AN: English is not my native language and this is my first fanfiction. Please do not to harsh
"I love cookies" → thoughts
"I love cookies" → speech
"I love cookies" → spell, Martial art
Chapter 11
→ "the golden pavilion"-inn in Re-Estice / blue roses and Litzelot ←
The party, sponsored by Litzelot and Gagarans tournament price, was quite expensive. But after a long night blue roses, minus a certain vampire, retired to bed. Evileye and Litzelot used this time and exchanged stories. Evileye told him about the dark knight, while Litzelot told Evileye about a few players he had met. This made Litzelot feel nostalgic while Evileye smiled, feeling a wave of comical relief. Who believed that the godlike beings called players could behave so strangely, or even dumb?
But it felt short until the first rays of sunshine got through the window and life came back into the city and inn. It took blue roses quite some time to rouse from their slumber, which Evileye and Litzelot used to play a card game Litzelot knew.
"Mornin" grumbled, the last of the bunch, Lakyus.
"Morning" came the replies.
"Today we visit our next client, please behave Litzelot" Lakyus beged.
"When did I not behave?" Sir Litzelot questions, slightly insulted.
"I just want to be sure. The next client belongs to a high born family, and we will help her. But more information then." came from Lakyus.
"Ok." Litzelot spoke, irritated that she told him to be on good behavior, but put it aside.
After the blue roses ate breakfast, they moved to the palace. It took some time, since the traffic was horrendous.
→ Re-Estice Palace / Princess Renner ←
Renner was barely able to keep her anticipation within herself. But she had to stay in her role and keep her anticipation in check. She hoped that Litzelot would be a good tool for her in the future. If the information she had was correct she could also easily persuade him to her side, if she played her cards right, and if she played them perfectly she could even be with her Climb. With Gazef Stronoff gone to drive raiders near the forest of tob of, she at least had a short break to have her sweet time with Climb and to prepare her next moves.
"I will need to get rid of Barbo, this bastard would force me to marry someone who isn't Climb. But if he would be in the same camp as eight fingers. That would be ideal. But I would need Lakyus for that. Hopefully my useful tool will work perfectly, so that I can complete my plans. argh. And the newcomer. He is strong. I could need his hard power, if he would be on my side. It would be a good threat to some opposition" were Renners thought. Then she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in" she spoke and her Climb entered.
"You wanted to speak with me?" he said.
"Yes, I want you to be here when I speak with good friends and their companion. It is about a quest for them. I hope you don't mind" she told him while "my puppy" shot through her head.
"Of course I dont mind your highness," Climb responded.
"Thank you," Renner stated.
→ Re-Estice Palace / Blue roses and Litzelot ←
Litzelot and blue roses were asked and searched again and again at the palace. It was annoying, but it was probably just safe and therefore somewhat necessary, Litzelot hoped.
Blue roses meanwhile were somewhat used to the procedures and endured it, warily checking Litzelot from time to time. After a long time they were in front of Renners room and knocked on it.
"Come in please." was heared in a sweet tone and they entered the room. Litzelot leaned against the door while blue roses seated themself at a table with Renner.
"Ah hello Lakyus, How do you do?" Renner asked, once they had entered.
Litzelot instantly saw that there was only a small boy in adamantite armor sitting next to the princess. The Maid also was already leaving the room, after Renner gave her a sign. The princess smiled at blue roses and then realized that he existed.
"Ah, so this is your new friend Lakyus? He seems strong indeed." Renner smiled.
"He is but we should speak about our next objective." Lakyus spoke. Princess Renner and Lakyus then explained the next job. They would hunt down hideouts of eight fingers and help Renner to get rid of the criminals.
"Do you already have a goal in mind, Renner?" Lakyus asked. Taking out a map of Re-Estice.
"Yes. There is a black dust farm near E-Dartignis. It is quite big, but the local noble doesnt care or profits from it. I would say last. I can't do anything about the noble, but we could destroy the farm. But be careful, we don't know how strong it is." Renner showed it on the map. Litzelot guessed it would be a week till they would be there.
"Anything we should know? Like what do you need or whom do you need?" Gagaran asked.
"If possible dont harm the slaves. But also keep the leaders alive, so that we could gain information. If possible, get documents and such." Renner asked, pleading.
"What about the rest?" Litzelot asked, gaining surprised looks.
"What do you mean?" Evileye asked.
"What about the farm, the black dust and what about the belongings of the criminals there? And how would I know that there is black dust?" Litzelot asked. Lakyus and Evileye groaned.
