Spirit Chronicles: A New Beginning

S3 EP 4: Help from the Knights

"I am hereby arresting you for the capture of Celia Claire, Mister Rio Karasuki."

Rio was having a sharp, metal blade being thrust in his face for the accusations of crimes the Great Hero, Sumeragi Satsuki was giving him. Were these accusations truth? Yes... But it wasn't like Rio was going to admit his own faults in a time when he was looking for something else!

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't know of anyone named Rio Karasuki nor of someone named Celia Claire." Rio looked the girl in the eyes with no expression. "I don't think I can help you."

"What if you were Rio Karasuki?" Satsuki countered. "I've seen your face before and that is a major giveaway!" She thrust her sword a little farther into Rio's face as if to say, "No more lying, scum!"

"I still have no idea from where you make these accusations!" Rio exclaimed. "My name is Haruto Amakawa and I am from a small village far away from here." 

"Nice story." Satsuki laughed, unconvinced. "Unfortunately, I still don't believe you on any of these points. As the leader of the Galarc Kingdom's royal forces, it is my job to arrest any who could cause this kingdom harm.

Rio sighed and readied himself for the worst outcome. "And it is my job to make sure I get my accomplices back. As prince of the Karasuki kingdom and heir to the throne at present time, I swear it on my life!"

Sumergi Satsuki lowered her weapon and stared Rio in the eyes, backing up. "Royal heir to the Karasuki kingdom?! So killing you could cause a war! Not a good turn of events..." She looked quite troubled by Rio's message and for a moment, he felt a little better.

"Yes, miss. My grandparents are the current monarch of the kingdom and would be quite appalled if their only heir was slaughtered for charges of utter falsehood." Sure, Rio wasn't technically lying as he didn't try to kill Flora in olden days and Celia chose to go with him, but it was still a big risk to bring those to light.

"If all this is true, then can you prove it?" the female knight asked.

"No miss, there is no way for me to clear my name. With the Arbor House of Beltrum running the kingdom and a lessened finding of factual evidence, all I can do is make what I know to be true reveal itself through me." Rio wasn't going to deny that she had every right to arrest him, but also wanted to make his case come to light.

"I see." Satsuki mumbled. "Well I can say that with all this, I'll take your word on the matter for now. However, if I find all this to be a lie, I will have your head." Rio nodded to her and she smiled, putter her weapon in its sheath. "Well if that's all, may I interest you to come and join me for some food?" 

"If you would mind me bringing this one here," Rio said, pointed to Aisha, "Then we would be happy to join you." Sumeragi agreed and the three headed for somewhere to eat and chat about current events.

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Satsuki and Rio sat down at Rikka Firm Restaurant, one of the restaurants Rio had visited while heading for Yuba's village few years back. It was the restaurant where Liselotte Cretia had founded Spaghetti and where Rio had received much help from their workers.

"Now, can you explain to me what happened to get you you these false charges of crime?" Sumeragi asked him. 

"Well, it was back when I was still a part of Beltrum's Royal Academy. It was during a knights navigational test and the Princess, Flora, had been pushed off a Cliff. I saved her but was accused of trying to push her off. Still, I didn't mind as it gave me an excuse to leave the kingdom and go look for my family's homeland." Sumeragi listened to Rio's story intently and looked as if she was listening to her mother read her a story.

"That's so awful!" the Galarc knight exclaimed. "And what about the crime of kidnapping Celia Claire?"

Rio nodded at her question. "Miss Claire is my former teacher and friend and at the time was being forced into a marriage that she wouldn't like. I asked her if she would like to escape and come with me and she complied in agreement."

"Makes sense." Sumeragi mumbled. "Well if that's it, then the Galarc kingdom has no reason to take you in. If you'd like, Sir Rio, you may settle here in Amande."

"That would be lovely." Rio said, thankful. "I am actually in search of some people who wandered from me not to long ago. Have you seen a group of three teenagers pass through here?"

"No." Satsuki remarked. "If you'd like to leave however at any time, I can accompany you to the Galarc capital to look."

"That would be much appreciated, Miss Satsuki." 

After that had been looked into and Rio had been helped unto miss Satsuki's generosity, someone from the Ricca Firm walked up to the two. She wore a workers uniform and had light blue hair. "Isn't that the girl..."

"Miss Great Hero." she greeted Satsuki. "I see you've returned to our establishment once again. And with someone accompanying you!"

"Yes, Miss Cretia. I have come to enjoy the Duke Creitia's daughter and her lovely establishment! Also, this is mister Amakawa Haruto and he is here from a far off village." The way she put her statement into words so gripping made Rio feel as if the presence of a queen. If she was from Japan, she has learned a lot in her time on this world.

"Aren't you the man who came to this establishment some years ago, Mr. Haruto?" Rio was stunned at how quickly she pinned who he was, even with his hair color a different shade.

"Yes, Miss Cretia." he replied. "You really helped me back then. I do thank you for the services you provided me." Rio wanted to ask about how she was really the daughter of one of the dukes in Galarc, but he felt that would be a bit imposing, so left it out.

"So, now since that had finished, may you describe these people you are looking for?" Sumeragi asked.

Rio nodded. "The first one, the oldest female, had dark black hair and is fairly friendly. The second female is a bit shy and not as friendly, but is nice once you get to know her. Then the male is the youngest of the three, but I don't know much about him actually. He should be with the other three, so..."

"Understood. If it works with you, we can depart for an expedition as soon as possible, you and I.  These three you speak of sound oddly familiar, so I would like to see just who they are." Rio agreed with her and the discussion ended."

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Aki followed Miharu and Masato through the forests of the new world they were in. It had been about a month since all three of them left the Demi-human village so they could go and find if someone they knew was in this world as well. "We could finally leave that brute of a man. I didn't like him! He was too much like my brother..."

"Come on, Aki!" Miharu called. "You're going to get left behind at this rate!"

"Coming!" Aki yelled back.

"You sure we should have done this?" Masato asked. "I mean, after all they did to help us, we just left them..."

"You're worried about that now?" Aki sighed. "It's already been quite a while since they left. And we couldn't have just waited for them to let us leave. These are our people from our planet! It's our job to find and rescue them!"

"I agree with Aki." Miharu chimed in. "Although I hate to leave Sir Rio without any warning, he wouldn't have let us leave if we told him. Sounds like someone we used to know..." She looked at Aki, them both thinking the same thing.

"He was a lot like Haruto..." Aki agreed. "It was weird. He looked similar, acted similar, and didn't seem confused when we explained we were from a different world."

"Who knows..." Miharu remarked. "Let's just focus on finding the rest who were sent here from Japan."

"Okay. I'll follow Miharu for now, but if we do see that Sir Rio character again, I'm going to ask him some questions!"