Sweat dripped from the forehead of the holy knight as he shaked and turned in his sleep wrestling the innermost demons that plagued both his waking and sleeping mind. There were times in which sleep was just that of stories with nothing but rainbows and fluffy sheep, he meanwhile though was suffering in agony with each moment he lingered in his nightmare. Finally though he was rustled awaken by some outside influence, looking about madly to find the cause with him not expecting to be risen by anything outside of the sound of a broken cup or plate that placed on the side table, no he had been poked and prodded by his concerned wife to be who was there with him on his right side. Wishing to relieve his fiancee of his behaviour, he swiftly swept a hand across his brow flicking away the moisture that lingered on it before talking to her about the problems he was having or more appropriately had been having since he left his family.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked downward at his hands, one pink, normal the other bandaged and concealed, moving his attention towards Alice, he began to speak. “My apologies if I startled you or woke you, memories from the past always seem to haunt me whether it's at my darkest or my happiest as it was just then…” Wanting to distract them both from what had just happened he spoke further. “But considering we are both now awake, I think it’s time we went and got ourselves something to eat, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all, now it’s your choice and I’ll be paying so don’t worry just think about it and we’ll get it.” Admittedly while he spoke with a heartfelt tone it was merely a facade however one he had become accustomed to even finding it a necessity to continue on with living as he knew if he allowed his demons to crawl out he would be consumed and no longer be the person he was. Clapping his hands finalising the offer, he began to rise from their bed speaking once more as he did so. “Now I’m just going to use the toilet and put on the shower.”

Leaving the bed he briskly walked over to the bathroom, rushing before Alice could leave the bed to be the first to use the toilet before starting the shower for the two of them, an interesting experience to say the least especially considering the ever growing bump that Alice was developing. Having had a thorough scrub in the shower, Kon, the Holy knight representative of the Illumin stood in front of the bathroom mirror dressed in merely an undershirt and some simple black pants, stoked his ungloved right hand against his chin, it quickly became clear that he needed to shave with flickers of hair striking the hand as it ran down his defined lines. Plugging the sink, he turned both taps on fully before adjusting them to have the pooled water be steaming hot, throwing a hand towel into the water he thorough scrubbed his face before lathering up his fur covered face in shaving foam. Laughing at himself briefly in the mirror being covered in the thick white foam before going to work at shaving off the facial hair he had grown since leaving Orchidia town. It was a slow process with him only having shaved a few times before while using speciality shavers now, however, he was using more “traditional” shaving methods having been given a shaving blade from a client. It was tricky with the blades sharpness almost cutting him up as he did an awkward part of his face, but fortunately, he managed to complete his task.

Wiping away the remaining shaving cream on his face, he inspected the various nicks and scrapes the blade did to him, dabbing them up with some paper to stop the float of the bleeding, he went about an inspected the rest of his face even going as far as to comb his hair something he would almost never do preferring to just let it go wild. donned his typical attire consisting of his black suit with matching pants, dress shoes and his ever-present gloves that he used to conceal his hands without the need for the bandages. Being almost done he waited on Alice before slinging his new weapon onto his back. “Come on Alice, let’s go.” He said casually without any really urgency at least until he spotted a note specifically written toward him sealed with a wax holy knight insignia. Breaking open the seal, he read through the papers inside, before revealing they would not be able to have breakfast together. “I won’t be able to eat with you, unfortunately, orders from higher up.”

The papers were thorough containing information about the catacombs of Baska town, but he would need to get further information on the town itself by exploring it by himself at least until Alice joined the holy knights in case the catacombs held secrets of the faction itself. Wanting to bring a bit of nostalgia to his investigation he would first go to the baska rocks, recognised as being perhaps the only source of entertainment in the area. Unsurprisingly as he moved towards the sparring area groups of people grew with them commenting on the latest fights and their favourite fighters, His own presence drew the attention of many of the citizens with his out of place clothing and his disproportional sword, ignoring the various comments both good and bad he made his way to the arena itself taking a seat on the grandstand as he watched a group of people fighting.

With the sword being completely impractical to remain on his back now sitting down he unslung it from his back before sliding it to the right of him resting it on the chair next to him. Eventually, one of the fights ended with the girl rather cockily giving an open invitation to all to fight her seemingly believing she was invincible because she had fought off a few farmhands. Sighing to himself as the rest of the crowd was merely just getting rowdy and no other opponent standing up, he rose from his chair and began to remove his cloak, jacket and tie. Creating a pile of clothing he placed them casually onto his chair, before removing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the jacket, lighting up a cigarette and stuck it into his lips taking a small buff.

