"Yawn..."
The crisp morning air chilled the group of Guiche, Kai, Louise, and Saito. They had already prepared for the journey ahead and were preparing saddles for their horses. Unfortunately, they were only allowed to bring two, so while Guiche and Saito were on one horse, Kai and Louise were going to be on the other.
Kai took a quick look over the group. On Saito's back was Derflinger, and he didn't wear anything different for the journey. Guiche seemed the same as always, if not only a little more anxious. Louise wore her regular uniform, but instead of her shoes, it was horse riding boots. Based on that...
Sheesh, how far is Albion from here?
Right before they left, Guiche started speaking. "I have a request..."
"What do you want?" Kai still couldn't quite forgive him for that brutal beating from before.
"I want to bring my familiar."
"You have a familiar?"
Louise was the one to answer him. "I'm pretty sure that it was that mole, right?"
Stifling a laugh, Kai nodded his head. "Yep, now I remember."
Guiche tapped his foot on the ground, and in response, a giant brown mole popped up. "Verdandi! Oh, my cute Verdandi! Have you eaten your meal of worms before you arrived?"
The mole made some sort of sound in response.
"Really? That's wonderful!" Guiche rubbed his cheek on the creature.
"W-Well... I don't think we can bring it along..." Kai's voice was now full of disgust.
"That's right, Guiche. That creature moves underground, right? How would we bring it along? We're all riding on horses."
"That wouldn't matter. Verdandi moves quickly underground. Right, Verdandi?"
The mole nodded in agreement.
"We are going to Albion! We can't bring something that moves underground!"
Hearing Louise's explanation, Guiche knelt to the ground. "Oh, I cannot bear separating with my dear Verdandi... Oh! The pain..."
At that moment, the mole seemed to pick up some scent and closed the distance between it and Louise.
"What is this stupid mole trying to do?!"
"Like master, like familiar, eh?" Kai poked Saito with his elbow.
The mole jumped on top of Louise and started sniffing the ring on her finger.
"You damn mole! Don't sniff the ring Her Highness gave me!"
"Just hold on a second, I gotcha." Kai walked over and grabbed the mole. Surprisingly the mole didn't move an inch. "Oh come on!" Kai pulled harder, but the mole still wouldn't move. "Screw this, Kaioken!" A red aura burst around Kai, but it only served to be a light show.
Guiche nodded. "I see. It's the ring. Verdandi loves jewels."
"I'm gonna give it more than a jewel in a second!" Kai was starting to get frustrated.
Just as Kai and Louise were about to reach their boiling points, a sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere, blowing Verdandi away. Kai was barely able to react and get out of the way of the gust.
"Who was that?!" Guiche was yelling with an agitated tone.
A noble wearing a feathered hat came out of seemingly nowhere.
"What have you done to my Verdandi?!" Guiche took out his wand without thinking, but the noble was faster. Before Guiche could cast a spell, his wand was already out of his hand.
"I'm not your enemy. I'm under orders of Her Highness to accompany you on your journey. She was worried about you few going to Albion, but sending an entire troop of soldiers wouldn't be appropriate. Therefore, I was appointed to accompany you all on this journey." The noble took off his hat and bowed. "I am the captain of the Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes."
Guiche quickly shut up. The man right in front of him was the captain of the Griffin Knights. Every boy wanted to be him.
Wardes looked at Guiche with an apologetic look. "Sorry for what I did to your familiar. I couldn't sit idly by and watch my fiancée be harassed."
"What?!" Everyone was shocked. "Fiancée?!"
"Wardes..." Louise's voice was meek.
"It's been such a long time. My Louise."
My Louise?! What kind of sick joke is that?! Kai felt a feeling deep inside of himself boil up.
With a beaming smile, Wardes swooped Louise off of her feet.
"It's really been a long time." Louise's face turned beet red with embarrassment.
"Still as light as a feather."
"Viscount... please don't... There are people over there..."
Wardes nodded, put Louise down, and readjusted his hat. "Care to introduce your companions to me?"
"Er... That is Guiche de Gramont, that is my familiar Saito and my other familiar Kai." Louise pointed to each of them as she introduced them. Guiche who felt ashamed for criticizing Wardes, lowered his head. Kai and Saito did the same, although one of them did it a bit unwillingly.
