Red and Blue

Chapter 27: Red and Blue

"There was a time when I thought lady Celine was a scary woman. But that changed when…. I met the red and blue haired demons…"

― Spike the horse guy

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Year 1212, 30th day of the 6th month – Brindaba town- Horn Mountain Pub-

[Mira Alis]

.

I can't believe that, it has been three whole months and I have no idea where my Sir Axel is…

Sigh… I couldn't help but brood over my ale. The last three months have been quite hectic for me. I was super energetic at first, when I decided to follow sir Axel. Only to later find that he had already departed with his lord.

While I was returning home dejected, I heard the breaking news! The former crown prince, His Highness Lucian, was removed from the royal lineage. Not to lie, it was a shocker for me.

Even when I was in my hometown, I had heard about the genius prince Lucian. He was quite favored by the nobility and the commoners alike.

Really… This world is cruel. You never know when you will lose everything… It kind of reminded me of my own situation.

"Sigh."

I couldn't help but audibly sigh. Well, I was depressed. And not finding out where my Axel was, made me feel worse…

As I was slumped on the table, having a glaring match with my mug of ale, an idiotic face came into view.

A large bald man sat on the other side of the table. Flashing his disgustingly yellow and black teeth he said, "Hey there blue, wanna give me a good time? Hehe."

I really wanted to ignore this poor idiot, I really did. But people like these, who can't even talk properly, can't really understand indifference.

So, I sat up straight, at least I thought I did. Looked him in the eye. And told him, "FUCK OFF!"

And I might have added some other colorful language here and there. Hopefully my dear Axel wouldn't learn of it.

The bald idiot and a few others in the pub were looking at me, as if I was some rare creature. Well, I don't think they have ever heard a fair maiden talk in their potty language.

The idiot stayed there staring at me for a while. But then as if hit by something, he got really angry.

"You fucking slut. Dare talk to me like that? I will drag you dow-" He wanted to spout out some bullshit. I am sure he had a good collection of it. But I really didn't have the time or patience to humor him.

So, I went in front, quickly kicked his chin with a high jump kick making him dizzy and unstable. As he was falling backwards, I grabbed on his legs to make the process easier for him. Then widened his legs, took a deep breath, then stepped and pressed hard for the glory.

*Splat..toosth*

"ARGGGGGGGGAAAGGRJHHHHHaaaaaaggg..." The idiot screamed till it turned inaudible. I was pretty sure he will never be doing those wonderful things to any woman ever again.

Every male in the pub got up from their seats and were distancing themselves from me. Well, time to take out the trash. While still grabbing on his feet, I gave him a good whirl and threw him out the door.

It would have been the end of my problems but.

*Crash. Thud*

""CAPTAIN!""

I saw the man crashing into a beautiful woman with bright red hair.

"Crap!" 'Now I have done it.' I was sweating bullets. I rushed to help the lady up, when it suddenly hit me. 'Did they say captain?"

Then I saw the lady grabbing the bald head with one hand, she easily threw the man away with one hand.

"You, Bitch! I have a bone to pick with you."

All I could see was a red headed demon releasing her bloodlust.

'Sigh! Looks like I will have to fight…'

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[Isadora]

.

*Hiya*

I was annoyed, very annoyed. It has been so long since I started my journey to find Lucian. And I have no f**king idea where he was.

There was literally no news on him. No one has seen him, no one has talked to him.

A man who makes both genders look at him twice just vanished… The notion itself was unbelievable.

*Block, Slash*

Lord Alvarez did tell me that he was going to the Elven kingdom. To break his engagement off. But I came here through the most direct path possible to the Elven forest. But I have heard zero information on Lucian along the way.

*Jump.. Kick*

He is very smart, yes. And he would never take the direct passage. But there is direct testimony from Pahar, that he saw him along this path. Only to lose him around the Saint's Forest.

It was very peculiar. And I have not heard any news from my lord or Lis, regarding Lucian. But I will probably find something out when I reach the next city.

