Retrieving Memories
A Kyou Kara Maou Fanfiction
(Sequel to 'Give Wolfram Back To Me')
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot and my OCs, of course. Otherwise, this wouldn't be a fanfiction. Any resemblance to real life names, situations, etc. is pure coincidence.
All rights belong to Tomo Takabayashi, Temari Matsumoto, and Studio Deen.
A/N: Again, sorry for not posting the story sooner… This whole summer vacation, I was in our province where we don't have internet connection… so I just got back from vacation… and yeah… I'll start updating again. So yeah, I know you already want to read the story… so here is the 2nd chapter. I hope you enjoy. This is my longest chapter yet.
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Chapter 1
Wolfram's POV
We all wore a disguise first. Not a commoner disguise though, we still dressed like nobility but hides our true identities. I mean, we're not really nobility… we're more like royalty… I mean, Greta is the 27th Maou's daughter; Gwendal is the 26th Maou's first born, I am the 26th Maou's third child and fiancée of the 27th Maou, and Yuuri is the 27th Maou. Going downtown will not be a peaceful trip if they knew who we really are.
We arrived downtown shortly. We were riding a carriage this time unlike the usual horseback riding. It's Gwendal's idea… he still doesn't want to let Greta ride her own horse, saying that it's not safe because Greta hasn't practice much. In my mind, I was like 'How the heck will she be able to practice when you won't even let her ride the horse?!'
The horse was my and Yuuri's gift to Greta on her birthday. It was a Luna Grande, one of the finest horse breeds… It's the same breed as my horse. It's very rare. My horse was given to me by Gwendal and Conrart on my coming of age, age of 60, and they said that it took them 5 years to find one. It was my idea to give Greta a horse on her birthday… and Yuuri was the one who made it possible. He was able to find a horse of the same breed in just 5 months. Of course, he hired a lot of men to search for one. Even horse breeders usually don't have them because it's the kind of breed that is hard to domesticate…
"We arrived, Your Highnesses." We heard the coach said as the carriage came to stop.
"Thank you, you may go now but come back to pick us up." Gwendal said as he steps out first.
When the carriage left, we then went around town, visiting shops and restaurants… watching some people perform on the streets…we played games in some booths. In short, we had fun.
"Hey Uncle Gwen, look at that!" Greta said as she points at a cute stuff toy displayed on a window of a shop.
"How cute… do you want me to buy that for you?" Aniue asked.
"Yes! Buy two of them, please!" she replied.
"Two? Why?" he asked.
"I'm gonna give it to baby El when we get back. Sir Hube rarely goes outside so he's not able to but baby El toys that much - and so as Miss Nicola. So I'm sure baby El will like it when I give him one." She said. Gwendal smiled at her then they entered the shop to buy two of the toys.
I then continued what I was doing before I decided to watch their conversation. I'm currently looking at various stuffs on a booth which was owned by a merchant-traveler, so there are a lot of interesting things… like a Weiss steel dagger created during the 13th Maou's reign which he said that he obtained from Radford territory. There even are words carved on its handle which I believe is in an old dialect from the territory of Grantz.
Oh, Yuuri is looking at the items in the next booth… which are all jewelry… why is he even there? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any use for jewelry. And if he actually want some, I'm pretty sure that the treasury had more jewelry than he could ever imagine – the items in there are more classy and valuable too.
Anyway… the dagger. It's beautiful and in good shape… It's complete with its sheath. It's rare.
I want it.
I will not let anyone else have it. Although I'm pretty sure that only a few people who had the finest education knows how valuable and rare it is. Other people who are buying here as well are interested only in items that are just recently made and not that rare… But still, I'm not taking chances… So I asked the merchant for the price of the item, I told him that I would like to buy it.
"Oh, that old dagger? Hmmm… That's supposed to be 50 silver demon coins… But since you're so beautiful, I'll give it to you for only 25 silver demon coins… sweetheart." He said then winked at me.
