The road was silent. But there was excitement that dwelt in both of them.
Arttu was a little anxious. The last time he went there was the time when the court discussed whether he should be executed or not. There were a lot of scary eyes in that room. He remembered every single one of them. But the sight of the scariest one was fixed in his mind: Lunia Tenzel. How could he ever forget those eyes? Those blue eyes that felt like they hid a beast so fearsome. But Arttu knew that he mustn’t be scared. He knew he had to be braver.
Reid was also anxious. He wanted Arttu to live a normal life. This wasn’t normal in the slightest. He feared that he might not be able to withstand the stress. But Arttu was bigger now.
“He grew… beautifully.” Reid thought to himself. Looking at Arttu’s figure.
But he was more excited than anxious. It had been nearly three years since the last time they went to Aquilonis. He wanted to see old faces, Harven, Lady Mirvana… and Emilia. Just the thought made him fully red.
Arttu looked at him curiously, trying to understand why his brother was red. But he didn’t ask it. He felt it was unnecessary.
During those two days, they camped at night and walked in the mornings. At the end of the second day, they arrived.
At the entrance, the guards welcomed them and let them in. Reid asked the guards,
“Who will be our observer today?”
Behind the guards, a tall man walked towards Reid, his strong arms and big chest visible beneath a bald head. They tensed at the sight of the man. But then a man jumpscared them,
“Boo!”
Arttu and Reid looked unfazed by that scaring attempt. But after seeing who that man really was, they were both excited.
The man was no other than…
Harven Klutz.
Harven jumped and hugged both of them.
“I missed you guys sooo much.” And then he turned towards Reid,
“Hey, Reid, why didn’t you guys visit me? It’s been too long.” His voice sounded a little betrayed, but the betrayal in his eyes instantly turned into excitement.
He looked at Arttu at first.
And then Reid.
And then back to Arttu.
And then back to Reid.
“You guys have grown too much.” He started crying all of a sudden.
Reid’s lips turned into a gentle smile.
“We’ve missed you too, old man.”
Harven looked a little angry at Reid.
“Hey Reid, I am not that old you know. I’ve just turned thirty-five.”
Reid looked at him with a sarcastic face.
“Yeah, that’s too old, grandpa.”
Harven looked at Reid with pure rage.
“I am not that old, you brat.”
Reid continued to anger him.
“Yeah, maybe for a grandpa.”
Harven looked at him with dead-serious eyes.
“I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t kill your back, trying to kill me, gramps.”
“You—”
And after that they both looked at Arttu.
Arttu was looking at them… disgusted.
“Can you guys be a little bit serious. The people are looking at us.”
Both of them straightened up.
Harven turned formal,
“Let me escort you to the king’s domain, Sir Corvane.”
Reid replied with more formality.
“Most assuredly, Sir Vice-Commander Klutz.”
Arttu looked at them, annoyed, knowing fully that they were making fun of him.
After that, they went to the castle to report to the king.
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King Rucon was seated on his throne, eating grapes on a silver plate.
Reid looked a little surprised; he always thought that kings would have someone to feed them their meals. He had read stories like that. Where beautiful ladies feed their plump kings who did nothing.
“I guess King Rucon isn’t like that,” he thought to himself. Well, King Rucon is probably the opposite type of king compared to those kinds of stories.
He is strong and athletic, despite being in his 50s. He is a truly exceptional king whom everyone in the castle looks up to, and he was once the savior of Aquilonis.
These thoughts came to an end when they drew close to the king’s throne. Rucon had poor eyesight, and because of that, he couldn’t understand whether the person who came was the one he had requested or not. He also wouldn’t wear glasses just because it made him look “uglier”.
“Hey, Harven? Is that you?” King Rucon grunted.
Harven cleared his throat.
“Yes, it’s me, your highness.”
“Good, good.” King Rucon murmured under his breath.
“Harven, could you come a bit closer? I want to speak privately for a moment.”
Harven nodded and came closer to the king’s throne.
King Rucon slightly bent towards Harven and whispered.
“The two people you’ve brought are Arttu and Reid, right?”
Harven replied with another whisper.
“Yes, it is Arttu and Reid, your highness.”
King Rucon nodded and gestured for him to step back.
But…
Arttu and Reid heard it all. King Rucon also has poor hearing; therefore, he thought that they were whispering, and Harven was just enjoying the moment.
“Well, well, well…” King Rucon paused for a while, squinting his eyes just in case he could see them.
“Reid Corvane, and Arttu Corvane. We’ve declared you, gentlemen, the wandering knights of Aquilonis nearly three years ago. Can I hear the reason why you haven’t returned to any of our letters, Sir Corvane?”
Harven interrupted before Reid could answer.
“Which one? Your highness.”
King Rucon suppressed his anger as he repeated his question.
“Reid Corvane, can I hear the reason why you haven’t returned to any of our letters?”
Reid, as one of the greatest students in the history of the academy, answered instantly.
