Neil Frey seemed to be very satisfied he moved along tranquilly with
the look of disdain no longer playing about his thin, refined lips.
He even spoke to the lame doctor, Ramsas, who
answered in briefly, as he was not fan talking to the priest.
The Friar is acting like child, kicking at the chairs and even
elbowing a cadet out of his way.
The lieutenant is in grave expression while watching the old Friar doing anything he ways, accidentally he stepped on someones gown. Doctor Miara, turns her back in disdain and face the lieutenant
"Are you blind?" she annoyingly ask.
"Forgive me my lady, but the fact is that I am quite hungry so...,"
Lieutenant moved away from her.
The two friars both started to walk towards the
table. They openly showed superiority as they immediately move in the center of the table as they push their way in.
They both pour wine into their glasses
"For you, Neil Frey."
"For you, Glen."
"An old friend of my noble family the respected old priest of the kingdom"
"I'm not that old!"
"Since you insist, I'll keep silent," concluded Glen, while
taking a seat.
"Oh shut up!" protested by the Priest.
Glen was about to take a seat himself without paying any more attention
to these protests when his eyes happened to encounter The Lieutenant. According to the information he heard in the Celestial Kingdom, He is someone who is very religious but has some issues on how the Church govern Yushania.
Glen using his charisma, spoke.
"Lieutenant, here we are not in the church. The seat of honor belongs to you."
Judging from the tone of his voice, the young priest Glen really wants him to take a seat beside them, but lieutenant wants to avoid sitting between two friars, and curtly declined.
None of the them had given a thought to their host. Captain Renas
noticed him watching the scene with a wry smile.
"Hey, Captain Renas, aren't you going to sit down with us?"
But all the seats were occupied except for the seat that was reserved for the Lieutenant. Glen tried to stand up and give him his seat, but the captain stopped him.
"Sit still, don't get up!" said by Captain Renas, placing his hand on
the young man's shoulder.
"This feast has a special purpose of giving thanks for your safe arrival and also to Zaril's. Hey! bring the more food here!"
A large steaming chicken was brought in. The young priest is in awe,
The maids has began to serve the contents. But whether it's gluttony or much hunger or other cause, Neil Frey received a plate in which a bare neck and a tough wing of chicken floated about in a large quantity of soup amid lumps of squash, while the others were eating legs and breasts, especially Captain Renas, to whose lot fell the second joints. Observing all this, the old Priest mashed up some pieces of squash, barely tasted the soup, dropped his spoon noisily, and roughly pushed his plate away while Monsiеur Lars was currently talking to youth.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"How long have you been away from the country?" Monsiеur Lars asked Zaril.
"Almost seven years."
"Then you have probably forgotten all about it."
"Quite the contrary. Even if my country does seem to have forgotten me, I have always thought about it."
"How do you mean that it has forgotten you?" inquired the by Lars.
"I mean that it has been a year since I have received any news from here, I find myself a stranger who does not yet know how and when his father died."
This statement drew an unexpected suprised from the Monsiеur and even the lieutenant when he heard what he said.
"You didn't receive any letter?" asked Doctor Miara.
"When we were married we sent a letter to the Peninsula."
"My lady, for the past two years I have been in the northern part of
Ragalian Kingdom."
Doctor Ramsas, who until now had not ventured upon any conversation, thought this a good opportunity to say something.
"I--I knew someone in Ragalia he's from Northwall, if I r-remember c-correctly. P-perhaps you s-saw him?" he asked timidly while scratching his cheek.
"Probably" answered by Zaril in a friendly manner,
"but at this moment I don't recall him."
"B-but you c-couldn't have c-confused him with any one else," went
on the Doctor, taking courage. "He was r-ruddy as gold and t-talked
in a very bad accent"
"Those are good clues, but unfortunately while there I talked
only with few people."
"How did you converse with them?" asked the wondering Doctor Miara.
"I have learnt the language of their country, madam."
"Do you also speak Ragalian?"
Inquired Monsiеur Lars, who had been a few times in Ragalia, and who is a master of 12 languages of different nations.
"I stayed in Northwall for a year and people there are very cultured"
"Which place of Ragalia pleased you the most?" asked by the young priest.
"I would say all of it, since it is a country of free people."
"And you who seem to have traveled so much, tell us what do you consider the most notable thing that you have seen?" inquired by Monsiеur Lars
Zaril appeared to be confused.
"Notable--in what way?"
"For example, in regard to the life of the people. The social, political, religious life in general, in its essential features as a whole."
Zaril paused thoughtfully before replying.
"Frankly, I like everything in those people, setting aside the national pride of each one. But before visiting a country, I tried to familiarize myself with its history, and afterwards I found everything quite simple. I have observed that the prosperity or misery of each people is in direct proportion to its liberties or its prejudices and, accordingly, to the sacrifices or the selfishness of its forefathers."
"And haven't you observed anything more than that?"
muttered by the old Priest with a sneer. Since the beginning of the dinner he had not uttered a single word, his whole attention having been taking up, no doubt, with the food.
"You squander your fortune just to learn some trifling thing."
Zaril was placed in an embarrassing position, and the rest looked from one to the other as if fearing a disagreeable scene.
The young priest, Glen was about to say, "The dinner is nearly over and his Reverence is now satiated,"
but restrained himself and merely said,
"Gentlemen, don't be surprised at the way of speaking of father Neil, He also treat me like that when I was a kid back in the Celestial Kingdom. I see that the Reverence hasn't change. I appreciate it, too, because it recalls the days when his Reverence visited our home and honored my father's table."
Glen glanced secretly at the Priest, who was visibly annoyed.
Zaril stood up from his chair
"Gentlemen I would like to retire , since, as I have just arrived and must go away tomorrow morning, there remain some important business matters for me to attend to. The principal part of the dinner is over and I drink but little wine and seldom touch liqueur. Gentlemen, all for Yushania
and Celestial kingdom!"
Saying this, he drained his glass, which he had not touched before. The old lieutenant silently followed his example.
"Don't go!" whispered Captain Renas. "Slavya will be here soon. Miharu has gone to get her."
"I'll call try to see them before departing. I've a very important visit to
make now." With this he went away.
Meanwhile the Priest had recovered himself.
"Do you Understand?"
He said to the young priest, at the same time flourishing his dessert spoon.
"That is arrogance They can't stand to have a friar to sermon them. They even think that they are respectable persons. It's the evil result of sending young men to Ragalia. The Celestial Kingdom should prohibit it."
"And how about the lieutenant?" Doctor Miara chimed in upon the Priest,
"Won't he give a proper apology to this old lady?" The lady could still not forget that the he stepped on her gown.
That night the young Priest wrote down in his small notebook.
Among his notes there appeared these observations:
"In Yushania, Friars has the most influence that even the appointed servant of the Celestial Kingdom can't go against them, I guess that goes to Celestial Kingdom as well. "