Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 106. Desperate Attempt.
“It was just a little greeting between us, Mikaela,” Raphael said with a smile and patted Mikaela’s head with his hand, all the while not removing his gaze from Laien and Yin. “I assume you were sent here with who I presume to be Arslan. As you’ve heard me say a second ago, this guy here is called Mikaela, while I’m Raphael. It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a polite manner, one much unlike the blow-for-blow attitude he had taken after discovering that Laien and Yin had shamelessly probed him with their auras.
“Just drop the formalities,” Laien said with a laugh. Didn’t the three of them start their relationship by doing what was considered a heavy faux pas in the ‘cultured spheres’ and yet, none of them minded it all that much? He didn’t like formal speech anyway, so he wasn’t planning to bother himself with being stiff towards Raphael. “I’m Laien, that’s Yin and like you said, he’s Arslan,” he introduced the three of them briefly and once again, looked Raphael in the eye. He was already acquainted with a few golden-haired people, but the air about Raphael was very different to any of them. Mysterious… would this be the closest words that could be used to express this feeling he was having when looking him?
“Sorry, it’s just a habit,” Raphael said with a laugh. “When you spend most of your time around stuck-up old people, this way of speaking rubs off on you whether you like it or not,” he explained a bit helplessly. He could tone down on the level of politeness, but it would take him some time to become as casual as he was with Mikaela, and only if it was possible to begin with. Yet, since he very much liked straightforward people, he had a feeling he would get along with those two well. As for Arslan, on the other hand, he wasn’t quite sure as he was yet to establish an opinion of him.
“Say,” Mikaela spoke up, getting all the more annoyed to see that Raphael and Laien weren’t paying him any attention. “Who are you guys exactly? We know that Arslan is Mustafa’s son, but are you just Arslan’s friends or are you actually someone important?” he asked with childish innocence, making his overly honest question all the more flabbergasting.
“Mika!” Raphael smacked his silver-haired friend in the head with the back of his hand. “I apologize. This guy is being way too pampered by his parents, so he never learned proper manners,” he said with a slightly flushed face and gave Laien and Yin an apologetic smile. He might not be sure what was the identity of the two of them, but he knew they definitely were exceptional given how freakishly strong their auras were… but still, it wasn’t that he was scared of them or felt inferior. He simply didn’t want to undermine a possible friendship due to a few carelessly said words.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Laien said with a chuckle, not minding Mikaela’s comment in the slightest. “I think he’s just used to saying whatever he wants because of his face,” he added playfully, then grinned when he saw Raphael nod in agreement after being surprised for a brief second.
“My face?” Mikaela asked, baffled by Laien’s remark. What did his face have to do with getting away with various things?
“Yeah, exactly,” Laien said with a smile and leaned forward by a bit, resting his hands on his knees. “Silvery-blue eyes, silver hair, and a beautiful face. You don’t really look like Elder Samuel, so did you inherit your good looks from your mother?” he asked curiously, though he didn’t really expect the fairly calm response he received as a result. It looked like this silver-haired youth wasn’t nearly as easy to tease as he had thought he would be.
“Mm, everyone tells me I look just like my mother,” Mikaela said with a slight smile on his face, then glanced at Yin, Arslan and looked back at Laien. “You are telling me I can say whatever I want because I look good, but isn’t it the same for you guys too then? Especially for him,” he pointed out and gave Yin one more look, unintentionally making Laien feel a little speechless. The way in which he just pointed out the fact as he perceived it without any specific intent behind what he was saying was quite unusual, but there wasn’t really a way to refute his words.
“Ah,” Mikaela laughed in sudden realization. He quickly turned to look at Raphael and smiled wryly, “Right, he enjoys a lot of that too. Actually, isn’t he the best-looking one here? All the girls keep calling him beautiful and gorgeous all the time… even the girls I know keep pestering me to introduce him to them,” he said with the corners of his lips curving heavily upwards, thus earning himself another light smack in the head from Raphael.
“Don’t even remind me,” Raphael said while shaking his head. “If one of you three was a girl, I would be ready to leave immediately the moment she started hitting on me. I swear I’m so tired of that!” he complained resignedly, for once not holding back his true feelings in front of other people. He hadn’t really mentioned how annoyed he was feeling recently to Mikaela since he didn’t want to talk about such unpleasant things now that they could finally spend some time together, but after Mikaela pointed one thing out, an idea appeared in his mind and he couldn’t resist going through with it.
“How do you two do it?” he asked, focusing his attention on Laien and Yin. “I’m sure there are countless girls chasing you wherever you go… Do you have any good way to get rid of them without damaging your own reputation?” he asked a bit helplessly. Whenever he rejected an offer in a polite way, the girl would keep coming back persistently. He really didn’t know what those girls and women were hoping for; that another set of clothes or different perfumes would make him fall for them? Thanks to all of that, he could hardly go anywhere in the city without concealing his identity.
