Chapter 24: A Date

The week came and went rather quickly, David stayed at home the entire time, but was constantly visited by Alice who would bring over her work and do it at his house. Luckily, he had already decided on his men to fill the ranks and he left the squad leaders tentatively in charge of the training while he was gone. So, he didn't have much work to do while he sat around and talked to Alice. When he teased her for coming over so much, she rebuffed him.

"My friend is injured and stuck at home, so of course I would come visit you often." She was completely serious, so David let it go.

After a week of recovery most of David's minor injuries were completely healed, surprisingly even many of his major wounds had healed. His left arm had yet to recover unsurprisingly and it still required it to be stationary, but he just wrapped it up and put it in a sling and decided it was good enough. It was now time to go see Maria. He had been told to head to the same tavern where they used to meet for the blood transfusion, so he left his house in that direction. As he was leaving, Alice, who was at his house that morning waved him goodbye and wished him good luck in her head. But as she saw him walking away, full of pride that she had helped to make this happen, a small pang of jealousy rang through her. Was this the best option? Of course she just wanted her friend to be happy and it would be best if all three of them could spend time together, but as he walked out of sight, she felt like her time of monopolizing him may be coming to an end, and that saddened her. But quickly as it came, she threw out her jealousy and went back inside to finish her work.

David had arrived at the tavern precisely at the time he was instructed to and when he arrived, he saw Maria already standing outside, wearing a brilliant red dress that only further accentuated her beauty. Her dress wasn't even formal but when she wore it, it looked as if she could take it right to a Palace Ball. Instinctively, like he trained himself to do, he tried to suppress the feelings of admiration for her beauty but then he remembered the whole point of this entire venture was to let these feelings out for a while to see if it was indeed better to accept them or not. He walked up to her, he still had a cold expression on his face, but he knew he had to change it, so, taking a deep breath he then relaxed and let some emotion show on his face. If he was going to do this, if he was going to treat her like a friend for a day, then he was going to do it right. 

"You look beautiful." He said as soon as he calmed down.

Maria looked almost caught off guard by his remark for a moment before she regained her composure and curtsied. 

"Thank you." She said with a sweet smile. "And you look stunning today as well!" David looks down at his clothes, technically his clothes were not more or less formal than hers were, they were handpicked by Lily after all, but suddenly he felt under-dressed standing next to Maria. 

"I feel as though I didn't dress formally enough." He said with a small smile. She giggles a little before responding. 

"I think you look just fine, and with what we are doing today, you won't need to be formal." She then looks down at his still fractured arm. 

"Are you sure you will be okay like that; I wouldn't mind waiting for another day?" She said, concerned. 

"I'll be fine, so long as you don't challenge me to any left-handed arm wrestling it shouldn't affect me." Maria laughed at David's joke, which even he thought was pretty silly. 

"Well then I shall refrain from doing so." She said as she then takes him by the good hand and leads him into town.

Maria had been waiting for this day with bated breath, she had this planned well over a week ago. When she had heard that David had been incarcerated, she wanted to immediately run to his side and see if he was okay, the same went for the trial and the trial by combat he fought in. Each time she had to hold herself back from acting rashly because she was afraid of jeopardizing what she had gained in the talks with him, she didn't want to rush anything so all she could do was wait patiently at her house and hope for good news from Alice.

She brought him to a variety of different stores such as clothing stores, where she had him try on a bunch of different clothes. She brought him to bookstores, to hair ornament stores, jewelry stores, furniture stores, and weapon stores. When they broke for lunch, she took him to a wonderful cafe that had some amazing desserts he got after he had a proper meal. He considered sharing a dessert with Maria, but he felt that was a bridge too far right now. After lunch their activities continued as they watched a few street performers, had caricatures of both of them made, visited an art gallery, as well as many other things. She was very amused when David asked to stop at a toy shop so he could look around. She laughed to herself as she watched David play with a toy snake. Feeling her staring he turns to look at her, toy still in hand.

"What?" David asked, not sure what she was thinking. 

"Oh nothing." She said stifling some laughter. "That toy certainly looks... interesting." Maria said, looking for a word that wouldn't insult him. David seems to miss the subtext and just takes it at face value. 

