The situation right now is both hilarious and tragic. Rem, who always tries to look cordial and decent for Roswaal's reputation, has now arrived at the Sword Saint's manor looking like a ragged slave.
With directions from Reinhard, Flam and Grassis brought Rem fresh clothes and clothes for Higuruma as well.
"Greetings, servant of Lord Mathers. We gift you this garment as compensation for the conflict between our respective parties." Grassis handed Rem the cloth and spoke politely, which was also reciprocated by Rem.
"The matter has already been peacefully settled, but Rem is thankful for your hospitality"
However, on the other hand, with Higuruma, he was being actively chastised by Flam, the older and verbally spicier twin.
"For a man praised by both Lord Astrea and Sir Arkwright, you have not made the best impression when it comes to fighting women frequently." Flam stated blankly, handing him the fresh clothes.
For a small moment, Higuruma didn't respond. He hadn't set foot in Reinhard's estate before, much less met the residents, and he was already getting chastised by one of them. The bolder sister of two twin maids, no less. He was getting flashbacks to just a few hours ago...
"Duly noted."
Reinhard stepped forward and treated her warmly, following her back towards the carriage as she prepared to leave.
"Rem apologises for the inconvenience. Sir Sword Saint's generosity will not be forgotten." Bowing with the pile of clothes in her hand, Rem thanked Reinhard, still sounding polite but robotic.
'I guess it'll be a while before Rem gets that cute voice and colour back into her life.' Luke thought in his mind, watching as she also addressed the twins.
"Please think nothing of it. Any companion of this estate's residents will be treated hospitably." Reinhard responded.
As the two talked about simple pleasantries, Luke brought Higuruma to the side.
"Hey, what happened? Did you run into some bandits, or did you actually get into a fight with her?" He whispered to him, inspecting the damage to his clothes.
There was no way regular bandits could deal such obvious damage to both of them, especially with how his hand had deep patterns of what looked to be chains. Obviously, the most likely contender was Rem's morning star.
"Apparently, she can sense the Witch's miasma, and she mistook my energy for a cultist. We had a small confrontation, but everything was resolved through some slight misdirection." He adjusted his scuffed tie, as if feeling pride.
'Rem is special in the sense that she can smell the literal miasma of the Witch, which means it's true... Cursed Energy is similar to the miasma. Too similar...' Luke thought grimly in his mind.
He had already hypothesised this conclusion back when he and Mahito had fought the Mabeasts in the forest. Now he was completely convinced that they had been attracted to that location because of the high amount of Cursed Energy present.
"What is Sir Luke whispering about? If it's on the topic of punishing Sir Higuruma, then please allow me to assist." Flam butted in and appeared to joke, hopefully.
'Am I really gonna have to put up with this girl's antics for my entire stay here...? Damn you, Ram 2.0.'
"Haha, DEFINITELY not." Awkward response from Luke.
"You have a very familiar personality..." (Not) nostalgic response from Higuruma.
"Oooo~ Please let that happen; it would eliminate the boredom~" Mahito jumps down and joins the conversation.
Though his figure was invisible to non-spirit-sensitive beings, his actions could still be seen by the normal denizens of the world.
Flam's eyes flicked towards the suddenly trampled blade of grass near her, and she knew it was the mysterious Spirit belonging to the new member of their estate.
In reality, on the first day when Reinhard first encountered Luke and Mahito, after he returned home, Reinhard had immediately asked them if they had heard about any spirit harbouring the same traits as Mahito.
Though she deeply trusted Reinhard, who in turn had already begun to trust Luke and his companions. She still couldn't imitate that trust so early, especially when there was an entity who could wander the manor without being spotted and was a considerably powerful entity.
"Please just try to be slightly normal, I beg..." Luke clapped and held his hands together in mock pleading, obviously knowing what the response would be.
"What you consider to be normal, I consider to be...~ I don't really know, but I don't like it. Besides, Hiromi~~ How did it feel to be separated from us for so long~?" Mahito tried to touch Higuruma, who casually sidestepped the attempt.
"It was very refreshing to not be with you for at least a night; thank you for asking." He answered unenthusiastically, but who could blame him?
After a bit more chattering, Flam took the initiative to continue her duties. "Since Sir Higuruma has not yet been familiarised with the manor, allow me to guide you and show you your room."
He nodded in appreciation before telling Luke that he had done what he was asked to do, to get a favourable reward from Roswaal.
