Afterthought
Meanwhile in Frieden.
John is sitting in the Duke’s medical office, together with Martin, the leader of the Blood Hounds, and some other medical staff the Duke employs, reading some information on demons.
“Yo Martin, do you speak Dwarvish?”
“A little. Why?”
“This article isn’t available in Uni or Elvish so I was hoping you can get me the gist of what it’s about.”
“I don’t know…My Dwarvish is more at a conversational level not a professional level. Why don’t you ask the people here?”
“Because they’re barely at a conversational level in Uni and none of them speak Elvish.”
“Sigh Fine, give it here.”
The door suddenly swings open and Rayla enters. She seems angry.
“There you are! I’ve been searching half the mansion for you. Do you have any idea how big this place is?”
“Good morning to you too, Rayla. I’m sure glad to see you in good health.”
“This is no time for pleasantries John. We just talked to the Queen an-”
“Excuse me, why the fuck am I the one being left out again!?”
“Because you’re hiding somewhere in the asscrack of the world so I couldn’t find you. Either way that doesn’t matter. Rose isn’t coming back anytime soon. You might as well use that time to train.”
“What? Why?”
“Because…Because she said she’s so exhausted from life that she'll kill herself when we stop adventuring, so the Queen is letting her rest a bit in the castle right now.”
“Fucking hell…At least she’s in the best possible environment you could hope for. So what now? Is the ordination canceled?”
“No, just delayed. We’re getting funding from the queen to do whatever now so we decided to train. Also the King kidnapped your sister to train her in some unknown place.”
“Excuse me!? Shouldn’t you have led with that!?”
“If I had you wouldn’t have listened to the rest of it! Either way I’m going to leave for Berk.”
“Berk!? That will take months.”
“The queen is allowing us to use the portals so it’s only going to take a day.”
“She’s allowing us to use the portals!? But those are only for high ranking nobles and people of geopolitical importance!”
“Well, we’re the friends and family of a princess so I guess that’s just the type of special treatment you get. Also I’m a Duchess now.”
“You’re what!?”
“Yeah, the Queen gave me the title and a last name. I’m Duchess Rayla Zorra now. Either way I’ve got to go. I need to catch my carriage. See ya.”
Completely stumped, John falls back on his chair and starts to rethink what just happened.
“Some premium friends you’ve got there.”
“Not the time to talk about this Martin…”
“Nah, that's the perfect time to talk about this. So what’re ya gonna do? Apparently you got funding to do whatever. Gonna go on a vacation?”
“No…If they’re going to train, so am I. I can’t just be left behind like some afterthought. Rose is my best friend, I want to protect her the same as everyone else.”
“That so, ey? Even if it’s dangerous?”
“Sure.”
“Even if it’s…Illegal?”
“What are you getting at Martin?”
“Ah…Well, you are a dark mage afterall, so I have this great tourist vacation spot in mind for us two. Ever heard of Naturia’s lost tribes?”
“You mean the savages living in the deepest, most dangerous parts of the jungle?”
“Yep, I happen to have some connection to one of those tribes but I unfortunately have too many law-abiding citizens in my group. So I thought why not go with someone I can easily kill if he rats me out? You’re half Woodelf, right? You’ll fit right in with them.”
“And what exactly are we going to learn from a bunch of half naked people living in caves?”
“Well, aren’t you curious what allows a bunch of half naked people with no access to modern weaponry or knowledge to survive out there? I hear they have some pretty good lost magic. Perhaps even a completely unique magic tradition.”
“...Is this just a hunch or more of an educated guess?”
“An educated guess.”
“Alright…Let’s do it.”
“Perfect! Let me get some preparations done!”
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