Lenaria: The Party Begins CONTINUED

Until Next Time - Part 4

There wasn't much in the market, just vegetables and a few bare necessities. Of course, they did buy whatever food they could, even if it was a bit questionable.

But their grumbling stomachs just needed something to eat.

While they were looking at a stand selling bread, Bella's eyes drifted away. She wasn't interested, considering she couldn't eat bread... The bard took the sight of the quaint village, wondering how her own home is doing.

She missed her family, especially her sister.

Bella really hoped they were doing okay.

The bard squinted her eyes, noticing a man.

He was fairly tall, kinda of old too. He had graying hairs in a sea of black, with a thick stubble that made him look tired and depressed. His hair was tied loosely in the back, strands of it lazily lying at the sides of his face. 

The man didn't wear anything remarkable, just a normal white button up and black pants, with leather boots that needed polishing. Er, actually make that boot, singular. Bella stared at his feet, er foot. Well, his lack of another leg. Where his right leg would be was a wooden prosthetic, it took up the whole shin area, only stopping at his knee joint.

Though, unlike the other villagers, the man looked like he belonged more in Shinki village.

In his arm was a basket with vegetables, the man giving coins to the vendor he was talking to.

"He's pretty good looking for an old dude," Adva noted when they saw Bella staring. The bard nodded, agreeing. The man couldn't be much older than his forties.

"I see you've taken interest in Mr. Sato," The vendor, who was a plump middle aged woman with flushed cheeks, said. She took the coins Evgenia handed over, commenting, "Word of advise, stay away from him."

"Why?" Victor asked.

The vendor glanced at the man, watching as he turned away and walked in the opposite direction. She whispered, "He's a fallen man. Mr. Sato used to be a knight for our kingdom, but an incident happened where he lost his leg." She looked at the man again, making sure he was far far away. The vendor harshly gossiped, "I heard he killed a man when he lost his leg, that's why he lost his title as Captain of the Royal Guards."

"Wait," Bella nearly jumped over the vendor's stand. The bard motioned a finger where the man used to be, "He used to be the captain?"

The woman nodded, crossing her arms over her large chest, "Such a shame, he was a wonderful captain in his days. Now, he's just a reclusive in that little home of his."

Bella gulped, looking over where the man, Sato, used to be.

He didn't look like anyone important and yet, he was. Sort of.

"Anyway," The vendor tended to her stock, "No one in the village really likes him, he's not interesting nor that worthy to look at anymore."

The crew thanked her for her time before leaving.

When they were out of ear-shot from the woman, Bella quickly turned to the others with an excited jump in her steps, "A former captain! That's so cool!"

"Or bad! If he finds out we're," Evgenia motioned to herself, Victor, and Adva, "Mages, then we're done for."

Bella pouted, knowing Evgenia had a point.

...

They wanted to check in on Momoko, so they went to the inn.

The spirit was asleep while Minerva was in a chair polishing her sword.

Bella quickly ran up to Minerva, scaring the living daylights out of the knight. The bard grabbed her shoulders, quickly saying, "We found out the former Captain of the Royal Guards lives in this village!"

Minerva blinked, confused for a moment before realizing what Bella said. "Oh, Sir Sato. OH! Sir Sato!" The knight jumped up, dropping her sword on the ground. Bella yelped, stepping back just in time before the blade could stab her foot. Minerva muttered an apology, bending down to pick it up.

While the knight slipped her sword in it's sheath, Evgenia asked, "Not that we're nosy or anything, but can you tell us a bit about him?"

Minerva shrugged, "I honestly don't know much. I was still in training when he was captain so it's not like I ever met him or anything. Though, he actually was a really good captain."

"Good? As in he did his job correctly or people just liked him?" Adva asked, sitting on the empty bed cross legged. Bella joined them, plopping down next to them.

Minerva scratched her cheek, finger trace over her scar, "Well, both actually. He was known for cracking down on a lot of illegal stuff and taking down the crime rates in Renaisse. Plus, I heard Sato was the best swordsman in the kingdom-"

"Best? As in, the number one?" Bella asked, exaggerating her words.

The knight nodded, "Yeah."

"A woman mentioned an incident?" Evgenia said, giving Bella a rather small frown. She felt like the bard was thinking something stupid. It was that smile, the smile that showed Bella was thinking a very stupid plan.

Minerva huffed out a breath, running a hand through her brown hair. The knight sat back down, sheathed sword in her lap. "Um, in all honesty, the 'incident'," She did quotation marks with her fingers, unsure about the subject at hand, "Wasn't discussed much. It was something that was looked down upon if we talked about it."

"Can you tell us anything you know?" Evgenia coughed, "Not that we're curious or anything."

Minerva rolled her eyes, of course they were. The crew loved hearing drama, whether they admitted it or not. The knight sighed, tapping her chin as she racked her brain, "From what I know at least, Sir Sato was on a mission with a druid and a knight. They were going after a report of a monster in the north."

"What happened?"

"Well," Minerva grew quiet, looking down at her weapon, "He lost a leg and from the reports, he killed the druid on the job with him."

There was a silence in the room. They heard from what the vendor said that he killed someone, but the person who had joined him on the mission?

"To makes matters worse," Minerva added, "The druid was his wife."

The silence grew deadly.

His... wife?

"The witness was the knight who was with them, they remain unknown to the public to this day." The incident... it happened two years before August himself was titled Captain of the Royal Guards. During those two years, with no one acting as Captain, it was complete chaos. Crime rates started going back up and knights were losing their own self control.

Bella got up, grabbing her guitar and slipping it on her back. Adva raised an eyebrow, "Where are you going?"

The bard stopped in the doorway, calmly saying, "I'm going to ask him to train me in swordship."

The crew looked at her, unsure if they heard that correctly.

She was going to ask a murderer to train her?

Bella shrugged, "He doesn't seem bad. Just lonely. Besides, I need to get better at using a sword."

"What about me?" Minerva asked, a little offended.

"You're amazing but," Bella smiled apologetically, "You have too much to worry about, Minerva. Don't fret, I got this!" Before anyone could stop her, Bella ran out quickly.

"Are we... going to stop her?" Victor finally asked as they all stared at the empty doorway.

Evgenia sighed, rubbing her head in annoyance, "No. I think Bella can handle this on her own."

Adva gulped. They hoped so.