(^^ this is what he's wearing ^^)
~2.316 words
The carriage swayed and lurched rhythmically along the way, before gradually steadying itself as it rolled into one of the most opulent and distinguished districts in all of Backlund.
Kiyotaka noticed that the abundance of towering trees coupled with the Borough's considerable distance from the belching smokestacks of the factories, made the air remarkably purer and more breathable than in the surrounding districts.
Along the way, Kiyotaka did not initiate any kind of small talk with William Sikes and instead kept his gaze outside. In a sense, it was calming.
It was at that moment that a stark realization dawned upon Kiyotaka. It was that beneath all his unassuming composure, he was, in truth, a pampered child of privilege, thoroughly accustomed to the finer things in life, yet wholly oblivious to that fact until now.
Be it his time in that facility or in ANHS, he had always stayed in good places. And coming back to this area, he was reminded of that. But then again, a lot of people would love to live in this district, despite not having a pampered background.
Keeping the oddness to himself, Kiyotaka focused his mind on the matter at hand. There were other important things at hand than his longing to live in a decent place. The first and foremost of that was his status as a Beyonder.
While he had not heard of someone being able to tell one's Beyonder status, to him it seemed insuperable that the royal family won't have means of filtering them. That is why when Kiyotaka had gone to the bathroom to sacrifice his Mystical Items to Klein, he also asked him if he was able to extend the effect of "mystery" to the real world.
The reason for asking this was fairly simple. However — as Kiyotaka had expected — Klein was unable to do that. However, there was a certain proposal that Klein presented, and that was channeling the anti-divination and anti-prophecy nature of the Card of Blasphemy and then bestowing it to Kiyotaka.
If the customer was anyone else, Kiyotaka would've refused to come himself and would've sent Leppard. However, it was the Prince of Loen Kingdom himself, and furthermore, he had already established himself as the face of the company with Leppard — much to his displeasure — going in the background, as merely a glorified mechanic.
In the end, Kiyotaka decided not to go forward with it. There were many reasons for that, but the main one was that Kiyotaka did not want Klein to see the rituals for Black Emperor Pathway.
His life was like an uncertain mist of chaos, and hence he was not sure what his future relationship with Klein would be like. His paranoia regarding the matter was further amplified due to the nature of the Rituals for Black Emperor Pathway.
It was bound to go against the good nature of Klein.
Going to meet the prince of the Loen Kingdom was a gamble that he was willing to take, not because of him feeling reckless today, but rather out of uncontrollable situations.
He did not particularly pine for such situations, yet somehow his true self gravitated toward them. Back on Earth, or in his past life — depending on which of his theories held more weight in his mind — he had always existed within controlled environments, where outcomes were predictable and variables were manageable.
There were no Deities, no beings capable of supernatural phenomena with a mere flick of their fingers.
Even Kiyotaka was now capable of reducing an entire building to cinders with nothing more than a bracelet and a passing thought.
And while it presented its own sets of dangers and unpredictability, it was exactly these kinds of situations where he actually thrived.
Uncertainty was what animated him. It was the one stimulus that cut through his otherwise indifferent state of mind, the satisfaction not of chaos itself, but of systematically dismantling it and emerging — inevitably — on the winning side.
He was wrong when he thought that he felt nothing when Patrick Jason and his dog were killed.
He had felt something. It simply was not joy but something twisted in its own way. Dismantling a system, reconstructing it, and shattering it once more — it was, to him, what sex was to any other person.
The purest form of gratification he knew.
Feeling enlightened, Kiyotaka focused his gaze back at the verdant expanse. The canopy of trees overhead had grown heavier, so much that it felt like a forest than a residential area. Soon, the paved road transitioned into a cobblestone one, and the carriage began to wobble before stopping quite abruptly.
He saw that there were many guards outside, all laced with steam rifles and hunting dogs tightly leashed by their sides as saliva dripped from their tongue and landed between their front paws.
'I should get a pet too, to keep me company. Maybe I should feed it some potion as well, let it become of some use to me. But for that, I'd need extensive research into the Pathways...'
"We are here." William Sikes' voice was warm and welcoming. It was quite contrasting to the hard expressions of the guards outside.
Kiyotaka nodded and waited for William Sikes to open the door for him. Once he did, he placed his foot on the pedestal and stepped down. The dogs and the men both looked alert.
One of them, who was a young man with black hair and black eyes, stepped forward.
William Sikes looked back at him. "I hope you will forgive us for being cautious."
Kiyotaka nodded once. "Of course." And then reached out for the inside of his coat.
Just as the base of the revolver came in sight, everyone tensed and the dogs suddenly sprang up to all four, growling.
Unflinching by the sudden rifles that were going to be pointed at him, Kiyotaka extended his hand towards William Sikes. "I have a revolver, for self-defense."
"That is quite commendable." William Sikes took it from his grasp and handed it over to another guard. Then, with a sincere smile, he directed Kiyotaka, guiding him towards the giant manor that loomed in the distance.
*****
After a few moments of walking on the road paved out with expensive stones, Kiyotaka finally came close to the manor.
The manor was in the middle of a giant orchard where all kinds of flowers had blossomed. Kiyotaka deduced that the weathers were taken into consideration while making his manor as flowers that blossomed in winter and summers were both planted in this place.
While some areas looked gray, others looked really colorful.
