Shortly after I received the report from Decius, I went to privately meet with Tasha and Flora to share the information. At that time, I was prepared to have to come up with a series of arguments to convince them of my plan, but to my surprise, they had no objections. My plan was to go to Deimos in order to personally report Dennis’ murder and the information I had about the impostor merchants who killed him and his guards. I was also planning to turn down King Henrik’s offer to issue a bounty for them. I didn’t want to risk the chance that Dennis’ murderers would learn about the bounty in advance and there was no point in relaying this to Ironshield’s merchants’ guildhouse since the Harbingers were already monitoring the situation. Also, and this was something I kept to myself, I still wanted to be the one to personally apprehend them. Of course, I am no expert tracker, so the odds of that seemed unlikely, but I still held onto the idea secretly.
Flora was entirely open to whatever plan I had for the next step of our journey and Tasha also seemed pleased with our next destination. Although, that may have been because the way I explained it to them made it seem like hunting down the murderers was not the priority. From their perspective, perhaps they just thought I only wanted to act pragmatically to ensure their capture. Of course, that was still important to me, and, after having calmed down, I understood in my head that I definitely did not want to do anything that would actively hinder someone else from bringing them to justice.
I informed the king of my decision and he readily agreed to it. He insisted on providing an escort for me to ensure that I can quickly and smoothly exit Brennan. Of course, they would only take me to the border because of the restrictions on sending soldiers and knights into the Outlands. Well, not that I would have accepted if that wasn't the case.
As another piece of good news, the next day, I finally made a breakthrough, or should I say I made a partial recovery. I was able to maintain circulating five bolts throughout my body for over three minutes. Now, my body was at around the level I was at just before fighting against the king of the Nature Clan. I had to have confidence that I would get back to my prior peak soon enough as I couldn’t simply wait around here any longer.
Two days after the report, after having a small farewell banquet and having everything prepared for our send-off and escort, we were ready to leave. Fortunately, I didn’t have any further awkward encounters with Decius during this time, but unfortunately, he was present when the king and Leonora saw us off that morning. I wanted to just ignore him, but I couldn’t help notice that Flora and Tasha were looking at him with strange expressions. I wanted to ask the two of them if something happened, but as King Henrik walked over to shake my hand a final time, I couldn’t find a good opportunity for it.
“Braith, it has been a great pleasure to have you all here these past two weeks,” the king said to me as we shook hands.
“We feel the same, Your Majesty.” The king smiled as he continued to shake my hand.
“Are you sure you do not need me to provide you with any gold for your travels?” At this point, I was very tempted to agree to it, but at this point, I felt like I should stick by the character I had established with him.
“I don’t need any gold, Your Majesty. The information and escort are already sufficient.” The king still did not let go of my hand.
“I hope you can understand that I feel that I still haven’t done enough for you.”
“I understand and appreciate your feelings, Your Majesty, but I did not do what I did in order to receive further rewards.” The king finally let go of my hand.
“Well, I won’t try to convince you anymore today, then. However, I want you to know that should the opportunity arise, do not hesitate to let others know that the King of Brennan is indebted to you.” I had to take a moment to carefully consider my response. As I mulled over the right words, I saw Leonora hugging Flora in the corner of my eye. However, I did not let any thoughts of regret cloud my thoughts.
“...I will try not to take advantage of your favour, Your Majesty.”
“Well, if it’s you, I think it should be fine even if you do.”
“Thank you. I will do my best to live up to the trust you have in me.” Finally, it looked like King Henrik was done with what he wanted to say. However, Decius seemed to sense this and chose this moment to step forward.
“I wish you safe travels, sir Braith! Although, it would be even safer if I was also tasked to be an escort.” Seriously, why are you even here, Decius? I turned away from him, not wanting to speak with him.
“Sir Decius, as I understand it, your tasks and duties in the capital should be coming to an end today. Feel free to have yourself and the rest of your squad prepped and ready to leave without having to engage in any formalities.” Does this mean that even the king doesn’t know why Decius is here? As I thought this, in the distance, I saw another Harbinger standing off to the side. He was pretty far away, but was that Decius’ squire, Marco?
“Oh, there is no need to worry about anything, Your Majesty. The tenth squad is already ready to leave at a moment’s notice. I just wanted to say goodbye to my good friend, sir Braith.” Decius seemed to beam a smile at me underneath his mask.
