"And then he just disappeared, you say?"
"Like a fart in the wind."
Kurt told Elie about what had happened between the king and Tobias at the castle all while ignoring the subtle glances of shock and envy they received from the people they walked past.
"... Who’s that walking with Elie?"
"... Is he a model?"
"... !! Is that her boy– Ow! Why’d you hit ?"
"Don’t you know it’s bad to make assumptions on things like that?! He could just be her servant for all we know!"
"... I was gonna say boytoy..."
"So the king is making his move then?" Elie asked.
"Yeah. Said sothing about calling the Saintess and going to the church."
"T-The Saintess? They’re here already?" There was almost what sounded like a mont of vulnerability in her voice when she asked him.
"Is sothing the matter?" Kurt titled his glass up to look at her.
"N-No.It’s nothing... Let’s focus on the topic at hand. I take it that all misunderstandings have been resolved?"
"Yes. And I appreciate you warning Diana. It’s thanks to her being there that I think the king decided not to throw in a cell and called off my public lashings."
"Public lashings? The normal or enhanced version?"
"Enhanced. Is there a difference?"
"The short and sweet of it is, a normal lashing is just that. A normal lashing. It’ll hurt for sure but it’s nothing compared to an enhanced lashing. Those use a special whip, and the torturer will use strengthening magic to "enhance" the pain."
"Sounds like you’ve been on the end of both."
Elie held her arm and looked at him with a saddened smile when she comnted on his inferential statent. "That’s cause I have... So believe when I say, you got lucky."
"I’m still getting punished for knocking out the prince though. The king said he’ll leave my punishnt for that to him."
"Junior will decide your punishnt? Then you have nothing to worry about. He’s nothing like his dad and will probably just give you a slap on the wrist then call it a day."
"Nice. By the way," Kurt’s tone went from lighthearted to serious. "During Tobias’ monologue, he revealed the secret of his freezing spell... Elie,"
"Yes, I know. But you don’t have to worry about them killing those kids. Despite what he might’ve said, they don’t actually take all their blood to the point of death."
"But that guardsman died. And he looked so shriveled up."
"That’s because his blood wasn’t pure. Let try to explain this in a simple way.
Children’s mana veins are still in developnt when they’re young. From the ti they are born until the age of nine, they aren’t even able to manipulate mana let alone cast magic.
It’s only from ages ten and up will their mana veins fully acclimate to their entire being and their skills will start to manifest. By that point, they are either taken to schools or have private tutors teach them about how to control that mana.
The cult uses the blood of children under ten precisely because the mana flowing through them is still in its purest, undeveloped, state." Elie explained.
"I see. It’s almost like... like they’re taking their blood, or mana should I say, and using it for their own ans before it has the chance to develop into a skill.
So instead of it turning into, for example, a fire affinity, the cult uses the pure state of their mana to create their own spell that’ll make people freeze in place." Kurt hypothesised.
"Exactly. And because their mana is so pure, they only need a little."
"Dang... You sure know a lot about their inner workings."
"Well, in the past, I was a part of their ’brotherhood’. I told you before, I tried everything."
"So you know where those kids are being kept?"
"I–"
"Elie Herst! What do you think you’re doing?!" A blue-haired female wearing Future Academy’s uniform suddenly appeared from above and stood in their way.
"Kiana? What do you an? I’m not doing anything."
"Him!" Kiana pointed at Kurt. "What are you doing with that criminal!"
Kurt looked around to see who she was talking about. When he saw that there was nobody behind or beside himself, he pointed a finger at his chest and asked,
"?"
"Yes you! I’ve already told my father about what you did to Junior! I told you I wouldn’t forget!"
"Is that why you weren’t at the little gathering that Amber most likely organised. Did you and Junior go cry to daddy~? Hehehehe!" Elie teased her.
"W-Why you *grrr!*"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, princess, but the king and I already settled that matter."
"What?! Then why are you still here and not rotting in a cell! Or better yet, dead!"
"The king said he’ll leave my punishnt to the prince himself" Kurt shrugged.
"Dad said what about ?"
