2.20: To Get Backstabbed

How long has it been since we last rode a transport wagon, I wonder? Well, the last one was when we just entered Bilgam, so thinking about it, it should be around about a year ago? Back then, we were worried we wouldn’t make it in time to check into the ITA, oh how simpler life was back then…

As I pondered these thoughts by myself, I would sometimes mention them to Ed, who was seated adjacent to me. Cecily was sleeping peacefully as she leaned her head on my shoulder. We had the guys over at ARA temporarily babysit Nelly, so both Cecily and I are appreciating the peace and quiet of not having a baby screaming in your ear all the time. Ed was still a bit under the weather, frequently making comments about how quiet it’s gotten now that Carter’s not with us, but apart from that he seems to be recovering fairly well. Next to him sat Aaron and Max, with Jorgen sitting right next to me. The wagon was pretty snug, overall.

None of us really like the idea of heading straight into enemy territory, since there’s a high chance of them ambushing us, so all of us (including the Generals) decided to bring our weapons with us on the journey just in case. We have the papers for carrying them, as Max, Jorgen and I are all licensed swordsmen, and we can lie about Ed’s and Cecily’s weapons, feigning they’re ours instead.

The best case scenario of this whole ordeal would be for us to make it to the second capital of Great Hiana, Melgam, safely and for the negotiations to go as planned. This means the peace treaty between the two gangs will be signed and must be fair for both sides, and there will be no hard feelings after we split the royalties of upholding a gang. Of course, we will be departing from Great Hiana soon after, so there’s that to look forward to as well…

Optimally, I’d want to move to the next place with Ed, Cecily and Nelly soon. This little happy family of ours will be written down in history after we’ve made our rounds in every country of the world! We’ll be like Schnell, or heck, even better! We have the funds for a secure trip to at least ten more countries, and by the time we’re done with them, we’ll have probably amassed enough for the next ten countries from the Gang’s royalties.

“Okay, folks!” the wagon driver said, “You’ve arrived at Melgam, enjoy your visit here! It’s quite the spectacular place, after all!”

He praised the second capital some more as we left the wagon and made our way to an inn to leave our stuff behind. Wouldn’t want to have to sign the treaty with luggage in tow now, would we?

“Hey,” Cecily rounded all of us up as we got settled into our rooms, “the negotiations are scheduled for tomorrow, right?” She said. “Since we have the time, let’s just walk around and see just how spectacular this place really is!”

We all agreed to this lighthearted suggestion of hers, as we all sort of needed a change of pace. The town awaited us, and none of us were known for being patient!

***

Walking around Melgam had a similar aura to walking around in Bilgam. In fact, the resemblance was scary at some places! We heard from the wagon driver on our way there that these two cities represented The Two Sides of Good and Evil, and we’re built with that theme in mind. When Aaron asked about which city represented good and which represented evil, though, the driver simply said "The point of making these cities as two sides of the same coin is for the people to understand that both are important, and one cannot exist without the other. Which side is which is irrelevant." No wonder your country’s littered with gang wars!

Some of the areas were made to be the exact same to a T, while other’s diverged from Bilgam’s blueprints. Either way, we decided to check out the local ITA Agency, as I needed to check in, plus it’s a good way to gather information on Neo Urbana.

“Hello!” I said with a chipper tone, “I’m Lune Grimheart, and this here is my friend and travel buddy, Edward Saint! We’d like to check in, as per protocol.”

The ITA Agent looked at how young we were, but decided not to say anything, as we were at least old enough to be taken seriously this time. He looked through some papers before opening his eyes wide and murmuring something.

“That woman over there, yes you!” He called out to Cecily, “Come here for a second, I need to inquire about something…”

We were quite surprised by this turn of events, Cecily had no affiliations with the ITA, so we thought maybe they might send her back to Bilgam if something was amiss. The ITA Agent simply told her not to worry and asked her one question.

“Are you, perhaps, Cecily?” he asked.

“Indeed I am, sir.” She said hesitantly.

“I see. Well then, I apologize for frightening you, I just noticed you two recently had a child together and wanted to congratulate you. Oh, and it’s not my place to say this, but please try to keep it in moderation from now on, Mr. Grimheart. You two are still quite young, after all.” He chuckled.

Every single one of the Generals burst out laughing from the Agent’s advice, Cecily’s head was steaming from her blushing, but I was focused on one thing and one thing only…

He called me Mr. Grimheart…!

“Uhh, n-no, actually umm, Nelly is our child, but…” Cecily tried correcting him, “L-Lune, w-would you mind helping out…?”

