[1/2 Prince x Legend of Sun Knight] fic: Invincible, that is the Legend - Chapter 4
Title: Invincible, that is the Legend - Chapter 4
Fandom: 1/2 Prince x The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 2,990
Summary: On their way to finish the Dictator, the Execution Squad's "invincible battleship" crashes, separating everyone, landing them on foreign soil. "I mean you no harm. It's just that you've fallen in front of my house, so I came out to see what had happened."
Notes: In which we backtrack in the timeline yet again so that the characters can conveniently help me tell you where we are in the LSK timeline. Actually, I just wanted to write Chasel. Next chapter will advance the timeline, hopefully... This would probably make more sense if you've read LSK v3 and Ecilan's side story "Sweet Smile"!
Previous chapter: Invincible Music; Hark! What is that beautiful tune? No, no, don't be lured by it. He's a demon!
Chapter 4: Invincible Days of Retirement; After All, it's not Every Day that Strangers Fall in Front of Your House from the Sky.
After his retirement, Chasel had opted to remain in Leaf Bud City. He had gotten used to the city after living there for approximately two decades and had seen no need to leave his beloved city. Unlike Neo who had immediately gone off adventuring right after retiring, eager to bid Leaf Bud City farewell so that he could see the rest of the world, Chasel hadn't shared the same adventuring spirit.
Instead, he appreciated the stable lifestyle he now led. Other than him, three others of the former Twelve Holy Knights had also chosen to remain in Leaf Bud City: the former Ice Knight Eller, the former Blaze Knight Fahr, and the former Storm Knight Lanbi. Oftentimes, they would frequent taverns together, or they would meet up at Chasel's place, which was located in the far outer city, and was thus not surrounded by very many other houses. His closest neighbor was at least a block away, giving Chasel and his companions plenty of room if they wished to brush up on their fighting skills outside of his house.
After their friendly spars, they would enjoy different brews of tea inside Chasel's home. Before Chasel knew it, three peaceful years passed in such a way, his current life completely different from the tense one he had led as the Judgment Knight. Over tea, they would share the latest news about their students, as well as news about Neo, who was under Chasel's orders to send frequent updates to the former Twelve Holy Knights about his whereabouts and what he was up to. Chasel felt it a necessity -- Neo was too much of a terror to unleash upon the world unchecked, thank the God of Light for Aldrizzt -- but Neo just felt him and his concerns to be a pain.
It exasperated Chasel at times just how eager Neo was to escape from him. Chasel was only keeping tabs on Neo for his own good and for the safety of others.
He placed the latest letter from Neo and Aldrizzt on the table so that he could pour the tea.
Today, like many other days in Chasel's retired life, he was enjoying a cup of black tea with his friend Eller after their sparring session. As Chasel gently blew on his tea, Eller babbled away, not at all reticent like what one would expect of the former Ice Knight.
"Have you heard? Neo's student has left for the Kingdom of Moon Orchid to be a groomsman for the Son of the God of War!" exclaimed Eller. Without paying much attention to his hands, the former Ice Knight cooled his own tea with a dab of ice elemental magic. After he downed his tea with one gulp, he furrowed his brows, nibbled on his lower lip, and continued speaking. "But I thought the Son of the God of War came here for the hand of our princess? What's he doing getting married all the way in our neighboring kingdom?"
Chasel took a sip of his tea that was still leaning toward "hot" before he spoke. "Ah, I'm afraid you're behind on your gossip, Eller. Our princess has claimed a different fiancée, so the Son of the God of War had to find a different bride. I'm surprised he was able to find a different bride so quickly. They must have already had plans in place even when he was still in our kingdom."
The sides of Chasel's lips quirked up in a soft smile at the thought of what had transpired while the Son of the God of War had been in Leaf Bud City. Neo's student was truly outrageous. Lesus had only told Chasel the bare bones about what had happened with the Son of the God of War's marriage proposal, but it was enough for Chasel to know that Grisia had once again come up with a brazen plan. Sometimes, Chasel really didn't know whether Neo or his student Grisia was the one who was more of a handful. Thankfully, Lesus was the best person Chasel could think of to handle Grisia.