"A favour that we can ask for anything in the future? Huh, I hadn't considered that. I'll trust your judgement if that's what you chose. Now, have a VERY nice time with Ra-, I mean Flam here." He pushed and urged the two to get going.
Watching the two walk away, Luke was already excited about hearing what Higuruma had to go through with her later.
The sound of a whip and the earth dragons sprinting caught his ear as he looked back towards the gate. It looked like Rem was leaving now, and Reinhard was walking towards him.
"It seems Higuruma and Miss Rem might have stepped on the wrong foot, but everything seems to be alright now. Hello to you too, Mahito." His eyes looked a bit worried as he noticed Mahito. It clearly had something to do with what he was mentioning before.
He hesitated about whether he should bring it up now or if it was even a big deal. He was eventually going to tell the three of them anyway. Felt, on the other hand, would first need to be adjusted to her behaviour.
And speak of the devil, the sound of the upstairs balcony window breaking instantly caught their ears. The sound was accompanied by the sight of Felt, having jumped through the window, trying to go over the wall and escape.
Her speed was impressive, and it looked like she would actually manage to escape.
But with a loud burst of wind, Reinhard instantly left his spot and appeared near Felt, grabbing her scarf and holding her up like a misbehaving kitten.
"Miss Felt, is your body appropriately well-nourished for this exercise? Please eat and rest up first." He patiently told her as he tanked the kicks and punches coming from Felt, not flinching at all.
"Let me go, you pervert! You changed my clothes when you knocked me out! I'm going back to the slums to get old man Rom!" She hissed.
"Well, you'll be glad to hear that the giant was also brought here by me. He's currently being watched by Grimm. If you allow me, I could take Miss Felt to meet him."
Hearing his words, Felt became surprised and stopped her resistance. Something about Reinhard's words naturally made her more inclined to trust him for some reason, so she became temporarily compliant.
"Hmph, you better not be lying, or I'll actually escape this time."
Since escape was halted, she roamed her eyes around before spotting the other two individuals present.
"Hey! It's you, the friend of the guy who saved us!" Felt waved towards Luke, gently being brought down to the ground by Reinhard.
"Yeah, it was just last night, but nice to meet you again, Felt. Higuruma just went back in, so you should thank him first."
After a few more exchanges, Reinhard started to lead the compliant Felt inside the manor. She did not look like she was aware that she was chosen as one of the Dragon Maidens, so Luke figured that Reinhard was going to explain it inside with privacy.
But before fully entering, Reinhard looked back and gave the duo a suggestion telepathically.
"Before you two are officially integrated with Miss Felt's future camp, you should go back to town and inform Captain Hans."
...Telepathy sure was convenient when you didn't want other people hearing.
Since Luke already knew of this Divine Protection, he wasn't too surprised, but the sight of his confused Cursed Spirit was certainly amusing.
"Don't question it, Mahito; he's just built different." He patted his shoulder as they headed out to meet their old boss.
Going from the Noble District to the general area of the capital was a decently long journey, so they had to take Maine once again. Despite its horrific backstory and hidden appearance, it was starting to look cute to both of them.
The Noble District was relatively small and compact, despite being able to contain more than 100,000 people inside.
The Royal Capital itself was divided into 5 rings, showcasing hierarchy. The innermost rings were the most powerful class. The Noble District was positioned as the second-most inner ring, only outclassed by the literal Royal Family in the centre.
"It's so quiet. These humans need to get better diversity; all these manors look the same." Mahito chided beside me. But he wasn't technically wrong.
"I guess if everyone else is buying huge mansions to show off their wealth and power, then you might have to as well?" Luke gave his reasoning as his eyes roamed over the approaching manor, which looked somewhat familiar.
'Why does this look so familiar?' Luke was going to focus on more of the details before his instincts flared to the maximum.
A blaring light rapidly approached them from the sky, looking like it was a condensed wave of fire. It didn't look like a simple Goa spell.
Gathering his bearings, he unsheathed the sword at his waist and threw it with full force towards the attack. Usually, a normal steel weapon against a strong fire attack would be a bad idea, but this sword had long become tainted due to constant exposure.
Mahito quickly acted, stepping in front of Maine to protect the weakest link from any potential 'shrapnel', also internally already spotting the attacker.
The flying sword collided with the wave of fire, and despite not being a full match for it, it tanked a majority of the force before falling helplessly to the ground, only a little charred.
'Who would actually be brave enough to launch an attack in this district!?' Luke panted, stabilising himself and jumping to the ground, ready to fight.
