Glimpses of a Dark Future

-.

-.

Meanwhile, back in Belfast:

Alfred Ernes Belfast entered the study to find his brother in a dark mood. The King sat in the shadow beside the strong light of a window. He sat behind a round table, with a white envelope at the center and a decanter of wine nearby.

"Tristwin?" Duke Alfred asked while the King just sat there silently. "What's so urgent? I came here as soon as I could."

The King let the silence trail out a little longer, and then sighed. He pushed forward the envelope. "We have just received word from Yumina that the delegation has reached Berge."

"I see. But for you to call me here with all haste- did something happen? It is bad news?"

"You tell me."

Duke Alfred picked up the envelope and began reading through the letter's contents. They already knew about the bandit encounter. The Steel Fangs and Poison Snakes were not just thrown into the mines if not outright executed for treason on the off chance that it was a Regulus plot. Their leaders were now off to find incriminating evidence from those who hired them, under threat of inescapable pain and humiliation or more Playa and Zorah which were mostly the same thing really.

The letter opened with Yumina's reassurances that they were fine, no one was injured, and they were not under arrest. That was comforting to know. Then the rest of the missive summed up went thus:

1) Sir Zah controls the weather now apparently
2) He lightning punched a dragon to death
3) He nearly killed the King of Mismede in a spar

The Duke of Ortlinde felt his guts clench. He turned over a goblet and poured some amber liquid onto the glass. Then he downed the contents in one gulp.

"Share in my suffering, Alfred!" the King intoned ominously.

"Yumina wrote that the main reason we're not at war right now is that the King of Mismede is the same type of showy irreverent bastard that is Sir Zah." He looked at his brother past the rim of the glass. The Duke said wryly "You're the one that has to go to Mismede. Only Kings can negotiate with Kings."

"Share in my suffering, Alfred!" the King insisted dangerously.

"Ahahaha… sorry but I refuse." He slammed the goblet down and sighed "I'm going to have to stay here and deal with finding the traitors in our midst."

-.

-.

Meanwhile, back in Mismede:

"There will be a short dinner party later today to celebrate the return of our diplomat and the visit of Her Highness Yumina," said Chancellor Glatz. "For the King to appear injured would be… bad."

King Jamukha sulked. "Do I have to? I think wounds look manlier!"

Everyone turned to look at the Queen. Queen Tilier was a Snow Leopard woman who looked positively tiny next to her husband. It was wonder that they had three children already, though their oldest was only ten years old. She had bowl-cut white hair and cute nubby feline ears on top of her head.

Come to think of it, if their eldest was only ten… and if she was about twenty Earth years when she first gave birth… King Jamukha looked closer to fifty. That was almost ten to twenty year age gap. Though I supposed it probably was a politically arranged marriage anyway.

She had a soft, accepting disposition that reminded us very much of Linze. It was actually somewhat eerie. It was only here that we finally found other people with natural white hair. She put a finger to her lips contemplatively, and then gently poked at his bandaged side.

"Ghrk!" The King bent inwards and winced. First from being ticklish, then the pain of his busted ribs.

"This won't do, dear," Queen Tilier said softly with a fixed smile on her face. "The strength of the King is the strength of the Kingdom, isn't that what you're so fond of saying? So if you go out there in bandages, people will feel discouraged about themselves."

"But dear…" It was the Queens' job to control her husband's excesses. For the King to be running rampant over his subjects ignoring his more boring kingly responsibilities… either the Queen felt like she had no power to change his behavior, or she tacitly approved of them.

She poked his side again. The King's ears drooped and he sagged in defeat.

Elze grumbled softly to the side "Playa isn't even wounded, that's just muscle pain. He's really just bandaged up because he thinks it looks manlier."

Linze put a hand to her mouth and giggled. I was wearing my red jacket half off like some sort of Yakuza prince, with bandages over my chest and arms.

/"My boy is too chuuni,"/ Monika whispered. /"Who are you even trying to look like? Vash the Stampede? I suppose being a Humanoid Typhoon is acceptable too, but I fear this would just be step one of your great insurance scams."/

The Queen glanced over at Linze and Elze for a moment, and a strange look passed over her face. The King noticed it glanced at me, then at Elze, and then Linze again, and for a moment it looked like emotional pain crossed his features. The King and Queen then glanced at each other and shared a look of mutual understanding.