Faced with this unexpected question, Laien and Yin exchanged a glance, both of them thinking along the same lines. They could attempt to give Raphael a serious answer to his problem, but after they considered how it would go, they discarded the idea quickly. Their first impression of Raphael was that he wasn’t someone dull-witted, so they could safely assume that he had tried all the common soft methods and decided against using the harsher ones. Thus, there was only one thing left for them to bring up; the unconventional methods Raphael might not have thought about!
“It depends,” Laien said with a laugh, wondering how exactly should they go about teasing this golden-haired youth. “But I don’t think our method is suitable for you… or is it? We just met after all, so who knows,” he mentioned in a seemingly random fashion, all the while smiling playfully.
For some reason, Raphael felt a light shiver appear around his neck and run down his back. However, with his curiosity piqued, he disregarded the strange premonition he was having. “What is it? At this point I’m really ready to give a try to almost anything,” he declared and let out a quiet, helpless laugh. As long as it wasn’t something like lying about being engaged or making a public statement that he definitely wouldn’t marry any of the women who bothered him, he would give it a try.
“Hmm,” Laien crossed his hands across his chest, pondering what to do now. He could tell that neither he nor Yin wanted to answer by kissing each other; the mood for that somehow wasn’t right. However, they really didn’t want to miss this great opportunity to tease Raphael a little! It would just be too much of a pity to pass on.
“Well,” Yin spoke up after a few seconds, in the end opting to answer normally rather than to try and force a funny situation to occur. “You should know Luca, right? The last time it was his older sister hitting on Laien, so to make it clear to her that she should give up, I kissed him,” he said straightforwardly, though admittedly felt his face flush a bit now that he was mentioning something like that. Ah! he had really acted on an impulse back then! Thinking about it from the perspective of time, what he did was rather embarrassing, though he didn’t regret it one bit.
“Huh?” Raphael’s eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t quite understand what Yin told him. He knew Luca, yes, and he knew Luca had an older sister… but his brain refused to quite process the rest of that story, causing his response to be delayed by a few good seconds. “If you are making fun of me, then please stop. Are you seriously telling me to find a guy to kiss in order to get rid of the women?” he said resignedly, not sure if Yin was being serious or not. It really was an idea he hadn’t considered before, but it was ridiculous enough for him to question the sense of it.
“It’s up to you to believe me or not,” Yin said with a shrug of his shoulders. Then, he spoke the somewhat provocative words with a calm smile on his face, making for quite a contradiction. “You asked how we do it, so we told you. It’s up to you to make a choice if that method is something you are okay with or not, so don’t call us liars.”
“You… ugh,” Raphael groaned quietly. He was a fundamentally honest person, so he immediately started feeling bad for not taking Yin seriously just because he found his answer hard to believe. “Where am I supposed to find a guy to kiss anyway? It’s such a silly idea,” he said with a sigh, attempting to leave behind the subject of him doubting Yin’s words without admitting his mistake.
Alas, it seemed that the lady fate seemed to like to repay one’s little acts of dishonesty as he actually received an answer.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Mikaela said casually, causing Raphael to almost choke on his own tongue. “If it was someone else than Raphael then I would hate it, but if it’s him then I don’t mind,” he added without thinking about it too deeply. Yet, when he noticed the shocked expression on Raphael’s face and saw how his face kept growing redder by the second, he suddenly started feeling a bit nervous himself.
“I mean, it’s just a kiss, right? What’s the big deal?” he asked, growing a little embarrassed as he looked around to find some support; and to his relief, the other three guys didn’t appear nearly as perturbed as Raphael, so he managed to avoid getting any more anxious.
“See,” Laien said with a grin. “You’ve got a candidate, so why don’t you try this method out the next time around?” he suggested, all the while suppressing in laughter that dwelled inside him.
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“Right,” Yin supported merrily. “Maybe it will solve your problems after all, who knows?” he added wryly.
Listening to the teasing from those two, Raphael could only laugh helplessly. It was embarrassing to be a part of this conversation, but it would be even more awkward if he attempted to reason with Mikaela. Thus, he chose to stay quiet at leave it at that; especially since he had a feeling he would only be digging his own grave if he allowed Laien and Yin to continue this discussion.
At this point in time, none of those present were aware of it, but this little talk of theirs would become a source of a lot of headaches for Elder Samuel in the near future. In just two weeks or so, Mikaela would put the idea from this day into practice and kiss Raphael in the middle of a rowdy street in the Capital City, causing all the girls and women watching to squeal from excitement and jealousy. As such, the rumors about the intimate relationship between the two youths would spread like a wildfire, leading to many misunderstandings, to clear up which, however, Raphael and Mikaela would do very little. But for now, that was an entirely different story.