"Get ready, Mahito; it might not be a walk in the park this time."
There was no time to reach for the sword right now; the attacks could resume at any second. Thankfully, there were two others on his side. Even Maine was quietly huffing, ready to lunge and attack when given the command.
It didn't take long for the attacker to reveal themselves. Stepping out from the gate, they were an outrageously beautiful woman with voluptuous features, which she proudly seemed to show off.
"Kuku, this mistress is not disappointed. The sight of a mere steel blade withstanding my divine might was enough to satisfy my expectations." With a fan in one hand and an impressive-looking sword in the other, she proudly spoke out.
'Priscilla!? She's already here even though the start of the Royal Ceremony is still a month away?' Luke was shocked by this, also upset that he hadn't predicted that this could have happened.
(A/N: If you're doubtful that her manor is this close to the Astrea manor; in the Arc 3 novels, Subaru goes to the Astrea mansion after being kicked out by the other 3, which means it must've been somewhat close by. They are all secondary manors btw)
"Whoa, is that your type of woman, Luke~? She talks pretty big for her size. I wonder how small I can make her before she becomes unnoticeable~." Mahito stood beside him, teasing him as he scanned the woman before him.
He acknowledged the power of the attack as well as the mighty presence radiating from the sword in her hand, but he doubted she had the capability to harm him.
"Have we met before? Launching an attack in this place is a crazy thing to do, by the way..." Luke suspected she knew of his reputation as the new Spirit Knight in the capital, but he didn't mind hiding Mahito's existence to have an advantage.
Hearing his words, Priscilla furrowed her eyebrows, clearly becoming angry at Luke's seeming disrespect in her view.
"Watch your words in front of your goddess, peasant!" She spat out, swinging her sword and releasing another stronger wave of fire.
'Shit!' Luke enveloped himself with his Cursed Energy, ready to take the brunt of the attack since Maine was behind him.
But thankfully, Mahito stepped in to save the day. "Just give me the word, Luke~ I'd gladly turn her into a bug for us to play with~"
He spat a transfigured totem into his hand and threw it in front of the attack. The totem quickly turned into a wall and stopped the attack completely, though the wall also quickly became vaporised.
However, in Priscilla's view, all she saw was a wall erupting up from nowhere, neutralising her attack completely. The boy was quickly starting to become more and more interesting.
The reputation of Luke Arkwright had quickly spread since his first day as a local knight. Even excluding the fact that he was one of the only two Spirit knights in the kingdom, his post as a routine guard in the commercial district made him very favourable and popular there.
The point is that anyone with a decent information network outside the capital would have already heard of this new development.
However, if it was just a minor or quasi spirit, it wouldn't be that impressive. But according to reports, the Spirit was completely invisible, and according to the Sword Saint, it had a distinct physical body and could only be seen by individuals with a decent spirit affinity.
That had been the primary reason why Priscilla had left her primary estate, the Barielle Domain in the southern region, close to the border with Vollachia.
So, seeing the attack blocked, her lips curled up in genuine delight, as if she hadn't just gotten angry. She was always willing to be charitable, if the other party piqued her interest.
Opening her fan and hiding her lower face with it, she haughtily said, "As a reward for entertaining mineself a second time, this goddess shall mercifully spare your life today."
An awkward silence commenced for a few seconds after she spoke. Even Mahito was quiet, exasperated at how a human could be so genuinely prideful.
(Cough) "Ok... Thank you, my Lady... Is there anything you need my help with? Otherwise, I need to go to the commercial district and report to my captain."
"Hmph, you should feel privileged that you can bask in my presence for this long. What business with your captain demands more priority than mineself?" She asked, not out of jealousy, but out of curiosity and pride.
Before her question could be answered, a loud voice interrupted them. "Priiinceesss!"
It was coming from a helmeted, one-armed, muscular man with scars easily visible on his torso and arms. He ran up to her and asked her if she was okay, expressing genuine concern.
This concern was rewarded by a swift kick to his abs, followed by a sweep of the legs until he was under her feet, a punishment for interrupting her conversation despite being told to stay back beforehand.
"Know your place, Aldebaran."
"I'm sorry, Princess, but those two look more dangerous than they seem..." He didn't look too worried despite his current position. Maybe a kink?
She stepped off of him and told him to get up. Al dusted himself off and spotted the sword on the ground, quietly grabbing it and handing it back to Luke.
