District 42-Chapter 230: Sudden call

Casper and Vick stayed at that place for some more time to discuss what he would find more usable in a battle. Brokk was showing to be more cooperative with them after what the Princess said, but it didn’t prevent him to keep being nasty with them.

His personality was surely hard to deal with and for a lot of times, Vick seemed to be about to snap with him. However, she showed incredible resilience, holding her will every time and maintaining her coldness and sovereignty.

Despite giving details about how he preferred to fight, his favorite type of combat, if he was used to wielding firearms and so on, the blacksmith also asked him some strange things like his personality and personal tastes. Casper was dumbfounded by those questions. Vick, though, seemed to be completely fine with it, which showed that it was a normal thing for them.

"Why are you asking all these things, to become with? Isn’t it worthless information, despite the ones I gave in the start?" He decided to ask.

Brokk got stressed with what he said and just cast a look of disgust towards him. Vick, seeing that Casper was even more confused, sighed and decided to explain to him what exactly was that interview.

"Since the old times, our blacksmiths are always doing the weapons most suitable for our warriors in all aspects. They feel like their soul is attached to it, that the weapons are a part of their bodies. It’s been like this since the start and this tradition keeps among our blacksmiths nowadays. These questions will serve to make to you the weapon you will carry for a long time."

The White warrior sometimes asked himself if he wasn’t in a fantasy world or this kind of thing. The nordic culture for him didn’t fit the world they were inserted in.

’It’s hard to absorb. My head barely explodes. Will he made a Mjolnir to me or something?’

"Yes! And since she already explained, keep moving your freaking mouth and say to me more details about you, I need to do the perfect weapon for someone who could destroy Halden. You are very lucky that today I am in a good mood!" Brokk spoke, pointing towards Casper the pen he was using to take notes.

Looking carefully at the notebook, Casper saw that he wasn’t exactly writing words, but drawing. Drawing figures of all sorts. Most of them were scribbled or with a huge X on them, others he couldn’t even finish, and now he was working on another.

They were all sketches of different types of weapons and guns, even suits, and other strange accessories.

The man was drawing fast for someone who was interviewing Casper for such a short time.

’Does he knows how to write to begin with?’ He thought and questioned the Princess this same thing once he answered the blacksmith another question and got him distracted with his drawings.

"No. There is just one blacksmith that knows how to write and read. They aren’t Jarls, as you can see. Most of the commoners are illiterate. 70% of them never went to school as well."

She said that information to Casper as if it was the most common thing to say. As if those statistics weren’t something to worry about.

The soldier got flabbergasted upon hearing it and frowned deeply.

"Your favorite meal? It’s meal, not food." The blacksmith questioned, pointing his pen to him again.

"Breakfast."

Once Brokk began to draw again, he stared at the Princess, suddenly curious.

"It... It doesn’t affect you that your folk has so low scholarly?"

She tilted her head, her eyes were full of confusion.

"Of course not. They are commoners, they don’t need to be taught anything. By the way, commoners who know a lot and are wise turn to be like that trio who started the Frelsi, so it’s no good to keep them growing smarter."

That was another atrocious thing that Vick said without hesitation. Casper had a lot of other questions, but he decided to finish there. Pressure her could turn into something bad, after all. He needed to be extremely cautious there.

’She isn’t a bad person at all. She is just enjailed with the ideals that her family and teachers put into her head. That’s a practical way to think when you are someone that needs to control a group and prevent them to rebel against your empire, but it isn’t moral. It’s not a good way to lead others, to direct an entire folk.’

The more that Casper talked with Vick, the more he discovered about her major weakness: she was a manipulated puppet. Since the day she was alive, her brain was directed towards a single thing. She didn’t have an opinion of her own, nor tastes, nor passions. Vick just did what they taught her to do since she was born.

While thinking on those things and answering automatically the blacksmith, a good part of the afternoon went by. The blacksmith could finish the sketch of Casper’s new weapon, accessory, or suit, but he didn’t show it to him.

This way, they left that workshop, and then the factory. They kept strolling together for a bit longer.

...

Casper and Vick were enjoying the environment of that city in which the industry of the Ax family was in.

It was a very beautiful place and had lots of things to see.

The Castle didn’t have constructions or places destined for tourism though. It was pretty obvious that they wouldn’t.

It wasn’t a major problem but still limited a lot for them to go see something interesting. Since Vick was born there she knew that Castle better than anyone, so it was hard for her to have fun just strolling around and seeing more of the same.

The only thing that kept her doing so was the person walking with her, so it became a passable experience.

"I wish we could have met in other circumstances." She spoke all of a sudden.

It was embarrassing to admit that though, so she got a bit red. She was glad that the mask covered it.

The soldier looked at her face at the exact moment she said it. His heart throbbed and he needed to struggle to keep walking steadily.

He remembered something...

’She said the same thing before. When we were striving to hold our feelings for each other, she said the same...’ Casper remembered a time in which he was talking with Ana.

The same tone, the same reaction, same gestures, same situation... Everything was quite similar to that day and, for the first time since he got into District 42, he felt like he was in the past and not in the future.

The soldier didn’t know exactly what to say in response to that quote. He was doing his best to find the correct answer, but he was saved for his cellphone, which started to ring.

He picked it up and answered the call. Leonel was the one calling him, so the soldier got on alert.

"Casper, we need that you come to the Sgail’s Headquarters as soon as you can."

"What’s the situation?"

"Come here and we will let you know." The Sgail hung up.

The soldier remained looking at the screen of his smartphone with a serious face.

’Damn. what do they want now? Is there something wrong? Or could they spot the enemies and are organizing a group to search for them immediately?’

He was feeling anxious to finally put his hands on that Rat and complete his main mission once and for all, so he could do his next step inside that district. However, at the same time, he was feeling uneasy. After his first battle against those criminals, he was feeling unprepared.

Brushing off that pessimism, he looked to Vick. She was staring back at him and seemed to be aware of what was happening just by looking at his face.

"Don’t worry, Casper. Go ahead. We can see each other in another time." She waved.

The White warrior apologized with her, turning his back and running to the nearest Teleporting pad, going on his way to the Sgail’s Headquarters.

Vick followed his traject with her eyes all the time, waiting for him to disappear, and just then she started to walk again.

’I wonder if he will be ok...’ She didn’t know if she was concerned with him as a friend or a leader, but, either way, the question was the same: for how long will she be able to hold Casper before he does something idiot?

She didn’t know. However, she was taking care of a worldwide weapon there. If they lost such power, District 42 would be stuck in poverty forever and the war would keep going further until the last barriers were finally broken.

’Just time will tell how things will go. I wonder if my father will anticipate his plans by then...’