*Slash..Guard…Sweep*

Well, who knows. I will think about that a bit later. For now, I will beat some sense into this blue haired Bitch.

"For a common whore you fight well." I couldn't help but admit the woman was good. She was almost around my level in skills.

Both of us were Intermediate warriors. She used a spear and I, a sword. In a one on one, the spear usually had the advantage because of range. But range means shit when you are superior in speed and skill.

I started moving faster as I avoided her thrusts. She seemed a bit off balance. Judging from her appearance and the pub sign right there, I suppose she was drinking when that drunkard tried to harass her.

Good woman, she was keeping up with me.

"Can we please stop fighting? It was just a misunderstanding. And I am sorry for hurting you, my lady." The blue haired woman was trying to apologize. But in truth, I wasn't angry to begin with. I just wanted to spar with someone around my level and forget my depression.

You know, just to blow off some steam. And she just happened to be a very good sparring partner.

Not to lie, I was amazed at her skill with the spear. Very few women are warriors. And even fewer that are around our skill level.

And judging by her skin and looks, I could easily deduce that she was from a wealthy upbringing.

"What whore? Already tired? Kneel and apologize and I might leave you be." I really wanted to bully a girl like her. And I was sure if I told her to do something so demeaning, she would fight more seriously.

And I was right.

*THRUST… Shooosh*

Her attacks got faster and harder to dodge. I actually had to concentrate now or I might really get injured.

I parried her next thrust and angled my body to throw her off guard. But she was smart. She backed away while kicking me towards my shoulder.

I had to change my center of gravity and fall back or I would have a hole on my head.

I started using the Alvarez family's battle technique and she started countering it with her own battle technique.

To say the fight was interesting would be an understatement. IT WAS SIMPLY THRILLING.

We gathered up quite the crowd. And I started enjoying the fight more and more.

I dodged one more of her thrust, grabbing her dominant hand and elbowed her nose.

*THUD*

"Ouch…" The woman fell down and touched her nose. I was huffing, the battle was hard fought to say the least. Still keeping my guard I eyed the woman. I was vigilant till I heard her mentioning a name…

"NO! What if this deforms my nose. What if Sir Axel hates me for this." The blue haired woman was panicking like a little girl in love.

Then it hit me. 'Sir Axel..? isn't Axel that boy…' I found hope. So I had to ask.

"Hey BLUE!" The woman looked at me annoyed. She was holding back her rage and what seemed to be fear. But I was sure it wasn't fear of me.

"What do you want, RED?" She glared at me questioningly.

"You just said Sir Axel…"

"What about my SIR AXEL?"

'Her sir Axel?'

"Are you talking about the heir of house Whitefox? With silver hair and red eyes?"

"YES! DO YOU KNOW SIR AXEL? DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS?"

The blue woman jumped up with renewed energy and bombarded me with questions.

"Yes, I know of him. But I wa-"

Before I could question her further she interjected. With a glare that was filled with suspicion she asked, "Y-you aren't after my Axel right?"

She was probing for that kind of stupid matter. "Sigh!'

"No, I have no interest in 'Your' Sir Axel. But I want to know if you have seen a man similar to Axel's age."

"Do you mean his lord? A boy with golden hair and sky colored eyes? With a mole under his left eye?"

"YES!" I was excited. Finally, I found someone who saw Lucian.

"Yeah, umm I did see him with Sir Axel, with a crimson haired girl who talked really loud named Celine and an old knight and another blonde man. I don't remember all of their names though. Only my Sir Axel's and that girl named Celine. Because they left a good impression on me.

As for the lord, he was really scary… I think they mentioned his name but I was too scared to listen at that time."

I couldn't help but look at this idiotic blue haired woman with my eyes wide. She was in the presence of my lord Lucian and she felt scared? What in the name of the deities is going on here?

"You can't possibly be saying that, you were afraid of the blonde boy… right?"