“We’re not friends,” I stated coldly. If he was going to continue being this annoying, then I felt the need to just make something very clear.
“Sir Braith is rather shy. It’s an endearing quality of his,” Decius responded without missing a beat. I was surprised to hear such a quick retort, but even more surprised by how well the king was tolerating what I assumed was incredibly rude behaviour. I guess he’s just that good-natured. At that moment, Tasha returned to my side after saying goodbye to Leonora. She held onto my arm and then glared directly at Decius. “He and his daughter are very alike, especially in that aspect.” Wait, did something happen between the two of them after all? I didn’t understand it, but I felt the need to glare at Decius as well, but not too fiercely, since the king was watching.
“I wish I could speak with you longer, Braith, but I understand you are in a hurry,” the king said, bringing an abrupt end to the growing tension.
“Yes, that’s right,” I replied simply. Flora also returned to my side and then the three of us left for the carriage that the king provided to us. From outside, Decius was still trying to catch my attention by enthusiastically waving at me. I immediately looked away, and then I noticed that Flora seemed to be looking at him.
“Just ignore him, Flora,” Tasha said, also seeming to notice the direction of her gaze. Flora was a bit startled by Tasha's sudden words, but she tried to quickly recompose herself and gave a small, nervous smile.
“Oh…um, I don’t think he’s that bad…” Both Tasha and I looked at her incredulously. Seeing our reactions, Flora looked panicked as she also held up her hands defensively. “I mean- you know…” Tasha and I continued to stare at her, waiting for her to continue. Her face instantly became flushed and she turned her gaze to the floor. After seeing her start to tremble, I sighed and then pulled Tasha closer to me in order to stop her from staring.
“I know that you are kind to a fault, Flora…to the extent that you are willing to think that someone like that is a good guy.” Well, I won’t deny that he is probably really talented at his work, but that doesn't excuse all those red flags I’ve noticed about him. “You can even keep thinking that if you want, since, at the very least, he is someone useful to Brennan’s king, but please don’t just blindly believe in other strangers in the future.” Flora’s face seemed to scrunch up a bit, as if she wanted to argue, but it was only for a second. In the end, she didn’t say anything in response, and we left the palace grounds.
The journey towards the southern border of Brennan was relatively uneventful. We had to set up camp several times due to the length of the journey, but no problems arose. Our escort was composed of a dozen guards, with one of Sir Emmerick’s squires as the leader. Each breakfast, lunch and dinner (when it was just the three of us, we usually only ate twice a day) was more luxurious than the usual rations and dried goods we were used to, and from the look of the guards, it was something that was especially prepared. Flora wanted to help with setting up camp or cleaning up, but our escorts insisted on taking care of everything. From the way we were traveling so far, it wouldn’t be strange if someone mistook me as a dignitary of Brennan.
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With so little to do, I had a lot of time to observe and think. And with all that free time, I noticed one morning that Flora’s hair was undone. Everyday I saw her in the palace, except for the first day, her hair was braided on her left side. I didn’t really think much of it, but with nothing else to do, I asked her about that. Leonora did tell me that it was something that she did for Flora, but I thought she would have learned how to do it herself at some point.
“Hey, Flora, how come your hair isn’t braided today?” I meant to use a very casual, non-confrontational tone, but the way she looked at me made it feel like I must have failed to do so. Was my tiredness making it sound harsher than I intended? “I mean, not like I think that you need to do your hair in any particular kind of fashion.” Flora fidgeted nervously, as if she was in trouble. “No, seriously, it’s just a simple question. You don’t even have to answer it if you don’t want to. I just thought you did it since it looked nice.” Flora looked up at me with a bit of confusion.
“You think it looked nice?’ she asked. Wait, did she not actually like it? Did she just put up with it because of Leonora?
“Did you not like it?” I asked with a hint of concern.
“...I liked it.” I did not have full confidence in her muttered response.
“You really liked it? You’re not just saying this because of Princess Leonora?” Flora hesitated to respond for a bit, and then shook her head.
“No, I liked it. You also thought it looked nice?” I took a second to think about her response.