"And here cos another annoyance." Elie sighed and shook her head.
Thud!
Maxwell, Jr., A.K.A., Junior, jumped from a nearby rooftop and landed heroically on one knee next to Kiana."
"Cool landing, prince. Very stylish." Kurt clapped in awe.
"Haha. Thank you, kind stranger. I do try to make an effort."
"Junior! That’s the criminal who knocked you out! Focus!" Kiana scread as she kicked his shin.
"Ow! What the hell, Kiana?! Knocked out? What are you talking about?"
"HIM! HE DID! NEAR THE RIVER!"
"Near the river?" Junior rubbed his chin while looking at Kurt. "... Ohhhhh! Now I rember! To be honest, that incident had already completely slipped my mind."
"Wha– but Junior. He could’ve killed you..."
"I’m still alive, aren’t I? I got a pretty thick skull."
"I’m glad you’re alright, prince. I’m sorry for hitting you like that the other day. It was my mistake." Kurt apologised.
"It’s all good dude. See Kiana, he even apologised."
"NO! That’s not how this works! You are the future king of Eldoria! You cannot allow anybody to assault you like that! Especially to the point of knocking you out! Father said that he’ll leave his punishnt to you so punish him!"
"How ’bout a slap on the wrist?"
"NO!"
"Ergh! Kiaaana you know I’m not good with all this politicking." Junior dragged his foot across the ground. "I’d rather give the throne to big sister Jasmine. She’s all about politics and whatnot."
"You already celebrated your inauguration. Everyone knows that you’re going to be king in the future. Do not betray their expectations for you..."
"Expections... Feels like I was forced into the whole thing." He looked out at the city with a defeated smile.
"Junior..."
"Erhmmm. Can we leave now?" Elie interrupted whatever mont the twins were having. "Kurt and I have places to be and you’re blocking the way. I’d really appreciate it if you moved your fat asses."
"Excuse you!" Kiana held her skirt down with a flushed face.
"No need to worry Kiana. I say we both got pretty flat asses."
"Pfffft Hehehe!" Kurt looked away and covered his mouth to try and keep his laughter from breaking out.
"How dare you..." But Kiana had already noticed.
"FINE! If Junior won’t punish you then I will!" She looked to her brother as if seeking approval
"I’m okay with that. As long as you don’t sentence him to death of course." Junior agreed.
"Good. Then the criminal and Elie will face the two of us in a public duel. On the condition that if you lose, you’ll have to grovel and lick our feet! As well as beco our servant for the entire year!"
"Hey, why’re you bring into this–"
"And if we win?" Kurt pulled Elie back and stood in front of her.
"You won’t win." Kiana shot him a smug look.
"Fine, but if we win, then we both get to publicly spank you. Clearly your father never taught you tough love and we’d be glad to teach you. Ain’t that right Emy."
"I–!.... Publicly spanking the twins without any repercussions?" She was about to reject the duel since they had better things to do but,
"But opportunities don’t co by this easily, hehehe. Fine! We accept!"
"Excellent! et us at Evergreen Park in one hour and don’t be late! Let’s go Junior."
"Ehhh! But I wanna hang out with these two. Kurt seems cool."
"No! We do not ’hang’ with the enemies!" She took his hand and used her ice magic to jump into the air and fly away.
"See ya later Kurt! I promise to go easy on you, haha!" Junior let himself get dragged away and started waving at him.
"Wow. Soone’s cocky." Kurt adjusted his glasses as he watched the beautiful trail left behind by Kiana’s ice. "So off to Dominik?"
"Haaa... No. We need to go get you weapons. Follow ." She turned away from the main road and walked into a quieter street.
"Weapons? I’m pretty sure I can take them bare-handed. I knocked out Prince Junior pretty easily too."
"Don’t underestimate the Dorothy’s. They are the descendants of the King of Heroes after all. They are also part of the ten representatives. Not to ntion, from what I heard and read, you caught Junior off guard. He’ll be ready for you this ti."
"Yeesh, I get it. Though I’m pretty sure that just you alone is enough to defeat them."
"Heh, naturally."
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