Chapter 158: Sly Entry Gait
Jojin and his master Darmerse walkthrough Tristania, the former looking around with rapt attention that the strange city he'd found himself. It was strange, tense. People were ready to fight or run at any indication of trouble, and many looked like they wanted to flee the city the first chance they got. The only reason he could see that was stopping them was their belief that things would get better, that they wouldn't have to leave their homes, friends, and maybe even their families behind to escape.
Jojin couldn't really understand these people, as he himself had already fled his home, the now destroyed Antomiers where he'd been homeless until his master had taken him in after that hero, Batuman had saved him.
He'd been training under the man this whole time to become a 'ninja', but Jojin felt more like a spy than anything else. The limited combat training was nothing compared to the extensive information collection, networking, and infiltration skills Damerse was hammering into his head.
Still, he persisted, wishing to get strong enough to finally prove useful to Batuman, his saviour and idol, even if he never saw the man again in his lifetime. Even if that proved true, he'd make Batuman hear his name, Jojin, master Ninja and Spymaster.
For now though, he needed to stick close with his master, and concentrate on gaining contact with their spies in the city that'd gone missing after the Gramont coupe.
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The rest of the journey is uneventful, aside from Charlotte splitting off from them as they approach the capital, one might actually call it peaceful... This doesn't last for long however, as the group soon notices the state that the Tristania was actually in.
Hundreds of guards and small artillery machines are placed around the walls of the city, with many Griffin and Dragon knights flying around as if performing an air show for those below.
Ralf makes the wise decision to land his dragon far from the capital so that they aren't immediately noticed by the hundreds of alert eyes waiting for an invasion of some sort. They land in a nearby forest that was covered in a light coating of frost from the cold weather, though, it was nowhere near as cold as Albion had been.
The trio hops off of the dragon and Ralf sends it away as they start making their way towards the capital. Tiffania keeps her hood up, but Michael turns invisible as he walks beside them, as Tristain would no doubt still be looking for him.
Tiffania and Ralf may be fugitives in Albion, but he doubted that such information had reached Tristain yet... Or even if Prince Wales wanted Tristain to know, the more people aware of Tiffania made the likelihood of them discovering her relation to the Prince far greater... Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, so the group was prepared to flee at the first sign of trouble.
If things got really bad, Michael could just sneak into the capital and do the search all by himself. Even if it would take far longer.
The duo + invsi-bro walk towards the city gate, the group immediately notices the lack of any line to get in or out of the city. They approach the platoon of guards who immediately become alert and ready to defend themselves should the situation call on it. "Halt, you approach Tristania, capital of Tristain under the rule of King Gramont. What do you want?"
Ralf bows slightly as he goes to address them, "We are traders seeking refuge in the city... Our carriage was attacked by bandits, and we have nowhere else to go... Please, my daughter and I will not survive another night on the road."
The guard crooks a brow and looks at Tiffania's hooded face, noticing her shimmering golden hair, a marked difference between Ralf's own brown colour. "Daughter, you say? You don't look alike." he remarks, sounding suspicious.
Ralf smiles and nods, "Yes, she takes after her mother in that regard. We... We lost her in the attack." he solemnly says, Tiffania also lowering her head to 'grieve'.
The guards frowns, "Bandits, huh? Are you sure they were what you say? Not foreign troops cutting off supplies?" he asks, beginning to believe their story apparently.
Ralf shakes his head, "I wouldn't know if they were, this is the first time I've ever run into bandits... And I hope the last."
The guard nods, "Alright, just let your daughter here lower her hood and you can enter. I can't be seen letting hooded figures enter for obvious reasons." he says, causing Ralf to pause slightly.
"I-is that so?" Ralf says, glancing at Tiffania and gesturing for her to continue.
She lifts her hands to her hood and... Lowers it. Revealing... Bloodied bandages were tightly wrapped around her head, covering her ears and a good portion of her hair. She raises her head and gives the man a sheepish look, "I'm sorry for the unpleasant sight... I was wounded by a bandit..."
The guard's features soften as he nods, "No, I'm sorry for forcing you to show me. Please, enter and go seek medical attention, that amount of blood cannot be a good sign." he says, calling for his colleagues to open the gates.
With that, the duo + invisi-Michael enters the city completely unmolested. They walk off and enter a nearby alleyway, Michael reappearing with a grin on his face, "See? Worked like a charm."
Ralf lets out a long sigh and wipes off some of the cold sweat that'd been gathering on his forehead, "Honestly, I thought I'd slip up and get us all killed... When did you think of bandaging up Miss Tiffania's head? It worked like a charm."
Michael shrugs, "I asked a friend for some ideas. Turns out he's well versed in disguises. Still, we should probably get this off and have your hair washed, I doubt rabbit blood is good for it." he says, turning to Tiffania who's already taken off all of the bloodied bandages, grimaces as she tried to strain some of the leaked fluid from her golden locks. "Can we never do this again? This smell makes me want to be sick..." she mutters.
