103 Road back to Bêtéclair

Emp woke up in a different way than usual. He had not been thrown out of bed, Caltine was not biting down on his arm, there were no buckets of water poured down on his head, he just woke up by himself.

Feeling a subtle weight on his chest, he opened his eyes to see that it was Calla's naked arm resting over him. That was right, Calla was in the bed with him, she was his wife now.

He smiled and turned his head towards her, discovering that she was already awake and staring at him.

"Huh, good morning Calla. Did I sleep for too long? Were you waiting for me?"

She shook her head on the hard pillow.

"Hnh, good morning too Emp. I was just looking at your sleeping face. You look very serious while you sleep."

"Do I?"

"Hm, I didn't want to disturb you and I got lost in thoughts."

Emp turned over to face her, shared a kiss with her and rested his forehead against hers. He didn't feel like getting up at all but they probably had a lot of things to do today.

"How are you feeling? Was there something you wanted to do today?"

"I feel good, a bit sore though."

"Sorry."

"It's fine." She tapped his shoulder kindly. "I think I need to wash the bed-sheets today and I need to go get my things."

"Do you want my help?"

"Yes please, there is too much to carry for just me."

"Alright then."

Emp was about to fall back asleep but his wife was a hard worker and slipped away from his arms to sit on the bed side. He guessed he had no choice but to get up as well then.

They didn't think things through enough last night because now, the girl had no choice but to put back on the same dress she came in with. After that, she started doing her hair and Emp watched through the whole thing, fascinated.

Feeling his eyes on her as she made up her braid turned her skin red again. Hoping it would feel less embarrassing, she asked him to help instead of just staring at it but it was a big mistake. He held on parts of the braids for her which was fine but every time her fingers brushed against his hand, she couldn't help but turn red again making him smile tenderly in turn.

Emp thought it was funny how she reacted this way even now that she was his wife but didn't make any comments as she was embarrassed enough as it was. He squeezed her in his arms as an apology instead and they finally both walked into the main room.

As it was the first morning they were together, things got rather awkward at the table. Marcy and the two servants were waiting for them and they all knew exactly what must have happened last night in their room. Marcy was in an especially mischievous mood and kept teasing her daughter in law while Harriett served them water to wash their faces and their breakfast on a plate.

"What were ya two planning on doing today?" Marcy asked after she was finally satisfied with all her teasing.

"Calla wanted to wash the bed sheets and then we have to go get her things."

"Leave the bed sheets to me master. Mistress and master don't need to concern themselves with those."

"Thank you Harriett. Could you take care of the shirt too while we're at it?"

He had worn that shirt for weeks already, it was in dire need of a good scrubbing.

"Of course master! It will be as good as new."

"But..." Calla worried.

"It's fine, this is her job after all."

"Yes, I don't mind washing anything as long as the stains just came from master and mistress."

That would probably be the most embarrassing thing Calla would hear all day. She became so hot that they could have used her forehead to cook instead of a pan.

Marcy snorted loudly, Celtine winced and Harriett apologized hurriedly, getting flustered too as she realized what she just said.

"Aya! Please forgive me mistress, I didn't mean to embarrass mistress like this! I only meant to say I was fine doing all the washing in mistress's stead! I just want to be helpful!"

Harriett lamented for a while after that about how she messed up on the very first morning.

In any case, everyone eventually calmed down and the new pair was able to go to the Champom house together.

Mother and sisters wanted to have a private chat with her right from the start so Emp had to sit down outside with Gilbert as they waited for the girls to be done.

Obviously they had talked just yesterday so they didn't have much to tell to each other. After an awkward silence, Gilbert found something to say.

"Say uhh, Emp. Do you think I'd make a good soldier?"

"A soldier?" How did he come up with that?

"Yeah, knights are cool, now that I have a brother who happens to be a big shot, I was thinking... You might be able to help me? I mean, wouldn't Eda be super impressed by me if I became something more than just a simple guard under Bor? With you behind me, I might make it big."

"You might make it dead too."

Gilbert made an annoyed pout.

"So you think I'm not good enough to be a good soldier."

