The Beginning Of The Trail Pt. II

"Good, it'll make it easier working with you then." I brushed off her declaration with ease.

"What changes now, with you knowing more about who I am?"

"Nothing- other than what I know about you, your goals and objectives don't change much."

"Follow the restrictions and fulfill your lofty promises." She waved her hand around in the air.

"So, I have to not trust you, while you neither fully trust me, all the while I help you with all of your problems?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Fantastic." I groaned.

"Just pretend I am but still the lovely Queen of Modos you had met no less than two moon-cycles ago, that wonderful visage that you revere in your head, hehe~."

"What a wonderful fantasy." I went ahead and picked up Ima who was still unconscious; I was about ready to call it a night.

"I wouldn't say that we're 'really' done here, and neither am I fully satisfied with what we've discussed over so far." Ima was sleeping peacefully in my arms; geez she really does look exactly like Ami; or maybe was that the other way around?

"Neither do I fully believe everything that you're saying-"

"But if I did have to 'trust' one thing that you've claimed so far as the pure truth, I'd believe it to be your love for your country."

"Just be prepared once I've become the pawn you can't bear to lose- when that happens, I'll be getting 'all' of my answers."

"Even the dagger called 'trust' that you're so adamant on keeping tucked away will be mine eventually." Flaur wasn't going to reveal her hand any further than what she has had tonight- it was time to leave before I'd make a mistake- I already had fell for her first trap earlier before.

I began to walk away from Flaur, she was sitting silent in her chair- bidding me goodbye with nothing more but a vacant smile, but eyes that burned with promise.

Promise for myself?

Or for her kingdom?

I wouldn't know for now; but it'll come soon enough.

...

I woke up the morning of tomorrow with Ima straddling me in bed, she had a massive magic circle hovering over my face with her palm.

This felt like a great way to begin a new eroge game route!

"What have you done to her Majesty!" Is what Ima uttered venomously at me, she's probably thought of a million ways to kill me in her head by now.

"Nothing- I left with you shortly after I had made you 'fall asleep'." This was getting dangerous, if she jostled atop of me any longer I'll-

"Lies! Her Majesty had-!" She sat down on where my lap was under the covers with a deft bounce.

"A-A hidden weapon!?!" Ima jumped off of me with a deft agility as she panicked feeling something in between her thighs.

Ah man, I can't be dealing with a every healthy(?), red-blooded(?) man's(?) worst enemy- the morning visit...

"N-No, nothing like that- could you uh, give me a minute?"

"If you're so worried about her, why don't you go check up on her yourself. Trust me- I won't be leaving here for a solid, few minutes anyway." I tucked myself up in a ball with the covers- only my head was peeking out.

Think of dead people, think of dead people.

Taxes, mortgage rates, starving cats...

Phew- I think I've gotten through the worst of it now.

"I can't, I can't leave you alone in this room-" Ami still held up her fists warily.

"I'm your guard, and after our combat last night, you're far more dangerous that I could've anticipated."

"Your magical cuffs should not work against physical magic attacks!!" She angrily yelled.

Now having the worst of it go, I could get up and out of bed with my shame intact.

"It's a personal skill, and no- I won't tell you what it is." I rolled out from bed and got up, I had slept in the same clothes from last night, minus the shoes of course.

"If you're so worried about what I did, why don't we go check up on her right now?"

"...- that is also something we cannot do." She retorted.

"Last night was the only break of your restrictions that her Majesty had allowed to occur, she bid before the visit that no matter what would happen; that would be your last time to see her until the Sanguidicium." She groaned, she looked pretty stressed out about all of this; not like I could blame her.

"Then if you're so worried about breaking restrictions, then doesn't that mean you must already know that she's fine?"

"What's the holdup then? Why're you being so defensive about it if you yourself are aware she's okay?" I put on my shoes; they still didn't feel too broken in yet, so they still felt a little stiff on my toes.

"I-I... I, agh!" She swiped at me with her magically enhanced fist, but instead of like last night-

I caught her hand mid-swing instead.

"Are you just angry that I beat you or something?" I held her thin wrist in between my grip, she tried desperately to get out of it, but I wasn't letting go- the magic circle in her caught fist fizzled erratically, but it didn't grey out and crumble away like when it directly touched me.

