Alma
/ Alma 63 Visiting Rosenfield
Reed let out a wild howl of happiness in response when he heard the good news from Lacrima and increased his flying speed even more. Finally! Civilization! Food! Comfort!
The unfortunate pair had been flying for nearly an entire day in a straight line and had not seen a single town throughout out the entire journey. Suffice to say, the West's endless mountain ranges were not very scenic, or at least as beautiful as the Eternal Forest, per se.
Past the Western border lay lush, wild landscapes reminiscent of a virgin paradise. It was untamed but full of life unlike anything Reed had ever seen before. The trees that covered the East towered over the lands, sometimes even peaking into the clouds above. This was a land ruled by beautiful, verdant grasslands and majestic forests.
It's real damn pretty around here, that's for sure. This place seems heavenly compared to the average scenery you'd see up in the North…
A little town lived near the border of one the expansive, ancient forests of the East. It was a remote settlement that had been built centuries ago by the Eastern Empire in effort to expand out and reinforce its presence along the border during a marked period of tension with the Western Empire.
That stressful era of conflict had long since passed, though. Years turned into decades, and they, too, eventually turned into centuries. All that had been left of that troublesome period now was a lovely little town in the middle of nowhere, beside a peaceful forest of enormous, ancient trees.
A small, homely bastion overrun with flowers and trees. Rosenfield.
When Reed landed near the town's outskirts, he immediately restrained and locked his aura into something that would not attract attention. He drew back aura's pulse, the amount of Anima he emitted, and his shimmer, the degree of condensation he could condense Anima.
He looked like a regular contender now, aurwise. Reed was confident it'd fool contenders, for sure. Conquerors, on the other hand… that was up for debate. Veteran conquerors? He'd probably get caught in an instant.
But the chances of an old freak like that appearing in this little town is probably close to zero. Why would someone like that ever settle down here in middle of nowhere?
Reed brushed his clothes clean and conjured up a small mirror made up of water to make sure that he looked fine. He inspected himself from top to bottom until he was finally convinced that he didn't look like a fool. More than anything, he didn't want to ruin his first genuine interaction with the common folk of this world like an idiot.
He was aware that he had an irregular set of social contacts, so to speak. All of his friends either belonged to the aristocracy or were contenders, some of them even conquerors. More than often, they were both.
As Reed walked towards the town's old gates, he wondered if he'd ever spoken to a normal person — for the lack of a better word, a mortal — since he had arrived in Mulia.
Much to Reed's surprise, the people who lived in the town weren't human at all. They were Avunians among the townfolk, who he immediately recognized, but there was another race that also walked amongst them.
They much taller and slender than the average human. Most were easily at least two meters in height and had long ears just like the Avunians, except they were not slightly transparent like theirs. The trait had seemingly been shifted onto their hair instead. Very curious.
The tips of their hair shimmered in an unnatural way like tiny bundles of glowing string. Their hair floated and swayed along with the flow of Anima ever-so-slightly whenever a small Anima wave passed by. It was somewhat enchanting watch their long hair dance along with the Anima in the air…
He would have continued to gawk at their unique, beautiful hair but a soft voice stopped him from continuing his boorish gawking session.
"Oh my, isn't this quite the surprise!"
Reed turned around was met with a young Avunian girl who seemed to be no older than twenty or so, but he knew better. That their kind matured up to a certain point and stopped aging altogether. They maintained their peerless beauty until death, a trait that all other races in the continent greatly admired.
It was said by someone that this was a racial trait that the Avunians possessed even before they were brought into Mulia millennia ago. Before they called themselves Avunians, when they were referred to simply as the Alf…
"Ah, hello there, miss," blurted Reed in surprise.
"A visitor, and a human boy at that… A very rare thing, indeed. You're quite aways from the North, aren't you?" said the woman as she inspected Reed in curiosity.
Reed awkwardly chuckled and said, "I guess I got lost on the way home. Probably took a wrong turn somewhere, I think…"
She giggled and replied, "That is a very troubling development, then. It seems you've made quite the blunder because you're, at the very least, more than two thousand kilometers away from the North's border."
"..............................…I'm very good at getting lost?"
