The witch's tower: Last witch's curse (Volume one)

Spellcast 3: Decretum 1

⸮ʜuʜ ʜǫuoɿʜƚ ǫᴎiꙅꙅɒq ɘ|doᴎ ɿɘʜƚoᴎɒ ƚꙅuႱ'

'....ɿuovɒᎸ ɒ uoʏ ʞꙅɒ oƚ ǫᴎiqoʜ ꙅɒw I'

'⸮uoʏ ƚ'ᴎɘɿɒ ,ʏbɘɘɿǫ ɘƚiup ɘɿɒ uoY'

'...ᴎɘʜƚ ɘɿɘʜ ǫᴎibᴎɘ ꙅi ꙅiʜƚ ꙅi ꙅꙅɘuǫ ʏM'

With a sudden and intense rush of wind and muffled voices resounding in his ears and the tick of a clock- Arthur once again finding himself abruptly rising up from his bed back at the palace, his face incredibly ashen as he caught his breath- almost as if it were the first one he had taken in a while. He instinctively out his hand up to his throat- the searing pain of the poison stinging it being gone... and yet once more the faint essence of death lingered- as though to remind him that once more he had failed in his battle against the witch. That was right... once again he had failed...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey Arthur, are you awake yet?" From outside Arthur's door, Break was now waiting to get a reply from the loud thumps he had given to the door,; the knight's sword being in his hand as it had been in every restart.... Break waited a little longer for a response that didn't come... before he then raised his eyebrow in sync to his hand- going to knock upon the door another twenty times to wake his friend up- "Oi, do you want your sword or not-" he went to yell- when very abruptly the door to the room opened; revealing a rather downcast Arthur to be there in it's stead. "W-Woah- there you are! I was worrying that you weren't going to wake up again there for a second" The blacksmith gave a rather hearty laugh- feeling quite relieved to see the boy before him... though his words trailed off as he noticed the gloomy look now riddled in the knight's eyes; Arthur not saying a word in response to Break, simply holding his hand out for the sword.

Break gave a rather surprised expression to the knight's face... before then giving a sigh as he scratched the back of his neck a little.
"Let's do this again, good morning!" Break spoke up, placing his hand on Arthur's shoulder, the sudden impact causing the knight to snap out of it as Arthur jumped to this.
"I- huh- what?" A fragment of light returned to the knights eyes as he looked up to his friend who gave him a rather sympathetic smile.
"I'm going to give you your sword... but before that you should come back to the forge and have some breakfast with me" Break brought up, placing Arthur's sword behind him as Arthur seemed a little conflicted by his words.
"Huh- no, wait, I have a mission..." Arthur began as Break simply patted Arthur on the back, dragging him out from his room.
"It can wait..." Break told him in a stern but friendly tone, as Arthur couldn't do anything but let the blacksmith drag him off...

"So... night terrors huh?"

There was a loud sizzle come from a cast iron pan before the Blacksmith who made these sentiments- he and Arthur now being sat in the living area's of the palace barracks forge. It was a rather small room, a single bed being shoved off into the corner and the rest of it being made for a simple kitchen and dining area. Outside was the forge area- one no doubt the blacksmith would use more often to cook food than the small kitchen he had set up. Arthur gave a disconcerted expression as he heard the lie he had told the blacksmith relayed back to him...

Since arriving in the forge, Break had bombarded him with a few questions about how his day to day life had been- about how he had been resting... it appeared as though his mood that morning had tipped his friend off to something being wrong... though it wasn't as if he could truly explain to Break that there was a curse now upon him... he didn't believe such a thing himself until his experienced it. Even if he did... if time restarted again, Break would forget any of this even happened...
"I guess you can say that..." Arthur gave a vague response as Break simply nodded to this, placing some eggs and bacon upon two plates for the two of them, before he looked back to Arthur with a rather laid-back sigh.
"You need to lay off the sweet bread before bed..." he scolded Arthur who gave a somewhat strained smile as he heard this. He recalled hearing that line from the blacksmith before...

