"Ugh...." Haz groans in a bed. "Commander Haz! Are you alright?! Who attacked you?!" shouts Captain Fiotta at his bedside. FWOOOOO....... Veena is standing next to her, with her hands outstretched, emitting a green orb over Haz to heal and detoxify him.
"It looks like you were poisoned, do you remember what happened?" asks Veena. Haz looks around to see that he's in one of the triage rooms set aside for battle.
"My eyes were burning, and my lungs were on fire. If it weren't for your excellent healing my lady, I'd probably be dead or crippled."
Haz then sits up and puts a hand on his head. "My nephew, Bale..." "Bale?" asks Veena. "What about him?"
"Thanks to him, Lady Lumilla can win that duel! Hahaha!" He laughs "Can you please tell me what is going on, commander?" asks Veena, getting impatient. "It will take time to explain Lady Veena, so for now just keep the guests entertained. I'll tell you afterwards."
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"Dear guests, I apologize for the confusion. Everything is fine." Veena bows in front of the crowd of guests. "What happened?" A nobleman in fancy clothing asks.
"One of our knights simply fell ill due to too much wine."
"Well that's fine then!" they say. The crowd seemed satisfied with the answer as there was no ensuing chaos or noise other than that shriek earlier. "Please enjoy the rest of your time here." Veena smiles.
Everyone has returned to the drawing room where the guests are located. Lumilla is off by herself mingling and talking to other noble children to keep up appearances. Although she is lower ranked, the other noble children still look up to her due to her endless confidence and charisma.
"If one more person asks me to marry them I swear to god...." She angrily makes a fist as the other noble children laugh politely at her outburst.
Bale, Ebina, Milla, and Liva are sitting at a corner table, stuffing their faces. "I'm glad it was nothing serious." smiles Ebina. "I hope that knight wasn't on duty." Milly smiles. (I told him only to take a little sniff.) thinks Bale.
"Anyways, why aren't you over there with Lady Lumilla? Isn't she your friend?" Bale casually tries to strike up a conversation with Liva. "Oh um...I'm not good with socalizing..." Liva looks downwards with her hands on her knees. "...especially with nobles."
"Oh, just like my sister here." Bale motions to Ebina. "But don't worry, you should be able to do it little by little if you stick with us."
"Yes, thank you!" Liva smiles in appreciation. She hated her shy nature, and was always envious of those who were able to speak their mind. And deep in the back of her mind, she wondered if her meek personality was what made her sister abandon her.
"You seem much more relaxed now than you were this morning, Baroness." A young elf man with blonde wavy hair approaches the Baroness, and his elven wife follows very closely behind. "It must be your imagination Lord Feingald, my daughters birthday is always a day to celebrate."
"Even if the balance of Pnakotica hangs on your daughter's victory?" He asks. "..."
"You really should pass ownership of your mines and business district along before they fall into the wrong hands." He then says with concern in his voice "It doesn't have to be to me."
"I appreciate your concern, Duke. And I would have obliged if I was not confident in my daughter's victory." She then smiles "Please look forward to the duel and judge accordingly."
"I hope it goes well. My daughters future rides on this as well." Duke Feingald exhales, backing down from the Baroness's unyielding will for now.
Duke Feingald and Baroness Veena do not particularly get along, but they share the same passion. A passion that over time, had silently split the nation of Pnakotica down the middle. And that passion is to protect the dream of a nation that does not discriminate. A nation where the rich don't send the poor to fight their wars. A nation that rewards someone based on their merits and achievements rather than the prestige or physical features they were born with or without. Co-operation builds nations, while war only destroys them.
As the guests begin to leave, they thank Bale and Ebina one last time for their performance. Many of them have already formally sent their invites to Baroness Veena even though the siblings had yet to decide on a price for their performance.
The children of the orphanage bid their farewells to Liva as they leave "I'll visit again!" She smiles. They had taken good care of her while she was there. And she usually goes to visit and help out whenever she had time.
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"Oh you're not going with them?" Bale asks. "Ah no. I was hired as Lady Lumilla's personal attendant, didn't you know?" Liva smiles. "How admirable, working multiple jobs already at such a young age." Bale pats her head. "Right, sister?" He turns to Ebina who nods in agreement. "Un!"
"..." Liva is looking away, her cheeks flushed a rosy color. "Oh sorry." Bale removes his hand and sweats. "You're so similar to Ebina that I just unconciously pat you..."
"It's alright." Liva smiles at him. "Me too!" Ebina lowers her head and leans towards Bale. "Alright." Bale happily pats his sister's head (I wonder if Emily would believe me if I told her that I had another sister?).
Milly was the last one to leave as she hugs and kisses her children one more time. "Please don't bother Lady Veena too much you hear? She's a very busy person!" "Of course." Ebina and Bale assure her in unsion.
After being shown their assigned quarters, Ebina gets dragged off by Liva and Lumilla to get to know each other better.
"We don't need men! Don't try to follow us!" Lumilla's words echo in Bales head. "Hmph, so childish. There are more important things to worry about." Bale lays in his bed, playing with the silver Zodiac stone in his hand unconciously. KNOCK KNOCK.
