The Thief Lords from Beneath
CHAPTER TWO
Since the foreign looking man, who (Allen would find out) was named Kanda Yuu, declared that he does not want the business of the former heir to be his business, Komui Lee, the Head Strategist, is forced to let his sister give Sir Walker a tour of their (not so) humble abode (forced, because there is apparently so few people around the Black Order who can spare the time).
"Don't badger her, you hear me?" the bespectacled man had told Allen, expression wary.
Something told the former heir that he was dealing with a man that has a sister complex. Now while there is nothing wrong with being affectionate towards your siblings, there is something wrong about being seen as suspicious for no apparent logical reason. Not that it is something that could be blamed on Komui— usually men like him have sister complexes for very good reasons. Since Allen is in no position to pry yet, then he will just assume that it is caused by something grave.
Lenalee Lee is an amiable young woman with a pretty face and a sunny disposition. She has long dark hair tied in pigtails and cheerful dark green eyes. She is, so far, the nicest person Allen has met in Underworld Gray (although it should be said that he's only met three people so far).
"So you've met Kanda already…" from her tone, it is obvious that it is a statement and not a question.
The snow-haired boy answers anyway, "Yes… He… welcomed me earlier…"
She laughs upon hearing that, and replies, "And what a welcome it had been…" and she thereafter mutters, "…or so I have heard…"
"He was quite the sight," Allen admits. "Unfortunately it was not dominantly for good reasons…" The former heir smiles when his walking companion giggles.
"Kanda," she says, "has always been quite the humbug; he has never, for the life of him, gone out of his way to sport a smile and be nice to someone."
"Perhaps he is afraid he'll strain a face muscle."
She giggles again at what Allen would call 'his cleverly crafted retort'. He is beginning to really like the sound of her laughter; it was comforting, especially at a time like this when he has yet again found himself thrown into a messy situation by his sort-of guardian.
"Defying Kanda is issuing a death wish, Mr. Walker," she turns to look the snow-haired boy in the eye and grins.
"I've gone through worse…" he mutters in reply.
"By worse, you must mean your banishment," she says it as if it were a fact, which surprisingly enough was not what it was.
"No, getting disowned was something I had expected. It was, in effect, no cause for fret. The time I spent paying Cross Marianne's bills however, was horrifying in all ways possible."
The former heir is surprised when Lenalee grins. "We were wondering why he had stopped sending us his bills… Such a hardworking benefactor you are…"
"A willing patron I am not…" Allen sighs. "…Though, I only gave him as much as he gave me, or at least I tried to. Even now I probably still owe him, which is actually very annoying…"
"He is a good man, taking you in when nobody would," she quirks her eyebrows. "…Is it true that he gave you Timcampy? You must be one promising teenager to be appointed as Lord Heir by the Black Order's prodigal son."
Word must travel fast in the Order. Either that or they had one heck of an intelligence unit. Whatever the case, Allen Walker is impressed. "I don't know if promising is the right adjective to describe me…" he restrains himself from adding that perhaps 'unlucky' would have been more appropriate (because he would be kind of lying, he was actually very thankful that Cross picked him up even when such an act was punishable by law).
"Well, the fact will still remain…" says Lenalee. "…that you are now a candidate for Thief Lord."
……………………
To his understanding (based on what Lenalee Lee had told him), there are quite a few important things he is obligated to study. The Thief Lords are a given; as a Lord Heir, he is apparently required to study the history of all five of them (and all their predecessors). He is also to memorize all the names and faces of his fellow Lord Heirs. Aside from which, he is to learn the history of the Order as well as memorize the map of Underworld Gray. The study load is not that much different from what he had been taking when he was an heir to the throne of Dorian, but Allen still felt quite discouraged about having to go through all this. He briefly wonders how on earth a man like Cross Marianne had managed.
Young Sir Walker is told by young Miss Lee that: "You have to always be on good terms with the Head Strategist, Head Cook, and Senior Scribe." She also said that: "Judging by your personality though, it should be no problem."
Allen wonders who would have a problem with such a thing, but then he thinks about the illustrious Kanda Yuu. "Is Kanda Yuu a Lord Heir?" the snow haired boy asks and he is surprised when Lenalee nods (even though he had expected as much).
"He is the third Lord Heir of Froi Tiedoll," she says. "Nobody could rival the strange tandem that was Froi Tiedoll and Kanda Yuu… That is, until you came…"
Allen doesn't know if he should take this as an insult or not, because he doesn't even know Froi Tiedoll.
This question of course, became inevitable.
"Why is their 'tandem' strange?"
"Well…" she taps her lip with her index finger thoughtfully, "…They're complete opposites, and Kanda always complains about him… Yet he still holds much respect for him… It's as if he's an unwilling but loving son…"
Somehow, Allen can really picture that. Kanda seems to be the kind who hides all his warmer emotions and showcases all his fiery emotions (but only that of the likes of anger and annoyance). The more attached he is with a person the more he bothers to quarrel with them (that, and when he does quarrel with people he likes, he never takes it too far). If ever Kanda did go over the top with his insults, that person he referred to must be genuinely annoying to him for one reason or another. Whether this is actually a valid analysis or not, Allen will determine in the future. For now Kanda looks like this type of person.
