Chapter 1242: The Lionhearts
Chapter 1242: The Lionhearts
The Lionheart family arrived in the Nation of Reborn early in the morning. And as soon as they stepped foot on the Rebornian citadel, they were welcomed with a bustling civilization that looked about as alien as could be.
Humans, demi-humans, and even some Beastfolks wandered through the walkways, wearing some kind of fabric or cloth that were unfamiliar to them. Some of them were like expensive silk, but some were just completely out of this world.
The royal attire worn by the Lionhearts looked completely out of place. And not in a good way. Back home, their attire made them stand out like they were of the regal lineage. But here, they just look outdated.
"What... what is this place?" they couldn’t help but wonder to themselves.
The automobiles here dominated the streets. No carriages nor horses. The roads were as clean as they were straight. Cars of different colors and designs lined neatly through their own lanes, waiting by the corner for their turn to cross.
"Excuse me, I am sorry but we cannot let you permit your Magical Beasts into the main road. You will have to place them on our stables. I shall lead you the way," said the Rebornian attendant.
The Lionhearts had no choice but to follow suit. They were led into the edges of the citadel, where a large open space was dedicated to the traditional carriages that their visitors used.
"My name is Lami, and I will be your attendant for this morning," said a Satyr demi-human.
The Lionhearts turned to their patriarch. The man’s stature should be renowned, even in a place like this. But since they were in a foreign territory, the patriarch decided to introduce himself.
"I am Caliburn Lionheart, 11th generation patriarch of the renowned Lionheart family," he said.
Lami dutifully inputted his name onto the tablet in her hands. "Alright, mister Caliburn. Would you like to start your tour now?"
Caliburn looked at his family. His wife looked completely out of focus. Her attention was on the clothes that the Satyr attendant wore.
As for his kids, they were still completely wide-eyed as they watched something in the distance. It seemed to be some kind of rectangular portal, attached to the side of a tall building. This portal showed some kind of window to some kind of foreign territory. He couldn’t understand it.
But his soldiers, on the other hand, were quite wary. Here, they noticed the presence of strong individuals. They weren’t visible, but they could feel those figures watching them from afar.
"Sir... we may have underestimated their security," said one of his soldiers. "I feel the presence of multiple Maugnetics watching our every move."
Caliburn nodded. Reborn was renowned for their innovative technologies, their talented leader and his talented Dragonborn officers.
However, they were not known for their military might. Most people just assumed that Reborn had a few good soldiers in their midst. However, seeing the Nation of Reborn in front of them, they realized that it was not quite true.
"It’s alright," Caliburn said to his soldiers. "We’re not here to cause trouble. We’re here to just find answers."
Then, the patriarch turned to Lami. "We’re not here to look around. We’re here for a meeting with your leader. As well as the infamous Dragonborns."
Lami nodded, inputting more things in her tablet. "I see... I see," she muttered.
Then, she took out a phone and dialed a number. "Hello, yes. I have a guest here and they wish to speak with our officers.... Uh huh... alright."
"Unfortunately, our officers are quite busy for today. Their presences are warranted in a lot of places, you see. However, I will inform you once their schedules are available."
Caliburn’s son, Arthur’s father, stepped up. "We are the Lionheart family. Our name deserves the utmost respect. I’m sure that they’ll make time for us."
Lami pursed her lips. The Lionheart family was quite insistent with their request. Thankfully, she was an experienced attendant who had dealt with several troublesome visitors during her tenure in the nation.
"Alright. Would you like me to walk you to our destination?"
Their expressions lightened, and Caliburn nodded.
And so, Lami led the famous swordsmen family to the heart of the Nation, guiding them through the different streets.
As she did so, she skillfully introduced the different stores and key buildings to the Lionheart family.
"Here we have the cafe district," she said. The aroma of coffee wafted over the entire area, making some of the Lionheart women close their eyes to savor the taste.
"Would you like to taste?" Lami asked.
Some of the Lionhearts almost wanted to say yes. Unfortunately, Caliburn shook his head and instructed the Rebornian attendant to continue walking.
Eventually though, as the reluctant family continued to walk through Reborn, they were faced with more and more questions in their minds.
They saw men and women holding some kind of metal brick by their ears, talking to no one but the air. Some were even waving at it, as if there was a person in that thing.
"That’s our smart phones," Lami explained. "You can do a lot of things with it, like communicate with others through long distance, or send pictures—"
Caliburn raised his hand. "Spare us the details, please." Then, he gestured for Lami to continue forward.
In the patriarch’s eyes, this was nothing more than a distraction. An illusion that the Rebornians made in order for them to skip past the conversation that the Lionhearts wanted.
And so, Caliburn instructed them to go forwards.
Lami did her best. She made brief introductions to the different Rebornian districts, hoping that they would find something of interest.
And some of them did. The children, the women, and even some of the soldiers were visibly curious to the innovative structures and items in Reborn.
The motorcycles, the glass structures, everything.
And in the end, they found themselves nearing the Rebornian Estate. It was a large palace-like structure that housed Michael, the Dragonborns, and all the other Department Chiefs in Reborn.
As they continued to walk towards the entrance, they all suddenly heard cheering from behind them.
Caliburn turned his head, eyes narrowing. He thought that something had gone wrong. Even his soldiers were wary. They turned around, hands on the hilts of their swords.
Lami quickly diffused the situation. "Oh, please. Don’t worry about them," she said. "That was just from our stadium."
However, this didn’t convince Caliburn at all. That was because he could feel the presence of Maugnetics in those screams. There were a lot of them. Too many.
Even his soldiers were now suspicious. Perhaps, the Reborn Company was trying to hide some kind of slaughterhouse against their tourists! And that was the cause of the screams!
"I want to go there," Caliburn said, confident of his conclusion.
Lami pursed her lips. "I don’t think it’s a good idea right now," she said. "There’s going to be a lot of people, and I don’t want you all to be overwhelmed."
However, this just gave the Lionhearts more confidence. "Lead us there."
And so, with no other choice, Lami had to lead the Lionhearts to the Stadium.
And as she did, the screams continued to get louder and louder. More emotional. More everything. They could even see blood glittering all over the air!
But as they got closer and closer, they started to realize something.
Those screamings... they weren’t out of fear. No. they were celebrations. There were even clappings all around.
And that blood? That was some kind of a powder-like item that was diffused in the air.
"What... what is this?" Caliburn asked.
Lami turned to them. "This is our stadium. This is where we hold our Baseball games. And right now, it’s the Finals of our Tournament, so things are quite intense. If someone asks you what kind of team you’re rooting for, just say that you’re rooting for both."
She had shivers as she said that. As if something was going to happen if they said the wrong thing to the wrong people.
And so, they entered into the stadium. They walked alongside different people.
Some of those people wore bright-colored jerseys. Some wore blue, some wore red.
And they noticed that those who wore blue, was never found alongside the other reds. This was vice-versa. It was as if they were some kind of bitter rivals with a vendetta against each other.
They even heard some arguments!
"Your team’s pathetic! You just have the umpire’s in your pocket!" said one of the blues.
"Are you kidding me?! We would have won game two if it weren’t for the bad umpire that was totally biased towards your team!"
There were leers and jeers being thrown around.
And in the end, some people even turned to the Lionhearts who were wearing their traditional red-colored attires.
"You! I don’t want to see you guys when we win!"
Caliburn and the other soldiers turned solemn, their hands on their hilts. Things looked tense.