"Do you think Grisia took Ecilan with him to the Kingdom of Moon Orchid? I'm sure Ecilan would enjoy seeing the sights..." Eller asked. As he talked, he propped his elbows on Chasel's table and rested his chin on his hands so he could ponder his own question.
Shaking his head, Chasel replied, "Knowing the Pope, he wouldn't send Ecilan with Grisia unless things were dire. Like Lesus, Ecilan is also of the 'cold, cruel-hearted' faction. The Pope wouldn't choose him. But, you and I both know that the real reason the Pope wouldn't send him is because Ecilan provides desserts to the entire Holy Temple. I don't think the entire temple could stand it if their source of desserts suddenly disappeared."
Once Chasel answered, Eller licked his lips. "Ooooh, Ecilan's desserts. How I've missed them! Of course the entire temple would feel deprived if Ecilan weren't there. Ecilan's desserts are the best!"
"Didn't Ecilan send you a batch merely last week?" asked Chasel. He was quite sure it had only been a week. Eller had even brought some over to share with Chasel. Over the years, Eller had never ceased bragging about Ecilan's skill at baking, and would, quite frequently, gleefully share Ecilan's baked creations with Chasel and the others.
"Yes, but I've already finished eating it all... Receiving a batch here and there still doesn't compare to being able to eat what he makes every day!" Eller complained.
"There, there," Chasel consoled him, as he often did, especially now that there was no need to pretend that he wasn't compassionate anymore. "At least Ecilan has been attentive and has never forgotten to send you his newest creations. I can't say the same for Fahr and his student..."
Both the former Judgment Knight and the former Ice Knight held a moment of silence for their comrade Fahr, who had been completely forgotten by his student Chikus the moment Fahr had retired.
"You would think Chikus would at least visit once in awhile, but he always seems to be in a rush," Chasel commented. "Still, Chikus is just forgetful and lives too much in the moment. Grisia on the other hand..."
He trailed off.
Eller laughed into the table that he had been trying to burrow his face into out of depression. He lifted his head from the table and completed Chasel's sentence for him. "Grisia, on the other hand, would purposely avoid Neo if he were in the city. Good thing for both parties involved... no, good thing for everyone that Neo's not around."
"Yes, it's fortunate that Neo's not around at the moment," Chasel said. It wasn't that Leaf Bud City couldn't handle having two audacious Sun Knights around, but Neo and his student would certainly get into all sorts of trouble, and Neo would manage to turn the entire Holy Temple over with his whims. In the end, Lesus would have contacted Chasel, and Chasel would have needed to pay a visit to the Holy Temple to collect his wayward comrade. It was a well practiced routine even when Neo had still been the Sun Knight, Chasel going out of his way to collect Neo...
He shook himself out of his thoughts. Neo would be Neo. "Speaking of Neo, I received word from him yesterday."
"Oh? What does his letter say?" asked Eller curiously, eyes flicking downward to look at the letter Chasel had picked up again.
Chasel chuckled. "More accurately, I should have said I received word from Aldrizzt, seeing as he is the one who wrote this letter. Apparently, they're in the Town of White Rose and have been traveling with three teammates: a cleric, a rogue, and a warrior."
"Good luck to them," Eller said. "I hope they last more than a week."
Eller's tone, however, indicated that he didn't think it was very likely that they would last more than a week.
"I hope so too." Chasel lowered the letter and thought to himself, I hope they haven't already disbanded in the time that it took this letter to reach us.
As Chasel and Eller continued chatting, a sudden crash from outside jolted them out of their conversation.
Outside of Chasel's house, a redhead gingerly picked himself off of the dirt ground, Chasel's practice dummy smashed into smithereens underneath him. That had to be some fall. Some distance away from him were two other humans: a handsome man with his hair tied in a high ponytail and a young girl who wore a dress that had wings coming out of the back of the dress. It was an angelic outfit, a style that might even be found among the Sun Knight's clothes.
