Chapter 16
After the group hearing Elraven' s story, the next morning....
Elraven was preparing the breakfast that morning (again). He went inside the woods to pick up some woods.
"Hm, not enough woods to roast the big foot's meat. I guess I'll go deeper" Elraven said to himself when he saw his collected pile of woods.
"Want some help?" He heard a soft voice coming from his behind and turned his head.
"Alexandria? You wake early?" The gunslinger said when he saw the former princess was standing behind him with a little smile on her face.
"I always wake up early. So, your answer, Angel of Darkness?" A short reply for the purple glassed gunslinger.
"....OK! I can use a hand here!" Elraven eventually agreed and the two proceed to go deeper inside the forest to find some woods. After five minutes of walking, they arrived on a spot where the woods are scattered all over the place and began collecting the woods.
"So, El. What are you planning on doing after you....say, this war is over?" Fiorentin started a small conversation with the black haired man.
"Huh? After this war is over? Well....I guess I'll find a woman, marry her, and have a happy life with her and my children for the rest of my life".
"Wow, you're thinking about marriage? I guess you would answer some things like...being a general in your military forces or such things like that"
"Well, that's how it is. What about you, Alexandria? What are you going to do?"
"Me? Well, I think I'll re-establish my kingdom and Midgard itself to that matters".
Elraven picked some woods and stared to the former princess. "What about marriage?" He asked boldly.
The lord knight was a bit surprised listening his question, but quickly answered, "That's a secret". The gunslinger nod his head and noticed there are some pile of woods behind Fiorentin which she hasn't picked yet.
"Hey, there's some woods behind you" Elraven said as he slowly approached the pile of woods, but unfortunately for him (or should I say fortunately?), he tripped and hit Fiorentin, making them find themselves in an awkward position as they fell to the ground.
"Ow, watch your step, Elraven!!" Fiorentin tried to regain his composure as she realized, Elraven, who was trying to rose, staring directly on her...panty, with a stupid face.
"HEY!! What do you think you're doing?" The lord knight shouted with a red face and pushed Elraven away from her.
"Oh, no! Sorry, I'm so sorry, Alexandria. That was unintentional!!!".
"Shut up, you pervert!!!".
"I'm not a pervert!! It's not like I enjoy seeing it, alright?!" Elraven gave a bold reply, which turned Fiorentin's face even redder as she gave Elraven a hard uppercut, knocking him to the ground.
"I shouldn't have helped you in the first place!!! Go die, moron!!!" She said as she rushed out from the woods, leaving the confused Elraven.
Later that day.....
It was a sunny day in the forest of Payon. Felicia rode on Salvador as her comrades walked. She offered her leader to rode her peco that morning but Fiorentin refused.
"Hey, I can see it!! It's Payon!" Olivia said loudly to the group when she saw the entrance gate of Payon after 2 days of walking in the forest. "It's not Payon, Olivia. It's only the outer gate near the bridge above the river. The real Payon is inside the gate. Get your facts straight" Fiorentin coldly explained.
Olivia stepped back a little and let Fiorentin walked towards the gate first. "Sis, is Alexandria in a bad mood these last two days. I know she is usually cold and calm, but this time she went too much" She whispered slowly to Felicia.
"I know. She's been acting strange since....we found her running away this morning from inside the woods" Felicia replied as she gazed to Elraven. "What? Don't look at me like that, I didn't do anything" Elraven said to her.
"Seriously, bro. Did you say something to her?" George barged in the conversation.
"No...yes. Actually, I only told her that maybe Beelzephir is involved with Valdomir in a certain way, last night" Elraven finally told the truth.
"What?! You told her that?! Bro, are you out of your mind?!" George shouted much to Elraven surprised. "El, you moron!! Don't you know she already face a lot of problems to think about?! Can't you be more sensitive?!" Olivia said loudly to him. "Sensitive?" Elraven asked back reluctantly.
"They are right, El. Alexandria has to think about her kingdom, her people, her warriors, Valdomirs, the tactics in the upcoming war, and now you add that Beelzephir bastard. She doesn't even have time to think about herself. Despite having the whole Midgard lies on her back, she is still 15. I bet deep in her heart, she wants to enjoy her life to without worrying so much about others, but she couldn't . She is still a teenager unlike you or me. As an adult I think you should be more sensitive about things like this. In short, watch your mouth Elraven Sinclair!" Felicia told him in a serious manner.
