Walking, the duke starred out to his city, the cold morning wind brought its many pleasures, focus, determination, perhaps even pride. Afterall, this was his city, everything that's good is because of him, how could anyone be disappointed on such a lovely day? Even if a certain bastard boy was lurking around, he'd find him with due time, no need to be frustrated right?
Now checking his wristwatch, the duke was expecting his accomplice. Walking along the academy's walls that oversaw the city, he would make his way towards city-hall, Afterall, he was expected to make a grand entrance. The Duke himself was a large man, not particularly tall in height, around 5"10", however he was fat, with his multiple undercoats only adding to his mass. Lucius wore a mix of yellow and brown and had a noticeable fedora. He had white, somewhat dry skin, and accompanied a monocle to the left to his yellow eyes. He was balding, but he'd never let anyone notice. To say Lucius Cornmen was a shadow of his former self was, at the very least, an understatement. In just ten years he went from a man even young maiden desired, to something that of repulsive. Regardless the Duke hadn't cared, seeing age as a natural part of his life.
"Lord Cornmen" a skinny young man dressed in red and white with brown hair ran up to the Duke, "Halibel-Sama is awaiting your presence within the honor halls"
"Ah excellent" the Duke smiled, "Come along with me Tara, We'll make our way there in an instant" now quickening his pace, alongside him his assistant Tara, the Duke would execute his master plan.
Halibel waited, at the grand entrance of Okusanai's city hall, the demi-man had a vivid idea of what the duke would require of him. Even though Halibel wasn't directly under the authority of Lucius Cornmen, he was still however intitled to helping the duke at his every need. Halibel's duty was to serve the people of Kararagi, and therefore the councilmen elected by them, Lucius was no exception. Halibel sighed as he remembered his conversation with Otto, was he really going to go as far as to commit treason against his own country? Was it treason? Where exactly was the line the separated the people and their politics? When did disobeying the law of one disobey the law of all? To that the cladded wolfman sighed once more. At this point the shinobi was just as eager to find Subaru as the duke himself, wither that be with the best intentions or not.
"Halibel, my good friend, how have you been!" with the hearty call of an aging man, Halibel was brought out of his thought to look at the duke of Okusnai himself, Lucius Cornmen.
"I see your timing is as good as ever" Halibel put on a smile and reached out his hand, the duke took it and the two shook
"I see you are in good health?" The duke asked presumptuously
"Like a fine wine I only get better with age" Halibel laughed, quickly followed by Lucius's
"Ah what a fine response, im glad to see you are well" The duke seemed, genuine
"You as well, how have you been Lucius-sama?" Halibel asked
"ah well, if I'm to be honest, a little grumpy lately, mostly due to the misses" Both men chuckled at the comment, Halibel knew however that it was more then just the misses. "Aside from that I do have a few concerns, I'm sure you're caught up with recent events, yes?" The duke now quickly changing topic
Halibel nodded, "I'm aware, its been all but calm hasn't it?"
"I suppose so" The duke looked to the side for a second before quickly turning his head back to Halibel, "May I suggest we discuss in a more private environment?"
"Of course, I see no problem" Halibel played along
"Then it is decided! Tara, set us a room and table!" The duke clapped his hands and his assistant, Tara, hurried along to the side, with out a word he knew to go. "That boy is direct, he waste's no time, surely he'll make a great success one day?" The duke looked to Halibel
Halibel only nodded in reply, not often did the black cladded shinobi feel anxious, but he had a bad feeling for what was to come.
Yawning the young Kararagi merchant awoke from the white sheets of her silver laced bed, of course the bed wasn't hers, nor was the room, however, had she wanted to, she could buy the entire establishment itself, such was the life of a successful merchant.
Getting up to the mirror Anastasia made no waste to her decisions for the day, first of course, she was to complete a series of side deals that would lend her more power over the merchant's guild, and two a meeting with Lucius Cornmen himself, however she was expecting said meeting to be delayed, recent events led to both duke and merchant to be preoccupied. She sighed but knew a meeting was inevitable.
But as she was dressing, she heard a knock from her door, followed by the rough voice of a demi-human, who happened to be none other then Ricardo.