“Huh? Oh, uhh, yeah, Nelly’s our precious child! Why would we keep it (our affection towards her) in moderation?” I said, misunderstanding an important detail.

At this point the Generals we’re rolling on the floor from laughing at my declaration, whilst the Agent was at a loss for words.

“I-I see, w-well that’s youth for you…” He lightly blushed.

“LUNE!” Cecily screamed out, “The heck are you saying!?! W-We haven’t…(done it yet…)”

She murmured the final part, so no one heard it, but I could tell I misunderstood something, I was just at a loss as to what that something was. I turned to the Generals to see if they had any idea, but they just looked at us and said That’s between the two of you! Before bursting out into a fit of laughter once again.

Needless to say, Cecily was a bit mad at me for the duration of our little tour of Melgam. But I digress, as our next stop was a little coffee shop, which was a sight for sore eyes to the Generals, but a novel one for Ed, Cecily and me.

Indeed, we have yet to try out a cup of coffee even once during our lifetime, which is a shame, as I heard it’s really good for if you want to stay awake. I’ve been told by Cecily that I doze off quite often in the middle of our book review talks, so I’ve been meaning to dip my feet into it (figuratively, not literally. That’s just disgusting).

The waiter asked us about our order. Max and Aaron both asked for an Espresso, Jorgen simply decided to go with their finest tea, Ed and I chose the Latte, while Cecily…

“I’ll take a Black Coffee!” She stated proudly.

The Generals gave her a worried look, warning her of the bitterness of a Black Coffee. She refuted by saying It’s what adults order!

And with that, we were served our drinks as we talked about all sorts of fascinating things about the city we were in.

“What was your favorite part of the trip, so far?” I asked the gang.

“Lune, this isn’t a trip, we’re here to sign the peace treaty and leave, nothing more.” Said Jorgen with a serious tone.

“Oh, boo-hoo!” Max mocked him, “Looks like someone doesn’t like the tea here!”

“The tea?” I asked.

“Mhm! Jorgen always gets this grumpy when the tea isn’t up to his standards.” Max explained, with Jorgen slowly getting embarrassed as he tells him to shut up.

“I liked the theme of this place.” Aaron voiced his opinion, “The idea of a mirrored town is quite interesting, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

We agreed with him fully, but then discussed how that’s probably the reason why there’s so much turmoil in the country.

“When we get shared ownership of Great Hiana, let’s try and make this place a bit less similar.” I suggested, “It could possibly solve that issue.”

“Yeah,” Ed added, “but in doing so, wouldn’t you inadvertently make this place less unique, thus hurting it’s tourist economy?”

Fair point… I guess it isn’t as simple to reform a country as it was to reform a gang…

Max was getting antsy as he waited for his turn, before just spouting out “I dunno why you guys are avoiding it, but I think we all know that the ITA Agent telling these two to slow down was the objective peak of this whole trip!”

Again, the Generals giggled at that one, with Ed trying very hard to not laugh, even going so far as to bite his lip. Cecily promptly choked on her bitter coffee before starting to reprimand their idiocy. She was really struggling with that Black Coffee after all, so I offered to switch mine with hers.

“Really? You’d do that? Be careful though, it’s really bitter.” She warned me of the dangers of Black Coffee.

As soon as I started sipping the coffee, though, Ed suddenly whispered Indirect Kiss into my ears.

I spit the coffee out myself (the waiter wasn’t happy).

***

We had since clocked out in the inn, and awoke feeling more refreshed than ever before. We were in perfect condition to attend the negotiations, and with perfect timing, too! It appears we had gotten a letter addressed to us sent to the inn’s mailbox by none other than the Neo Urbana General Liebert.

In the letter he specified the time of the meeting, as well as where it’ll be held. He was light on the details, but we understood that it’s probably because he intends to tell us everything once we make it there.

We got dressed in our most formal wear and headed out to their base. It was a large, castle-like structure that sort of reminded me of the ITA base over at Leins. It had the same obstacle course, with the walls even having a similar feel to them. Entering it proved to be quite the surprise in and of itself, as what greeted us inside was a ballroom. A band of musicians played a beautiful, slow jam and the lights were quite dimmed to add to the atmosphere. Not at all what we expected from this encounter…

A man holding two wine glasses in his hand greeted us with a friendly smile.

“Hello and welcome, dear Generals of ARA Gang! I am General Liebert of Neo Urbana and as you can see, the signing will be held at the end of the party we prepared for you!” He said, handing me a glass, “This is a momentous occasion, so be sure to make the most of it!”

