CHAPTER 15.

Andrea

Andrea felt the vibrations running through her armour slowly fade as the carriage came to a stop just inside the southern gates to the city. It was a genuine relief to know that their journey had ended, she didn't know precisely what Adrian had promised the man driving the carriage but he had done his best to get back into town as swiftly as possible. Of course, this speed was only possible due to the sacrifice of comfort.

Adrian got up first, picking up the small bag he was carrying and feeding it to the Holy Sword even as he walked out of the carriage and went to speak to the driver. Andrea was quick to follow after shaking Bellamy awake and picking up her weapons.

The day was almost over, red streaks filled the sky, she couldn't see the sun directly from her current position but it was almost sunset, so it had to be around five or six in the evening. They had made very good time.

Andrea stretched slightly feeling a sense of relief at finally reaching home. She carefully flared her empathic senses and tried to contain her wince as the now familiar feeling of anger/hatred/determination/grief from Adrian flooded her senses, his emotions had been getting more and more negative from the moment they had started to approach the Capital. The other two were almost emotionally dead in comparison and the driver and the surrounding people were having only mild emotions in comparison to the depth that Adrain had.

It was a reminder that despite what appearances might suggest the Sword Hero was not happy with the current situation.

Andrea turned to look at him as he spoke to the driver, as he handed over a small pouch of coins to the man, she felt the drivers joy and awe as well as Adrian's low key disdain for the awe. It had surprised her a little when she had first sensed Adrian's disdain for Bellamy's awe and respect but she suspected she understood his reaction, Adrian was okay with respect but only for something worth respecting, if someone respected him for merely being the Sword Hero then he found it disgusting.

She noted that Adrian and the driver were both looking at the Filolials and taking, Adrian's emotions shifted slightly and she could recognize an interesting cocktail of curiosity/nostalgia/concern taking over his mind. But before she could listen in to the conversation her attention was drawn away by the increasing irritation/anger sensation she was getting from the princess, Andrea turned to look at the princess looking annoyed at the Hero but when she caught Andrea looking at her, the irritation/anger changed to anger/disdain/disgust. The princess said nothing, however, and went back to looking at the hero. It would seem that she was wise enough not to anger the Hero. Perhaps she could learn.

Adrian finished the conversation soon and started to walk towards them, his attention, however, was on the feather that he was feeding to the Holy Sword. Andrea thought nothing of it, she had seen him feed the Holy Sword hundreds of times in the past few days, it was surprising how quickly it had become a mundane part of her life. Then for just a moment, she felt a massive flare of satisfaction/determination/joy from the Sword Hero, Andrea instantly paid her full attention to him and found that his eyes were unfocused, probably looking at his status screen.

Interesting, something very good must have happened for his emotions to shift so drastically. But what was so good about a Filolial feather sword?

"Alright, I suppose we are done for now," he stated, his emotions now muted as he focused on the conversation, all his hatred, sorrow and anger buried deep within, "I plan to get something to eat and then go to a magic shop," he continued and then nodded at Andrea and Bellamy, "after our discussions I have a number of questions I need answers for as soon as possible. You are free to join me or relax elsewhere, it's totally up to you."

Andrea didn't need long to consider it. She was a little tired but one of the subtle benefits of the rapid levelling up was that their stamina was honestly growing just a little bit faster than they were using it, this would be a good chance to speak to Adrian alone, right now despite how much he had helped her in the forest, despite the fact that he had genuinely meant his promise about letting her stay in his party, he had a great many doubts. It was logical for him to have them it spoke well of his intelligence that he had them, but it was undeniable that his emotions were getting to be rather intense as a side effect.

The princess and Bellamy were not helping matters in any way.

Princess Malty was simply out to use him and she was being rather obvious with her seduction tactics. Perhaps it might have worked on one of the other heroes, they had all been excited rather than worried or furious, but Adrian had been worried and cautious from the start, and her blatant attempts at seduction had simply made him even more suspicious.

Bellamy, in contrast, was genuinely loyal to the Sword Hero and she suspected that Adrian knew that, the problem was that Adrian still didn't think of himself as the Sword Hero. He probably didn't want to think of himself as such, which would make him reluctant to accept Bellamy's loyalty. This coupled with the fact that both Bellamy and Malty had obvious backers made Adrian rather concerned with their presence.

Indeed her presence also made him very nervous, she had noted how his emotions had shifted after her answer as to why she had joined him. At that point she had not had a very good grasp on him, truthfully she had not expected much of him, he had simply seemed to be the best among a series of poor options. Andrea had mistaken his lack of knowledge for a lack of intelligence, a foolish assumption on her part that she had been forced to rapidly correct over the past few days.