It was before Arthur could really sigh over the fact that Break then placed food before him with a rather merry smile.
"In any case, it's nothing a healthy breakfast won't fix! Tuck in!" Break exclaimed merrily, feeling quite impressed by the quick fry up he made.... just for his quick work to be met with quite the expression of harrowed disgust on Arthurs part...

"... you know... I know as a blacksmith my cooking may not be the best, but even still you could humour me a little..." Break brough up dryly as it was to his words that Arthur quickly jumped- shocked that his expression was that obvious...
"Huh?! Oh no, I usually like your cooking... it's just that... this has bacon..." Arthur's tone became quite stilted as he looked back to the bacon that was now on his plate wearily. Break only appeared more confused by this response.
"Huh? What? Usually you love bacon!" He pointed out as Arthur gave a small sigh, nodding to this.
"You're right... I guess today I just don't feel too in the mood..." he mentioned, pushing the bacon over to the side... how was going to explain that it was because only a short while ago he was seconds away from becoming bacon himself. Break didn't seem to follow the knight's logic too well as he tutted.
"I swear, living in the palace has made you nice mouthed..." he commented as Arthur could only let the Blacksmith run with his assumptions... he kept his eyes on the bacon before him distantly- he didn't think he would come to empathise so much with a piece of meat...

'I'm sorry you got fried...' The knight couldn't help but offer his sincere condolences to the bacon before him as he placed his hands together- Break only able to stare at the knight with deep confusion as he took a bit of his own breakfast...
"You are a weird one, you know that..." he told Arthur who looked up, moving on to his eggs.
"Maybe so...."

It was after breakfast that finally Break handed over the sword he had been apparently repairing for the past two days over to him.
"There as good as new, you need to go easier on the poor girl, my heart bleeds for her whenever you bring her in..." Break commented, crossing his arms-
"I'll keep it in mind..." Arthur responded as he inspected his sword... though not because he believed Break would have skipped out on fixing it to any extent.... A rather uncomfortable expression came over his face. There wasn't a hint of damage upon the sword at all... not a drop of another's blood... it was in the exact same condition it was in when Arthur first set off on his quest... and though it was probably to be expected, he still couldn't help but feel a great deal on unsettlement to it. He decided to stop focusing too much on the quality of the blade- his eyes drifting over to the handle... and as they did, his eyes laid upon the blue gem that was now at it's centre...

Thinking back on it- this stone had saved him twice now... it even seemingly reversed the spell that had turned him into a pig, the image of the blue sparks dissipating off it as he reverted to his human form returning to his mind.
"Say... I've never really asked... but do you know much about the stone that is inside my sword..." Arthur brought up casually to Break; who upon hearing the knight ask this appeared rather surprised.
"Hmm? You mean the Iscara stone? Funny... you often use this sword when going on quests that have magic tied to them- so I just assumed that you knew what it was originally used for... though I guess that's a little beyond our time huh?" Break muttered to himself thoughtfully; Arthur's face becoming quite intrigued.
"Iscara stone?" he repeated curiously... never having heard of such a gem name before...
"They were a gem that were used quite proficiently in the anti-magic war... hmmm I can't quite explain how it works- however it was used because it had magic warding properties. It was a good defence from bad spells... they are pretty rare though nowadays; you are lucky to have your hand on one of them..." Break informed the knight who kept his eyes fixed upon the gem in his sword... coming to think of it... he recalled faintly hearing of there being stones with different properties against magic.... He had never really though about the potential of there being one on his own sword however, he just assumed it was a decorative piece to signal it had come from royalty.... That being said though... it being made for the king who started the anti-magic war to begin with made much more sense...

Though it didn't really explain every experience he had... to begin with if it's a stone that was meant to prevent him from being harmed from magical attacks- then how come it didn't seem to always do so until it really counted... after all, it didn't seem to stop him becoming a pig even if it did turn him back...

