Sir Foltest

Having fallen asleep in the room across from Brigette and my Lady Alexandria, I woke up with a long yawn stretching and then smelling myself. I opened the door to my room and as instructed warm jugs of water waited for me outside. I saw that the ladies also had their jugs of water placed in front of their doors but far less than I did. I took the jugs in and began drawing my bath.

I cannot believe that my old bathtub is still here. After six years I would have expected such a giant thing to be used for something else.

Something that people did not expect from me was my cleanliness. Bathing had become quite popular in the current century and had been made cheaper and more accessible to the common folk as it was discovered that cleanliness correlated to a longer life. But still, not many people took baths as frequently as me, or so I believed as I never asked but considered three baths a week a lot. Perhaps it was because I have been taking care of and living with two young ladies that I unconsciously began to take better care of my hygiene.

Finished filling the tub I stepped in making a cascade of a water spill. I grabbed a bar of soap lathering myself and began making my plans for the day.

King William instructed some of us to the throne room early for something and after the disturbance from yesterday, I have no doubt it is concerning what we discovered about the assassination. It would have been for the best if the assassin had killed Sylvain I fear that no matter what anyone says that delusional brat will continue to think that my Lady sent the assassin and the competition for the throne will no doubt grow bloodier.

I sighed heavily grabbed a basin of water and dropped it over my head then lathered my blondish hair and beard.

Oberon and Valeria will no doubt have affairs to take care of here before setting out to Leonis so I will use that time to investigate that guard Ronald who seemed off to me. I should have done so yesterday but seeing how many snakes had tried to approach Brigette and my Lady I did not have the time to spare. Although, I may have let the most dangerous snakes near them in Oberon and Valeria. Perhaps I am not being fair to them and seeing shadows where there are none again. They are undoubtedly hiding something and are not being completely truthful with us, but Brigette is quite taken with them, and she has developed an eye for people because of her experiences.

Thinking on that I could not help but recall how Brigette sobbed yesterday. I had never seen her do so before even when I dealt with Sylvain, and she cried in relief. I would have been worried had she not been so relieved and happy afterward. I stroked my foamy beard unconsciously.

Whatever happened between them was something she needed. Seeing Brigette laughing and gossiping with my Lady in her old room was something I could not imagine considering her negative experiences there.

Nodding my head in conclusion I filled up a basin with water and started cleaning myself one more time.

Whatever it is that Oberon and Valeria are planning I have decided that as long as they are our allies, and it does not negatively affect my Lady, or Brigette I will leave them be otherwise I will simply crush them.

I stepped out of the tub spilling more water and began to dry myself with towels. I finished by drying my beard which I believed made me look wise especially when I stroked it and had now become a habit for me to do so when I fell into thought. Looking wise was also why I often considered shaving it as I preferred if people assumed I was dull. People often let things they otherwise would not say slip when they thought they were dealing with an idiot. I put on my trousers and clothing and then my gambeson and chain and tied my knapsack around my waist that contained my helmet and other essentials, then picked up my clothed greatsword “Evangelina” named after the woman I love and examined the tear in the cloth.

I attacked Oberon so that lass Valeria was forced to show her strength, but I also wanted people to see and talk about it. Her strength was something they were keeping a secret and I thought I had put them at a disadvantage but to think Oberon was able to use it to his advantage instead to convince King William we were strong enough to kidnap the Duke of Betelgeuse. I will take the time during the mission to kidnap the duke to ask Valeria questions about her and Oberon's past and maybe get her to have a friendly match or two as well, though I doubt she will want to reveal more of her strength than necessary.

Knock! Knock! “Sir Foltest are you awake! We’re heading for the throne room!” Brigette’s shout came from behind my door.

I opened the door and Saw Brigette who jumped at my sudden appearance in a yellow and dark green dress that went well with her blond hair, she did not put on any makeup, but I thought she looked cute anyway. Lady Alexandria was leaning on a wall her green eyes drowsy, Stark black short hair styled, and in her usual long blue gambeson gave me a tired smile. I grinned at them. “I was probably awake earlier than the two of you who were gossiping late at night.”

They coughed and looked away embarrassed. “Well, now that we’re all here shall we go and give Oberon and Valeria a surprise? Old man Wes told me where they were staying when he came to inform us that they could come with us to the throne room.” Lady Alexandria said.

I adjusted my greatsword on my shoulder and shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” Though I knew there were plenty of reasons not to walk in on a young couple. But I wanted to keep my eyes on them as early as possible.

“Let’s go then!” Brigette said excitedly.

Lady Alexandria was leading the way rubbing her eyes trying to shake off her drowsiness and Brigette beside her yawning.

Just how long did these girls stay up! Well, as long as they enjoyed themselves. I thought to myself as I walked closely behind them.

