Apollo
"You will be debriefed on your operation once we get to the briefing room." Kal'tsit said
"Loud and clear. " I asked as I stood up from my desk.
Kal'tsit and I left my office and walked towards the operations room.
"Apollo, could you answer a question for me?" Kal'tsit asked.
"What is it Cat Boss?" I replied.
There was a slight twitch in Kal'tsit ears every time I call her that. If it's out of annoyance then I'm going to keep doing that because why not.
"Your office looked different compared to the last time I saw it. Some of the shelfs are no longer there along with other changes, why is that?" She asked while continuing to face forward.
"Because I wanted to. I've read all the books on those shelves so I replaced them with other books. Some of them Marth will likely also enjoy." I responded.
"Then would mind i-"
"Just ask or leave a note, I do not mind. In fact if you want to I could add some of them to the library." I said.
"As of right now that isn't possible, I would like to keep your origins secret for obvious reasons." She explained.
"For the others at Rhodes Island or the whole world?" I pressed.
"The world at large, while Rhodes Island is a place I wish people will feel safe. I know that can't be a reality no matter where we are, sadly." Kal'tsit said as her ears and expression slightly fell.
"Oh, it seems like Amiya has rubbed off on you over the years. Never thought I would see so much emotion on that face of yours." I teased momentarily. "However I doubt that wasn't the question you wished to ask originally. Speak your mind, after all we are friends now in my eyes." I said.
"You are quite the trusting person aren't you, then I'll ask. What did you do to your office, with how much space that office should have. It's a lot spacious inside, it's abnormally spacious." She asked.
I could only give a deep sigh as I scratched my chin. So many different outcomes played in my head, oh so many just for me to ignore most of them.
"Simple, with the help of Nian's metal I managed to make that room an extension of my home planet Earth. So as far as the universe is concerned the texture of that room is no different from Earth." I said.
"Texture?"
"Oh, yeah I need to explain that soon to the class. I'll explain that to you another time after we're here." I said.
We both stop ourselves in front of a door with the words 'Briefing Room' embedded on top of the door.
I walk inside to some unfamiliar faces, the ones who really caught my attention are the two tall ones. Black outfit, black shield with gray horns, he is a tank of man who would be amazing, something like football I imagine. The other also held a black shield but had pair goggles causing the task of seeing his eyes difficult from this distance.
The last one was a woman with a scare along her left eye. Her oripathy on her leg wasn't hidden in the slightest, kinda similar to how a fighter wouldn't hide their scars they've gotten from combat. She wore a black coat with a black and white outfit under it, however what caught my eye were her swords. It looked like a far eastern blade but it had a weird disk-like structure near the end of the helt. Odd design.
"Take a seat, we are still waiting on some people. They shoul-"
As Kal'tsit spoke the door opened again and I saw Marth standing next to a woman that was slightly taller than Marth, I would say about an inch or so. She was showing a lot of skin. The only truly wearing was a sports bra and short shorts, her most distinguishing characteristic was her tail which looked like a snow leopard.
I've seen her before but I haven't interacted with her before. However I did notice she did share some similarities with Silverash if my memory serves me right, I have been proven wrong before.
"Everyone take a seat, we will begin the briefing." Kal'tsit said as she walked to the front of the room, behind her a screen turned on.
Everyone in the room took a chair.
"Karlan Trade headed by Eciodes Silverash. We have done business with them although sparingly due to various reasons. Silverash has invited us to his home in the hopes of furthering his business with us."
The screen changed to a pick of Silverash.
"Your guides will be Matterhorn and Cliffheart as they are native to Kjerag, Amiya will also be there to handle negotiations. Any questions?" Kal'tsit asked.
No one raised their hands as Kal'tsit continued with whatever information was needed. After it was all over she informed us that we will be leaving in a few hours. I told Marth to grab what she needed because I will be teaching her during the mission since I expect this to take a few days.
I made my way towards the library so I can learn whatever I can about the nation. Hours passed and before I knew it, I was inside the vehicle taking us to the mountainous region of Kjerag. Marth was catching up on some sleep she missed. I do catch her late at night in one of the training rooms practicing her magecraft. Her rate of growth is truly amazing, she like all the other girls in the class are gifted in magecraft. Seeing them grow reminds me of how mediocre and lucky I am for me to be where I am now.
I turned my head to see Marth wasn't the only one asleep, Cliffheart was also knocked out using Matterhorn as a pillow. Guess he makes for a good pillow too I guess. The only ones left awake are Amiya, Sharp, Matterhorn, the woman named Lappland and the driver.
"Hey Matterhorn, since you are from Kjerag, is there anything we should be worried about there?" I asked.
The bull of man looked at me, his face not showing much emotion. So I have another stoic on this team, a tough crowd.
"There isn't much to worry about, Kjerag is a peaceful place. We are free from many of the tragedies of the world." He said.
"Happy to hear that, but what about things within the country? For the country to produce a big guy such as you, I imagine there are some things to worry about because I'm kinda a frail dude." I said.