...
'I hope you passed with dignity...' Arthur found his eyes tracing back solemnly to the bacon he left untouched on his plate, his blacksmith silently watching him do this with a strained smile... maybe the sweet bread really was causing him problems...

Break's concerns would be quickly brought to a stop however as someone walked into the forge to join them.
"Yahoo, super cleaner is here for her shift!" came the cheery voice of Shannon as she marched in with some cleaning supplies on her morning run, her sudden presence catching both the men's attention.
"Ah! Shannon, perfect timing, have a word with your brother for me will ya? Night terrors are making him pray to bacon..." Break informed her as at the instant Arthur jumped to his words.
"I wasn't praying to bacon-!"
"Certainly looked to me like you were!"

"You are having night terrors?" Arthur found his sister now tilting her head at him as Arthur pouted a little to her finding out. The last thing he wanted to be doing was causing her any unnecessary worry... Sannon could only get more curious. "That's strange, usually you sleep like a baby..." She added with a chuckle as Arthur frowned.
"Well, things are different from when I was back at home at sixteen, I've seen a lot more horrifying things in that time... to the point where some of it is sort of normal now..." Arthur mentioned to her as Break gave a small chuckle to this response.
"Well I guess I know a little, after all you bring the hides of many of those terrifying creatures!" He brought up casually as it was to this that Arthur gave a rather diminished exhale.
"You know... actually, lately I haven't really been doing that as much..." Arthur's mood once again starting to plumet as once again the room feel to a small silence....

Break looked over to the knight who once more appeared to become quite depressed as he then glanced back over to Shannon with a small cough. Shannon took a moment of seeing the blacksmith trace his eyes from here to Arthur with an increasingly less subtle pleading expression before she caught on, giving Break a small nod... when she then walked over to him, giving him a large hug from behind the chair he sat on.
"So anyway~ How is my amazing big brother doing? What's gotten you looking so glum!" Shannon chorused as Arthur jumped a little to her actions.
"Huh? Shannon, stop worrying, I am fine!" he told her off, a little flustered by her coddling as Shannon gave him a large squeeze, prodding hi cheeks.
"Hmmm? That face tells me otherwise! I'm your little sister, you have to let me worry about you! Where would you be if I didn't?" She asked him with a cheeky chime as Arthur's eyebrows knitted as he only grew more embarrassed by her words. When he then turned around and promptly grabbed onto her nose. "Iyaaa!"
"Stop trying to act cool.." He lectured her as Shannon moved back with her cheeks puffed out.
"How mean..." She tutted in a sulk as Arthur simply held his fingers up in a defensive stance.
"There's more where that comes from. I told you before- I'm your older brother, let me do the worrying..." he told her as Shannon sniffled somewhat as she instinctively covered her nose.
"When you pinch noses like that- it only causes me to worry more..."
"Eeeeh?"

"AHEM"

Arthur had almost found himself relaxing a little with the tongue and cheek banter he was having with his sister... almost... for soon their conversation was interrupted by a rather a person that did anything but help Arthur relax... Louise stood in the door way, cladded in his white armour; his gaze towards Arthur as piercing as ever....
"I was sent here to collect Arthur.... But it seems he is too busy playing around with castle staff to take his duty as a knight seriously..." the white knight spoke acridically about the two before him as already Arthur felt his blood pressure rising already within a few words his co worker had spoken.
"Don't get any weird ideas Louise, she is my sister" Arthur was quick to scold the man scowling at him, recalling what happened the last time he had a bad impression of Shannon. Louise looked between the two siblings abstractly.... Before wrinkling his nose and giving a sigh.
"Siblings huh? Looking closer, she does share the same annoying face as you..." he uttered before simply shaking his head with a passing scoff. "I guess it makes sense for Arthur to be related to a peasant though... once a peasant, always a peasant!"

