6 months ago
Bambietta finished preparing for the ceremony behind the scenes. The selection of a Sternritter was a major event within the Wandenreich. The last Sternritter selection was over twenty years ago. Nobody actually expected that another Sternritter would be selected so close to his Majesty's expected awakening. The general public had concluded that the Sternritters were waiting for his Majesty to return, so he could select his holiest soldiers himself, yet here she was minutes away from her reveal. Bambietta imagined the upcoming reveal from the perspective of a regular Quincy. Who could be so special that the Sternritters would disrupt all previous patterns to select them? They were probably awaiting the reveal of an unforeseen, extraordinary soldier but instead they would see her. A small girl who looked like she should be learning the oldest essential Quincy textile techniques rather than standing on stage as the newest Sternritter.
Bambietta already forged a strong reputation for herself within the Wandenreich. A ruthless young girl who can outperform nearly any man. She was recognized as a prodigy, but would everyone else believe that she's good enough to become the youngest female Sternritter in the Wandenreichs history so close to his Majesty's awakening? She knew that most people who haven't seen her capabilities face to face would vehemently oppose her selection. Bambietta didn't know why this was bothering her so much. Multiple Sternritters advocated for her, including a member of the Schutzstaffel and Jugram himself. She had already far exceeded the requirements to become a Sternritter which was to pass all the required examinations, and to get recommended by at least three Sternritters. At which point Jugram would make the final decision on whether or not they'll become a Sternritter. Bambietta passed every test and Jugram himself vouched for her. The opinions of everyone else doesn't matter. They'll all realize why she was chosen soon enough.
Bambietta put on her Sternritter cap as she prepared to walk up stage. She heard the sounds and murmurs of soldats and civilians alike out in Silbern despite the distance and walls between them. Jugram nodded to her and Bambietta instantly understood the meaning behind the gesture. Jugram walked in front of her towards the stage and Bambietta followed behind him. Jugram entered the stage while she waited in the shadowy corridor for the moment when she's supposed to take the stage.
"Raise your crosses." Jugram said in an extremely stern and firm voice which immediately caught everyone's attention. Every Soldat, civilian and Sternritter raised their Quincy cross towards Jugram who was holding up a standard Sternritter Quincy cross. It's the cross that he'd give her which would officially coronate her as a Sternritter.
"One might reasonably conclude that it's a questionable decision to recruit a new Sternritter so soon but rest assured, the choice for the newest Sternritter had been finalized after weeks of analysis, debates and deliberation amongst the Sternritters of seniority. The newest Sternritter had been recommended for this position by BG9, Askin Nakk Le Vaar, Bazzard Black, Quilge Opie, Gerard Valkyrie and myself."
The interests of the civilians and Soldats were piqued while the Sternritters looked at Jugram with conflicting expressions. The Soldats and civilians were questioning who could have won the recommendation of Quilge, Gerard and Jugram since recommendations from those individuals were extremely sparse. Whereas several of the Sternritters were questioning why she won the recommendation of Quilge, Gerard and Jugram. Sure she was an incredible prodigy, but individuals even more gifted than she failed to make it into the Sternritters, so why was that child chosen to be amongst them? This matter had caused unrest amongst the Sternritters, but ultimately they trusted the judgment of Jugram and Quilge.
"It won't be apparent initially, but you will all come to realize why she was chosen within the coming years. The selected Sternritter candidate is the prodigy that every soldier will immediately recognize and fear due to her reputation of immense skill, power, efficiency and ruthlessness. In her short time as a Soldat she had already acquired extensive renown and accomplishments which proves her worthy of the title she'll be designated. This renowned soldier is Bambietta Basterbine." Jugram concluded.
Bambietta emerged from the shadowed corridor in full Sternritter attire. Despite her small stature and age she walked towards with the intimidating confidence, pride and power that befits a Sternritter. Bambietta only looked straight forward towards Jugram. Sparing not even so much as a glance to her surroundings. She couldn't care less about how everyone else was reacting to her, so there was no reason for her to pay them any mind. The only thing worth focusing on was Jugram and the cross in his hand. Bambietta walked to Jugram before kneeling on one knee before him and lowering her gaze
"I hereby declare Bambietta Basterbine as a Sternritter." Jugram announced as he lifted up the Aufgussbecher and doused her in highly concentrated liquid reishi. This was a Quincy custom for over a millenia. Every Sternritter that recommended the selected Sternritter would release their a liquidated form of their reishi into the Aufgussbecher, an intricately detailed, holy chalice created by his Majesty himself that's been used to coronate new Sternritters since the very first generation of Sternritter during the days of the Lichtreich. Being doused in the reishi of the ones who advocated for you is seen as receiving their blessing.
