NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Brewing Trouble
The faint golden rays of the morning sun peeked through the blinders of a small room, bathing the person sleeping a top the bed at the center of the room in warmth and comfort.
Having been woken up by the light of the sun, the young man, who was about 15 to 16 years old, laid there staring at the ceiling.
"..shit.. I overslept" he quietly muttered before jumping to his feet and heading towards the sink, or so he calls it. In truth, it was more akin to a bucket filled with water from the well and piece of clean cloth.
"I remember Ryouma always over slept back when I was still in Japan.. never thought I'd experience that again, haha" Remarked the young man as he dipped his hands in the bucket and splashed his face with the cold water.
*Phuaah*
He then took the piece of cloth he had on the side and wiped the excess water from his face. Looking at the mirror, what met his eyes was the fairly attractive face of a young, black haired man with almond, slightly slanted eyes.
He was Larc, a man born from the merging memories of the boy from the slums and Ryouma Satorou from Japan.
"Haaah"
A sigh escaped his breath as he fixed his hair and walked towards the closet.
"My lady will surely be mad at me again." He added as he put on his uniform and tied up his laces.
+++
The Carmine estate in Sundgard was far from the estate in Belmont that Larc was used to. It wasn't merely an estate, but was more akin to a fortress or a castle. Instead of the extravagant and sophisticated look of the estate in Belmont, the castle in Sundgard looked strong and sturdy, with walls reaching as high as 6 meters with spikes on the top, one might even call it menacing. There weren't any unnecessary windows and it's entrance and exits were heavily guarded by trained knights. Clearly a fitting appearance for the house of the lord of the city known as Fortress City, Sundgard.
*Grumble*
Because he overslept, Larc wasn't able to get his breakfast from the worker's dining, so he was currently feeling the grumbling of his upset stomach.
"Ughh" He groaned as he placed his hand a top his belly.
[Perhaps the mental fatigue and of last night's debacle exhausted me]
At the moment, his destination was his charge, Juliette's, lodgings. The young platinum-blonde haired lady had specifically ordered him time and time again to always greet her first thing in the morning. By his estimations, it was nearing noon, so Larc was obviously a little concerned.
Upon arriving at the room, he noticed that two maid's were already tidying up the place.
"Pardon me, miss. But is the young lady not here at the moment?"
"Eh?!"
Startled by his sudden question, the two maid's looked up to him and blushed as they caught sight of his figure.
"Ah! Lady Juliette just left a minute ago, sir." One of the maids answered as she pat the her skirt.
"Is that so.. "
Seeing Larc contemplating on something, the maid suddenly drew close to him.
"U-uhmm.. do you, by any chance have a--"
"Ahh! Sir, I remember that lady Juliette explicitly ordered that we tell you to come to her earnestly!"
But before she could finish her question, her colleague suddenly interjected and cutt her off.
"Nghh! Thank you for the information, I'll be going now!"
Hearing this, Larc's face suddenly lost it's color. He quickly thanked the two maid's and took off towards the lounge.
"Hey!" Said the other maid as she faced her colleague.
"Why'd you cut me off?? I was about to ask him out!"
"You fool!"
In response to her protest, the other maid lightly hit her head with the broom stick handle.
"Owww! What was that for?!"
"That was sir Larc, you know?! Lady Juliette's personal butler." Answered the maid while continuing the cleaning. "The young mistress is strangely attached to that man, if she learns that you tried to hit on him, who knows what she'll do to you."
"Eeeek!" Exclaimed one of the maids. "I didn't know that was him! Please don't rat me out!"
"Idiot, of course I won't."
"Thank you!"
"But next time, please be careful on who you hit on."
"I will, I will."
With that, the two maids continued their task in silence.
+++
"So? Why were you late?"
At the center of the spacious lounge that was decorated in relative luxury stood a young girl with silver blonde hair and deep sapphire blue eyes. With her arms crossed and brows furrowed, she looked down on the bowing man in front of her.
"Apologies, my lady. I have no excuse."
"Say, you weren't playing around with the servants last night, were you?"
"Wha--- of course not, my lady!"
In response to Juliette's absurd accusations, Larc's body stiffened as he stepped back.
"Look at your reaction! You were hitting on other women, weren't you?!" Said Juliette with teary eyes as she furrowed her brows and pointed at Larc. "Cheater! Lecher!"
"My lady, please! I did no such thing!"
"Ahem!"
Having seen enough, Jorgé loudly coughed, breaking the atmosphere between the two. He leaned to the side and rested his head on the palm of his hand.
"This is unbecoming of you, Juliette. Please don't be too hard on Larc, he was probably exhausted from last night's fighting."
"Nghh!"