We we’re still at a loss for words upon seeing this spectacle unfold in front of our very eyes, but then quickly realized that the people present here are all members of high social ranking, more or less. Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses of the neighboring nations all danced around together and socialized as they drank from one bottle to the next. We decided to split up and make some connections ourselves, as it would surely prove useful to us in the future.

“Ah, excuse me, I’ve seen you before!” I said to a familiar looking face. “I’m sorry for my impudence, but could you perchance be Adam, the prince of the Grys Royal Family?”

He looked at me before sighing in relief and saying “Why yes, I am! Thank you for reaching out to me, everyone here seems like they’re quite afraid to even talk to a person of such a high ranking as me.”

He seems pleasant enough to me, I thought as I continued the conversation, “I’m Lune Grimheart, it’s an honor to meet your acquaintance, sir! I am the current General of the ARA Gang over at Bilgam.”

“A Gang?” He said with a smile, “Sounds like fun! Would you mind regaling me with some of your stories from there?”

“With pleasure!” I shot back with a smile of my own as I explained to him my entire story from around the point where Ed and I reached Bilgam.

“Amazing! But to think you’d lose a friend at such a tender age… You have my sincerest condolences.” He lowered his voice to accentuate the truth behind his statement.

“Ah, thank you very much. He was a good man, but thanks to him a young girl was allowed to live her life, and even in his last moments, he didn’t once say he regretted his actions, so I believe it’s alright.” I answered back.

Adam wasn’t that much older than me, he was around the Generals’ age range. From our conversations I realized he was born in 999AD, making him 5 years my elder. Even still, we clicked immediately, as we were both honest folks.

“But if you’re a traveler,” Adam stopped to ask, “does that mean you plan to travel more countries soon?”

“Not just more countries,” I answered back, “but every country! The plan is to document my time in every single country, and later publishing it for the world to see.”

“Like Schnell’s Handbook?” He inquired.

Did I just meet a fellow fan?

“Yes! Exactly! Have you read it?” I could barely hold in my excitement as I asked him.

“Oh, no.” He said as he waved his hands as if banishing the thought, “The genre of his book isn’t something I’m too interested in. I’m sure you can guess from my Iro, but I’m quite fond of Inventing, so technical books are more up my alley.”

I was a bit bummed, but I still latched onto his comment by mentioning the technical books I’ve read. He seemed even more stoked to hear me out.

“Oooh! You’ve read J. Morris’ Book of Technicality? I quite enjoyed that one! But when it comes to geniuses, one could never forget The Artistic Genius from Abyssus Solis.” He said.

“And who would that be?” I awaited his answer earnestly.

“Why it would be none other than Meil D.!” he said as he continued, “This boy singlehandedly not only presented, but also proved the idea that a Beholder’s Iro contains certain perks. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of this one, it sounds quite crazy, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that one! It’s something I can back up with-” I almost presented my Spark party trick before remembering what happened the last time I used it. I burned down a house, ultimately leading Carter into his own death…

I quietly tucked my hand back into my pocket, leaving Adam confused at my abrupt stop in momentum.

“Well, then, Lune Grimheart,” He stopped to shake my hand before leaving, “if-no, when you reach Cardina, be sure to pay us Gryses a visit, would you?”

“Of course, sir!” I said as I shook his hand, “Oh, I'll check out some of that Meil fellow's books, as long as you at least give Schnell's handbook a try!”

"I'll take you up on that offer, but I'm also holding you to that promise, okay?" He answered back with content in his eyes. "The next time we meet, I'd like to discuss our experiences with these books in full!"

"Same here!" I let go of his hand, "Until we meet again!"

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The Neo Urbana General suddenly started speaking out to the crowd, as if making a toast. “Are you having fun?” he asked.

The crowd cheered back at him in response.

“Good!” he said before continuing his speech, “As you know, currently present in this party are all the Generals of the newly formed ARA Gang. They have come here in hopes of us signing a peace treaty with them…”

I don’t like where this is going…

“…But I thought:” he continued, “Why do so and have only half of the country when I can just kill them all and forcefully take the entire country!”

As he uttered these horrible words, half of the people attending pulled out their weapons and aimed them against us. The other half was in fact the real deal, so they were quite frightened about the whole situation, but they heartlessly stepped aside when that bastard General promised them safety if they just remain neutral. Since our entire team was separated into different parts of the room, we couldn’t defend ourselves adequately. We fell right into the most predictable trap possible…