“Either way, I have to appreciate your efforts to take care of her despite being an animal. Let me hear your name.”
Without any knowledge of Al’s inner struggle, the master detective arrogantly asked Al for his name. Annoyed as he may have been, he was still speaking to Eshantel’s Inquisitor. He had to be the bigger man and let it slide.
“I’m Alfonz, but my friends call me Al. I’m delighted to meet you, Eshantel’s Womanizer.”
In Al’s eyes, his response was impeccable. But only in Al’s eyes.
“Hahaha, you don’t hold back, do you? How about we bury the hatchet for now?” Kanon offered, but it felt like he wanted to split Al’s head wide open with said metaphorical hatchet more than anything else.
Al could practically see Kanon’s cheeky smile behind his steel helmet.
“Geez, this is no time to fight!”
“How do you expect me to befriend this guy, Feena?!”
“You have some nerve, calling her ‘Feena’!”
No one could blame Al for wanting to fight back, but he was starting to get tired of their angry stare down, so...
“All right, we’re done here! Let’s go, Feena!”
As Al turned his back to Kanon with Feena in tow...
“Ah, wait up!” Kanon called out to them. Just then...
Wham!
“Gahhh!”
For the second time, Kanon swung at Al.
“Ahaha, sorry. I always feel like Feena’s in danger when she’s with another man...”
“What’s that mean?! You’re the only threat here!”
“Wow, you can take a punch.”
Al had been tempered by a certain red-headed girl, so he was quickly back on his feet, shooting off his remarks.
“Y’know, I’m still curious why you punched me!”
Kanon was outside his reach, so another angry stare down began.
“Ahaha, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of Feena; you can go back to the fields or whatever.”
Kanon turned towards Feena, acting as if Al wasn’t even there.
“You finally managed to escape that pervy Demon King! Now, join up with me! That lowly Demon King will be no match for the two of us; he’ll be sealed in no time! Heck, we might even defeat him for good!”
Kanon’s boasting needled at Al, but in all fairness, the young king had also already been on the receiving end of not one, but two punches.
“Heh. You seriously think that Althos’s king is a pushover?” he said to vent his frustration.
“Althos’s king...”
Just as Kanon whispered that in a quiet, menacing tone, his attitude changed instantly. It was not simple anger or bloodlust, but something much more sinister. Al had felt the same energy emanating from him on the battlefield.
“Althos’s king is my nemesis. I promised my fallen comrades that I would cut off his head and mount it in front of their graves.”
His tone was different as well, as if something had possessed him.
I know he hates me, but I didn’t think it’d be to this extent.
Al shot a concerned look at Feena.
I’ve never seen him like this, Feena signaled with a shake of her head.
“I even went as far as to swear allegiance to our greatest enemy, the Empire.”
His sinister aura dissipated, leaving only an expression of grave sorrow on his face... But he’d admitted to working with the Empire. Before, there had been a slight chance that Kanon would listen to Al if he could explain himself, but that went right out the window.
“I see. Then you keep doing what you have to.”
Feena’s response interrupted Al’s thoughts.
“Feena, what?!”
What is she saying?!
He quickly tried to stop Feena from strengthening Kanon’s resolve, but...
“But please, wait before you attack Althos.”
It seemed like there was no need.
“Why should I do that?” Kanon asked, curious about his friend’s request.
“I can’t tell you now, but it’s important. I’m begging you, wait a bit.”
“Hmmm, so you want me to delay the attack, but you can’t say why. It’s a rather dubious request, even for a friend.”
“Kanon...”
This wasn’t a friendly chat between two friends anymore; sparks were flying between them.
“Inquisitor Kanon!”
“We found ‘em!”
Several warriors on horseback trampled over the tense atmosphere.
“Seems like my entourage has arrived.”
Kanon’s expression lightened as he waved at his comrades.
“Ooh, my Inquisitor! It’s good to see ya safe!”
The warriors hopped down from their horses, relieved. To confirm his well-being, they rushed over to Kanon as if their heavy armor were made of paper.
“Inquisitor, you have to tell me if you leave on patrol!”
“Ahh, sorry, Toshisaka. I didn’t want to trouble you any further.”
“You’ve got it all wrong, Inquisitor! There’ll be trouble if you disappear!”
“Exactly! He went searchin’ like a mad dog when he couldn’t find you!”
“Zip it, Gengai! You talk when you dun’ even have the saddle on!”
The warriors let out a hearty laugh.
“Okay, sorry. That was my bad!” Kanon said joyfully.
How are they on such good terms when his troops are all men?!
As Al pondered the inconsistency of Kanon’s character...
“They’re my troops, so it’s fine!”
Kanon solved his inner conflict.
One of the warriors looked toward Al and asked, “Inquisitor, who are they?”
“Right. This is Subdera’s Diva, Feena, though... I’m sure you all knew that. The man next to her is a newly-rich, selfish peon.”
Al’s introduction, to the surprise of no one, was incredibly rude.
“I’m Feena of Subdera. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
Feena’s textbook greeting was a stark contrast to Al, grumbling beside her.
It’s times like this that remind me that she’s royalty, no matter how ditzy she may be.
“Al, we’ll have to talk later.”
She shot Al a sharp glance as she whispered to him. It left one wondering if the Divas had special mind-reading powers...
“Your face says more than your mouth.”
But the secret lay in his lack of a poker face.
“Ummm, I’m Alfonz. I’m a runaway, newly-rich, selfish peon from Althos.”