"It's Haz, may I have a moment of your time?"
"It's about time." Bale was starting to get impatient.
Bale opens the door to see Haz and the Baroness standing before him. "Uh..." Bale is confused at the surprise visitor next to the commander. "I must apologize little Bale, but Lady Veena insisted to know who came up with the new strategy for the duel."
"Don't worry, I didn't tell her the secret to creating that poison." "That's fine, I guess." Bale crosses his arms with a stern expression on his face. "..." Veena analyzes Bale (This demeanor...he's seems like a different person from the party earlier, is this his true personality?) "Come, lets speak further in my study." Veena brushes her hair as she turns to walk away.
They arrive in a small room with a square table in the center. The outline of the bricks on the wall could be seen under the old white paint. In every corner of the room is a pile of neglected paperwork. Veena then takes out a tiny glass bottle with a cork in it from a bag. There is a yellow gas inside.
"So, did you really come up with the idea to make this poison from just salt and water?" She asks. "Yes." Bale nods. "What do you call it?" she asks.
"Chlorine gas."
"And you asked my general to keep it a secret?" Bale then nods "Yes, Lady Veena. Should our enemies learn to create it, it could be used against us."
Veena then exhales "True. Poison gas is not easy to transport, and it's only found in far off remote places. And If the greedy nations knew how to make chlorine gas, they could and would plunge the world into chaos."
(Normally chlorine gas would be impossible to create in a low-technology world like this.) Bale thinks. (But thanks to the convenience of Zodiac stones, I can literally bypass the decades needed to create a decent generator or stable source of electricity for electrolysis.)
"First your radical musical performance is unlike anything I've heard, then you easily create poisonous concoctions out of simple salt." She then makes eye contact with Bale. "And to top it off, you're only 12 years old." She incorrectly judges Bale's age by his physique. "8" Bale corrects her. "That's even more ridiculous!" Veena slaps the table.
"And I also heard that you crippled 3 boys who tried to rob Liva all by yourself." "Oh, word gets out fast doesn't it?" Bale smiles sheepishly.
"Just who are you?" Veena crosses her arms, staring him down.
"I'm just a boy who wants to keep his family safe."
"..." Veena continues to gaze at him, deep in thought. She then scratches her head. "Alright, fine. I won't inquire anymore about your intentions."
"Seeing that you wanted to help my daughter is enough for me."
"My intention is to save my family from persecution. I did not intend to help your daughter." "Very well." Veena smiles. "?" Bale is confused at her sudden demeanor change.
"Are you interested in my daughter?" She asks. Bale then has a flashback of Emily dangling from a rope, suddenly the food begins to climb up his esophagus. "I'll respectfully decline, Lady Veena." Bale fights the urge to puke.
"Are you alright, kid?" Haz asks worriedly. "I'm alright" Bale puts up a hand to stop him.
"So what was your plan with this chlorine gas?" Veena asks.
"For the next few days, have Lady Lumilla learn how to control the wind to swirl around her opponent with smoke." Bale spins his finger in the air. "And on the day of the duel, use chlorine gas instead." Bale then makes a fist "That boy's going to be begging for death."
"I abhor the thought of children fighting to the death, but I'd rather have my daughter live than the son of a xenophobic noble." Veena pats Bale on the back. "I'll leave it to you to instruct my daughter then."
"With all due respect, Lady Veena. I wish to have as few people know about my involvement in a duel between nobles as possible." "Alright, that makes sense." Veena nods and crosses her arms. (I'd also prefer to keep him a secret. It would be disasterous if an enemy poaches this boy.)
"Commander Haz already knows how to create chlorine gas, and he also knows the strategy. I recommend to let him take care of everything." Bale bows deeply.
"Can you do it, Commander Haz?" Veena asks. "Absolutely, my lady!" Haz salutes. "I will do my best to ensure that this strategy succeeds!" "Very well, please do." Lady Veena turns walks away. "Then I look forward to your new music, young man."
"Thank you." Bale stands upright. "I'll go prepare to drill the strategy into the little lady's head. Call me if you need anything!" Haz rubs Bale's head.
The next day, Liva and Ebina are sitting in Liva's room looking at a sheet of paper. Liva has her lute next to her body. "Oh this is a very nice music notation system. Did you come up with it?" asks Liva. "My brother did."
"Speaking of your brother, where is he?" Liva asks. "I haven't seen him since Lady Lumilla's birthday party." "He went back to the city to grab some of our things and to get a new instrument made."
"A new instrument?"
"A drum set." Ebina then extends her fingers as she begins counting "He said something about a bass drum and petal....a high hat...a snare..." She then exhales "I don't know what he's thinking, but my little brother always has good ideas."
"Anyway, do you think you can practice?" Ebina asks. "Yes Ebina, I need to get used to this musical notation system that he created." Liva is eager to learn. The young demonkin has committed herself to this new journey, and so she must do her utmost to not disappoint her new friends.