We arrived in front of one of the bigger rooms in the palace which surprised me since it was used for important guests. Well, after Oberon's contributions yesterday and his alliance with Lady Alexandria perhaps Wes thought they were important enough for this room.

Knock! Knock! “Oberon, Valeria are you two up! We are wanted in the throne room!” Lady Alexandria said.

We did not hear anything going on behind the door so Lady Alexandria decided to knock again but the door opened before she could do so. Valeria opened the door; she was in what looked like Oberon’s shirt and had a towel wrapped around her waist her red hair slightly damp so she must have been taking a bath. I looked behind her and saw Oberon sitting in a bathtub dropping a basin of water over himself so they must have been in together.

My eyes went to the sword and scabbard in her hand. I did not say anything yesterday, but I noticed that the longsword Valeria used was the same one that Oberon used years ago. A heavy round pommel, the eagle winged guard with a shimmering blue blade coming out of the beak of an eagle that no one knew how to replicate as it was made using rare material. Oberon claimed a renowned blacksmith made the sword specifically for him after being inspired watching one of his duels. He had used it for every duel and fight since and it had never been chipped, broken, or damaged in any way even the blade Oberon claimed, never lost its edge so he did not need to sharpen it. He was quite boastful about it too and changed its name so many times that I could not remember the last name he gave it or if it changed again since. Although it was said that his father took his sword when he was crippled it seemed he got it back somehow. Seeing the familiar design tipped me off that there was more to Valeria than simply being an attendant as I did not believe that Oberon would give his prided sword away to just anyone and it seemed he did not.

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Valeria’s sapphire-like eyes gazed at us with slight annoyance. “So soon? I thought we would have more time?”

“Old man Wes told me that father wanted to meet some people a little early and you two were included.” Lady Alexandria said scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Valeria sighed. “Fine, give us a few minutes we’ll be out shortly.” She closed the door as soon as she said it and I heard splashing, water dropping, and whispering coming from the other side. We stood there waiting patiently until again the door opened, and Valeria pushed Oberon out who much like Valeria in her now studded black gambeson and black leather boots looked the same as yesterday with his black doublet over a white shirt and black pants with suede leather shoes.

“Good morning everyone it gladdens my heart that you all came to fetch us personally,” Oberon said pushing his disheveled hair back.

“Good morning Oberon, Valeria. You two will not believe what we found out yesterday!” Brigette said.

“Oh! Do tell.” Oberon said curiously.

Before Brigette could speak Lady Alexandria placed her hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure that his Majesty will let them know in the throne room. No need to spoil the surprise. I will lead the way.” She said winking at them.

“Well, now even I am curious. It has to do with the assassination attempt I assume?” Valeria said pushing Oberon and following closely behind.

Now that I think about it are they aware of the Vigil syndicate? We never asked them anything about it yesterday. Oberon and Valeria are quite resourceful so perhaps if they are aware of them they may know something we do not. I thought falling behind next to Oberon and Valeria.

“Do the two of you know anything about the Vigil syndicate?”

Oberon shrugged his shoulders. “Of course! they are often talked about in the city. The enemy of the Kingdom, the threat from within, killers of nobles, invaders from the unexplored lands! The common folk talk and have a lot of theories and gossip about them though I don’t think we’ve encountered any real members from the Vigil syndicate.”

I want to ask him more about these theories but first, what did he mean by real members?

“What do you mean real members?” I asked inquisitively.

This time Valeria responded. “A few people from our establishments even just some scared common folk came to us asking for help because Vigil syndicate members were threatening them and demanding money. Some had even claimed that they had been attacked by men wearing masks and cloaks and they had the bruises and missing limbs to prove it so at the very least they were attacked by someone.”

“Why did they not go to the city watch about this?” Though I already knew the answer I felt obliged to ask since there might be something I could learn.

“They did go to the city watch and the watch made a halfhearted attempt to investigate, and they also placed some guards nearby the establishments and the slums where most of the common folk said they were threatened but nothing came of it, so the watch gave up after two weeks from what I was told,” Oberon answered.

I Know that most city watches are ripe with corruption and incompetence but to give up after only two weeks after finding potential Vigil syndicate activity!

I tried but failed to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “I was going to talk to the city watch Captain later today anyway so now I have something else to talk to him about.”

“How diligent,” Oberon responded.

“So, why did they come to you two, and what did you do about it?”

“Like Oberon said yesterday he is a hero to the common folk, and they know to come to us in our mansion or ask for us in one of our establishments if they need help with something,” Valeria said with a bit of pride in her voice.

“Oh, and you just take any request do you?” I probed.