"Well, it certainly doesn't look like Fahr's student had suddenly decided to pay us a visit," Chasel commented as he took in the situation and saw the redhead whose hair was fiery enough for him to be mistaken for the Blaze Knight. He had his hair tied like how Chikus usually kept his hair, but unlike Chikus whose hair was far messier and whose face was unmarred, this man's hair was sleek, and he had a cross-shaped scar over his cheek.
Immediately after Chasel and Eller had exited the house, the redhead's hand flew to the hilt of his sword. He stepped in front of his two comrades who appeared to be unconscious. "Who are you?" asked the redhead warily, eyes darting between Chasel and Eller.
Chasel raised his hands up to show that he wasn't holding any weapons. He did have his sword by his waist, but he didn't plan on using it. The man before him was definitely trying to protect the other two despite the fact that the man himself didn't look all that steady on his feet. His complexion was also quite pale. "I mean you no harm. It's just that you've fallen in front of my house, so I came out to see what had happened."
When the man continued to remain alert, Chasel glanced to the side and noticed that Eller still had his weapon out.
"Eller," Chasel chided.
"Fine, but you better protect me if anything happens!" Eller said. He slowly and cautiously put his weapon away and backed up. Even without his weapon, Eller wasn't defenseless, as he was quite the wielder of ice magic. Chasel dismissed his quip. If necessary, Eller could definitely defend himself.
Despite the man's condition, his gaze was sharp as he surveyed his surroundings. He then spotted the practice dummy he had broken. It had definitely seen better days. "I apologize for breaking your property," he finally said.
"Apology accepted," Chasel murmured. "Would you like a cup of tea? Feel free to bring your companions in as well. I'm sure they will be more comfortable once they're no longer on the ground. I'm not very proficient in healing magic, but it should be better than nothing."
Chasel indeed poured the redhead a cup of tea once they'd gotten everyone settled. The redhead looked like he could use it, and he seemed to appreciate it even though he didn't voice any opinion over the tea. He merely drank it without a word. Chasel was pleased to see him drain the entire cup. When he placed the cup down lightly, Chasel silently refilled it.
It took a day for the redhead's companions to wake up. In the meantime, Chasel and Eller had both cast Minor Heals over the unconscious man and girl, but they continued to sleep. The redhead, whose name was Kenshin, did not say much as his companions slept on. He merely kept a quiet vigil by their bedsides and refused Chasel and Eller's offers to heal him. Chasel could tell he wanted them to save their healing magic for the other two, though he did not outright say so (Chasel was quite good at reading between the lines). It was true that Chasel could not perform healing magic more than three times a day, so he could not refute Kenshin's refusal. His companions did need it more.
What Chasel could have done, however, was invite a cleric over, but Kenshin hadn't wanted to spread news of his presence. Seeing that his two companions slept on peacefully, he had declined Chasel's offer to seek a cleric.
Except for Kenshin's red hair, he was as different from the fiery Blaze Knight as one could be. He was a quiet one, and he kept his emotions closely guarded.
Chasel found it ironic that Eller, the former Ice Knight, was much more expressive than their guest. Eller had loudly declared this far more interesting than going home and had taken a spot on Chasel's floor for the night, further demonstrating his animated personality. He even snored.
The girl woke up first. Then the guy. Not because of Eller's snores, Chasel hoped, but the timing was suspicious and pointed to that. Kenshin didn't relax when it happened, but Chasel could tell from the way his shoulders were slightly less hunched -- years of being the Judgment Knight had honed Chasel's observation skills -- that he was relieved.
"Itshay, Iway eelfay ikelay ymay issay obberedclay emay onway ethay eadhay ithway erhay ingfryay anpay," said the guy on the bed.
The girl looked around at her surroundings, and Chasel found that she took notice of where the exits were first. Interesting. "Erewhay areway eway?" she asked but not without wincing.
"How are you feeling?" Chasel asked, wondering if they knew how to speak his language. He hadn't expected they would speak a different language. Kenshin had been fluent, albeit reticent.
When both guy and girl just looked at him in incomprehension, Chasel turned to Kenshin. "Hm, it doesn't seem like your companions speak my language. Are you three from somewhere distant? I do not believe I have heard your language before."