Bambietta subjugated their power which was dripping from her hair and claimed it as her own.
"You may stand."
Bambietta stood up and extended her arm towards him. Jugram responded by tying the Sternritter Quincy cross around her wrist.
This gesture signified the end of her coronation ceremony. After this there was a massive uproar from the audience. There was a combination of approving applause, loud protests, confused murmurs, fearful whispers and several other things, but Bambietta paid it no mind. She nodded to Jugram in appreciation before turning around and leaving through the same dark corridor she entered from.
Bambietta had the option to request a feast for her, however she couldn't be bothered to attend to that, so she denied that opportunity. She realized that she didn't know her way around the Silbern, especially not the secretions that are only allowed to be accessed by Sternritters and their personnel, and since she just became a Sternirtter she'll be living there now. Jugram told her that someone will give her a tour, so she waited for someone to show up.
Eventually a visibly annoyed Bazz B showed up, and she concluded that he was going to be the one to give her the tour. He audibly sighed when he saw her which earned him a snark and eye roll from Bambietta. Bazz B either didn't notice or didn't care enough to do something about it.
"Follow me." Bazz B said as he started walking without checking whether or not Bambietta was following him. Bambietta trailed behind him as she started mapping out the halls in her head. They eventually approached the first point of interest that wasn't just uniform hallways.
"This is the Sternritter training center." It can be unlocked through your Sternritter cross." Bazz B explained although he quickly walked off before Bambietta could try it out much to her annoyance.
Bambietta mapped out the location of the training hall mentally and continued to wordlessly follow Bazz B until they reached another point of interest.
"That's the cafeteria." Bazz B said plainly as he pointed to the room on the left they just passed by. This continued on for a while with Bazz B pointing out the various points of interest which got pretty tiring quickly.
"This is the Sternritter meeting room."
"This is the dining hall."
"That's the throne room."
"That's the Schutzstaffels section of Silbern. Don't go there."
"This stairwell leads to the basement which leads to the secretive prison. Only Jugram and the Schutzstaffel are allowed there."
"That's the Wandenreichs highest judicial courtroom."
"This is the execution chamber."
"Holy shit, can you just tell me where my room is? That's literally the only thing that I give a fuck about right now." Bambietta said to herself. The version of this that she said out loud was much tamer in comparison.
"Can you tell me where my room is? I'll figure out everything else myself." Asked Bambietta with subtle in her voice irritation that she couldn't fully hide. Bazz B was clearly relieved to hear this before he responded.
"It's room B-223. It's unlocked with your cross like other rooms"
Bazz B then walked away without saying anything and this time Bambietta didn't follow behind. Bambietta headed towards her room and thankfully didn't encounter anyone else. She wasn't exactly in a hurry to meet her fellow Sternritters to say the least.
Bambietta reached her room, and she wasn't surprised to see that it was entirely plain and barren. It was going to stay that way too since Bambietta didn't have any personal possessions to bring along with her. Thankfully the bed was extremely comfortable, so she took off her boots and just laid down on the bed for a while. Until she heard a knock at the door that is.
She lazily got up and opened the door to see Jugram standing there with a folder.
"This is your first operation." Explained Jigram as he handed her the folder.
"Get to it."
Jugram left right after saying this, and Bambietta took a seat at her room's desk to read through the contents of the folder.
The objective was simple. Assassinate a suspected traitor without causing a disturbance however I see fit. Kill any witnesses. The traitor was one of her instructors at the academy when she was younger. She remembered that he was known for being lenient and compassionate towards his recruits while still being effective, so nobody really bothered him for his behavior even though it was unorthodox and unusual since ultimately good results are good results regardless of the methods used to achieve it.
The folder included relevant information such as his home, his schedule, information on his close comrades and his physical description.
