Chapter Ten: Loyalty (Engelard)

You betray me, I kill you.

"Bezahle für deine unehrlichkeit. Sterben."

Engelard releases an arrow from his bow, watching in satisfaction as it pierces through a man's neck. Beside him are Leon and Nicholas, the latter coming as quite the surprise for the archer.

"Go ahead and go out there yourself, Leon. I'll keep an eye on you, but I want to chat with Nicholas a bit," Engelard, his eyes still focused on the now motionless body, whispers into Leon's left ear.

"Alright."

Leon walks out of the dark alleyway Engelard stationed himself in. The archer turns his attention to Nicholas, whose eyes look around the area of Geneva he can see from the alleyway. His expression does not reveal any prominent emotions he may be feeling.

"Are you alright, Nicholas?"

Engelard pulls out a black cloth from behind him and polishes his bow. After several seconds and no reply from the former king, Engelard opens his mouth to ask the young man again, but he answers.

"In Polen, I don't think my citizens have ever dealt with dishonesty this horribly. Usually, a quick conversation, or for more urgent cases, a trip to a courthouse would solve it, but they would never go as far as to kill someone. You do it without hesitation or remorse, without regard for if you'll be chased down because of the punishments you inflict on others.

"But I suppose this does benefit Leon. Have you been friends and traveled together for most of your life? I don't think I have any siblings or friends as close to me as you and Leon are. Your relationship is quite admirable to me," Nicholas' eyes are focused on Leon, who holds the bloody arrow over his golden goblet, preparing to glimpse into the man's past.

Engelard thinks about Nicholas' words and proposed question. He could still remember when he first met Leon when the boy was still a knight-in-training.

Leon was scouting the edge of a forest without his instructor who he wandered too far from, and Engelard watched him as he stopped under an apple tree, picked an apple from one of the lower branches, and took a bite from it.

A rustle in the bushes next to Leon alerted him of another's presence. The boy stored his half-eaten apple between two sturdy branches of the tree and pulled out his silver sword, the basic color given to all trainee knights to distinguish them from the honored knights with their bronze and even gold swords

He didn't even spend a second looking around the area before a small child jumped out of the bushes and began running from Leon, to which the young boy gave chase. Engelard jumped down from the tree he was watching Leon from and followed several feet behind him. It didn't take long for the child, Leon, and Engelard to freeze when a woman was spotted in the middle of the forest, pointing a rifle in the child's direction.

Engelard climbed a nearby tree and waited to see what Leon would do. To his surprise, and that of the child, he moved to stand in front of the child, his sword poised to not strike but rather protect the child if the woman was to aim at the child if they moved out from behind Leon.

The archer decided, at that moment, to protect Leon. He readied an arrow in his bow and waited for the woman to take the only action that would render her dead. She raised her rifle, her finger on the trigger, and took her shot.

Engelard shot his arrow, catching the woman in the head before a bullet could exit the rifle. Leon looked directly at Engelard and positioned both himself and the sword in front of the child, ready to defend them against Engelard.

But the archer climbed down from the tree, put his bow and arrows down on the ground, and put his hands up in the air with a friendly smile, trying his best to convey that he was no threat to Leon or the child.

After their first encounter, the two often met on the outskirts of the forest, accompanied by the child who decided to stay with Leon until he could return to his country of birth (which he refused to say no matter how many times either young man asked).

Engelard helped sharpen Leon's skills as a knight, and Leon gave him tips about different ways arrows could be utilized based on what he saw from the archer division of the knights he trained with. The child was interested in both the weapons and professions the young men had but took a special interest in the stories Leon and Engelard would exchange about Schweiz, especially those containing the country's relationship with other nations.

A year of meeting together passed before Leon became an honorary knight due to how hard he trained and how well his senses improved, which he countlessly thanked Engelard for. Not long after, Leon abandoned being a knight, and when Engelard asked why, he mentioned that he didn't feel as though he was any more special than the older honorary knights, and often sat alone while all the others were playing games.

Leon announced he would be traveling around Bern, seeing if any opportunities caught his attention that promised to be more rewarding than being "just another honored knight." Engelard instantly said he would be traveling with him, and the child looked at the pair with curious eyes.

When asked if the child had any family, he replied that he was an orphan of war, to which Leon and Engelard offered to help him find another family that would take him in or bring him to an orphanage or other shelter that would ensure he would be safe and well-cared for.

The boy shook his head and asked if he could tag along with Leon and Engelard, as he was searching for a friend which he met in the orphanage back in his country of birth but lost contact with once the building burnt down.

Leon and Engelard agreed, and the three began traveling together, their bond becoming stronger as they talked about their lives before meeting one another, and what they hoped to accomplish in the future.

The trio eventually came across a large white cathedral, which appeared to be a reasonable place to ask for shelter for the night, as a storm was sure to break out overnight and last until, at least, the next night.

That was when Leon and Engelard met Grayson. Leon was quick to accept Grayson's invitation of a promising profession that would surely save many lives and hopefully all of Schweiz given if he could carry out weekly assassinations.

Engelard refused, saying he had other work to tend to, as while the three were passing through Geneva, the archer was approached by a young woman asking him for a bit of money to take a train somewhere far from her abusive parents. Engelard gave her everything he had, and the woman promised to pay him back.

The three stayed in Geneva for a week, and as the three were leaving, the woman met with Engelard again, thanked him for his help, and gave him a golden necklace with charms of a single bow and three arrows- the first one bronze, the second silver, and the third gold.

