Absolute Depravity: Reincarnated with a lustful System-Chapter 56 - Preparing For Departure
It was the third day after gaining two new servants under his commands, and the preparations for Haruki's departure to Laria were off on full stream. Throughout the rest of his stay at the Phoenix castle, he made sure to test out the clone even further, and what he found was reassuring while also leaving some cause for concern.
The only way the clones disappear without being recalled was if they were attacked by someone, and their fighting abilities aren't even a third of the original. Not only that, but despite being fabricated with magic the clone had no affinity for it, and although they could use some amount of the original's skill, the effectiveness of those abilities was greatly diminished.
"Put her in, she'll travel in our carriage," out in the castle's garden, Haruki and the adventurers were placing Jenna's frozen body in a wooden cascade that was to be carried back to the homeland.
Lifting the hefty block of ice Jenna was kept inside, Mortar and Helma slowly lowered her into the cascade. Soon after they began hammering it shut so it won't cause any problems while traversing uneven terrains.
"This is…" her hand clenched over her bosom, Diana the holy mage of the silver storm seemed a bit troubled by the matter. "The bishop won't be happy that we're still holding onto her body even though she died days ago."
"Well the bishop didn't know her, did he?" Shooting down her concern, Kane walked up beside her and placed his hand over her shoulder.
"But…Lord Atlas, won't be pleased either," clasping her hands, she began to mumble prayers of apology to Atlas. "Forgive us, Lord!"
Turning their attention away from her, Haruki and Kane looked right at each other. The strain in Kane's eyes let Haruki know that he had something important to discuss with him, and so he gestured Kane to follow behind as he led them away from all the commotion. On his way to a gazebo in the garden, Haruki took one last glance at the lined-up carriages before sitting down with Kane.
In the distance, at the very end, he noticed the clovers loading cartons of essentials into the carriages. However, what caught his attention more was the dreadful gloom all over their faces. Being new to the profession Jenna's death seemed to have affected them the worst.
'Asuka won't be too happy if they keep that dreary expression on their faces.' Brushing the matter off his mind for a moment, Haruki sat down at the coffee table in the middle of the gazebo.
"What is it?" Haruki asked, resting his chin over his thumb.
Letting the sword and other hefty equipment off his body Kane placed them on the ground. Huffing out a sigh he leaned forward to rest his arms on the table.
"This… the whole thing has been a mess," his eyes wandered all over as he spoke in uncertain terms. "The silver storms, and quite honestly every other party here deserves more compensation than what was offered."
Having not expected Kane to bring up such a tame issue, Haruki felt quite disappointed.
"Is that all? I was expecting something more prevalent by how tense you looked," leaning back into the chair, Haruki glanced over Kane's shoulders.
Nervously tapping his fingers over the table, Kane's mouth was left open, as if he was uncertain whether to present another problem to Snow or not. 𝙗𝙚𝙙𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝒎
"There is another problem…" once again glaring up at Haruki, Kane's lips let out a sigh to relieve his angst. "We can't take you through the tundra alone, you already know what happened to shadow blades, and to go through the tundra with even fewer people than we came here with, would be nothing short of suicide."
"If that's your worry then…" noticing Asuka getting out of the gates followed by two others, Haruki got off the chair and stood up. "Don't worry, I have two new recruits to the convoy."
Following Haruki's gaze, Kane turned around to look over his shoulder. Walking out of the castle gates was Asuka dressed in her usual maid outfit, however, right behind her were other two striking ladies. One clad in brown leather armor with green patches in her clothes and the other dressed in a shimmering white dress with ember stones laid in a kaleidoscope pattern.
"Who are they?" Kane enquired, his eyes refusing to look away from their charm.
"A gifted pair by the duchess. With all the assassination attempts on me, she had lent them to me as personal guards," Haruki replied with a convincing lie he had already picked out.
"These are guards, you say?!" Turning around in a jolt, Kane's brows frowned in confusion.
"The very best in the duchy, much like the rest of you…well, maybe except the clovers," with that said, Haruki made his way to the other adventurers so he could properly introduce them to their new companions.
Hiding behind a veil of pretense, the two ladies were none other than the only royalty in Daria. While the duchess had maintained her dignified look with the amber-laid dress, she had to make significant changes to her appearance. Having shifted into a smaller frame, her light amber hair flowed down to her waist, going along with the theme her eyes too were now a fiery yet lighter shade of the same.
In contrast to the duchess, Riley only had to adorn herself in a fitting dress to escape the resemblance of her somewhat manly self. But to top it off so she could be more convincing, she wore light amount of makeup to pass as someone else entirely.
'I still think it would've been better to just use mask presence, but Riley was so persistent about staying in that body not even an order from Asuka, her master could make her change her mind.' At first, he was baffled that a servant could deny the command of their master, but then finding out about the kind of demons Riley was fighting inside her mind, it all began to make sense.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our new companions on this journey," bringing everyone's attention to himself, Haruki held his hand pointed towards the two ladies. "The best in the city of commerce, Belladona the fire mage and Ray the swift wind spy."