"This man is called Louise Shannon, though you have to make sure you say his name properly. Drop any honorific and be sure to emphasise the "Ew" sound in his name..."
"She shall refer to me as SIR Louise and SIR LOO-EECE only!!" Louise was quick to interject Arthur's lesson to his sister who nodded to his words seriously, making a mental note. Arthur looked back to the white knight blandly.
"What brings you here anyway "L ew ise"
"Yeah, you have a reason to be barging in here Sir Lewise" Break followed up with a raised eyebrow as Louise scowled at him.
"Don't you start either blacksmith..." he replied coldly before flicking his nose up to them arrogantly. "For the record, I wouldn't go seeking him out on my own accord, it's her highness that wishes to see him... if luck is on our side it would be to fire him for his peasantry..." he continued to scorn as it was to this that Shannon looked up to him with a glare.

"I held back the last time, but you have insulted my brother twice now! My brother is just as worthy of being a knight as any noble is!" She told Louise off firmly, not taking his jeering too lightly. Louise simply gave a passing glance to the girl before he cockily snickered.
"I don't want to hear such things from a person whose main role in life is to be cleaning up bed chambers..." he demeaned her as Shannon's face scrunched up, her face turning red.
"Can you hear yourself? From my recollection, nobles were meant to be chivalrous- it's a wonder if any woman will fall for you with that attitude!" She snapped at him as it was seeing that Louise was getting under her skin that Arthur at first intervened.
"Shannon, drop it. Trust me, he isn't worth the hassle" he tried to calm her as Shannon kept her ground, glowering at the white knight, who, rather than feeling wary of her, simply appeared to be amused by the audacity she had.
"You are saying that as though you would understand the feelings of a 'lady'. I wouldn't class a peasant as low as yourself in the same category as a human, let alone a lady of any kind!" Louise set his own fate in stone with his malicious words. Shannon appeared to be shaking in rage at this point, Arthur himself getting increasingly annoyed at him as it was with these words, he looked up to Shannon.... before raising up both of his hands, exhaling deeply as he simply unleashed the wrath that was his angered sister upon the knight who had been asking for it...

"Break, I'm going to be heading to the throne room..." Arthur announced as he grabbed onto his sword, Break simply ignoring the sounds of Louise being met with his karma.
"Yeah, I'll speak to you whenever then" he replied casually before he crossed his arms, leaning back against his wall. "Hey Arthur..." He called back to the black knight, a trace of concern coming across his face momentarily. "Don't be ashamed to take it easy from time to time and be safe out there... don't let those night terrors get the best of you..." Break told him sincerely as for a moment Arthur paused mid step, his mouth hanging open faintly at the many thoughts that crossed his mind that he could use to reply to those words that he sort of needed to hear in that moment.... When then a faint smile came across his face.
"Yeah... thanks Break!" he nodded.... as it was with those words he raised his hand up to the blacksmith, leaving the room and Louise to battle with his own demons in the form of his sister...

"I see you are heading off early again today..." it was as Arthur placed on his black gauntlets whilst within his room that he heard a familiar voice from behind him. He looked up to see the witch's familiar hanging upside down from one of the beams of his room not too far from him. The knight gave a rather arid expression in the face of seeing the bat.
"I thought you said you were only going to tag along with me once whilst you explain how the curse works..." He brought up to the bat dubiously as Ciel ruffled his wings with a rather worn-out sigh.
"Indeed... that was the original plan- however in light of the recent restarts, both mistress and I agreed that it would be best if I continue to keep an eye on you- in case you mess things up" Ciel responded in a flat tone- this news giving Arthur numerous reasons to argue one why he did not like this idea.... However from the last restart- he had already witnessed how stubborn the bat could be; even when he tried to get rid of him, somehow Ciel would find him anyway. He'd much rather he could keep an eye on the bat's actions himself openly than have him trailing him in secret... besides it wasn't as if he could really lose the bat for long- his journey was set in stone. Despite accepting this fact however- it didn't mean he wasn't going to let his guard down or give the witch's familiar an easy time either.