"I know right? It has multiple joints in the wood so it can actually slither like a snake, it's pretty cool!" He said excited as he played with it for a bit longer before putting it down and looking at another toy. For Maria the whole scene was adorable, he acted like such a kid sometimes, she knew he was new to this world, but watching him stare in wonder at all the places she was taking him and things they were doing was quite refreshing. It was not just that but being with him made the whole thing seem brighter, even if she was just looking through different hair ornaments, doing it while with him felt completely new. It was so exciting to lead him somewhere because he always seemed interested.

For David, he may have been a novice at love when he lived back in his old world, but he wasn't completely ignorant. This was a date, there was no other way around that. The things they were doing, the places they were going, the fact it was just the two of them. If this wasn't a date, he didn't know what one would be. But he found he didn't really mind. It took him some time to fully shed himself of his old habits to withhold his emotions when with Maria, but once he did, he started to legitimately have fun. Many of the places she brought him were rather commonplace, but he had truly never been out in the market except for work. All of the servants stocked the house so there was no reason to get food, Lily ordered his clothes, so he didn't need to go to a tailor, Sebastian bought the furniture so he never saw what this world's furniture stores looked like. But most of all it was because he was with Maria that he was having fun.

Especially something like furniture can get boring very quickly but seeing her explain a unique piece he has never seen before made shopping there much more entertaining. And it was the same wherever he went. Even when he was in the tailor's shop waiting for Maria to change clothes rather than impatience, he felt a sense of anticipation as he waited for her to reveal herself. The place she took him for lunch was also delicious. Overall, he was having a great time.

But the thing that surprised him most, was how inquisitive and industrious she was. If he offhandedly mentioned something from his old world, she would immediately want to know what it was and how it worked, and unlike Alice she seemed to have a much better grasp on the items and how they were used. She would also try to get him to remember how it worked to the best of his ability, despite often being unable to get any more detailed. It was actually quite fun since he usually held back on other world knowledge since he didn't want to keep bothering Alice with it. But with Maria it seemed more like he had found a compatriot in wanting to recreate some things from his old world. In fact, he may have found the very person he needed to help him complete some projects that have been on hold for a while. But that was for another time.

Dinner was held at a noble's exclusive restaurant on the second-floor terrace overlooking the whole city. David was not oblivious to how romantic the scene was, especially with how beautiful Maria looked with the candle's light bouncing off her. He was a bit unsure how he, a non-noble, managed to get inside the building. But between her being the daughter of a Duke, and him being a Paladin under the crown princess, he couldn't imagine it would have been impossible to achieve.

After dinner the sun was going to set soon but Maria wanted to make use of all the time she had so there were still a few last places she wanted to go before the day ended. She told David to wait outside while she entered a tailor shop to try on a different dress that she was considering buying. The shop was small and had no sitting room, so David didn't mind waiting outside. He noticed across the street there was a vendor selling something that resembled crepes so he went over and asked for 2 since he assumed Maria might want one. He was about to head back to the shop when from down the street he heard someone call to him. 

"Hey you!" David turned and he saw down the street Zeke, the captain of the soldiers in the Zenith Kingdom's embassy. 

"This is bad, but wait how does he recognize me? I was wearing a mask the entire operation, my identity should be covered." However as he thought through these words he remembered that by the time he passed out and was rescued by the kids his mask was no longer on his face, meaning at some point during the hour that Zeke was chasing him it had come off without him noticing. 

"Shit!" David thought as Zeke walked down the street towards him aggressively.

Zeke drew his sword as he approached. David immediately dropped the crepes and looked around for something to fight with, luckily, he noticed a very small weapon's vendor next to the tailor shop Maria went into. He rushes over there and grabs a sword apologizing as he does. Quickly he cuts the sling holding up his arm and sticks his left hand in his left pocket. It would be a lot harder to fight if he had his arm in front of his chest, or if it was moving around freely. It definitely hurt to keep it in the pocket, but it was better than the alternative. 

