Secret Meeting
After many days of travel, the caravan was only 5 hours away from arriving in the city. Currently, sunset was soon to arrive so the caravan was having its final day of rest before battle. It was set that tomorrow was the day they attacked.
Since this was their final stop before the battle, the generals decided to have a dinner party to bid a good battle for tomorrow. The party consisted of all generals, advisors, captains, vice-captains, and nobles.
Ritzy isn't a vice-captain anymore but since he is a noble decedent, he is considered a pseudo-noble. This gave him entry to the party, but it wasn't optional for him to go. It was more of a demand because of traditions and noble customs.
Currently, Ritzy was at the carriage dressing himself for the occasion.
Luckily, Christopher ordered Ritzy to bring some elegant clothes for emergencies. Christopher gave him two different sets of clothing. One set had the primary color red with gold lacing, and the other had primary color yellow with red lacing.
Christopher told him,
"The primary red set is for celebrations. This color style is used to represent the strong standing of the Pheonix kingdom with its bold red color. The red represents the fire god which we base our kingdom's color off".
"The primary yellow set is for representation. They might throw a banquet before the battle, so I want you to use this. Using your god's color when having a banquet brings good luck and it will increase your chances of survival in the upcoming battle. It's like asking for protection in the upcoming battle".
As Ritzy was putting on the yellow set suit, a sudden noise was heard behind him.
Startled, Ritzy threw the shirt he was putting on and began conjuring a sword to protect himself from the unknown noise, but before his conjuring finished. A male voice came out.
Unknown,
"Hey Ritzy".
Noticing that his name was called, he stopped conjuring the weapon and looked at where the voice originated. Looking at the origin's voice, he noticed it was Benjamin, the new vice-captain.
Benjamin,
"Oh, sorry for startling you. I just need to talk to you for a bit".
Benjamin didn't see the abnormal mana that was being used to conjure the sword. Ritzy didn't really hide this aspect of him but being able to conjure at his age is completely unheard of so if Benjamin saw this. Benjamin would vigorously ask about this.
Benjamin,
"Wait, where is your servant to dress you?".
Ritzy showed a face of distress and his face darken a little bit.
"She isn't here".
Benjamin,
"It doesn't matter, call here over. It's her job".
Benjamin felt a little pissed. He viewed this situation as the servants taking advantage of Ritzy to get off duty.
Ritzy gave a serious and slightly warning style voice,
"She isn't here, so drop it".
Benjamin felt cold by the sudden atmosphere. When he looked at Ritzy, he sensed extreme anger. After a bit of time, he was able to re-organize his thoughts. While he was organizing his thoughts, Ritzy was able to put the shirt on.
Benjamin said with a bit of an apologetic voice,
"Ok, I'll drop the matter. I see this is a private matter".
Benjamin coughed and then went back to his normal voice,
"The reason I'm here is because Lord Savior sent me here".
Ritzy was surprised and stopped dressing himself to look at Benjamin,
"My teacher Savior?".
Benjamin,
"Yes".
Ritzy,
"Why would he send you here? Is there a problem back at home?".
Ritzy was a bit worried hearing why Benjamin was here.
Benjamin,
"No, nothing like that. The matter is that he sent me here to become your teacher".
Ritzy,
"Teacher? For magic, war, or what is it for?".
Benjamin,
"I will be teaching you about noble etiquette, it seems that your parents and Savior forgot to teach you this so they asked me to do it. They thought it should be me so this matter could be kept as much of a secret as possible. It is quite embarrassing that a noble descendent doesn't know etiquette. Especially you, it seems like you don't have a clue of how to act based on our previous encounter".
Ritzy had no words to say because he had no way to refute him.
Ritzy,
"Seems like your words hold credibility".
Just as Ritzy was about to say something else, Junger came nearby. He was on the opposite side of the carriage, Junger was taking a precautionary measure so he doesn't accidentally see Ritzy undressed.
Junger,
"Lord, are you ready to leave for the Banquet?".
Ritzy and Benjamin looked at each other for a second but then Ritzy shouted back at Junger,
"Almost, give me a couple of minutes. I'll call for you when I'm ready".
Junger,
"Understood, I'll take my leave then and wait for you at the campfire".
Junger started walking away and once Junger's footsteps couldn't be heard anymore, Benjamin spoke.