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Chapter 159: Ratted Out
Now that the three are in the city, Ralf splits up from them after they secure an inn room so that they might search for Derflinger faster. Tiffania goes with Michael as he doesn't exactly trust her or this city to not eventually discover her identity. He at least wanted to be there to save her ass if shit did hit the fan after all.
Ralf leaves to go see if he could find any information of value while the duo begins walking around the streets of Tristania to look for the smithy that sells Derflinger. This isn't as easy as Michael would have anticipated however, as there are far more smithy's, workshops, weapon stores, and armourers than he'd realised.
Indeed, even his memory of the shop from the anime was pretty fuzzy at this point. He could remember that it was some back alley place run by some rat-faced man who liked to con customers with fake or useless decorative blades. Saito only found that fact out halfway through a battle though, which Michael was more than happy to have avoided that fate.
Fortunately, the search only lasted around two and a half hours after the duo started asking civilians for directions. Even if when most strangers were worried about speaking with anyone they didn't already trust... Man, General Gramont has really torn this city a new asshole.
*Driing!*
A bell chime rings out as Michael and Tiffania step into the shop, his eyes almost instantly locking onto the small faced, smug-looking man at the counter. Indeed, the anime didn't portray him as accurately as it should have, as this man looked like a rat in human form... How anyone could trade with this guy without triple-checking things was a mystery to Michael.
"Ah, welcome customers! What would you have need of today, hmm?" the man asks while rubbing both of his clasped hands together.
Michael just ignores it and gets on with his goal however, "I'm looking for a sword, a unique sword that I am told you had in stock." he says while glancing around, quickly finding the wooden barrel where Derflinger had been kept in the anime.
"Oh? And what sword might that be? I have a few unique germanian blades in stock if you wished to peruse them? Might I ask you to be careful though, they are each worth more than this shop itself." the rat-faced man says, most likely setting up a scam where he'd have them break an 'expensive' blade and make them pay for it. Maybe even suggesting to get the guards involved.
Michael frowns, not because of the man, but because he couldn't find what he was looking for... "Shopkeep, the blade I'm looking for calls itself Derflinger. It has the ability to speak and should be heavily rusted..."
...
The shopkeep's tongue flicks at his lips as he looks thoughtful, "Ah, that annoying little thing? I sold it to someone many days ago, said they thought a sword that could hurt and be hurt was an amusing thought." he shrugs noncommittally, losing interest in the duo as he realises they weren't going to buy anything.
Michael lets out a sigh as Tiffania turns towards the shopkeep, "Do you know who might have bought it, please? It would help us out a lot if you could." she asks, as the rat-faced man finally takes an interest in her... Specifically her 'curves'.
"Why, I might be able to remember something... If you helped job my memory a bit." he says with a lascivious smile appearing on his face.
Michael pushes Tiffania behind him as he grips the hilt of his swords with one hand and walks over to the desk, grabbing the man around his throat with the other and squeezing until he hears his spine start popping. "Will this help then? I heard blunt force trauma was a good way to recall things, we can test that next if you like?" he says, releasing his grip slightly to allow the man to talk.
The shopkeep cough and splitters as he tries to catch his breath, glaring at Michael with a great deal of animosity, "I... If I tell you who they are, they will kill me. They will hang me in the square with every other 'dissident'... I'd rather die to you than them!" he spits, clearly more fearful of 'them' than he is of Michael.
Michael shakes his head with faux-mirth, "Do you know who I am? I'm the one that killed Guiche de Gramont, destroyed Antomiers, helped take back Albion. I'm the one 'King' Gramont wants to kill the most, and you think anything they could do to you would be worse than me!? Don't fuck with me you piece of shit!" he growls, holding up his hand and letting orange sparks crackle between his fingers with a half-cast EtherShock spell.
The shopkeep gulps at the sight, having heard of the 'False-Familiar' all around the capital. Indeed, unbeknownst to Michael, people had started making up stories of him. Most of them were perpetrated by the now 'King' Gramont and his men.
"P-please, promise they won't find out if I tell you... Promise on your life!" the man begs, and Michael nods. "O-Okay... It, it was a new commander, someone called Nicolas Grimpt... That's all I know, I swear!"
Michael shakes his head, "You must know more than that, what does he look like? Sound like? Did he have an entourage? Where does he reside!?"
Fortunately, getting all this info apart from the latter question was fairly easy to do. Now that the hypothetical dam had broken, the man was more than willing to give up all he knew.
And, with all that said and done, Michael snaps the man's neck with ease. He shoves the corpse behind the counter and out of view of the street and turns towards Tiffania who he'd expected to look shocked, but apparently wasn't.
She shrugs, "He knew too much... And I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It does feel wasteful though." she admits, taking one last glance at the corpse before ignoring it.
Michael presents his elbow to her, "Maybe, but I didn't like the way he was looking at you either. Come on, let's see if we can find out a bit more about 'Commander Nicolas Grimpt' before we meet back up with Ralf." he says, as they both leave, Michael not forgetting to turn the sign on the door to 'Closed'.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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