I frowned minutely. What was that about?

But then I completely forgot about that because Elze was jabbing her index finger into my midsection. That wasn't tickling, she was just outright stabbing me. Yowtch.

The Queen poked her husband in the side again. Ghk!

Elze poked me in the side again. Gurk!

Poke. Poke.

Okay stop!

They had identical little smirks on their pretty faces utterly devoid of mercy.

-.

-.

Time passed. It was night time.

It was time to… well, not party. We weren't in much of a mood for that, we've been on the road for too long. The most we wanted to do was to just sleep and lounge around in a nice comfy bed, but a small welcoming dinner party was nice too. Good food, only a short time to hobnob around and excuse not wanting to converse for long on our travel pains, and then sleep!

"Yes! This is Mismede! Land of spices!" I shouted out. "Your palace looks like the Taj Mahal! Give me some of that curry! Gimme that pepper! Grant me that gastrointestinal burn I've long missed!"

"Hahaha! Looks like you're looking forward to it! We'll try not to disappoint you!"

The King sidled up next to me as I watched the crowd. Since this wasn't actually a formal party, just a little get-together, there was no need to announce the entry of the King and the important guests. I nodded to the side. "Your Beastliness."

"None of that now, Zah! I told you, you can just call me Jamukha!"

"Very well then, I, Zah Playa, apologize in advance for any impropriety." I grinned back. "Jah Mukha."

"Gyahahaha! Good good! That's more like it!"

"Zahahahaha!" I put my fists to my hips and laughed with my head thrown back as well.

In the distance we could just hear someone moan in pain.

The Queen hid her mouth as she giggled. "Fufufu. I'm glad to see you're all having fun. It's been so long since my husband met anyone similarly so…" She searched for a word similar to 'utterly lacking shame'. "... Gregarious."

I turned around to see again Queen Tilier. She was wearing a white robe with a spotted cloak. I wondered briefly about the morality of wearing spotted white leopard skins when you were a white leopard beastkin, but then I remembered the Space Wolves and Leman Russ didn't seem to have any problems wearing Fenrisian Wolf pelts and putting wolf carvings and totems everywhere. And there are no wolves on Fenris, all such wolves were descended from Canis Helix mutated human settlers long ago!

Later I found out that wearing the pelts of the animals that mostly resembled them was supposed to be a way of honoring their natures. It had its roots in the ancient shamanistic beliefs.

At that moment, she was accompanied by three children. "May I introduce you to Our children?"

One by one, they were:

Tia Frau Mismede, the First Princess of the Kingdom of Mismede. She was the eldest child of the couple and she was ten years old. She curtsied and asked "Are you the one who defeated father?"

Remza Blau Mismede, the First Prince of the Kingdom of Mismede. He was 9 years old. He squinted up at me and asked "Did you cheat?"

And then there was Alba Blau Mismede, the Second Prince of the Kingdom of Mismede, who hid slightly behind his mother. "Scary…"

I winced. Yeeah. That was fun for us, but we forgot that our self-indulgences also have an effect on the people around us. Even a child that screams at their parents to just be left alone isn't being unselfish in asking for nothing but simply not to be bothered.

Then Tia said with all seriousness "Do it again. I want to see it happen."

"Um."

"Yes, a rematch!" The King shouted and cut in with a clenched fist. "Any time! Any where! I'm always up for it!"

Tia looked up at her father. Then to me. Then up to her father. Then back to me. And then she said with complete grace and civility "Beat my father's hide like a drum, please."

"Tia!" Remza gasped. "Why do you want dad to lose? That's… that's treason!"

"The King's strength is the strength of the nation. The Queen cares for all the people." She flicked her straight hair back. "A Princess carries its hopes and prayers."

Wow this little girl has the face of Linze and the personality of Elze. Disturbing.

"Uh, Your Highness…" I whispered to the Queen. "Please have my apologies again for going a bit too far in our spar just then."