"Here you go, bro. That sword is crazy durable compared to how ordinary it looks. Where did you get it from? In fact, where are you from?" His helmet covered all of his eyes besides a small slit for his eye, so it was hard to tell what emotion he was currently feeling.
"Yeah, It's just a regular steel sword. I've just been infusing it with my... mana for a long time."
In reality, of course, items that are regularly exposed to Cursed Energy will naturally become Cursed Objects over time. For over a month, that sword, given to him on his first day of being a knight, had experienced Cursed Energy output as well as the taxing release of his Cursed Technique.
As a result, it had simply become a weapon that contained the potential peak of reinforcement he could achieve with his current Cursed Energy.
"Oh, I've never heard of that, but that's pretty cool." He gave a thumbs up before getting slapped away by Priscilla, who walked forward.
Pointing at Luke with her fan, she fearlessly told him to bring out his spirit, wanting to see if the reports were fully true.
"You. Mineself hardly believes you had the power to match my flames. It was the work of your Spirit, was it not?"
The conversation quickly transitioned to the same explanation from Luke: that normal people cannot see Mahito, and a very brief statement that he was definitely stronger than his 'kin'.
Priscilla herself was a very accomplished and prideful woman. Her incredible arrogance was backed up by her genuinely talented intellect as well as her supernatural luck, which could actually affect the world to give her an advantage. Her Divine Protection of the Sun further solidified this belief for her.
"I'm really sorry, Lady Barielle, but I really have to go quickly." Luke wasn't actually in a hurry; there was no deadline. He just didn't want to be near a woman who would kill him at a slight inconvenience.
She looked at him silently, calculating something in her mind. If even she was already interested in his abilities, then likely that fox merchant and Karsten duchess would also be interested in using him as a publicity boost.
The identities of the Royal Candidates were not yet public, but for someone of her intellect and influence, it was an easy deduction to make.
Anastasia Hoshin was a very successful merchant from the Karagiri City States and founder of the Hoshin Company, one of the biggest conglomerates in the world. She operated mostly in Karagiri and lived there.
She had recently travelled to Lugunica for the purpose of expanding her business. But interestingly, after visiting the Juukulius estate, she was brought in front of the Sage Council for unknown reasons. The signs were incredibly obvious.
The only recent relevant action that Crusch Karsten had taken lately was the influx of weapons and combatants into the city, brought under her name. She was planning to go to war with someone or something.
Those two would would undoubtably find Luke useful for different but still related purposes. One for obvious military and strength purposes, and the other for status.
If Anastasia brought him to her side, she would possess both Spirit knights in the country, which would give her immense leeway and favourability in the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko, which worshipped Spirits and had many Spirit-users.
Priscilla was already sure of her future victory, but she wasn't stupid. She couldn't afford to sit back while the other two would absolutely try to build connections with him.
"Very well. This goddess shall accompany you on your mission. Be thankful that your status will now rise above most fools with my presence." Her words spurred Luke's attention, making him panic.
"Woah woah, there's really no need to come with me. Wouldn't you just be wasting your precious time?" He tried to play on her ego, but she was dead set on her plan.
"Al. Bring my carriage with haste. This goddess has to go to the district populated by commoners." He quickly ran back inside, obeying her command.
No matter how many times Luke tried to dissuade her, she didn't listen, and even when he pivoted to just arguing that they could use Maine instead, she still refused. She wouldn't be seen dead riding on the mount of a commoner together.
Mahito was already laughing at his fate, wiping his tears. "I'm actually starting to like this girl~ You don't want me to kill her, but I can still play with her soul, right~? She's gonna make this ride waaay more fun~!"
Her luxurious was eventually brought out by Al, who had thoughtfully freed a space for Maine to be hooked up to so that he wouldn't be left behind. What a bro.
She stepped inside the passenger box and sat down, waiting. "Al, this goddess' time is precious. Make haste."
Luke sighed in resignation before hitching Maine to the front and tried to step up to the driver's seat with Al, before he was once again stopped by your one and only.
"Stop. Where do you think you're going? You will sit in front of this goddess. Be thankful that your pitiful eyes will experience the greatest joy in life."
Despite being inside and not looking towards him, her voice still boomed and was incredibly hard not to notice. Her voice held no warmth, but some degenerates would probably still fall for her.
There was no point in arguing with her. Luke quietly stepped inside with Mahito sneakily trailing behind him.
'On second thought, I'd rather take your place right now, Higuruma...'
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