Chapter 7: Saint Aela’s Party
AFTER everything was said and done, we changed rooms because the two men were staring each other down with a murderous gleam in their eyes inside the parlor they’d laid waste to during their brief skirmish. Trembling, Jasper suggested we move our discussions elsewhere to clear the air a bit.
Jasper’s courage is on a whole other level, being able to propose a change in location amid that deadly mood. It doesn’t matter that he was shaking worse than a tree in a hurricane while he said it, either. I wouldn’t want to be the one to break that deadlock.
I nominate Jasper as one of the Four Grand Magi of Elle Village.
Thanks to the bravery of our new Grand Magi Jasper, we decided to have an amicable chat over a pleasant dinner. Thus, a dinner party with me, Julius, Aela, Lylish, Guido, and Golem began at the dining table, which was covered in dishes whipped up by our master chef with vegetables picked right from the fields.
Julius wanted me to sit this one out, but I flatly refused. Why should I? This is Elle Village! My village! I don’t want them deciding things while I’m absent.
Plus, I’d hate for Julius to kill Prince Guido the second I step out of the room.
On another note, our newly appointed Grand Magi, Jasper the Trembler, was trembling so much I asked him to rest in another room.
At any rate, there’s something inspirational about being in a room where all my favorite characters from the manga have gathered.
The dinner party started in silence as everyone watched to see who would make the first move.
“I’ll begin this by telling you what you all want to know at the outset,” Julius says, breaking the silence first. “I was undeniably one of the Four Grand Magi of the Demon Lord’s Army. However, I have since severed my ties to Analia. Or, to be precise, I am attempting to sever said connection. I am a fugitive now. I’m hiding in this village on the outskirts of Gaea. You fear me, but I have absolutely no interest in attacking Gaea.”
“…You expect us to believe that?” Golem growls, taking Julius apart with his unsparing gaze.
Julius coolly lets that glare slide off him. “Whatever you choose to believe has no bearing on the fact that I currently have no designs on attacking Gaea. I wouldn’t choose such a roundabout method as living in Gaea if I was planning to invade. Brute force would be enough to squash you from Analia. You should be more than well aware of that when you’re barely holding on to your borders,” he states definitively, getting a rise out of Golem and Guido.
Yeah, uh, what he’s saying isn’t wrong, but couldn’t he have found a nicer way to put it?
Julius shifts his icy gaze over to Aela, paying the angry men no mind. “You said you would assist me?”
“Yes. I don’t sense any evil from you. I will help you if there’s something troubling you. I am a saint; I gained this power from God in order to help good people. Whoever you may have been in the past and whatever you may have done is of no consequence—I choose to believe in my intuition about who you are now,” she answers with a serene smile, which only makes Golem’s scowl deepen.
“Lady Aela, how can you trust it so easily?” Golem snarls with utter disgust and crosses his arms. “I have certainly heard of your ability to determine if a person is good or evil, but that thing there is Julius the Cruel and Merciless of the Demon Lord’s Four Grand Magi. He has killed many Gaeans.”
He hasn’t eaten or drunk a single thing laid out on the table. Nor does he intend to.
A justified decision, considering we’ve been enemies up until now. It took Golem a long time to accept Julius in the manga, too. He finally comes to trust him after Julius saves Aela from near death more than a dozen times.
Prince Guido quietly nods in agreement with Golem.
“I’m also against this—is what I would like to say right now, but it won’t be too late to pass judgment after we hear them out. I do apologize for suddenly trying to run my blade through you on sight. I lost my head in the spur of the moment and acted on impulse,” he apologizes in the clerical tones of a politician trying to smooth over a bad situation.
While he hasn’t taken the aggressive stance of Golem, he also isn’t touching his food and he’s watching Julius like a hawk.
“Your apology is unwarranted. I also lost my cool in the moment. I came very close to killing all of you. It’s only natural for you to react in defense to my murderous intentions like prey often does,” Julius says without any malice.
Red splotches spread across Golem’s face, and he slams his fists on the table and rises.
That’s dangerous! Chef’s consommé soup is gonna spill over!
“Bastard! You tried to kill His Highness and Saint Aela!” Golem fumes, as if to say his action is deserving of death.
But come on, man. It’s bad manners to hit the table while people are eating! My soup would’ve spilled if I hadn’t lifted the bowl off the table a fraction of a second sooner! I saved Julius’s, too.
“Hey! Don’t spill my soup! And you’re going on blaming us for stuff, but aren’t you the rude ones for refusing to touch the food we served you? It’s incredibly delicious! The most amazing thing you’ll ever have the honor of being served!” I emphasize in a fit.
I deserve to throw a fit! Golem’s gratuitous table slam caused every other bowl of soup except for mine and Julius’s to spill over, ruining the beautiful table arrangement. And mine and Julius’s would’ve joined the mess if I hadn’t saved them in time!