Throwing down the pack and lighter onto his pile of clothing he took up his Samehada with both hands drawing it up onto his right shoulder and approaching her ready to cast a blow with a casual swing from left to right. For now however still at a shouting distance separating the two of them, he finally spoke taking his cigarette out as he did so before spitting casually onto the ground to the left of him. “Farmhands and blacksmiths hardly the hardest of opponents.” Spitting in such a fashion wasn’t something he typically did, however, a show of bravado always gained the attention of a crowd.

Spoiler:

Taking one long breath of the cigarette, he listened as the purple haired lass who would be his opponent agreed with his sentiment even following up by questioning his own character. Ignoring the last portion of her remark, he continued to move further towards her bring up his blade in front of him with his elbows close to his torso and the tip pointing upward. The thick blade of the sword separated the left and right portions of his face towards both the woman and the crowd that sat or stood around them depending on their preference.

Having moved his blade in a more defensive stance, a polite conversation was attempted by the young lady greeting him with her name and allegiance, he, himself chose to reply in kind temporarily removing the thuggish facade he lingered under for what would be the duration of this fight. “Nice to meet you Lycoris, my name is Konstantin, my friends tend to call me Kon though, feel free to after this fight.” He refrained from uttering his own loyalties or even lie about fake ones instead he continued onward towards the girl.

It seemed that crowd was familiar with the girl’s expertise in her weapon hearing many speak of her skills with the sword sheathed on her side, several notable advantages could be said to be in Kon’s favour with him having a far greater reach both from just his natural height in comparison to Lycoris’ as well as the differing lengths in their blades, her skinny frame would likely also prove to be a hinderance for her in comparison to his own more bulky physique, Kon almost felt as if he landed just a single swing from his Samehada that the girl would be cast away into the very crowd itself.

While others might have hesitated at the thought of fighting a woman, he would not regardless of the circumstances even willing to fight his own fiancee albeit in a spar they had both agreed to. It was needed for him to be able to fight almost anything with his role as a Holy Knight often forcing him to do so, evil tended to like hiding behind the weak and innocent in order to survive and it was his responsibility no matter how grim to purge where-ever he was from it.

Walking ever closer, the girl swiftly moved into a dash towards him, now would be the time she no doubt had a plan of her own most likely just a test of his character. Sparring the female mercenary would be different as her style in keeping with her profession could be anything from that of a berserker cutting and slicing madly or that of the finest of sword-dancers more precise and careful with their blows.

This too would be a test for her own abilities with her behaviour affecting his own decisions for the remainder of the fight, having chosen to move towards him at such a speed, he quickly changed his plans on the fly stopping short, leaving his left leg behind him ever so slightly to allow him to be in a better position while doing so he swiftly motioned upward his right hand and taking his left hand downward forcing the blade of his sword change from being purely vertical to a more horizontal angle rising it up while he made those changes.

He did so as he watched the lady rush towards him with her arms clearly ready to strike him with her arms raised in a blow that would lead to him being hit on the chest, a resonating clunk was made as the sound of metal on metal occurred with her blow being blocked entirely by his Samehada. The block itself had awoken the sword causing it to shake within its bandages allowing the cut portion from the strike to fall loose, with a grim smile he would the fight before it even began. He chose without a moment separating the sword touching to follow up with a counter attack granted to him by quickly pulling back his sword from the clash to his left then rushing the blade of the weapon at her while he continued onward with the momentum by pushing forward with his left leg as he did so.

The space that separated the two of them was minute which would allow him to target almost anywhere on the girl particular since his own reach practically doubled her own, for now however he would merely focus his strike towards the lycoris’ head, she would likely be able to block the blow but to what degree would be the question as she would still be recoiling from dashing towards him only to be stopping midway preventing her from backing up significantly enough to avoid such a large reach and defending using her weapon would be questionable at best with it just looking merely like any other weapon you could find at the scrap heap in a blacksmith.

Spoiler:

The blow was swift but did not make its target only striking another portion of the mercenary’s body, her shoulder to be specific with her managing to narrowly avoid him hitting her head. The toll on her body was significant however with her needing to compose herself as they disengaged, Kon choosing to hop back a bit to make some space between them. He was more than ready to go back into the fray of this fight but from the damage she had taken it would be almost pointless for him to continue.