Kenshin's mouth turned downward minutely, but that was all the answer Chasel received. The redhead then turned to his companions. The three of them started a rapid discussion in their foreign tongue, with the man, who looked to be around Chasel's student's age or younger, asking the redhead several questions while Kenshin answered in succinct phrases.
At one point in time, both the girl and the guy closed their eyes before they flew open again in shock. The young man even got off the bed (and nearly stumbled) before he started pacing. At least that told Chasel he was physically okay.
Their guests continued their heated discussion, well, heated on the young man's part. He sounded close to hysterics while Kenshin's voice remained calm and controlled throughout. The girl patted the man on the arm.
"Did they forget about us?" asked Eller, who had apparently woken up (Chasel would think anyone would wake up from the loud conversation going on before him, but Eller was usually a deep sleeper, so if anyone could sleep through this, it would be him).
"They have a lot to talk through," Chasel said with a shrug. Eller pulled himself off the ground just in time to see the girl furrow her brows and the guy nod. Then, the girl punched the guy in the face.
"Uchoay! Efinitelyday urtshay neoay undredhay ercentpay," the guy said while rubbing his jaw.
"Huh," Eller said. "You sure they're talking with each other?"
Finally, the three people who had shown up in front of Chasel's house out of nowhere approached the table Chasel and Eller were sitting at. Kenshin opened his mouth to speak. He looked reluctant to do so, but he really didn't have much choice when he was the only one who spoke both languages.
He gestured at his two companions. "Feng Wu Qing," he said while indicating the guy. "Doll," he said, nodding at the girl. He then asked Chasel a few questions before he turned back to his companions. Their discussion flared up again. Occasionally, Kenshin would ask Chasel another question, usually prompted by one of the others. He was most likely translating their queries for them.
It was odd to Chasel that these people seemed to know nothing about the Church of the God of Light or of the other religions. Even people outside of the three large kingdoms of Forgotten Sound, Moon Orchid, and Kissinger had to have more or less some knowledge of the religions. Since they knew nothing of the God of Light, it wasn't strange that they hadn't heard of the Twelve Holy Knights either. Still, it felt strange to Chasel that he had actually gone unrecognized in Leaf Bud City. It was almost unheard of.
While Chasel pondered where these people could have hailed from (it had to be somewhere very far given their language and unfamiliarity with the religions), it seemed that their discussion had finally come to an end, and that they had come to a consensus about their next step as well.
Very bluntly without any sort of lead-in, Kenshin said, "We are not from this world."
"You are from a different world? Fascinating," Chasel commented mildly.
That would explain things.
Kenshin blinked. Feng Wu Qing -- even his name sounded otherworldly -- nudged at Kenshin to translate. Kenshin did, and then it was Feng Wu Qing and Doll's turn to blink in surprise at him.
"Ouyay uresay elievedbay suay uicklyqay," said Doll.
Chasel had always been told that he was very practical. He saw no reason to doubt their words, and the explanation did fit. Moreover, what none of his guests knew was that Chasel was very good at spotting when someone was telling the truth or not, and he could tell that they were being truthful.
He smiled to himself. There was truly no need to even set foot outside of Leaf Bud City. Even though he hadn't sought adventure, it seemed that it had found him just fine.
"Tea?" Chasel asked.
to be continued
Neither Eller nor Chasel show up much at all in the main story of LSK, haha... I hope their characterization here is believable! I certainly had fun writing them~.
Here's a badly drawn map of where everyone we currently know are located as of the last chapter they appeared in (they might no longer be in the same place):
I've tossed all the place names I was able to gleam (and remember) from LSK on here, and then I added a bunch of random towns and cities of my own. I might need to add more later on, but hopefully this will serve well for the time being~. Accuracy of locations from the actual series is not at all guaranteed. =P
Now that we've taken a glimpse into each of the three kingdoms, we can finally move on, whoot! And now someone finally knows that the LSK world has a few guests from an entirely different world. Neo and Aldrizzt certainly don't know... since Prince doesn't know. XD
Next chapter: Invincible Prince on a White Horse... or not. Because. You'd at Least Need a Horse to be a Prince on a White Horse.