"It's all right. It really has been so long since you were challenged so boldly, hasn't it, Jamukha?" She glanced up at her husband. "Almost twenty years now…"

He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled sadly. "Dear… I still remember her fondly, but now I love only you."

"Of course you should! Remember her, at least – who else but us could love my sister the most?" She put her small hands over his massive ones, and leaned into his touch.

Then her eyes snapped open and she stared at me with piercing amber eyes. "Zah Playa of Belfast, we thank you for how you have given my husband such joy. But please understand if I do not quite… appreciate… the discussion of an alliance with Belfast."

She stepped back and bowed. "After all… it was also Belfast's war that took my sister's life. His Beastliness' first wife. Now, if you will please excuse me… I must check with the other guests."

She picked up Alba, her youngest, and then turned around. Her children trooped to follow her in a line like little ducklings. But not before Tia gave me an 'I'm watching you' gesture and Ramza giving me an unfriendly glare.

Well, that got heavy all of a sudden.

King Jamukha sniffed and rubbed at his broad nose. "Sorry about that. It's just… it's personal, you know?"

"I understand. I'm not going to pry, if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, let me just explain. Seeing you and those girls… it just brought back memories. Those two girls with you, it really just reminded us how we used to be."

I tilted my head to the side. "Elze and Linze?"

"The punchy one and the shy one and the man that was too stupid always looking forward to the future to see what's in front of him."

"That's really heavy." I raised both hands and spread open my palms to signify 'I really don't want to talk about this' or possibly 'Maan, we got a badass over here'.

The King chuckled. He gave me a friendly and somewhat painfully forceful slap to the shoulders and excused himself too. He left me alone again by the balcony. I sighed, crossed my arms and leaned against the open doorway.

I didn't need to know any of that, though I supposed having a handle on the personality and motivations and prior inciting causes of foreign royalty was useful for strategic purposes. Why'd things need to get so real instead of just bros time? Ach, what a heavy air all of a sudden.

"Misteeer Clooown!"

Oh thank you. Thank you, Arma. Distract me in the present with cute meaningless escapades and the future can damn well take care of itself.

-.
-.

I chuckled and rubbed the top of Arma's head. The little girl gave back a toothy grin and her ears flicked up enthusiastically. "Gehehehe!" she giggled. "Mister Clown, you look weird!"

/"As always this child speaks truths."/

"Chahahaha," I laughed. Apparently noble attire here in Mismede was distinctly Middle Eastern attire. In fact, almost exactly like Alladin's street rat attire so if it's going to be like that I thought might as well go full tilt into it. Yes of course the animated version. All that was required was to take off the white undershirt. Stretchy white pants, check. Purple open vest, ok. Red sash, red fez, double check. Bared nekkid hairless chest, checkmate.

"Ain'tchu cold?"

"I am always cool," I replied smugly.

In the corner of my vision I could see Monika cross her arms and wince. She was also wearing the classic pink "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit. With her long brown hair tied up into a high ponytail and her arbitrarily magical nature, the costume fit her quite well.

But I was wearing an Aladdin costume with frosted white sunglasses indoors.

"So, how have you been? Did you get some sleep yet? It's been a long journey."

Arma shrugged. "I gots a nap, and sis wanted me to just sleep but it's *free food*, yunno."

I nodded. "Perfectly legit. Where is she anyway?" If the King and Queen of Mismede are already here, then what makes a mere diplomat worth more in being fashionable late?

/"You're forgetting the others that aren't here, Player."/

Indeed, we haven't seen hide nor hair of Elze and Linze and Yae and… oh. Yumina.

Yumina Ernea Crown Princess of Belfast.

/"We keep trolling Yumina so much and she just keeps taking it with that cutely defiant look on her face that we have forgotten she is actually *politically significant*."/

I glanced aside to see someone in a formal suit discreetly trying to angle his way inwards to overhear.

"Mister Liooon!" Arma threw her arms up and shouted happily.

Lyon Blitz sheepishly abandoned all attempts at stealth and just approached directly. He was wearing a full dining suit and jacket. "Hello Miss Arma. How are you? Do you know where your sister might be?"

"Oh she's with da other girls. She's coming in laters."

