28 — Iaomai's Camp

"Oh, no. I could never learn divine magic, too complicated." Iaomai says. "This is humanic magic. In this wound specifically, the blood coagulated and formed a scab super quickly."

"Oh, interesting." Joezand says. "I've heard from a priest that divine magic is pretty tough too. You said you were a devotee of that Turkey guy?"

"Turken." Iaomai corrects.

"Yeah, that's right." Joezand chuckles awkwardly. "I don't know much about the gods, like at all."

"Hm, it is strange." Iaomai raises an eyebrow. "A prince should have vast knowledge of the Sixtuple."

"You've heard what happened, though. I lost my memories." Joezand says. "I tried to catch up, but preparing for the duel took almost all of my time. I've read up enough on Sunnaria and Falchion, and you explained Turken to me back in the carriage, but I'm in the dark about the other three. Do you know much about them?"

"Just the basics." Iaomai replies. "Chansa is the goddess of theater and she is as dramatic as you might think. Her biggest invention were lies, probably. She claimed it was the perfect representation of the corruption of the soul, which to her creates a good, entertaining narrative."

"Interesting."

That does fit with the description Lorelai gave him. 'Two-faced and has fun when you suffer.'

"Cazmo is a rather introverted person." Iaomai continues. "And people say that it contrasts with his creations, like the sky and the stars. But I honestly disagree." He looks up. "The sky and the stars, it's always there. People usually take it for granted, barely affording it a passing glance. But when they're alone, in a moment of quiet contemplation... They find a friend in the comforting expanse."

"That's a beautiful interpretation."

"T-Thank you, Prince Joezand." His face reddens slightly. Aw, cute. He's not used to people praising him for that, huh? "A-Anyway, that leaves us with Carpes. She's the goddess of the ocean."

"And what's she like?" Joezand asks. "To me the ocean is pretty peaceful and serene, but..."

"Oh, no. Not at all. Carpes is more like very bad storm rocking a ship wildly." Iaomai says. "She is actually the most ruthless of all the Sixtuple. She regularly interacts with humanity, and most of those interactions are negative. Be careful if you ever go to a coast. You might end up drowning yourself and all of the nearby cities in one fell swing of her staff."

"Scary." Joezand sighs. "Honestly, the gods are a bit of a mixed bag for me. Turken and Cazmo seem fine, but Carpes, Chansa and Falchion are honestly too much for me to handle. I'm partial to Sunnaria, personally."

"Yeah, I feel the same way. Although I am a devotee of Turken, who's not really a big fan of humans, I still have deep respect for Sunnaria. Her kindness really is limitless." Iaomai says with a smile. "It's nice to discuss these things. Once I started serving Agnes, I'd spend all of my off days going to different churches. Since it's a port city, it's kind of a melting pot of different cultures from all across Orskideal." He recounts. "When I had rest days, of course. Since Agnes' condition got worse, I don't have much time for myself anymore."

"Condition? I've been wondering about that." He looks around, but he doesn't see Agnes anywhere. He thinks she went inside of her tent already. "I thought only her legs were screwed up. But her voice, too, sounds weird. And that white streak in her hair as well... It does seem like she has a lot of things wrong with her body."

"Not a single person has been able to figure out what's happening inside of her body." Iaomai says. "My magic isn't all that precise. When I tended the horse, it's not like I actively thought about curing the cut and coagulating the blood. I just thought about healing the animal as a whole." Iaomai explains. "So if the horse also had a broken bone that I couldn't perceive, it would also get healed, even if I wasn't even thinking about it." He continues. "The same thing is happening with Agnes. I just use my magic on her and she gets better, even if I don't think about healing something specific. That's why I had to come on this journey."

"Well, I'm glad you came, then." Joezand says. "She's a lot, but it's not like I want her to die or anything—"

"Iaomai!" Agnes screams from one of the tents. "Come here right this instant! What are you waiting for?!"

"That's my cue." Iaomai looks apologetically to Joezand. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Prince Joezand. I hope we can continue to talk soon."

"Alright, see you soon." The prince replies as he watches Iaomai retreat into the tent. There's only three— One for Agnes and Iaomai, one for Anneliese and Lorelai, and he gets one all for himself. Feels good to be the prince. He enters his tent, seeing the fur sleeping roll. His body flops on the bed and his eyes close...

