Chapter 12 : Volance palace

Unlike Zeshald or the god corps, he did not possess the water arts necessary to restore the fatigue of the horses, thus, resulting in several breaks along the way. By the time he arrived to the city, it was already dusk.

"I didn't expect it to take so long when traveling normally....."(Yuusuke)

Yet again, Yuusuke began to feel the difference in power that comes with the absence of a particular divine arts. He headed towards the nearby lookout stable, ran by the [artless], to park his carriage, and walked towards the soldier's guardroom at the gate square where the observation tower stood. From there, it was possible to contact the people of the palace.

"Oh, it's you. I have heard about you from the higher ups."(Soldier)

The soldier at the guardroom transmitted the message to the palace about Yuusuke's visit, in the interim a welcoming carriage came over. The carriage that Yuusuke boarded drove past the middle districts and entered the noble district, where it headed towards one of the four main entrances to the palace, which is located at the lowest floor used mainly by the god corps.

Currently, three parts of the first floor of the inner palace is occupied by the kitchen, the servants' quarters is located in the basement, and the general guards' dormitory covers the rest of the first floor. The commanding officer and vice commanding officer of the guard corps uses the 2nd floor entrance, the living quarters for the officers is also located at the 2nd floor.

The 3rd floor entrance is being used by the bureaucrats, where their private lodging rooms are located on the same floor. The highest entrance floor, which was the fourth floor entrance is prepared for royalties and dignitaries, is where Yuusuke and his group previously stayed at.

Located on the 5th floor is a huge terrace with a large hall used to hold parties, the 6th floor is an atrium. Leading up to the 7th floor from the 4th floor, is a long staircase where the "fire god corps" the elites of the palace guards are stationed. Also the maids who specifically served the royalties uses these stairs.

The 8th floor is a vast audience room and a place to enjoy the sideshows. The 9th floor is the royal residence. It is lined up with various rooms and facilities such as bedrooms and educational rooms. And on the peak which is the 10th floor is the private quarters of the King. There is also a location for the concubines and singing princesses, but currently it is not being used much.

(TL: singing princesses aka prostitutes)

Amongst the maids gossip, currently King Esvobus does not have any dependable concubine surrounding him.

As Yuusuke descended from the carriage, he was greeted by Violet, who was accompanied by the crimson mantle flame gods corps, as she turned up with a completely familiar pigtail hairstyle.

"So you came, Yuusuke. Have you make your decision?"(Violet)

"Oh, It's been decided that it's an officer position."(Violet)

"Oic!"(Yuusuke)

Happily smiling, Violet immediately proceed to the signing of the contract documents she had prepared. Yuusuke only knew chinese characters, kanji, hiragana, and alphabets but for some odd reason, he seemed to understand the Lunar characters common language of Kaltcio, and is able to write his name in chinese and lunar characters.

"Ng? What's this, it looks like some sort of emblem."(Violet)

"It's my unique writing."(Yuusuke)

Violet tilted her head and stared blankly at Yuusuke, but after hearing that it was a character that was routinely used in the place where he and Sun lived, she replied with an "I see". Zeshald's culture study and thesis was not very detailed, thus Yuusuke was being vigilant so as to not get showered by a flood of difficult words.

"Good, very good. The formal appointment will be concluded with the audience with my father that you must attend by tomorrow. At present this should be good enough."(Violet)

Violet, as the person in charge, was wearing an atmosphere carrying the dignity of a princess. She turned around after Yuusuke handed over the official documents to her. Showing signs of instinctively correcting her attitude, Yuusuke understood that Violet's presence just did not fit her as a selfish princess.

"From today, you will be our country's soldier. Your rank will be greater than or equal to an officer in our country."(Violet)

"a, oh....."(Yuusuke)

"There are plans for placing you in a color, with special treatment."(Violet)

"That, I understand."(Yuusuke)

When Yuusuke was involuntarily pulled into a role of a 'funny man'*, Violet laughed happily.

(TL *: Tsukkomi)

"You're my favorite."(Violet)

"Is that alright, because of this....."(Yuusuke)

"Well, although there are various fellows who are jealous about this, I will be able to provide some assistance of my own."(Violet)

"Wait a minute!"(Krielov)

'I do not know if it is a good underling or a bad one', Yuusuke begin to have headaches as he thought about how Violet is abusing her power. Looking at his unwilling appearance, Krielov put a stop to the sense of intimacy between them. Deep inside he secretly let out a sigh.