Oh, the merchant is still young... I think, he's about Conrart's age. This guy, he even dared to flirt with me. But I didn't mind it… what I pondered on was the price. He doesn't even know the items that he's selling?! And if he's selling me this for such a low price, then does that me that he got it for an even lower price?! If I were to name my price, I would throw in more than 1000 GOLD demon coins. If all the people who knows the true worth of this item are to bid for it… the price would strike up to more than 6000 gold demon coins! And he's saying that it's only 25 SILVER! I was shocked.
"Then we'll take it. Please wrap it up." Someone beside me said… then he circled his arm around my waist and pulled me a bit to his direction. The merchant became surprised but did as he was told… but the flirty look on his face disappeared – replaced with a disappointed one.
"Y-Yuuri." I said softly.
"What? If you're gonna ask if you can pay for it, no. I will pay for it. I never really had the chance to buy you anything you like whenever we go to town in the past. You always pay for yourself." he asked.
"Well, it's not like you really need to pay for me. I mean, you know that I'm even richer than you are. Money is not a big issue for me. And besides, I'm not a girl who you should pamper with everything I want." I said as a matter of fact.
"I don't care about any of that. All I want is to buy you something you like and make you happy. I don't care about all the other minor details." He said, stating his stand firmly.
"Okay… then give him 50 gold demon coins for that item." I whispered.
"Huh? Why would I do that?! His price is only 25 silver." He said.
"Yuuri, If I were to name a price for that item… I would say it's worth 1000 or more GOLD demon coins. I will feel bad for him if I were to pay a price that low for such a great item." I explained.
"*sigh* fine, fine…" he agreed. "Sir… here. We'll give you 50 GOLD for that one." He said. "I'm being generous since my fiancée here likes that item so much." He added as he takes the item from the merchant's hand.
The merchant's eyes went wide… then he stood up and bowed down low… very, very low. "I thank these kind and generous benefactors from the bottom of my heart!" he said.
After we left, we sat down on a bench near a fountain as we wait for Gwendal and Greta to take a break from storming all the shops. I took the dagger out and inspected it again. I still can't believe I would find something like this here in town.
"Hey, you said a while ago that the price of that dagger is 1000 gold… why? It's just a dagger." He said.
"It's not just any dagger, Yuuri. You see these very small inscriptions on the handle?" I tilted the handle and moved it closer to his face so that he can see. "Can you read or even recognize this dialect?" I asked.
"No… I don't think so. I mean, yeah, I don't listen to Gunter when he explains history… but I listen when it's about language, writings and everything else. I think those things are very important. But I don't remember writings like that being taught to me." He admitted.
"These writings are in a dialect from southern Grantz back in the reign of the 13th Maou. If I were to translate this to something you can understand, it says 'Those who put their life on the line knows the true value of life more than anyone else' or something like that… I never really mastered this dialect." I said.
"That fact that you can somehow understand the essence of that writing is actually amazing already. I mean… it's an old dialect from the time of the 13th Maou… heck, I'm already the 27th and you're the 28th!" he replied.
"Y-Yeah… well, that aside, it's very old. Despite that fact, it's in very good condition. Whoever the people are who got their hands on this dagger did pretty well on maintaining it. And also, it's made out of Weiss steel. It's very rare nowadays. And its durability is off the charts. If I were to clash this dagger with my current sword which is already made out of Faimon alloy, an alloy that was used by the best blacksmiths in Bielefeld - my sword would definitely be the blade to be damaged… it can crack or worse, the area where the sword received the impact may be shattered. Weiss steel is one of the finest steel in history." I explained to him.
"Th-that tough!?" he exclaimed.
"Yes… that is why I was surprised to know how cheap it was being sold. I mean my sword costs more than 7000 gold demon coins already. If this dagger were to be a sword… it would amount to at least 10000 gold demon coins." I said.
"Wow… you got lucky finding that kind of dagger here in town… and in such a cheap price!" he commented.
"Yeah, I know." I said. "Anyway, what were you doing at the other booths looking at jewelry? I never thought that you're interested in those kinds of things. And if you are, I'm telling you that there are tons of those inside the treasury. Oh, how my mother was very fond of that room."
"Well, I'm not particularly interested in them… I was just looking for something that might do. And I can't pick from the items in the treasury. Every single item there has history of its own." He replied.
"Might do for what?" why didn't he just said it out straight.
