"Tch! Let's go Kreig, this guy completely zones out sometimes and he doesn't have any new info to offer anyway."
"Where are you going?"
"To the castle. I might as well since they're probably going to discuss what's to come in regards to that island."
"But how are you going to get in?" Kreig sounded dubious in his response.
She gave him a look over her shoulder "I'll force my way in if I have to."
Judging by the look in her eyes he could tell that she was serious.
"Don't do anything unnecessary Marion, or you might ruin Renard's plans."
"So you've been ignoring me all this time huh? Then even more so – Come on Krieg!" With those words she marched off, the giant metal case she carried practically dwarfed her in size but clearly, the girl couldn't be stopped.
"Leno, we'll return with the boss." With that, the duo set off toward the city.
Puff
Leno lazily blew another puff of smoke; he watched as it quickly dissipated into nothing.
"Revenge, huh?" His solemn voice would be heard by none on the now empty deck
********************************************
The royal palace of Lorath idn't seem like a typical medieval style castle in terms of its construct, there weren't any overarching pointy towers or brick walls here. Instead, it resembled a large, multi-layered English style mansion that was separated into different flanks and floors the only oddity here was that the shape of it was quite odd. The building was almost rectangular, but it took the form of a horizontal bracket with jutted ends and spanned about 200 meters in length. Its exterior bore a mixture of three colours: red, white and gold with white being the most prominent.
There was a large space in front of the huge mansion that had perfectly paved rick roads leading towards the estate, and they elegantly separated the scenery of the flourishing gardens on each side, the stylish fountains placed in each of them attracted quite a variety of birds seeking respite from the tropical heat.
Cecilia made her way through the wide halls of Lorath's royal stronghold. A chorus of asynchronous footsteps echoed from all around her as the ceiling walls were high and the bland passage, while decorated with extravagant paintings and murals, seemed quite hollow.
The occasional clanking of thin armor plates could be heard as a handful of Salamander members were being escorted by knights of a somewhat high caliber. Most of them seemed to be around the level of an arch knight but surprisingly there was actually another chevalier present, leading the journey at the front. While Cecilia couldn't get a good look at him because of the people blocking her view, she could make out one distinctive feature that stood out above everything else, which was the red headpiece he wore – something like a helmet belonging to a suit of armor, devoid of any of its other matching components.
The general rankings for these knights usually went in the order of: Arch-Knight, Chevalier, Paladin, Templar. This was the universal ranking used once the Cian empire had formally taken it's hold. Coming across a chevalier didn't happen very often, but laying eyes upon a Templar knight or Paladin was next to impossible as they were treated as assets of the state.
A single Paladin was worth around 100 chevaliers, and Templar knights were above even that. They could supposedly pin dragons to the Earth and reduce entire cities to rubble with little to no effort. As they walked down the narrow hallway in complete silence, and finally exited what could almost be described as a tunnel, they arrived at a peculiar section that allowed a full view of the flourishing garden from either side.
Roses, clematis and all manner of extravagant plants could be seen from their slightly elevated position. Unlike Alanor, Lorath had a fairly normal ecosystem, you'd be hard pressed to find any man-eating plants or fishes that could easily bite through tree barks here – but it wasn't completely out of the question.
Even though she was never one to obsess over things like manners and etiquette, right now Cecilia was displaying the utmost caution with the way she presented herself, taking note of even her gait and posture.
Her appearance right now was different from the norm, although it wasn't to the point where you couldn't tell who she was. Right now, she was wearing a rather comfortable white blouse and some shorts paired with knee high socks.
Her blue hair also seemed far smoother than usual, as if she'd spent all night brushing it, but in reality, Elena had played a big part in skillfully wielding her feminine charm, because the usual robe she wore along with her often-disheveled hair just wouldn't cut it this time. The fact that Elena could help with her appearance in response to such an abrupt summons made it seem like this was nothing new for her.
Cecilia was a beauty, but she had very little interest in anything other than researching Majic, and that was even more so before she had joined Salamander. The girl wasn't alone though as right now, she was being accompanied by Renard, the red-haired youth from linchpin, and Lucas the fellow who'd been asking for booze before they had arrived at Alanor.
He, on the other hand, seemed like a completely different person as neither his eyes nor body possessed the vigor they once held a few weeks ago. Lucas aside though, Renard being here was quite perplexing as he didn't even venture inland with them. He was hired help in the first place so him coming to this audience with her made no sense no matter how she thought about it.
But then again, she also knew about his supposedly whimsical nature by way of Elena's warnings. This particular group walking together like this was only due to current circumstances, especially in Cecila's case as she previously held absolutely no interest in the mercenary beside her. Renard exuded an air of nonchalant confidence as he walked, his hands clasped casually behind his head. His strides were brimming with self-assured dominance as he navigated the path. Adorned in a sleek, black sleeveless muscle shirt with striking white stripes, the fabric hugged his well-defined physique, accentuating his chiseled abs and robust core. Complementing the top were pants of the same shade, minus the white stripes that adorned his shirt.