"So, what should I do? Apologize?" Elraven asked sadly.
"No, it's too late to apologize. Just watch her back like us do. And if possible, let her....depends on you, on us. Let her know that she isn't alone in this world. Do you know why she always send herself and a little group of soldiers, mostly us three, to spy on the town we picked as our target? Because she doesn't want any of her soldiers to die before the battle started. It pains her just to think about it. That's why we must let her know that we are her companions, we won't let her suffer alone, fight alone, or even die alone. That's all." Felicia replied calmly. Not only Elraven, but her other companions also heard her in awe.
"Wow, Fel. I have never thought you could really say something like that. I mean, I know you're serious, but that was...cool." Olivia praised her sister. "Can't agree more about it. You're a lady now" George said while nodding his head.
"W,what? Isn't that what the adults supposed to do?! I was only telling the truth!" Felicia said with a blush on her face. Elraven fell in silence. He felt guilty for saying such things to Alexandria.
"Well, OK. Truthfully, there's another thing too" Elraven confessed another sin.
"What is that, Elraven?" Felicia sighed, couldn't believe Elraven did some other thing bad to her leader.
"This morning when I was picking up some woods for breakfast, I met her and she offered to help me picking woods. But when we were picking woods, I accidentally drop on her and saw her panty" Elraven stated a bold confession, which managed to make Felicia, Olivia, and George dropped their jaws.
"You freaking pervert!!!" Felicia roared and gave Elraven a hard punch right to his face, knocking him down to the ground. "Take this!! Take this, you moron!!!" Olivia joined the killing by giving Elraven her stops so many times. George was just standing in his spot and shook his head slowly with a confused face.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!! But that was unintentional!!! It's not like I enjoy seeing a child's panty, alright? I already told her that but she's still angry with me!!!" Elraven tried to defend himself, but his insensitivity made his problem even bigger as the two sisters' face grow even redder.
"Die, Elraven!! You go to hell and you die!! Take away your insensitivity with you!!!" Felicia gave even a harder beating to the insensitive gunslinger with the help of her sister. The two left after they made Elraven bloodied and battered in the ground, with the sweat dropped George tried to help him rose.
Not long after that, the group arrived at the bridge. But now, the Payon bridge is no different from slums. Many people from Payon slept in the bridge, there were thrashes everywhere, the bridge is dirty and slimy, and the river under the bridge is polluted with thrashes.
"What? Is this Payon? Different from what I've heard" Elraven thought to himself when he saw the now pitiful and disgusting Payon. "Pathetic, huh? That's what you thinking, right?" Fiorentin said to Elraven sarcastically while gazing him. Elraven surprised but didn't give any reply. He looks very nervous having a cold gaze on him. The other three was also fell into silence.
Many thoughts were wondering in their minds:
"I'm glad I'm not Elraven" - Olivia
"Sorry, bro. Can't help you this time" - George
"If only looks could kill" - Felicia
"Kwak" - Salvador
After some moment of silence, "Let's go. We should check on how we enter the town. Let's not waste anymore time here." Fiorentin said coldly as she walks away. Elraven sighed as the torture is finished. While the other two followed Fiorentin from behind, Olivia whispered to Elraven "You should be glad she didn't kill you." "Maybe she should killed me instead. Her gaze was really intimidating" Elraven replied. "Her gaze? Wait till you see her claymore!" Olivia replied with grin.
The group finally reached the entrance gate. There, at least ten dozens soldiers were waiting at the check points. The soldiers were checking anyone who wants to enters the town. The soldiers won't allow any weapons inside.
"Wow, it IS hard to enter. Just like you explained before, Fio". George stated in awe. Fiorentin didn't reply. "Is there anyway we could enter? Alberta and Comodo doesn't have such security like this." Olivia muttered to herself.
"No, young lady. It's hard to get inside. You can't bring weapons and you must pay 500,000 zenny for a pass, allowing two of you to enter." An old man who was fishing on the bridge suddenly said to the group. "What? 500,000 zenny? So, if we want to enter we must pay...1,250,000 zenny?" George asked him with a widened eyes. "No, it's 1,500,000 zenny. The peco included." The old man answered him.