"I don't know Gilbert, a good soldier isn't the same thing as a living one and it's not because you're acquainted with the next great general that you'll be safer."

On the spur of the moment, Emp decided to talk about Chijou a little.

"You know, my... uncle, Chijou. The brother of the current great general. He was leading a lot of people into battle, he was the most important man there for Chinui and yet he died anyway because of some stupid mistake."

Gilbert made a sour face, he understood what Emp meant but it was still upsetting to hear.

"You want me to give up..."

"I haven't said that either, I have a lot of respect for warriors and I think it would be great to have one of my best friends at my side in some battle. I don't want you to risk your life just because I'm there too though. You need to be sure you are up for it and prepared for the consequences because once you are there, in the middle of a long row of soldiers, it will be hard to get away if you change your mind.

On top of that, if you want to be more than a simple soldier, you need way more than just a few sword tricks. I know a guy that is good with a sword, the village where he lived thought he might be able to become a knight so they pooled everything they had to pay for his entrance into the school. That guy works hard every single day to improve and learn what he needs. He had to learn the noble language, listen to hours and hours of teachings about morals, learn about magic and leadership and so on. In the end, he'll be knighted and he'll become the pride of his whole village.

You might be able to make it too but you are starting late, it will be hard and dangerous. If it's just to impress Eda, I'm not sure its worth it. If you still want to give it a try though, I guess you could start by working for Bor for a while. It's not that dangerous here but it will still give you a good idea of what it feels like to have that sort of job. I'm sure that after a while, you'll know if it's too much for you, if you're fine with it or if you want more."

Gilbert nodded with a pensive look.

"I might do that then. It's not a bad idea and I'm kinda bad at hunting."

Emp laughed and the two continued to talk until one of the girls came to tell them Calla was ready to move her things.

It should have taken a long time to move all her clothes and her things from her room here to his room on the other side of the village but with his ugly bottomless bag, it was very easy for him to just hold on to everything.

The longest part in fact was to let Calla decide what she wanted to bring with her and what she was leaving behind for her younger sisters. She did not posses a mountain of things but couldn't help thinking that some of her old clothes could be fixed up a bit so that her smaller sisters could wear them later when they grew up. She had also a few furniture in her room like the bedside table or a wardrobe she didn't know if she should take or leave there. The bed for example was pointless but the wardrobe might be useful if Emp could make it fit in his room. At the same time, anything she took would be something the next sister to occupy this room would not have.

"It will be fine, leave all the furniture here for Zora, I'll buy some new ones as we need them." Emp assured her.

Speaking of Zora, the little girl was very excited to get her own room. She had rushed in to ask Calla if she could have the room and after she was told to ask their mom instead and that one said yes, she started running around happily. Until now, the two youngest sisters used the same room but since Calla was leaving, they'd all get their own room.

"Whaa! Not fair! I want my own room too!" Fleur Complained.

"Silly, if Zora moves out of your room, you'll be alone in it too." Fiona answered the youngest.

Emp saw her thinking hard about it before her face bloomed into a big smile and she started cheering with her sister. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. That was just too funny.

It was only when Calla and him where back at the door that the two small girl finally realized that Calla wouldn't be in the house with them all the time anymore. They started crying loudly and Calla had to console them for a long time.

"I'm not going far away, I'm just going to live with Emp over there. You just have to run there to see me. I'll come back often too."

After a long hugging festival and another farewell from Fiona asking to come back often, they were back on the way home. They had already told Fiona that they would follow the knights back to Bêtéclair for a trip there but since they promised they'd be back soon she didn't mind it too much.

Back in Marcy's house, Harriett and Celtine where done washing everything and they had even cleaned the room for him. He thanked them like he always did and Left Calla with them in order to go ask the duke when he wanted to leave. When he came back with the answer of two days, he saw that Calla was already preparing the next meal with Harriett scrutinizing her work as she tried to understand how her work could be so much better than her own and Celtine sat at the table observing from afar.

Emp sat at her side and talked with the three of them for a bit, enjoying the rest of his day leisurely with nothing to do but watch Calla work and chat with them.

