Vol. 2 – Chapter 77 – A curious question

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Time passed, and one could say that Mathias didn't lack any company in those moments, as the young lady that was sitting next to him was munching on some sweets and talking in a friendly way to him.

It seemed that she was having a good time too, discussing with Mathias about all sort of things, from their adventures and sceneries they saw, both had something to learn from themselves, especially Mercedes who never went to the Gravelmark, understanding is a no-man's land infested with beasts that could ravage the Empire if descending.

"Amazing, there are such creatures inside the mountains. Are the sceneries exactly as you mentioned? Breathtaking?"

"May I be smitten if I tell you a lie, here let me show you a trick that will confirm you the things I've seen with those two eyes of mine."

Mercedes could see that Mathias's right hand that was placed on the table started releasing a small dark-purple light where small dots began being released, that in a swift manner began forming a picture of the beasts he saw, from a large black panther that had two weird looking lashes, that exited from its spine, and a long tail.

However, Mercedes couldn't see the real colors of the monsters Mathias encountered, instead she only saw the dark-purple image of them, but that was enough for the young girl to make an image in her head from the books she read about monsters.

"This is a Displacer Beast. Have you fought it?"

"I am not suicidal, darling. I had a goal that I wanted to achieve, that being exiting Gravelmark as past as possible. Besides, let me show you some more, if you are curious."

"Hmm, are you a magician?"

"What have we talked about? No questions about profession and abilities." said Mathias in a teasing way, as if he was ready to stop all the show on the table.

"Sorry. You can continue showing me those beasts. I will find out about your abilities when you have to enroll in the Black Knights anyway. I'll not stress myself. I am certain about it."

Mathias didn't shift a facial gesture and allowed Mercedes to have her own fun, and as if he was a picture displayer, the images inside his mind, were drawn on the table using his Arcane Powers, showing her from the Mountain Goats, Owlbears, Perython, Treants, Rocs, and the mighty Gryphon resting dignified on the cliff Mathias remembered vividly, never forgetting that giant bird.

He told Mercedes about how his encounter with the Roc went, from almost being killed by its bird cry, later on having to escape its terror. Using his storytelling abilities, he painted an exact picture of what he experienced, while she could see the predator in front of her, glancing with its large eyes back at her.

She clenched her small fists feeling the emotions of the story Mathias was telling her, and looking with her breath shorted when Mathias told her how he escaped from the monster, having to jump in a suicidal manner from the cliff he was standing, and using his ingenious way to get to a safe way, in doing so she also found two things Mathias didn't want to tell her, he used a spear, and also magic.

'He is a magic spearman, like Lord Kirinus or Lady Rachel? No need to ask him, he will show me very soon. Maybe I should take part in the group supervising this year's enrollment for the Black Knights.'

Still, her thoughts were quick, having been engaged by Mathias's stories of his Gravelmark Adventures, and she was awed by the fact there was a large lake inside the mountain, where one could relax and enjoy life.

"Your face tells me you are interested in going to the Salty Lake. Should I take you next time I visit?"

"... are you a pervert?"

"No, but if you want, I can wait until you turn 16 or 18, I don't know the legal age for dating young girls here."

Her cheeks turned rosy, as she sent a kick behind the table to Mathias right leg, to make him stop teasing her, fully knowing that he was simply playing around, and she did that to pay him back.

"I take it you are interested. Good, I will see you next year." said Mathias who enforced his muscles with Red Energy to block her attack, which made him realize that Mercedes probably had a similar level to Jeanne or even higher.

'This little beauty isn't playing around, a hit of [155] damage after raising my defense to 25% with the Red Energy.'

{Son, what you have in front of you, is what even I consider a genius. She even has the dreaded Keen-Eyes. Clearly, this little girl has been blessed by fate and will have a magnificent future ahead of her.}

'Is she that special?'

{Special? Hah, son, you clearly have no idea what Keen-Eyes is to even say special, it's a huge mockery. That girl, if she gets the right guidance, might be able to awaken the Keen Insight, something I couldn't awaken in my prime when even the Gods started fearing me.}

{Think about it like this, your style of fighting is to hit but not get hit. However, you rely on your instincts and fighting prowess.]

[If this girl managed to awaken her gifts, she can achieve what you desire so much in your fighting style without even trying, being similar to breathing to her. She will be able to see any weakness in a person's fighting style, body weakness, the strongest points of a weapon and attack.]