“Anyway,” Laien said with a laugh, choosing to change the subject in order to spare Raphael from further embarrassment. “Do you guys want to stay here for a bit? We’ve got the room for ourselves and it’s not like there are any better places to go around here,” he suggested, not feeling like introducing Raphael and Mikaela to everyone else just yet. He thought he could become friends with them easily and he knew Yin was of the same mind, so he preferred to chat in a smaller group.
“I don’t mind if we stay here,” Raphael responded with relief, glad that Laien wasn’t drilling the previous subject.
“Me neither,” Mikaela agreed carefreely. As long as Raphael was fine with doing something, he would usually tag along, so the choice wasn’t a hard one for him.
With Raphael and Mikaela in agreement, Yin and Arslan naturally didn’t object either. The five of them sat at the same spot Raphael and Mikaela were resting at previously, seating themselves on top of five of the many large pillows scattered beside the walls, all over the floor.
“Where are you two from?” Mikaela threw the question in just like that, his focus having been completely swallowed up by Laien and Yin, leaving Arslan on the far side of his awareness. Although he had originally been most interested in getting to know Mustafa’s son, the impression Laien and Yin left on him overawed that original curiosity of his.
As for Arslan, he didn’t mind that he was being left on the sidelines of the conversation again. He had no unnecessarily high pride typical of those highborn and he looked up to both Laien and Yin very much, so he didn’t even get frustrated by the current flow of events, much less think about it being unpleasant or annoying in any way. He simply stayed silent, waiting to see if an opportunity to join the chat would appear or if he would keep listening to those four speak like he did until now.
“I’m from the south, from the Sarkcente Kingdom,” Laien replied, then glanced at Yin, wondering what he would tell Mikaela.
“I guess you can tell I’m from there too,” Yin said with a smile. “But I wasn’t raised in any particular country when I was younger, so I’m in a bit different situation than Laien,” he explained, leaving a grain of truth in this white life he was telling. Technically speaking, he was raised by his grandfather in the mountains surrounding the Forbidden Lands, so it was true he didn’t belong to any country. However, his circumstances were far too complicated and much too personal for him to even consider mentioning them here; Laien was the only person he had told everything and it was likely to stay like that unless they were forced to request someone’s help in the future.
“Hoh.” Mikaela nodded in understanding, recognizing the kinda of complicated expression Yin had on his face. “I kinda of get it. My mom is actually from the north, so I’m technically a citizen of both the Holy Forge Union and of the Ruishi Federation. We live here though and mom doesn’t get well with her family… they weren’t too happy when she decided to stay here and marry dad,” he said with a sigh. His mom often said that she didn’t regret her choice, but he could tell she missed her home. He hoped to one day be able to bring her there… but that wasn’t something he liked to think about.
“So that’s why your name is a bit different,” Laien pointed out and smiled at Mikaela. “I thought it sounded northern too. Euleanian version would be Michael, right?” he inquired, going with the natural flow of the conversation.
“Yup,” Mikaela nodded and returned the smile. “It was my mom who picked my name, so it’s like that. I like how it sounds though,” he added lightheartedly.
“And what about you?” Yin inquired, glancing at Raphael who by this time had managed to cool his nerves down thanks to the subject changing.
“I’m from here, but my paternal grandparents are from the Banxi Kingdom, while my maternal grandparents are from the Faren Republic… though now I guess those should be called Yimarates,” Raphael explained with a smile. He was still young, but he loved his country very much and he admired the way Elder Samuel was ruling it from behind the scenes. As such, he was quite enthusiastic to tell Laien, Yin, and Arslan more about the Ruishi Federation.
“You know, most of our peers have parents or grandparents, but mostly grandparents from the rest of Eulene and sometimes even from the north. After things started getting bad there, in the west, those with talent and perspectives emigrated to us or went to live in the northern half of Eulene, or in the north itself…” he began saying enthusiastically but then, his smile grew a little dimmer as he added. “I know we don’t accept just anyone… and I know it sucks for those we don’t let in or throw out, but I think Elder Samuel is right. First and foremost, he should care for our country and only then about the rest of the world.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Laien asked with a shrug of his shoulders and smiled at Raphael, seeing that he was unnecessarily worried that the three of them would look down on the Ruishi Federation because of its policies. “It’s the same in the south and I’m sure it’s the same in Makarash. Who would willingly undermine his own country only for it to be destroyed later on?” he asked rhetorically, though he also laughed somewhat ruefully. He had spent enough time traveling Eulene to know that they had done exactly that. Perhaps there existed an alternative future in which everything had worked out for them, a future where no one like the Great Prophet appeared, but in this timeline, they certainly did reap what they sowed.