Fandom: 1/2 Prince x The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 2,990
Summary: On their way to finish the Dictator, the Execution Squad's "invincible battleship" crashes, separating everyone, landing them on foreign soil. "I mean you no harm. It's just that you've fallen in front of my house, so I came out to see what had happened."
Notes: In which we backtrack in the timeline yet again so that the characters can conveniently help me tell you where we are in the LSK timeline. Actually, I just wanted to write Chasel. Next chapter will advance the timeline, hopefully... This would probably make more sense if you've read LSK v3 and Ecilan's side story "Sweet Smile"!
Previous chapter: Invincible Music; Hark! What is that beautiful tune? No, no, don't be lured by it. He's a demon!
Chapter 4: Invincible Days of Retirement; After All, it's not Every Day that Strangers Fall in Front of Your House from the Sky.
After his retirement, Chasel had opted to remain in Leaf Bud City. He had gotten used to the city after living there for approximately two decades and had seen no need to leave his beloved city. Unlike Neo who had immediately gone off adventuring right after retiring, eager to bid Leaf Bud City farewell so that he could see the rest of the world, Chasel hadn't shared the same adventuring spirit.
Instead, he appreciated the stable lifestyle he now led. Other than him, three others of the former Twelve Holy Knights had also chosen to remain in Leaf Bud City: the former Ice Knight Eller, the former Blaze Knight Fahr, and the former Storm Knight Lanbi. Oftentimes, they would frequent taverns together, or they would meet up at Chasel's place, which was located in the far outer city, and was thus not surrounded by very many other houses. His closest neighbor was at least a block away, giving Chasel and his companions plenty of room if they wished to brush up on their fighting skills outside of his house.
After their friendly spars, they would enjoy different brews of tea inside Chasel's home. Before Chasel knew it, three peaceful years passed in such a way, his current life completely different from the tense one he had led as the Judgment Knight. Over tea, they would share the latest news about their students, as well as news about Neo, who was under Chasel's orders to send frequent updates to the former Twelve Holy Knights about his whereabouts and what he was up to. Chasel felt it a necessity -- Neo was too much of a terror to unleash upon the world unchecked, thank the God of Light for Aldrizzt -- but Neo just felt him and his concerns to be a pain.
It exasperated Chasel at times just how eager Neo was to escape from him. Chasel was only keeping tabs on Neo for his own good and for the safety of others.
He placed the latest letter from Neo and Aldrizzt on the table so that he could pour the tea.
Today, like many other days in Chasel's retired life, he was enjoying a cup of black tea with his friend Eller after their sparring session. As Chasel gently blew on his tea, Eller babbled away, not at all reticent like what one would expect of the former Ice Knight.
"Have you heard? Neo's student has left for the Kingdom of Moon Orchid to be a groomsman for the Son of the God of War!" exclaimed Eller. Without paying much attention to his hands, the former Ice Knight cooled his own tea with a dab of ice elemental magic. After he downed his tea with one gulp, he furrowed his brows, nibbled on his lower lip, and continued speaking. "But I thought the Son of the God of War came here for the hand of our princess? What's he doing getting married all the way in our neighboring kingdom?"
Chasel took a sip of his tea that was still leaning toward "hot" before he spoke. "Ah, I'm afraid you're behind on your gossip, Eller. Our princess has claimed a different fiancée, so the Son of the God of War had to find a different bride. I'm surprised he was able to find a different bride so quickly. They must have already had plans in place even when he was still in our kingdom."
The sides of Chasel's lips quirked up in a soft smile at the thought of what had transpired while the Son of the God of War had been in Leaf Bud City. Neo's student was truly outrageous. Lesus had only told Chasel the bare bones about what had happened with the Son of the God of War's marriage proposal, but it was enough for Chasel to know that Grisia had once again come up with a brazen plan. Sometimes, Chasel really didn't know whether Neo or his student Grisia was the one who was more of a handful. Thankfully, Lesus was the best person Chasel could think of to handle Grisia.