[Do you wish me to go on and rant? You have a future Paragon in front of you.}

'I see, truly interesting. I didn't expect this little girl to be so special, even when I first saw her when I was strolling around the city, stumbling on the Knight's Garrison. However, what you are saying is just "IFs".'

'She has the potential, but she has to grow first, and it is unknown if she would react maturity by how careless she is. This is the tragedy of geniuses, they start strong, passing everyone in their generation, but like a fish trying to reproduce himself, the faster it is, the earlier it will die. Ahem, a bad analogy, but that's how I see the problem of "geniuses" here.'

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Mathias ended his conversation with Haycien there, and to take revenge on Mercedes for hitting him, he took her plate with half of the cake on, making the girl react in a funny way.

"Give my cake back."

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"You have small legs, but quite healthy. However, even if you are young and can grow bigger, getting fatty isn't good for you. Eating too much sugar will hurt you."

"You also have hard legs as if they were the walls of the city, it hurt me a bit when I kicked you. My bad, can I get the cake back?" asked Mercedes using a cute expression on her face, trying to win over Mathias to give her back the cake.

"Haha, I am such a weak person to cute things. Sure, there you go. Now, back to my story, since we reached the last part of my story."

Slowly, he began telling her about the kobolds, and the people he encountered, avoiding telling her about the fights, and as he got to the end of the adventure with him reaching Titan, Mercedes was captured by his story with her cake finished.

"This is all, now I am lazing around Titan."

"Indeed, you are lazing around. You should go on adventures again and tell me more."

"Maybe that's what I will do. Who knows."

"You will be a bit restricted by the rules of the knights, but you can find windows to escape."

"Thanks for telling me that."

"For nothing."

[Affinity with First Knight Mercedes has increased by 5 points]

Mathias, seeing that she had some of the cake-cream, around the corners of her mouth, extended his hand, surprising her trying to back away but her chair blocked her escape, feeling her lips touched by Mathias's finger who did a scooping movement, cleaning her lip while eating he remaining cake cream on his finger.

She turned embarrassed by this intimate gesture, never experiencing such closeness with a man before in this intimate setting, and barely keeping her emotions in check, Mathias could still observe she turned rosy, especially when he took he removed his finger from his mouth.

'The little girl is weak against teasing. Cute. The mighty First Knight? Who would have taught?'

{Stop fooling around. This is how you will start regretting if you by chance make your advances to her.}

'Hah, did you eat something rotten up there, old Hay? I am not interested in a romantic way to this little girl. Let's be real, she is just a brat to me right now, and heck I will not do what the real crazy guys would do as to groom the ones they feel attracted from a young age. Do you think I am not having a handful by managing my two girls, that I now have to look after a little girl?'

{At least you are conscious.}

'Fuck you.'

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"We should start getting ready to move on our own days, don't you think, little Mercedes?"

"Yes, since I finished my mission, I can return back to the garrison and finish my reports."

"So diligently. I can only wish you good luck and we'll see each other very soon. By then, don't forget that I treated you in such a sweet manner, and be lenient with me, okay?"

"I will remember." replied Mercedes, with a pure smile on her face, coming from the heart instead of being forced out.

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As such it was unknown for how long the two stood at the restaurant, but Mathias had to leave the company of this pleasant young lady, having spend quite the quality hour with her, and maybe the same could be said for Mercedes, who had rarely experienced someone treating her like a little girl, with most people behaving respectfully at her, and acting in line around her.

Nonetheless, she could observe a lot of things about Mathias in this interaction with him, from his bad points to good points, however her mental judgment was scaling all those points, as if she was Lady Justice, and saw that the balance was tilting on his good sides.

Once she left, with a small bitter taste in her mouth knowing how much the cakes she ate cost, she remembered Mathias reacted as if it was nothing, and even gave the waiter some tips for his help while patting his shoulder, and they exited together, but separated afterwards.

'Should I include in the report to His Majesty about the incident in the restaurant? I can't. It is too embarrassing, no one is too find about this day. I will not be able to hide my head from shame, if someone finds out that I was together for such a long time with a person in such an intimate way.'

Her new target was the Barracks, and she made sure to be as subtle as possible, not attracting anyone's attention, but this is what she wanted in her mind, but once she returned back to her Barrack.

The guys looked at her stunned and began gossiping, similar to women making her feel uncomfortable, especially when a slim, scholarly man wearing clothes a noble would do, appeared in front of her.

"Where have you been Mercedes? Today is the day we should send the report to Duke Limit."