"So... in short you are stalking me..." Arthur suggested coldly, pulling his gauntlet down as the bat behind him jumped.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't put it like that! I doubt there would be a person who could stomach stalking someone as intolerable as yourself!" Ciel snapped back to the knight who checked he had his armour on properly.
"Then you must have quite the abominable stomach..."
"Not really, I have a stomach ache every time I talk with you..."
"I'll be sure to talk some more then..."
"???!!"

Ciel continued to frown at the knight who didn't follow up on his curt cut backs to the bat; the knight simply hoisting his sword onto his back with a small 'right' to himself.
"I presume you have already seen her highness..." the bat mentioned as Arthur paused somewhat in his pace to these words.... he certainly had.... and just like before she had the exact same lines and expression to give to him.
'I want you to go up the tower and slay the witch...'
His face became a little more sombre as he looked back upon it... maybe it was the change of pace he had that morning thanks to Break... but he almost had it in him to forget that time was repeating on itself... seeing the Princesses earnest eyes towards him had sobered him back up to the reality of it all... and with it came the numbing pain he felt of poison racing in his veins... things couldn't keep going the way that they were... he was going to have to find a way to one up Rosalyn somehow...

It was with this bitter reminder that Arthur then gave a heavy sigh and nod to the bat.
"Yes, yes, I'm heading out in a moment, don't worry, I'm not losing any time..." He told Ciel roughly as Ciel simply turned away from both Arthur's words and his nature.
"Ha, whoever said I was worried about you? If you get killed by contractors, that is entirely your fault..." Ciel responded with a haughty scoff as Arthur gave a strained smile in the direction of the bat.
"Oh yes... your hecklings reminded me that a certain someone took a lot of entertainment out of me being a pig last time... funny I recall there was a little girl in the inn we are going to that would love to play with you" he pointed out to Ciel- his tone not even trying to hide his begrudgement as Ciel backed up momentarily... before once again giving a snarky laugh to the knight whose eye's grew ever more callous in his direction.
"Ha! I would like to see you try!"

"Hey there! I have a pet bat, want to play with it?!" Were the cruelly cheery words of Arthur as he presented the panic stricken bat to the Inn's young girl Mary Anne upon arriving at the waxing inn that late afternoon.
"WOOOOOW!! Can I really play with them?!" Mary Anne sung, here eyes glittering as she raised her hands to take Ciel from Arthur, Ciel in question uttering nothing but ill will to the knight as he unsuccessfully managed to stay free from the young girls' hands.
"Curse you..." he gave a harsh whisper to the knight who felt no guilt watching Ciel be dragged off for a less than calm play session.
"Have fun!" he chimed cheerfully to the girl- it was petty revenge... but he certainly wasn't going to make the bat's task of tailing him a very fun one.

"M-My, that's the most energetic I have seen her in a while..." The inn keeper, Edward gave a rather astonished expression as he heard his daughter laugh gleefully, not catching the devious smirk that was now on Arthur's face... though it was after a second thought he then looked over to Arthur.
"You seem pretty familiar to this place though... have you been here before? Can't say I recall any kinsmen with bats around... oh if I am not assuming wrong that is" Edward then mentioned, looking Arthur's armour up and down as Arthur gave a small smile in response.
"You aren't wrong- I am a kinsmen from the palace... and I guess you can say I have been here a few times..." he responded, telling a white lie to the Inn keeper who gave a rather impressed expression to the knight before him.
"Oh... so you are a high rank are you? A noble?" he questioned.
"I wouldn't really say that either. I trained at the knights barracks" Arthur replied a little awkwardly to the questions into his past. "You can talk to me as though I'm just a regular customer" he assured the innkeeper, who somewhat jumped to Arthur bringing this up.
"Ah- no, sorry forgive my curiosity! I used to serve in the royal guards myself long ago, so I guess it's a little nostalgic for me. My eyes must be getting old however to not recognise a knight with a status as yourself ha!" Edward gave a meek yet merry laugh to Arthur who simply gave a warm smile to the inn keepers musings.
"It's not a problem at all, it's an honour to be round someone who has done their service" Arthur lowered his head to the inn keeper who became increasingly shyer to the knight's actions.
"Ahaha, no need to flatter an old man like me!" he told the knight who gave a nod to this.