"Black dust is a drug. It makes the victim extremely dependent on it and destroys their body. We can recognise it as the plants have thick, deep blue stems." Evileye described.
"The black dust must be destroyed, together with the farms. When you get coins or find things that interest you just take it, since there will be nobody searching for it. See it as further payment, on top of what I owe you." Renner answered.
"You don't owe us. Eight fingers was already a target to us, now we can strike with royal backing." Lakyus spoke. Litzelot was astonished.
"Please Lakyus. I have the fitting letter right here. You will get payment and that is final." Renner spoke, while giving Lakyus a letter with a big sigil on it. Lakyus immediately took it in her bag.
"I have a question." Litzelot again spoke.
"Ask away," Renner stated.
"Are there any figures that we need to be careful around?" Litzelot asked.
"There is a part that is called six arms. They are considered extremely strong, even adamantite level. Be careful when you encounter them. If you do, try to catch them alive. If that is not possible, please remove them. If neither is possible, retreat." Renner said.
"Seems fair" Litzelot stated.
"I have a question for you, Litzelot." Renner looked directly at him.
"That would be?" Litzelot asked.
"After we got rid of eight fingers, what are your plans afterwards?" Renner asked.
"Why does she ask? Didn't we tell her that he didn't plan for after we did this job?" Shot through Evileye, who looked at Lakyus. Lakyus meanwhile understood where this was heading.
"I haven't planned thus far. I will look once I am at that point, your highness."
"Just call me Renner. But I have a proposition for you. When this is done, I would like you to teach Climb here a bit, so that he can be stronger. You would be reimbursed of course." Renner asked.
"I will think about it." spoke Litzelot, while Renner looked a little saddened.
At that moment someone knocked and then tried to open the door. Renner looked caught while Lakyus took the maps and hid them in her back. Afterwards she signed Litzelot, who walked from the door. This enabled the maid of Renner, to get in and bring the tea.
The rest of the meeting was small talk. After that blue roses and Litzelot left and decided to move out next morning and use the rest of the day to prepare for said trip.
→ Re-Estice Palace / Dining room with Renner and Ramposa III ←
They were eating dinner with Barbo and Zanac. Renner sat between Ramposa III and Zanac for two reasons. She wanted to talk to those and she hated her brother Barbo. This evening was a verbal mess with those three, at least for Renner. She knew that the kingdom would most likely fall when Barbo took over. Everyone at the table knew that. At least Renner thought that everyone knew. She looked a mixture of sadness, with some smiles in between. This didn't go unnoticed by Ramposa III and Zanac, while Barbo was ignorant. When Ramposa leaned over to Barbo, Zanac leaned to Renner.
"What is that mixture in emotions?" Zanac asked.
"Isn't it obvious? While we hide, the nails are hammered into the coffin. But I at least will not go down without a fight dear brother." Renner spoke, threateningly direct this time.
"What do you mean?" Zanac asked. He knew that Renner prefered a far more indirect approach. He was also slightly angered by her jab against him.
"While you and father try to educate our oaf of a brother I did actually do something" Renner shot back. This had visibly hurt Zanac.
"What other options do we have? You know the law in this country. You also know that when he takes over like he is now…" he started
"That the kingdom will fall. But what can you actually do? I think that right now under the circumstances we live in, that the demise is written in stone. I simply chose to make the life of the citizens more livable while everything will go to the ground." Renner finished. This made Zanac flinch. He didn't want the kingdom to fall. But he also knew that Renner was smart, extremely so. He also saw through her mask, which made him think.
"This should be out of character for her. What is she planning? Why would she want to be loved by the people?" He thought. Then he remembered her relation to Climb.
"Don't play dumb. We both know that you do it for your Climb" He then spoke.
"Partly yes. But how do you think our sweet kingdom will fall? I personally like to make myself and my Climb safe when the situation happens. I would recommend you do the same. By the way, you are easily diverted." Renner spoke.
"Diverted? What do you mean?" Zanac asked.
"While you are definitely clever. You are easily diverted. I said I did take action. And I wanted you to know in the now I want something in return" Renner answered.
"What do you want in return for what?" Zanac asked. Renner was quite direct today.
"I want to talk to Marquis Raeven, under four eyes. I want information from him, therefore don't panic. I will give you one answer in return." Renner answered. This was quite interesting to Zanac.
"Deal. What action do you plan with whom, that you started today?" Zanac asked. Renner smiled. She had reached her goal for the evening.
"Clever. Putting als those questions in one sentence. I will answer yours. I want to destroy eight fingers once and for all. For that I did collect my allowance and use that to pay a group of adventurers that I trust. And they enlisted a friend of theirs." spoke Renner. Zanac meanwhile was shocked and thought about ways to get himself involved with no implications.