"Kanda is actually a nice person," Lenalee says matter-of-factly, "…Well, as nice as someone like him could ever could be." And she laughs at her own statement. "But if you ever start to find him annoying just focus on his face and not his insults and you'll start to greatly appreciate his company…" she pauses. "…Although, I have never experienced being insulted by him, let alone get an entire lot of insults…"
And for that Allen gapes at her. "He doesn't insult you?"
She nods in response, then says, "I guess it's because we go way back".
Another theory the former heir was going to make sure he investigated.
"Anyway… I was going to introduce you to the Senior Scribe, but…" she tilts her head to one side. "He is apparently busy at the moment… so you'll just have to settle for the Junior Scribe"
"The Junior Scribe?" Lenalee Lee stops before a rather plain looking door; it must however be noted that there isn't a single other door in sight. So this door might only be deceptively unimportant looking.
That theory was about to be tested; Lenalee takes a hold of the knob, and turns it. The light that streams out the entrance from within the room blinds Allen momentarily, until he gets used to the electricity driven lights which were decidedly brighter than the flaming torches that dimly lit the 'hallways' of Underworld Gray.
"It's a mountain of books," Allen exclaims dumbly when he gets used to the brightness.
"Allen Walker, meet Lavi, the Junior Scribe," the young woman points upwards, Allen's eyes follow.
"Mornin' Lenalee," his voice seemed playful, and Allen finds it strangely reassuring.
"Who's this?" the man named Lavi looked at the former heir, expression bewildered.
He had an eye patch over one of his eyes, while the other one glimmers a brilliant green. He is decidedly a good-looking redhead, who looked just about as old as the one name Kanda that Allen had met earlier. Lenalee speaks up when the snow-haired one only gapes.
"First of all, it isn't morning anymore, Lavi, it's already past midday…" She gestures towards Allen. "…Also, this person is Cross Marianne's first Lord Heir, his name is Allen Walker."
One green eye widens. "Lord Heir? Cross Marianne's? Why have I never heard of this 'til today? And Allen Walker did you say? Where have I heard that name before…"
Lenalee laughs. "Should I answer those questions one by one? Yes, he's Cross's Lord Heir, no one has heard about him being one 'til today, and perhaps Dorian's exiled fourteenth heir might ring a bell?"
The look of surprise doesn't leave Lavi's face. "He's that Allen Walker? I never thought one of them would become one of you lot…"
He turns towards Allen, and the former heir flinches. "…So, what brings you to Underworld Gray, Allen? Come to become another Hansel duFroid?"
This has the snow-haired one looking quite guilty, because he is actually sort of thinking about it (becoming a Hansel duFroid) ever since he learned that Theif Lords like Jasper LuRim were real.
"Woah there, are you serious now?" Lavi expertly hops down from atop the central mountain of books. "Won't be so easy as it was for Hansel you know, there was only one Thief Lord back then; we've got five now, and the Order's much more diverse and populated too, gonna be hard to win this organization over…"
Allen tries to look him in the eye when he says, "I wasn't really thinking of doing that…" and he doesn't add that he might like do it, but—
"You would like to do it though, wouldn't you?"
It's as if the Junior Scribe can read his mind. The former heir finds himself unable to answer; he tries to, but his mouth is just left hanging open. Lenalee intervenes:
"Don't scare him Lavi, he's new, he wouldn't get your conversational patterns…" She waves a finger at him, as if scolding a child, but she has the cheekiest grin on her face.
"Conversational patterns?" Allen dares ask.
The young Ms. Lee then turns to him and, "Since he's a Scribe, he tends to interrogate people of the Order often. Not everyone is so eager to answer questions, but most people have gotten used to getting asked."
"She says not everyone, but in truth, there's only one person who always refuses to answer any of my questions," Lavi laughs.
The snow haired boy tilts his head to one side "Is this person Kanda Yuu by any chance?"
To which the jolly reply is: "Why yes, how did you know?"
Allen shrugs and mutters something about getting attacked.
"Oh that brings back memories, I got attacked first time I got here too you know… Yuu never changes…"
"And that is exactly why he attacked you, people from his home country are very touchy about getting called by first name. You know that, and I know that, and yet you went about copying and calling him Yuu…" Lenalee was looking at Lavi with a disapproving expression.
"And I have you to thank for my life," the Junior Scribe laughs after saying this.
Lenalee gets infected after a while and begins to giggle. Allen knew he is missing out on something, but decides that asking about what it is might actually make him feel more left out on the joke.
"Well anyway… If you need help with your studies, don't hesitate to come to me, okay?"
Allen guesses that this is probably because scribes know all. Lavi had that intelligent feel to him, though it becomes questionable at times. "Have you met Jerry by the way?"
"No, he's our last stop," Lenalee quickly replies and when she is met with a blank look from Allen, she says, "He's the Head Chef."
Allen inwardly mutters "Oh," and tries to hide his excitement at the possibility of eating actual food.
………………….
"Don't be so fidgety Allen, Jerry's a nice person; he's one of the few people Kanda's nice to, even!"
Allen doesn't point out that he's not fidgeting because he's nervous, it's out of excitement actually (food!) and he also doesn't point out that Kanda is probably nice to the Head Chef because he might die of starvation. Instead, what Allen says is, "Uhm, do I get to eat after I meet him?"
……………………..
NOTES:
1 ) I updated late because second sem just started, and I got a bit busy. Also, I had trouble with this chapter actually.
2) I'm sorry if the flow is sort of weird. I'm trying to achieve a certain type of atmosphere, and I'm not sure if I'm getting there …sigh…
Thank you for reading! :