Even her blade was damaged, chipped at the place the swords had crossed, in the state she was in though the best way to end things would be just to rush towards her tip pointed at her chest which would require to either dodge once more further injuring her arm, block and likely break her sword or take the hit. As he did so the crowd went up into a complete uproar, looking back now however he really should have mentioned to the woman that he would be able to heal her injuries before they started but oh well it’s too late. After the final blow was made he’d finally offer to heal the woman which would likely take some time considering his skills as a healer at least for now.

Had he missed the strike he would recoil as quickly as he could and wait to see what Lycoris would do next. The fight had been short so far but it had revealed a far amount about the girl what was revealed however would remain for him to know and others to find out themselves. When she finally fell to the ground from either his blow or the injuries she had already sustained he would casually drop the blade of the weapon onto the ground before lowering the rest as he helped the girl recover from the wounds she had sustained from the conflict.

The many of the audience as the woman fell would quickly leave their seats approaching both of the fighters with mixed emotions for both of them, some were women craving the attention of the knight, others were fans of the woman annoyed about the fight being unfair, he meanwhile ignored all of them, save for two, one being a particularly violent member that struck him while he wasn't looking and another who seemed to be holding his clothing.

The attacker was quickly tackled by others in the crowd while the young teen carrying his clothes raved on about wanting to be his apprentice. Shaking his head at the offer, he refused the boy, thanking him instead for his clothes putting on his jacket and his tie roughly before using his cloak to help him carry the mercenary in his arms. He would carry away the woman to heal her himself doubting the medical abilities of the townspeople, pushing the people around them he took her up into his arms and began to walk out of the rock, supporting her injuries as he did so.

Alice was a bit bored, she had stayed inside, ate her breakfast by herself, worried a lot, concerned about a lot of things and this all while she was trying to read a book. Her breakfast didn't taste well because suddenly was alone, she had a little of a stomach age. Her book was a rather boring one and she longed to talk to Phoebe about a better one but since the two of them weren't in Orchidia, it wasn't an option. Jupiter seemed to be more grumpy than usual and Hecate was a bit sleepy, apparently she had been up because of Kon his nightmares, which was what Alice worried about. He had slept so badly and immediately had to go on a job.

With a loud thud she shut her book and the companions looked up at her. "Let's get some fresh air." she muttered as she paid for breakfast and left the hotel that she was staying at. Alice was dressed in a green sweater with her leather jacket and blue jeans. With her two companions she walked across the streets, with no plan or idea in her mind of what to do. She heard exciting children talk about fights at the Great Baska Rock and decided to head over there for old time sake. She had been there to watch Selena fight or had it been Arisa, who she had not known yet by name at that time. She simply shook her head and walked that way which made Jupiter a little more excited and Hecate just went along.

It was quite busy over there, lots of merchants and blacksmits and she wondered why they simply weren't working but who was she to complain, she wasn't even wearing her uniform and not on duty anyway. She always kept her eye open for problems though. She heard whispers about descriptions of people and she heard surprising reactions and people, especially women trying to catch the eye of a very handsome knight and that's when she caught a glimpse of Kon. Was this the job he was asked to do?

Besides she had a bit of an annoyed expression to the women that wanted his attention and she tried to make her way through the crowd, which was way tougher than it looked, where her companions could find small spaces between people's legs, she had to ask to make room and no one wanted that.

Another glimpse that she caught, showed her someone planning to attack Kon, or so it looked but people stopped him and pulled him back into the crowd, making a little space for her to follow and she tried to but they were gone. Kon and the girl he was fighting and she looked left and right, heard annoyed comments about her from other woman and she had to be a grown up and not pull out her tongue at such people, "Find him." she muttered to Jupiter, who immediately walked in one direction so she would spot Kon again soon and the girl he apparently had fought.

She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what she actually felt and simply crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Will she be alright?" was all she said in the end when she was close enough.

Clutching the girl like a bird that has a broken wing, he listened as she weakly spoke to him recognising that he, konstantin sokolov was carrying her rather than just some random citizen, she commented on how her own skill weren’t sufficient. He was merely stronger that was all, he had been develop, honing his skills for some time however it was clear she was merely a dabbler of the blade. Her desire for power was made apparent inadvertently revealing something about herself, her past and need to set it right. He would have to question her about it definitely at a later date however.

