Love and Friendship, Part 2

"Luciel, one day you will meet people you would call friends, real friends are irreplaceable people, people who one day will help you in your moments of need, in your darkest and lowest moments, then, they will not only be your friends, but will turn to be your Family." – said an old man with a slight and weak smile that have closed his eyes, remembering the figure of four people, four men, or better say, old men whom he called brothers.

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"So, Adventurer Armando, Leader of the Party of the Five Losers, to what do I owe this pleasant visit?" – asked the handsome man in front of me, the famous Egil Bals.

"Milord, I have come to you to ask you for a really big favor." – I said.

It was then that I took my time to explain the whole situation to the man named Egil Bals, a handsome young man with blue eyes and blonde hair, whose aura of power was curiously on par with mine, the power of a County Master.

When I finished speaking, Egil said nothing, I was nervous while I saw him drinking the tea that a servant just served him, waiting for what he would say to me.

He stared at me for a minute, and then he closed his eyes and spoke to me.

"Adventurer Armando, do you ever understand what you are saying, the engagement of Noble Families is not something as simple as the engagement of the people like you, the engagement between nobles involved many things, things that a civilian like you would never comprehend."

"I know my lord, but I love Priscilla, and I… I know that she loves me." – I said. – "Please, I beg you, cancel the engagement with Priscilla, she… she will never be happy with you."

Then, he opens his eyes and looked at me.

"Oh, really? Are you so sure that Lady Priscilla would never come to love me." – said Egil. – "You would see, she and I met since with were little kids, I know her better than you."

Then he stood up.

"That's your words, in perhaps, maybe right now she loves you, but maybe, and just maybe, she doesn't love you anymore, and now loves me and is ready to marry me."

His words made some sense, maybe he was right, and Priscilla had already forgotten about me, about our days, about our love, and now she doesn't love me… but I knew and felt that she loves me, I just knew it.

"We love each other, the days we spend together were real, and I know that she hasn't forget about me." – I said with confidence and strength in my voice.

"Hm." – the son of the baron smiles a little at my words, he makes the servant, and the guards leave the room with just a gesture.

"My reputation would take a heavy blow if I broke my engagement with Lady Priscilla, and this is sure to make Lord Arwyn furious with me and my family, and right now Armando, is a bad time to antagonize a Lord, specially a ally, and even more for someone like Lord Arwyn, whose services to my father have paid off, thanks to him, with have our best victories on the battlefront against the Lords of Prisma." – said Egil. "Leaving that aside, we can't forget about the lady in question, Lady Priscilla, one of the most beautiful women I have ever met… in our territory, it would be a shame not to be able to marry such a gorgeous and elegant lady with a heart as pure as the most white and beautiful moon in our sky."

"I…"

"Armando." – he got close to me. – "What you ask me is too much, I am afraid that I can't accept, I can't take the risk that would happen if I broke the engagement, please understand what I trying to explain to you."

"Milord…"

Then I got down on my knees, my face close to his feet and boots.

"Please, my lord! I beg you; I will do anything you ask, but please, just break the engagement, let me talk to Priscilla, the woman that I loved more than my own life, I beg to you to have consideration about what I am facing."

"Get up." – said the nobleman.

But I refuse to do what he said, I was risking too much, if I offend him, surely, I will sleep in a cell, but I was desperate, I need to see her, I need to hug her, I need to kiss her, I need to tell her how much I love her.

Egil walked away and looked out the window, seeing the buildings, ways, and people of the City of Mara.

"Armando, you are a good person, I know for the information I obtained that you are not only brave, but also professional, a person with not only skill, but also a big heart, but, in the world of nobles, being a good person, a brave person, and a rightful person is nothing, the only think that matters in my world, is power, only Power matters, be it military, political, economic, strategic, or influential, nothing else matters than Power, so, tell me, what kind of power do you have to exchange for my fiancée? What can you give me to not make me lose anything? What?"

"I have my own as my power, I am a C-Rank Adventurer with ten years of experience, I am a County Master with great swordsmanship skill, and I can be of use to you."

"Ha, Armando, please, I myself am a County Master, and I have enough money to even hire the services of ten adventurers of the rank of power of March Grand Master, who will gladly serve me."