"W-Wedding rings. I already told you that our wedding will be a mix of your marriage tradition and the tradition from my world." He said. "Sadly, I wasn't able to find rings that will do for the part in that booth. Nothing met the standards I set."
"Yuuri, you know that any ring will do for me. I'm not meticulous in that stuff." I assured him.
"No. I want the best rings for our wedding. Those will be the rings that we will wear forever as a sign of our marriage. I won't take just anything for something that special. I want it to be perfect, for you." He said.
"Y-Yuuri… Well, then I guess I'll leave that to you." I said. I must say, more frequently, Yuuri makes me speechless when he says things like that. I sheathed the dagger and wrapped it again.
"Hey, Wolfram." He called out.
"Hmm? What?" I asked.
"I love you." He said. I blushed madly and my heart skipped a beat. My train of thought stopped for a bit. "Hey… I said… I love you." He said again like a wakeup call. I averted my eyes from him and looked around to see if there's anything that I could focus on instead of Yuuri. As I try to look for a distraction, I mumbled a reply to him.
"U-um… I-I love you too." I blushed a thousand fold saying that. And I'm not gonna repeat that if he didn't hear it.
I heard him chuckle. "You're being so cute again, Wolf." Ugh! I'm gonna die from embarrassment. I would have preferred if he didn't hear it. "You know, Wolf… I –"
"Papa! Daddy!" I heard Greta. Oh thank heavens! They're here.
"Wow, you and Aniue really stormed the shops." I commented as I look over my brother carrying so many stuff. "Um… Aniue… Do you want me to help you carry those?" He really looks like he need it.
"No, I'm fine. It's not as heavy as it looks. Most of these are toys, stuffed animals…" he said, not wanting to make me do any work.
"Well, are you done shopping or you're just taking a break?" asked Yuuri.
"I think we're good." Said Greta. "How about you?"
"I couldn't find anything I like." Yuuri said.
"I already bought something I like. And I'm not in particular need of anything." I said.
"So I guess we should head back, if there's nothing else." Gwendal said. "I'm pretty sure that the carriage is already waiting for us where we were dropped off."
And so, we all walked to where the carriage would be. Along the way, a little boy, around the age of 25 to 30; or if he's a human, around 5 or 6 – suddenly ran towards me and stopped in front of me. His hair has a bronze-like color and, he's got wide and adorable dark blue eyes.
"I saw you when you were dropped off by a carriage a while ago. I really think you're beautiful. So I went to pick flowers for you and waited here. Please accept them!" then the little boy handed me a bouquet of flowers. "I really just wanted to give you flowers when I saw you."
To say that I was stunned is an absolute understatement. This sweet little boy saw me for the first time, and actually made the effort to pick flowers for me just because he thought I was beautiful. And he even waited for me here, not knowing when I would pass by again or if I would even take this road on my way back. He's so sweet. I'm sure this little boy would grow up as fine man and whoever he marries would be very lucky.
I bent down to accept the flowers and gave him a sincere smile. I really thought it was very sweet of him. "Thank you very much. You're so sweet." I then kissed his right cheek and smiled at him again. He smiled back at me, looking very happy. All his teeth can be seen by how he smiled. In the background, I can hear voices of other people.
'What a lucky brat.'
'If I had been the one to give him flowers, would he kiss me as well?'
'He's so handsome! I wish I was that boy!'
'Kyaaa! I'm so jealous of the little boy!'
'He's so nice. And his smile is really dashing!'
'He really is beautiful. Inside and out.'
'He got a kiss! I want a kiss from him too!'
'Same here!'
'Should I give him flowers as well?'
'Do you think he's already in a relationship?'
'I sure hope not. But with his looks, I think he already has.'
And more comments along those lines…
I paid no mind to what they're saying. I ruffled the kid's hair before standing up again. I thanked him again and then he ran off with a smile.
"Ehh… I'm so jealous of that kid." I heard Yuuri comment, imitating what the other people said.
"I want a kiss too!" he again, somewhat imitated the townspeople. If it were another man that I kissed, I would have believed that Yuuri was serious with his statement that he was jealous. But that was a kid, not even half my age. I'm pretty sure he's just teasing me.
"Oh… but he's very sweet. He gave me a bouquet of flowers after seeing me for the first time." I said.