Having all the relevant information necessary, Bambietta put on her Sternritter uniform and left Silbern. She hopped from rooftop to rooftop while trying to hide her reiatsu. Some of it leaked out but since the Schatten Bereich had so much ambient reishi and reiatsu signatures it ultimately still ended up being unnoticeable. Bambietta landed near his apartment and easily snuck inside the top floor of it unnoticed.
Bambietta quietly moved through his dark and seemingly empty residency. She cleared room to room and the top floor and concluded that her old instructor wasn't up here. The only thing she came across was the sight of his son sleeping in a decorated room. Bambiettas eyes narrowed at the sight before she then left the room to continue clearing the apartment. As she was cautiously clearing the place she heard a faint noise coming from a room below her. She stealthily made her way to that room and as she got closer the faint sounds of scribbling became easier for her to hear.
Bambietta approached the door as quietly as she could before then busting the door down in one kick with blut arterie. The man's eyes visibly widened when he saw her, but he instantly regained his composure.
"Bambietta, why are you here?"
"Why do you think?"
The man visibly started to panic upon hearing this, and his first course of action was to try to get Bambietta to understand.
"You have to understand, Bambietta. This is bigger than any of us. If you let us go then Yhwach is liable to kill us all when he reawakens. You don't know his terror." The man quietly explained. He saw that Bambietta was entirely unphased by his words, so he began to back away from her.
"The power of the Quincies, Yhwach's blood runs through all of our veins, and at any moment he can take back his power. This technique is called the Auswahlen, and he's used it to fuel his own power before. How do you think he'll get the strength for his awakening? He'll instantly steal the lives of thousands of Quincies to regain his power. Don't you get what this means. Please Bambietta you have to reali-"
The man's voice was cut off by a swift slash from Bambietta with a blade she formed instantly. Bambietta had cut off his right arm and jaw in one motion which left her prior instructor unable to speak or resist.
"You talk too much." Bambietta said as she dissipated her blade.
Bambietta walked over to the nightstand which the dark haired young man was backing up towards, and she picked up the Seele Schneider that was resting on it?
"Were you seriously planning on stopping me with this?" Bambietta asked aggressively. She was insulted that he thought this relic would close the gap between their capabilities.
"And did you really think I'd underestimate you enough for you to get away with whatever maneuver you were planning? I'm insulted that you think I'd be stupid enough to underestimate the man who once told me that the easiest way to win a fight is to quickly end it before it escalates."
Bambietta formed her crossbow Heilig Bogen and loaded it with his Seele Schneider. She fired it directly into his face and the Seele Schneider blew up whatever remained of his skull upon impact, smearing the wall with fragments of his skull, organs and blood. She dissipated her bow and stared at her mess.
"You were destined to die the moment you became dumb enough to believe you could oppose the Wandenreich and his Majesty." Bambietta said to the man's corpse.
"Fucking moron." Bambietta said to the corpse before instantly turning around and slashing across the chest of the man's son with her reconstructed Heilig Klinge.
"Your reiatsu suppression is shit. I sensed you the entire time as you tried so hard to sneak down to this room undetected."
Bambietta said while staring at the kid who was struggling to stay upright.
"If it makes you feel better then even if I didn't detect you, your blut is nothing in comparison to mine, so you would have failed regardless." Bambietta finished before activating blut arterie and punching him straight in the face. She felt his inconsequential blut vene shatter, and she felt his face get torn apart by the force of her punch. He immediately fell to the ground with his face looking like it's been crushed and then peeled off.
Bambietta started to question why she was sent on this operation. Literally any Sternritter could have done this. Even a regular Soldat probably could have done the same thing she just did without much issue. Bambietta figured that this mission was some type of test, so she started searching around the room after concluding that she was actually expected to find some sort of information as well. An Intuition and investigative test seemed like the most likely option to Bambietta. The man talked about some Auswahlen to her, but there has to be more that she's missing.
Bambietta looked at the paper he was scribbling on which noted a plan to infiltrate the Silbern by impersonating it's personnel. Bambietta scoffed after reading this. It was too ludicrous to ever work. She analyzed the rest of the room and she started to question why he even had a Seele Schneider on his night stand to begin with, especially since there wasn't any other weaponry in the room.