Prominently gripped on his right arm, reaching almost to his shoulder, was a lightly colored arm sleeve, seamlessly integrating with the theme of his ensemble. Draped over his shoulder was the standard black and white coat emblematic of Linchpin members, proudly bearing the group's trademark insignia in a deep, jet-black hue. Beyond its appearance, his seemingly lightweight attire held a deceptive strength. Crafted as a customized armor tailored for close combat prowess, it was interwoven with a specific Majic infusion.
This enchantment added weight to the fabric, imposing a constant strain on his muscles that contributed to his unyielding training regime. Even just moving in that outfit could be considered as training, but he had already grown numb to the pressuring effects of this get-up long ago. This was the norm for members of linchpin, they each had some curious trait that made them stand out from other mercenary groups, and in the case of Linchpin, Renard was the center of it all.
There were hardly any mercenary groups willing to make such a voyage with them, but he was different, he had seemingly taken up the challenge in a mere bid to stave off his relentless boredom.
(The devil really does find work for idle hands.)
Glancing at the man nonchalantly walking beside her, Cecilia couldn't help but think that. Along that train of thought, she arrived at another dreadful truth, with a perplexed expression, she turned to the man on her right and asked-
"Lucas....um.... Alman....is he really...."
"Yeah, he's dead. The attack that injured you tore him to pieces." The man spoke as if he were in a daze, almost like he still couldn't believe what had happened.
"He didn't get to visit that last brothel after all...." He spat those words dryly, finishing his dreary tangent.
Cecilia was never the overly social type, in fact more people knew her than she knew them, but she had at least learned a few names by way of the feasts they would often hold near bonfires after completing big missions. Those names had been learned from a distance of course, as she often avoided the center of the commotions that would flare up ever so often.
But nevertheless, Alman was a comrade distant or not, and learning of a comrade's death wasn't a joyous occasion either way.
There was a sudden stop – The military like progression had halted. The chevalier leading the charge had merely raised a hand to signal the abrupt command. Whispers could be heard coming from the confused group until a single voice erased all the unnecessary chatter.
"Girl."
"…......."
Almost everybody present began to align their focus on the timid girl.
"Eh? Y-You mean me?"
"Yeah you. I don't see any other females here."
The helmet he wore muffled his own voice, making even the simplest of his sentences sound quite ominous. They had been speaking in little more than whispers up until now, but he apparently overheard them. Cecilia began to sweat a little. Being the center of attention like this didn't bode well for her. She felt a strong urge to just go home.
"Oh...ummm is there something wrong sir?"
"What was he....what was Winson like in his final moments?"
That question had plunged the hollow halls into an even deeper silence.
"Yeah Cecilia, I'd like to know the answer to that too.... please."
Lucas timidly pleaded with his down casted gaze, his overgrown facial hair and jittery motions only served to emphasize his current mental state, but even so this was probably the most sober he's been in years. Cecilia bit down slightly on her lips before timidly answering.
"H-He was cool."
She answered without even looking at him. Lucas could only stare at her, his eyes widening with each passing moment, and a thin layer of fluid began to form over his sclera.
"Hmph, I see." The knight resumed the quiet trek after his blunt response.
"Cool eh,….Heh Heh what a guy." Lucas answered in a somewhat strained voice.
Renard shot them a curious glance that only seemed half interested. They soon came to another halt as they'd reached the end of the hallway, two imposing, yet charming wooden doors blocked their path. It had a curious design as a multi layered circle spanned about a third of the door's diameter with incantations lining each layer. On either side of the door stood two arch knights at an equal distance, they merely gave the chevalier a slight nod as he approached.
Stepping forward, he placed his right hand on the refined wooden structure. Only his back had been visible to the rest of the group until now but since he had escaped the crowded assembly, his figure became more pronounced. Thin red bracers lined his arms and greaves of the same color were fixed to his legs along with leather armor strapped to his chest like a bullet proof vest. The loose-fitting pants he wore didn't contrast with his black and gold leather boots in the slightest, although they did seem a little big. It was now obvious that this country had long done away with the clunky, full body type armor of old and instead opted for more practical options.
I thought he was taller.
Cecilia had that thought as she compared their almost identical heights. A few seconds had passed before the peculiar characters on the wooden door began to glow, and the chevalier then uttered the words -
"Open Sesame."
….........
"HAHAHA!" - Renard burst into laughter upon hearing those words.
The peculiar phrase had caught everyone off guard but none of them dared to laugh.
"Uhm...Renard I don't think you should be laughing like that right now."
Cecilia tugged Renard's clothes, as she tried to control his joyous outburst, fearing the Chevalier's reaction.
"But.... Open Sesame of all things.... HAHAHA!"
It was no use; Renard was already caught up in the midst of his own laughter.
"You-"
"At ease."
An arch knight, irritated by Renard's laughter was about to take action before his superior intervened.
"Was it that funny?" The man directed his question towards Renard.
After finally calming down, Renard met his gaze and answered boldly.
"Yeah....didn't expect that from a Chevalier."
"I see.... that was some good reference. Now follow me."
The glowing incantations began swirling around the multi-layered circles before finally coming to a stop in their correct order like a jigsaw puzzle. Soon after, the two wooden doors slowly creaked open.