"Arma? Where did you run off to? Oh there you are."

"Daad! Over here! Look! Look!" She pointed at us. "This here's Mister Lion. And this is Mister Clown."

A portly beastman with a rounded face and brown hair with short fox ears drew near. He too was wearing Western-style clothing. That was the theme actually, those of us from Belfast would be wearing Mismede costumes, while Mismede natives who were on overseas duty would wear Belfastian fashion.

"A pleasure to meet you all. I am Olba Strand, Arma's father. I hope she has not been a bother."

"S-surely not! I am L-Lyon Blitz, a member of Belfast's first order of knights."

"I have heard that Belfast's knights have been through a difficult journey. Please have my heartfelt thanks for protecting my daughters." Olba bowed low and then held his hand out.

The young blond knight bowed swiftly in return and shook hands. "Thank you, sir! It was completely my honor to guard Miss Olga Strand, sir!"

Then he turned to me and asked "Mister… Clown? Pardon me, and please excuse my daughter's precocity." If Lyon was Mister Lyon, what's a Mister Clown? Klaus? Cloude? Something like that? "Might I know your actual name, sir?"

"I'm Ba-"

/"You are not Batman."/

Tch.

Lyon coughed into his fist and introduced me instead. "Sir Zah is Sir Zah Playa von Chara, the leader of the adventurer party that chiefly managed security through the journey. He is also Her Highness Yumina's teacher in the magical and martial arts."

"Ah! Forgive our rudeness, milord!" He bowed quickly. "Arma, don't be so rude."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind it at all. This little girl speaks truths."

Olba gave back a benign merchant's smile and showed only blank confusion through his eyes. It was clear he didn't recognize that name and that was good. Even though it was witnessed by most of his ministers and military commanders, and no matter how much King Jamukha wanted to spread it far and wide that he finally found a worthy rival, the news of their King getting his ass beat they made it an excellently kept secret.

The news about the dragon attacking the village of Eld was full of outlandish rumors that the real report just sounded all the more fake news.

I gave Lyon a side glance.

He gave me a small wince implying 'Do I have to?'

I soundlessly mouthed out 'Do it'.

He coughed into his fist again and asked "Mayhaps… do you know of Reflet's Red Chicken Man?"

Olba blinked. Then he jabbed a pudgy finger towards my face and shouted "AAAAAAAAH!"

Eyes turned at his sudden declaration and he blushed. He waved and bowed "Sorry, sorry, my apologies, nothing to see here," towards the other guests.

Then he turned back towards me with a glittering and determined gaze. A merchant's will rose around him like an impervious stone mountain.

-.

Olba Strand was a merchant that chiefly dealt with high value goods from Belfast. He didn't personally know Dolan, a mere spice merchant from Reflet. But Dolan was proselytizing heavily to all and sundry about chess and was just as enthusiastic about badmouthing the red fool that dared call himself the Grandmaster of the Game.

"I would say I'm surprised about how quickly the King's Game was spreading here in Mismede, but I'm more surprised that you're even bothering to try and get a supplier for the game. It's not like it's difficult to make a local copy." People were already making knockoff boards in Belfast.

"We are not actually very clear yet on the rules, but we know it is very popular among the nobility and travelers. It is known to a favorite of the King of Belfast. We heard that there is some sort of title to go with it?"

"Mmm. Only officially approved boards made with standard materials may be used for ranking matches. While it's not like cards where small imperfections may be used to cheat, every small detail might affect concentration. The same colors, the same weights, the overall handfeel of things… that eliminates one more factor to make sure that it's all about skill between players. It is the sort of game in which one person can literally be the best in the world."

Olba nodded. "I am interested in not just selling game boards but setting up a place to play games. A salon of some sort perhaps. It is not gambling if it is all about skill, is that not so?"

I grinned. "Let us talk about franchising. I have… conditions." Chicken conditions.

