"A new purpose" (Gregminister, Capital of the Toran Republic) Well, then. That had worked quite well. Valeria had somehow lost Fu Su Lu in the Great Forest, while challenging him to a duel. It was interesting, because she had just screamed at him to be quiet, and then she made him a deal, that if she had won, he would be quiet for the rest of the journey. She had won, of course, but the match was so close there was no margin for error on her part. Too close of a match. That showed for her lack of practice, and now it was really starting to show. Fu Su Lu, seeing as he had lost with the strength of a hundred men to a mere FEMALE, challenged her again, this time doubling the stakes, so that if she won again, he would go get the 20,000 bits and re-pay her, and still be her companion. If he lost, he would go back, and work at the inn. His mistake, as most men mistook, was that assuming that since she was a female, she was weak and unable to fight as well as he could. The fact was, she might be able to deal less damage than her gender counterparts, but she was sure a hell of a lot faster than he was. He couldn't hit what he couldn't touch. Him being as slow as a turtle helped as well. This time, instead of charging right at him to initiate battle, Valeria took the mindful approach and ran from Fu Su Lu to go hide in the forest. Of course, Fu was screaming his head off at "Coward's tactics" and such, but she had to somehow leave him! She could do without the 20,000 bits anyways, and without Fu Su Lu now. She was afraid of being alone for this trip at first, but now she was even more scared of the prospects of sharing that journey with Fu Su Lu. Now he was ravaging the forest, trying to chop at trees to force her out of hiding, all the while screaming, "Come out, Valeria! We must duel honourably, face to face! This shouldn't be like a hunt, but a swordfight until one or the other yields!! Come on, fight me!!!!" Valeria was sorely tempted to give him another thrashing, but she had to get to Gregminister, or else she would never get there in time to make her monthly report. Not that she had anything juicy to report to Lepant anyways, but it was the whole principle of the thing. She was never late for one of these things, and she wasn't about to let Fu Su Lu bog her down this time. She quietly left the forest, calling out, "Sorry, Fu Su Lu! Maybe some other time, but I'll be at Gregminister! Catch me if you can!! You aren't obliged to follow me anymore, ok? Don't worry about the money!" "Hey, Wait! I'll find you! WAIT UUUUUP! I don't care about the money, I want to get revenge for losing the first time! Wait, you . . . . ." By that time, though, Valeria was out of the Great Forest and heading towards Gregminister. And now, she was here, presenting her report to President Lepant. "Nothing new from either the elves or the Kobolds, sir." "Is that all? Hmmm...It seems to me that you haven't been doing much around here lately. It occured to me that you may have nothing to do around here. Is this true?" Ouch! She didn't want to make it that obvious. Well, she did want to make it obvious, but she didn't want to get FIRED for being bored on the job. "Umm, yes sir." She wanted to lie, but she was hoping he had something to do, so that's why she was being honest. "There hasn't been any activity from the Great Forest in the past year. I might be one of the six generals now, but all I've been doing is getting poor with my sword. I could get really rusty if this continues." Suddenly, it all came out in a rush. "PLEASE! PLEASE! You must have something, an assignment or to do, an errand to run, maybe incite war? Well, don't incite war, but I almost wish there was one right now. I mean, there was so much to do, and I got to meet many new people and stuff like that! Do you have anything, sir? ANYTHING?" She was almost on her knees now, begging him for a release from this monotony. She tried with all her heart to give him the best puppy dog eyes he had seen in years. This was probably the first time she ever used them out of desperation. "Well. . .(^_^;). . .There is something hap-" "There is? THERE IS? YES!! Where? Where? Can I go, Can I go, please? Pretty please?!?!?!?" Now Valeria broke down completely, and started hugging Lepant, much to his surprise. "Uhhh. . . what would happen if I said you couldn't go?" Lepant asked. "I would find out what's going on , and probably leave Toran to find it, no matter how insignifigant it may be. They will have more of a use for my sword there than here, I'm sure." Valeria had many more reasons, but she kept them to herself. There was no need for him to know her past right now. "I would rather have you still in the services of the Toran Republic, if you decide to return here. So here's what I will do. I will need usage of a some reconassionce, to see what exactly is stirring up there, and since the ninjas of Rokkaku are otherwise occupied, I will have to send you. This will not be an easy task, and you may very well lose your life in a foreign land, since the acitivities have been occuring in the City-States, to the north of us. Do you know about the war they've been having with Highland? Well, it's almost a war as old as our rivalry with them, and it seems that there has been a recent decimation of Highland forces by the City-State, whilst they were bound by a peace treaty. I don't know what the exact details were, but apparently the camp was torched to the ground and all of the soldiers were dispatched. Children, as I was told. That's all of the information we have regarding this incident. Valeria, I don't want you taking sides yet. There's something suspicious going on here, and I don't think that the City-State's to blame, yet. Try and stay neutral. Remember, your main mission is to observe, and if you must, you can engage in some activity. Keep a low profile, though, ok?" CHILDREN? Being burned? She could almost see the cyan-coloured uniforms being slaughtered, from some unseen persons, by arrows, swords, fire. . .NO! That was twice the horror she could imagine. It was bad enough when her friends died in her home village, but mere boys were now ashes, as a result of someone's cruel planning? It was wrong. Valeria felt the bloodlust calling to her, for the lives of the guilty. If she didn't have a reason to go, she did now. The party responsible for this action would pay, with their lives if need be. So it was to be the City-State of Jowstone she would be heading to. She would find something interesting for Lepant. This had to be better than sitting at Pannu Yakuta, idly wasting her precious time away. "I shall sent for transport to Banner. Varkas, the border guard, will be able to send you on your way to the bordering village. Take your time over there, and don't get yourself killed in the process. And now, if you'll let me go-" "Oh! Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" Valeria, unbeknownst to her, had been clutching Lepant tightly. Had Eileen been in the throne room, she would've buried Valeria three feet deep, and that would be just from her rage. She would bury her the other three feet deep with her Earth Rune. Stepping away from Lepant, in case Eileen came in, she said, "If you see Fu Su Lu around here, tell him to go home, please? I'm kinda afraid he might chase me to the City-States, and I want to go before he gets here. (^_^;)" With that kind of persistance, he WOULD probably follow me. Lepant will stop him for me.
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