"Scuse me Ananastasia, but it seems like we got ourselves a letter from the duke" Ricardo called out from the other side of the door
"Ah for real? Read it aloud, I can hear ya from here!" Anastasia replied from the other side, struggling to put her dress on
"As ya wish" Ricardo paused to take a breath, "It is in my deepest apologies that I must inform you that I, the Duke, Lucius Cornmen cannot attend today's meeting, as my attention has been called to other subjects, those that are serious of course." Ricardo took another breath, mumbling roughly, "Damn just how much of a personality does this guy have?" proceeding to continue he read "I have hopes that this letter may find you well as I write it, as I intend nothing but good meanings. The best of health, and the best of luck, Yours's fairly, The Duke of Okusnai, Lucius Cornmen"
The violet haired merchant laughed for a second before commenting, "honestly Ricardo, you do his impression well~"
Ricardo chuckled from the other side of the door, "I guess it's pretty good for a demi-human eh?"
Anastasia giggled, the beast man wouldn't be able to see her smile
"Well I'm gonna leave the little lady to herself, we'll all be ready at the entrance no latter the nine" Ricardo noted as he took a step back
"I'll see ya then" Anastasia replied as Ricardo made his leave
"HEY WATCH IT!" A certain raven-haired youth yelled in dissatisfaction
"Sorry kid, didn't see ya there" A man apologized as he looked towards the boy he had just knocked, moving to drop his luggage and offer his hand
Subaru sensing the mans good will accepted the offer and was pulled up, "I guess Im to blame a bit for that, my bad"
"Oh no its fine, caught myself careless and just happened to bumb into ya, no big deal really" The man stated
The black dressed boy could now get a proper look at the man, he was… TALL, 6'3' at the least. He had a mix of rough relatively long light purplish hair, and rough skin, clattered with scars. If he didn't come off at first with the nice guy persona Subaru would have considered him intimidating, even with his brand new sword.
"Everythin good kid?" The man asked a concentrated Subaru
"Ah, well yeah" Subaru replied blankly
"Arighty then, well if its best, I'll be on my way" The man replied shortly
"All right-, once again my bad" Subaru wasn't too sure what the correct reply was, had he been entirely in the right he wouldn't hesitate
The man smirked in a respectful tone and once again picked up his luggage, progressively becoming less visible as he entered the crowd
Subaru sighed, he patted himself off and made sure to keep his left hand on his sword hilt, even in such a peaceful city he couldn't be entirely sure of how well off he'd be. Taking a large right step and making his way in the opposite direction of the previous man, the raven-haired youth would head towards the outside city gates. Taking in Okusnai as he walked, the boy was thrilled, he looked eagerly at all the different foods and fantasy items. Certain food he recognized, certain food he did not, same mindset could be applied to the items in the stands. The black haired boy from another world had been enjoying his stay in this new world, and he had no reason not too. Pretty soon, Subaru was hoping to show off his new abilities, most likely in front of a large crowd, then he could really shine, be a man of action and not of words.
Reaching the edge of the city, Subaru looked to the azure colored brick walls, "Weird choice for color scheme but not entirely bad", now placing his left hand along the wall, he began to trail off, the boy would wonder until he would reach an opening leading to the outside.
The fox merchant was exhausted, all day she had been arguing with sweaty guild representatives and arrogant old men.
"What a paiiiiiiin" The amethyst haired girl yawned as she laid back. Looking out to her environment she could relax peacefully. Behind Anastasia were the city walls, to her side a small willow tree that had been cut short in the front to overview the large field of lavender, sunflower, and wheat, a daring combination nonetheless.
Yawning once again a light breeze over took the girl with her hair easily flowing in the wind, despite the cool temperature, it was a gorgeous day.
Anastasia had left behind everyone momentarily, Mimi, Tivey, Hetero, even Ricardo, the girl had just wanted to relax, and with all the stress she's been put through recently who could blame her? But knowing that time was money Ms. Hoshin wouldn't take too long, just a short break and then back to business-
"Man I stumbled on such a spectacular sight, good on you Subaru" Followed by a short chuckle from the speaker, Anastasia looked to its direction only to see a boy. Dressed in a black kimono, the boy had slightly tanned skin, unkempt hair, and about some of the most intimidating eyes the merchant girl had seen. Said eyes looked mean, nasty almost, but had a certain hint too them, what that hint was? Even Anastasia couldn't tell.