"So, I finally found you." Zeke said, obviously pissed off. "Where have you been hiding this whole-time little terrorist?" The whole situation was about as bad as it could get, he did not think Zeke would find him and he was not in his top form right now, luckily Maria was still in the shop changing so she probably won't be in danger, but that doesn't mean David won't be.

Luckily, he was not wearing his uniform otherwise Zeke would be able to piece the whole story together, so he had no recourse but to play along with the lie he created. 

"The Black Hand are not terrorists! We are freedom fighters working to liberate Humanity! For Freedom!" He cried out holding his sword up high. 

"It makes no difference to me." Zeke said menacingly. "Because I'll cut you down either way!" He shouted as he charged at David full force. As soon as he did, the crowd immediately began to run away, which at least meant David didn't have to worry about civilian casualties. Something Alice once said to him. 

"It is a soldier's job to protect the people." rings loudly in his head, so at least this way he has one less thing to worry about.

However, Zeke was in top form and David was anything but. The sword he picked up clearly did not have the same quality of make as his military sword did. Not only that, the sword technique he created generally required two hands to be effective, but as it stood only one of his arms worked properly. Not only that, but his body had still not recovered 100% even outside his arm injury. All of this came to a head very quickly when he found himself being overpowered by Zeke almost immediately. He had little recourse. He struggled as much as he could, he kicked stalls over in his direction, he threw whatever he could find, he dodged as best as he could. All he had to do was to hold out long enough for the city guards to come and help him out. However, it meant very little. It did not take long for Zeke to disarm David and then stab him right in the abdomen. Judging by where he was stabbed it completely missed all of his vitals, but the wound was deep, and it hurt like hell. Zeke then pulled the sword out of David and hit him on the head with the pommel of his blade. David was sent flying a few feet, now barely conscious as Zeke slowly walked closer to him.

However, just as David had about given up on life, a person appeared in front of him holding a sword in hand. He struggled as he looked up and saw Maria standing there, dress ripped, showing off her legs. Her back was to him, a sword clutched in her right hand. David didn't know how she appeared so suddenly, but he knew she had to run, she didn't stand a chance. 

"R... run." David struggled to say as he was beginning to lose consciousness. 

"Don't worry, this time, I'll save you!" Maria said resolutely as she stood there defiant. David could no longer keep conscious, but as he blacked out his last image was of Maria's back standing tall like a wall. A Valkyrie sent from the heavens to protect him, and although he was scared, he felt safe with her back to him.

Maria had just left the store when she saw David laying on the ground, bleeding. A man holding a sword stood a few feet away, blood dripping down it. She didn't think, she acted, she grabbed a sword off the stall vendor next to her and all at once ripped the lower half of the dress off so she could have mobility. Jumping into the air she landed in front of David in between him and the man assaulting him. She stood there, determined to save David as he had saved her. It was then that she noticed that this was the man from the embassy, this was one of the men that killed her escorts and kidnapped her. This was a man of the Zenith Kingdom. But none of that mattered, what mattered was protecting David. She doubted she could get away from him with David in her arms so her only choice was to fight.

Zeke looks at her confused. 

"Aren't you Maria, daughter of the Duke?" He asked as Maria stood blocking his path. 

"I am, so?" She said sternly. 

"Don't you know that the man behind you is the leader of the Black Hand? Stop protecting him and let me finish him off, I no longer have business with you." He said as he took another step forward. Maria responded by pointing her sword at his throat, stopping him. 

"But why would you..." Zeke stops himself as he thought for a moment. 

"Oh," He said as a very frustrated look consumed his face. "I see now, I was the one who was tricked..." He stared Maria in the eyes and pointed his sword at her. 

"I hate it, I'm just going to kill you and then that human over there and it will be the end of it." He said as he lunged towards Maria. However, to his surprise Maria parried brilliantly with one hand. He takes a step back looking at the girl he once thought feeble. 

"That's not the imperial style." He said with mild impatience as Maria got into a fencer's stance. "Well it doesn't matter; it just means this will just take a bit longer!" He once again charges in and tries to land a flurry of blows only to be blocked each time.