"If you are, sorry- but you saw for yourself, what it was that I told you to witness." I let go of her fist, being freed she threw her quick jab at my chest.

The result was the same; the magic was nullified by my natural immunity.

Having hit me, I had now noticed how injured her knuckles were from last night.

"Tch! No matter how many times I try, I can't seem to land a hit on you!!" She was going to try and hit me again with her other fist, but I caught it once again.

"Look, Ima, you're hurt, you really shouldn't be grazing away at your already raw-skinned knuckles like that at me." I held her fist up and studied it, I simply touched her knuckles with my finger- it dispelled the magic circle easily with contact and made Ima wince.

"Anymore and it'll leave permanent scarring."

"And if you try and hit me again, I'll put you to sleep like last night!" I said as I saw her try and ready her other fist; her face grew pale as she limply dropped her first with that reminder.

"I don't care if you hate me or whatever, you just shouldn't be needlessly hurting yourself." I dropped her other fist; I begun to walk to the door to leave the quarters.

"You are my guard after all, and we're going to be stuck together for a few days- with Carmilla no less." Mentioning Carmilla, it made Ima perk up from her downcast expression.

"...- tch." She muttered under her breath as she let out a heavy sigh.

"It's as you say, I knew that her Majesty was fine; as if she were harmed, I 'would' know." She crossed her arms defensively; I didn't know what she meant by her 'knowing'.

"But being so soundly defeated as I had been by you, it had taken a rise out of a certain aspect of mine- and for that, I must apologize."

She curtsied, but it didn't at all look apologetic.

"I apologize as a maid of the castle, but not as Ima." She clarified callously.

She walked to my bed and with an unparalleled proficiency, neatly folded all of the covers and tidied it- within ten seconds, it looked pristine.

"Seeing as it's now a little past breakfast, the Royal Assistant will be arriving in no less than half-an-hour." Ima looked at the lazily rising sun's light from the balcony- it was thankfully still morning as I had woken up.

"We will not have time to clean ourselves nor dine, as we must meet Carmilla at the gates- she will not be resting at the castle, she will leave as soon as she delivers her written report to the stationed guards."

"Additionally, we will be leaving through the western gates of the castle, and so we shall not be going through the streets of the capital." She said as she begun to walk towards to me.

"Why?"

"Efficiency- and to prevent an ambush."

"Ambush!?"

But Ima didn't reply, she simply walked past me and turned the doorknob, leaving the room and me behind.

"Follow me, and I will briefly explain to you what I have been told about the details this journey with the Royal Assistant entails."

She had begun to swiftly walk down the hallway to the left, leaving me to briskly walk up to her to catch up- it wasn't an understatement to say she was pretty peeved with me.

...

"We will be visiting a small principality governed by a Count Saleos Kross, a man who has been suspected by the kingdom to be harboring royalists in his manor." Ima walked with a surprising speed in her tiny body as I followed by her side, we were making a great pace down the castle.

"For his character, Count Saleos Kross is a soft-spoken pacifist, a strange contradiction when compared to the kind of people he is suspected of harboring, as royalists are warmongers that had followed the tyrant in his old ways."

"But it is also his saving grace, as if he wasn't historically known to be a pacifist, her Majesty would already have had invaded his principality under the good grounds of treason."

From hearing about this, it's starting to sound a lot like Flaur's sting operation on Azu'll.

"And for his principality, it grows one of the three corners of the kingdom's crop production- our wheat." Ima's frowned sourly telling me that detail.

"Is there a problem with his place growing wheat?" I asked.

"No, there isn't- but, having spoken to Lord LuCraft on occasion before-"

"There has been a strange as of recent 'happening' with Count Saleos' traditionally bountiful wheat crops that have been resulting in smaller and smaller harvests."

"Beyond that, I do not know- as only Lord LuCraft is aware about plants and the like."

"Crops aren't just 'plants', Ima."

But as I was about to give a disgruntled lecture on the importance of agriculture and food crops to Ima, we had arrived at the bottom of the castle- we could see a subtle brown carriage being drawn by one of those iguana-roosters I had seen before.

"She's arrived, hurry we have to be by the western gate." Ima said as we hurriedly walked over to a portion of the castle's walls that I hadn't seen yet.