"I'll let you think about that," Renner said.
Ramposa III meanwhile had talked to Barbo. He tried to teach his son, but he feared it was too late. He saw a bit from the corner of his eyes and decided to speak with Renner. She seemed quite direct today. It was deep in the night, when Barbo and Zanac had left. Renner was still seated and looked at her father.
"I saw that a letter was gone and my sigil was used" He spoke.
"I needed it for an important quest." Renner spoke.
"I heard that you had sent blue roses and the winner and the champion of the royal tournament was sent on a quest. Is it with them now?" Ramposa asked. He knew how smart Renner was. He also knew that she was loved by the people. He also knew that the nobility hated her.
"You are right about that. I sadly didn't have enough time to ask you. Sadly I was only able to inform you now." Renner spoke.
"Next time, speak with me. And be careful. The nobles are getting restless because of you. If you dont be careful it could be extremely dangerous." Ramposa warned his daughter.
"I will. It was, as I said, on short notice." Renner spoke.
After that Renner went to her room and prepared for the night.
→ Re-Estice Palace / Prince Barbo ←
Prince Barbo was furious. He knew that his sister was quite smart. That was why he wanted her gone. She was a nuisance and always worked against him. He should be loved by the common people. He was the next ruler. He was chosen to be the king by the six gods.
He deserved Lakyus, the beautiful noblewoman. He deserved the worship of a god. He deserved the throne and to rule his kingdom.
He knew that he had underestimated her for too long. Only when his friends from eight fingers told him, he understood how dangerous she was.
He tried everything to get rid of her. He tried to marry her off. She didn't marry. He even tried to have her assassinated, but blue roses leader Lakyus rescued her. He tried to improve his image amongst the people by victories in battle. This sadly did not work, he even got more hated.
While barbo hated the commoners, he also wanted to be seen as something better by them. But today proved even worse. His spy informed him of a meeting between his sister, blue roses and that disgusting Litzelot. He also could guess that they were after eight fingers. So Barbo prepared to warn his friends.
→ Ainzach, Muller and Rekeshir on their way home ←
"Now I understand why blue roses did what they did." Rakeshir spoke.
"He is strong indeed. But we need to get rid of the menace." Ainzach spoke.
"Rakeshir, when we get back, you should speak with the priests. They have contacts to Slane. Make it their problem, since we are by far not strong enough." Muller spoke.
"I will do." Rakeshir spoke.
It will take them quite some time, but at least they were planning and thus using their time as best as they could.
→ Valdirene / Nigun ←
Nigun, a caster and summoner from Slane, was a blond man with a scar above one eye. He wore his black, silver robe and was on a mission. He was ordered to kill Gazeff Stronoff. For that they had to raid and once Stronoff was near they would had now eradicated the village of Valdirene, with the exception of a few, the village was dead or would be dead till dawn. But it shocked him. The people here did not fear their death. It was like they knew he was here. He had the chied, who was captured, tortured for questioning. It turned out that the village had already seen a dullahan. Nigun didn't like this. Either the people were right and there was a dullahan on the loose, or they were warned and used that as a story.
"Cantonius, get here." Nigun spoke. A man wearing imperial plate armor came to him.
"Yes Sir. What do you need?" Cantonius asked.
"I need you to head back to Kami Miyako. Tell them that the people of Valdirene are extremely sure that they saw a dullahan." Nigun respondet. He wanted to be safe. If there was a dullahan roaming the forest, then it was a disaster. Dullahan were dangerous foes that even their gods had problems against. There was even an entry from Surshana about a dullahan, that terrorized the realms of the gods. He didn't know the name but it was said that that dullahan was extremely dangerous and would bring forth the end of mankind. If there was a dullahan, they would have to destroy it.
"Are you sure Sir?" Cantonius asked. He knew that this could prove to be grave news.
"I want to be sure. Therefore I send you. If I get more information, I will send another messenger. In the morning you will wear a fitting disguise and not imperial armor. Then you will head to our holy city." Nigun spoke.
"As you wish Sir. Can I take another soldier, just to be sure?" Cantonius asked.
"You can. but that's it. I will need a lot of men to get our goal achieved." Nigun replied. With a nod Cantonius then moved away and prepared.
AN: Now the hunt for criminals begins for our hero and his companions. There will probably be a not so nice day of meetings for the cardinals and who could that evil dullahan be that roams the realm of players/ gods, who knows ;-)
Please review and be healthy and see you to the next chapter.