, spelling, or just general suggestions, please feel free to give me a holler.
- Surv