"Well sure, he was scary as HELL, I tell you. He burned all the bandits with his golden flames."

My lips were twitching.

"Can you at least tell me where you met them?"

"Umm.. I met them near Bullmar."

"That's in the Other direction… Could he possibly be taking the longer route to throw everyone off." I mumbled to myself. I for one was sure that Lucian will travel to the Elven kingdom. He needs to go there, for his aunt.

But to take such a long path….. that is too much... even for him.

I took a deep breath and looked at the blue haired woman. We had much to talk about.

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[Mira Alis]

.

Now I am sitting with that red haired woman inside the bar… She said she wanted to talk to me about some issues… But she wanted a drink first.

I complied with her. For one, I didn't think she was a bad person. She was scary and rude, yes. But not a bad person. And I did hit her first so I could only comply with her request.

We introduced ourselves and she was kind enough to pay for the drinks too. So yes she wasn't that bad.

But I really need to ask her the questions in my mind before she gets too drunk to answer.

"Umm.. Lady Isadora, can you please tell me how you know of Axel?"

She took another gulp of the ale and looked at me. She seemed to think for a bit and then started.

"For one, I have known Axel since he was five. He was Lucian's first friend and later became his personal guard and retainer."

"So the name of that blonde boy was Lucian huh… Well I do seem to recall that name from somewhere.." I started thinking.

When she heard me say that, she looked at me as if I was some idiot.

"You are honestly telling me that a 'CITIZEN' of Rorengar doesn't recognize his highness Lucian Vince Franzer? I mean his looks are so adored that almost every hold has a description of his face.

Not to mention recently, when everyone is searching for him! You honestly want me to believe you didn't recognize him after seeing those paintings and hearing about his facial features?"

"A-a-a, Wh-what? Prince? Lucian? Painting?"

'Oh crap!' How could I have been so stupid. I facepalmed myself. I mean she was right. Everyone and their mother had heard of the young prince. Even his facial features were well known.

I tried to recall the information on the prince's paintings. Doe like sky blue eyes, check, Silky blonde hair, check. Beauty mark under left eye, check. An angular chin, not sure but probably...

I literally described him earlier to lady Isadora… and I just realized. I had a horrified face.

"Sigh! Well I don't blame you. You were probably too engrossed with Axel to think straight."

Those words made me feel that this lady was someone similar to me. So I had to ask.

"Umm, Lady Isadora.."

"Dora is fine"

"Okay, Dora, do you also have someone you like?"

She sighed and looked at her ale mug.

"Yes! Just like you, I am also in love with a man. So I understand you."

I felt like I shouldn't ask her any further as she was showing a very pained expression. So I held myself back. Silence descended between us till she asked,

"If you met them in Bullmar, why are you here?"

"Well I wanted to find out where Axel was… But the only person that might have known him said, they left without telling their destination.

As I didn't have anything else to do. And I was feeling a bit homesick. So I decided to go back to my hometown. And I tried to get information along the way. But no informant ever heard about a Sir Axel…"

The woman chuckled after listening to me.

"Well of course they haven't heard of a 'Sir Axel'. He is not a Knight to start with. And most people know him as 'Young lord Whitefox.'"

"Oh right, you did tell me he was a noble…"

"You aren't from Rorengar, are you Mira?"

I shook my head to her question. I answered her truthfully,

"My full name is Mira Alis, daughter of Stan Alis. The leader of Coverbart Merchant guild."

"Coverbart Merchant guild? So you are from Centuran huh? You sure are far away from home."

She asked me with concern. I nodded and told her everything about myself. About my family, about my dreams. About how my father wanted to marry me off for an alliance. How I ran away and wanted to see the world.

"Sigh! You have been through a lot Mira. But you are in luck."

I looked at her questioningly.

"You are in luck because you are on the right track. Lucian and his party will sooner or later reach the Elven kingdom. So all we have to do is wait for them there.

Do you want to come with us?"

She asked me if I wanted to follow her. And I had only one answer to that proposal.