It's most likely that there's a reishi lock mechanism in the room which he locks and unlocks with the Seele Schneiders ability to weaken reishi bonds. Bambietta looked for other out of place details and noticed that the carpeting by the bed was indented which signifies that he had moved his bed at some point recently for some reason.
After realizing this Bambietta moved the bed, and she managed to find a reishi lock behind a concealed hole that was covered up by his bed. She relatively easily managed to break the lock with the Seele Schneider which unlocked a vault containing more paper. Bambietta started reading the paper.
It detailed information about the Auswahlen and how it worked. It detailed the time Yhwach used it to completely end all Quincy rebellions at once during a short period of civil unrest during the Licht Reich and soon after this Yhwach launched a campaign towards the north using the power he gained from his victims. More importantly it listed that victims of the Auswahlen formed a silver inside of them, and there was a small but significant detail that stated that the silver can temporarily stop his abilities.
"You completed your objective extremely quickly." Said a relatively old but dignified voice. Bambietta turned her head and saw a middle aged man with a weird mustache and suit, and she quickly realized that it was Robert Accutrone, one of the Sternritters.
"Did you expect anything less?" Bambietta asked, recognizing Robert as one of the Sternritters who opposed her selection.
"Not at all. It would be an insult to the Sternritters if I did." Replied Robert coldly.
Bambietta narrowed her eyes at him before returning to what she was previously doing.
"Young Basterbine, why are you still here if your objective has already been completed?" Robert asked suspiciously.
"I guess you can call it overtime. The mission was over so fast that I had a whole lot of extra time to spare to investigate."
"You weren't instructed to do that."
"I don't recall being instructed not to either." Bambietta smugly responded which clearly irritated Robert.
"You seem to have an inaccurate understanding of how we operate. There's no unnecessary hidden objectives between the lines. Our briefings will always be straight forward and understandable. The reason why investigating the building wasn't in your briefing is because it isn't a part of your mission. That's my task. Your task was just to kill the traitor." Robert passionately explained, and he got even more annoyed when Bambietta just shrugged in response.
"Also didn't your mission say to kill all witnesses?"
"Did I not do that?"
"The boy is still alive." Robert said as he pointed to the boy who had managed to crawl out of his room.
"He has four minutes to live at most." Responded Bambietga irritably as she became increasingly fed up with Robert's bullshit.
"His Majesty prefers that the Sternritters act quickly and efficiently at all times." Robert replied as he took out his gun and fired a reishi bullet straight into the boy's cerebrum, instantly killing him.
"Since it's a part of my duty I must ask what you've learned." Robert asked while looking at the paper on the desk which had some info on the Auswahlen albeit not as much as the one Bambietta was holding.
"He told me about something called the Auswahlen. The ability that lets his Majesty take away our lives as he sees fit. Having concluded that his Majesty will use the Auswahlen to reawaken, he wanted to take actions to prevent the Auswahlen."
Robert's eyes narrowed upon realizing that Bambietta knew of the Auswahlen. The Auswahlen was a closely guarded secret kept by the Sternritters of seniority. It was part of the reason why Soken Ishida had begun to turn on the Wandenreich. Such information could never get out.
"He told me about it in an attempt for me to join his side which was real stupid of him. The Auswahlen is no different from the standard execution. If you're of use to the Wandenreich and his Majesty then you live but if you aren't then you die. It's always been like that. The only difference between the Auswahlen and execution is the method used. I know that I'm a strong asset for the Wandenreich, so why should I care about the Auswahlen which I know won't affect me whatsoever. He knew me himself, so he should have realized that."
Robert listened to Bambiettas entire response. It was as if she had read his mind and all of his concerns. He knew that most people won't accept the prospect of the Auswahlen, but she reaffirmed to him that she couldn't care less about the Auswahlen since it won't affect her. He started to understand why Jugram and Quilge had advocated for her. He now saw what they did. Before he just saw a disrespectful, unhinged, ruthless and chaotic girl that happened to be a skilled prodigy, but now he realized why she was chosen. Despite her rowdy personality she had the qualities of a "true Sternritter" as Quilge put it.