"Ridiculous..." Felicia muttered. "So, how do you enter the town all this time?" Elraven asked him. "Like I said before, with an official pass. It's been like that since Lethe Guild took over Payon territory. They forced us to pay for the passes 5 years ago. Although the pass is very expensive, we had no choice but to pay. If you lose the pass, you'll have to pay the same amount again to make another. Some people loses the passes because the soldiers tore their passes in purpose, and force them to make another one. Lethe guild also put many high taxes for us, although they knew we're poor. If we can't pay the taxes, they will beat us abruptly, some even beaten to their death. Right now, the city is just as the same as this bridge, slummy and pathetic." The old man answered.
"How cruel.." Olivia muttered with sadness in her eyes. "That's not everything. Every year before the Dano festival, Lethe guild will take one virgin girl from us. And the taken girls were never return. Nobody knows what they did to them. Some says the guild sacrificed them for something we don't know, some other says maybe the just want some slaves." The old man continued.
The group fell into silence after listening the old man. "Well, thank you for explaining. Do you know where we can get pass?" Fiorentin asked calmly to the old man.
"You can buy the pass from the soldiers, miss."
"Any other way?". The old man sighed before he answered. "Well, not far from the outer woods there is a place called 'Fun House'. It provides entertainment and foods from travelers and drifters just like a normal restaurant. But deep inside the fun house, they are a casino. Different from another casino, you can bet anything in there. And every day, the owner of fun house bet one pass for anything for anybody who can win it. Anything, your money, your weapons, your life, or even your dignity."
"How do you know that much, sir?"
"Well I like to gamble there, miss. But, I don't gamble too much although I hardly..ever lose."
"Can you take us there?"
"If you give me 1,000 zenny." Without saying anything, Fiorentin gave him one thousand zenny. The old man smiled and told the group to follow him.
As they followed him, Felicia whispered to her leader, "Fio, is this ok?". "Well, I don't want to pay a million zenny just for some stupid pass. If we can get one pass to sneak even just two of us inside that town, we can think about our move later. First we have to get the pass, even just one." Her leader explained.
They finally arrived at the fun house. Fiorentin told Felicia and Salvador to wait outside, in order to inform them if Valdomirs kingdom soldiers were to came inside. There were many people in the fun house, most of them were eating. And there are some big scary looking men, probably the body guards. There, the old man took them inside and told them to wait as he approached the body guards there and talked with them. The body guards gazed at the group before allowing them to enter a room behind the kitchen.
There, the group saw many people were gambling, cards, pokers, anything you can mention. "Can you see a bald headed man sitting down in the corner of this room? He is the owner of fun house, looks like he doesn't have any challenger now. Maybe you can still win the pass from him." The old man told Fiorentin as he walked away from the room.
"So, what are we going to do now, Fio? Bet something with him to get the pass?" Olivia asked.
"Unquestionably. I'm thinking of what are we going to bet against him? I guess we'll ask him first" Fiorentin replied as she slowly approached the owner.
"Well, hello young lady. Can I help you with something?" The owner greeted her as she stood in front of him calmly.
"Let's cut the chit chat, I want the pass. You know what I'm talking about." As cold as a reply could be.
"Well, the pass....I see. But, if you want the pass, you must bet at least half million zenny or at least something worth the same. What can you offer me?"
"Is this golden coin will be enough for you?" Fiorentin asked calmly as she pull off a golden coin and put it on the table.
"What?! She goes that far?" George muttered. "What? What's wrong?!" Elraven asked George in curiosity. "El, that golden coin worths at least 1 million zenny." Olivia explained to the gunslinger. Elraven almost dropped his jaw after he heard the prize. "This is unsual for her. Perhaps she couldn't think properly because..Elraven made her angry" Olivia gave a blaming look on Elraven, who looks ignorantly confused.
"Well then, it's on." The owner said loudly as the crowd gathered around them to watch the show. Elraven stepped few steps back as the crown gathered more, making him try to find some open space. He accidentally hit someone behind him, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to hit you!" he apologized.