"Do you think Grisia took Ecilan with him to the Kingdom of Moon Orchid? I'm sure Ecilan would enjoy seeing the sights..." Eller asked. As he talked, he propped his elbows on Chasel's table and rested his chin on his hands so he could ponder his own question.
Shaking his head, Chasel replied, "Knowing the Pope, he wouldn't send Ecilan with Grisia unless things were dire. Like Lesus, Ecilan is also of the 'cold, cruel-hearted' faction. The Pope wouldn't choose him. But, you and I both know that the real reason the Pope wouldn't send him is because Ecilan provides desserts to the entire Holy Temple. I don't think the entire temple could stand it if their source of desserts suddenly disappeared."
Once Chasel answered, Eller licked his lips. "Ooooh, Ecilan's desserts. How I've missed them! Of course the entire temple would feel deprived if Ecilan weren't there. Ecilan's desserts are the best!"
"Didn't Ecilan send you a batch merely last week?" asked Chasel. He was quite sure it had only been a week. Eller had even brought some over to share with Chasel. Over the years, Eller had never ceased bragging about Ecilan's skill at baking, and would, quite frequently, gleefully share Ecilan's baked creations with Chasel and the others.
"Yes, but I've already finished eating it all... Receiving a batch here and there still doesn't compare to being able to eat what he makes every day!" Eller complained.
"There, there," Chasel consoled him, as he often did, especially now that there was no need to pretend that he wasn't compassionate anymore. "At least Ecilan has been attentive and has never forgotten to send you his newest creations. I can't say the same for Fahr and his student..."
Both the former Judgment Knight and the former Ice Knight held a moment of silence for their comrade Fahr, who had been completely forgotten by his student Chikus the moment Fahr had retired.
"You would think Chikus would at least visit once in awhile, but he always seems to be in a rush," Chasel commented. "Still, Chikus is just forgetful and lives too much in the moment. Grisia on the other hand..."
He trailed off.
Eller laughed into the table that he had been trying to burrow his face into out of depression. He lifted his head from the table and completed Chasel's sentence for him. "Grisia, on the other hand, would purposely avoid Neo if he were in the city. Good thing for both parties involved... no, good thing for everyone that Neo's not around."
"Yes, it's fortunate that Neo's not around at the moment," Chasel said. It wasn't that Leaf Bud City couldn't handle having two audacious Sun Knights around, but Neo and his student would certainly get into all sorts of trouble, and Neo would manage to turn the entire Holy Temple over with his whims. In the end, Lesus would have contacted Chasel, and Chasel would have needed to pay a visit to the Holy Temple to collect his wayward comrade. It was a well practiced routine even when Neo had still been the Sun Knight, Chasel going out of his way to collect Neo...
He shook himself out of his thoughts. Neo would be Neo. "Speaking of Neo, I received word from him yesterday."
"Oh? What does his letter say?" asked Eller curiously, eyes flicking downward to look at the letter Chasel had picked up again.
Chasel chuckled. "More accurately, I should have said I received word from Aldrizzt, seeing as he is the one who wrote this letter. Apparently, they're in the Town of White Rose and have been traveling with three teammates: a cleric, a rogue, and a warrior."
"Good luck to them," Eller said. "I hope they last more than a week."
Eller's tone, however, indicated that he didn't think it was very likely that they would last more than a week.
"I hope so too." Chasel lowered the letter and thought to himself, I hope they haven't already disbanded in the time that it took this letter to reach us.
As Chasel and Eller continued chatting, a sudden crash from outside jolted them out of their conversation.
Outside of Chasel's house, a redhead gingerly picked himself off of the dirt ground, Chasel's practice dummy smashed into smithereens underneath him. That had to be some fall. Some distance away from him were two other humans: a handsome man with his hair tied in a high ponytail and a young girl who wore a dress that had wings coming out of the back of the dress. It was an angelic outfit, a style that might even be found among the Sun Knight's clothes.