"Then, will you kiss me as well if I give you flowers?" he teased.
"Oh, Yuuri. Stop teasing me." I said, and then he laughed. We then continued to walk. When the coach of our carriage saw us, he immediately went down to help Gwendal with his load. Then we head back to the castle.
When we got there, Greta immediately got out of the carriage and even hurried us to get out as well. She then asked a nearby soldier where Nicola and El would be. When she was told that they were in the western garden, she immediately pulled Gwendal – who is carrying all the stuff (mostly toys) that they bought – and went on about giving El toys and playing with him. Yuuri and I were left there, almost like Greta forgot about us.
"Oh well, I guess we should head inside as well." I said as I began to walk towards the castle doors. Yuuri followed shortly. And the day went by normally and quickly – aside from another explosion we heard coming from Anissina's laboratory when it was almost dinner, which is pretty normal to us already.
The next day…
Yuuri was woken up early by Gunter saying something about lessons. I also woke up early because today is the start of recruitment in my troops. Trainees would be arriving early, some might even be in front of my office or the Bielefeld army barracks already. Although I have many officers, I still like to be in the recruitment and see their skills for myself. I would handle the first day of their assessment first hand, then I would leave my other officers to take charge in the second and third day - although I would still be present, observing and even intervening at times I deem necessary. The last day, the fourth day, would be the day when I and my officers announce those who are accepted and those who are not but may come back the next recruitment, which will not happen in longer than 6 months.
I ate my breakfast inside my office, where I was supposed to be reading all the application forms submitted. –instead, I was reading the regimen or the tests we would give the trainees.
"Umh… Wolfram…" Seth, my second-in-command, and best friend called. He is in my office to help me prepare for the recruitment that will take place, 3 other of my officers are inside including Marius, my third-in-command. Each of us has different jobs and mine was the application forms and not the regimen. But I would rather review it than read the application forms.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"You should be reading their application forms, not memorizing the regimen we will give them." He said flat out. Yeah, even though this is work, he still talks to me casually and only acts accordingly when Yuuri is around. I mean, my brothers, Gunter and their respective officers already know that I'm friends with him and Marius. Heck, they even let the two of them speak casually with them as well.
"Yeah, it will also help you assess them." Marius sided with Seth. "And I don't want to be the one doing that later, I already have my own job." Well, aside from these two, none of my other officers dares to talk to me this way. And they're already used to these two saying whatever they want with me. And they also know that we go way back in our military school days.
"It will not help me assess them." I said and continued to eat my almost finished breakfast. "Honestly, if I was just not told by Gwendal to require these application forms, I wouldn't bother about it at all.
"What?! So you're saying that you don't really care about these forms and just requires them because Gwendal asked you?" Seth said.
"Yeah… I already told him that I don't want to require an application form, but he insisted. So I collect them just for formality's sake, and for something to submit to my brother chief-of-state." I said as a matter of fact.
"Huh? Why? Documents like these are a must for those who are recruiting. It's to get to know those who are applying or those who they are recruiting." Marius replied.
"No, it will not help me assess them or get to know them. The only things I can get from these are their names, where they live, their age, etcetera. And I can just ask them these things if I want to know. What I need to know are their skills in sword, maryoku, hand-to-hand combat, strategy, and other things along those lines. How would I get to know if they are good in using sword from a piece of paper?" I said, as a matter of fact.
I take it that the two got my point because they didn't argue. They just sighed.
"Well, that is true." Seth was finally convinced.
"My, my… such wise words from captain. Of course, you can't judge a person from a piece of paper. In fact, that never crossed my mind until you pointed out. And you absolutely sounded cool. I wish I would say things like that in front of the cadets and impress them." Marius said.
"Shut up…" I said. Then I noticed something on the regimen. "Hey William." I called my Alpha company commander.
"Yes, sir?" he left the work he was doing and walked closer to me.
"Look at the fifth one scheduled for today." I said as I handed him the regimen.
"It says that the trainees are to be divided into three groups: those who excel in hand-to-hand combat, those who have good swordsmanship, and those who excel in maryoku battle. Just like what we decided on the meeting last week, sir." He said.