"Hey there, champ." A voice comes out from the other side of the tent. "It's Lorelai. Can I come in?"

"I was about to sleep." Joezand whines. "Fine, enter."

Lorelai sits down next to him. He gets up to be side by side with her.

"Good job on the duel, first of all." Lorelai says, patting him hard on the back. "I didn't get the chance to tell you how proud of you I was. Doing the same dagger trick on Pult? Oh, I bet he was so pissed."

"He seemed a bit melancholic after the duel, actually." Joezand says. "He was very bloodthirsty during it, but when I spoke to him afterwards... I don't know, something was weird."

"Is that so?" Lorelai says, her eyes downcast. She stays silent for a bit. "I wonder if it could've been different?" She mumbles.

"Hm? Don't tell me you were secretly rooting for Pult all this time." Joezand leans back with a smirk. "I'd consider that high treason, y'know."

"That's not what I'm talking about." She says. "I was the one who got Pult to join the knights. He found me in a pretty rough shape in a battlefield, when he was still a kid."

"I see." Joezand replies. "And then you recruited him as a child soldier?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Lorelai says, while Joezand's eyes go wide. "Oh, please. I started as a squire when I was six years old. He at least got to be a child for a little longer than that. And besides... He kind of saved me, in a way. So I had to save him in return, from his awful home life."

"Really? What was that like?"

"I'm not about to tell Pult's secrets to you, Joezand." Lorelai reprimands. "Really, ask him if you're so curious."

"What about your secrets, then? Something juicy to spill?" Joezand asks with a grin.

"Not really. I had a disgustingly average life, following in my parents footsteps into serving the crown." Lorelai shrugs. "The only time I got to do something because I wanted to was when I brought Pult with me. In a way, I see him as a younger brother." She glares at him. "Not the sibling relations you people have, mind you. Just an honest-to-god normal sibling-like relationship."

"Hey! I didn't even say anything."

"You were thinking it." Lorelai grumbles. "Really, your family is really... Ugh." She groans. "I just don't understand why."

"You should know better than me. I've functionally known them for, like, a month."

"That is true. You act so put together sometimes that I forget that you've lost your memories." Lorelai says. "Maybe you'd remember why Pult changed."

"Was I supposed to know why?"

"I'd hope so. He and I got separated when he was promoted to be the knight of the Empress, so I kind of lost the moment he got grumpy." She chuckles. "Since you had to see him every single day because of your antics, you'd probably know when exactly his demeanor turned sour. He was so sweet when he was kid, too. A bit standoffish, but very helpful and attentive." She sighs. "Now... What you see is what you get, I suppose."

"Well, not sure about the past, but I think that I can gather why he was sad after the duel." Joezand says. "Besides past Joezand happening to him, he probably felt replaced. You were cheering pretty audibly for me instead of him in the duel. Not very big sister-like to your theoretical younger brother."

"Past Joezand?" She chuckles. "That's a funny way to talk about yourself." Oops. It seems one of his usual thoughts slipped through in conversation. "But maybe you're right. I could try to get closer to him again."

"If that'll improve his perpetual downer of a mood, I'm all for it." He sighs. "You need to be the one to save us all from Pult's grumpiness."

"Alright, it's a mission then." She smiles, getting up. "Thanks for the talk, champ. Speaking to you is pretty soothing. You're really wise beyond your years sometimes."

"Don't I know it." He chuckles. He has played therapist so much that he might think about pursuing it as a degree once he's back in Tokyo. "Good night, Lorelai."

"Good night, Princey." She says and leaves his tent. He flops down on the bed again, closing his eyes slowly.

— — —

"All ready to go!" Lorelai says from the front of the carriage. Joezand, Anneliese, Iaomai enter the carriage. Iaomai helps Agnes up as well, and she sits down by his side.

"Lorelai's rather cheerful today." Anneliese says. "I wonder if something happened."

"Beats me." Joezand shrugs. "Better for us, since she won't try to force any of us to guide the horses." He knocks on the wood and the carriage begins to move.

"Alright, to Kivul then." Iaomai says.