For now though her concerns were more focused on her broken sword requesting he took it with them as well. Looking at her, he merely shook his head casually. “I haven’t got any hands free I’m afraid someone else will have to look after your sword while I patch you up, perhaps you should consider getting a new sword, even if it is a heirloom?” Putting down the girl on a long flat bench away from the public close to the corner of the arena, he went to work healing her rolling up his right sleeve as he did so. While he would have tried to stop someone who needing healing to talk but spoke on about his sword and his own abilities both being out of the ordinary. “Well at least you know now.” He said with a tinge of sarcasm.

It seemed that this was exactly what she wanted however to what end, how could this help to serve her. Remembering back to the letter he received, he began to question whether she was the target the holy knights were after but quickly he cast the idea away recognising her as merely just another regular adventurer seemingly unable take a few blows from him, a dabbler in swordplay. “What you wanted?, how do you mean?, have you been looking for someone to defeat you?”

It was at this point he overheard a voice he was all too familiar of, Alice’s, apparently she had followed him despite his offer to letting her spend the day by herself. The tone she used wasn’t encouraging nor her body language with her simply questioning the wellbeing of the woman not even saying hello. Wanting to explain himself, he weakly rose up his hand and answered. “She’ll be fine, look I can explain, my plans changed and uhh i got in a brawl with her, looks like i’ve broken her arm…” With a free hand, he scratched his chin having given it some thought. “I’m thinking of making her my apprentice…”

The noise was far behind them and Jupiter had simply been able to bring her to where Kon and the girl were. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to feel and that's why she only asked if she was going to be okay. She didn't even address the girl, which was very rude from Alice and she knew. Especially when the girl answered at first. Her eyes lingered over her before turning to look at Kon who lifted up his hand and she simply stared, she was at least relieved that he answered her. Finally she understood a bit about what she felt, she was afraid that his magic had taken over again and that he had lost control again. She was still unsure if that happened to him back in Worth Woodsea, considering his reactio after she wanted to believe so. This girl only had a broken arm, it could have been far worse.

She looked surprised, frowning while moving one eyebrow up, "I don't need you to explain what happened," she tried to smile, was it that bad that he felt the need to explain why he was here instead of with her? Was she that clingy? "I mean you can do whatever you want right," She didn't want to sound like that and she didn't want to say such things with this girl over there. She didn't want to give anyone bad assumptions about her nor about Kon. Maybe she felt a bit jealous about the whole apprentice thing when he mentioned that but than a few seconds later she told herself that there was no need to be jealous at all. "That sounds very interesting. I missed the fight, I just stopped by because a lot of people seemed excited." She tried to change the tone in her voice to a far more upbeat tone because she didn't want him to think that she was angry.

"How does that work though?" she asked and she came a little closer so the girl could see her and she could show Kon she wasn't angry, "I'm glad you are okay." she said to her, "Sorry for just barging in, I'm Alice." His fiancee but she didn't want to add that afraid he didn't want to say things like that.

Revealing more about her personal life, Lycoris revealed the reason for fighting the arena, “Experience?” He thought to himself with her further revealing why she chose this spot, in particular, basing it off her brother’s opinion likely the one who had given the sword to her in the first place, while he wasn’t the best person to comment on such matters as he was closer to a scholar more than a swordsman, he merely nodded and “hmmed.” and “Ahhed.” throughout it. Luckily for Alice prevented any awkward breaks from the conversation with her interjecting as Lycoris finished talking.

With a sigh of relief, it seemed all was fine between the two of them, Alice showing no signs of minding his absence from her. It seemed he had misunderstood her thoughts on it but he was wrong about a fair amount of things regarding women all the time. Not needing to add anything further into the conversation and risk having an argument something they hadn’t really ever done and especially in front of some people, he merely responded with an “Ok.”, allowing her to continue giving her opinion on his idea of making Lycoris his apprentice.

His proposal didn’t have a negative nor a positive response from her perspective, more neutral if anything, he made no comment however on the matter allowing her to continue onward about how she came to be here in the first place. The reason seemed all too familiar with him doing just that. Rubbing the back of his head briefly before returning it to his side, he finally replied. “Yeah, the crowd drew my attention as well, but Lycoris over here was the one that encouraged me calling for a challenger in the crowd, and I just happened to be there at the time so…”

The feasibility of his offer came into question with her recognising that there would likely be some issues with it perhaps though it was more related to how would it work in general. To be honest he wasn’t quite sure himself he wouldn’t be able to make her an apprentice through the Rune Knights directly well not legally nor would the Holy Knights let an unknown individual into their ranks and he hadn’t properly assessed her anyway. “Well, I guess you could recruit her into the Rune Knights and I could take her along in the missions I can risk having her with me on while training her on the side.”