"Thank you for the offer Sir Adrian but I have missed my father greatly," stated Malty, her eyes almost shining, but her mind was as twisted as ever," I shall be joining him for dinner today."

Adrian didn't bother saying a word, he simply nodded at her and then looked to Andrea and Bellamy.

"I'll join you," said Andrea.

Bellamy bowed and said," I shall be honoured to dine with you, sir."

"Good. Malty," he said turning towards the princess," please remember that we have tomorrow set aside as a day to relax. We shall meet up on the day after tomorrow, to continue our training, in front of these gates at 6 in the morning. If you wish to meet me for whatever reason tomorrow I shall be found at the Firebrand Inn."

"Of course Adrian." she stated as she walked away, giving him a wave and utterly ignoring Andrea and Bellamy," I shall be well prepared."

Andrea wanted to laugh at the fury/embarrassment/hate that the princess was feeling and at the synchronized feeling of disdain towards her from Bellamy and Adrian.

Adrian turned to look at both of them and smiled. For once the smile was backed with some genuine feeling," Let's get something good to eat, we have worked quite hard these past few days. Any suggestions?"

Bellamy was quick to answer but Andrea ignored the conversation that followed as they began to walk deeper into the city, her attention was instead on the feeling of relief she was sensing from Adrian. Perhaps she was wrong about his attitude and thoughts towards herself and Bellamy, it seemed that most of his concern was reserved for the princess.

Slowly a plan began to crystallize as she considered all the information she had. One that would secure her position in his party while ensuring that the Sword Hero would be free from his concerns.

It had merely been an hour since she had formed her plan and she was already starting to realize that she had been very, very arrogant to assume that she understood Adrian well enough to make a plan around him.

Andrea was reminded of something her father had said one day when she had been particularly stupid with the use of her power, 'emotions are not motivations, nor are they thoughts.'

It was a sentence that had stuck with her since, a reminder that while her power granted her remarkable insight into people it was far from perfect. Right now Adrian and his horrifying emotional state were reminding her of that fact.

He had been fairly relaxed while they walked towards the inn, Adrian had been asking Bellamy some questions about the cooking of all things, and Andrea had been content to just stay quiet and bask in their calm emotions. Then Adrian had fallen silent for just a second too long after Bellamy asked him a question and she had wondered what had happened. Adrian had quickly started the conversation again but the flare of disgust/hatred/horror had been unmistakable.

That had ruined dinner for her.

The food had been amazing and Adrian had kept his emotions at bay for the most part, playing the role of party leader and encouraging both of them, planning the next training trip and keeping the conversation going, trying to include both of them and even mediating between them when the Church was brought up but his emotions just kept on getting more and more distorted, and her powers did not let her ignore such a thing.

Adrian had not shown many signs of his increasing discomfort and indeed had insisted that they go on to the magic shop when Bellamy had stated that the only experts he knew were from the church, Andrea had taken the chance to tell him about Agatha's atelier. She just hoped that the old witch wasn't there right now, one of her apprentices would be best, but if what Andrea was suspecting was correct then Agatha was probably the only person in the capital who could answer the questions that Adrian had about status magic correctly.

Andrea hoped that it would place him in a better mood than he currently was in.

"Miss Andrea," said Bellamy," would this atelier be the same one that is run by the Witch of Ruin?"

Andrea was a little surprised that he had figured out where they were going since she had only mentioned that she knew an expert, though she supposed that there weren't many magic-related ateliers in the nearby area so it was easier than most cases.

"Yes," she answered," I hope to be able to speak to one of Agatha's apprentices."

Adrian interrupted here, the burst of curiosity/concern/caution driving his actions," That's quite a title."

Andrea understood the implicit question," She is a war hero, it is said that her powers could match or exceed even the Seven Star Heroes. Her title is due to her signature spell that could consume all life in a massive area."

Adrian had another spike of emotion here, "Seven Star Heroes?" he echoed.

Andrea blinked and then wanted to hit herself. Adrian had adapted to the world quickly enough that she often forgot that this was completely new territory for him, even the most common legends would be stories he had never heard of. Thankfully Bellamy started to speak while she was considering how to summarize everything she knew about the Heroes.

"They are powerful people who wield one of seven weapons of legend," stated Bellamy,"it is said that they are weaker versions of the Legendary Weapons and that they can be used to summon people from other worlds to act as their wielders or if that fails they can find people from our world to wield them. The Seven Star Heroes are incredibly powerful in comparison to most warriors Sir Adrian, though they are nothing compared to your power."