Wardes looked somewhat surprised. "Louise's familiars? This is the first time I've heard of two familiars let alone them being human. Thank you for taking care of my fiancée."
"You're welcome..."
Kai took that moment to size up Wardes. He was fairly handsome, but that wasn't all. His eyes were sharp, as if he had seen many battles. He was also fairly muscular.
Kai's original assumption that all magicians would be physically weak like Guiche and Fouquet was completely wrong, and Wardes proved that. He could tell that if Wardes were serious, Kai would be on the ground in a few seconds, and that was being generous.
Thinking about that, Kai let out a sigh. Seeing that, Wardes walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"What's wrong? Are you having doubts about the journey ahead? There's nothing to be afraid of! Aren't you one of the ones who helped catch Fouquet the Crumbling Earth? With your courage alone, nothing is impossible." Wardes gave a broad smile.
Is he really that good of a person? I just can't compete with that... What the hell would I even need to compete with?! Kai quickly shook his head.
"Nah, just sad I'll have to say goodbye to the food here..." Despite joking around, Kai felt a deep loneliness inside of him.
Wardes chuckled slightly and gave a whistle. Not long after a griffin appeared from the clouds. Wardes climbed onto the back of the creature, and with grace, he extended a hand to Louise.
"Come over, my Louise."
Louise bashfully lowered her head. She looked like a girl madly in love, which only made that lonely feeling inside Kai grow.
Suddenly, the hesitant Louise was hoisted up onto the griffin. With one hand on the reins and his wand in the other, Wardes shouted, "Well everyone, onwards!"
The griffin moved forward. Right behind it was Guiche, full of admiration toward Wardes, on one horse. On the other were Saito and Kai, who felt dejected deep inside.
While staring into the cloudy sky, Kai couldn't help but feel sad.
How far is Albion?
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From Osmond's office window, Henrietta was watching the group departing for Albion. She started praying.
"Founder Brimir, please grant them protection on their journey..."
Next to her was Osmond, trimming his nose hair.
"You aren't going to see them off, Headmaster Osmond?"
"No, as you can see, I'm busy, Your Highness."
Henrietta disapprovingly shook her head.
Just then someone knocked on the door reverently.
"Enter." Osmond was still in the middle of his trimming.
Mr. Colbert rushed in with an anxious look. "Bad news!"
"You say that quite often. What seems to be the problem now?"
"Fouquet has escaped!"
Osmond only stroked his beard.
"According to the guard who was on duty, some noble knocked him out using wind magic. They did it when most of the manpower was diverted! That means that someone inside is a spy!"
Hearing the news, Henrietta's face turned pale.
Giving a sigh, Osmond gestured for Colbert to leave. "Okay okay. We'll hear about it more from you later."
When Mr. Colbert left, Henrietta could only slump over. "We have a spy in our midst... This must be Albion's doing..."
"Maybe it is... OUCH!" Osmond let out a yelp while trimming his nose hair.
Henrietta was flabbergasted. "How can you be so relaxed?! The future of Tristain is at stake!"
"The opponent has already made their move. All we can do now is wait, isn't it?"
"Even then..."
"It's all right. If it's him, he'll be able to face any problem they may come across head on."
"The person you are talking about... is it Guiche? Or Viscount Wardes?"
The headmaster shook his head.
"Don't tell me... That person is one of Louise's familiars? How could that be possible?! Aren't they just commoners?"
"Your Highness, have you heard the story of Founder Brimir before?"
"I have read most of it..."
Osmond smiled. "Then, do you know about Gandalfr?"
"Isn't that Founder Brimir's strongest familiar? What does that have to do..."
Osmond felt as though he had already given too much information about Gandalfr. He had wanted to keep that for himself, but there were still some things he could keep to himself regarding it.
"The two of them are as strong and capable as Gandalfr, but one of them... Hm... Tell me, do you know about the story of The Golden Demon?"
Henrietta slowly nodded. "Yes, the demon with golden hair that would terrorize towns with bad children until they changed their ways?"
Osmond let out a sigh. "What are they twisting that tale into...? Regardless, that tailed boy has the potential to realize that legend... I think."
Even with Osmond's unsure tone, Henrietta was still a little scared. "Then... I'll pray that The Golden Demon stays as a fairy tale..."