"Oh, yes. You now belong to the group "Darkness God Corps". Currently it only has one member, which is you."(Violet)

In the case of Yuusuke, his divine arts is special as it doesn't have specific type. There is also the problem of his hair color, thus, the existing squad captains don't want him attached to their squad, only leaving the choice of establishing a new squad for Yuusuke.

The four god corps of the palace, [Fire God Corps], [Water God Corps], [Earth God Corps], [Wind God Corps] are to rank next to the 5th god corps, like the black hair from the calendar of darkness, the [Darkness God Corps].

The calendar of darkness is part of the Kaltcio calendar which divides 1 year into 5 calendars with 17 months, and it refers to the special fifth calendar. The calendar of fire, the calendar of water, the calendar of earth, the calendar of wind, and lastly the calendar of darkness, from the calendar of fire to the calendar of wind, each of those calendars is composed of 4 months, '1 month is 20 days'.

The way of counting the calendars goes like this, e.g. Calendar of fire for the first day, [1st day of the fire month of Volnar] and for the last day, [ 20th day of the wind month of Volnar].

The Calendar of Darkness is the only special month without the 1 month counter, and it is known as the festival of freedom, which starts from the honor feast until the birth of the new year, when the financial statement of that year completes that type of calendar.

"The corps uniform will be prepared immediately."(Violet)

"Do I really have to wear a mantle as well?"(Yuusuke)

Violet answered "Of Course", while Yuusuke looks towards the uniform of the Fire God Corps.

Having a Palace official wearing a cheesy looking attire will bring shame to the nation. As there are ambassadors from various countries who come to visit, they could not afford exposing the 'Elites of the Palace' with a poor appearance.

So the flashiness of the palace god corps uniform also serve such a purpose, as Yuusuke acknowledges it with a shrug.

"I will be leaving now as I have some business to attend to, after this it would be great if you listen to this person for instructions."(Violet)

In the end, on that day, the three of them spent their time in a conversation in Yuusuke's room, until it was dinner time.

------

Following the orders of Violet, Yuusuke was guided by a servant to a corner of the upper floor in the palace. It had a spacious interior marble corridor with humongous windows which seem to stretch on forever. On the opposite of the wall were rooms lined up for the personnel of the palace. (TL: 2nd floor of the palace for the officers)

"This innermost room is Mr.Yuusuke's."(Servant A)

"Thanks."(Yuusuke)

The room given to Yuusuke is the exactly same as the other god corp soldiers: a bed, a desk, a chair, bookshelves and a closet. It was mainly just the minimal furniture necessary for living here. To have additional furniture to decorate the room, one is supposed to purchase it with one’s own money.

"There isn't any windows...."(Yuusuke)

"Yes, the oil wood for lighting is granted in fixed amount along with your pay, if there is not enough of it, you are not allowed to accept more as compensation."(Servant A)

For daily necessities, if one requires more than what one is given, the soldier would have to purchase it by themselves at their own expenses. Yusuke mutters,'It seems like the palace soldiers doesn't have any preferential treatment at all,' but he was refuted by the explaining servant, "that is outrageously wrong."

"The comparison between the elites of the palace god corps and the general god corps, the compensation that they obtained is completely different."(Servant A)

"Ooh, so it's like that, is it?"(Yuusuke)

"Yes,  the palace god corps soldiers are drawing 2 times more pay than the general god corps officers in charge after all-- ah......., I am so sorry for saying something rude."(Servant A)

"Don't mind it, don't mind it, you don’t need to apologize for such a thing....."(Yuusuke)

Due to the nature of Yuusuke speaking casually, the servant apologized shyly, as he had accidentally overstepped his boundaries. Standing in the front door was a curious onlooker, who heard Yuusuke and his fellow partner conversing in a humble talk, "No, not at all, it is I who should say so."

"What is making a racket here? This place isn't a playground."(Hivodir)

"Eh? Ah, Lord Hivodir."(Servant A)

Declaring in a dangerous tone, the red hair youth was wearing the uniform of the fire god corps. The servant respectfully called him Lord Hivodir. Looking at his posture, it seems like he is someone of great status, as Yuusuke nodded lightly.

"You are.... hmm I know, you're the new toy."(Hivodir)

"......?"(Yuusuke)

<< Leave us >> as Hivodir directed the servant with his hands. Bewildered by what happened, the servant bowed to the 2 people and left the scene. Hivodir smirked at Yuusuke, who was currently wearing the village clothes, and slowly took a step up and looked at Yuusuke's hair and the pupils of his eyes.