"Since we will be going for a banquet, I think it's best to learn what you know right now and provide you a mini-lesson in what you don't know".
Ritzy,
"Okay, I'll rely on you then. So... What is it that you want to know?".
Benjamin started thinking. He walked a little bit back and forth until he thought of something.
Benjamin,
"First thing is first, let's deal with yesterday's issues. My first question is, what do you say when a superior arrives?".
Ritzy,
"You greet them with a smile and give a bow. Then you ask how they are".
Benjamin,
"Wrong, that's how high-level merchants greet us. When meeting a superior, you do everything the same but say, 'It's a pleasure to see you', or give a compliment. Unlike the lowly class, we don't ask about emotions. Emotions are only a hindrance".
"Second question, when bidding farewell to a fellow noble. What do you say?".
Ritzy began thinking, he tried to interpret Benjamin's guidance on the past question to answer this question.
"I bid you a pleasant afternoon".
Benjamin,
"Close, but no. You want the terms to be indefinite. Say something like,'I bid you a pleasant journey and I hope we see each other soon', but since we're in wartime. Say something more in the lines of, 'I bid you great battle tomorrow, and that the gods bless our victory'. This means you want them to be safe and believe the war will end with our side victorious".
After 15 minutes of Benjamin guiding Ritzy about noble etiquette, Benjamin decided it was time to end this session.
Benjamin,
"I believe it's time for us to depart. We'll meet with Skira and head to the banquet together. Now give me a proper farewell".
Ritzy quickly took a bow and said,
"I hope we see each other soon, and that when we do see each other. The war has already ended".
Benjamin,
"Good".
After saying that, Benjamin headed back to his camp. Once Benjamin was out of sight, Ritzy headed for Junger.
Arriving at the center of the campfire where all the knight was resting, he saw Junger taking bites at the meal the servants made. The meal didn't provide any meat since they were not lucky enough to find an animal like last time, so the meal was pure vegetation.
The dish consisted of the potato that was distributed as rations and some asparagus the servants foraged from earlier.
The dish wasn't anything special but since the potato was boiled, the potato had a nice soft squishy texture. There was some red spice added on top to give it flavor. The asparagus served as a good side dish to give it a refreshing taste after a spicy bite from the seasoned potato.
When Junger noticed that Ritzy arrived, he immediately stuffed his face with the remainder of the food. Quickly munching on his meal, he was done in seconds.
Once finished, he acted as if nothing happen and quickly turned to Ritzy and bowed.
Junger,
"Your knight is reporting for duty".
Ritzy was left a bit surprised but he understood. In the banquet, Junger wouldn't be served any food since he wasn't a guess and only a knight guarding his lord.
Ritzy decided to ignore the matter and said,
"Let's go".
As Ritzy commenced walking to Skira's camp, Junger quickly followed behind while having a firm grip on the hilt of his sword. Showing that he was ready for any problem that could arise.
After a good distanced walk, they arrived at Skira's camp.
A nearby guard on watch duty saw Ritzy and Junger.
Ritzy had his gallant suit of yellow that resembles closely to gold. The suit showed beautiful outlines of red to distinguish each piece of clothing. On his jacket, the family emblem was shown on the heart position. It majestically showed a flame-colored phoenix holding a flame between its wings.
Junger wasn't wearing his typical armor. The armor he wore was a very light and bit reflective gray. He had small red flag on his chest which show the family emblem. This time the Pheonix and flame were gold-colored.
The guard didn't doubt their identities after seeing how extravagantly they dressed. He hurriedly lead them to where Skira was resting.
Arriving, they saw Skira resting on an elegant dining set. The set was completely white and had a reflective gray outline. Skira was currently lounging around while drinking tea and eat something that looked like grapes. They were pink instead of the usual purple from Ritzy's old world.
As they walked closer, Skira's outfit seemed more stunning. He wore a white suit with red as a secondary color. The white was the color of paper in Ritzy's old world and if looked closer, it seemed as if reflective gems were placed on the suit. Each step Ritzy took, the gems gave a brighter glow.
Skira noticed they arrived and turned to them. He didn't get off his seat to bow. He just raised his right hand and made a small wave movement.
Skira,
"Ritzy you finally arrived, come have some tea with me while we wait for Benjamin".