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From the Academy, it would take two days to reach the Port City La Rochelle by horse. The city was on a deep and narrow gorge, so it only had a small population of around 300. Since La Rochelle was the easiest way to Albion, the amount of visitors was over ten times the number of the population.
Boulders littered the narrow pathway of the mountain. People had carved into the boulders turning them into various buildings.
On the narrow street, it was fairly dark, even though it was the afternoon, due to the sunlight being blocked. There was a turn on the street, leading to an even narrower street that led straight to a bar.
Inside was a complete mess. Most of the patrons inside were either lowly criminals or mercenaries.
Today was no different than usual, with the same old patrons causing a ruckus. Almost all of them were mercenaries returning from Albion.
"The King of Albion is finished!"
"Don't that mean that they're gonna start a republic soon?"
"If so, let us toast to the new republic!"
As they toasted, the bar's door opened and a rather tall lady entered. The hood covered most of her face, except the bottom half. From that alone, one could see her beauty. Since it was rare for a woman to go into the bar, let alone a beauty like her, all eyes were on her.
Unfazed by everyone's attention, the lady ordered wine and food. After she was served, she paid.
"That... That's a lot of money. Is it really all right?"
"This includes lodging. Do you have any empty rooms?"
The shopkeep nodded as if he were entranced by her elegant voice. Several patrons looked at each other and approached her table.
"Excuse me miss, but it's dangerous for you to be here alone."
"That's right! There are lots of dangerous characters around. Don't worry though, we'll be here to protect you."
With a sickening smile on his face, one of them lifted the lady's hood. Catcalls could be heard all around, but none of them realized who this was. She was none other than Fouquet the Crumbling Earth.
One of them reached out toward Fouquet, but she pushed him away. He quickly pulled out a dagger and put it on Fouquet's face, but she showed no sign of fear.
Faster than anyone could react, she reached for her wand and turned the man's dagger into dirt.
"Sh-She's a noble!"
The men immediately backed away from her.
"Even though I'm a mage, I am no noble," Fouquet said nonchalantly. "Most of you are mercenaries, right?"
The patrons looked at each other. If she wasn't a noble, then they were fine. If they had done that to a noble, they would be put down like dogs instantly.
"Yes... And you are...?"
"It doesn't matter. In short, I want to hire all of you."
"A-All of us?" The mercenaries were all confused.
"What's with those faces? Is it really that weird for me to employ you all?" Fouquet put a bag full of gold onto the table.
One of the mercenaries hesitantly inspected the contents. "Wow... Isn't this ecu gold?"
The bar's door opened once again. This time, a man wearing a white mask entered. He was the same man who had helped Fouquet escape. "Well, aren't you early?"
Seeing the man, Fouquet gave a low 'Hm' as a reply.
"They have started their journey."
"I already hired all these men, as you told me to do."
The man quickly glanced over the mercenaries. "All of you were formerly employed by the Albion royalists, correct?"
"That was until last month. But the soon-to-be defeated royalists aren't our employers anymore." The mercenaries all laughed, and the man in the white mask joined as well.
"I'll give you any money you desire. However, I'm not like those royalists. If anyone dares to run away from battle... I'll kill him myself."
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Ever since the group had left the Academy, they had been moving almost nonstop. Even though the others had changed horses twice, Wardes' griffin, just like him, seemed completely fine.
"Hold on, isn't this going too fast for us?" Louise, who was on Wardes' griffin asked.
Since they had left, Louise had started speaking in a more informal tone to Wardes, per his request.
"They seem like they're about to collapse."
Wardes turned back and looked at the boys on the ground. On one horse, Guiche seemed to be at his breaking point. On the other, Saito seemed the same, but that other one, Kai... He still seemed to be somewhat conscious.
"But I had originally planned to journey to La Rochelle without stopping..."
"That would be difficult, it would take two days to reach by horse."
"If that's the case, why don't we just leave them behind?"
"We can't do that!"
"Why?"
"Aren't we in this together? Even then... A mage should never abandon her familiars..."
"You seem protective of them. Which one is your sweetheart?"
Louise's face instantly turned red. "W-W-What... What sweetheart?!"
Wardes chuckled. "That puts me at ease. If my fiancée told me that she already had a sweetheart, I would die of a broken heart."