"No, never mind. You didn't hit me on purpose, it's crowded here anyway." The person he hit replied with smile. It turns out that someone he hit was a female soul linker, with a long white hair and blue eyes, not to mention a gorgeous looking face. Elraven stared her face in awe for a second. "Is there something wrong with my face, mister?" She giggled while asking.
"Oh, no, no! Nothing!" Elraven said as he turned his faced away and look back at Alexandria who was about to gamble. "For the love of gods, I thought she was a goddess!!" Elraven thought to himself. The bet is about to begin.
"So, what kind of game do you want to play miss?"
"Simple. Flip a coin, head or tail."
"What? Well, it's 50-50 chance for both of us. Fair enough" The owner said as he pick a coin from his coin, and showed it to everybody gathered it has two different sides. "What's your pick, lady?".
"Tails".
"Ok, here we go!" The owner said as he flipped the coin to the air and catches it, putting it back at the table. As he pulled his hand, it was a head. "I won, miss" He smiled much to the disbelieve of Fiorentin, who widened her eyes seeing the result. "What? That's it?" George asked in disbelieve. "No way" Olivia said sadly. But, before the crowd cheered for the owner, they heard the soul linker shouted, " He cheated!!", making all attentions came to her.
Elraven looked at the soul linker surprisingly. "What did you say? I cheated? How dare you!! Do you have any proof?!" The owner shouted to them. "You used a different coin!" The soul linker said loudly before Elraven could say anything.
"You changed the coin when you catch the coin with both your palms in the air with a coin you hide within you sleeves. I bet the coin on the table is head in both sides." She continued calmly.
"Is that true?" Fiorentin asked the owner with anger on his eyes. The crowd turned their attention to the owner again. The owner didn't give a reply. His face was full of shame and anger. "Fine, fine. You got me there young lady." He admitted as he gave the pass to Fiorentin. Fiorentin took her golden coin and the pass before she returned to her group. "Thanks for your help" She said to the soul linker. "Never mind" The soul linker replied with smile.
"Hey, wait a minute soul linker!! Do you really think you can just get away with your smile after humiliating me in front of my people?!" The owner shouted. The crowd attention were gathered again.
"So, what do you want?" The soul linker asked him back. "One play with me, if I lose I'll give you a million zenny. If you lose, you give me a million zenny!!" The owner shouted. "Fine". She replied.
But Elraven barged in the conversation, "Wait a minute, pops! First, you cheated on a girl and now you challenged another girl who found out about your cheating, isn't that a bit embarrassing? Where's your pride as a man pops?!".
"This is not your business, brat."
"I'll make this my business, pops. Ill take her place to bet with you!! If I win you give her a million zenny and you must apologize to her, got it?"
"OK!" The owner replied.
The soul linker approached Elraven and said, "Mister, I appreciate your help. But you don't need to do this. I can take care of this by myself". "No, lady. This bastard needs to learn something." Elraven replied.
His comrades watched him. "Wow, El could be so manly, huh?" Olivia muttered with giggles. "Maybe he just want to attract that soul linker, hehehe" George continued. Fiorentin didn't give any comment, she was still wondering why she could be fooled by the owner, she was wondering if something was wrong with herself.
"What do you want to play?" The owner asked.
" A roulette" Elraven asked. "Roulette? What is that?" the owner asked again. "This" Elraven put a revolver on the table, put one bullet inside the chamber and rolled it.
"The rule is simple. We take turns to aim this gun to our heads and pull the trigger, if you got killed or afraid to continue, you are the biggest born loser to ever exist I this world, simple right?" Elraven explained the rules. The whole room shocked to hear the rules. "What, are you crazy El?" George shouted in disbelieve. "This is wrong!" Olivia protested. "El, this is useless. Stop it!" Fiorentin told him, but he didn't seem to listen. The soul linker was too shocked to react, she couldn't believe why someone she didn't even know would do this.
"So, you first or should I go first?" Elraven said as he sit in front of the owner. The owner didn't anwer the question. He looks very nervous.
"If you go first, the chance of you winning this game will be bigger, if you're lucky of course." Elraven try to persuade him with a grin.
"Fine, I'll go first" The owner said as he picked the revolver and aim it to his head. The crowd fell into silent seeing this. The owner pulled the trigger and nothing happened. "Wow" The crowd sounded as the owner smiled. "It's your turn" He gave Elraven the gun. Without wasting any second, Elraven aim the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened. This shocked the owner and the crowd. "God, is he fearless?" The soul linker muttered to herself in awe.