"Yes, milord, you do have the money, influence and status to contract Rank-B Adventurers, but, my lord, right now the territory is facing a crisis, and all Adventurers of B or a superior rank are right now in the south, doing missions for the Count of Vermont, for our territory." – I said, knowing better than many people about the current situation with the people of my profession, even I and my team where ask to go do missions to help in the war, but I and the other declined. – "There is no March Grand Master Adventurer available right now milord, only C-Rank Adventurers like me, and there is not a better C-Rank adventurer in Vermont that I."

"Right, your words are." – said Egil. – "We lived in this cursed time, first a war between the two stronger empires, and now the invasion of the County of Prisma, and we can't ask for help because our allies are busy in the war of the Two Marchs, we are currently very pressured, and things do not seem to improve."

"I am at your service." – I told him. – "And I only ask as a paid, for you to break your engagement with Priscilla… my love."

"Hm."

Seconds turned into minutes, until finally the nobleman in front of me spoke to me again.

"Fine." – he said, causing me a huge relief and emotion. – "But it won't be easy."

"No matter what mission you would need me to do, I will accomplish it." – I said with enormous confidence in myself.

"Good." – he said. – "A few days ago, when I and the rest of my family accompanied my father to The Citadel to complain about the Prisma's Invasion to the Minister of Internal Relationships and the Minister of Security, our mansion was attacked by bandits."

"The bastards killed some of our guards and our servants, twenty-seven deaths, and the worse of all, those bastards stole many valuable things that have belonged to my family for dozens of generations, important things and that are worth more than all the money that a Party of Rank B Adventurers could make in all their whole lives… those bastards came from the County of Prisma."

"Thanks to our spies, we came to know that those bandits came not only from Prisma, and that their lair is in the Northwest of Prisma, but that they are close allies to the fucker Count of Prisma, thanks to him and his informants, he knew when we were away from the mansion, and then, those bastards attack the people of Vermont, took our things and return to Prisma, where we can't go."

"As you well know, they have invaded us, and something that many do not know is that we are losing, so, my family cannot send even a soldier from our private army after those bastards, and no Lord or other Baron can, and we can't even ask for help from the Manet or the Seychelles, since they are totally focused on the war."

"I thank the gods that at least none of my family died, but still… I need those bastards to died, and I need the things from my family to be back, do you understand?"

"Yes, I get it."

"Here." – he gives me two sheets, and one bag. – "These sheets contain all the information you need about the location of the lair of those bastards, and the items you need to obtain. Also, I am giving you temporarily this Storage Bag, whose enchantment with help you, storage every item of the list, and you will not feel even a gram of the weight of the things you are going to storage."

"Good."

"Great, good luck Armando, you will need it."

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"Are you sure about this?" – asked an older man, whose face had some traces of similarity with the face of Egil.

"Yes, father." – said Egil, who looked into the blue eyes of his father, who, because of the war, his face show more wrinkles and his hair were turning whiter faster.

The Baron look at his son, waiting for his explanation.

"The mission to reobtain all our things is one of vital importance, and if he fulfills it, we will obtain many objects who would help us obtain money for the current war, so, I won't mind breaking my engagement with Priscilla, because we would obtain resources that the Arwyn Family can't give us."

The young nobleman the show a sad face.

"And, also, is most likely that he would die, so if Armando failed and die, I would marry Priscilla, and we would obtain the little resources and power-men that the Arwyn can give us."

"Either of the two, we win something, and loses nothing."

"Indeed." – smile the Baron. – "You are smart man, sadly I can't say the same about your brother."

"My brother is better warrior than me, he is more important than me right now."

"Could be, but thanks to you, we have stand to be the most powerful barony in this war, and once it finished and we won, we would not longer be just a Baron Family."

"Yes."

"Poor idiot." – said the Baron thinking about Armando. – "The Peasants will never understand."

"It is love, father, love is the greatest poison of all." – said Egil, talking about Armando. – "It makes us do crazy things, and we are blind to our reality, love, is something that destroy even the greatest of men."

"True, your words are my son." – said the Baron who start to walk away.

"Leaving already?"