“It’s because, as the regulations stand, there is no rule that requires a wandering knight to return anything, such as a letter or anything else. The only thing we needed to do in your command was to limit our visit time in the cities to three hours and cause no harm to the citizens of the kingdom, both of which we followed correctly.”
King Rucon called Harven to his side once again.
“This kid is a nerd.”
Harven raised his voice just to make fun of Reid.
“Yeah, he is a total nerd.”
“Hey, don’t raise your voice too much, the kid’s going to hear it.” King Rucon tried to whisper once again, smiling carefully at Reid.
“No, I am sure that our voices are too low for anyone to hear them, your highness.”
Arttu giggled until he saw that Reid looked like he was going to tear someone apart.
“I guess we are going to regulate the laws about wandering knights.” King Rucon paused for a moment to think if he had anything left to say.
“You are dismissed.”
“Your highness, can I have one more request?” Reid asked innocently.
“Of course, go on.”
“Can we stay here at Aquilonis until the sunrise?”
“On one condition…” King Rucon looked a little solemn.
“You probably know that the south of Aquilonis is mostly possessed by the cult of hatred. We believe that normal beasts and animals are turning into cursed beasts by one of the generals of the cult.”
King Rucon sighed,
“This is a really important and dangerous mission. If you don’t take it, I won’t force—”
“We’ll take it.”
Reid’s expression was filled with determination. King Rucon couldn’t really see his expression, but he felt it. He felt Reid’s resolve.
“Well, then, I gave you permission to stay here for today and tomorrow. We’ll discuss your rewards after your mission is successfully completed.”
Reid nodded as King Rucon stated,
“Lady Mirvana will be giving you full information tomorrow morning. She has an important job to do. Until then, you are dismissed.”
Reid, Arttu, and Harven left after hearing the dismissal.
Right outside the door, there was…
Emilia.
Reid and Emilia glanced at each other. Emilia looked really similar to the way she was before they left Aquilonis, but for Reid, she was…
Spectacular.
Reid’s eyes gleamed at the sight of Emilia. Right after the exchange of glances, Harven looked at Arttu.
“Hey, little knight, let me show you the town a bit like the time I showed your brother when he was your age. What do you say?”
Arttu looked a little surprised; he didn’t want to be away from his brother. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to let him go a bit. “A day wouldn’t be that bad without him, would it?”
After thinking it over, Arttu nodded
“Well, we are going to visit the town a bit. I’ll take Arttu to the castle with me at night. I am sure the people in the castle will reserve a room for you guys. Goodbye for now.” Arttu and Harven waved as they started to walk towards the town.
“Yo, Arttu, what do you like to do?” Harven asked with pure curiosity.
Arttu thought a bit, not just a bit. He really thought, but nothing came to his mind. Before the accident at the tavern, he used to love playing with Fiona. They used to play hide and seek, "catch me if you can," and even some card games that Roy had taught them, such as Bluff, Bridge, and Poker.
‘Yes, Poker may seem wrong to teach the kids, but it’s a good thing that Roy never played with money on the line.’
But he had one favorite game.
“Let’s play Blinx,” Arttu said shyly.
“Alright, you are on,” Harven confidently replied.
They went to a new tavern. One that Arttu never went to in Aquilonis. It was a dark and chilly tavern with no more than three people. People's eyes were fixed on Arttu the moment they entered. They looked as if they were there to kill Arttu.
Harven slowly approached the counter and yelled,
“Hey, old hag, give us a Blinx board and deck.”
“Don’t yell at me, you insolent brat.” An old woman with gray hair appeared, but somehow it seemed as though she had skipped the aging process altogether. Her skin had so few wrinkles, and her hair was smooth. She looked pretty young, but there was something in her stature that suggested she was really old.
“Get this and go play in the corner, don’t bother the customers.”
“You got it.” Harven picked up the board and gave the cards to Arttu.
They went and sat in the left corner of the tavern.
After placing the board and the cards, they started playing.
Blinx is a board game played by two people.
The board is hexagonal. Each player controls a set of pieces placed on opposite sides. The back line consists of six identical pieces called Jokers. In front of them are Sacrifices.
The objective is simple:
capture all six of the opponent’s Joker pieces.
Each player starts with three cards in hand. The cards are the core of the game.
There are four types of cards:
- Joker cards, which can only be used on Joker pieces
- Sacrifice cards, which can only be used on Sacrifice pieces
- Enhance cards, which can affect either
- Spell cards, which apply various effects to the board itself
There are two copies of every card, making two hundred and ten cards in total. They are split evenly into two identical decks using a box called the Divider.
Normally, a player may only play one card per round. However, if the card Play Two is obtained, the player may play two additional cards in that round.
As for movement:
- Sacrifices can only move one hexagon per round
- Joker movement is more flexible
- The Move card allows a piece to move two hexagons, or lets the player both move once and play a card in the same round
The game always starts with the pink side.
That’s Blinx.
A simple objective, a ridiculous number of variables, and no room for hesitation.