"But that was only something that our parents had agreed on."
"Do you dislike me, my dainty Louise?"
"Please, I'm not young anymore."
"But in my eyes, you're forever that dainty Louise."
Louise remembered that dream that she had a few days ago, where she was back home.
That small boat on the lake...
Whenever she was upset, Wardes would be there to calm her down.
Back then she didn't truly understand what was going on, but now was different. She would be married to Wardes.
"I don't dislike you." Louise had a tinge of embarrassment in her voice.
"In other words, you like me?" Wardes gently held Louise. "I never forgot about you. Do you remember? After my father's death during the lancer campaign?"
Louise nodded her head.
Reminiscing in the past, Wardes began to speak. "My mother passed away earlier, and I inherited my father's estate and title. Wanting to make a name for myself, I went to the capital. Fortunately, His Highness had a deep impression of my father who had perished on the battlefield, so I was incorporated into the Griffin Knights. I had entered the Griffin Knights as a trainee... training was tough then."
"After that, you rarely went back to your estate again." Louise closed her eyes, also reminiscing about the past.
"My house and estate were cared for by my butler, Galgann, while I put all my effort into serving the nation. After so long, I finally made a name for myself, accomplishing what I had decided upon leaving my home."
"What did you decide?"
"To ask your hand in marriage once I had made a name for myself."
"You're kidding, right Viscount? You're so popular among the girls, you don't need to honor your promise to me."
Louise had completely forgotten about her betrothal to Wardes until that dream a few days ago. In her opinion that agreement was only made on a whim.
After Wardes left ten years ago, Louise hadn't seen him again, and he became nothing more than a distant memory. A distant memory that had just become a reality.
"This journey is a good chance for us to rekindle those feelings we had when we were young." Wardes had a gentle and calm aura about him.
Do I really love Wardes?
Even though she didn't dislike him, and even admired him when she was young, that was in the past.
Suddenly faced with a probable marriage, she didn't know what to do. Beyond that, they hadn't been near one another for years, so she didn't know if she had feelings for him.
Turning around, she saw Kai with a somewhat annoyed look on his face. Something about seeing him in general just made her angry. But that anger came with a confusing anxiety and a furiously pounding heart.
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"We've been on these horses for a whole day, doesn't he get tired? Are those Griffin Knights monsters?" Guiche's voice was hoarse. He was about to faint.
With a lethargic sigh, Kai replied, "Who knows?" A deep, bitter feeling invaded his mind every time Wardes touched Louise. He tried to push that feeling out of his head when he felt it. Why would he even feel that? It's not like he has any feelings toward Louise...
Guiche looked over to Kai, and a sly smile appeared on his face. "Heh... Don't tell me... you're jealous?"
Kai's eyes instantly widened. "Me? Jealous? Of what?"
Saito turned his head back to see Kai. "Are you really jealous?"
"Pfft... No. Never. W-What would I even have to be jealous about?" Kai's mouth was running faster than his head.
"I guessed it, didn't I?" Guiche started laughing harder, and Saito started joining in.
"Shut it, mole boy!"
"You actually have a love for your master that will never bloom? To tell you honestly, love between people of different statuses will only result in tragedy."
"Shut the hell up! How could I ever like someone like her? Sure, she can be cute, but there's not a chance in hell that I'd fall for someone as bratty as her!" His face started to burn a bright red.
Saito suddenly looked up. "Look! They're kissing!"
Kai instantly snapped his head in their direction. They were in fact, not kissing. Before turning his head back to the two boys, Kai felt his eye twitching and heard the two of them burst out laughing.
"I hate... both of you... so much." Kai rolled off of the horse, and floating above the ground, he started flying ahead of the two of them. Despite being ahead, he could still hear their laughter.
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Since the group had been traveling at full speed, and exchanged their tired horses for fresh ones several times, they reached the outskirts of La Rochelle that night.
Saito looked at it in confusion. Aren't we going to a port? Why are there mountains everywhere?
Under the moonlight, the group finally saw a narrow mountain pathway.
"Why would a port be on top of a mountain?"
Hearing Kai's question, Guiche replied sarcastically, "Don't tell me that you don't even know where Albion is."
