Chapter 10: A New Acquaintance and Internal Conflicts (3)
Smoked ham, sausage, cheese, vegetables, slightly stale bread, and other travel-friendly dishes were devoured with relish, and the pastries brought by Eris turned out to be truly delicious. It was just a shame there were so few of them.
The lunch itself was rather friendly. Even Kei Lee, trying to make amends for his earlier behavior and slightly annoy Akira, stopped with the dirty jokes and tried to be gallant. Watching the guy attempting to flirt with the guest, the jealous redhead glared, huffed, and scowled, but she didn't dare start a fight in front of outsiders. Natal observed the performance with the air of a worldly older brother, keeping an eye on the playful family members.
The three of us, my friend, Eris, and I, discussed "Travel Notes," a series of books written about a century ago by the famous traveler Sebas from the Elkan family. In his lifetime, this adventurous man managed to visit every corner of the Empire and its colonies, as well as many states that weren't always friendly to our country.
Moreover, Sebas not only ventured into many corners of the continent and beyond but also meticulously described everything he saw with excellent literary language. It was no wonder that "Travel Notes" enjoyed great popularity among the educated part of the imperial population as entertaining and informative literature. Even in our Squad, excerpts from his books were used during training sessions.
Some of the students at the Underground Base, including Natal and me, spent some of their free time reading Sebas's entire collection of books. "Notes" were not just interesting reading; they contained a lot of information that came in handy during distant, um, assignments. Although it was worth acknowledging that most of the blame lay not on our own curiosity but on the influence of our first team's librarian, Wu Ming, who made sure we knew a little about everything. Akira, on the other hand, didn't show much interest in anything beyond military field medicine and poisons with antidotes, while Babe and Kei Lee didn't try self-education at all.
But it was still amusing. Who would have thought that the noble daughter of a successful magnate and a group of young thugs in the service of the state would find common topics? Well, there you go! Natal enthusiastically discussed various things with the sweet-smiling girl, occasionally engaging in arguments, and I contributed my part.
However, the topic brought up by the blonde, the southern werebeasts, stirred up unpleasant memories. She believed that the animal-like people guarding (actually it's in the past, he-he) the King's Tomb, which bordered the southern outskirts of the Empire, were an artistic exaggeration, and in reality, the guardian priests simply wore animal masks.
Natal, who had personally experienced this "artistic exaggeration," naturally disagreed with her, and he wasn't about to admit defeat in the argument. Babe, already a man of few words, frowned and fell silent after being reminded of the mission at the Temple-Tomb, where he lost his entire group.
Out of the five of us, only Kei and Akira were lucky enough not to visit that meat grinder.
I myself didn't have fond memories of the black-faced werewolves. The only thing that warmed my heart was the knowledge of the death of all the priests and the destruction of their accursed Temple. Of course, we came to them, not the other way around, but at the memory of the stupid, nasty black face of the octopus man and their leader, who is concerned about finding a wife, I had a strong desire to don a white hood and organize a Ku Klux Klan cell in the Empire.
And you couldn't call them as white and fluffy as naive Akame tried to portray them. Just an ordinary bunch of thugs and smugglers.
Eris greatly respected Sebas, the founder of the modern movement of adventurer-travelers, but, like a significant part of the Imperials, looked down upon the "barbarians." Although, why be surprised? Just remember the name of our country and its heart. According to the majority of citizens, there was only one Empire and one true Capital in the world, and all the others were just barbarians or a bunch of wild tribes.
Nevertheless, the priests, while not impressing with their skills as seasoned alchemist-chimerologists, managed to understand and partially replicate the work of one of the teigu. That was strange. If there had been a normal alchemist there, we would have been met by hordes of various monsters, not just a bunch werewolf priests supported by regular folks.
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But it could be assumed that their abilities were explained by a controlled possession by the spirit of a demonic beast. Then the low number of werewolves could be due to high requirements for the strength of the candidate for the guardian priest to have the human subdue/devour the monster's spirit rather than the other way around. Remembering the quite "wild" behavior of the priests who relied on instincts more than reason, I mentally nodded to my conclusions.
But that didn't resolve the question of how a bunch of brainless savages could pull off such a trick. For instance, I, with my suitable sensory ability and Teigu, still couldn't imagine how to approach working with souls. On the other hand, we didn't know how long Lionel had been lying in their treasure trove. Considering that this artifact disappeared after the last Civil War, the alchemist could have completed his research two hundred or three hundred years ago. By the way, Yatsufusa was supposedly found among the ruins of the temple, which also supported my assumption about the origin of the guardian priests' powers.
"Beautiful Eris, would you mind answering one question?" Kei Lee turned to the blonde. "Just be honest!"
"Of course, go ahead."
"Have you and Kurome already kissed?"
"Well, that didn't take him long to lose his restraint," I thought with a sigh. Nearby, there was a soft slap as Akira pressed her forehead against her own palm.