He had heard from the Innkeeper last time that he was one of the veterans from the army a decade prior... which probably meant he played some part in the anti-magic war at one point. If anything it was nice to see the man was able to keep his enthusiasm after such staithes... especially with what was happening with his wife... once the restarts were over, he was going to have to visit the inn again to check up on how she was doing... his face became a little distant... yeah... once the restarts were over...

It was as Arthur was thinking on such thing that the inn keeper's eyes lit up a little bit...
"Oh... on your sword, is that Iscara stone?" Edward brought up as Arthur found his passing worries being stopped by the innkeepers words, his eyes widening faintly to this. Arthur glanced over his back before then bringing his sword out before him.
"Ah... yes, actually I recently found out what it was myself" Arthur explained as Edward seemed somewhat surprised to hear this.
"Huh, is that so? I guess the rumours really were true, these beauties really did start going extinct after the anti- magic war... I haven't seen one myself in a decade..." he analysed, looking at the sword as he gave an eased smile to the gem. "This one look's healthy, that's a good sign, it's been well looked after..." he added on as Arthur latched onto this bit of information. Break had mentioned that the stones were rare but nothing of them going extinct or having health. He looked over to his sword curiously... given the stone had helped him a few times... he pondered if he should consider learning more about it... maybe the innkeeper could give him some answers...

"Do you know much about the stone at all?" Arthur decided to go with his gut instinct as the innkeeper nodded to this.
"That's right, you mentioned only just learning of it... it was used in the anit magic war due to their magic propelling properties... they were useful stones... however they are quite fragile and have a lifespan on them. Use them too much and the effects die out and the stones become practically useless..." The innkeeper relayed some information to Arthur which caused him to twitch... the Iscara stone had a lifeline...? His eyes turned back to the stone in his sword... it was true that the stone had helped him numerous times... but he had no idea it had a sort of limit to it's power. If it was like this... then if the stone was to lose power whilst he was in the middle of a battle with Rosalyn. He felt his skin go rather cold at the thought as it seemed Edward noticed the uncertainty in the knight's eyes. "Ah! Don't worry though, from what I can see, this stone is very healthy! The vibrance of its colour is a good indicator. Just be careful how many times you use it to nullify magic attacks and it should last you a long time" Edward followed up as Arthur nodded briefly to this... was that so? He guessed he was going to have to take the innkeeper's words for it. Still, even with the alarm of finding out about the stones limits, he as glad he had found out beforehand... it was good to know of such things before heading into another battle with Rosalyn again... maybe this time he would have the upper hand?

He thought a little more on some questions to ask the innkeeper whilst they were on the topic and there was a nagging question that had been bothering him since Break had spoken about the stone earlier.
"Say... did you know of any instances when the stone didn't repel magic?" Arthur questioned, his words causing Edward to look back on it thoughtfully.
"Hmm... well even when weakened they would work to some extent... ah though it depended on the sort of magic you were up against. Iscara stones in particular only work against spells that intend to do harm" he notified Arthur, who only found this bit of information a little confusing, his eyes narrowing... so... did turning him into a pig not count as a harmful spell? Though he wasn't physically harmed, the mental scarring was something he hated to admit would affect him more than it should...

It was as Arthur brooded to himself a little, trying not to sulk on his hurt pride to the matter that Edward then gave a rather distant expression of unease the longer he stared at the stone...
"Ah... that's right... though I guess it didn't really matter back then what sort of spells they were using..." he uttered as this statement made Arthur snap out of it, the knight looking back to the innkeeper quietly... though it could have been written off as just a passing musing from the man- there was something in the way that he worded it and how his tone sounded in that moment that filled the knight with a certain level of discomfort, the sword in his hand starting to feel a little heavier... spells that weren't used to harm others huh....