Monika sighed. /"Player, at least popularize the Amazing Aloha. Burgers are much more convenient for gaming than chicken meals. Greasy hands are bad for concentration."/

She looked towards the tables and wrinkled her nose. /"I really wish I had taste buds. Your reality is still so far away from me. While I can vaguely remember the experience of eating, I know these memories aren't really things that happened. I wish I could cling to nostalgia as strongly as you do, sometimes. That too is a form of love."/

I glanced towards Lyon again. Might as well help a bro out. "I have a set with me, but I have many prior commitments. Lyon, could I impose on you to bring it over tomorrow? Olga already knows the rules, and you can bring the guidebook for tournament play. You two might help demonstrate."

"M-me?" Lyon began to fidget again. "Is… is that proper?!"

I turned back towards Olba and said "Sir Lyon is the son of General Leon Blitz, General . The King's Game teaches strategic planning also. Olga and Lyon have already been playing against each other."

"Hoh! A son of that famed General Leon? I would be very glad for you to come over to our house. There are many things I would like to ask you about." He beamed at the nervous young knight. A noble was a good match. Business was just business.

Lyon's expression was going 'do you HAVE to phrase it that way?!' and 'what are you getting me intooo?!' He stood up straight and said starchily "Yes, sir! I'll bring it over tomorrow, sir!"

"Nyeheheh, sis will like that. She will!"

-.

There was some commotion over at the far side of the room. Yumina and the rest of the group had arrived and the King had gone over to meet them. Even though this was a world without photographs, presentation mattered ever so much more so. It was explained to me why they didn't all just arrive together with the King and all, as that would imply neither favoring nor acquiescing a difference in power between the two nations. Wouldn't Yumina arriving later imply greater importance?

The answer was simple. King Jamukha was so huge that arriving with the girls would make him look even sillier standing above everyone else – girls, his wife, *actual children* - like a tree in the middle of a grassy field.

To my surprise Olga appeared wearing a white ballroom gown cut in an almost princess style. Yumina and the girls were wearing more towards Indian saris. Elze had a green dress with a red sash, Linze was green with blue, Yae was red with purple, and Yumina was white dress with a gold sash. Yumina and Olga Strand arrived ahead with the other three walking behind.

Lyon stared awestruck as she walked. A certain hairpin was in her hair. Their eyes met, and both of them blushed and look away. Arma grinned. Olba began to thoughtfully rub his goateed chin.

After everyone got an eyeful of the notables, it was time to sit down and prepare for the feast.

-.

"What even are you wearing?" Elze asked. "Did you forget something?"

/"Quickly, compliment their dresses in return!"/ Monika's Social App advised.

"I think you all look lovely."

"I… I think it shows a different kind of charm," said Linze, looking away. Then she glanced back at me, blushed, and looked away again. Then her eyes drifted back again to my exposed skin.

It had been a few months, and though this body may have reset me to my teenage years… well, I was *fat* in my teenage years, so it clearly wasn't that. A few months of scientific workouts (and unexceptional as the Silver Moon Inn may be, at least Micah fed us really well) on a baseline healthy body was enough for some gaaaains.

I grinned and posed as if I were a Great Mazinger firing a Breast Burn. (2) Yumina turned to look away, and then turned her head back to stare at me with a burningly intent gaze. I stared back at her. It was like her eyes were beaming SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME and I was intercepting her eye beams with similar words of GAINS GAINS GAINS GAINS. Word blocks were falling onto the empty white table between us.

It was extremely fair, I mean – there were also showing off their bellybuttons, weren't they? That's traditional dress.

Eventually Yumina blushed and looked away, huffing. Victory.

Elze just crossed her arms and snorted. "If you end up looking like that overly muscled meathead, no one actually likes that much meat."

"Elze, that's lese majeste," I retorted. "Also the Queen looks, you know, pretty content with things."

/"Heh."/

I turned to look at Yae, and then my eyes slid away. Whoa. She was hiding large secrets behind her usual baggy pink kimono and big front waist bow, wasn't she? She looked a bit insulted, as if I were treating her less than a warrior. She puffed out her chest in indignation and that's just making it worse, Yae.

Elze smirked at my tacit admission of being embarrass-able too. Yes I have always been a hypocrite, shaddup.

-.

And then we feasted.

And then we drank.

There was no such thing as a legal drinking age limit in this pseudo Renaissance era magic world.

This did not turn out well.

-.

-.