C123- Preparations (4)

A few months passed. It was now the middle of spring. Corvin was checking the steel rails they ordered that had finally arrived to their workshop at the capitol.

"Hm... These are good!"

The door of the factory opened and Clair entered. She ran up to Corvin and looked at the rails with eyes shining from excitement.

"They arrived? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, these are the exact shape I wanted them to be."

"See? I told you we didn't have to make everything here. This half factory half workshop mess is not needed anymore anyways. We should use your workshop at the village, that place has much better... everything really."

"I know, but it takes too much time to go back on forth so for now just endure this."

"What are you talking about? Isn't it perfect to test the train to go there?"

"No, we can't use the train in public yet. No one should know about this until... the right time."

"Huh? Why?"

"I can't tell you but, I have a valid reason, okay? You can ask Noah about it if you want. We decided that we won't be making certain stuff public until the right time."

"When is the right time?"

"After a certain thing happens."

"...That doesn't explain anything at all.", said Clair with an unamused face.

"I know, we are sorry, okay? But, this is something we can't risk, at all."

"I understand. I will ask Noah tonight, then."

"Sure."

"Clair. Your birthday is in a month, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Oh, that's perfect timing then... Matt said it would be ready by that time."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I think you should tell Noah to prepare an outstanding gift or he will be overshadowed by mine... if you can call it a gift, that is."

"I... see?"

"Well, forget about that and let's work on this locomotive. It still doesn't work properly, right?"

"Right."

*****

Corvin walked back to his dorm from the workshop at the capitol. As he walked towards the door, he saw someone in front of his dorm. An Ale-An man, noticeable from his skin colour, wearing light clothing made from brick coloured thin cloth and a triangle shaped white hat with a tuft of black threads at one corner. He had a dark green snake leather belt pouch on his side with the symbol of the Butaldhi family sewn on it. This was what the envoys of the Butaldhi wore.

He quickly ran up to the man with a questioning gaze.

"Hi."

"Greetings, Mr. Mundy."

"What is a Butaldhi envoy doing here?"

"I came with a message from His Majesty."

"What is it?"

The man picked an envelope from his belt pouch and handed it to Corvin.

"What is this?"

"His Majesty thanks you for not turning the attack that happened into a diplomatic problem."

"I earned... something from it so it's okay."

"As thanks, His Majesty sent some gifts which are on the way."

"I see. What is this letter then?"

"That is the results of the investigation His Majesty conducted about the girl who attacked you, Mr. Mundy."

"I see... Thank you.", said Corvin.

"I am just doing my job. Now, if you'll let me..."

"Oh, sure you can go."

The envoy left with quick steps. Corvin sat down on the seat in front of his dorm and opened the envelope. He took the papers inside it and started looking through them. He wanted to learn why that girl attacked him and why she was sure he intended to end the world. Her life was pretty horrible, and Corvin felt bad for her but it didn't explain what he had to do with anything.

"Hm...She was never seen using magic and then suddenly she could control people. So, I really took that power from her? But, then where did she take it from?... Did she go crazy after using that power? Is that why she attacked me? That's one more reason to not use it..."

Corvin felt he was missing something but he couldn't point out what it was.

"Do you know what they call someone who talks to themselves?"

"Lonely Lyres."

"Are you one?"

"I am not a bird, Noah. I was just thinking about something I read. What do you want?"

"What a surprise! I also just read something!"

"And you came here to tell me about it? Maybe you are the lonely one here, huh?"

Ignoring Corvin's words, Noah spoke. "We finally found most of the legend that brown bird came from."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's actually an ancient creation myth of not only the Avib but also the Piscin and the Repit people as well."

"Tell me about it."

"So, there is this ancient god called Offet."

"Offet? Like, the name of our language?"

"Yeah, I also think 'Ofetan' comes from Offet."

"Interesting."

"Yeah so, this ancient god was lonely while floating in nothingness, so he created the earth, the sky and the oceans to be wives for himself. Then, he had three children from his wives. From earth, he had Gatch, a giant green lizard with a sapphire on it's forehead. From the sky, he had Gous, a giant brown bird with an emerald on it's chest. The one from the flag. And from the oceans, he had Gyrkia, a giant red shark with a topaz on it's two fins.

These beasts patrolled their respective realms and made sure no monsters broke the balance between these realms. But as they got older, they got weaker and had to lay their first eggs. The eggs hatched into animals similar to them and they helped the beasts protect the balance. Big animals that were strong. But as the beasts got weaker and weaker, they needed more animals for help but could only lay eggs that were weaker and hatched into smaller animals. After thousands of years, just before they died because of their age, first Gatch, then Gous and lastly Gyrkia laid eggs made from the gems on their bodies. From these eggs, came the Repit, Avib and Piscin people who now had to fight against the monsters in place of the beasts."

"Great story. It explains why we speak the same language as well."

"It does?"

"It basically tells that all three people came from the same ancestors, doesn't it? First the Repits, then us and then the Piscin. So, we probably came from the Sorept continent and spread here."

"I never thought about it like that to be honest, I cared more about the story itself... But it makes sense. To see if what you said is close to the truth, we should visit the Sorept continent one day."

"How can we? The Eidzunge and the Empire are hostile. I don't think that will change even if the Empire is replaced by us."

"There is one city that belongs to the Krötiff. They use it as a trade port ever since they moved their capitol to the far south, but the city still belongs to them."

"Well, let's deal with the current situation first..."

"Oh, right. Corvin."

"Hm?"

"You know, we will have to fight against my father, right?"

"...I don't know if we can but yeah, i do."

"I want to fight him myself."

"Huh?! Do you even know how to hold a sword or any other weapon?"

"I am the son of the Margrave, of course I do!"

"R-right. Sorry. What will you use, a sword?"

"No, I will use the weapon I am best at. Violin."

"Hah?"

"You heard me right. I have been thinking of strategies to use against my dad and I want to do it myself. A violin is easy to carry since it's light, and I fight much better with it than any other weapon... It is a weapon for me, at least."

"I see... Using that much magic will be hard on you though."

"Don't worry about it, I have plans."

"Sure, if you say so."