C97- Visiting the Buthaldi Kingdom (1)

"Corvin! Are you ready?"

"I'm coming, Noah! Just wait a second!"

"Come on, dude! Why are you taking longer to prepare than the girls?"

"I am just checking if I had everything I want to bring."

Noah sighed and leaned on the outer wall of Corvin's dorm.

"This guy is such a headache... I am already tired even though this is supposed to be a relaxing trip!"

Just as he said that, the door next to him opened and Corvin stepped out of the dorm carrying a luggage. The two of them started walking to meet with the girls.

"I heard you."

"Good."

"Tch. I am just trying to make sure the business part of the trip goes well and this is how I am treated?"

"What took you that long anyways?"

"I was preparing my notes and designs in order."

"Right. That explains what took so long. Even you can't read your own writing... Did you really put that big stack of paper in order?"

"Yeah? Otherwise it would be hard to follow them, no?"

"I am just surprised it didn't took longer."

"My magic helps a lot."

"Right. Oh, Corvin. I was thinking about turning your notes and designs into a book actually! Are you down?"

"? For what?"

"You know, my dad opened a commoner school, right?"

"Yeah."

"I was thinking about using those in the classes."

"...Nah, don't do that."

"Why not?"

"As you just said, even I find what I wrote difficult to read... sometimes. I will write you a proper book later if you really want it, but these notes are way too messy. You need to know the history of them to properly understand it."

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

Corvin handed the paper stack to Noah.

"You can read it on the road if you want to. You will understand once you do."

"Okay, sure..."

"Corvin! Noah!"

Suddenly hearing someone call them, the two boys lifted their faces from the papers and looked towards the sound. The one who called them was Amy, who was waiting in front of a big carriage.

"Hi, Amy. Where is Clair?", asked Noah immediately.

"She isn't ready yet. What? You can't wait to see her?"

"No... That's not it."

"Heh! Who was it that said I took longer than the girls? See? I wasn't!"

"You were at least slower than Amy."

"Th-that's because..."

"Corvin! Amy!"

Corvin's words were cut off by Clair who just arrived next to the carriage with her luggage. As she called out to Corvin and Amy, Noah's face soured ever so slightly. Clair didn't look at his face and walked past him to hug Amy.

"What, you two still didn't make up?"

"No..."

"Why? Just apologize, dude."

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"But you did, didn't you?"

"I was just using an opportunity cleverly... Besides, she didn't even tell me what she wanted! How am I supposed to know? I am not a mind reader!"

Yesterday was Noah's birthday and Clair prepared a celebration with a lot of friends. Clair wanted it to end quickly since she had a big surprise for Noah, but couldn't do it since she never said she wanted to end the party early for some alone time and Noah hanged out with his friends past midnight instead.

"Right, I get what you mean, but... Whatever. You better quickly apologize. I don't want you two to turn this trip to torture because of your stupid newlywed quarrel."

"..."

Noah nodded silently and stared at Clair who was chatting with Amy. Just as they both stopped talking for a second, he used the opening to enter their conversation.

"C-Clair."

"What?"

Noah suddenly hugged her and started talking.

"Look, I am sorry, okay? Can you forgive me?"

"Hm... I may think about it."

As the two were talking, the door of the carriage opened and they started floating. Noah and Clair shone light green as they flew inside the carriage and the door was shut after them.

"Tch. Find a closed space to flirt. You are going to poison people.", said Corvin.

Amy and Corvin stared at each other for a second.

"Pfft!"

"Hahaha!"

"They really need to be more mindful of their surroundings, don't they?"

"Sigh~, Don't even talk about it. It was even worse at the factory, I am glad we found workers."

"Should we also enter the carriage? We need to leave, don't we?"

"Right. Let's."

Amy and Corvin entered the carriage as well and after the coachman arrived, they started on their way.

Inside the carriage, while Corvin was staring at the outside view, something hit his lap.

"Hm?"

"Corvin. Please take this... thing away from me."

"Oh, my papers. Do you understand what I meant now?"

"Yeah... Those things are an insult to anyone who does regular paperwork like me. Keep them away from humanity, for the sake of this world."

"It's not that bad... Is it?"

"I am an artist, right? It is my specialty to find meaning in the seemingly meaningless, right? What if I told you I couldn't find what you wrote meant in about half of that thing? Does that make it clear?"

"...Is my writing really that bad?"

"Oh, it is."

"..."

Corvin decided to work on his writing.

'No... That's boring. I should just use something to write for me.'

Instead, he decided on something else with his weird laziness.

*****

While passing by the Tarlen village on their path towards the Werga Passage, Noah asked Corvin.

"You aren't going to talk to your mom or anyone?"

"No. I was here three days ago anyways. I want to see the other side of the mountain range for the first time."

"You never saw it before?"

"Nope. Even though I spent a lot of time near these mountains, I actually never got past them. Weird, isn't it? Since it is not much distance."

"It's not that weird. There is a reason why these mountains stayed as the border between the Altus Empire and the Ale-Ans for so long. Since it is hard to cross them, they make nice borders."

"Right? Almost everything is different from the culture to the climate. Just by a single mountain range."

"I wouldn't call it 'just a single' mountain range. Doesn't the Werga stretch half way through the continent?"

"It does... Oh, hey, look at that! That's the new passage?"

"Hm? Oh, it looks like an actual passage now, instead of just a mountain that cracked into two halves!"

Passing through the Werga Passage that was cleared of rubble by the Empire and turned into a proper road that was now much wider with most of the Twin Peaks of Aos destroyed, Corvin stared at the passage.

"It really feels weird when you remember we made it like this."

"Well, the Twin Peaks were already smaller than the rest of the Werga Mountains. And it was also hollowed out by bugs, so it's really not that strange, I would say."

"Yeah, I know. But it still feels weird to think humans have the power to change landscapes like this."

"Oh, I get what you mean. It's like getting rid of a something that is meant to stay as it is forever, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

 Noah and Corvin continued their chat as the carriage entered the Buthaldi territories.