Chapter 15: Barbara’s Dayoff [2/3]

"Hmmm….? What do you mean? I think you misheard me," Albert struggles it off, "What did you hear me

"Something about Barbara's fan club, was it?" Ether asked as his head tilted to the side, "What is the Barbara Fan Club in the first place?"

*Gasp* "I can't believe you haven't heard of the Barbara fan club before l! As the name suggests, it's a fan club of Barbara-sama!" Albert announced proudly, "And I, Albert, am the president of the fan club."

Despite being uncomfortable with the situation, Ether pressed on with the conversation. "So, what correlation does that have with you gathering things and looking for Barbara out here?"

Albert hesitated before replying. "Uhhh, I just heard from other members that Barbara-Sama visits these parts often!"

"Yeah, likely story." Ether nodded and rolled his eyes at Albert. "You sure Barbara is here? I'm also looking for her."

"Yes! I guarantee you that I heard Barbara-sama here earlier." Albert responded immediately. "But she could've left by now…"

"Alright, I was looking for Barbara too upon Victoria's request to look around and see if Barbara is still here out of concern." Ether lied, "Why don't you continue to gather those things around while I look around for Barbara?"

Albert's eyes lit up the moment he heard what Ether proposed, and his head nodded fiercely in response.

"Alright then," Ether walked around the forest, shouting for Barbara. "Barbara! Barbara! Are you there?"

Barbara's head peaked out of her hiding spot, where Albert couldn't spot her, and giggled to herself.

After her giggles, she quickly noticed Ether's gestures and followed swiftly, leaving without a trance. 'I guess I can stop worrying about her now.' "Hey! Albert! I don't see anyone here, you sure that you've heard Barbara?" Ether called out. 'Of course, he did, but he doesn't even know if he did or did not, so it doesn't count as lying now if I mix some truth within it, no?'

"No way… I swear I saw it and heard Barbara-sama's voice here too…" Albert said, biting his lip, frustrated. "Let's go deeper into the forest. Maybe she went out to the deeper parts."

"I'll pass on that, I have something else to do. But if you want, I can help you out and give some of those red wolfhooks to Victoria to give to Barbara when she sees her." Ether politely said, before seeing that Albert twitching around.

"Of course. I'll also tell Victoria that you got all these for Barbara! I'm sure she'll appreciate it! Maybe you can even get her signature!" Ether added, sensing the hesitation in Albert going away.

"Will you do that for me?" Albert said, eyes tearing up.

'No dumb ass, I just had enough of your nonsense but I can't say that,' "Yes, of course. We are both looking for Barbara, so we are brothers in arms in a sense, yea?" Ether lied, "So, what will it be?"

"Thank you very much! I would love you to hand these to Sister Victoria and tell her to give them to Barbara-Sama for me!" Albert sighed in relief, jumping into Ether for a hug.

Ether swiftly positioned himself away from Albert's trajectory, revealing the tree behind Ether.

*CRASH*

"Now… how do I deal with this mess now…?" Ether shook his head, staring at Albert's unconscious body. "Do I just leave him here or…?"

…

"Barbara-Sama, don't do that. Hehe…" Albert said, dreaming of Barbara. "We shouldn't do that here in front of everyone…"

'Time to wake the fuck up to reality!' Ether poured water on Albert's dumbass face, which was goddamn drooling from god knows what.

"AHHHHHH!" Albert blasted back up after the torrent of water hit his face.

"You good? If you didn't wake up here, I would've left you alone in the middle of the forest." Ether said, throwing the bucket in Albert's face. "Now then, I'll be going with these red woofhooks and giving them to Victoria,"

Before Albert had any time to respond, Ether gusted away from Albert as quickly as possible. 'Maybe that wasn't the best course of action, but it's what that creep deserves, kinda,'

With that thought on his mind, Ether followed the winds back into the city of freedom.

…

"Sister Victoria, did Barbara come back yet?" Ether asked, after looking around the cathedral for Barbara and not finding her, "I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Barbara? Why, yes I have. She said she was going on a quick walk around the city as she waited for you to come back from your tasks." Victoria recalled, "She should be back by now, I wonder if she came across any trouble."

"Sister Victoria, can you tell me where she went on a walk? Perhaps I can go and find her if she is in trouble." Ether proposed, "Hopefully, Barbara told you where she was going on a walk at."

"Hmm…" Victoria tried memorizing, "Ah, yes! I remember she mentioned something about going to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters to greet her sister, Jean."

"Then, I'll be on my way!" Ether dashed off as he said so. 'But why is Barbara looking for Jean of all people?'

…

~After a trip to the knight of Favonius…~

After consulting Jean about Barbara, she had told him that Barbara left half an hour ago, stating that she will be walking back to the Cathedral.

"Ugh," Ether said, exiting the knight of Favonius headquarters with his hand on his forehead, "where do I find Barbara now?"

A huge uproar was heard in the distance. Crowds formed and multiplied like cell division, surrounding someone singing.

"What now…?" Ether said, tired from the events of today. "Maybe I can find Barbara there…"

Every time he got closer to the crowd of people, the clearer their speech became. "Bar— Bar—Bar!" "Bara—arba— ara!" "Barba-Barba—Barbara!" It wasn't long until Ether had figured out that the person who was stirred around by the crowd was none of than Barbara, the person he was looking for.

A/N: Running out of ideas... I am not suited for writing a fan fiction...