The Bronze Bell Kingdom was... surprisingly small in comparison to other kingdoms.
Whether that was due to its origins as a collection of pastoral villages that were then ford into a kingdom or because of its location in the center of a lush valley that dissuaded both invasion and expansion was unclear to the wider world, not that anyone amongst the local populace cared in the slightest.
That stated, because the Bronze Bell Kingdom was smaller, rumors and news had a tendency to travel across its idyllic landscapes at a rate that outpaced even the most robust courtier system of the wealthiest kingdoms around the world.
Which is why, despite happening only a re day ago, everyone in the Bronze Bell Kingdom was talking about a certain battle that had taken place.
"Did you hear? mbers of Iona's flock tried to assassinate a high-ranking mber of Alder's!"
"No way!"
"Seriously?!"
On a side note, due to the Bronze Bell Kingdom's origins as being founded by a powerful sheep-type aether beast progenitor, the crown princes and princesses have taken to calling their respective factions "flocks."
It made sense to a point, but if certain Otherlanders heard this term, they would do double-check.
"Yeah! Apparently Capitano the Thunder Claw used a fake body to lure Flavonous into a trap and try to kill them using a cursed axe. Unfortunately for Capitano, Flavonous sohow managed to overpower the trap and fight back."
"Damn, that's brutal! Wait, did he try to use the cursed axe as a weapon, or did he try to trick Flavonous into using the cursed axe?"
"The latter."
"Huh… Do you think that is at all relevant to the rumors about cursed treasures being delivered to various noble families and well-to-do rchants?"
"Rumor my ass; I used to work at the mansion of one of those victims. My forr master got sent a statue that made his eyeballs implode. He didn't die, but he's definitely blind for life now."
"Fuck…wait, do you know exactly how Flavonous managed to overpower that cursed axe?"
"No, but soone did ntion that the two of them were fighting in Baron Felipe's cabin. Maybe the old man had so sort of aether dicine or treasure to help counter the curse effects."
"Hmmm."
This war for the crown was one of the most interesting things to happen to the Bronze Bell Kingdom for a long ti, and while the civilians were understandably worried about all of this infighting to an extent, they still found so modicum of entertainnt and interest in all of this high-minded political violence.
As the civilians and bystanders continued to gab and share theories about what had occurred at Baron Felipe's cabin that evening, the actual participants and witnesses of that event were dealing with the fallout in their own way. Well, that and because they needed privacy in contacting a certain group of people who knew way more about this stuff than them.
…Wonder who that could be…
The Ecaredies estate was surprisingly cozy, to say the least.
Done in a traditional Stampeding Bison style, which resembled Southern Gothic in certain other worlds, the Ecaredies manor stood proudly amidst a rolling field of colorful flowers.
A majority of these flowers were of common colorful breeds, but one could find the occasional low-tiered aether-dicinal herb mixed in.
And it was in this idyllic locale that Zhen Yue and Santiago Ecaredies would tie the marriage knot. For the ti being, though, it was where the young couple was going to be trying and contacting the forr's puppeteer of a cousin.
"You know, I still find it kind of crazy that your cousin is able to talk over such long distances using these zakos," Santiago comnted as Zhen Yue prepared to summon the stone zako she was gifted awhile back. "How does that even work?"
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure," Zhen Yue admitted to her fiancé. "As far as I can tell, it's like a more…intimate version of the contracts my family signs with aether beasts. Actually, it might be more accurate to call it a more invasive version, given what he told about how they can share even sensations of touch and hunger…eh, whatever."
While answering Santiago's inquiry, Zhen Yue tossed out the stone zako marble and summoned the aforentioned being of [Chaos].
"Huh…it looks different. How very strange."
When Zhen Yue was first given the stone marble, the zako in question resembled more of a regular stone soldier that was done in the Roaring Tide style. However, for reasons Zhen Yue wasn't entirely clear on, the zako had transford while under her care.
The regular gray stone had now taken on a significantly paler hue with additional mottling, as if it were now made of moonstone, while animal carvings were decorating its armor and helt. On top of that, the helt itself began to resemble that of a ram's head. The figure, however, remained incredibly androgynous.
Once the zako had fully ford, it bowed before Zhen Yue and Santiago, like a knight awaiting orders.
"You know, I still can't really wrap my head around these guys being alive and sentient," Santiago admitted to his beloved. "They look way too much like aether puppets."
Before Zhen Yue could add on her own comntary, the stone zako before her suddenly shuddered before going limp and standing straight back up. Imdiately, Zhen Yue noticed that the eye color of the stone warrior was now different.
Before the eyes of the zako were a deep, calming yellow, like a full moon on a sumr evening. Now, it had taken on a dark blue hue, and it seed to carry a certain layer of cold, insane logic to it.
And Zhen Yue knew who exactly was piloting this zako.
"Hello Logos, it is good to hear from you."
"Mistress Zhen Yue," the stone zako bowed, an indicator that Logos had decided to present themselves as male for this eting. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well…"
Prompted by Logos's question, Zhen Yue produced the cursed axe she picked up the previous day, wrapped in a layer of wool cloth. It only took her seconds to expose the axe to the open and present it to the zako.
"We picked this up from…a recent encounter…do you know what this axe is?" Zhen Yue asked. "Also, would it be possible for us to fix it up for ourselves, or should we plan to send this to Zhen Liu when we get the chance?"
"Hmm…"
…anwhile, at the library…
Pathos comnted as she looked at the presented axe through the zako screen.
User Comments
0 comments from readers