“Yes, I also thought it looked nice. Do you just not know how to do it yourself?” I noticed Flora’s cheeks blushing a little bit, and took that as her answer. “It’s okay. I can braid it for you. If that’s what you want, that is.” Flora looked at me in surprise, so I continued speaking. “Believe me, I know it sounds surprising, but I do know how to braid hair.” I then paused to consider whether or not to elaborate on the reason why.
“Okay, if you don’t mind,” Flora responded shyly. Tasha, who had just been quietly observing the whole time, suddenly spoke up.
“Dad, you know how to braid hair? How come I’ve never seen you do that before?” Tasha asked me with a tone of voice indicating that she felt slighted by this sudden revelation.
“Just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I will. I mean, the only person I could have braided hair for would have been you.” She stared at me with some intensity, as if questioning why I never even thought to offer before. “And I’ve never felt like I needed to do something like that.” I gently ran my fingers through several strands of Tasha’s blonde hair, which felt incredibly soft. Shampoo did exist in this world, but it wasn’t something that I could have afforded for everyday use (it may be worth noting that the supplies Hiram gave us included shampoo and ingredients to make more). In Ironshield’s palace, we got to use it regularly, and although the more frequent usage had some noticeable effect on my own hair, it made little little difference to the natural feel of Tasha’s hair. “I think you look perfectly beautiful as you are.” I didn’t intend for my words to be uncharacteristically over-the-top or cheesy, but they left Tasha momentarily speechless. Then, she recomposed herself and smiled smugly at me.
“Well, of course!” Tasha was her usual confident self again, but now Flora looked very embarrassed. Oh, did she misinterpret what I meant.
“Flora, I just think Tasha looks great no matter what because I’m her father. It’s not like I’m saying there’s anything wrong with the way you look. I only asked you earlier because I thought you had taken a liking to that particular hairstyle.” Judging by Flora’s flushed cheeks, her embarrassment did not abate in the slightest.
I decided to just stop talking to her for the moment, and to wait for a later time to re-offer to braid her hair if she still wanted that. When I asked her later, although she responded shyly, she agreed. Fortunately, there weren’t any more awkward moments between us during the carriage ride, and even though it had been many years, I did not have any issues recalling how to braid Flora’s hair similar to how I had done for my cousin in the past.
When we finally arrived at the southern border, the commander of that particular fort personally came out to greet us. Seeing the royal crest prominently displayed on our carriages, he must have expected someone of very high rank to show up instead of just me. I figured he would be surprised to see who the escort was for, but he looked perfectly composed, almost as if he was expecting me specifically. We had a brief introduction, and then, because it was already getting close to evening, we rested there for the night.
The following morning, after breakfast, the escorts separated out three horses for us to take with us outside of Brennan. I thought three was too many so we only took two instead, with Flora and Tasha sharing one between them. Then, as I was about to get on the horse, the leader of our escorts called out to me.
“Sir Braith, before you go, there is one last thing I must present to you.” He took out a rather hefty pouch and held it out to me with both hands.
“Is this from His Majesty?” I asked.
“Indeed,” the squire responded.
“Does he think I would be more inclined to accept his gold if he wasn’t present?”
“Not at all, Sir Braith. This is not gold.” I looked at him quizzically upon hearing his response. I took the pouch from his hands, and from its weight, shape, and the sound of clinking, it certainly seemed like gold. “Please open it.” I did as he told and saw a mass of silver coins. After being taken aback for a second, I chuckled.
“Gold is no good, but silver should be fine?” I asked it quietly to myself, but apparently not quietly enough.
“That is indeed His Majesty’s thoughts.” I looked back at the squire and saw him wryly smiling at me. I closed the pouch.
“Alright, since he’s been so insistent, I will accept it. Relay my thanks to His Majesty.”
“I shall, Sir Braith!” I chuckled to myself again as I casually threw the pouch into the air before catching it. “Also, Sir Braith, I look forward to your future visit.” I looked back at him with bemusement. “I will also aim to prove myself as an excellent knight.”
“Is that comment intended for my daughter?” I asked after thinking over the strange remark. He lightly nodded. “Well, give it your best.” I doubted he would even be able to land a single hit on Tasha, but I didn’t want to say something that sounded so soul-crushing after seeing the squire’s optimistic expression.
