Character : Nathan Fiore, Everfrost
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As I was telling the story, a pair of coffee cups landed on the table between us.
Frisena has called her assistant, the short lady with round glasses, Miss Lenka, to make her and me a cup of coffee. And as the short lady placed the cup of coffee down, we arrived at the point of the story where I got beaten up by a lady in black armor.
"Let me guess. She r*ped you, afterwards?"
"?!?"
Frisena's question was so sudden and shocking that Miss Lenka almost spilled the coffee. I saw a small amount of my cup getting spilled on the table, and she apologized many times as she wiped it with a tissue.
I turned completely silent for a while as Frisena's assistant left the office. And once the door was closed, I shook my head and stared at Frisena with such a confused stare.
"What fucking crown princess asks such questions--"
"Listen. I can't help it. Any chance I can get to separate my sister away from you is a chance to be taken."
"… You're delusional. Anyway, I've completely forgotten where I was."
"You're about to be r*ped by an adult lady in armor."
"No! She didn't really beat me up after that. She was apparently Eric's older sister." My answer immediately shocked Frisena, but not in a way I guessed.
"That guy has a sister? Does she look pretty?"
"She's beautiful, but… that's not the point here!"
"I'm just asking for a friend. Any strong woman out there, I'll take it--I mean, I'll date them--I mean, I'll hire them to be my soldier. Yes."
Frisena blatantly revealed to me her intentions from that question without even batting an eye, and I feel so annoyed that she was so comfortable to be sharing those things to me. She noticed my annoyed expression because the conversation had turned elsewhere, and she let out a sigh.
"… Listen,-"
"I don't wanna listen. I'm continuing my story."
"Fine. Go ahead."
.
.
.
"Oh~, so that's what that guy has been doing." While eating her soup, the young lady who beat me up listens closely to my story about her younger brother.
After the whole misunderstanding part was resolved, we both quickly decided not to beat each other up. Well, she stopped, at least.
When I first saw her black lightning, I was immediately reminded of another guy who also had black lightning. I was then reminded by the fact that the guy has a sister, so I tried asking it. And apparently, she really was his sister. That guy's name wasn't Eric, though, and I only learned about it just now.
We both went back to the village, and I requested for a bowl from my friend that I have disappointed by abandoning the servings. Luckily, there's still a few left in the large cooking pot, and that friend was kind enough to hand me two bowls because the lady was quite hungry.
"Haha! He faked his name. It's not even a proper fake, either. Like, Eric Axwell? That's not even an anagram for Axel Cleric, is it?" The lady said while eating her soup so quickly, and I shook my head.
A proper anagram would be… Eric Axcell. Or Axel Wleric. So, no.
"I don't think so. So, your name is…?"
"Right. I haven't given you my name. I'm Camille, Camille Cleric. I was a hitman and a mercenary, but currently a full time knight." The lady introduced herself, and it seems like she has trusted me since I was so close with her brother.
"Camille… are you a knight under Zero?"
"Uh, no. I've actually been planning to kill that guy for years. Sadly, it didn't work, and the war ended up happening. That was my fault, I should've done my job better." She apologized with such a carefree attitude, as if she never really cared about it.
For such an important job and to make it seem like nothing… she's surely special: special-needs-needed.
"I-I see… and which country do you work for…?"
"Not a country. And… secret." She turned her grin to me, and I let out a sigh.
"Such a powerful knight working for a secret group… should I be worried?"
"No, if anything, I'm supposed to be your ally. We both have the same goal if we have the same enemies."
"Enemies… Plural? Who are your enemies?"
"The Harbingers. The one who's going to bring the apocalypse."
…
What the f*ck?
"What the fuck!?"
Frisena spat her coffee out after hearing that answer, and she looked like she was processing this information very slowly.
Meanwhile, I stood up from the chair, trying to let the coffee spit run down my robe. Too bad some of it was already absorbed by my dirty robe… but I guess that's something I can flex to Lily later.
Hey look. Your sister spat coffee onto me. Funy, right? Hahaa~
"I really like this robe." I said while taking it off, and I used it to wipe off my face. The smell of it was really strong, but hopefully it came from the coffee and not from Frisena's mouth.
"So, that's why you spent three months at the village… you met your friend's sister, who just happened to be a part of the secret organization that your mother created."
"… I guess so, yeah."
"Why… is this not being reported? Why are you keeping this a secret? You made reports to me every week, how is this never once--"
"Listen. Camille… wanted secrecy. I just followed her wish."
"Except that I already knew what her organization is, you idiot. Tell me more."
"Okay… don't spit on me. I don't have that kink--"
"I'll start showering you with coffee if you don't start yapping." Frisena lifted her coffee cup angrily, as if she was the boss around here.
Well, she is… I can't really deny that she is my boss currently.
And so, I continued the story. This time, uninterrupted.
After chatting, Camille handed me a simple request. She found that these refugees are going to be abandoned by the earth nation quite soon, which was very unfortunate. However, with an entire country falling, other countries do not have any obligation to continuously help the citizens.
The ones that they did help are the people who left the fallen republic and joined those countries. Those people have completely become the citizens of that country instead of being a dark republic citizen.
For these refugees, however, they refused to leave the fallen republic. Obviously, there's plenty of reasons as to why they don't want to be a member of another country. Things like concern and distrust towards that country, or even attachments that they had towards the republic.
The earth nation cannot help these refugees for much longer. They had their own people to feed too. Even though the number of refugees here aren't that massive, it's still a massive hurdle gathering meals and bringing them here.
Supplies will be cut off in one week. Unfortunately, Camille had to leave for a task sent by her leaders, so she can't watch over the refugees anymore. So, she asked me to help the refugees, while in return, she'll do something for me.
She also warned me that there might be potential bandits coming here to try and ravage anything. Since this village is unrelated to any country, there will be no one assisting them, which makes them an easy target. I assured her that this will never be an issue.
The biggest issue was definitely the upkeep. How exactly can a small village like this continue to exist in the cold northern winterland?
The Dark Republic was powerful mainly because of their local specialty: the mines.
Under their territory, there are far too many minerals to be mined. Things like coal, salt, or even gold. It is what makes them one of the strongest countries in Avenor, and that has been their strongest suit.
However, since the fall of the republic, those mines have been taken over and split up among the kingdoms as loots of war. The kingdoms who took part during the war, such as the earth nation, Valkaria, Fiordall, or even Ellennoire, took a mine each depending on their involvement.
Now, the republic was left with nothing. They had no leader, and they had nothing that could allow them to continue existing. If only they have at least one of these mines, then the village can continue to exist with the mine being the main source of income.
So, what can they really do?