Recognising she might be concerned with him being too spread out to give her some attention as well, he moved his right hand and rose it upward in a wave. “Not to worry, I’ll make sure that my time will be spent wisely to ensure the wellbeing of all of us.” Simply mentioning her, their child and himself in such a fashion to reduce the amount of information he would reveal to the woman even inadvertently in case she didn’t follow up on his offer.

It was apparent though that their relationship was obvious to strangers, he smiled as she noticed the bickering between them. “We are to be wed some time in March, the final date hasn’t been decided yet, only the venue, a nice place in Orchidia town.” He didn’t reveal it was his manor yet either as that too would reveal further information about his personal life.

A significant revelation on Lycoris’ part did give him slight pause in continuing with his proposal apparently she lacked any aptitude towards magic. While it would be a hinderance for her not to have a magic at least for the time being there were ways around it. Confident about his abilities to be able to teach her, he doubled down on his offer. “While you might not have any magical abilities you will still be able to learn and perhaps in due time you will attain a magic through some alternative means, if you so desire of course, magic is something that should not be underestimated.” A small laugh escaped him as he was questioned about his strength to overcome such a burden. “You’ve only seen a small part of my abilities, Lycoris and trust me when i say I am strong enough, ask Alice she will tell you just how fearsome my might is.”

The mention of being called master took him back to distant memories from his early teens though they were quickly cast aside as she told them the tale of her past, one with many twists and turns ending with a chilling betrayal having her alive simply based on chance. Her obsession with gaining power seemed to hinge on getting revenge on those that double-crossed her and her pseudo-family. It was a drive that he could respect and wholeheartedly understand, wanting her to know he was willing to accept her as she was he simply placed his hand on her uninjured shoulder and spoke. “One thing I’ve learnt in all my years is that being noble and proper isn’t the best course of action to take and will get you hurt or worse if you’re not careful as other people won’t be above doing anything to complete their goals.”

His comment was blunt and straight to the heart of how he felt about a lot of things it was how he managed to overlook or commit to doing things that others might hesitate in doing. He was swiftly probed for his own resolve in fighting, it was a tricky thing for him to answer really as he really didn’t have a reason, there was, of course, Alice who he fought for but her words left him thinking for a moment.

The questions all very similar context wise he finding that it would be the easier for him to answer all of them at once. “It’s an interesting question, why do I fight, I’ve never really thought about it to be honest, while I could say that I fight for the wellbeing of Alice that’s only been something that’s happened recently with my emotions for her having let me push through obstacles that i didn’t think possible.” Thinking further on the matter while scratching his head. “before we met though I too had ambitions of revenge even that wasn’t what drove me perhaps it was a sense of having to right the wrongs of my family i don’t really know.”

There was, of course, more to that he could add to his response however he didn’t feel as comfortable opening up any further just as she had. Instead he would attempt to redirect the conversation by returning to Alice. “Hmm, I think it’s time we get something to eat, this fight has left me feeling a bit hungry, Lycoris please join us for an early lunch so I can make up for breaking your arm.”

She didn't exactly know what happened, also didn't agree with that the only perhaps good experience was from duels and on the battlefield. Now she didn't have much experience with the later but well not all duals worked out nice but it also wondered what people meant with duals and she noticed how her thoughts were drifting off because of a lot of things. She had been paying attention to Kon shortly when he still did sort of explained how he got to be here and she only nodded, not entirely sure if he would be able to see it but she kept thinking about the idea of perhaps challenging someone herself, but in her condition, it wouldn't be a smart idea. But since he was talking to her, she had to try and focus on the conversation, one thing she did notice was that he had not dropped the words Holy Knights once and she had to be careful not to say it herself in her moment of being unthoughtful.

She crossed her arms again, mainly because she didn't know how to give herself a stance and she looked at the sky, not to show disinterest but she was wondering how that worked, "I wouldn't mind, no one would ask me anything anyway when I recruit people, the thing is that she would have her duties and training as a page, I might stand in for her because I know she is getting different things to learn but I can't prevent everything." It would be difficult to keep it a secret, not everything was discussed with the Holy Knights or from the Holy Knights with the Rune Knights. That would mean that not everything would be smart to know, "Perhaps if, and correct me if I'm wrong, you want her as an apprentice in secret to later served in the name of your organisation, she could be my apprentice only in name?" Which would feel strange but it might make things easier for her in a way of working it out for the Rune Knights. Whom she didn't trust since the last accident.

