140 Plans (2)

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He snapped out of his musing when he saw Nicolas let out a sigh of irritation, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Une époque si stupide, je vous dis (Such a stupid era, I say)…" Nicolas commented, a small frown of displeasure marring his face.

Surprisingly, it was not just the ancient alchemist that said it. There were two more voices that uttered the same words that he did and at the same time.

Turning his head to the left, Hadrian's gaze landed upon two individuals, Charles and Astolfo.

The two knights' eyes were wide, surprised and blinking, as if they just realized what they had spoken.

Then, a split second later, they realized that many eyes were upon them, startling them by surprise before they laughed sheepishly.

"Ehehehe, désolé/sorry…" Astolfo and Charles apologized, both looking sheepish.

The pink haired knight was giggling nervously while the other shifted in his spot. Both looked a bit uncomfortable at the sight of their fellow occupants' deadpan stares.

The two let out sighs of relief when the stares went away, returning to the main speakers at hand, causing Hadrian to sigh as well, but in resignation as he saw the two knights' reaction.

He had been worried that the two might indulge the couple with what they know about the era they had lived in, but he was glad that they refrain themselves from acting out of their normal habits.

Usually, the two knights elaborate on what they know on a certain subject.

But, perhaps due to Hadrian's lack of permission to let the couple in the know, the two knights were aware of consequences if they talk.

Not that he does not trust the Flamel couple with the truth. It was just that he did not want to make things complicated for them.

Even now, Hadrian can see that the two were having a bit of trouble to come to terms of what they had been told. The young Schweinorg scion simply didn't want to add any more confusion that they might be experiencing at the moment.

Moreover, casually mentioning subjects such as 'Servants', 'Heroic Spirits' and the 'Holy Grail War' might overwhelm the couple before the day could finish.

Not only would it confuse the Flamel couple, but it might fill their heads with questions that Hadrian was not exactly willing to answer.

Hadrian trusts the Flamels to a certain extent, but he drew the line when it comes to anything related to the Holy Grail War.

With that in mind, the young mage turned to his kind hosts, fully intent on continuing the discussion.

Unbeknownst to him, the reason that the two knights did not make any further comments was not due to their mindfulness of the situation.

Rather, it was the pair of bright blue eyes that flashed from behind them, boring through Charles and Astolfo's backs, causing the two knights to sweat a little in nervousness.

Even in astral form, the deadly stern glare of King Hassan was potent as ever.

After casting bemused glances at the two knights, Penerelle continued where she left off.

"Back on topic, Prelati arrived to France and, somehow, met Gilles De Rais, one of Jeanne d'Arc's companions. I imagine he took advantage of the former's mental state that time, one of which would be an easy feat for him to accomplish considering as Gilles had been in very low spirits and had most likely started questioning his loyalty to his country and beliefs towards people. And as the saying goes, the rest is history from there." The Flamel matriarch finished, pausing briefly to sip on her tea and hydrate her slightly parched throat.

"To drag a broken man down to the depths of madness and depravity…" Nicolas shook his head, a solemn and rueful expression on his face. "Truly, he is the definition of ordure (scum)."

Silently, Hadrian can only nod in agreement to the man's remarks.

However, an unexpected comment from a certain retainer slipped in through the heavy, solemn mood.

"Bastard pedophile Prelati may be, the same can't be said with Gilles." Kieran said in a nonchalant tone, pausing a second before he continued in afterthought. "Well, not entirely anyways."

Except for the amber eyed servant, all eyes in the room turned to the retainer in question, who merely met their surprise and curious gazes with an unperturbed expression.

Hadrian, in particular, looked to be interested in what kind of view that the amber eyed retainer would share.

Kieran was one of his retainers in the group, who would rarely give out his opinions on matters of morals and philosophy.

"It's just as you said, lady, Gilles was a broken man. His faith in people and in the world itself was destroyed the moment that Maiden of Orle… Orle…" Kieran's brows furrowed as he tried to pronounce one of the known titles of Jeanne d'Arc.

"The Maiden of Orléans, dude." Astolfo pitched in.