"Your turn" Elraven said as he put the revolver in the table. The owner was bit intimidated this time, he was trembling when he pick the gun. "I wonder if the chamber containing the bullet is yours, hehehe" Elraven teased him. "Shut up!" The owner shouted. He aim the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, "Hah!" He sighed as he put the gun in the table. But, before he could even babbling, Elraven quickly pick the gun and aim to his head, pulling the trigger. This shocked the crowd again.
"Wow, don't tell me he..knew where the bullet is?" Fiorentin though to herself.
This scared the owner even more, "You...you cheated! You knew where the bullet is, that's why you told me to go first right?! You cheated!!" he shouted. "No, I don't know where the bullet is. If you don't believe me, why don't you pull the trigger after you aim it to your head now? Let's see if I cheated or not, pops." Elraven replied calmly. This intimidated the owner even more. "If I pull the trigger now, my chance is 50-50. If the chamber contains bullet, I'll die. But if not, he dies." The owner thought to himself as he prepared to pull the trigger. He looked at Elraven, the gunslinger was grinning.
"What are you waiting for? Pull the trigger, pops!" Elraven said to him. The owner trembled even more, he couldn't contain himself any longer. "You bastard!!" He shouted as he aimed the gun to Elraven and pull the trigger, but nothing came up. The chamber was empty. The crowd widened their eyes as the shocked owner stood in silent. Before anybody could react, Elraven gave a quick punch in the face to the owner, knocking him to the floor. "Oh my god!" Olivia amazed. "El won!" George said in disbelieve. The crowd, amazed to see the results, clapped loudly.
"You lost, pops. Your fear got the best of you, your no real gambler, now fulfill your promise." Elraven said as he pick the revolver from the floor. "How did you trap me into this?" The owner asked as he tried to stand.
"Simple, a coward cheater like you will be afraid once it comes to putting your life on the line. I simply intimidated you with some words, and that's that." The gunslinger explained. The owner handed Elraven a golden coin, after that he approached the soul linker and said, "I'm sorry for cussing you, lady". "Apology accepted" The soul linker replied.
The group approached Elraven and praised him,
"That was cool, El!"- George
"You're one hell crazy gentleman!" - Olivia
"......." - Fiorentin
"Thanks guys. But, I'm sorry if what I did prolonged our stay here." He apologized as the soul linker approached him, and said "Thank you back there. It was a great effort, mister..."
"It's Elraven miss, Elraven Sinclair. Nice to meet you". He answered as he bow his head a bit.
"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Frea" She replied with smile.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I guess this belongs to you" The black haired man said as he handed her a golden coin.
"No, take it with you. You did the roulette, not me. You deserve it." She said while shaking her head.
"Well, yes. But, I did the roulette not for myself."
The two fell into silence. "Take it, miss Frea." Fiorentin said calmly breaking the silence. " As he said, he did the roulette not for himself, or should I say for your sake. Take it, you'll return his respect by doing so." She continued.
Frea sighed, finally giving up. She took the coin much to Elraven's pleasure. "OK, fine. I'll take this coin as a gratitude. I promise, if we meet again sooner or later and you need some help, you can ask for my help. Now, I must bid you farewell ladies and gentleman." She said as she walked out from the fun house.
The group walked out from the fun house with smile and met the waiting Felicia, who was feeding Salvador with earth worm. "Hey, welcome back! Did you get the pass?" She greeted. "Well, yeah! We got the pass and El got some love, hehe!" Olivia teasing the smiling gunslinger. "Hey, I was just helping, OK? Who said I'm in love?" Elraven replied nervously. "Oh, come on bro! You looked at her like there's no tomorrow. I admit she is gorgeous, you don't need to be so shy. Love known no boundaries." George joined to tease the blushing gunslinger. "Oh really? What's her name, Angel of Love?" Felicia teased him too.
"Guys, we need to come up with a plan. This pass only allow two of us to enter the town, how about the other four?" Fiorentin said coldly breaking the happiness. The group fell into silence. "Well, I have some plan in mind, truthfully". "Oh really? Don't tell me it's another roulette? Or, does this lovey-dovey things make you smart enough to come up with a plan? I though love is blind." The long haired girl replies sarcastically. "She's still mad at me, huh?" Elraven though to himself.