Perhaps the frown on her face had him worried for he gave her a gesture and the comment that he would spread out his time to spend time with all of them and she tried to smile, it did work thank heaven, she didn't want to show off as being clingy but apparently she was and this jealousy feeling (even though she told herself again it wasn't necessary), was a bit annoying. "I know. I am sure you will find a way." Perhaps if she joined the Holy Knights herself it would be better, but than the second question that she had been asking herself all the time: wouldn't she bother him, by joining the same organisation, would he feel responsible for her all the time? kept showing up in her mind. Very.. annoying.. But the smile stayed on her face.

Which made her turn to Lycoris as she heard a chuckle and stared at her grin for commenting about them looking like newly weds and she couldn't help but soften her frown and stare lovelingy at Kon, well, that was nice to hear. She didn't feel the need to add anything about it but a short nod and she lowered her arms to stop standing like someone with a problem.

She didn't plan to mix in the next conversation, she had been some sort of adventurer, it hadn't worked the same as she had been able to restore her weapons in her magical ability of some dimensional pocket but she had lost it and was now still trying to adept on using shittier weapons and something like magic, which was more difficult than wielding weapons. She only looked from one to another and was mixed into the conversation when Kon asked her to simply agree with him on his power, "I have seen my fair share of fights and I believe you always won. Perhaps not our first time but you cut it off to flirt with me, so I would say I won that one." Which perhaps was more information that she wanted to say, she blamed hormones, which she didn't want to say out loud for reasons that she didn't know who this Lycoris might be and which was probably the reason why Kon didn't say everything as well.

Again she simply wondered what the two of them were thinking in this conversation that did seem to be different in many ways, she wondered if Lycoris noticed that not everything was said or in such a way that it stayed hidden and could have different meanings, so she only watched, ignoring Jupiter and Hecate a bit as they simply sat beside her now, they had moved a bit closer. She turned her gaze at Kon again as he was asked what he fought for. which was something she had never asked about but it was something that she could imagine, she knew him for quite a while and it did fit Kon, obviously it was his answer and all. "Lunch sounds like a wonderful idea." For she was definitely hungry at this point. She turned to Lycoris to see her reaction to the suggestion.

A plan had been made with all parties including himself with Alice recruiting Lycoris into the Rune Knights, the issue, however, was with the finer details that needed to be explored at least that was felt from Alice exploring how she would have to take on her workload when Lycoris was away with himself at least until she had joined the Holy Knights which would make things a bit more of a challenge. Lycoris meanwhile seemed more than willing to do whatever the Rune Knights had in store for her, he almost laughed at her enthusiasm being reminded of his own attitude before months of work took its toll on him, he had been glad he had left the Rune Knights for the Holy Knights every day since simply because of the contrasting amount of work required for the Rune Knights.

Hopefully, by the time the recruitment process of Alice had been completed, his apprentice to be will have already developed her own skills to make the Holy Knights take note. “That would be much appreciated, thank you, I can pull a few strings in the Rune Knights myself with former colleagues to make her workload more centred near home as well if that’s beneficial.” She continued further wanting to understand the full situation along with the end game coming dangerously close to mentioning his affiliation.

Shaking his head though not making a comment towards that remark specifically, his response was blunt. “That would be the end result and with you potentially joining soon, she would act as our uhh eyes and ears for the Rune Knights, I hope you don’t mind doing that sort of thing, Lycoris?.” Wanting to put the best light on the situation, he elaborated further. “Hmm, how do i put this?, as Alice mentioned, I work for an organisation that works outside of the law where a majority of the members are former Rune Knight members.” Looking at Alice with a smile. “She will be joining me shortly and this is in part why I, we need you to report back to us on any strange activity within the Rune Knights, okay?” While he had just said a lot more than he probably should have it was better he explained himself rather than have the entire plan go up in smoke with a clash of responsibilities.