Valeria scoffed. “Of course not. There were times where people tried taking advantage of Oberon's kindness and just asked for handouts with nothing to contribute to the city and no plan or intention to pay us back and some brazen enough to try and break in and steal from our home!" Valeria seemed to be getting agitated, so she paused before continuing. “So, I made an example of them and now people know not to make silly requests and only come to us for something that the city watch can’t or won’t do, or if they need help financing something of course.” She finished coldly.

I need to find out more of the people she made and an example of it sounded quite ominous. Another thing to ask the city watch Captain I suppose.

Cough! I heard Oberon cough awkwardly and then saw that his wheelchair had hit Lady Alexandria as she and Brigette had at some point slowed down to listen to our conversation and we had been so caught up in talking that we failed to notice.

“Sorry! We were paying attention to the conversion between the three of you that we slowed down without realizing it.” Lady Alexandria said embarrassed and moved to lean to a wall and pointed with her thumb. “The throne room is just up ahead but I want to hear you finish your story if you don’t mind.” Brigette nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

I do not see anyone so everybody else that was invited to this early meeting is either already in the throne room or has yet to arrive. I know we should enter as quickly as possible but I am the one who asked them about this so I will let it play out.

“Of course! Now, where were we? Valeria explained why people come to us for help so now to what did we do part I suppose. Valeria was more involved in this so I will let her tell the tale!” Oberon said.

Valeria began massaging Oberon's shoulder and spoke. “As I said earlier people were bruised and some were missing limbs, so Oberon had me hire some thugs that we often hired to look out for some of our establishments or work as guards when needed to help me investigate. Though I did not need the help, Oberon was feeling generous and wanted to throw the thugs some work. So, I had thug 1 tail some of the common folk that had been attacked to see if they would be attacked again. Thug 2 was sent to spend time at the establishments that were being extorted so he could be there when the extortions went down and to take note of any suspicious activity. Finally, I had thug 3 the most imposing thug go to the slums where I thought it likely that this “Vigil syndicate” operated from and infiltrate them.”

She sighed in disappointment. “Turns out all my meticulous plans and precautions were not necessary as thug 3 was easily recruited, they most likely thought how imposing he was would be useful for extortions, well they were not wrong as thug 3 did indeed do some extortions in the past, but that is beside the point. The “Vigil syndicate” immediately took him to their base and told him how they operated which included pretending to be from the Vigil syndicate. The thugs then reported to me. After hearing what thug 3 said we made a plan of attack and went to their base the following day. The plan was mostly me doing all the fighting and all the thugs had to do was stop people from running away. We put our plan into motion and took down all their members which were about 20. I questioned them and they were indeed just a common criminal gang borrowing the notoriety of the Vigil syndicate. We then dropped off the members who were not dead or dying to the city watch. Thus ends the tale of how fair Valeria and the thugs brought peace to the slums for a week or two.” She said with pride.

Clap! Clap! Brigette clapped quietly but rapidly. “What happened to the thugs you hired!?”

That is not the point of the story Brigitte. But I should look into them as well if they saw Valeria fight 20 criminals then they should have an idea of how strong she is,

“They have proven quite reliable, so Oberon gives them more important work and they are currently guarding our mansion,” Valeria said digging her thumbs into Oberon's shoulders causing him to moan softly in pain or pleasure perhaps both.

“Oh! You let people you call thugs into your home and trust them to guard it.” Lady Alexandria asked confused.

“They have changed their ways and are only thug-like in appearance now and besides, they know better than to cross us.” She said finishing her massage.

This girl can say such scary things so lightly.

“So, in the end, they were just pretenders huh. How long ago was this? I asked.

“About a year and a half ago now I think,” Oberon replied.

I stroked my blondish beard and asked. “So, is that all you know about the Vigil syndicate?”

Oberon nodded. “Yes, like I said I don’t think we have encountered a real member. But if you wish to know what the common folk say and think of them I will be glad to tell you.”

“What do you think about the Vigil syndicate Oberon?” I asked staring at him.

Oberon looked to be in thought as he held my gaze then spoke. “Truthfully, if what I hear of them is true then they are an impressive group who are probably the most dangerous threat that the Sagitta Kingdom has encountered in a while.

Lady Alexandria nodded in solemn agreement and Brigette seemed to be lost in thought. Valeria had no particular reaction but that did not surprise me.

“As we are allies now I will tell you right now that we will likely face them in the near future. Are you and Valeria prepared to do so?” Lady Alexandria asked

“We expected to do so when we chose to ally with you Lady Alexandria nothing has changed.” Oberon said smiling.”

Lady Alexandria nodded.“That’s all I needed to hear let's go to the throne room we are probably the last ones to arrive.”

We made our way to the throne room and on the way, I looked back at Oberon and Valeria stroking my beard in thought.