Thanks to the animated discussion taking place behind her, Calla felt less out of place than before with the two other girls. She didn't know them at all but they were so familiar with Emp that it made her feel very... at home. It was the same sort of feeling she had when working with her sisters and mother. She did not have enough confidence yet to open up to them but at least, they felt as if they belonged there, somewhat. A bit like how she expected a neighbour to live next door.

Since Emp really wanted her to, she'd try to get along with them but it would be hard. She couldn't understand Celtine because she couldn't read and needed Emp or Harriett by her side to help her while Harriett felt a bit too eager and it made her feel like escaping and hiding somewhere. Her first impression of them wasn't bad though, she just wasn't good with other people. It was even more true for strangers like them.

In the following few days, Marcy gave Emp all the free time he wanted so that he could take care of everything that he now had to deal with. In the time between the marriage and their departure for Bêtéclair, he spoke to Bor about taking a small piece of land next to Marcy's house for himself, bought it more cheaply than what the precious stones for his confirmation cost him, spoke to the carpenters and Manley about the plans for a house and what he was willing to pay and finally, spent a lot of time with Calla to reassure her about the trip.

The plans for the house was what took the longest time. He didn't want anything in particular but he wanted Calla to like it and more importantly, the guys needed to know what they were building so that they could make it properly. He continued to work on that until the morning of their departure. He felt satisfied with all that was talked about and with that, they should be able to work on it without anymore of his input. If a problem occurred, he trusted that Marcy would be able to take care of it for him.

"Well, I should be going now then. I think you'll be fine with this."

"Sure, leave it to us. When you get back, most of it should be done."

"I trust you Manley. Also, this might be a bit much to ask but will you wait for us before you get married? I'm pretty sure Calla doesn't want to miss that."

"Hahaha! Of course, I'm sure Willow won't mind waiting for you two to be back. I'd be disappointed if you weren't there."

"Great, I'll say that to calla."

"By the way, why is it that you two are following the knights all the way back to the city again?"

"There's just a few persons I want Calla to meet. Plus, we need to get a mage to replace Sophus."

"Bor asked the guy who killed the mage to find a new one? That sounds odd."

"I'm the one doing it because I know some people there already and I have money to negotiate. I should be easier for me than anyone else."

"That makes sense, just come back safe with Calla."

"Of course." Emp answered with a tone emphasizing that this was obvious.

Not too long after, he had joined up with the duke, the knights and the girls, everyone was ready to leave. A lot of people came to wave them goodbye, Calla and Emp returned them all with some waves of their hands.

Calla was extremely worried about leaving but they would not be gone for too long and there would be knights to protect them the whole time.

Emp divided himself in two and kept the second him on his horse while the first him climbed inside the carriage to accompany Calla, Celtine and Harriett.

With him sat at her side, Calla was able to stay calm enough to to look at the scenery drifting outside of the carriage and enjoyed watching the changing landscape. She was worried about not seeing her family and friend for a while but she was also convinced that everything would go just fine since Emp was just at her side. The calm made her very curious to see some places she had never laid her eyes on before and throughout the many days of their trip, she asked Emp about a lot of places they passed through.

By spending so much time all together in the rumbling carriage Emp felt that the three girls got a lot more used to each other. Like he had thought would happen, the two servants lost all fear of his wife being a nuisance for them shortly after they met her. Calla was just too reserved to cause them any trouble and Harriett even started feeling the reverse of what she had first feared and now worried that Calla was too shy to rely on them for anything at all.

Celtine discovered with interest that Calla didn't like any form of violence and felt sick at the sight of any sort of wounds. She was as far from the picture of a cruel human as Celtine could possibly imagine.

Emp told her the story of Celtine in as much details as he knew and she was greatly saddened by the tale she found tragic. She really would have liked to help but there was nothing she could do. She could only cry and offer her her arms.

She was acting a bit like a member of Celtine's tribe. They were weak and could only lament upon the bad things happening to them and disappear when danger threatened to overwhelm them. Calla was not really one of her tribe but Celtine recognized their character in her and felt kinship with her, at least more than for any other humans.

