Chapter Fifteen

THE BLACKSMITH SAGE

***

THE THREE DECIDED to have dinner in the tavern connected to the inn. As they are waiting for Grim to return to their table, a servant of the inn suddenly approaches them.

"Good evening. Are you the Lords Ardelian Dru and Astier Igreed?"

Ardelian nodded. "Yes, we are."

"A royal servant is looking for you."

"Bring him in."

The inn servant lowered his head in respect before going back to the entrance. He returned shortly with a young-looking woman. The appearance of her and the design of her clothes somehow reminded Astier of his original world due to a few similarities with its design. Her black dress was topped with a light blue piece of clothing wrapped around her waist. But instead of wearing the typical white hat maids usually wore on their heads, this royal servant put on a headpiece surrounding her entire head. The design of it was quite simple, they looked like tiny snowflakes connected side by side and they appear to be sparkling each time it makes contact with light.

The royal servant lowered her head in respect before stating the reason for her being there.

"Good evening, my lords. The queen sent me here to deliver you this." She held out the scroll. "This is a copy of the record which she made earlier. She said that it contains all the information of every sage living in the kingdom and that you will need it."

The royal servant relinquished the scroll to Ardelian and the latter expresses his gratitude. "I wish I could express it in person. This is really a great help for us."

"Where is she, by the way? How is she doing? Why didn't she bring it to us personally?" Astier queried.

However, the royal servant apologetically lowered her head. "Forgive me, my lord but I can't provide you with any answer."

He thinly smiled. "I understand."

The royal servant soon departed shortly before Grim's arrival. The two men then inform him about the scroll and they all decide to start their search after dinner.

♛♛♛

"ARE YOU SURE we're on the right street?" Ardelian asked again. They had just been circling in the same neighbourhood for an hour and Grim was still unable to locate their way back to their inn. He was the one who'd been navigating their way into the location of every sage on the list.

But the evening has gone so late and they were only able to locate at least five sages, none of them are the ones that Grim knew.

"I think we should take another left," Grim finally said after scrutinising the scroll for a moment or two.

"You're sure this time?"

"Yes, I am, Young Lord."

"Will you stop calling me that?"

"Why? That 'is' your title, isn't it?" he innocently inquired.

"It is but we don't need other people to know that, don't we?"

Grim pans his eyes on their surrounding. The street is empty and though there are other human beings walking around, they're far from their location. It is highly unlikely for them to hear their conversation from that distance. So, he inquiringly looks at Ardelian.

The latter immediately sensed his naiveness and innocence and preceded him before he could utter a word: "There's nobody around so no one would hear us, is that want you to want to say?"

He eagerly nodded.

He sighed, lifting his right palm and gently massaging his temple. "I mean that you don't always have to address me so formally. Calling me by just my name would be really fine."

"But it sounds disrespectful."

"No, it's not, because I gave you permission to call me that way. Now, can we please find our way back to the inn so we can all rest and resume our search tomorrow?"

"Yes, my lord--- I mean, Ardelian. I know just where to go," he nearly exclaimed before preceding them.

And he seems to be true to his words this time for Ardelian recognises the street they are currently walking at. They must be nearing their inn. He glances up at the night sky and it is almost as if he can already see a magnificent wyvern dominating the sky. Its wings are so beautiful to be ignored that even the moonlight would be ashamed of how it would glow.

He stopped on his track, his head still gazing above. The cold wind brushing against his skin made him close his eyes as he imagined himself flying along with her. A small smile did his lips curve as the memories came flooding into him like a raging river.

'It's been so long. When will I ever see you again? I hope you can forgive me.'

"Are you alright?" Astier's soft voice awakened Ardelian from his reflection.

He smiled at him. "I'm fine. Come. It's getting very late."

Astier and Ardelian may have been together for ten years back in his original world but never has he heard about him speaking about someone dear to him. He never mentioned anyone.

"Must be someone special," he softly uttered as he caught up beside him.

"Hmm?"