The tone of the conversation quickly changed to a lighter one with them returning to the wedding, congratulations were given by purple haired lass remarking on the beauty of Orchidia town, he wasn’t one for staring at dead leaves simply because of their colour, no he was from a fine lifestyle that still impacted him today, the autumn was always and would forever be a time of family traditions past down through countless generations. Not wanting to make the talk between the three of them suddenly stop, he scratched his chin and finally rose to his feet. “Yes, it’s a lovely town, awful mess to tidy up though not looking forward to having to rake up all those leaves, I’ll tell you that now…”

Hunger had set in once more with a grumble in his stomach, Alice’s attention to his proposal was regained with her confirming and delighting in the idea of lunch Lycoris meanwhile also sharing the same sentiment. However, the brief fight between Alice and himself which had been stopped through flirting between them came back into the conversation, wanting to reaffirm the truth of the fight, he pointed at Alice who had remained with her arms crossed during the entire affair. “Come now I would hardly call that a win besides especially now I wouldn’t dare fight you, earlier yes but…” Changing his hand gesture to more of an open hand waving down and up her a few times illustrating her condition.

It was true that they did have several fights only just recently but those days had come to an end at least they had for the time being. Clapping his hands once to announced his eagerness to have something to eat, he spoke to the two women. "Alright let's go, I feel like hmm pasta, I wonder if there are any good pasta places here, Do you know of any?, I'll go ask a local I guess." Wanting to gain the attention of the closest villager he poked the man's shoulder turning around the difference between the two of them became immediately apparent with the villager lacking all of their hair save for a few strands sadly combed over a shiny bald spot matched with a thick beard that stretched from ear to ear. "What do you want?" The man barked rudely. "Are there any good restaurants in town?" Snickering to himself, licking his lips taking a glance at the two women that stood behind Kon, the man responded "Yeah it's called the uhh Blue Flower, centre of town on the right corner close to the announcement board." Ignoring the man's digusting behaviour he merely thanked him before returning to Alice and Lycoris. "Well let's go shall we?"

As Alice had thought that Kon wanted Lycoris to join him later as a Holy Knight, she needed to be recruited in the Rune Knight first. Even though they didn't work together in all the things, it certainly seemed to be the door for people to enter. Which made her wonder how that would work, Lycoris apparently didn't catch up on her question for Kon if it was basically only for now and said she wouldn't mind the duties of a page and at least that made Alice like her a little more. No matter the task given it seemed that Lycoris would try. Which made her golden eyes turn to Kon as he laughed and she wondered for a second if she missed a good joke or so but she didn't see how easy it would become, perhaps she was stressing too much on the point that Lycoris would have to actually share two work forces without her perhaps even knowing and she mentally shrugged it off and she would see where it goes. "Fine, sounds like a plan. I will write a letter of recommendation soon," which would be soon as she would be able to sit down when they would grab lunch. "And I bet Lycoris that you will learn a lot, I mean also in strenght and fighting skills which is always nice to learn." That was the idea right? But she asked Kon something as well and he quickly took back her attention by shaking his head and saying that it was only a part of an end result,s omething with eyes and ears and that was right, she had no idea when she would be able to join the Holy Knights herself but it soothed her little green jealousy monster that she was still going to be the first.

She turned her attention between one and the other as Kon explained the situation a bit and she tried her best not to gloat about the fact that she was joining soon, which was something she only recently had thought about and now she wanted to show off, it was ridiculous. "I hope you don't mind, I rather keep some sort of tab on the old organisation that I up till now still belong to. I worked hard to get this rank but I am still far from actually obtaining anything." apart from that some men didn't seem to agree with her being a lieutenant, as a woman. Which was also a reason why she didn't want anyone else to know about her pregnancy but hitting the five months mark soon, she should better play hide and seek for the organisation.

The talk about their future wedding made her daydream a bit more and she felt silent once more and thouthg about how to pick out and find a wedding dress when she had no one to go shopping with, which made it a bit of a bummer and perhaps she should contact Ana, as a designer, she should know a couple of things. She even missed the comment about raking up the leaves, which actually also told Lycoris that it was his own house but well Alice only heard something not looking forward and something about telling you now and because she had no idea what it was about she said nothing at all.

She turned her attention back after she made a flirtly or some attempt remark and she had her arms still crossed in front of her chest, "You just don't want to admit defeat but I won't tell anyone." she said with a playful grin and a wink but she also nodded when he made a waving gesture at her, "Apart from that we will know that you will win again anyway. But I still like you." From which she dropped her gesture of having her arms crossed to give a more open stance instead of closed off and perhaps looking grumpy.

And when Kon pushed a little about getting lunch, he suggested pasta which she definitely felt like eating so she nodded but quickly shook her head when he asked if she knew anything although she thought the question was more for Lycoris than for her but it was simply a matter of answering to make him aware that it wasn't her that would know. So instead he would ask a local and she would walk a little closer to Lycoris, "Are you feeling alright? How is your arm?" Since Kon was a healer she wondered how much he could do to fix a broken arm or was it already mended?