Emp told her about Harriett's story as well and she was saddened by that one too. She did not offer her arms like for Celtine though because her strange mix of eager liveliness and serious sense of duty was very off-putting to her. She felt too intimidated by her to get close. However, she said into Emp's hear that what the wife of her father did was too cruel and she would never do such a thing. Emp was happy to relay it to Harriett who was facing them and it greatly helped remove some of the weight pressing on her mind.

The trip might not have turned the three of them into the best of friends but at least, now they had a better understanding of the character of the others.

Emp felt a bit dissatisfied of that. It was great that they got along but as all three of them were so precious to him, he would have liked for them to become great friends already. This whole process of acquainting themselves with each other was way too slow for him. He tried so hard to move things along that he might have seemed a bit forceful. When he talked to the two servants, Calla would stay silent and when he spoke to Calla, it was Harriett and Celtine who remained silent. He had a hard time including all three in a single conversation. In the end, he had to resign himself to accept the small progress as they came.

The days inside the carriage were spent like that and they traveled everyday until their butts hurt from all the bumps in the road. Outside of it, everything was mostly the same as it was on their way to the village. The only real difference was that the duke had transitioned from stories about the brothers to stories about his wives.

To be perfectly honest, Emp liked the stories about the Muracier brothers way better than the stories about his wives but he didn't know exactly how to say that to the duke.

Because of this, he had to listen to him rambling about this fault or that negative trait about a bunch of woman he had never met, hear him reminisce about some good events and sometimes, listen to a surprisingly raunchy story. Emp guessed the old man couldn't help recalling all those memories from seeing him with Calla.

At least, the duke seemed to be in a really good mood. With how much he argued with Marcy every day he was there, Emp had thought he would feel a bit annoyed but not at all. In fact, it was the opposite, as they left the village, he only had good things to say about Marcy.

"The lass hasn't changed at all! She be the same hardheaded banshee as she be in the past. The troops liked her a lot back then cause she didn't let anyone step on her feet and just knocked them all out. She didn't care a bit that they be the great general and his young brother, she yelled at them all the same. She did the very first day they met I be telling ye. She be so angry that time, no lads wanted to argue against her, yer uncle had to go out and deal with her himself. I think it be her character that charmed him. A reliable loyal lass this one be, even if a bit violent. I be happy to see that she was doin fine all this time. Should've told her what happened back then but honestly, I be more afraid of the emperor's bite than the lass's bark. Seeing her so lively made me feel a lot better, ye be the one to thank for that I be sure."

Emp was a bit curious to know about why she was so angry the day she met Chijou but he was just swept by the tide of the duke's stories and lost the occasion to ask about it.

The only time the duke interrupted his stories was when some sort of giant bear showed up on the road. The thing was almost ten feet tall and had an enormous mushroom growing out of its back, it walked on its hind legs, had a greyish green colored fur, impressive claws and its belly was covered in a crust of fungal armor of some sort. It dominated the whole width of the road and seemed ready to munch on everyone there. Each step it took left deep footprints in the muddy road going through the local swamp.

Emp felt this monster was most likely way more powerful than the usual creatures one could find in the local woods. This one was a predator, it did not need to rely on surprise or petty tricks, it was confident it could crush the whole group of knights easily. There were only two sorts of monster who would attack a caravan like theirs, the foolish ones and the really strong ones, this one was of the latter.

Its powerful roar made Emp tense up and the girls in the carriage pale. It was probably not as strong as the unnameable of chaos but he doubted he'd be able to fight against it alone. Emp reached for his weapons but the duke stopped him with a smile.

"No need to bother yerself with this sprout, let me move it out of the road. All ye lads keep an eye on the Carriage!"

"Yes my lord!"

Emp watched with curiosity as the duke jumped off his huge warhorse and walked in the path of the advancing bear, unsheathing his sword but leaving the large shield on the horse.

The bear swung its huge front paw towards the short frame of the old who met the attack with a sword swing of his own. The result was like what would have happened if a really muscular knight slapped away the hand of a child with all his might. The arm of the bear shot back and almost got dislocated at the shoulder. The only good thing for it was that it didn't get cut.

"Aye, ye be a though one." The duke commented, rather unimpressed.