"Gyuratan… I will see them done, instead of focusing on my tasks, you should focus on your owns." replied Mercedes to this Red Knight that give her a repulsing feeling which at times made her angry, wanting to lash out at this person, but because of her status, and also his status, they couldn't clash heads.

"Hoh, but this is exactly my task as 4th Knight. I am the overseer of the Red Knights, the Chief of Justice for the Knights. Do you want me to continue telling, Lady Vaintz?" asked the man with his pale face giving off a repulsing smile to Mercedes.

"I know well what your duties are." mentioned Mercedes, moving past the man, while she was still wearing her noblewoman dress, going for her apartment inside the Barrack Complex, in doing so, leaving Gyuratan standing there by himself.

"Haha, this is the last gift Piaro has left for me. I can't treat her badly." chuckled the slim man in an evil way, as he also departed to another part of the Barrack Complex, getting himself occupied by watching some knights talk, eavesdropping on their conversations.

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On the opposite side, Mathias walked closer to the Cathedral of Light, and began waiting at the ascending steps while people moved past him, from players to NPC's they didn't bother themselves with Mathias, keeping on with their targets.

It was exactly what Mathias desired, to be ignored, and as he watched the stairs, he saw a blonde woman along with a man with short black hair, and wearing priestly clothes. His name just like hers was golden, and when Mathias noticed him, his ruby eyes gestured some emotions.

[Gabrils - LV. ???]

'I did expect us to meet at one point, but this early, no.'

He began thinking about what possible reactions Gabrils could have, and himself and Haycien were having a deep conversation about this subject, but before he knew, Jeanne who was quite stoic in those moments, walked timidly with Gabrils who was observing Mathias front top to bottom.

"Little Jeanne, is this the one you have been mentioning to me?" inquired Gabrils when seeing Mathias as he descended the Capitolium of the Cathedral.

"Yes big brother, his name is Mathias."

"Sounds familiar for some reason, but I don't know how to explain it to you from where I heard this name or when." replied Gabrils in a calm way, not feeling any aggression toward the young man waiting by himself in a corner of the Capitolium's base.

'Does big brother finally began getting his memories of the past back? Does this mean that father too will start remembering Mat?' thought Jeanne to herself, sensing a warm feeling wash over her, as she understood that Gabrils didn't hold any bad intentions to Mathias.

"Will you leave me to talk with him one to one?" continued the man in his late twenties asking before reaching Mathias.

"If you promise me, you will not do something out of the ordinary." mentioned Jeanne in a quiet way, fully knowing her brother's capabilities and how powerful he was compared to Mathias, who by no means was weak, but lacked more experience.

"What's the worry little Jeanne, I can finally meet the one who changed for good the little meek. Why should I be angry and act out of character?"

"I don't know, maybe brotherly love?"

"Haha, if you had chosen some undercover Yatan scum, or I don't know a worthless person, I might get a bit angry and teach that person a lesson, but from what I see, the one you hooked up looks decently handsome."

"His ruby eyes make him resemble Lord Juander a bit. Also the crimson hair that I can barely see because of his hat, is quite unique."

"Unique in what sense?"

"Never seen such a colored hair in my life, and for someone who lived for 28 years, is something."

Jeanne, took a breath of relief and allowed Gabrils to have a one to one, man to man with Mathias, as she was the first to greet Mathias, taking his hand in a loving way, and introduce Gabrils.

"Mathias, this is the older brother I've been telling you about, that was too busy to meet you, Gabrils. Gabrils, this is my soul-mate, Mathias."

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Before he even managed to figure out a scenario in his mind, Jeanne took his hand, and began introducing him, leaving him to stare at Gabrils face that looked in an observant way at him.

"Nice to meet you, Gabrils."

"Likewise. Do you mind if you spend some time with me?" asked Gabrils in a direct way, not bothering himself to set up the right way to invite Mathias to a talk.

Immediately Mathias made the connections, and understood to a certain degree what Gabrils might want from him, or to discuss, as such, he didn't decline and accepted the invasion.

"Well, I will leave you guys to your talk, I will be at the restaurant we frequented, Mat."

"Understood, be careful, dear."

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Then before he knew he was walking on the path that lead from the Capitolium to the zone full of shacks being shadowed by the hill the Cathedral was sitting, and as he got closer and closer to the familiar place he knew from the past, Gabrils since distancing from Jeanne, was first to ask him something surprising, and it wasn't remarked with bad intent, more like a curiosity.

"Did you two had sex by chance?"

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[The answer?]