"I see. Leave behind those papers. You are dismissed." Robert said in a more respectful tone than before which surprised Bambietta. She nodded at him before putting down the papers and leaving the apartment through the same window she entered. She had planned on saying more to Robert about the silver, but she wouldn't waste such a good opportunity to get the hell out of here, so she figured that he can just read about that topic himself.
Bambietta casually strolled through the Wandenreich as she headed back to the Silbern. She noticed the stares she received as she walked through the streets. She couldn't tell whether or not they approved of her. Not that it mattered. She noticed that she was passing by her last barracks which she had rested in this morning before she became a Sternritter.
Bambietta didn't care for the place whatsoever. She was used to being continuously relocated from place to place due to her position within the Wandenereich constantly advancing. Bambietta had already managed to get into several different elite task force units years before she became a Sternritter, the highest and most respected military position within the Wandenreich barring the Scuhtztsaffel who still fell under the Sternritter umbrella.
She didn't have much in terms of personal belongings, but there was one thing that she wanted to take before she left for Silbern.
She casually entered the barracks and the few present members of the Schweigen Vollstrecker, the elite dissent suppression squad which she was previously a part of glanced over at her. Bambietta didn't pay them any mind as she walked over to her closet. She quickly spotted what she came here for, the Geisterkrummsäbel. The Spirit Scimitar. It was an ornate, high quality, reishi infused, curved sword that was bestowed to her for her achievements. Her Geisterkrummsäbel was a type of sword known to the Wandenreich as a Reines Schneider. They're swords that were made out of an alloy of various steels, irons and other metals, but most importantly, it was smelted with highly concentrated solid reishi. It's said that the reishi alloy is so strong that not even Letz Stil can break affect the integrity of a proper Reines Schneider. The sword used by Jugram was the pinnacle of all Reines Schneider.
But that's not why she wanted to retrieve the sword. The sword is immensely powerful, sure but the real reason why she wanted to get it was because of what it represented. That sword represents her power, skill and achievements, so she took immense pride in it. It's because of that Bambietta felt the need to retrieve it.
Bambietta took the sword and it's sheath before heading back to the Silbern.
She casually strolled through the entrance of Silbern uncontested. The ceremony had ended, so the ground floor became empty with nothing but the guard personnel since the other soldiers had left. They allowed her to pass into the upper halls that are only accessible to Sternritters and their staff. She headed towards her room so she could go to sleep.
Bambietta entered her room and immediately sensed that something was off. She unsheathed the Geisterkrummsäbel and glanced around the room.
From the shadow of the leftern block of her room emerged Quilge Opie. He was one of the two holy executioners and the combat trainer for Sternritter recruits.
"That was very perceptive of you, Basterbine." Quilge said with fake enthusiasm.
"Why are you here?" Bambietta cautiously asked. The executioner had an extremely ominous and threatening feeling, and it wasn't because of his reiatsu. He was simply a terrifying figure.
"Straight to the point I see. I'm here to start your holy training so follow me." Said Quilge sternly, leaving no room for objection.
Bamietta sheathed her sword again and followed Quilge out the room. They walked through the halls until they reached the training center. Quilge unlocked the door and entered with Bambietta following behind.
Now it took a lot to really shock Bambietta but despite that the Sternritter training center still blew her away. It was absolutely massive. It was the largest training center that she'd ever seen. There were various stations for every different type of combat, and it had a massive armory which Quilge took a sword from.
Bambietta followed Quiilge into an elevator within the room which took them into a second floor of the training center which she didn't even know existed. The second floor was much darker than the well illuminated first floor, but more importantly she noticed that the second floor didn't have any training stations, rather it was a combat arena.
"This night will mark the start of your Sternritter training. As you know, you're one of the youngest individuals to ever achieve this position at this age, so the circumstances for your coronation were highly unusual. I'll have you know here and now that just because you have the title of a Sternritter doesn't mean that you have the capabilities of one. That's why I've been assigned to train you. I'll make sure that you live up to your title." Finished Quilge as he slowly took out his sword. Bambietta unsheathed her sword in response without hesitation.
"Your objective is simple. Try to kill me."
Upon hearing this Bambietta activated her blut vene and rushed towards Quilge however he was able to easily block her attack despite her rushing towards him at full velocity. He then immediately followed up with an intense offensive flurry of thrust and slashes which Bambietta was already struggling to, but her defense was good enough to hold off his onslaught. Quilge stepped back and created distance between them.