"As long as you stay in the populated area such as the towns there is nothing to worry about, I can assure you that." Matterhorn said as his eyes softened.
I know that look. The eyes of fond memories of one's home. It was brief but I felt a sense of kinship to the man. I reach my hand out.
"You must really love your home, I hope you and Cliffheart can show me around, especially the food because of the little one." I said as I tilted my head toward Marth.
Matterhorn responded by grasping my hand with a firm grip. "Lady Silverash is also a gluten for food." He responded.
"Lady Silverash? So I was right in my guess then, so is her bodyguard basically?" I asked.
"Currently yes. I was the bodyguard to Lord Silverash but he assigned me to protect his sister so here I am." He answered.
"I see. From what I read Kjerag is a frosty mountain country that is very traditional to this day, how truthful is that?" I asked.
"Very, two-thirds of the tri-Clan Council follow the traditions heavily. Each house handles different aspects of the country." Matterhorn explained.
"Nobles huh? That only confirms that I'm staying in my box with this operation. I'm terrible with formalities and I can already see Kal'tsit's thousand yard stare if I say something out of pocket." I said.
"That's understandable, Lady Silverash here is the same. She never cared for the political world of the country, not that I can blame her. Politics takes a lot out of people."
I could see Matterhorn's expression fall as he talked about it. I can relate to that feeling whenever I was talking to certain mages in the Clocktower or members of the Church.
Matterhorn and I continued to talk for a little afterwards. It didn't take long before snowfall and civilization appeared before my eyes. It was dark out and while I wasn't exhausted going to sleep did sound very appealing.
Within hours a large gate with the Karlan Trade logo was clear to see. After Matterhorn and the driver confirmed that we are meant to be here they let us through. As I exited the vehicle, I looked down to see snow covering my entire show. Seeing a pile of snow in front of me an idea came to mind.
I returned to the car and got Marth who was still asleep out. I made my way to the snow pile.
"Uh, Mr. Apollo, what are you planning to do?" Amiya asked with worry clearly seen on her face.
"Oh, nothing. Just waking up Marth." I said as I tossed her into the pile of snow.
Marth flailed like a fish out of water as she tried to get her barings on what just happened.
"Oh,oh,oh,oh." I laughed as she continued to struggle.
It only took a few moments before she understood what happened and likely put it together that we reached our destination. She slowly faced me with an expression so flat, so devoid of emotion to where that in of itself said so much.
"You are horrible Mr. Apollo, truly appalling in every way." She said as she stood up and walked past me to the vehicle to grab her coat, not even bothering to wipe away the snow.
"I think you missed something, it's kinda everywhere." I said teasingly.
Marth hit me with a side eye that could even kill a god, there was annoyance in those eyes but nothing major.
I look over where Marth just was to see Lappland drawing in the snow with one of her swords. I couldn't tell what she was drawing but I didn't bother looking further into it.
"I'm glad to see you are all enjoying your stay here already."
A low yet welcoming voice reached our ears as we faced its source. With a tail similar to Cliffheart, we all knew who it belonged to. Enciodes Silverash, head and founder of Karlan trade along with being our client.
I simply waved my hand at him. "Hello Silverash."
"It's a pleasure to see you again Apollo." He said as he scanned everyone from Rhodes Island before locking eyes with Amiya. "You must be Ms. Amiya. Kal'tsit really did describe you perfectly." He said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Lord Silverash." She responded confidently.
"I'm sure you all had a long journey and with the moon high in the sky I'm sure you all wish to have a night's rest." He said.
"Thank you for the hospitality and we will take you up on that offer." Amiya responded.
Silverash nodded while motioning one of his servants to come closer. He asked them to take us to an inn that is owned by his family. Once we reached the inn and had picked our rooms I found myself paired up with Marth, and Lappland. Matterhorn and Cliffheart stayed with Silverash. Leaving Amiya and Sharp to share a room.
Marth called it a night and passed out basically as soon as she hit the bed leaving me and the wolf called Lappland. My opinion can be described in two words, free spirited. She quickly unpacked her things before deciding to explore the town.
"Hey Lappland, you don't mind if I follow you out? I'm not tired so travelling the town doesn't sound bad to me." I asked.
She quickly turned her head, scanning for a moment. "Sure I don't mind. The more the merrier." She responded before leaving the room.
Once I was out of the building I saw her simply waiting just outside the door.
"So where do you want to go first?" I asked.
"Food." She responded.
I felt a small smile grow on my face. "Can't ever go wrong with food." I responded.
It didn't take long for us to find ourselves in a busy area of the town, even though it was late at night people were still moving around excitedly. I let Lappland take the lead since I learned Lupos have good senses of smell similar to Perros.
As I let Lappland lead me, I take a deep breath. As I got closer to Kjerag, a certain smell reached my nose. Honestly even after all this time I can't really call it a smell, maybe it's a sixth sense but I never bothered thinking too hard about it. Now that I'm deep within the nation my guess as to the source of this 'smell' was confirmed.
"Smells like a god is here."