Viridiana de Montferrat

"Thanks, Miseur, I appreciate your help." The girl passed the sword to Vaterian and thanked them for their help. "That not a big deal Miss, beating up a guy who don't shield their head while fighting is just as easy as tearing a flatbread." Vaterian pulled out its sword, after he made sure the sword is still in good shape, he sheaths it back in and reply to the girl.

"As he inspected the girl, who speak with a little bit an accent, not from some rural-barbaric city, but the heart of the continent. She sounds like a canary, is a sound that everyone hopes they could hear when they wake up."

"Shut up Einhaven" Vaterian looked at Igor, who had his romance in his hand. "Be polite to a lady." He warned Igor about it.

"Is that the phrase from the Novel [Uptown Girls]? Which describe the female protagonist!" The girl look at Igor with surprise and asked him.

"Indeed Lady, can't imagine there had someone don't read this masterpiece of romance." Igor bowed down to the girl, showing his respect. "It's only popular among girls, is normal to not read this book before." The girl replied to Igor while laughing at the same time.

Unable to follow the topic, Vaterian just listened to their conversation. "Sorry to forgot to introduce myself, My name is Viridiana de Montferrat, I yet again thank you for your help." She realized the awkwardness of Vaterian and turn the topic around.

"Nice to learn about you Miss Montferrat, My name is Alexandro, a countryman from Wester." Vaterian bowed down to Viridiana instead of shaking her hand.

"Is a pleasure to meet you, Lady from de Montferrat, can I have the privilege's to know where your family reign in," Igor questions Viridiana about her family.

Vaterian laugh out loud after he heard that, he said to Igor "Mister Einhaven, an additional knowledge for you, all people live in the north to the Faust walkway born with a family name, pls don't be an idiot next time." "Ok, sorry about being so stupid, I will try to keep that in my mind."

"So miss, can I know about where you come from? Not a lot of people in Helland can afford such a luxurious dress, especially made by fine cloth." Asked Vaterian.

"I come from Ostia, just nearby... Ujvaros, the capital of Carpathian empire." Said the girl, but she seems like not happy about it. "Seems like you not happy about the name of the city, Ujvaros, a name full of infamy." Vaterian talked about the city, which most of the people who lived under the empire hated.

"It seems like you knew a lot about our history, I believe none of the Alpinian like that name since the barbaric horde breach the wall of the old city of Adrianopolis and built a new one on its ruin." Said Viridiana.

"As I said, we come from Wester, where the most prestigious school in Helland is located. It won't be weird that we know a lot about the strongest country in history." Vaterian explained but later he take a look at Igor. "I make a correction, is me, not we, this guy might already forget all the stuff he learnt at school."

"But let's set other things aside, I'm curious about what would make a Lady choose to run in such a hurry? I hope you won't tell us nothing had happened, the dirt on your dress told us everything." Vaterian aggressively asked Venti, almost near to interrogations.

"Isn't you just told me we should be polite to a Lady? I usually won't talk to a lady in such a custom. But in this situation, I would also like to know about the reason behind it." Igor heard the question from Vaterian, although not agree with how Vaterian brought out the question, he was also curious about it.

"Sigh, I know you guys won't let me go away easily but isn't that too straightforward?" Asked Venti

"Is not like we didn't want to ask in a more temperate way, but we had no time to waste on endless conversation, and I don't think you would tell us either if I don't ask about it. Just like you didn't ask for help when you get harassed." Said Vaterian, who is a bit impatient.

"Where should I begin? I came here with my father, Valentino de Montferrat, the owner of our merchant guild, We spend 1 month to came here to open out a new trade route in Helland."

"Although it might be impolite, I hope you could just go straight to the point Miss de Montferrat. Who, at where, when and what causes you to run in such a hurry?" Vaterian stopped Viridiana further description and force her to told the important part.

Viridiana looked at Vaterian, she was surprised by the impoliteness of this person. "You need to be clear, we are the only people who can help you out. You could try to ask help from the other people here, but don't underestimate the Scars your country dealt to this city." Vaterian didn't react to Viridiana's surprise but continued pressuring her.

Viridiana knocked on the table and stood up, but quickly sat back down as her blood cold down. She knew what he said was true, the invasion of the Carpathians toward this city laid a trench between these two nation.

Silence stay between these two for a couple of seconds, but not until Igor bring some drinks and cold cuts, and ram them on the table. "Had some snack and calm down your mind. Both of you, by the way. Miss, your flower tea."

Vaterian took a slice of ham, and eat it down in his throat. "How much does it cost? Or you just get it for free from the waitress?" "It cost 50 Julius, I might be flirt with girls a lot but I never exploit them for my benefits." Igor stare at Vaterian and said.

"It's nice you standing at the path of chivalry, I would take that in mind," Vaterian replied.

The interruption from Igor gave Viridiana some breathing time, allowing her to tidy up her mind. "Ok, I would tell you what happened." Viridiana took a deep breath and begin her word.

"It all started today morning." She rubs her finger around the teacup. "I receive a letter from a man, in the letter it's stated that the family of von Feld had an interest on the trading with the Carpathian empire, to recover from the devastation done by the civil war 8 years ago."

As the Girl made her statement, Igor looked at Vaterian, who slightly shook his head. "They asked me to meet at the Musikverein, I follow the way shown on the map, but during the way I go there, I got attacked by two men in a small alley, I try my best to run away, luckily they stop pursuing as some dog keep chasing them. Afterwards, I run to the main street, and here I am."

"Sadly to told you miss, you might not know about the news in this country, but there had no way for the people from von Feld to come here." Vaterian drink some of the fluid in the mug and said. It's beer, yet again, but he didn't care about it.

"Since the civil war, the tension between the royal family and the noble is extremely high. It's still the case until now, no one from von Feld is allowed to meet anyone in this city without permission from the grand duke. Especially now the head and successor of the von Nassau is in this city, and the heir is having a good time in the Musikverein. No one dares to call a person from the royal family to ruin their day."

"Then who called me to here? It must be someone?" The girl expressed her panic by raising the tone of her word.

"Where's the letter? I wish to have a close peek on it, We might find some clue on it." Said Igor, who eagerly want to contribute to the investigation.

Viridiana searched around to find the letter, but it was nowhere to be found. "It seems like it drops around somewhere when you escape from those people, sadly we won't have the chance to recover it." Said Vaterian.

"But what we could do, is help you to get rid of those thugs or killers, depending on what they want from you. However, it requires some payment, as we said, you can't get a tree without planting a seed."

Viridiana smile after hearing that from Vaterian, "How should I believe two people from Helland will protect me? Just like you said, the scars we made remain." She said.

"I did say we come from Wester, but I didn't say we were born in Wester. We were born in Karchidon, seeking a trip back to our hometown, we only asked for two extra seats in your caravan, and you only need to drop us down when you arrive Karchidon, I believe that was a very good trade." Vaterian taps his finger on the table and explains to the girl.

"But how do you make sure there won't be anything happened on the way, no matter just from here to the place I stay, or the trip back to Karchidon?" Asked Viridiana

"It won't be an issue, Miss de Montferrat, we will solve it with our way. And I would like to tell you, that you had no choice to not accept or bargain on this trade. Otherwise, you would just get torn apart by the killer. Once you step out of the main road." Vaterian stood up and look down at the girl.

After a couple of seconds, the girl made her compromise, "Ok, but you need to make sure for our safety, not just me but also for the rest of the employees."

After finished talking the sentence, she felt exhausted and leaned on the chair. Now her future no longer lay in her hand but these two teenagers'.