"Your defense and combat speed might be better than most, but it's still insignificant in comparison to mine. Throughout that entire bout I hadn't eve-"
Quilge was cut off by a powerful arrow which she easily mitigated. Bambietta closed the distance between them and she activated blut arterie as she began going fully on the offensive. She used every offensive technique and mix up at her disposal, but Quilge was able to flawlessly dodge all of it before he activated blut arterie himself and grabbed her sword with his bare hands.
"As I was saying, throughout that entire bout I hadn't even been trying. Your technique is good but at this level it'll never work on me since I'm simply stronger than you." Quilge said smugly.
Bambietta narrowed her view out of anger and frustration and tried to instantly launch an attack with her reishi blade. A decisive trick which usually worked before, but Quilges blut vene was so strong that her blade dissipated upon contact with him. Quile stared down at her arrogantly which prompted Bambietta to enter a defensive stance with her curved sword.
"If your Reines Schneider didn't work then why would that reishi blade?" Quilge asked curiously.
"Your blut temporarily weakened."
"Oh yes, I did intentionally weaken my blut to provide you with an opportunity to stand against me however you were unable to capitalize on that opportunity." Quilge said mockingly. He grinned upon seeing Bambietta get overwhelmed by her own anger as her face began to bear an infuriated expression.
Bambietta rushed at him again and this time Quilge attempted to counter attack however Bambietta was able to parry his counters much to his surprise. Quilge noted that he can overwhelm her blut vene speed while using blut arterie. Quilge used this knowledge to quickly switch to blut arterie and easily pressure Bambiettas and overwhelm her blut vene. Bambietta flash stepped back, but Quilge still pursued her, managing to land several slashes. Despite the damage Bambietta was still able to try and defend herself from his attacks.
After creating some distance between them Bambietta extended her sword forward in a defensive stance. Quilge rushed her down with blut arterie as soon as he recognized this; however Bambietta unexpectedly formed her unusual Heliig Bogen around her sword. She fired her crossbow, using her own sword as the projectile all the while she activated blut vene at an incredibly high proficiency which she hadn't used before this moment which massively increased the speed of her attack. Since Quilge was using blut arterie his speed was far from his best. He swapped to blut vene as soon as he perceived the attacl. The sword still grazed his arm even though he had for the most part avoided the attack. Quile frowned as he stared at the few drops of blood which spilled from his arm before instantly clotting the wound with blut.
"That was quite a decisive move. Now how do you plan on fighting without your sword?" Asked Quile in a derisive tone.
Bambietta reconstructed her Heilig Klinge in response which made Quile chuckle sinisterly.
"You have to learn when to pick your battles. Leaving a fight that you know you can't win isn't the same as being defeated. However adamantly fighting against a superior opponent and still getting defeated is still a defeat nonetheless. And we all know what the price of defeat is."
This time Quilge didn't hold back. He activated blut vene at full proficiency and instantly closed the distance between them before switching to blut arterie and punching her in the stomach.
Bambietta reflexively threw up on Quilges arm which was still buried in her stomach as she fell to her knees. After she collapsed Quilge removed his fist before elbowing her in the back of the neck which dropped her to the floor.
Bambietta knew better than to accept defeat in the Wandenreich, so she stood back up despite having been spewing vomit on the floor just a moment ago. Quile watched as she stood up.
"Your training is over. Tonight was merely an evaluation of your abilities. Your real training starts next time."
Quilge left the room while Bambietta stayed behind to recuperate from her damage. After she recovered enough to properly move around she recovered her sword before leaving. She left the training center and made sure to lock the door as she left.
Bambietta sighed as she strolled through the walls until she eventually walked into a large Soldat while turning a corner on the way to her room.
"Watch where you're going." The Soldat said clearly not recognizing Bambietta.
Bambietta scoffed and pushed him aside. The Soldat clearly took offense to this, so he grabbed Bambiettas shoulder which was a lethal mistake. Having already been in a bad mood, Bambietta cleaved him in half using her Heilig Klinge before immediately dissipating it. Bambietta looked down at his corpse with a pleased expression before realizing that she had just killed another Quincy in plain sight; now she just stared at his corpse blankly. She didn't know what the repercussions would be for this. She thought about how she'd cover up her mess until she heard loud laughter coming from in front of her.
