Clover Kingdom / Diamond Border (Collapsed Well Route / Lower Market Edge): January 18th, 1016.
It was a strange day for the world. The sky above was grey, the lower market smelled like wet stone, cheap food and lies, while the city itself seemed to hold its breath like it knew too many dangerous people were standing too close to the same rotten street, yet if you looked closely near the collapsed well route under the lower market edge. To be more specific, at a hidden food movement disguised as sewer repair. You could see the moment julius novachrono first laid eyes on the devil of the clover border.
The atmosphere curious.
(Julius's POV)
Julius loved magic.
Even ugly magic.
Especially ugly magic.
And outlaw city had so much strange magic residue that he almost forgot the entire place was politically disgusting.
Holy magic pressure in the upper streets.
Weapon magic residue near the cathedral.
Beast magic traces from doran's scouts.
Door magic faintly stitched into alleys.
Wine magic stains in places wine should absolutely not have been.
And underneath all of it.
Something different.
Weighted.
Playful.
Cruel.
Like a dice rolling inside the world itself.
Julius crouched on a broken rooftop and smiled.
"How interesting." Said julius softly.
Below him, several lower market workers were moving crates through a false sewer wall. They were not soldiers. Not exactly smugglers either.
They moved like people who were scared, but not lost.
That was important.
Fear with direction became discipline.
The crates had small black dice marks painted near the corners.
Food.
Bandages.
Dried medicine herbs.
Useful things.
A church patrol turned the corner.
Seven men.
One officer.
Too proud.
Too clean.
Too sure that the road belonged to him.
The workers froze.
The church officer raised his hand and said "By authority of the order of saint peter, all goods moving through this district are to be seized and inspected."
A old woman standing near the crates stared at him.
Then spat near his boot.
*Plat*
"Go inspect your mother's grave." Said the old woman.
Julius blinked.
Then smiled.
Brave.
Terribly foolish.
The church officer's face hardened.
"Seize them." Said the officer.
The knights moved.
Then the ground changed.
Not fully.
Not yet.
The feeling changed first.
Heavy.
Unfair.
Wrong in a very specific way.
A black magenta board appeared under the patrol's feet, glowing through mud, cracked stone and gutter water.
The church knights froze.
A voice came from the alley.
"Touch my food and I'll feed your fingers to something poor." Said the voice calmly.
Julius turned his head.
A tall young man stepped out of the shadows.
Darkly handsome.
Broad shoulders.
Pink slitted eyes.
Black kimono.
Two eerie dice earrings with grotesque clown faces swaying by his neck.
A black magenta grimoire floated beside him.
David swallow.
Julius leaned forward with bright eyes and said with a whisper "So that's him. What fascinating magic."
David raised one hand lazily and said with a calm tone "Dice Creation Magic: World of fortune."
The board expanded.
The church officer shouted "Formation."
Too late.
Panel three flashed and launched one knight sideways into a wall.
*BAAM*
Panel one chained another knight by the ankle.
Panel five tilted under a third and sent him face first into a crate.
"Incredible." Said julius whispering with a wide smile.
David moved without rushing.
That was what caught julius's attention most.
He did not fight like someone trying to prove strength.
He fought like someone correcting a mistake the field had made by allowing his enemies to stand.
A dice flicked from his fingers.
It hit a broken pipe.
Bounced into a hanging sign.
Ricocheted under a shield.
Then snapped a knight's sword wrist.
*CRACK*
The man screamed.
David sighed.
"Loud." Said david calmly.
The church officer lunged toward the old woman with his sword raised.
David's smile vanished.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
It just left.
"Fortune step." Said david calmly.
A panel flashed.
David vanished.
He appeared behind the officer and grabbed his face.
*BOOM*
The officer's head slammed into the board so hard the street cracked.
The workers stared.
David looked at them and said calmly "Move."
They moved immediately.
Not because they loved him.
Because they trusted that when he said move, staying still was stupid.
That was different.
And more dangerous.
Julius stood.
David slowly looked up.
Their eyes met.
The whole street went quiet.
David stared at julius for a long moment.
Julius smiled warmly.
David looked genuinely offended.
"How long have you been watching." Asked david calmly.
Julius jumped down from the rooftop and landed lightly in the street as he said "Long enough to see your very fascinating magic.
David's eye twitched.
"Disgusting." Said david calmly.
Julius blinked in confusion and asked "My compliment."
"Your face." Said david calmly with a closed eyed smile.
The workers froze.
The old woman looked between them like she wanted to spit again but wasn't sure at who.
Julius laughed.
"You are david swallow." Said julius gently.
"And you are julius novachrono." Said david calmly.
Julius's smile remained, but his eyes sharpened.