"That meeting, was I there? Or not?" I asked.
:"You weren't there, sir. You left lieutenant Seth von Kaberkoff in-charge of that meeting because the general or chief-of-state summoned you for a more important meeting. If I remember correctly, it was a meeting about budget allocations, infrastructure committee consultation, castle and kingdom borders security measures." He replied.
"I see. And you didn't consult me with the decisions of the meeting?" I said.
"No, I'm afraid we didn't get the chance, sir." He replied nervously.
"What were discussed during this meeting?" I asked him again another question.
"The regimen, of course; about our rotations in castle and border patrol; promotions of some officers and cadets; alternative training regimes; and our soldier rotation with your Lord Uncle's army in Bielefeld lands." He replied.
"I see, aside from the regimen for the trainees, nothing else seems urgent in those topics so far. You can inform me with the decisions made in that meeting after the recruitment. Now, I want to change the fifth one. I'm also gonna change more if I see anything else wrong." I said.
"Eh?" I heard Azpen, the Charlie company commander, exclaimed. And so did Herbert, Charlie company 3rd platoon leader.
"Is there something you want to say, officers from Charlie Company?" I asked.
"Sir, it's just that, the regimen had already been copied - one copy for each of the trainees who submitted an application form. To change the regimen now, it would be hard to make copies enough for all the trainees in time. And besides, the regimen has been decided and debated by all 27 of your officers." Azpen answered.
"Exactly, only my officers – I'm excluded. And actually, seeing that there are 27 of you… how could you made such a mistake?" I said.
"Huh? What's wrong with the regimen, Wolfram?" Seth asked.
"The group will only be divided to three; the hand-to-hand combat skills, maryoku abilities and the sword skills." I pointed out.
"What's wrong with that? I mean those abilities are what we're looking for. They're supposed to be soldiers and know how to fight." he probed.
"I know. But what of those fighters who also excel in strategizing, or those who have medic skills – they will definitely need a different assessment, and those who excel on more than one of the skills you categorized?" I went straight to the point.
"Oh… I see. That is a big flaw. The categories are too narrowed down that it may overlook many important points." Marius commented.
"But it would be too late to make changes in the regimen now." Seth said.
"Okay, bring in all the officers here… or better yet, I want all the officers on the Bielefeld conference room." I said.
"Ehh!?" they all exclaimed.
I stood and went for the door. "Oi, don't waste any time! We've got to hurry, now call all the other officers." After that, they scurried out of the room in search of their fellow officers. I even heard Seth comment 'Dammit Wolfram!' as he dashed away. I, on the other hand, made my way to the conference room.
When I got there, I reviewed the whole regimen and made alterations in my mind. When all the officers are assembled, I quickly explained to them the problems in our regimen and how I want to change it. They all agreed that it was reasonable, more appropriate that what they decided. But they're worrying about making copies.
"That's why I called all 27 of you here. Now, each of you will make at least 5 copies of this regimen. By doing so, we can produce at least 140 copies of this new regimen. Now then, let us begin." I ordered. And so, they can't disobey me and did what they were told. By the time we got enough copies, there's eight minutes left before the recruitment starts on the central training grounds. We hurriedly went there and found that almost all of the trainees arrived. When all of them were present, we immediately started.
We took an hour break for lunch. After lunch, the fifth part of the regimen (where I the change I made started) began and the trainees were divided into 8 groups instead of 3. Actually, everything after the fifth part of the regimen has been changed to adjust to the change I made.
In the middle of the assessment…
"I must say, dividing into these many groups really pulled out many points that many have been overlooked in the previous regimen. Just look at the results of those who have a healing maryoku attribute. Their combat abilities are good, and with their healing abilities, there will be no need to wait for the official medic team as they can provide remedial to other soldiers in a battle. If the previous plan was followed, we wouldn't have advantage of their healing maryokus as we wouldn't have applied it in their training." Seth said as he skims through the results of the trainees that the Sergeants and Corporals are tasked to observe and write down.
"So Lieutenant Seth von Kaberkoff is astonished with the results…" I commented.