"I... well... uh..." The blushing girl shot me a glare and, flustered, tilted her head, hiding her blushing face behind her long hair. Natal shifted his gaze between Eris and me but, thankfully, kept quiet. Poor blonde, she didn't know where to hide.
A very unfortunate reaction. Hadn't they taught Eris how to keep a straight face?
"Ay-ay-ay! It turns out that the debauched Kurome has already ensnared an innocent victim in her web," Kei Lee stretched his smile to his ears and teased. "What about your 'I said she's a friend, not a lover!'? It's not nice to deceive your comrades, not nice at all."
"Firstly, none of the images that likely popped up in your inflamed imagination have anything to do with the truth. And secondly, it's none of your business."
"Ay-ay! Are you really so mischievous that even a connoisseur of beauty like me can't imagine what you've been up to?"
"Is he deliberately trying to provoke?" I wondered.
"Kei-idiot-Lee, I told you to behave and not embarrass us!" Anticipating me, the redhead grabbed Kei by the collar and started shaking him. "Now shut up and apologize to the lady!"
"I a-apologize," he mumbled, shaking his head limp from the shaking.
"Sorry about this idiot," Akira turned to our guest. "He didn't mean to offend you. He was hit on the head a lot in his childhood, so he talks nonsense. What can you expect from a fool?"
"Hey! That's offensive, you know!"
"And if you don't stop acting like an idiot, there'll be more than just words," the redhead threatened.
Smack! The sound of a slap echoed through the room.
"For what?! I was quiet!" the brunette exclaimed in indignation.
"For everything," the redhead retorted with a vengeful expression and gave him another smack.
* * *
When Eris left our company, I looked at the brunette with dissatisfaction and asked,
"Haven't you become too audacious?"
"What did I do? I did nothing!" he pretended to be nonchalant and said, grinning annoyingly. "It's you who's the charmer of young girls," he added.
"Maybe I should stimulate your thought process with punches?" I pondered, flexing my fists. "But unlike Akira, I won't be pitying you." The idea of counting his ribs and readjusting his brain seemed rather appealing. Only the presence of the caravaners held me back from taking action.
As time went on, he became more and more unruly. Kei, who had recently been the commander of Group B, wasn't thrilled about no longer being in charge, and perhaps that's how he expressed his feelings. The vain guy didn't take the transition under Natal's command as too painful, but rather as a demotion. However, instead of showing leadership qualities or requesting a transfer to lead the second group again, he chose to relax and express his dissatisfaction with a multitude of jokes, which were getting closer and closer to the limits of tolerance.
Kei Lee was not a fool, and I thought he understood the danger of destabilizing our small group, but his stubborn character prevented him from admitting his wrongs. As someone from the ancient imperial philosophers used to say, "To know is not to understand, and to understand is not to act." In short, if a comrade suffered from madness and didn't want to get rid of it, he needed help.
"Less bloodthirstiness in your gaze, Kurome-chi," Kei took a step back and put on a pitiful and frightened grimace. "Are you really ready to attack your friend and comrade over a couple of harmless jokes?"
"You're getting carried away," I replied. "What's this 'Kurome the seductress'? Are you going to compare me to the Oarburgs next? Not to mention your inspection and sniffing of my guest. If someone else were in your place, they would have lost their head after a quarter of such antics."
"Kurome is right," Natal disapprovingly shook his head, crossing his arms. Remembering the captivity with the clan of assassins and the ideological lesbians, the guy frowned. "Your jokes are crossing the line."
"And you, Natal," Kei exhaled as if receiving a blow to the back, although the real blow also followed: Akira gave him another slap. "Alright, alright, I got it," the humorist surrendered. "Since you're all so angry and boring, I'll have to tone down my magnificent sense of humor."
I looked thoughtfully at Kei Lee, becoming increasingly convinced of my opinion. Of course, he behaved properly in a combat setting, but in peacetime, he showed more and more independence. Recently Natal was talking to him about trainings to improve the cohesion of a newly formed group, and what happened? Kei, like Akira, who, despite the appearance of the opposite, was the submissive one in their pair, stood their ground. How much simpler it was with the silent and obedient Bayb!
After talking to Natal, I hoped that the joker would come to his senses. My friend didn't attempt to harshly rebuke him, but Kei continued his behavior. If the issue wasn't resolved, it wouldn't lead to anything good. Besides, Kei Lee as a leader didn't suit me in any case, even if he had shown more competence than Natal. He was too full of himself.
In principle, the idea of a public duel wasn't bad. Back in our student days at the Base, the authorities supported such a method for resolving conflicts between trainees. Spiritual warriors tend to establish hierarchies based on personal strength, so physical therapy had a chance to work.
Didn't it work when he decided to steal my treats?
Heh, and cleverly I managed to justify my desire to beat up the annoying wit!