"Sadly." – said the already tired Baron. – "Viscount Manet has asked all the barons loyal to the Count to gather together, he plans to finally launch an offensive against the Norris' City."

"So, we are going to finally attacked the base city of the traitors, enough for us to eliminate them?"

"No, the Norris are not fools, the always have I way out, a way to survive." – with those words, the Baron left.

Egil looked at the window, as he watched the adventurer with red hair and eyes leave away, going to prepared for his mission.

'Armando.' – he thought. – 'You are a good person, I will not deny it, I like you, you are person worthy to be friends, sadly, life is not a fairy tale, life is cruel and unjust, and it is time for you to really prove that you are a worthy person of Lady Priscilla.'

"I wish you luck, you will need it now more than ever."

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"Look who is finally here, the idiot finally shows up." – said Pak, who even with his blindness, he was the first to notice Armando's arrival.

"How was it?" – asked Clinton worriedly.

Armando just slightly smiled, and then he told them what had happened between his conversation with the young nobleman.

…

"Wait for me for a few weeks, before you know it, I will return with all the belongings of the Bals', wish me luck." – said Armando.

"Luck." – Lino said that as he left the pub.

"Take this, you would need it for your trip." – Lapz tossed him a Stone Coin.

"I wish you the best of lucks and that you achieve your goal, my dear friend." – said Pak with a smile.

"You're an idiot." – said to me Clinton angry. – "It is really dangerous, you alone in another territory, even so more an enemy territory, it's not worth it."

"My friend, Priscilla is the love of my life, she is worth everything to me."

"Ah, better not die, damn lover." – he said as he hugs me. – "Be careful."

"Yes." – I said with a smile.

So, during the rest of the day I got prepared, bought everything I would need or occupy in my travel and mission, and the next morning, I departed from the City of Mara, going to the northwest of Prisma, to the lair of the bandits.

A few hours later, I was walking in the road, when suddenly I heard how a carriage was approaching, so I moved out of the way for the carriage to pass, but when I thought that the carriage will go its way, the carriage stopped.

"Hello, stupid gentleman, need a ride?"

I could not believe what I was seeing, it was Lapz with a huge smile riding the carriage, then, three people got out of the carriage and stood in front of me.

"Nice to see you again, dumb lover." – said Lino. – "Hope that we are not too late to join."

"It's a nice and beautiful day, isn't it?" – Pak, the blind said.

"You idiot, you thought that you would go alone?" – Clinton walked close to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. – "We are a party of five people, the Five Losers don't leave any of its members, especially their stupid leader alone on a suicide mission."

"Are you crazy?!" – I yelled at them. – "This mission is very dangerous, you idiots, you could die, this has nothing to do with you, I alone will…"

"You are an idiot, but you are our idiot." – Clinton said with a smile.

"Bandits, ha, they are nothing against me and my arrows." – said Lapz with confidence.

"I was just passing through this road." – Joked the blindman.

"As the oldest, handsomest, and wisest of the five, it is my duty and responsibility to see that nothing happens to our little idiot of a leader, so, you will have to be a grown-up man and be fine with our presence."

"You…" – for the first time since I met them, they saw my face full of tears. – "You… idiots…"

"So are you." – Clinton said as he hugs me. – "That is why we are a team."

"Friends." – Lapz joined the hug.

"Family." – Pak almost fall but got to hug us.

"The Five Losers." – Lino was the last to join the group hug.

"I…"

At that precise moment I finally understood, they would always be my friends, my family… my brothers.

"Come on, get on that we have a long trip." – said Lapz.

"We have a wedding to stop." – Lino said. – "Hahaha, a slap to the nobles, we townspeople we will show you that we are not beneath you, we will teach you what we are worth."

"What a beautiful day, isn't?" – said the blindman for a second time.

Clinton just smiled and got inside the carriage, the others follow him, and I looked up at the sky with still tears in my eyes.

'Yes, it is a beautiful day.'

And so, the five of us began our journey to the bandit's lair.

A suicide mission, a mission that would be a before and an after for us, a mission where the Five Losers will us the whole power, a mission where my legend would begin… a mission, where we are going to meet the greatest Legend of all.