บท 196: His Grace
Louise is led down the tower, through a fort wall, and eventually onto the main street, where the sound of trumpets, drums, and various other instruments assaulted her. She squints slightly at the racket and glances at Julio who seemed to have been expecting something like this.
The street had been all but closed off, with many men in shining silver and blue armour lining each side of the road with many civilians standing behind them, attempting to gawk and get a look at the person who required their own parade.
Louise has to force her legs to begin walking as Julio steps out, the duo walking past the many silver-clad knights as they lower their heads respectfully to Louise. She struggles to keep the look of irritation and consternation from her face, leaving only her brow occasionally twitching in response to the cheers of the people.
She'd only experienced something like this once before, if to a lesser extent when riding with Henrietta's victory parade. Still, it wasn't her who was the center of attention during that time, so she was struggling to maintain her composure... It was only the firm arm of Julio that kept her from stumbling over herself, which she was slightly thankful for.
It takes around three minutes of slow walking to eventually reach the bottom of the steps leading towards the huge church that sat in the center of the city. Louise could see a man standing at the top of the stairs, his luxurious blue priest robes and pope hat marking him as her 'benefactor'. This was Vittorio Serevare, St Aegis the 32nd, and Shield of the Founder. In his hand, he holds a large gold rod that presumably serves as his magic focus.
Vittorio himself looks incredibly young for his position, barely into his twenties. He has a kind, yet handsome face with long blonde hair that sits on his shoulders, and dark eyes that lacked any distinguishable colour.
Julio and Louise climb the stairs, and once they reach the top the former drops to his knees, Louise hastily following along as she was taught in her religious studies by her parents.
"Rise." the pope gently commands, walking over and placing a hand on Louise' shoulder, "I hope you had a pleasant journey, Miss Valliere. But we must not wait on courtesy, there are things that must be attended to at the earlier opportunity. Come," he says, gesturing towards the large open doors of the church.
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Louise is led through the opulent church, priests, servants, and nuns bowing deeply towards them as they pass. Eventually, the Pope leads her into a large room and sits at a table at the side. Julio takes a seat beside him, and both look expectantly at Louise who awkwardly follows along.
...
...
The three sits there in silence for a couple minutes, Vittorio observing Louise with an analytical gaze before nodding in satisfaction. "Miss Valliere, you are a Void Mage." he firmly states, causing Louise to squint in irritation.
"I am... Of course I am! Why else would you have brought me here?" she questions, mustering up her confidence.
Vittorio just shakes his head, "I was merely confirming it, in Romalia's history, there have been many claims to the Founder's Magic, but all were found to be charlatans and frauds. It seems that this era will be a perilous one, however." he says with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Louise questions, not knowing what he was referring to.
"Do you think that you are the only Void Mage around, Miss Valliere?" Julio suddenly asks, causing Louise to frown.
"Am I not?" she quickly asks.
Vittorio shakes his head, "I know of two others... The first is the King of Gallia, Joseph de Gallia." he states, causing Louise' eyes to widen.
"H-him!? But he, he's-... That man cannot be a Void Mage! The Founder wouldn't choose a warmonger like him!" she exclaims.
"Brimir's will works in strange ways, Miss Valliere. Perhaps we will need a united Halkeginia under Gallia to weather the coming storm? Or perhaps the Founder has found the others lands wanting?" he asks, Louise' face scrunching up in thought.
"What would be so important that the Founder would allow Gallia to invade, kill, and hurt innocents? It just doesn't make any sense!" she says, sounding more like a petulant child than anything else.
Vittorio smiles mysteriously, "Miss Valliere, I am sure you are aware of the Founder's last actions. Falling while attempting to wipe out the wicked elves from the holy land?" he asks and she nods, "Well, perhaps it is finally time to reclaim our birthright. With three known Void Mages, and one potentially undiscovered one, I feel that the time has come."
...
Louise thoughts drift to everything she'd been taught about Brimir, elves, and the holy land. To be honest, she'd figured that they'd never recover it, forever remaining in this stalemate until the land rots and the sun burns out. The appearance of multiple Void Mages was certainly a sign for greater things to come though, that was undeniable... A veritable second coming of Brimir, perhaps the Pope was right?
"Whose the other Void Mage?" she finally asks after a moment of silence.
Vittorio smiles, and Julio raises his right hand to display clearly his Familiar Runes, Vindálfr, the Right Hand of God.
Louise' eyes widen, "Y-you?" she turns to Vittorio, "You're a Void Mage?"
He chuckles amusedly and nods, "Of course, in this new age of returning Void Magic, how could the leader of the Brimiric faith lack such a distinction? As you can likely tell, this is Julio Chesare, my Familiar."
"But-, why did you bring me here if you're already a Void Mage?"
"Miss Valliere, one can never have too much of a good thing. Plus, I believe that you require a teacher, something that I am willing to provide." Vittorio says with a small smile.
"How would you know about Void spells though? I thought that only Brimir's Prayer Book could teach spells?" she asks, not mentioning the fact that the artifact in question had been stolen.
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