“Let’s not talk about that,” Raphael said with a weak smile and shook his head. “I’m happy that you agree, but it’s not a fun thing to chat about anyway. Better, how about you guys tell me more about yourselves? Like, what are you elemental affinities and what weapons do you use?” he asked, changing the subject once again, with what Laien, Yin, and Arslan went along.
The five of them continued chatting leisurely about their abilities, strengths, families, their recent experiences and things like their future plans. At one point, each of them took out some sweets and drinks for his own interspatial ring for everybody else to taste and enjoy. Sure enough, the minutes were flying by incredibly fast as they were having fun talking with each other.
Almost an hour later, by the time the five of them started seeing each other as friends and not just as new acquaintances, the sounds of laughter in the meeting room died abruptly. Without warning, the five of them heard two dull, smashing sounds that came just from behind the wall from the corridor’s side, which were moreover accompanied by the weird sound of something moisty being smashed into pieces. Laien, Yin, and Arslan recognized what was going on instantly, but Raphael and Mikaela, who had never participated in a true battle where lives would be extinguished left and right, were merely startled as their instincts were warning them of the danger.
“Get up, stand behind us,” Laien ordered instantly, he and Yin having instantly scanned the outside with their aura, before the door to the room even opened. Two martial masters of the fourth rank and one spiritual master of the third rank; it must have been those people who killed the two guards who had been staying at the door, providing protection to Raphael and Mikaela since the two of them arrived at this place.
“Mika, you too,” Raphael said in a serious tone, one which clearly suggested he wouldn’t listen to any arguments from Mikaela and wanted him to do as he was told. Although he had reacted a second later, he had also released his aura to probe the outside; three experts at that level were something he needed to be extremely wary of!
With the three older youths taking to their feet and moving to the front, Arslan and Mikaela obediently remained a few steps behind them. The two of them saw the three older youths equip themselves with their weapons. Laien took out his white spear, Yin his twin swords and Raphael wielded a black-gold spear, the three of them standing in battle-ready stances.
A few seconds later, the door to the meeting room opened and two black-brown-haired men entered, followed by a woman who Laien, Yin, and Arslan recognized instantly. However, even they wouldn’t have imagined that she would think of doing something as crazy as she was doing now.
“Don’t shout,” Elder Sophie said sternly, with a grim look on her face. “I don’t need all of you, so if you try calling for help, I will have some of you killed,” she warned, though for some reason her words sounded almost apologetic. “Please, don’t resist. As long as you don’t, I promise nothing will happen to you,” she requested as if she was asking a favor of a friend, her words and her tone creating a sharp contrast with the two black-brown-haired men who stepped forward, stopping about four or five meters away from the three twelve-year-olds who stood in the front.
“This robe…” Raphael said, his voice filled with disbelief. “You are one of Grand Elders. Why are you doing that?” he asked without lowering his spear.
“Why do you think?” Elder Sophie asked with a laugh that sounded a bit weird, almost hysterical. “The Prophet suddenly started preaching about moving to the ‘Holy War’ alongside Arslan at today’s sermon. The boy also came to Samuel’s quarters in the morning… I can’t allow Samuel’s schemes to send all those people to their deaths to succeed! If taking hostages is what I need to do to accomplish that, then I won’t hesitate to do so!” she stated in a half-hysterical manner but didn’t forget to keep herself from shouting as to not alarm anyone by accident.
“So, just be good children and put your weapons back. Don’t resist, okay?” she added almost amiably, though with a clear hint of threat present in her voice.
“…” Raphael gripped the shaft of his spear stronger, then released a minuscule amount of spiritual energy and asked while barely moving his lips at all. “If I deal with the guard to the right, can you hold back the other two for ten… no, five seconds?” he asked, all the while manipulating the light to prevent Elder Sophie and her two guards from noticing that he was saying something and controlling his voice to reach only Laien’s and Yin’s ears.
He wouldn’t be confident in besting a martial master of the fourth rank in normal circumstances, but he could sense that the foundations of those two men were very weak and shaky; as long as was allowed to fight them one-on-one and he went all-out, then with a little bit of luck, he was more than ninety percent confident in slaying each of them in five attacks or less. However, if Laien and Yin said they couldn’t handle the other two, then he would give up. He wasn’t about to recklessly endanger Mikaela’s and his own lives for the sake of some people he didn’t know or care about.
“Don’t worry,” Laien said openly, without bothering to hide that he was speaking or suppressing the area his voice reached. His actions startled Raphael, but they certainly weren’t as astonishing as the next words which fell from Laien’s mouth. “It would be a different thing if those guys were elites, but against opponents at this level, I alone am more than enough,” he said with a smile, appearing to be fairly relaxed if the casual tone of his voice and his relaxed yet not careless stance were anything to judge it by.