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Title: A Day Late

Summary: Yuri arrives in the other world late, and the race for the Boxes has already begun.

Notes: Nicola recalls what happened in Svelera.

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Part II, Chapter 3

It's a promise

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"Well, I still refuse to acknowledge you as the Demon King," Wolfram declared, scowling at Yuri, after Gunter had departed.

Yuri glared back. "I wouldn't want to be acknowledge by you anyway," he replied.

Murata elbowed him again. "What did I tell you about picking fights? Not to mention, he's one of the Ten Aristocrats. You'll need his support," he hissed.

"I don't want to be part of something this guy would support," Yuri hissed back. "He was bullying a pregnant lady, just because she's human-"

Yuri stopped short, realization dawning on his face.

"Nicola!" he exclaimed, looking around frantically for the woman. He had lost track of her once magic came into the equation, and now he only hoped she hadn't gotten hurt in their brawl.

He glanced around the courtyard. Servants and soldiers had gathered around the edges, whispering and pointing at the spectacle Yuri and Wolfram had caused, but not daring to approach the three young men, even with the fight over.

Wolfram's glare cowed them somewhat, but they didn't scurry away like they usually would have. This was too interesting, too big to miss, even at the risk of young Lord Von Bielefelt's wrath.

It took Yuri a moment to find Nicola. She had hidden behind the fountain and had of course subsequently gotten drenched during Yuri's little water show.

"I'm so sorry, Nicola!" Yuri said, helping the stunned woman to her feet. "You're all wet, and the laundry too! What a mess!"

He bent down to pick up one of the sheets - not only wet, but muddy too - when Nicola grabbed his arm. She drew back immediately, as if burned. "No! Please, it's alright, Your Majesty. I'm so sorry... for making you carry the laundry and..."

She trailed off, in tears, wet and shivering, though perhaps not from the cold. Yuri looked at her with surprise. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who didn't tell you, then picked a fight and got you all wet. Come on, I'll take these wherever they need to go and apologize for the mess," he said, quickly gathering the dirty laundry before Nicola could stop him, "so you can go dry off and change clothes. Wouldn't want to get sick!"

Nicola sniffled.

"What's wrong?" Yuri wondered, starting to get a little upset as well. "Are you hurt? I'll get a healer!"

Nicola burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. "Your Majesty, you're so kind," she sobbed, "even though I'm not even from the Demon Tribe!"

"Um, it's okay, really," Yuri tried to reassure her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. "I mena, the father's a Demon Tribesman, right? That makes you part of his family. This is your home now! ...If you want to stay here, that is."

Wolfram snorted. "That man? He doesn't deserve to be called part of the Demon Tribe!"

"You're wrong!" Nicola protested, wringing her hands. "You don't know how much Hube has suffered!"

"And you don't understand the depths of that man's sin!" Wolfram shot back.

"Then both of you explain!" Yuri broke in, moving to stand between the two.

"That's a good idea," Murata agreed quietly, coming up to the three of them. "But not out here. Let's take this somewhere else, shall we?"

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Wolfram guided them to an empty room, stalking through the halls imperiously and sending maids scattering with his glare. At the door, he hesitated uncharacteristically, glancing back over his shoulder with an unreadable look.

Shaking his head irritably, he shoved the door open and led the way in.

The room had clearly been abandoned for some time. The bookshelves lining one wall were empty and covered in dust. The remaining furniture had been moved out of the way and covered in sheets. The air had even become a little stale.

Glancing out a sealed window, Murata noted that it was on the upper floor, hopefully out of the reach of eavesdroppers. Yuri, meanwhile, dragged the sheet off one of the chairs and presented it to Nicola, who sat down gratefully.

Wolfram leaned against the wall next to a window and stared outside broodingly, his arms tightly crossed.

For the first time, Yuri really studied the young nobleman - his golden hair and green eyes, his fine features and aristocratic bearing.

"What?" Wolfram demanded, noticing Yuri's attention on him.

"Nothing, nothing," Yuri waved him away. "Anyway, it seems like you both have something you disagree on. I'd like to get the full story and for you both to hear each other out. What do you say?" He tried to smile winningly at them. It might have seemed like a small thing, but Yuri felt like this was his first case as the Demon King - making peace between two of his subjects.

Nicola stared down at her clenched hands, while Wolfram harrumphed angrily. "There's no way a foreigner like you could understand," he said moodily. "You and this woman both have no comprehension of the sins that man committed."

"I do know!" Nicola protested. "I... I was told... what Hube did and why he was sent away. But Hube's changed! I mean... he... with me..."

"Wait, back up! Can you explain it to me a little more?" Yuri said, waving his hands. He shot a quick glance to Murata, but the other boy could only shrug. He hadn't really been able to catch up on recent history, even after they arrived in the Demon Kingdom. Instead, he had needed to explain their situation to Gwendal, Gunter and Ulrike, as well as pass their tests about his own identity.

Both Nicola and Wolfram fell silent, oddly unwilling to put into words what they both knew. "...I'm sorry," Nicola finally said. "I don't want you to think badly of Hube..."

It was Wolfram who explained, saying shortly, "Lord Gegenhuber Griesela was sent to recover the Demon Flute twenty years ago."