"Scuse me?" The violet-haired girl got up from her back, placing her two hands behind her to support her movement towards the boy who seemingly came out of nowhere
"AH, my bad- I uhh, didn't mean, you know" The boy with nasty eyes glanced away for a second but quickly turned his head back, "I uhh didn't mean, when I- You know said there was a great sight- that I- meant you…"
Anastasia began to blush a bit at the conversation at hand, she hadn't even considered that the boy would flirt with her, it was almost awkward
"Pardon me?" The merchant girl repeated herself
"Not to say you're not pretty, which you really are! I just meant that Im not that bold!" The boy attempted to defend his wording, only embarrassing himself in the process
Anastasia's face began to hue a bright red, "Just what are ya insisting!?"
"No wait, I didn't mean to-" The boy continued
"Yer not good at this at all!" Anastasia put on a fake act, she didn't even know this guy, but he sure was bold for approaching her!
The black covered boy gave out a wearily laugh before putting his hand to the back of his head, "Sorry Im really not good at this stuff" He chuckled a bit more
"Jeez you really fumbled that up didn't you?" Anastasia was playing along, putting her arms together, she preformed a stern act
"I really did didn't I?" They laughed for a second before looking back to each other, almost simultaneously
"So uhhh, my names Natsuki Subaru, what's yours?" The raven themed boy began the conversation
"Name?" Anastasia tilted her head at the boy's directness, she paused for a second considering the boy. She didn't know him, not one bit, he was awkward, spontaneous, and really from nowhere, he didn't appear like a local either, otherwise he wouldn't have made the mistake with the whole "view" ordeal. The purple haired merchant sighed before giving her answer.
"Names Ana, no last name, just a traveler exploring the world ya know?" That was right, just Ana, she didn't know the guy, so it'd be alright to lie for now?
"Ah Ana, that's a real pretty name" The boy paused to look at the false proclaimed traveler
"It is isn't it?" Anastasia smiled with a hint of pride
"Well it just so happens to be Ana-Tan that im a traveler as well!" Subaru pointed his thumb to his chest with a smile
"Is that so?" The amethyst-haired girl asked with consideration
"That's right, and not only am I broke, but lost beyond compare!" The raven-haired boy announced pridefully, which of course led the young Ceo to pause for a moment to consider Subaru's words
"What type of man announces that to a girl he just met?" Anastasia proceeded to tilt her head once more
"This type of man" Subaru was again pointed to himself with a smile
"Ah I see, well what should I do if that type of man turns out to be dangerous?" Now teasing Subaru, Ana had a grown a large smile
"Wait seriously, you think Im dangerous?!" Subaru began to shake both his hands in a dismissive manner, "Ana-Tan you're so mean!"
"Ana… Tan?" Anastasia was once more confused by the eccentric boy
"Oh sorry, it's a term from my homeland, kind of like a nickname, it's represents a want to get closer to another person" Subaru explained causally without realizing the blushing girl in front of him
"Close? But we just met?!" Anastasia moved to the offence
"Wait no! Its not as creepy as it sounds, I promise, its just something I blurted out" The boy in black explained his perspective
The purple fox themed merchant shook her head, only looking back at Subaru with a slight blush, "It's embarrassing ya know! For both you and the person ya just met!"
"Ah how you hurt my heart Ana-Tan!" The boy began to tease with a fake weep
"Wait, hold on, I never said that ya could continue!" Anastasia pleaded in a pushed tone
"Even now, im told to suppress my true emotions, how cruel can Ana-Tan be?!"
"Subaru!" The girl folder her arms in disatsifaction
"Ah im sorry, im sorry, I'll stop now" The boy calmed himself looking back at the amethyst girl
Anastasia sighed and shook her head, "It's alright, it's just yer quite the bit to handle"
"So I've been told…" Subaru calmly turned his attention to the field, starring off into the distance
"hmph, well in which pleasure do I owe to a poor and lost man?" Ana asked attempting to find the reason for Subarus interaction with her
"Ah well that's the thing" Subaru smiled for a moment, "I just happened to have gotten lost, and well, Im in real need of a guide!"