"Well, love is blind for sure, Alexandria. But the lover isn't blind" He replied with a smile. The Lord Knight didn't reply. The gunslinger started explaining.
"Ok, first I'll need George to assist me int this plan. Is that ok, G?". "Sure" the champion replied.
"So, here's my plan. Tonight, one of you girls disguise as a merchant, along with Salvador approaching the gate to. Of course you'll need a cart to do so, a big cart. The remaining two, will hide inside the cart with all your weapons. We'll fill the cart with something not suspicious, like oranges or apples. While the soldiers are going to check on the cart, I'll make a big explosion in this woods. If the plan goes smoothly, while the soldiers were paying attention to my actions, you guys can sneak in the town quickly. And I'm sure the soldiers won't chase you because they will probably come for us two in this woods. When you guys already entered the town safely, we'll kill any soldiers came to the woods, every single one of them. This way we can prevent casualties from happening to people in the bridge in the woods nearby the town. Because this woods is quite far from the town I guess no town folks are going to get involved and if you give me enough time, I'll be able to kill the soldiers guarding the gate, too. This way, we can also prevent Lethe guild's attention from Sagramore without they even noticing you're already inside. Not to mention, you can safely make a plan to take Payon down" Elraven finished his explanation with a big smile on his face.
"Wait a minute, there's 10 dozens soldiers there. Consisting of hunters and snipers, are you trying to say you'll take out all of them by the two of you?! That is a suicide!!" Olivia shouted worrying her comrades..
"No, no. This is not a suicide, I know what we're capable of." A smooth reply from the gunslinger.
"And how about you two outside? Don't say your going to sacrifice your live just to get us inside, Lethe Guild won't stop chasing you even if it takes days, you know?" Felicia asked calmly.
"Well. Didn't the old man say the owner of the fun house bet for the pass everyday? After the little war is done, me and George will come back here and bet again! And win it again, of course." Elraven replied proudly. "Well, if the Angel of Darkness said so, I don't mind following his plan." George agreed the gunslinger.
The other three fell into silence.
"I will give you my approval if....you fill one certain condition." Fiorentin said breaking the silence.
"What is that, Alexandria?" The gunslinger asked politely.
"You must come back...alive. Both of you. I warn you gunslinger, if George doesn't make it alive to get inside the town, I swear of god I'll kill you by myself." She replied while staring into his eyes. Elraven didn't reply her words. "Fine" He replied shortly.
"We'll come up with some plan to take over the town once we're inside. Now, get prepared guys!" Fiorentin commanded her companions. Felicia approached Elraven and whispered, "You're not forgiven, yet. So, you better return alive, ok? You and George." Elraven nodded as the group prepared the plan.
Meanwhile, not far from the outer forest of Payon...
Frea was humming happily as she walked through the forest. "Leader, where have you been?" A sound came from her above. It was a ninja, standing vertically in one of the trees. "Oh, Kirigi! I've been looking for you, but I got lost!" She replied happily.
The ninja named Kirigi smoothly landed in the ground. "Leader, why do you always get lost so far away but manage to come back all by yourself when we didn't notice? Don't you know we were worried you might get harmed by someone just like we always did?" The ninja said as he gave Frea a might staff.
"Well, not this time. A man saved me from trouble." Frea said cheerfully as she took the staff. "Man? What man?" Kirigi asked in a suspicious tone. "How do I supposed to know? I'm blind, you know? I could only feel his soul presence, I don't know how does he look." The soul linker replied annoyingly.
Kirigi quickly apologized,"Sorry, sorry leader! I didn't mean to..". "Ok, ok. Cut the chit-chat! How is the thing with Lethe Guild going?" The blue eyed girl asked.
"Well, they say our soldiers will be able to get inside the town tomorrow. And join their soldiers as reinforcemnets."
"I see, I hope they'll give us a good payment, we're mercenaries after all." Frea said with smile while flipping the golden coin.
****
I made the soul linker because of a request from my friend in college. And I'm thinking about giving her a prominent role in the series.
Next chapter, Elraven & George vs 120 (or more) soldiers!!!