>>6100496You look past the sniveling man towards the source of that glass. Up ahead is a table with about a dozen armed soldiers sitting and standing around. By the matching armor they wear, you can tell immediately that they are from Fodlan. At their center is a knightly-looking man, clad in thick blue armor. With a smirk on his face, him and his cronies are leering at a woman standing away from them. It was Adeline, and her armor looked as though it were dripping wet, shards of glass scattered at her feet.
“You have GOT to be fucking kidding me!” The man says with a haughty laugh. The tavern, which had previously been buzzing with noise, had grown eerily quiet. “I thought there was no way, but it really IS you!” He bangs a fist on the table, sending tankards clattering about and signaling his men to laugh along with him. “What are you doing here, Adeline? Don’t tell me you came sloooooowly clanking all the way here because you actually plan to compete?”
Adeline faces the loudmouth. For a second, you expect her to run the bastard through. You’d seen her in action, and while she may not have killed as many pirates as you did, she clearly still possessed a measure of skill. So you are surprised when she insead bows her head, looking down towards the floor. “...Lord Gideon. It is good to see you…”
Lord Gideon? You try running through your scant knowledge of the nobility. Gideon is a territory in the uppermost region of Fodlan, in what was once the Kingdom of Faerghus. A relatively unremarkable land with scant accomplishments, ruled by a house with hardly any notable figures. The fact that someone from Gideon had come all this way was surprising. Surely this backwoods oaf did not think he was the mightiest warrior Fodlan had to offer?”
“Don’t give me that shit.” Gideon slurs, standing up and knocking several more tankards to the ground. Up on his feet, you now notice the heavy blade that was strapped to his back. His men were in no rush to stop him as he sauntered over to where Adeline was. “I asked what you were doing here. The daughter of an impoverished house, and a traitorous one at that, seeking the hand of Princess Yulia? Do you truly believe she’d ever waste a second on a loser such as yourself? That you would come all the way here and pretend we’re on the same level pisses me off.”
“...I mean no disrespect, Sir Gideon.”
“Kick her ass, Lord Alexander!” One of Gideon’s men shouts with a drunken slur.
“Oh no, Adeline!” May whispers, her voice caught in her throat. “What’s she doing?!”
The green knight had reverted to that unimpressive figure she’d first appeared, as she made no effort to defend herself from Gideon. Her shoulders were slumped, and she was unable to even make eye-contact with the large man.