"So you've already figured out how things work around here." Said the man who Bambietta immediately identified as Driscoll walked over to her. Bambietta turned to face him with a deadpan expression.
"Oh shit, straight in half too." Driscoll said while struggling to hold back laughter.
"You probably don't have your own squad yet, so I'll get mine to clean it up."
"Huh? We're allowed to just do this?" Bambietta asked.
"Oh, I already like you. You're telling me that you just cut that guy in half without even being sure if it's allowed or not?"
"I wasn't planning on getting caught."
"Pffff, sure. Anyways yeah we can get away with doing whatever we want with these nobodies. Just don't do it in front of Jugram. He cares about these bums way too much."
Bambietta grinned in response to this while Driscoll called in his Soldats.
She shouldn't have been surprised to learn this. She'd always known that strength and value meant everything in the Wandenreich, so who'd care if someone as strong and valuable as herself killed someone as weak and insignificant as a nameless Soldat. There were thousands of Soladts. So what if one of them disappeared. Hell, he served a bigger purpose in his death than he'd otherwise ever achieve in his insignificant life since killing him was pretty relieving to Bambietta. What more of an honor can a Soldat ask for? Bambetta wondered while she stared at his corpse.
Bambietta walked away from the corpse as she went back to her room. This was one of the rewards for all of her hard work and accomplishments. This is the privilege that came with her status, and she'll be damned if she didn't reap all the benefits of her effort over something as meaningless as morals, values and honor or whatever those doddering traditionalist fools always complained about.
Especially since there's hardly any other good ways for her to alleviate her stress and frustrations in the Wandenreich. She'll use her new priveliges to relieve herself…. One way or another.
The Present
Bambietta walked through the town in her normal clothes. She had been trying to sense any hollows, but she couldn't find any. She realized that her and Urys' shenanigans yesterday probably dismayed any more hollows from showing up. Since school had ended she had plenty of time to do whatever until she met up with Uryu again. Bambietta was getting hungry, so she decided that she might as well get something to eat.
She used hirenkyaku to flash to her favorite vendor, so she can buy some kebabs to hold herself down. She quickly arrived at the vendor, and she watched as the old man running it prepared her food after she paid him. Bambietta considered trying to learn how to cook as a hobby due to watching this old man cook whatever he was offering. She found the process intriguing whenever she watched it.
The old man quickly finished cooking and handed over Bambiettas food. She took it and left without saying anything. Bambietta found the nearest bench, so she could start eating her meal until she was interrupted.
"Bambietta?!" Where've you been?" Tatsuki said when Bambietta was about to take a bite from her food. Bambietta turned to face her upon hearing her voice, but Tatsuki continued talking before Bambietta had a chance to respond.
"I was worried about you. Why didn't you say anything before you left?" Tatsuki asked in a relieved tone. Bambietta stared at her with a strange expression of both surprise and guilt after hearing this.
"I didn't want to wake you, but you're right. I should have at least left a note before I left." Bambietta explained.
"Don't worry about it." Tatsuki reassured her.
"But I still want to know what happened to you a few days ago. When you showed up, you had a similar look on your face to the one that Ichigo had when he was struggling with his mother's death. Also what was that outfit you were wearing."
Bambietta sighed in response before handing Tatsuki one of her kebabs.
"It's complicated. Have you ever heard of the Lichtreich?" Bambietta asked.
"I've never heard of it."
"That sounds about right. It was a Western European empire during Europe's dark age. It fell into obscurity after its collapse a thousand years ago. I doubt it's even a part of the curriculum anymore." Bambietta wondered if she should go on to tell Tatsuki about the Quincies without Quilges approval. She didn't know if she should or not, but she impulsively decided to tell Tatsuki about the Quincies nonetheless. Bambietta herself didn't know why she thought it'd be a good idea to tell Tatsuki about this, but she continued regardless.