"You know me." Asked julius.
David smiled with his eyes closed and said "Unfortunately."
The air became tense.
A beast mana trace shifted on a far roof.
Doran's scout.
Julius noticed.
David noticed julius noticing.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Julius looked at the board beneath his feet and asked "Can I ask about your magic."
"No." Said david immediately while looking at the roof.
Julius smiled wider and said "Just one question."
"That is how diseases start. I don't Intend to be the origin." Said david calmly with a very dry tone.
Julius put a hand to his chin and said "I have never heard curiosity described that way."
"Then you haven't annoyed the right people." Said david calmly.
A silver door appeared behind the workers.
Benjamin pennyworth stepped out and bowed politely.
"Captain novachrono." Said benjamin calmly.
Julius's eyes brightened.
"Door magic." Said julius Immediately.
David groaned.
"Of course. A magic pervert." Said david with a sigh.
Julius looked at him.
"Magic pervert." Asked julius with confusion.
"Yes. A man who sees a grimoire and starts salivating spiritually and probably gets off on it to." Said david with a sigh.
Julius paused.
Then smiled.
"That is not entirely inaccurate." Said julius with a chuckle.
Benjamin's mouth twitched.
David immediately looked at him.
Benjamin's face returned to calm stone.
Too late.
David had seen it.
The air above the street shifted.
Doran appeared on a rooftop with a wide grin, several onyx jackal knights behind him.
"Kekeke. Found the devil talking with the deer." Said doran with a lecherous look in his eyes in the roof with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
David slowly looked up.
Then at julius.
Then at doran.
Then at the workers.
His smile became ugly.
"Nyx." Said david calmly.
"Already here." Said a low feminine voice answered from behind doran's men on the roof.
One of doran's rear knights stiffened as a small white haired woman crouched behind him with one claw resting near his throat.
Julius's eyes widened in delight and said with intrigue "Oh. She's very good."
David clicked his teeth.
"Don't praise her. She becomes unbearable." Said david calmly with a wave of his right hand.
Nyx grinned on the roof
Doran laughed loudly and said "BEAST MAG…"
David raised one hand.
Not attacking.
Stopping.
"If we fight here, church patrols arrive in two minutes. Ariella gets a report in four. Clover wastes time. I waste patience. And all of this happens over crates of grain." Said david calmly.
Doran's grin thinned.
Julius watched david carefully.
"I don't care about clover pride today. I care about my supplies. You want to know what the church is doing. I can hand you one truth." Said david calmly.
Doran grinned and asked from the roof "And the price."
David's grin widened and said "There it is. You aren't stupid."
Julius watched silently as benjamin opened a small silver door and a rolled ledger copy dropped into david's hand.
David tossed it to julius.
Julius caught it.
His eyes scanned the first page.
Mana suppression powder.
Church contacts.
Border wells.
Hidden labs.
Supplier names.
Route symbols.
His smile faded.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Doran noticed.
David definitely noticed.
"Why give this to us." Asked Julius quietly.
David's pink eyes glowed faintly and said with a smile "Because saints look uglier in daylight. And because if clover keeps pretending the church is just praying in my city, I'll start assuming your kingdom is blind by choice."
The street went completely silent.
Doran stared.
Julius looked up at david.
Really looked.
A criminal.
A murderer.
A ruler under the dirt.
A young man who should not have been able to become this.
And yet there were workers behind him moving food because he had protected the route.
There were people who feared him.
But also relied on him.
There was cruelty there.
Deep cruelty.
But not only cruelty.
That was the dangerous part.
David stepped backward toward benjamin's door.
Nyx vanished from behind doran's knight and appeared beside him.
"David swallow." Said julius calmly.
David paused.
"Your magic is truly incredible." Said julius sincerely.
David stared at him for a long second and said calmly "Your smile makes me want to commit a felony."
Julius laughed again.
David stepped through the door with nyx, benjamin and the workers.
The silver door vanished.
The board disappeared.
The street felt normal again.
Almost.
Doran jumped down beside julius and said "Kekeke. Well."
Julius looked at the ledger.
Then at the empty alley.
Then at the cathedral bells in the distance.
His smile was gone now.
"What are you, david swallow." Said julius softly.
Doran looked at him from the side and asked "You like him."
Julius looked at doran.
Doran grinned.
"That is dangerous." Said doran.
Julius looked back down at the ledger and said "No. What is dangerous is that I understand why people follow him."
Doran's grin faded slightly.
Far above them, hidden near a chimney, a small black teddy bear with shark like teeth watched silently.
Its stitched mouth opened slightly.
Then closed.
And somewhere beneath the city, david swallow smiled to himself because another powerful man had finally looked in the right direction.
…
THE END…