Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 176

Choices and Dilemmas

“If you join the Knighthood, I can promise you that you will be treated well! The Blue Lions need new blood, and we don’t discriminate between bloodline or race! Someone as young and as gifted as you are very rare! Very rare indeed!!” Donovan beamed as he advertised the Blue Lions. “And I do mean it! With that talent, you’d shot up the ladder like nobody’s business! So how about it?!”

To his surprise, the expression on Martell’s voice had turned ugly.

“You dare question my loyalty to my Mistress?!” he shouted. “Telekinesis!”

The lid of his Sword Box flew open and Wild Geese jumped out into the air. It spun two times before landing in Martell’s arm.

He strummed the strings, causing a shock wave that caused everyone around him to feel like their innards were dropping to the ground. Akira and the others instantly fell onto their knees, except for Donovan, who was still on his feet; only a slight change of expression on his face.

“Huh?” Martell frowned. It should be enough to stun Akira and his entourage. Yet the man is unperturbed.

That was enough to know that the bald-headed Knight was very strong.

Martell was about to repeat the motion when Nick stepped in front of him.

“Wait! Wait wait wait wait! Both of you!!” Nick and Akira – who managed to shake off the effect of Martell’s note - stood in front of their respective companions, desperately trying to stop them.

“Donovan! What are you saying? You’re making things worse than it already is!!”

“And you, Martell! Don’t go flying off the handles like that! Are you going to involve the innocent townspeopl?!” Nick scolded him angrily.

“He insulted me!!” Martell exclaimed, his finger still hovering above the strings.

“Insult? I don’t mean any insult. I’m just offering you to join the Knighthood!” Donovan said, clearly still not understanding the intense reaction coming from everyone there. “You’ve reached the first step of being an Unrestrained Candidate! On such a young age! Such gift needs to be reared carefully.”

“Unrestrained…Candidate?” Martell’s hostility disappeared as he was lost for words from the sudden information. “You mean…me?”

“What? Him?” It was now Akira’s turn to lose his words.

“Astonishing,” Klein shook his head in amazement. “Simply astonishing. I knew that he was gifted, but to this extent? Is it because of the environment? Have I not worked myself hard enough?”

The Mayor, who was powerless to do anything, like a sheep in the middle of a conflict between lions, could only look at Nick for help.

Nick noticed the helpless look from him and scratched his head. “Look, everyone should just calm down, okay? Take a deep breath, and let’s go to the Mayor’s place,” he shrugged. “We can at least hear them out, right?” Nick gazed at Martell, who sulkily nodded his agreement. After calming down, he felt rather ashamed at his sudden outburst and grumbled as he fixed his shirt with a tug. “Very well. You’ve escorted the town’s supplies safely. It wouldn’t do to Mistress’s honour for us to answer goodwill with ill. That’s all we can promise you.”

“That’s fine,” Akira replied, relieved that it doesn’t devolve to something bloody.

“All sorted out? Good,” Nick sighed. “I swear, I’m gonna die from stress soon if shit keeps happening.”

“What about your men?” Hannah asked in passing as she laid her eyes on the men still twitching on the ground from Martell’s attack.

“They’ll live,” Nick nudged one of them with the side of his leg, earning a low groan from the fallen victim. “Get the others sorted out. Today’s training is cancelled.”

His answer was a louder groan.

The Mayor led them to the meeting room on the first floor of the mansion. The very first thing Donovan did when they had made themselves comfortable in their seats was apologizing.

“Forgive me, it is the first time I saw someone as young as that has broken through the First Wall and on their way of breaking through the Second Wall…that I forgot myself! I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Donovan said. He bowed deeply, disregarding his position as a Noble. “As an apology, how about I recommend you for a very good starting salary - ?”

“Stop,” Martell felt exhausted just listening to the bright-eyed man. “I have no intention to become a Knight. I have promised my life to the Mistress and have no intention of serving any other.”