Though the three boys were nearly at their limits, the thought of finally resting gave them the strength to go on.
"Yeah, I don't..."
"Neither do I."
"Really?" Guiche was surprised that Kai and Saito didn't know.
Suddenly, from the top of the cliff, torches were thrown down. The burning torches lit up the ravine that they were about to cross.
"What's... What's going on?!" Guiche cried out.
The horses, frightened by the burning torches, threw Saito and Guiche off their backs.
As they fell, a volley of arrows started to rain down.
"It's an ambush!" Guiche let out a cry.
Thinking fast, Kai activated Kaioken and rushed to Saito. Before he could ask what Kai's plan was, Derflinger was taken right off of his back. A red blur rushed out once more, and sparks started appearing.
Kai was deflecting as many arrows as he could with Derflinger. Though some arrows made it through Kai's defenses, hitting him, none were able to make contact with Guiche or Saito.
From that small skirmish, the drain from the journey started to pile up on Kai.
Another volley of arrows was about to fall on the boys, but a strong gust of wind caught all of the arrows.
Wardes shouted with his wand raised, "Are you all safe?"
"Yeah, just fine..." A feeling of helplessness grew inside Kai. Damn it! Wardes just saved my ass!
Kai looked at the top of the cliff, but no arrows were falling down.
"It was most likely thieves or bandits." Wardes sounded oddly calm.
Coming to a realization, Louise brought up another point. "Could it be the nobles from Albion?"
"Nobles wouldn't use arrows."
Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard. Next, on top of the cliffs, screams echoed out.
Arrows flew toward the night sky, but they were all washed away with wind magic.
After that, a small hurricane blew away all the archers.
"Hmm... Wind incantations?" Wardes mumbled to himself.
The archers who had attempted to ambush them rolled down the cliffs. They landed on the ground, letting out moans of pain.
Looking up, a familiar sight appeared. "It's Sylphid!" Louise shouted out.
It was Tabitha's wind dragon. After it landed, a red-haired girl jumped down and flicked her hair.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Louise jumped down from Wardes' griffin. "What do you mean 'sorry to keep you waiting'?! Why are you here in the first place?"
"Not to help you. When I saw you leaving the academy, I quickly woke up Tabitha and followed you all the way here." Kirche pointed back at Tabitha, and from the looks of it, she didn't even have time to prepare. She was still in her pajamas, but she didn't seem to care, since she read a book.
"Zerbst! Listen to me, we're on a secret mission given to us by Her Highness!"
"Secret mission? You should have said so! How would I know if you didn't tell me? Anyway, you should be thankful, for I have apprehended the people who wanted to ambush you!" Kirche pointed to the people lying on the ground.
Due to their injuries, they couldn't move, but they hurled insults at Louise and the group. Guiche walked over to them and started to interrogate them.
Louise, crossing her arms, glared at Kirche.
"Don't be mistaken! I'm not here to assist you." Kirche started to lean on Wardes. "Your beard makes you very manly. Do you know what passion looks like?"
Wardes glanced at Kirche and pushed her away.
"Huh?"
"Thank you for coming to our aid, but please do not get so close to me ever again."
"But why? I just told you that I liked you!" This was the second time she had been rejected.
"I'm sorry. But I cannot let my fiancée misunderstand." Wardes gave a look toward Louise, which made her go red from embarrassment in an instant.
"What?! She's your fiancée?!"
Wardes nodded. Kirche took a closer look at Wardes. She hadn't realized it before, but his eyes didn't have an ounce of emotion behind them. Just like ice.
Feeling creeped out, she looked at Saito. "Actually, I'm here because I was worried for my beloved!" She pulled the poor boy into a bear hug.
Guiche, who was interrogating the ambushers, had just returned. "Viscount, those ambushers admitted that they were robbers."
"Hmm... If they're just robbers, let them go." Lifting Louise back onto his griffin, Wardes made an announcement. "We'll spend the night at La Rochelle, tomorrow we will take the first ship to Albion at the break of dawn."
Kirche sat behind Saito, sharing the same horse as him. Guiche also remounted his horse. Tabitha still read her book on her wind dragon. Behind them, walking with a feeling of uselessness, was Kai.
In front of them, in between two cliffs, was the port city of La Rochelle, dazzling bright with lights.