That rude staring attitude was making Yuusuke feel uncomfortable. Yuusuke let out a small frown when Hivodir started to investigate him.

"What's up?"(Yuusuke)

"Ho ho, It really is black ... ... It seems like the princess really likes it, but don't get too carried away with it."(Hivodir)

"Ha?"(Yuusuke)

"A lowly person like you, with a humble birth, doesn't deserve the cordial welcome of being part of the prestigious palace god corps."(Hivodir)

"At most, you just have to worry about her getting bored of you." Hivodir looked down on and smiled at Yuusuke, Yuusuke became angered by his words and returned with a glare. Lightning sparks could be seen as they glared at each other intensely, the air was filled with killing intent. It was currently in a state of, "Are thou going to fight me or not?”

During the middle of this critical situation, a rhythmical voice resounded through the hallways of the soldiers’ personnel room, which broke the intense situation.

"Ohh, Yuusuke! Have you looked at your room yet?"(Violet)

".....Violet?"(Yuusuke)

"Ooohh, My Princess. As lovely and cheerful as usual!"(Hivodir)

Violet came running down the hallway while waving her hands. Hivodir turned around and respectfully bowed towards her direction. Yuusuke felt a little discomfort while looking at Violet's panting appearance.

"Hivodir, you are here too. What were you guys talking about?"(Violet)

"Oh, I was somehow being threatened."(Yuusuke)

Hivodir, who was using his natural noble attitude, gracefully smiled in front of Violet. Yuusuke opened his eyes wide and stared at him. For a moment, Yuusuke wanted to expose him, but he held back. Seeing Violet's doubtful expression and clouded mind, he looked back towards Hivodir.

"Pffft, Buddy, as a man do you have no Pride!"(Hivodir)

"Oh? Pride, huh? What about you who is sneaking about intimidating people from the shadows?"(Yuusuke)

Yuusuke directly gave a rebuttal to Hivodir, making him increasingly confused. Although up until now, Hivodir had many experiences in giving those ‘would be’ rival aristocrat rookie officers an advance warning, but this is the first time he was faced with such a retaliating correspondent.

"Well, wait Hivodir. During that time at the square.... Yuusuke was, well, unexpectedly good at debating."(Violet)

"I am not trying to start a fight here, it's just that ――"(Hivodir)

Trying not to over worry about such things, in order to protect his pride, he replied, "It's nothing." ~~ Hiding the truth and intimidating a newcomer from the shadows!? Such a great unfolding of events, what an idiot! Don't underestimate a pro gamer! ~~ (Yuusuke's pov)

"That isn't all to my character."(Hivodir)

Yuusuke laughed at what he just said. Although both of them have acquired powers due to the previous live combat, it seems that Yuusuke have build up his will greatly, allowing him to be in a talkative mode and being able to see through Hivodir's plan to rouse him up.

Although, Hivodir does have the ability to see through one's talent, but somehow this is a very subtle situation.

"I understand and understood the incident just now, let bygones be bygones."(Violet)

Violet shrugged her shoulders with an exclamation of relief, as she pacified them. Yuusuke began to feel embarrassed, as he realized that he wasn't acting very mature. He turned away with his arms folded, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Hivodir, you too. You are of a noble blood lineage whether you like it or not. Could you not over aggravate things?"(Violet)

"Ha ha, I did not do such absurd things. This Hivodir is prideful of being one of princess's fiance candidates."(Hivodir)

"Fiance?" Yuusuke's eyes start spinning around as he thought about it, while Hivodir was full of smiles due to the sense of superiority.

"How old are you?"(Yuusuke)

"Moh? From a little while ago your speech has been impolite. I am going to be 18 this year."(Hivodir)

"How about you?(Yuusuke)

"What, you don't know? I am 14."(Violet)

Shouldn't you not ask how old is a lady? Keeping in mind of that, Violet answered him. 14 years old and 18 years old, junior high and high school students, the age known as the entry to adulthood and the age of becoming an adult. Hearing that Yuusuke groaned.

"Unn, this is so weird."(Yuusuke)

"What is?"(Hivodir)

"What is weird?"(Violet)

Intrigued by Yuusuke's strange behavior and manner of speech, before anyone noticed, Hivodir was the same as Violet, as they were enjoying the conversation with Yuusuke. Up until now there wasn't any friendship seen between those of noble status, and they are drawn into a completely new concept.

<< Previous | Main | Next>>