"Well, it certainly doesn't look like Fahr's student had suddenly decided to pay us a visit," Chasel commented as he took in the situation and saw the redhead whose hair was fiery enough for him to be mistaken for the Blaze Knight. He had his hair tied like how Chikus usually kept his hair, but unlike Chikus whose hair was far messier and whose face was unmarred, this man's hair was sleek, and he had a cross-shaped scar over his cheek.
Immediately after Chasel and Eller had exited the house, the redhead's hand flew to the hilt of his sword. He stepped in front of his two comrades who appeared to be unconscious. "Who are you?" asked the redhead warily, eyes darting between Chasel and Eller.
Chasel raised his hands up to show that he wasn't holding any weapons. He did have his sword by his waist, but he didn't plan on using it. The man before him was definitely trying to protect the other two despite the fact that the man himself didn't look all that steady on his feet. His complexion was also quite pale. "I mean you no harm. It's just that you've fallen in front of my house, so I came out to see what had happened."
When the man continued to remain alert, Chasel glanced to the side and noticed that Eller still had his weapon out.
"Eller," Chasel chided.
"Fine, but you better protect me if anything happens!" Eller said. He slowly and cautiously put his weapon away and backed up. Even without his weapon, Eller wasn't defenseless, as he was quite the wielder of ice magic. Chasel dismissed his quip. If necessary, Eller could definitely defend himself.
Despite the man's condition, his gaze was sharp as he surveyed his surroundings. He then spotted the practice dummy he had broken. It had definitely seen better days. "I apologize for breaking your property," he finally said.
"Apology accepted," Chasel murmured. "Would you like a cup of tea? Feel free to bring your companions in as well. I'm sure they will be more comfortable once they're no longer on the ground. I'm not very proficient in healing magic, but it should be better than nothing."
Chasel indeed poured the redhead a cup of tea once they'd gotten everyone settled. The redhead looked like he could use it, and he seemed to appreciate it even though he didn't voice any opinion over the tea. He merely drank it without a word. Chasel was pleased to see him drain the entire cup. When he placed the cup down lightly, Chasel silently refilled it.
It took a day for the redhead's companions to wake up. In the meantime, Chasel and Eller had both cast Minor Heals over the unconscious man and girl, but they continued to sleep. The redhead, whose name was Kenshin, did not say much as his companions slept on. He merely kept a quiet vigil by their bedsides and refused Chasel and Eller's offers to heal him. Chasel could tell he wanted them to save their healing magic for the other two, though he did not outright say so (Chasel was quite good at reading between the lines). It was true that Chasel could not perform healing magic more than three times a day, so he could not refute Kenshin's refusal. His companions did need it more.
What Chasel could have done, however, was invite a cleric over, but Kenshin hadn't wanted to spread news of his presence. Seeing that his two companions slept on peacefully, he had declined Chasel's offer to seek a cleric.
Except for Kenshin's red hair, he was as different from the fiery Blaze Knight as one could be. He was a quiet one, and he kept his emotions closely guarded.
Chasel found it ironic that Eller, the former Ice Knight, was much more expressive than their guest. Eller had loudly declared this far more interesting than going home and had taken a spot on Chasel's floor for the night, further demonstrating his animated personality. He even snored.
The girl woke up first. Then the guy. Not because of Eller's snores, Chasel hoped, but the timing was suspicious and pointed to that. Kenshin didn't relax when it happened, but Chasel could tell from the way his shoulders were slightly less hunched -- years of being the Judgment Knight had honed Chasel's observation skills -- that he was relieved.
"Itshay, Iway eelfay ikelay ymay issay obberedclay emay onway ethay eadhay ithway erhay ingfryay anpay," said the guy on the bed.
The girl looked around at her surroundings, and Chasel found that she took notice of where the exits were first. Interesting. "Erewhay areway eway?" she asked but not without wincing.
"How are you feeling?" Chasel asked, wondering if they knew how to speak his language. He hadn't expected they would speak a different language. Kenshin had been fluent, albeit reticent.
When both guy and girl just looked at him in incomprehension, Chasel turned to Kenshin. "Hm, it doesn't seem like your companions speak my language. Are you three from somewhere distant? I do not believe I have heard your language before."