"Maiden of Orlins." Kieran repeated, frowning when he noticed that it didn't came out correctly as he thought.

"Orléans, Kier." Charles joined in, looking like he was about to laugh.

"Maiden of Orlens." If it was possible, Kieran's brows knitted further, creating a small V on his forehead as he was quickly beginning to look agitated.

"Maiden of Orlé–"

Just as Astolfo was about to repeat it again, the pink haired knight found himself cut off as Kieran seemed to have finally had enough.

"WHATEVER, YA SHITTY BASTARDS! GO BUGGER YOURSELVES A HOLE AND STAY DERE FOREVER!" The amber eyed retainer exploded, baring his teeth to the two knights like an irritated dog.

It was quiet for a few seconds before…

"Pffft!"

Immediately, the solemn mood dissipated as the Flamels and the retainers broke into chuckles and giggles, especially Astolfo and Charles, who looked far more amused than any of them.

Only King Hassan and Hadrian had minor reactions, the former huffing from his spot and the latter shaking his head with an exasperated smile.

As for Kieran himself, the retainer looked annoyed, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at the pair of knights.

Few moments later, most of them regained their composure as the discussion continued once again, though on a lighter mood this time.

"Please refrain from using the vulgarities in the future. But that aside, what were you about to say, child?" Penerelle asked, looking at Kieran kindly.

Kieran raised his brow, no doubt a bit offended by the woman's assumption that he was younger than her.

But, one quick glance to Hadrian, who shook his head subtly in response, Kieran let out an irritated sigh before he leaned back in his seat.

The young mage recognized the look in his eyes.

His retainer was about to open his mouth, most likely to pelt some insults at Penerelle for calling him a 'child', which might not end up well should it happen.

Fortunately, Kieran had the good sense to look in Hadrian's way, in which he quickly saw the warning look in his master's eyes, including the quiet promise of retribution if he was not polite to the Flamel matriarch.

"Nah, it's nothin'. I already forgot what I wanted to say, no thanks to these morons." Kieran said in a bored tone, flashing a quick glare to the grinning visages of Astolfo and Charles.

"Oh, then…" Penerelle blinked, a bit flummoxed by the candid response before she turned her gaze to Hadrian. "Speaking of which, how do you plan to find François Prelati?"

"Oui." Nicolas nodded, sharing his wife's sentiment. "To find a élusif bâtard (slippery bastard) like that won't be easy."

Frowning, Hadrian scratched his head as his mind formed a careful response.

"At the moment, we're trying to settle in this era. It's not exactly wise to venture outside without proper information and preparation. Not only that, my body is quite weak at the moment. I need to train and do a lot of exercises before I can go and leave as I please. It won't hurt to gather more information before we can track on a lead, which is something we're lacking at the moment. Although, I might send out a few of these guys in the future to do a bit of reconnaissance in some locations with interesting activity. That way, we can start on locating that wretch's footsteps, wherever he might be hiding in this world." Hadrian admitted.

"Hmm, wise decision." Nicolas smiled, nodding in approval.

"Indeed. There's no better way to begin, but to simply start with small steps." Penerelle added, also smiling.

"What about you guys? Your plans for this… dark lord, I mean." Hadrian elaborated when he saw their questioning looks.

"Ah, that." Nicolas nodded absentmindedly, a thoughtful look upon his face. "Well, currently, we are at the initial phase of our plan, and that plan has three phases. First, we search for Voldemort's allies, be they alive or dead."

"We happened to discover that most of them are located in England." Penerelle pitched in with a smile.

"Oui, his reach did not extended that far during the time he was still up and gallivanting about in British soil. The International Confederation of Wizards, a wizarding intergovernmental organization, roughly equivalent to the United Nations in the normal folk's society." Nicolas explained when he saw the questioning looks that Hadrian and the others wore. "Anyways, after Grindelwald's tyranny, the ICW were more than up in arms to deal with the likes of another dark lord. When Voldemort noticed this, he didn't dare venture outside of Britain, not when his clique and influence were not as vast as Grindelwald's."

