Requested

Tak~ Tak~

Tak~ Tak~

'Haaah, my god, I can't believe I made such a blunder...'

'Johan is right, I should be more careful from now on- hah?'

Tek~ Te-

"..."

'Strange... why did he stop walking?'

Volga, who was still looking to the ground at that moment, finally raised his head, and at the moment he did, he could quickly spot two highly concerning things.

One, Johannes was completely devoid of his usual smile, and he only kept standing there with a strange expression that could be described as being between shocked to angry.

Two, leaning on the wall next to the refectory, crossing his arms, there stood a quite fat, blonde man with a perfectly tidy bowl-shaped hair.

The man who seemed to be relatively young appeared to be at the end of his nineteen's or at most in the start of his twenties.

That young man that normally wouldn't have been seen as strange in the army; would be soon seen as uncanny by anyone at the moment they looked at the quite small stature he had...

And stranger than it, most would be surprised looking at the fancy-looking, high-ranking, white military clothes he currently wore.

"What the fuck?"

What the fuck... surprised, that was the only thing Volga could mutter looking at that high-ranking man, who was also known as Bartolomeo...

...

..

.

"..."

"..."

'What's up with these two little shits?'

'Why both of their faces have gotten even more gloomier at the moment they saw mine..?'

Bartolomeo thought as he silently looked at them.

"..."

'Hah~ Look at these rude fuckers~'

'They want to keep me waiting forever?'

"..."

'Tch! I have no time for this, where the fuck is my mandatory head salutes?'

"..."

"..."

"Good afternoon, general Bartolomeo!"

And just as Bartolomeo was getting slightly annoyed, Volga saluted loudly with a stiff smile present on his face.

"Ha-Good afternoon, general."

And just as Volga, Johannes also saluted but with no smile and way less energy.

"Haha~"

"Good afternoon, my Vice-commander and adjutant."

Nodding his head with some respect, Bartolomeo said with a small elegant smile present on his face.

'Haaah~'

'What a fucking joke; who would have thought I would do these after ten years.'

'Hah... I think I'll have a quite tiring time adapting to the nobility; and even more to the army...'

Despite his quite composed appearance, inside his head, Bartolomeo truthfully lamented and was already pitying the future himself, who with no doubts would suffer.

'Fuuuck, I still have to create a concrete plan for my survival...'

'And you're telling me I'll still have to use my rusty etiquette skills?'

"..."

'Ha-No one ever said that to me... shit, what the hell I'm talking about?'

'Damn... I guess my time in prison made me a little crazy...'

"Heh."

Bartolomeo silently snickered just thinking about his 'wonderful' time in that dark and damp dungeon...

"..."

"..."

'Tch, aaah~ my poor sel-'

"Captai- I mean general, may I ask what you are doing here?"

Appearing to be slightly annoyed, Johannes asked, yet, obviously without forgetting to follow the proper army etiquette.

'Look at this motherfucker! Who taught you to interrupt people's thoughts- ah fuck, I can't stop cursing on them...'

'For Igrinor's sake... now that I really think about it, I'm fucked aren't I?'

Once again, on the same day, Bartolomeo felt hopeless just thinking about it.

After all, although he still remembered that in the past, he always did his most to act all prim and proper and showed disgust when people didn't do the same, after almost ten years of poverty, he had changed...

Living in the slums without money or proper skills, he was 'forced' to do crimes for a living, and with crimes; came gambling, and with gambling, it came addiction... and when he realized, everything had changed.

Nothing was the same, the way he dressed, the way he behaved, the way he talked, and even the way he thought...

It has been a long time since he accepted he wasn't a noble anymore, and nowadays he got used to being just 'Bartolomeo'...

And that... was a big problem.

'Shit, look at their somewhat apprehensive faces...'

'I had forgotten how strange is being a noble... I had forgotten about this addicting feeling of being the 'superior' one...'

'It's strange, to see the power I can 'exert' just from carrying both of my worthless titles, and, yet, in truth I have no power at all...'

"..."

'Fuck, why I'm suddenly getting so philosophical..?'

"..."

"Haah~"

'Anyways, I should start to do what I have to do before this silence gets more awkward.'

And with these thoughts in mind, Bartolomeo sighed deeply shaking his head loftily.

"Tch, Tch, Tch~ I can't believe you don't know what I'm doing here Johannes~"

"..."

"Ah~ if it only was Volga the one who forgot about it, this certainly would be much less embarrassing."

"Hah!"

"..."

Hearing this, Johannes scoffed lightly; in contrast, Volga only stood there quietly, looking at the ground once again.

"...Huu, huum-"

"Pardon, sir? I'm not sure I'm following this conversation."

"Could you please explain it to us?"

After faking a cough, quickly hiding his obvious anger, Johannes once again politely asked.

"Tch, Tch, Tch."

"I can't believe in this... how about you Volga, do you know why I'm here?"

"..."

"... I, I... sorry, I don't know general."

Hearing this sudden question, Volga could only look at the ground more and more.

"Haaaaaaaaaah~"

"I really can't believe in this...."

"How my supposedly most trusted subordinates forgot about it~!"

Heaving a deep sigh, looking at Johannes and Volga, Bartolomeo spoke dramatically for some time about things like trust, hard work, and other similar things.

"Tch, Tch, Tch."

"I'm really dissapointed in the two of you."

'Bwhahahahahehehah! Look at the expression he's making, hah, it looks like he could kill me at any moment hahaahahaha~'

'Hahah~ I wonder why Volga is making such a depressed face though..."

'Hmmm, that's no fun, I thought he would at least get annoyed.'

"Haaaah, I'm disappointed with you two, but worry not, as gentle I am, I will bestow this knowledge to both of you~

"HA!"

When Johannes heard Bartolomeo talking about being gentle, he loudly scoffed with a vein bulging on his forehead.

"... Hmm? What is it, Johannes? Did you get so moved by my merciful words that you couldn't hold back?"

"Ha-Fuc-"

"Haha, don't worry, you don't need to say anything Johan, I already understood everything!!"

"I too would be in awe if I saw someone that was nearly as gentle and merciful as I!"

Bartolomeo said as he happily patted the shoulder of Johannes, seeming to be completely unaware of the anger the latter was showing.

"Hah!"

"..what an motherfu-"

"Hey! Calm down man, weren't you the one who was teaching me earlier..?"

"Hah! Who said I follow my own ru-"

"... Royal castle."

Ignoring the rushed mutters Johannes and Volga were exchanging, Bartolomeo only said two concise words.

""Huh?""

""What you said captain/general?""

Both of the youths asked with confused expressions.

"Haaah~"

"How in the world did you two forget about it?"

""...?""

"I said that our presence was requested in the royal castle..."

"By no one other than his royal majesty, king Grieff the third."

""...Ah...""

And it was in that moment they knew that they fucked up.