Edward quickly moved on, perhaps noticing himself that he was becoming too cynical on the topic as he then looked away from the word himself with a cheerier tone.
"Though it's funny you bring that up Kinsmen- you know only well-trained fighters are able to use the Iscara stone. It reacts highly to ones will.... There were rumours back in my day if you knew how to use it well enough, you could use the stone to deflect almost anything..." Edward spoke on; Arthur looking to his blade... it was a rumour though... maybe it was something worth looking into... afterall...- he had found the Iscara stone had worked in rather odd circumstances for him- perhaps he wasn't trained enough...


This was his initial thought anyway, however it seemed that Edward had realised something to himself as he spoke that last line, Arthur's investigating of his own sword being brought to a stop by the innkeeper now showing Arthur a rather scheming smile.
"That's right- you are properly very well trained... say, Kinsmen, you met my eldest daughter on her way out earlier right?" he mentioned, his change in tune making Arthur dubious on whether or not he wanted to give a reply to this.
"Yes... I believe so..." he answered... much rather he knew so- she had once again shown him a rather defensive frown upon walking past him as he arrived. Though maybe he should have been so honest as the innkeeper nodded, a glistening smile coming over his face.
"Hmm? Then do you want to do me a favour for all the information I just gave you? One old fighter to a new one- I'll even throw in a deal for you!"
"..."

*****

It was with this that Arthur somehow now found himself outside of the inn rather than within it; the afternoon already starting to ease off.... The knight gave a deep sigh; well if anything, this beat being stuck in an inn room all day like last time. The situation was a little bizarre to the knight... and very disconcerting for the bat on his shoulder who had managed to escape the hands of the inn keepers daughter; desperate to tag along.
...
"Well..." Arthur began flatly, putting his hands on his hips as Ciel started to flap about in anger.
"Don't well this situation! Sir Arthur, are you really that much of a cheapskate?! Don't tell me you are that short on gold!!" Ciel lectured the knight whose face became quite stiff as he realised the bat knew the inn keeper offered him a discount.
"Give me a break, that isn't the case, I couldn't just refuse the man, he did give me a lot of useful information? I forgot this was a village where even intel was a product..." He mentioned, looking to his side as he realised that had fallen victim to the village's nature. Just as last time Edward had asked him to go and watch over his daughter whilst she was out, apparently worried about the chances of her running into trouble. Though unlike last time it wasn't like he could hesitate or turn it down... at the least, he figured this time allowing himself to wander around the village would help him think things through a little in regards to the stone... besides... the image of the girls tearful face from the last restart came to his mind... if anything, he would like to figure out what that was all about this time...

"Well how wonderful for you that you get to understand the market of this village- but need I remind you that we are on a time limit here?!" Ciel snapped at Arthur's words rather crossly as Arthur simply shot a skeptical glare to Ciel.
"What's the problem? I though you said we had until midnight..." Arthur pointed out something which made the bat freeze and bite his tongue.... when the bat then looked away from him.
"W-Well yes, but in all honesty, I don't trust you at all Sir Arthur to actually do that..." Ciel put forward as Arthur simply went walking off without the bat.
"Well that makes our feelings to one another mutual" he responded dully as Ciel flinched to Arthur making his way through the village.
"W-Where are you going?!" Ciel cried
"To go and fulfil my end of the deal... also if you are going to keep following me about even now, then at least stay quiet, you are making me look crazy..." Arthur replied to the bat who could only stare at the knight flabbergasted.
'You don't look crazy Sir Arthur, you are crazy!' the bat summed up in his head, feeling torn on if he even wanted to stay following the man and his duty to keep an eye on him. The bat whimpered to himself as he reluctantly followed. 'Oh mistress, I cannot stand this insufferable fellow!'