After that encounter, Engelard was approached by many people asking for money, and that's when Engelard began his work as an unterhändler, providing money to those who paid him back, and killing those who thought dishonestly was an easy way to deceive and escape him.

Grayson accepted Engelard's refusal with clear suspicion and turned his attention to the boy, who met his eyes with mixed emotions. Grayson bent down to be level with the child and asked what he desired, with no underlying maliciousness in his tone.

The child repeated that he wished to find his friend, and when Grayson asked for the friend's name, his name, and the name of the country that the two were born in, the child refused to say anything to Grayson and requested to speak with someone else.

Grayson called for Ace, and the three met the traveling merchant, to which the child was happy to talk to, eventually leaving the cathedral with him once the storm blew over. And now Engelard and Leon were like they are now, handling different professions but still the best of friends.

Engelard nearly forgot about the boy and reminded himself to ask about him the next time he saw Ace. Maybe the child was finally able to reunite with-

"Engelard...?"

"No, you have to be more aggressive and louder. Try this: Hey, hirnloser Mörder! Was geht in deinem leeren Kopf vor?"

"What? I can't say that; I know very little German."

"Well, say something is Polish then."

"Okay... Let me see... An insult, huh? How about... Gdybyś stał na polu róż, wszystkie zwiędłyby na twoją odrażającą obecność!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you said, but since you look quite proud of yourself... Good job with that insult."

Engelard blinks and looks confusingly at Nicholas, who just smiles and waves at him.

"Ah, back in the present, are we? I apologize for what I said. Here, please take a rose," Nicholas summons a rose from underneath his cloak and hands it to Engelard, who hesitantly takes it before focusing his narrowed glance on Leon.

"A brainless murderer, huh? After ten years of traveling together, you still think I'm a chicken running around with its head chopped straight off? Would a brainless murder do this?"

Engelard takes out an arrow and pokes Leon in the stomach with the blunt side. Leon breaks out laughing when Engelard continues, eventually laying on the ground and begging him to stop.

"Not until you say you're sorry."

"F-Fine! I- I'm sorry! You're not a... Not a brainless murderer!"

Satisfied with his answer, Engelard returns his arrow to the holster behind his back and helps Leon up, who spends some time catching his breath. Nicholas smiles at the exchange the two have, before looking back out at the man's body.

"Are you going to, perhaps, clean up the scene you have created?"

Engelard smiles and dismissively waves his hand at the body before gesturing for the two to follow him out of the alleyway.

"Nö. The people here know what I do, so leaving a dead body out in the open is a warning to them to pay me back what I give them, no excuses whatsoever. But really, it's no big-"

"Mr. Sivert and Sir Kreshnik! I was thinking you would be around here at this time of day. And who, may I ask, is the elegant young man traveling with you?" Ace seemingly comes out of nowhere, spooking both Leon and Nicholas, but barely bothering Engelard as the archer just smiles in his direction.

"Oh, elegant? Why thank you, kind sir. I am Nicholas Melchior, the former king of Polen. Would you, for your generosity, desire a lily?" Nicholas reveals a pink lily from under his cloak, and Ace looks from the flower to Nicholas before taking it.

"Former king? Did Polen fall to Russland as well?"

"As well? What other countries have fallen to Russland besides Polen?" Leon regains his composure and asks the question on the trio's mind.

"As far as I know, it's been Deutschland, Finnland, and Polen. Deutschland recovered quickly, and it now appears as if there was never a war there, Finnland is finishing up their recovery process, and from what I last heard and saw, emergency services in Polen are still searching for survivors amongst the rubble," Ace summarizes, and Engelard perks up at the information.

Kasumi mentioned there were tents belonging to both Russland and Finnland in the distance, at least according to the flags. If Finnland was still undergoing the last of its recovery efforts, why start a war, especially alongside the country that attacked them years ago?

Engelard opens his mouth to ask Ace his question, but the merchant focuses his gaze on Leon.

"Grayson sends his condolences about Basel and says your assassination requests are postponed until the war ends. He still wants to see you and Mr. Sivert weekly though, if you are able to make the trip. Now, out of courtesy and my good morals, do you have any questions you wish to ask me? I'm afraid I can't explain certain aspects of the war, as I know very little about it, but I will try and answer any other questions you may have."

Ace looks each person in the eyes, awaiting any question to be asked. Engelard takes a breath and asks the question he had been seeking an answer to for five long years.

"Ace, do you remember when Leon and I first came to the White Cathedral, and we had that boy with us who would only talk to you?"

"Yes, I remember that day and the boy quite clearly."

"How is he?"

Ace raises an eyebrow, and Engelard is considering the possibility that Ace may very well not answer, in which case Engelard would not wish to press him for one or risk losing the unspoken trust the two had.

"He left the White Cathedral a few years ago but has written a letter to his friend from the orphanage, which I delivered just this morning."

"Who was his friend? Where is he from?"

"He's from Finnland. As for his friend..."

Engelard holds his breath as soon as Ace smiles.

"It's Reko."

Words and phrases used in this chapter:

Bezahle für deine unehrlichkeit- Pay for your dishonestly

Sterben- Die

Schweiz- Switzerland

Polen- Poland

Unterhändler- Negotiator

Hey, hirnloser Mörder! Was geht in deinem leeren Kopf vor?- Hey, brainless murderer! What's going on in that empty head of yours?

Gdybyś stał na polu róż, wszystkie zwiędłyby na twoją odrażającą obecność!- If you stood in a field of roses, they would all wilt at your revolting presence!

Nö- Nah

Russland- Russia

Deutschland- Germany

Finnland- Finland