"Hmm, if what you say is true, then it's either they're afraid to venture afar or they waiting for him to return." Hadrian mused aloud.

"It's highly possible that it's the latter." Penerelle pointed out. "Years might have passed and England is relatively in peaceful times right now, but we have heard that some of Voldemort's servants, the Death Eaters, had been accumulating wealth, filling their vaults with silver and gold through 'legal' methods."

Hadrian pointedly ignored the guffaws of laughter by the mention of 'Death Eaters' in the background, though the Flamel couple casted amused glances to his retainers' direction.

"And by 'legal', she means that their galleons were earned through ill-begotten means and labelled as 'legal' on official papers as a cover." Nicolas said with a wry smile.

"To avoid suspicion, huh." Charles frowned, dark blue eyes narrowing.

"Oui, but even when they did that, they still garner suspicions due to their past actions." Nicolas smirked, continuing when he saw their curious expressions. "After Voldemort's demise, most of his servants were captured and being held in a magical prison called 'Azkaban'. It's where the most vile and wanted criminals are being imprisoned in Britain."

"Some of his servants manage to escape that fate by pleading to the members of the Wizengamot. If you must know, the Wizengamot is wizarding Britain's high court of law and parliament." Penerelle said with a patient smile, seeing the curious looks sent in her way when she said another term that Hadrian and the others were not familiar with. "As I was saying, some of them manage to escape by pleading to the members of the court, telling them that they were manipulated via Imperius Curse casted by Voldemort, one of three forbidden spells that every ministry of magic in different countries had deemed as illegal as it is a curse that allows the caster to control another's actions. One wizard in particular, Lucius Malfoy, had used this reason to escape being thrown into Azkaban."

"Surely, that should not be simple. There must've been evidences against them to refute their claims?" Charles asked, looking a bit irate.

"There was, but we heard that it was discarded to the side since Lucius still has some friends in the court that time, despite his unfavorable position then. In the end, Lucius and some of his friends got away from being imprisoned with the rest of the remaining Death Eaters." Penerelle smiled thinly, much to Charles's frustration.

"That lèche-botte (slippery bastard)…" Nicolas spat, a distasteful expression on his face. "Out of all Voldemort's larbins (minions), Malfoy was the one who had… how do you say it? Elevated? Elevated in status than the rest of his fellow Death Eaters. He managed to garner quite a sum of wealth and now has the ear of the current Minister of Magic in Britain. All the while his camarades (comrades) are still rotting in Azkaban, he's out and about, doing whatever pleases him like any other pompeux imbéciles (pompous imbeciles) that, unfortunately, exists in this world."

"What's your next course of action then?" Yan Qing asked, speaking for the first time.

"We're planning on sabotaging them." Penerelle answered with a smile.

"Who're you sabotaging?" Arash inquired, slightly amused.

"This would be the second part of our plan." Nicolas stated, rubbing his hands together with a playful grin. "Sabotaging their connections, both outside and inside Britain, is the best way to curb their influences. Malfoy's companions have their own seats in the Wizengamot, except for Lucius himself. His family is not from Britain, after all. They just migrated there during Grindelwald's time. Still, for his allies, it would be beneficial for us if we can pluck out their fangs before Voldemort returns in the future. That way, they won't be as much as a threat as they were before in the past."

"I see…" Hadrian smiled. "Seems like you two had it all planned out."

"We do, but the problem lies in enacting upon them. Nicky and I are only two people. While your grandfather had helped us with the plans and providing useful intel, we lack the manpower to actually do these steps." Penerelle said with a slight sigh.

"Fortunately, with you and your companions here, that won't be a problem anymore." Nicolas stated with a smile.

"No, no, it won't." Hadrian assured.

And just as he had expected, the discussion went on for quite a long, almost nearing the night time.

Even though they had spoken mostly about their plans for their individual targets, Hadrian's time with the Flamels had been pleasant so far.

The only that ruined his mood that day were his headaches that come and go every once in a while, and his retainers' usual antics, which often amused the Flamel couple to no end.

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