The bear attacked three times more, two slaps from the right and a hook from the left. The duke countered them all easily, just like the first. The last one he sent back was so violent that the arm of the bear went back to tear a hole in the road behind it, forcing it to turn on itself from the exaggerated pull of its own arm.

The moment it was forced to look away, the duke jumped on top of its head as easily as one would jump a step and drove his sword downward, straight into it. The creature didn't see it coming and even though the blade wasn't sharp enough to cut it properly, the strength behind the attack was such that the skull caved in to let the blade through and the contents of its head where ejected from its mouth in a gruesome way. The creature died instantly. The way the duke pushed himself in the air as he punched his blade into the head of the bear would have been funny if not for the gross result.

With it's head destroyed, the bear monster didn't utter a final cry and just fell down on the road with a loud thump.

"Huh... This thing be havin a thicker skin than me grandson! I be gettin rusty, t'was harder than expected."

What did he mean harder!? He killed it in a single strike!

"Now lads, we should... Wait, ye sprout, that bag o'yers, could ye keep that beasty warm for me in it?"

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"Sure." Emp agreed even though he was a bit shaken by what he just saw.

In no time, the corpse was stored in the bag for the duke and the group resumed its travel.

"This one be weak compared to the guys from the bear tribe and the beasties they brought with them. Those be a lot faster and smarter, the old warriors back then could go toe to toe with even I. We had to corner them ten to one to win. I kinda be missin these old wars."

Emp was reminded once again that his current strength was far from enough to do anything. If he had been the one fighting the bear, It would have took him a while to take it down. His strength might have been enough but he would have had to hop around it a lot and whittle it down. With a skin like that, his swords would have had a hard time to go through and he still didn't have a new hammer.

"Lord Jazay, I feel weak when I watch you beat that sort of thing so easily."

"Hahahar! Ye still be young lad, ye'll get better I be tellin ye."

"I have a great self magic that will make me way stronger but I can't be relying on it alone. When I see the sword dance of Vanessa Hasting, I can't help but desire a special technique of my own. Chinui didn't teach me any but did our house perhaps have some sort of special power? How did we stay on top for so long?"

The old man took a wondering air, rubbing his chin while he thought about it.

"Aye, did he not teach ye this? Perhaps he felt ye were not ready yet? Ye do have an old fighting style but there be no one to teach ye if not fer another Muracier. I won't be callin Graube over to teach ye, this one be eyein the great general's position for a while. We be better not trustin him. I be believin ye should practice a new self-magic instead."

"I thought that we could only use a single self magic at a time. I can't turn off mine."

"It's not on in the first place! What ye be havin, from what I see, is an amazing self-magic indeed. Ye be puttin it on and then the effect stays after it's shut down. I be believin ye should be able to use another on top in a fight with no problem."

The old man had seen him use the hammer throughout the trip so he knew what he was talking about. This meant something very important, Emp could have made himself a lot stronger since he started following the combat classes just by learning that basic strength or speed self-magic! He was filled with regret and felt rather dumb about how blind he had been. What the old man just said should have been obvious from the start, he couldn't turn it off because it was only truly active while he was in the process of lifting the overburdening hammer.

"What sort of self-magic should I learn then? Do you have a suggestion?"

Even though he felt like an idiot for not noticing, he had to ask. He might learn about something much better than simply augmenting his strength. After all, in that area, he was not really lacking and it would only go up with time thanks to the hammer.

"Sprout, the greater warriors all come up with their own or use the one of their ancestors. I be thinkin ye should spend more time in the magic class. Only ye be knowin what sort of thing ye be needin to better yerself. Either fix one of yer weakness or add on top of yer best."

It seemed like it would take a long time to do. He didn't even know from where to start. Maybe he should learn the basic self magic first, at least it was better than nothing. Then, he would start working on something better, along with all the other things he still needed to improve.

He really needed to improve though, it seemed that every time he fought, he ended up so injured he had to take a long rest afterwards. It was fine for now but in the future, once he left the school, he believed that he might not have weeks to put himself back up after a fight.

The old man in front of him reached that level of strength without the hammer or a fancy elixir, he just trained really hard. With all the amazing things he already had, he should be at an advantage yet, he still felt lacking.