“That’s a shame,” Donovan looked downcast, but quickly changed his mood. “But I do not expect any less from someone of the Steelheart House. To be able to inspire such loyalty!”

“What is the Second Wall?” Akira asked.

“You know that the First Wall is Level Fifty, yes? The Second Wall is what separates normal people and Unrestrained Candidates!”

“Look. This is exciting news and all, but can we get into the heart of the matter?” Nick said, eager to get things over with. “What do you want from the little guy?”

Akira coughed before he proceeded to tell them of his purpose for coming to Greyvault.

After listening to his plea, Martell and Nick looked at each other with nary a word said. Martell then said. “I refuse.”

“Why? This is a matter that involves the whole kingdom.”

“I serve Mistress Cornelia, not the kingdom, and definitely not you. She had ordered me to stay in Greyvault,” he answered with a frown. “You come here, in the absence of my Mistress, told me that you want me to go with you; and you expect me to say yes, just like that? If that’s so, you are severely mistaken.”

“Furthermore, the description of the place you just said means very little. A forest with Pine trees and snow covering the ground? It described at least eighty percent of the forests in Arlaine!” Martell shook his head in disbelief. “For a man capable of seeing the future, you don’t really plan things well.”

Hannah was about to spare her two coins, but Akira placed a hand on her thigh, stopping her. “Martell, I know we have disagreements in the past…”

“Sir Hero!” he barked. “I…have nothing more to say. Good day to you.”

“Wai -!” His voice was ignored as Martell walked off, slamming the door behind him.

“Huh,” Nick sipped on his lukewarm tea with a wry smile. “Didn’t go well, did it?”

“We still have to try,” Hannah said.

“Is it possible for us to stay here in Greyvault, Sir Nick?” Klein asked. “Even without his help, we still need to try and find out the most likely forest described in Akira’s vision.”

“Oh, Sir now?” The scruffy Paladin smiled. “You can stay in town. Or not. I have no right to dictate what a Hero does. You can also use the maps we have here. But in regards to persuading him, you might as well forget it. The only thing he cares about is following Milady’s orders,” he finished his tea and put it down with a loud clink. “I will reserve a place at an inn I know for your entourage. Try the sausage soup, it’s to die for.”

For a few days after that, Akira and his party members went around town to look for clues, while Klein reserved a place in the mansion’s library to look for places that could be their goal.

As for Donovan, he kept pestering Martell every waking hour; trying to persuade him to come with them. Even though Martell had reasoned that they did not even have a clear destination, he was undeterred. There was also the fact that his unabashed friendliness grated on him.

However, the most annoying thing was that the bald Knight was a good deal stronger than him, so fighting him was also useless.

On the fifth day, Martell managed to trick Donovan and finally managed to escape his incessant chase. He climbed onto one of the towers along the town fortifications, only to find someone occupying it already.

“H-huh?” a girl with a wide brim hat stuttered. “W-who is that?”

Martell stepped over the last step and sighed. “You guys are everywhere.”

“Sorry. Do you want me to go?”

A cursory glance of a piping hot drink in a cup heated by magic, a large fur blanket, and the charcoal pen with a book in her hand told him that she had made herself snug there. “No. It’s fine. As long as you’re not trying to pester me about going with the Hero.”

“…no, I’m just here to draw the mountains. It’s a very clear day today and you can see even faraway mountains. It’s very rare view.”

“I see. Well, I’ll just be practicing my Guqin here. Just ignore the sounds if you don’t like it.”

With that, Martell took out Wild Geese and started playing. It had been a few days since he managed to find a time to play it. The two were comfortable in their own space. The only sounds that could be heard were the sound of scribbling and plucked strings, interspersed by the occasional howl of the wind.

After a while, Eleanora put down her charcoal pen and looked at Martell.

“T-this is a good town,” she said awkwardly.

The young Beastfolk boy did not stop playing as he answered. “…compared to the Capital, this place must look dreary to you.”