'That doesn't explain anything!' Yuri thought in annoyance.

"The Demon Flute was missing for centuries even back when I was here last," Murata pointed out. "Why the sudden search?"

"It was basically exile," Wolfram said. "He was never meant to find it."

"But Hube did find the Demon Flute!" Nicola spoke up. "He searched for a long time, but he finally found it in Svelera. It was down in the esoteric stone quarries. I was working there. I helped him and..." she blushed, "we fell in love."

"Esoteric stones are used by human wizards to cast spells," Murata whispered, leaning close to Yuri. "They interfere with Demon Tribe magic."

"And Svelera?" Yuri asked in an equally quiet tone. Murata only shrugged. There hadn't been any country called that in his time.

"But then things went terribly wrong," Nicola continued. "Soldiers came after us. We got separated. Hube was taken prisoner, but he gave me the flute... or at least, half of it." She paused, apparently considering what they needed to know about a rather complicated story. "I met Lord Von Crist and passed it to him. He retrieved the other half and agreed to let me come with him to the Demon Kingdom. I'm so grateful to him..."

"He was sent to investigate a supposed sighting of the Demon King," Wolfram added for Yuri and Murata's benefit, though he didn't bother so much as glancing toward either of them. "But it turned out to just be a misunderstanding because of the Demon Flute. Honestly, I can't believe he was so lenient..." Wolfram trailed off, appearing almost uncertain. "What I want to know is... did anything else happen in Svelera? There was something more to Gunter's report."

Nicola looked at him in surprise. Yuri was surprised too, since he couldn't see how this related to the issue they had been trying to resolve. For his part, Murata tilted his chin down thoughtfully, letting his glasses reflect the light. 'So, is that what he's really been after?' he thought.

Nonetheless, Nicola considered the question carefully. "Well... Lord Von Crist had to shut down one of the quarries. All the women escaped. And..." She looked sad again. "I convinced him to go to look for Hube. But he was already gone from the prison."

Wolfram tsked angrily, clearly not hearing what he wanted to know. Watching him, Yuri frowned.

"Oh, but..." Nicola added thoughtfully, "while we were at the prison, we ran into some soldiers that weren't from Svelera or Conansia or even Zorasia. They wore these brown uniforms and white coats. They were looking for something that they had heard was being kept at the prison. Whatever it was, it was already gone."

She paused, her brow furrowing. "Lord Von Crist was really surprised to see one of them. He even asked that man how he had managed to survive. And... something about his arm?"

Murata managed to hide his reaction to that, but Wolfram didn't. He hissed, some strong but indistinguishable emotion passing over his face.

Unnerved by his reactions, Nicola continued in a wavering voice, "They fought for a bit, but then that man and the soldiers with him retreated. After that, we set off for the Demon Kingdom..."

"So that's how it is," Wolfram muttered to himself. He glared out the window, seemingly withdrawing into his own thoughts.

"Are you satisfied?" Yuri interrupted, drawing his attention. "Did you get what you wanted? You never had any intention of changing your mind or listening to Nicola's side of things, did you? You just wanted to find something out."

If both sides didn't go into it with an open mind and a willingness to cooperate, how could an argument be properly resolved? Thinking about it made Yuri's frown deepen.

"You wouldn't be so eager to defend that man if you had met him," Wolfram said shortly. He shot a cold look toward Nicola. "His actions led to many deaths, but he had a special hatred for half-breeds. Did you know he spread rumors that those with human blood were selling information to our enemies during the war? They had no choice but to go into a hopeless battle just to prove their loyalty."

Yuri's eyes widened in surprise and his expression turned pensive.

Finally, he shook his head. "I think... the fact that he cared for Nicola already shows that he has changed. He was sent to find the Demon Flute, right? And he did. So he should be able to come home," Yuri decided.

"So you're just going to forgive him?" Wolfram demanded incredulously. "You don't understand that magnitude of his crime! He should have been executed, or at least exiled! But he's Gwendal's cousin, and my older brother couldn't bring himself to enforce a harsher punishment, no matter how well deserved." He seemed to grow more agitated as he spoke, until he was practically spitting the words out. "...As if being family makes any difference," he added quietly. "Even family can betray you..."

Somehow, Yuri had the feeling this wasn't about Lord Gegenhuber Griesela anymore. He couldn't help but look at Wolfram's rigid figure sadly. The young nobleman had crossed his arms so tightly he was almost hugging himself. His expression was probably meant to be angry and forbidding, but he just looked miserable.

"That's right. I'll forgive him," Yuri decided. "Whatever happened in the past, I believe Nicola when she says that he's a good man now. Everyone deserves a second chance."

Wolfram stared at him, caught between anger and disbelief, before shaking his head roughly and stalking out of the room. Yuri made no move to stop him, only watching him a little sadly. He might have been rude and abrasive, but he honestly seemed very hurt by something.

It seemed like solving his first case as Demon King would be a lot more complicated than he thought.

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No reviews for last chapter? Huh. Just to remind everyone, this is basically a gen story.

So yeah. Here is a good example of what I mean about fudging things. I didn't want poor Nicola to be married off to some dude in Svelera, so things worked out even without Yuri. Also, the abortive fight between Gunter and Conrad from Francia happened in Svelera instead. Or something.