'This is normal. It's the residence of the Prince of Loen Kingdom after all. It would have been strange if it was anything but this. That said, this meeting could've been done in a different place too... Why invite me to a private residence?
This place is too tailored to a single person's needs for it to be just another place where the Prince is hanging out. Hmm, perhaps it's because the deal means a lot to him. If so, then that means the prince is a materialistic person.
However, there can be other implications too. For example, getting close to the only person who is — on paper — able to solve the downsides of a motor vehicle. From my understanding, it won't be long before the Church of God of Steam and Machinery would like to get involved in their own obscure ways as well.
The royal family are devout worshippers of Lord of Storms, and last time I checked, there was no bad blood between Lord of Storms and God of Steam and Machinery.
It could also be possible that all of these thinking patterns are redundant. Humans are quite unpredictable, especially if you have virtually zero information about them.'
Kiyotaka was brought out of his monologue by the opening of the doors of the main entrance. The door made no sound — despite its Himalayan size and weight. As Kiyotaka took a step inside, his senses were overloaded with the fresh scents of so many things that — for a second — it became impossible for him to differentiate them.
The smells that entered his nose were that of fresh bread, beans, beef, chicken, fish, steamed vegetables, sweets— and so on and so forth. From the entrance of the door, he could see maids of varying descents scurrying around like rats, carrying dishes in their hands and arranging everything to perfection.
On the other side of the food was a table with bottles of different kinds of alcohol. From different kinds of aged wines to beers and other forms of spirits— everything was present there. It was a welcome, well befitting that of a prince.
Kiyotaka, who was standing on the threshold, was softly prompted by William Sikes to walk inside. He lingered for a while before following after William Sikes.
"Mr. Holmes, please, be at ease. The Prince has arranged everything for you. He will be with you in a while, but please indulge yourself. The prince would be really happy if you do." William Sikes spoke in a warm manner before departing himself.
Kiyotaka looked at the assortment of food and drinks and then hummed to himself. In the presence of so many options, his hunger seemed to have taken a hit. He no longer felt the craving or desire to eat everything.
Still, not wanting to disrespect the Prince's welcome, he picked up a few skewers made out of beef and some multi-grain bread — which was the first of its kind he had seen in this time — and began eating.
The taste was unlike anything he had eaten before. It was the closest in taste to the food in ANHS. Instead of feeling like a mesh of different spices and burning his tongue, the spices used in these skewers all had their distinct flavor and he could taste them separately on different corners of his tongue.
Picking up a small glass of wine, he drank a few sips from it. Then, he took some white, steamed rice and placed another few beef skewers on top, before topping it with fried onions. He also picked up a mango chutney that had some degree of kick to it to dip the kebabs in.
He ate the entire thing in silence, with utmost manners. Not once did the spoon or fork make a clink against the plate. With the combination of his classes and his Barbarian control, he appeared to be quite a gentleman.
Which was ironic, since he was a Barbarian, but those same powers made him appear as a gentleman. The dichotomy — in every sense of the word — was jarring.
The maids — who were keeping an eye on him — had the same impressed look on their faces. To them, seeing an ordinary, non-noble person behave in a better way than actual nobles was something unheard of.
As Kiyotaka finished one thing after another, the maids kept picking and cleaning the plates at the same time.
Just as he was about to pick another plate and pour himself another cup of wine, he suddenly heard a voice.
No— two voices. They were arguing, and the cadence grew angrier and louder with every passing second. Then suddenly a thundering crack filled what little silence was created due to their arguing, birthing an even more stifling silence.
Two seconds later, one of the voices grew quivery and began mumbling something unintelligible. Kiyotaka did not act as if he was listening to all this and instead focused back on the kebabs.
A few moments later, Kiyotaka saw two people walk out of the area from where the intense sounds of arguing were coming from. One of them was a young man who had a round face and a pair of slender blue eyes. The man looked spirited and had a smile on his face.
The corners of his eyes were crinkled and Kiyotaka assumed that it was a person who almost always smiled, given how prominent the smile lines on his cheeks and corner of his eyes were. It was also quite apparent that the man did not look prepared, seeing as how the makeup around his eyes was more prominent than the other.
However, that was not what caught Kiyotaka's attention. It was something else.
It was the person trailing behind him.
It was a young girl with a round face, slender eyes, and a gentle and refined temperament. She was outlandishly attractive and Kiyotaka couldn't take his eyes away from her beautiful face and graceful body.
However, the charming sensation subsided soon.
'Hmm... Am I charmed by her?'
This kind of reaction made Kiyotaka a little uneasy. After all, it was not the first time he was seeing this girl. He had seen her before in passing, when she was accompanying an older man to a hotel, but never really felt this kind of attraction towards her. (ref. to Chapter 15: Home)
The girl's pale blue eyes, which were the same shade as his, locked on Kiyotaka and suddenly a beautiful smile appeared on their corners, the frown vanishing instantly.
"William, take Trissy to her quarters." The young man ordered as the old butler obliged instantly.
It was at that time that Kiyotaka fully realized that it was indeed the prince of Loen Kingdom — Prince Edessak Augustus.
Kiyotaka slowly stood up from his seat and lowered his head just enough that it conveyed some degree of respect. "Good afternoon, your highness." He greeted with a strange allure and Eloquence in his tone.
*****
Author's Note: I am going to commission an official art soon for this fanfic. Any ideas what it should be or should I commission according to my own vision?
Anyways, I'll see you all later. Tschüß