"The people of the Lichtreich were known as Quincies. I myself am Quincy. The weird clothes that I was wearing was a traditional Quincy garb. We've been heavily persecuted since the Lichtreich fell, so the remaining Quincies have been putting in an effort to preserve our culture and purity for centuries. After my parents died, a family friend moved me here because there were other Quincies in Karakura town. I got to meet the other Quincies a few days ago, and it didn't go nearly as well as I expected it to." Bambietta went on while Tatsuki sat beside her and listened to everything she had to say.
"There was actually another Quincy our age that I met which went well. He told me that I should meet up with him and his grandfather and so I did, but when I showed up the next day the kid wasn't there. It was just his grandfather. Simply put it even though we're all Quincies, we're not all united. There's several sects of Quncies and the boy's family stopped him from meeting me, so that they can interrogate me since they suspected that I was a threat to them. They intruded on matters that were extremely sensitive and personal to me. I didn't want to stick around anymore after that even though they deemed that their son was safe around me after they violated my feelings." Bambietta finished with a much more scornful tone at the end than prior.
Tatsuki appeared even madder than Bambietta was to her surprise.
"Who the hell do they think they are?!" Tatsuki said furiously which did somewhat cheer up Bambietta even though that definitely wasn't Tatsukis intention.
"They're lucky that all you did was walk away from them. They deserve even more shit than what you gave them. Did they think that you of all people would be a threat, and that it's fine to intrude on your personal life because of some random religious dispute?" Bambietta looked down at the floor upon hearing this, but she knew that she shouldn't give Tatsuki the full context of the situation.
"Don't put stress on yourself over this." Bambietta interjected.
"Why? Do you expect me to just accept this?" Tatsuki asked.
Bambietta thought about her response. She herself would have accepted it if she was in the same situation as Tatsuki since It has nothing to do with her after all. Why would Tatsuki get herself stressed over something that doesn't affect her whatsoever?
"No but I think it's unnecessary for you to get so worked up over it." Bambietta replied, which put a confused expression on Tatsuki's face.
"Someone intruding on you like that is a pretty damn good reason for me to get so worked up."
"I don't see why it is."
"You just gave me an entire explanation on why it is."
"Well that's a reason for me to get mad about it, but it doesn't affect you so I don't understand why you're so emotional about it." Bambietta responded. Tatsuki spent some time fully considering Bambiettas words. Did Bambietta really not know why this infuriated her?
"Because I care. Can't you see that?"
"I've always been bad at seeing through people." Bambietta replied as she handed another Kebab to her. Tatsuki noted that even though Bambietta was slightly smiling her eyes showed a much different expression. What it was, Tatsuki couldn't tell. Only that it wasn't anything positive.
The two sat together silently for a while as they ate their food until Bambietta decided to break the silence.
"Tatsuki."
"Yeah?"
"Can you keep everything that I just told you a secret?" Bambietta asked quietly.
"Sure thing." Tatsuki replied, which relieved Bambietta.
The two of them finished their food, and Tatsuki threw out the garbage so Bambietta wouldn't have to.
"Oh by the way, I still have more movies so we can hang out and watch the other ones if you want."
"Really? I thought you rented them." Bambietta responded.
"I pulled some strings to keep them for a little while longer."
"That's good to hear. When should we meet up again then?"
"I'm not doing anything tonight so that would work for me. Other than that I don't have anything to do on Friday or the weekend
neither."
"Well, I'll see you tonight then." Stated Bambietta before she got up from the bench and stretched. Tatsuki waved bye before Bambietta left the area.
Bambietta walked away and the same doubts that she had when she talked to Uryu about the Wandenreich reappeared in her mind after seeing firsthand what Tatsuki was willing to do for her, and she didn't know how to feel about it just like before. It was too overwhelming for Bambietta to think about, so she redirected her thoughts away from her 'friends'.
In the Wandenreich everything was simple, but things weren't like that anymore. When it came to battles and other activities Bambietta always knew what to do. The same can't be said when in regards to things like this. Thinking about the relationship between herself, the others, her duty and the Wandenreich made her feel lost, shaken and confused. This feeling was entirely new to her, and she hated it for reasons that she couldn't properly put into thought or words.
Why couldn't things be simple like before? Everything was so much easier for her that way, but Bambietta realized that she'd have to eventually accept that things won't go back to normal. So she might as well try to come to terms with this now since this is how things are gonna for better or worse.