He started to believe that his problem might not be in the amount of things he had but in his understanding of those things. He should not have needed Marcy's help to win against Sophus, yet, he couldn't reach him, couldn't catch up to him, got surprised by a number of his attacks and reacted slowly despite his theoretically far greater reaction speed and agility.

He might be able to gain a lot from just trying to deepen his understanding of Space's blessing or practicing some more with what the elixir did to him. He should have done that a long time ago in fact but kept putting if off because there was always something that seemed to be more pressing.

He would need to fit all that plus his studies on self-magic and ordinary magic in his schedule somehow, along with making the gift for Mable, his forge work with Marcy and his studies for all the other classes.

Wasn't there too much? How did ordinary people juggle with all that? There were two of him and he still didn't know how he'd do all that in a reasonable amount of time.

After that point in their trip, he spent more time thinking about how to improve than actually paying attention to the old man's stories.

They'd travel most of the day and then set up a camp in the evening. He got to share Calla's cooking with the two girls everyday thanks to the provisions he thought of bringing in his bag and then, he would rest the night in a shared tent with the three of them. Calla and him slept at one end of it and the other two at their opposite. They should have had their own tent but it was bothersome to erect more than one if the first had space enough for all of them.

It bothered Calla a bit that the other two slept right there but Emp didn't mind them. The truth was, he wasn't convinced that Calla would be able to wake him up if something happened and he felt reassured to know that the other two would be close enough to react in case of danger. He didn't have anything to hide from them either. Finally, because of some noble rules and protocol, he wasn't allowed to install his own tent, it was a task for the subordinates. This meant that he had to rely on the knights to raise his huge tent as well as their own. He didn't want to trouble them with yet another one for the two servants just because Calla felt shy.

The only difficulty with this was that he had to sway Calla every evening with both reasoned thoughts and tender words. He did understand she felt shy sleeping and changing in front of the other two but he felt that while travelling, one should reach a reasonable compromise. It wasn't like they were all sharing the same bed, they only shared a tent.

Thankfully, after the tents were packed again and everyone was back in the carriage, Calla was quick to forget her embarrassment until the next evening and could easily enjoy the trip.

When they got close to the city, the road filled itself with hunters and the many others going in and out of the woods or the few fields close to the walls.

Calla had never left the village so it was the first time she saw so many people at once. At the gates of the city, there were more people than the entire population of the village, including the guards and the miners who wouldn't be there for long.

At first, she wanted to close the shutters to escape the huge crowd of strangers but when she felt Emp holding on to her, she calmed down greatly and was able to drink in the sight of the city instead.

Like him two years ago, she was very impressed by the walls, the gates themselves and the large statues on either side of it. She pointed out many high towers for him to tell her what they were for.

The first time Emp had come to the city of Bêtéclair, he had been curious about the function of all those towers too but now, he knew enough to confidently answer most of Calla's questions.

Because there were so many people living in the city and no one wished to have their house outside of the walls, the architects here started stacking the buildings over one another everywhere. This was why there were so many towers. If a few nobles had accepted to reduce their own courtyards in the inner city, there wouldn't be nearly as many towers as there were now but from the viewpoint of both Emp and Calla, this was just as well. The towers were very impressive to look at after all.

Some belonged to a single individual with a lot of funds, some belonged to a commerce wanting to advertise themselves or needing additional space, some were simple houses stacked up to ten of them, with stairs running around the outside. Emp pointed the most interesting ones to Calla, filling her with marvel in front of the unusual shape of some of them or the impressive nature of their occupants.

Then, they reached the inner city and Calla was wonderfully impressed all over again in front of the large manors of the nobles and the many impressive buildings like the temple of Love, towering in the middle of its huge field of flowers.

All of it went far beyond what Calla had ever pictured the city to be like. Despite her reluctance to come here, she was glad Emp dragged her all the way to show her this place. The city of towers would never leave her memories and she was filled with warmth as she felt Emp arms keeping her safe through it all.

The Emp that rode outside asked the Duke to delay their arrival for a moment, while they were out there with all the knights, he wanted to make a stop to Love's temple. The duke didn't know why this was important to him but gave the order anyway and the carriage turned towards the field of flowers.