Kenshin's mouth turned downward minutely, but that was all the answer Chasel received. The redhead then turned to his companions. The three of them started a rapid discussion in their foreign tongue, with the man, who looked to be around Chasel's student's age or younger, asking the redhead several questions while Kenshin answered in succinct phrases.
At one point in time, both the girl and the guy closed their eyes before they flew open again in shock. The young man even got off the bed (and nearly stumbled) before he started pacing. At least that told Chasel he was physically okay.
Their guests continued their heated discussion, well, heated on the young man's part. He sounded close to hysterics while Kenshin's voice remained calm and controlled throughout. The girl patted the man on the arm.
"Did they forget about us?" asked Eller, who had apparently woken up (Chasel would think anyone would wake up from the loud conversation going on before him, but Eller was usually a deep sleeper, so if anyone could sleep through this, it would be him).
"They have a lot to talk through," Chasel said with a shrug. Eller pulled himself off the ground just in time to see the girl furrow her brows and the guy nod. Then, the girl punched the guy in the face.
"Uchoay! Efinitelyday urtshay neoay undredhay ercentpay," the guy said while rubbing his jaw.
"Huh," Eller said. "You sure they're talking with each other?"
Finally, the three people who had shown up in front of Chasel's house out of nowhere approached the table Chasel and Eller were sitting at. Kenshin opened his mouth to speak. He looked reluctant to do so, but he really didn't have much choice when he was the only one who spoke both languages.
He gestured at his two companions. "Feng Wu Qing," he said while indicating the guy. "Doll," he said, nodding at the girl. He then asked Chasel a few questions before he turned back to his companions. Their discussion flared up again. Occasionally, Kenshin would ask Chasel another question, usually prompted by one of the others. He was most likely translating their queries for them.
It was odd to Chasel that these people seemed to know nothing about the Church of the God of Light or of the other religions. Even people outside of the three large kingdoms of Forgotten Sound, Moon Orchid, and Kissinger had to have more or less some knowledge of the religions. Since they knew nothing of the God of Light, it wasn't strange that they hadn't heard of the Twelve Holy Knights either. Still, it felt strange to Chasel that he had actually gone unrecognized in Leaf Bud City. It was almost unheard of.
While Chasel pondered where these people could have hailed from (it had to be somewhere very far given their language and unfamiliarity with the religions), it seemed that their discussion had finally come to an end, and that they had come to a consensus about their next step as well.
Very bluntly without any sort of lead-in, Kenshin said, "We are not from this world."
"You are from a different world? Fascinating," Chasel commented mildly.
That would explain things.
Kenshin blinked. Feng Wu Qing -- even his name sounded otherworldly -- nudged at Kenshin to translate. Kenshin did, and then it was Feng Wu Qing and Doll's turn to blink in surprise at him.
"Ouyay uresay elievedbay suay uicklyqay," said Doll.
Chasel had always been told that he was very practical. He saw no reason to doubt their words, and the explanation did fit. Moreover, what none of his guests knew was that Chasel was very good at spotting when someone was telling the truth or not, and he could tell that they were being truthful.
He smiled to himself. There was truly no need to even set foot outside of Leaf Bud City. Even though he hadn't sought adventure, it seemed that it had found him just fine.
"Tea?" Chasel asked.
to be continued
Neither Eller nor Chasel show up much at all in the main story of LSK, haha... I hope their characterization here is believable! I certainly had fun writing them~.
Here's a badly drawn map of where everyone we currently know are located as of the last chapter they appeared in (they might no longer be in the same place):
I've tossed all the place names I was able to gleam (and remember) from LSK on here, and then I added a bunch of random towns and cities of my own. I might need to add more later on, but hopefully this will serve well for the time being~. Accuracy of locations from the actual series is not at all guaranteed. =P
Now that we've taken a glimpse into each of the three kingdoms, we can finally move on, whoot! And now someone finally knows that the LSK world has a few guests from an entirely different world. Neo and Aldrizzt certainly don't know... since Prince doesn't know. XD
Next chapter: Invincible Prince on a White Horse... or not. Because. You'd at Least Need a Horse to be a Prince on a White Horse.