This is something from David's memory that he had long since forgotten because at the time he did not find it "useful information." When he was still living in the Duke's manor, everyday around lunch time Maria would leave for about an hour and a half to go outside. David never knew what she was doing but she always came back wet, presumably after a quick bath. In reality she was outside sparring with the soldiers with her sword. But it was not one on one, it was more often than not 4 or 5 on one. She would single handedly spar against so many soldiers with her unusual style. While on the exterior she appeared to be little more than a graceful girl with a Duke's inheritance, in actuality she was one of the Empire's best swordsmen. Although it was a fact that was not widely known, her physical prowess was among the best even when compared to most of the Vampire Knights. Simply put she was a prodigy. The only reason she was captured and detained in the first place was because she was simply too outnumbered. With the numbers of people keeping her under watch and lacking a suitable weapon to fight with, she had little option but to remain complacent.

But as the two swordsmen clashed in a rapid flurry of blows, Zeke was quickly realizing just how much of a monster Maria really was. He was quickly losing ground and finding it hard to do little more than remain on the defensive. It was absurd! He may not be the famed War God of the Zenith Kingdom, but he was no pushover, he made captain purely on his sword skill after all. But this girl's skill was far above his, he was not her match, that became clear very quickly. Even if he wanted to escape it was no longer an option, he couldn't find the opportunity to run. Every time he would take a step to leave she would take that chance to land a blow. Was he... was he going to die here?

"No! Not a chance! Not today!" Zeke yelled as he threw caution to the wind and went in for a single strike to finish the fight. The fight stopped, each of their swords embedded into each other's bodies. Maria had been stabbed in her left shoulder, while blood was now trickling out of Zeke's stab wound on his neck. She held there for a moment before retracting her sword, letting him drop. She had done it; she had stopped him from hurting David. She looks at David, depressed to see him so badly injured as she then sees city guards coming around the corner. 

"This man over here just attacked the daughter of a Duke and a Paladin, clean up the mess, but we shall be going." Maria said sternly as she picked David up gingerly and then started running away to get David someone to help him.

As David awakened, his whole body in pain but mostly his stomach hurting. He looks down to see his stomach wound bandaged and wrapped. He looks around and sees that he is currently in his house on his bed. Then he looks off to his left and sees Alice sitting on a chair, her head on his bed, asleep. He got a serious case of déjà vu as he looked at her. He remembered when he woke up in the palace with her by his bedside. He reaches over and pets her head.

Alice woke up slowly to see David petting her head with a soft smile on his face. Her eyes immediately start to get wet. 

"I... I thought you were going to die!" She said in between sniffles. She reached over and hugged him. He hugged back. 

"I'm sorry Alice, it looks like I failed to keep my promise to you, I made you cry again." Alice laughed for a moment through her tears. 

"How do you always end up this way?" Alice said as she hugged him tightly. 

"Bad luck?" David said with a smirk.

They hugged for a few moments longer before they broke it off. 

"What happened to Maria?" He said worried. 

"After you passed out, she fought and killed the man who attacked you and then carried you all the way here. She is now back at her home, probably being scolded by her father." Alice said, finishing with a small laugh. 

"She killed Zeke?" David said in surprise as he looked at his hand. David had gotten pretty good at gauging other's strength since he began to learn to use the sword, he knew even if he was in top form beating Zeke would have been an impossibility, compared to Zeke, Reynold was a wannabe, and she beat and killed him? How good was she? But it didn't matter right now.

"She was depressed that your day out didn't go the way she planned." Alice said sadly. David smiles. 

"She saved my life." He then pauses. 

"Next time you see her; tell her she can remove the "temporary" from in front of friend." Alice laughs. 

"Why don't you just tell her yourself." 

"Yeah, I guess I will." There is a few moment's silence before Alice speaks up again. 

"David," She said as she looked him in the eyes. "There have been so many times where I thought you were going to die. You're such a handful, but I..." She pauses for a moment. 

"But I realized when Maria was asking me about you, that I don't really know much about you. I want to know; I want to know more about you." She said with a sincere look in her eyes. David smiles. 

"What do you want to know?" Alice paused for just a moment before responding. 

"Everything." She said, completely serious. 

"That is going to take some time." David said as he laughed a little. Alice grabs David's hand and grips it tightly. 

"I've got time."