She smiled and said, "Why don't you tell me all about how you got lost, right over there," pointing at an old cafe called Honey and Bark. "Don't worry, I can assure you that my tea's the best in town..."
Oh, no...… Help! Stranger danger! Call the authorities! There's a suspicious looking girl over here...!
Well, that was a bit excessive to think of her like that, but that was how he initially felt when the girl had suddenly invited him over into her shop. Reed had been scammed one too many times back home, so the idea of a random stranger not having an ulterior motive seemed impossible to him.
Memories of the past flooded his mind. Shop owners claiming that he had broken a priceless vase, or some kind of expensive family heritage of theirs. That he would have to pay an exorbitant sum of coin to them, or they'd call the guards — who were also in on the scam — and have him sent to the dungeons…
He only had four worn silver coins to his name at the time. Hard-earned coin that he had diligently saved over the course of an entire year. All lost in a single day. Needless to say, his twelfth birthday had not gone as planned.
Reed gazed down at his tea cup and stared at his own reflection in silence. He knew and understood that he had more than four measly silver coins now. Wealth meant nothing now. If he wanted, he could conjure a mountain of silver for himself with but a single thought.
Even so, it felt hollow. He still felt like the same miserable, poor boy from back then. No amount of silver coin he could create would ever satisfy that little boy. He wanted his coins back. That was all that mattered to him…
"What's the matter? Don't like the tea? I can bring you something sweeter if you want. The leaves we use for our traditional tea can sometimes be too much for others, or so I heard a long time ago."
"Hmm? Oh— no, no! It's delicious, really. I was just thinking about something dumb like I usually do..." Reed embarrassedly scratched his head and said, "I never got your name by the way… I'm Re— Leon! Leon…"
"You can call me Testarossa, Leon," she said with an amused expression on her face. She sat down across Reed and gazed at the uneasy mien on his face, fascinated with how Anima flowed around him. She'd never seen Anima move in such an orderly, composed fashion before in all her years alive.
The way it danced around him made it almost seem alive. As if it were delighted being around him. That was what caught her attention in the first place. It was obvious enough that he had plenty of secrets too, given his little hiccup of sorts...
A mysterious human boy popping out here, of all places? Thousands of kilometers away from the human territory? Very, very curious, indeed…
Centuries of peaceful, albeit boring life in Rosenfield had left her nearly numb to the bone. She hated guarding the border, but thought it better than dealing with paperwork in capital, or fighting outside in the Shadowlands. She'd spent enough time bustling about, fighting the Infested for a lifetime or two…
Out here in the middle of nowhere, nothing happened. For a young girl like her who had come to crave stimulation, Reed was the greatest blessing of the decade. Something new, something different.
"I-Is there something on my face?" said Reed in confusion.
Testarossa grinned and said, "No, no. You're just a sight for sore eyes, that's all. There aren't that many cute boys like you around here, you see…"
Reed suddenly felt that the conversation was heading in a direction he did not like and said, "O-Oh, is that so? Must be hard on you then, haha... By the way, do you know where I might find some lodging for the night?"
Testarossa ignored Reed's question and softly said, "This town's filled to brim with old geezers and middle-aged aunties, so I often get really lonely..." Her voice had a cadence to it that felt strangely enticing, but it did not affect Reed in the slightest.
It did however, infuriate Lacrima to hell and back almost instantaneously.
Reed immediately wrangled Lacrima down with his Anima before the inevitable happened and hurriedly said, "You know, you should consider adopting a pet! I hear animal companions are great for helping those with emotional needs…"
Testarossa stood up and whispered in Reed's ear, "Why don't we go upstairs and get know each other better in my bedroom?" If her Siren's Call did not effect on him, the tea eventually would. It had been spiked with Angel Tears, a professionally made aphrodisaic and truth-serum of reknown quality in the East.
It was also a classic staple of the East's intelligence corps, especially of the Sunflower Sisters, one of the Eastern Empire's best intelligence and reconssaince divisons...
I wonder what kind of secrets he's hiding. Maybe I'll break him in and keep him for myself instead of giving him to the Order. Either way, I can't wait find out who you really are.... Leon.
Chapter end
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