"I know that look, mate. I can't mistake that for something else because it's what I always appear in each time I dive in too deep with my own thoughts. She must be someone very special to you."

Ardelian's thin smile slightly curved down a little bit. "Yeah, she was. More than anything actually."

"You never told me about her."

"It's not something that I'm proud to talk about, Astier. The more I speak of her the more my guilt further grows."

Astier sensed the sadness that swirled within him. It was like a tornado that blew away all the happiness and laughter that they'd had together for the past ten years.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," he softly said.

"Things run out of control, mate. And when that happens, sometimes you either just have to go with its flow, no matter how painful, or you go against it and suffer even more. Nevertheless, the end will always lead you to pain."

Coincidentally, they finally arrived at their inn. Ardelian taps him on the shoulders before bidding good night and heading inside.

"He's been through quite an arduous situation, I believe," Grim suddenly commented beside him.

Astier curiously looks at him. "Do you know something?"

"I may not have been always in the world above but I can hear everything from underneath. Good night, my lord. I shall take my rest now." He lowered his head in respect but before he could leave Astier called him back.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Do you still want to share a room with me?"

Grim's eyes were quick to twinkle like a little boy whose wish had been granted. He nodded so eagerly.

"Good. But first, there is something that I want you to do."

"Anything, my lord. What shall you want me to do?"

He grinned mischievously inwardly. 'Great. I can use this to my advantage.'

"I want you to sneak into the palace and make sure that the queen and her sister are safe and sound."

Grim's expression transitioned too quickly. "Is there something wrong?"

"I don't really have any idea of what is going on between the Queen of Ice and the emperor but I can feel that she's not safe. I know that she's capable enough to protect herself but I want to make sure. My queen is not weak but her weakness will be her undoing."

'He still really cares for her.' Grim mentally concluded. He lowered his head and replied, "Worry not, my lord. I will ensure protection for the entire palace tonight and should anything bad happen, you'll be the first one to know."

"Thank you. I owe you a lot."

He shook his head and smiled. "You owe me nothing, my lord."

After that, Grim shortly left. Astier had already forgotten of the reaper's ability to become one with the shadows so when Grim disappeared into the ground and became a shadow himself and crawled away swiftly, his heart nearly burst thinking he was sucked by the ground.

His mind won't be able to rest unless he receives certain news that his queen is safe.

He found a bench outside the inn and decided to sit there while waiting for Grim's return. The chaos in his mind each time he recalls how that general belittled him never ceases to boil his blood. The anger arises within him every passing second. His fists and jaw are tightly clenched, his green glows again amidst the darkness, and he nearly appears like a perilous creature lurking in the shadows.

His thoughts were only awakened when a hand patted his shoulder.

"Can I sit beside you?" He was a middle-aged-looking man with, a white beard all over his face and a soft-looking moustache. His long white hair reaches down to his waist. And from the look of his all-black sleeveless upper, black pants and rough giant boots, he's a blacksmith.

Astier nodded in response. The man sat beside him. Silence overruled them for a moment until the man spoke:

"I heard you and your friends were looking for a sage."

He glances at him with a curious look. "How did you know?" As far as Astier is concerned, they never told anyone else.

"I saw you and your friends walk into a shop earlier asking the owner if he's a sage. Tell me---" he turns to him, "--- this sage that you look for, why are you looking for him?"

"I'm sorry but I believe in the confidentiality of our reason."

His lips curved for a smirk. "This kingdom has become the hometown of sages for a reason. The queen didn't give you the complete list. But I might just be able to help you locate him--- without charge, of course."

Astier's forehead was quick to wrinkle. The hometown of sages? What does he even mean by that? And why would his queen give him an incomplete list? This man beside him could be lying to him right now but for some reason, Astier felt comfortable with his presence.

He swallowed the invisible lump that suddenly blocked his throat. "What do you mean you can help us?"

The man cackled maniacally. He exclaimed, "My, my so it's true that you lost your memory."

"W-what? W-what are you talking about?"

"Isn't that a bit melancholic--- forgetting the person who forged your weapon... Destroyer?"