“Um…I’ve…heard the stories about what happened while we were visiting the Treatment Center. T-the children there could not stop bragging about your party.”

“I also heard about your Hero pulling his sword when he saw Rhoddes,” he still did not look up from the strings.

“T-that giant is a nice person. I like him, I-I think. He’s very kind.”

“I like him too.”

“A-also, he told me that he’s having trouble connecting with a certain boy who has trouble opening up. It’s…you, right?”

“…and?” Martell sneered. “That’s not your problem.”

“I-I’d like to help you. He’s very nice. And you and your party had helped us a few times before. I really want to return the favour.”

“Hah, and how are you going to do that?”

“See, my Master said that to open yourself to others is not easy. Yet he also said that it’s easier for people to open up to others if they’re friends,” The girl rambled. “The giant is nice…b-but…you don’t consider him a friend, do you?”

The sudden change in tone made Martell’s finger slip, causing a dissonant tone. “Pardon me?”

“I-it’s just…” Eleanora wiggled her thumbs together awkwardly. “I felt that you…are similar to me.”

“Similar how?” he asked, slightly on edge.

“N-not exactly similar, but you give off the same feeling as me. You know, when I talk to people my age, none of them could keep up with me. I don’t understand them and they don’t understand me. My Master said that it’s because I’m a genius. That’s why I don’t have normal classes. I tried making friends with people my age but soon they just drifted away and talked bad about me, because they cannot keep up with me.”

“The only ones that I can talk to, were the Seniors. But soon, they also looked at me the same way as the others my age. Eyes of envy, hatred. I tried to ignore them, tried to make friends, but as a trusting person that I am, I trusted the wrong person and was betrayed,” slowly she began to lose her stutter, as if losing a certain wall in her heart. “Then I started to think, if they cannot keep up with me, then they’re not my friends. So, I stayed in my tower alone.”

“Then, Master made me join Akira’s party. At first, I tried to refuse, I was content just being in my Tower. After being persuaded many times by him, I relented. And sure enough, when I joined, none of them understand what I was talking about. So, I expected them to act like the others. But to my surprise, they showed none of those. They treated me as equals. Even if I fail or make mistakes, they don’t blame me, but encouraged me to do better next time,” Eleanora looked straight at Martell and continued. “It was then I finally understood, that not everyone is your enemy. There are those who do not need to get something from you. Those, who want to be with you for you just being you.”

“B-but, that’s just me. If I’d never agreed to joining the Hero’s party. I’d still be in my Tower. Perhaps I’d be content. But one thing for sure, If I’d stayed comfortable there, I won’t ever meet them. Or you and Lady Steelheart.”

After speaking for so long without stopping, Eleanora’s face turned beet red.

“I never…realized you can speak that much,” Martell said, eyes wide.

“Um, um…that’s all I want to tell you. I-I’ll be going now,” she said as she packed up and ran away, almost tumbling down the stairs.

The boy sat still, tyring to make sense of what she had told him in all earnestness. He also found that it was reasonable.

“To look at things from another perspective…perhaps, that’s the key. Doing things like I’ve always done does not get me any closer to my goal. Perhaps, meeting a true Unrestrained might help me understand. But if I do it, won’t that mean that I’ll be disobeying Mistress’s order?”

That night, Martell laid down in his bed, eyes closed but unable to fall asleep; questions and doubts from the conversation with the young Wizard plagued his mind. Irritated, he woke up from his bed and bundled up at a corner of the room. He had started to feel comfortable enough to sleep on a bed, but he felt most safe there.

Still, his mind did not stop thinking, so he tried doing the meditation exercises he learned from Connie. He slowed his breathing, relaxed his body, and gradually started to fall into a meditative state.

His consciousness slowly started to melt away. He blinked a few times, and closed his eyes, unable to stay awake.

When he opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar room. There was someone in that room. He noted the golden hair and deep blue robe and quickly realized that he was seeing his teacher, Autumn Rain Cicada.

“This is…another memory of my teacher?”