When everyone was ready to leave she would simply follow, having not exactly listened to the directions of this place but she certainly looked forward to eat pasta and she could write the letter of recommendation immediately.

It seemed all members were in favour of his plan with her recruiting into the Rune Knights being the priority and needing to be done as soon as possible. Lycoris’s willingness to act as their informant within the Rune Knights was unexpected though she didn’t have any relations to the organisation from hearing her past meaning that her own allegiance were herself and perhaps him now. Already willing to provide him with information on the group at least from the perspective of the citizens that they protected, she revealed that there were rumors of corruption within the ranks of them. It was little surprise in the revelation with him being familiar with it, though never taking part, as his duties were towards the church now though those issues didn’t matter to him in the slightest. Still wanting to thank her for the information, he replied. “Lycoris, I was a member of the Rune Knights for some time, it’s not unknown that they are full of corruption it was just one of the many reasons why I left them in the first place.”

Alice attempted to continue the debate over her victory though he quickly drew it to a close by just rolling his eyes and groaning. “Fine…, you beat me okay?” His urgency for closing the discussion stemmed from him wanting to eat just as their new apprentice seemed to show similar eagerness describing herself as the biggest eater of her old crew. He wasn’t interested in a competition with her on that title and merely would let her have it. “Surprising for someone so small, well you’ll be paying out of your own pocket for this then I guess?” A challenge was made despite his comment with him shaking his head for both to see. “I’m not one for eating large amounts of food in a rush perhaps another time.”

They would however reach the restaurant after a short walk with him stopping just before they entered the building. “Hmm I’m just going to put down my weapon somewhere so it’s not in the way of everyone, please you two go inside I’ll come in after you.” Taking his time he found a spot to put his weapon before entering the building without Alice and Lycoris who would likely have found a spot inside. Taking a seat for his own he would order a modest lunch which would likely be a significant contrast to Lycoris’s. Eventually though they would finish, with him needing to attend to other affairs in the town, he relieved himself and went to grab his weapon only to find that it was absent from where he had left it. Swearing to himself, he looked around before walking off now weaponless once again.

[Exit]

It felt a bit mean to spy on the organisation that she was still in but she was leaving, that thing was sure and she would still feel that it was hard to leave it behind. It surely had to do with the lieutenant role, she hadn't seen much others around and it felt as if she was leaving the organisation in the dark. She wondered how some people would react. She looked away when they talked about the rumour of corruption, she had heard it as well and though she knew a handful of Knights very well, there were still enough that she didn't know. It only proved the point of the Council not wanting her to tell about her pregnancy. She turned to look at Lycoris when she had the feeling that she spoke to her and noticed the sheepish smile and she waved it away, "Only more reason for me to have another person keeping an eye on the knights." She tried to say it while Kon later addressed that he was a Rune Knight before, making that the reason why he left them. Perhaps that was a good reason for her as well.

When the food was brought into the conversation she looked from one to another, was she the only one that wasn't that big of a fan of food? Especially minced meat at the moment sounded disgusting but she was sure she would survive. She asked Lycoris about her arm while Kon went to find a place to eat and nodded when she heard that the healing spells had worked out fine, just as she had expected. She turned to look back towards her fiance when he walked back to them but her golden eyes quickly turned back to the girl. She opened her mouth to say anything about eating for two.. how did she.. perhaps it wasn't that difficult to figure out. "Even with that I won't eat so much, so I am not considered a good battle. I will fix the papers for your recruitment in the mean time while you two battle it out." But Kon denied the match as well and she could only shake her head with a smile on her face.

She followed the two of them towards the pasta place, where she shortly split off from Kon to enter first and find a table for the three of them. She took the papers from her bag, surprisingly that she had them with her and she wrote all the information she needed and if she didn't had it, she would ask Lycoris. It would be soon finished, "Well I'll hand this in to the headquarters but consider yourself a member of the Rune Knights." She said with a happy smile, although it was just a title since she couldn't join the Holy Knights yet, Alice let it at that. She would order something simple with not too much of a flavour for that would make her nauseous but once done she said she would head to the headquarters, she offered Lycoris to come along but she could also go and do something else, it wasn't necessary to come along.

She quickly lost Kon because he seemed to have gone before she noticed really and she headed towards the headquarters.



Exit.