I got on the horse and rode over towards Tasha and Flora. As I did, I reflected on how nice it was to have a well-trained and compliant mount. I guess part of the escort preparation was getting tame horses that could be easily given away. Our two horses rode side by side and then we exited Brennan’s Southern Wall.
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Shortly after Braith and his escorts left the palace grounds, Marco approached his captain.
“Captain, the tenth squad is ready to leave at your command,” he reported with a salute.
“I already know that, Marco,” Decius responded, turning to look at him with the same hidden smile he had on earlier.
“If we stay any longer, the nobles in the capital are likely to file their complaints about our prolonged presence,” Marco commented, clearly displeased with the current situation.
“I guess the big, scary Harbingers will finally need to take their leave.” Decius continued to wear a hidden smile, but his tone was much colder now. Marco noticed the difference, but assumed it was because his captain was empathizing with how the Harbingers were treated in Ironshield.
“Yes, it’s time for us to leave these ungrateful people behind.” Decius said nothing in response, so Marco took that to mean cold agreement. “To think that the other squads even needed to be lap dogs for some outlander.” Marco immediately felt an ominous aura overwhelm him. He knew where the source must have come from, but not only was he unsure of what he could have said that was so problematic, but he didn’t sense the slightest change in expression or appearance from his captain. As he was about to stammer out a question, his legs barely able to remain steady, the ominous aura instantly disappeared.
“Oh, yes, that was quite a troublesome task,” Decius said in a jovial tone, as if nothing had happened. “Perhaps it’s at least a good thing that the rest of the tenth squad didn’t have much to do with it since you were busy investigating the capital.” Indeed, it was various Harbingers from sixth, seventh, and ninth squads that handled Braith’s investigation, and it was then relayed to Decius for him to make the official report, as it was up to Decius’ discretion to decide how much he was to divulge. Even as the main intelligence force for Brennan, those at the top knew, or at least had the sense that it was not the king that they ultimately served.
“Yes, it is unbelievable that multiple Harbinger squads were tasked with something so trivial,” Marco said, entirely unaware of Decius’ current thoughts. “We can only hope that we won’t be tasked with something so wasteful for a man like that.” Decius looked at his squire and sighed internally. Marco had all the physical ability and potential necessary to be an elite Harbinger, but he was probably too simple-minded to ever be a captain. It would have been so much interesting having someone like Braith as a subordinate. Decius thought a bit more to himself on that thought. Actually, would a subordinate position suit him? Maybe it would have been better if Braith was a captain. The position for ninth squad captain would be opening up soon…ah forget it. Decius already had his fun poking and prodding Braith and his two traveling companions. It would have been nice to observe them further, but it was time for him to continue carrying on his professional obligations as a Harbinger captain.
“Gather the squad at the rendez-vous point. We depart within the hour,” Decius commanded.
“At once, Captain!” Marco saluted and left to relay the command to the rest of the squad that was waiting on standby. Decius then left for the rendez-vous point by himself. Shortly after exiting the palace gates, though, he noticed a black bird circling around in the sky. Stealthily, Decius nimbly climbed onto the top of a building and did a series of flashes of light using a silver pendant that he wore underneath his shirt. The bird noticed and flew towards Decius. Decius held out a gloved hand, and the raven perched itself upon it. Decius reached for a small, rolled-up piece of paper tied to the raven’s leg and carefully unfurled it. It was written in code, but Decius quickly finished reading it as if it were written plainly.
“Oh, Lord-Commander, what a pleasure it is to receive this order.” Decius had somewhat begrudgingly accepted the natural order of things, but with this new command, his suppressed desires ignited again. Most of the Harbingers came from common backgrounds, and many of them ended up joining either due to desperate circumstances, or through the belief that they were sincerely repaying either their homeland or their master. However, most of the captains weren’t like that, and among them, Decius became a Harbinger because it seemed interesting. And due to the recent events, currently, no one interested Decius more than Braith.
Decius laughed. And laughed. And then laughed again. It was a genuine, uncontrollable laugh that sounded very different in pitch from the fake laughs he let out before. Finally, Decius regained his composure, and prepared a response letter for the raven to carry back. He wrote a coded letter, tied it to the raven’s leg, and then fed it a round pill. After swallowing the pill, the raven took flight to deliver Decius’ letter. After the raven flew off, Decius couldn’t help but laugh one last time.