"Yes… Actually, I'm quite astounded on how just dividing the trainees in more number of group could create such difference. Your Lord Uncle Waltorana, Fleet Admiral of Bielefeld Navy, only uses the three group categories on the first regimen… and so does your Lord Brother Gwendal, Chief-of-state and Field Marshal/General. And I can say the same to Lord Gunter and Lord Weller." He said.
"I see, so you based the group categories on how my superiors do so… Not bad, actually. If I were as simple minded as I was 15 to 10 years ago, I would have used only those three. But you know that I take greater lengths nowadays." I said. "Anyway, with the recruitment going, what are the privates/troopers up to?"
"Oh, some of them are resting, while others are self-training. There are also some who volunteered to help us here in the recruitment. Most of them are with the sergeants and sergeant majors." He replied.
"I see. What about those who can strategize?" I asked.
"Oh, they're with the Bravo Company 2nd platoon leader, Ryan, and 1st Medic Squadron Commander ,Matson, who are only second to you in strategizing in your Bielefeld army." He said. "Umh… also, remember your brother's second-in-command?"
"Which brother?" I asked. Why is he even mentioning that now?
"Conrad's" he answered. "The one who is madly in-love with you." He even reminded me.
"Ugh! What about him?" I asked, a bit irritated.
"He's one of Conrad's strategists in his army, and he volunteered to help Ryan and Matson with the strategists group." He answered.
"Oh well… as long as he doesn't bother me. And it would be advantageous for the trainees to experience firsthand from strategists not only from our army but from others." I commented. Then I heard approaching footsteps. I looked over to see that it was Marius. "Hey, Marius. How's the sorting?" I asked.
"Oh… it's going. It's fine." He replied. "Hey, Wolfie."
"Don't call me that! Only my mother calls me that." I warned him.
"Yeah, yeah… sorry. Chill. Anyway… why don't you take a break? From all the officers here, you're the only one who haven't taken a break aside from lunch." He said.
"No, I'm fine." I replied.
"No, he's right. You got 27 officers, Wolfram. It's gonna be fine. Truth to be told, I think all the officers would agree to me that you should take a break." Seth also wants me to rest.
"Yeah… oh, and I heard that the king was looking for you a while ago. When he saw you, you were busy with the recruitment. Why don't you go to him? I heard that he's playing baseball with Conrad in the eastern courtyard." Marius said.
"Wolfram, we insist. We'll handle this." Said Seth as he took the result papers I have on my hands.
"Okay, if you say so. But I'll be back shortly." I said.
"Yeah, yeah."
And with that, I went to the eastern courtyard. When I got there, indeed, Yuuri was playing with Conrad. As I walk closer to them, I can hear their conversation.
"So you found rings in your closet?" Conrad said. Throwing the ball to Yuuri, who caught it with ease.
"Yeah, I found it last night. Wolfram was asleep already… apparently, it was from Bob… When he heard from Shouri that I and Wolfram are to marry, he bought those rings for us. Shouri them gave it to Murata and Murata left it in my closet when we got back from Earth. I wasn't sure who left it in the closet, so I asked those who entered my room this past week. I even asked you right?" – Y (throwing the ball to Conrad)
"Yes… I do remember asking me if I left a box in your room." – C
"So, when I asked Murata, he told me." –Y (Then threw the ball back to Yuuri)
"So those are the rings that will be used in your and Wolfram's wedding." – C (Then to Conrad)
"Yeah… they're beautiful, Conrad. They're perfect for it." –Y (To Yuuri)
"But what if it doesn't fit your fingers?" –C (To Conrad)
"Oh, they do fit, Conrad. I tried it out last night… on my and Wolfram's finger. They fit perfectly. I almost didn't want to remove it when I tried the ring on Wolfram, hahaha." Yuuri said. Then as he noticed me walking towards them… "Oh hey Wolfram!"
My eyes widened and so did Conrad. Conrad threw the ball to Yuuri when Yuuri saw and called me.
"Yuuri!" Conrad exclaimed.
"Watch out!" I shouted. Too late. The ball with around 90 to 100 miles per hour speed hit Yuuri in the head. The ball first bumped the tip of his glove before it hit his head, causing it to lose a little bit of momentum. But still, the impact was strong.
"Oh Shinou!"
(To Be Continued)