Against her brother's logic, Juliette could only grit her teeth.
"I know that, Jorgé-nii! It's just that I wanted to see him first thing in the morning."
"I understand that, but don't we have more pressing matters at the moment?"
"Myuuuuu.. you're right. I'll leave it for later, but we're not done yet, Larc."
Having somewhat calmed down, Juliette proceeded to head towards the adjacent sofa, but not before shooting a glare at Larc.
[How troublesome..]
There were currently six people in total inside the room. Sitting across Juliette was Jorgé and his Elven lover Danari while Lennox stood at the back, on the opposite side was Juliette, Larc and Milin.
"I guess I should start with the circumstances of the fief."
Jorgé started the conversation as he fixed his sitting position and showed a serious look.
"We have a suspicion that something sinister is brewing within the misty forest."
Hearing her brother's serious tone, Juliette as well fixed her slouched posture.
"What do you mean Jorgé-nii?" She inquired.
"About a week ago, a mercenary company tried to cross the border into Allesia, when they were stopped, they opted to tread through the misty forest." Answered Jorgé while unfolding the map Lennox just handed him.
"They succeeded in entering the forest through here, near a village under Baron Savoy's territory." He continued as he pointed to the map. "Our scouts says that they never made it out."
Juliette raised her brow before tilting her head.
"And? what's that have to do with my convoy being attacked on the road?"
"That's the thing. Ever since then, the frequency of attacks on villages and roads near the misty forest by beasts.. increased." He answered as he looked towards the elf beside him. "I sent Danari into the forest in order to investigate, and she discovered something."
"The beasts are getting pushed out from the forest by something. There is also a thick amount of mana emanating from within. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough."
"Why's that?"
"Usually appearing at night, the mana condenses into a thick miasma. It's caused an incredible amount of annoyance." Lennox followed through Danari's observation.
"What do you mean?"
"It's causing an illusion of darkness. It's making it hard for anyone to trek the forest. As of now, there haven't been any severe casualties, but we've barred the people from going near the misty forest."
Jorgé leaned back the sofa and stared as the ceiling before continuing.
"That's our current predicament."
After hearing their circumstances, Juliette sat back to her seat and fell in a deep thought.
A few seconds passed before she looked up again.
"Then why not assemble a subjugation squad, Jorgé-nii?" She asked,
"With your and Danari's skill, traversing that forest would be possible, no?"
Hearing his sister's idea, Jorgé couldn't help but smile wryly.
"I'd give you points for originality, sister. If I hadn't thought about that already." He snickered as he looked towards a window.
"Tensions between us and the Horse lords are actually also rising, war could erupt at any moment. As such, I don't have the leeway to properly launch a subjugation expedition."
"Is that so.."
Silence descended into the room as the two siblings sipped tea.
"...Although"
"hm?"
Jorgé's sudden remark quickly drew the attention of everyone present. Looking at him, Juliette realized that her brother's eyes traced towards the man beside her.
Larc as well realized this as he thought [I don't like where this is going.]
"Hey--"
Realizing her brother's intention, she tried to speak up but was cut off.
"If Larc-kun were to come with us, I think we'll be able to manage."
[I knew it was gonna be something troublesome.]
"Absolutely not!"
In response to the young Lady's objections, Jorge merely grinned mischievously.
+++
On a road heading towards Sundgard, three carriages rode side by side, each followed by their corresponding mounted knights.
"Haah"
A sigh escaped one of the passengers of the carriage.
"Are we there yet?" She followed through as she peeked through the window.
In response to her, her travelling companion grinned and placed her chin on her palm.
"Ara? Getting impatient, are we?" She asked as she watched the younger woman longingly look outside.
".. I would be lying if I said not, that woman's probably there already."
"Well, I guess you have a point." Answered the older of the two woman. " I had not expected for her to travel through the night, I thought for sure she would rest up in one of the territories along the way."
"That's just how tenacious she is."
"Haha, I guess you're right. I underestimated her, and I apologize."
[?!]
Hearing her companion apologize startled the young woman.
"Ah, you don't need to apologize, sister." She said as she waved her hands around. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you. I only tagged along and yet I'm complaining now."
Hearing this, the older sister unfurled her fan and placed it near her mouth.
"Ufufufu, my sister is pretty cute like this."
"Myuuu, please don't tease me, Onee-sama."
"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just having fun spending time with you."
Hearing this, the younger of the two smiled and clasped the hand of her older sister.
"As do I, Onee-sama. Thank you for bringing me along!'
In response, the older sister merely smiled mischievously under the fan.
[Ufufufu.. I wonder what kind of face he'll make once we arrive.] She thought to herself as the rocking carriage strode forth.