Gate Guardian - Song of the Frozen Soul

PHASE 7 - MY NEW RIVAL IS A BOY

PHASE 7 - MY NEW RIVAL IS A BOY

We finally made it to the Brightmore Town Hotel that looks more like a haunted house. The wooden floor is creaky, the ceiling has some dark gaps which gives you the feeling of being stared at, and there are some creepy things such as severed body parts of a baby doll hanged on its ceiling fans. This place is quite different from all the others since the hotel has electricity due to the solar-paneled roof.

We really have no idea how we missed this place the first time Rikkun and I came here to Brightmore Town. Now we feel more like an idiot.

Rikkun made three knocks on the door that has the Room 69 in it. It was immediately opened by the person who we’re looking for.

Long blonde hair, pink eyes, and a cute petite body! It’s Eliseo Fontaine himself! That person immediately jumped to Rikkun and hugged him tight like a koala, and rubbed his cheeks to the heartthrob.

“Oh! I have a handsome visitor~” His voice is as soft as a kitten.

“Get off me!” Rikkun blocked the blonde’s face with his palms.

Meanwhile, Asumi-nee turned to me and whispered. “Your ‘Rikkun’ sure is popular. Now you have a new rival, Tiara-chan.”

“A-Asumi-nee!” I cried with a blush.

Rikkun becomes more irritated to the blonde as seconds go by. When he’s already full of this guy’s vexation, he made a deadly stare. “I said get off! Fafnir Sma-!!!”

“Wait wait wait!” The blonde immediately released the pissed heartthrob on his grasps. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, Lord Freyr!”

“Lord Freyr?” Rikkun calmed down in an instant and tilted his head due to confusion. “H-How-"

“My aunt told me that you guys will be coming here.” The blonde said as he bowed like a butler.  “I waited for your arrival, Lord Freyr. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Eliseo Fontaine. I already know your purpose, so you need not to explain. You are direly in need of my assistance in your group.”

<>

It was already nightfall when we settled for dinner in Eliseo's room. Unlike the gloomy corridors, their rooms here in this hotel are good and simple. Eliseo's room looks like my condo unit back in Dradecim.

As my fellow Gate Guardians talk to Eliseo at the dining table, I chomped down the delicious fried chickens he prepared for all of us. I’m multitasking. My two hands are full of chicken legs, but my ears are focused on their words.

“How long have you’ve been here?” Rikkun asked. “Tiara and I visited this place about a few months ago, and we never thought that there’s a Gate Guardian here.”

“Actually, I just transferred here last December due to the orders of my cousin Jeannette. She said that I should scout this town for three months for some weird changes.”

“So Amy assigned you here after we fought Shirayuki…” Rikkun mumbled as he held his chin. “Anyway, you said that you know our purpose. Mrs. Martha von Noctis said that we should have you recruited to the Aether Crusade. Your wits and healing prowess will help the group a lot. Also, I wanted to reserve the right to borrow the Goddess Core of Venus when the time is right.”

“Sadly, I have to reject your requests just yet.” Eliseo said.

“Huh?”

Eliseo’s face became deadly serious.

“I can’t leave the poor people here, not now. I detected strong malicious energy this morning, and it came from the top of the mountain... at the burnt Brightmore Shrine. You won’t notice it from here in the Earth Realm, but if you opened a Gate to Yami, you will see an endless dark tower reaching to the skies. I think that’s responsible for the aggressive behavior of the villagers. I haven’t checked the site yet, but I think there’s a Level 3 Eidolon.”