[Excerpt from the diary of Giselle Mermidion] […] 10th of March, 988 : It will soon be a month that we are travelling. Immediately after Ichigo settled the fate of the spoiled bastard we met, we decided to move, fast as the wind. Our goal is to reach La Roche. So we will have to go through the town of Dupoids, a little less than a week away from here. To my greatest delight, we were told that we will have to stop in Vieillemont, a small village that serves as a stopover. Between the aforementioned haughty bastard and the exhausting stops every day, this trip is definitely not done wasting our time! 10th of March, 988 : After deliberations, the group decided to rent a horse-drawn carriage for the trip. This is better than buying horses, as none of us is proficient with horseback riding. I came up with the idea of buying the carriage directly and hiring a lackey to drive us, but the others preferred to wait for a later opportunity. It will take us 4 days to reach Vieillemont. 11th of March 988, evening : So far, the trip is not worse than usual, except for Bragor who is getting more and more nervous. He seems to miss the thrill of the action. On this matter: once in the village, our coachman warned us that he would be ready to leave in the evening. Bragor seized the opportunity to look for a little fight. He asked the village chief about a possible robber who might have caused them concern, or a hypothetical evil creature who might have attacked them.Happiness and joy, Christ smiled at him: if the old man is to be believed, something had been attacking the crops of Vieillemont for some time. It took nothing else for Bragor to go to the fields, and we quickly followed. There, we could see that the carrots had been savagely... eaten. It took no more than that in Bragor to go to the fields, which we quickly imitated. On the spot, we could see that the carrots had been savagely... eaten. On closer inspection, we saw the marks of large rabbit teeth.Another fascinating mystery to solve: who ate the carrots from the fields of Vieillemont? This reminds me of our young years on the Pièce-Monde. After hours wasted in this vain search, Ichigo and Sushi detected the presence of a creature between the trees. Without warning, a gigantic pink long-eared rodent jumped on Bragor and snuggled against him. From the expression on its face, which was overflowing with a disgusting joy, it looked like it wanted to be cuddled. Bragor, true to himself, gave him a direct hit that sent the horrible creature back to where it came from. This demonstration of unwelcome tenderness ended in a masterful punch. Nevertheless, I note that our moving tin can is still discreetly holding its wrist following his demonstration of heroism... perhaps the rabbit was thicker than expected. As I write these lines, we have just returned to the village, where our coachman is ready to leave. Enough of wasting time, boredom awaits us. --- 13th of March 998 : We reached Dupoids today. Yet another big city with people, noise, life on every street corner. Despite the deafening hubbub of the city, something interesting happened: Sushi decided to buy a new katana while we were looking for a hostel. No sooner had he left than already we heard sounds of fighting coming from his direction. Behind his nice Lannet look, he hides his game well... at least, he hides it better than Bragor anyway. We hurried (Bragor in the lead), but only arrived at the end of the skirmish. Sushi - true to his habits - had achieved yet another fantastic feat: he had just saved the daughter of a marquis, who was attacked by a gang of insignificant miscreants. According to his account, he beat one of them up and the others quickly ran away as soon as it was over.The girl in question is called Eloise and is ogling Sushi in an intense, barely concealed manner. A good point as a consolation: she invited us to dine with her father that very evening. 13th of March 998, evening : Let's talk about Eloise's father. After gleaning some information, we could deduce that Sushi had hit the jackpot. The man bears the sweet name of "Marquis Ferdaine". He owns a gigantic hotel in the city. His family would have been enriched during the years, preferring to specialize in business rather than to follow the example of a good part of the nobility and to invest also in warfare. When Sushi suggested that we look for a blacksmith, Eloise proposed that we take advantage of the family forge. One in the other, it is probably there that our unwitting lady-killer will have the best chance to find what he is looking for. To mix the useful with the pleasant, this is so Lannet... --- 14th of March 998 : During the day, Sushi ordered his katana. Some excellent quality of Lannet, whose guard he wishes to have reforged to personalize it once the weapon is in his possession. This transaction will cost him the coquettish sum of 1'500 gold coins. Good taste has a price! Ichigo then seized the opportunity to order two tantos of excellent quality, once again from Lannet. Aiming at efficiency above all, she did not see the point of decorating them in any particular way. One can clearly feel a difference in temperament. I told myself that the Foil that Sushi had paid me also deserved to be improved. So I gave it to the blacksmith so that he could remake it for me into a weapon worthy of my family... well, of my father at least. In the evening, we will go to the Marquis' house. 14th of March 998, evening : Boring discussion, boring meals, boring people. I left the table with the urge to vomit. At most, we were able to get to know Eloise's governess, an embittered old woman called "Madame Sardon". During the meal, she whispered in Eloise's ear that it would be a good idea to invite Sushi, the new "local hero", to the ball that will take place in three days. Eloise did so, like a sheep. After a moment of feigned surprise, we asked for explanations about the nature of this ball. At first glance, it is an evening organized by the Marquis to allow his daughter to choose a husband from among a crowd of pretenders. No more playing the heartbreaker! This time, Sushi is caught in his own trap: in three days, he will either be humiliated or married. On that matter, we learned that the suitors are numerous. In fact, one of them was recently found dead. Once again, we will have to be on our guard, even if we sleep in an inn. As a precaution, Sushi and Ichigo exchanged rooms so that the likely groom would be surrounded by two of us. I hope I won't have to wake up! --- 15th of March 998 : Do I really need to write it down? It was a difficult night. No sooner had dusk fallen than we were awakened by a cry of Sushi. Ichigo rushed into the room first. She came across an attacker dressed in black, whom she attacked without success. As for me, I tried to smash the wall of the inn, but the unfortunate people who built this "hotel" obviously made it out of stone, making the task impossible. I also ran in time to see the murderer fleeing through the window. Bragor was unable to find him. More worryingly, Sushi was in a bad state: seriously injured in the leg, he had lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, the local doctor was competent and managed to stabilize the wound. Following this assassination attempt, the Marquis detached a guard to watch over Sushi. He explained that his attacker was probably a "ninja", a member of a supposedly reputable organization of Lannet assassins. As if we didn't have enough enemies... --- 16th of March 998 : A loss of time. A Real LOSS OF TIME. Nothing to report. --- 17th of March 998 : In order not to remain passive, we decided to inquire about the pretenders. Our aim was to get our hands on this famous "ninja" and his employer. Unfortunately, the Marquis didn't tell us anything interesting except that nobody comes from Lannet among the men courting his daughter. With the exception of Sushi, of course, even if I understand that Eloise runs after him more than the contrary. As for Eloise's servants, they revealed to us, besides the fact that Sushi is the favorite, that a cousin of Derreck Shezzard is among the pretenders. While we were investigating, Sushi found nothing better to do than to undergo another assassination attempt. Habits die hard. This time it was a library shelf that mysteriously collapsed on him while he was trying to educate himself about alchemy. After the leg, he now has a dislocated shoulder. That will teach him to court Marquis' daughters! In the evening, the Marquis will give a banquet to which the pretenders are invited. It is the first time we will see them all. Obviously, we fear that Sushi might be poisoned, but what can we do about it? Sushi wants to go to the meal anyway. We will improvise... 17th of March 998, au soir: The meal itself was terribly boring. Sushi ate greedily and this was no bad surprise - at most he thought the soup contained a bit too much spice, which was all the more strange knowing that it hadn't been spiced at all. Taking advantage of the evening, I watched all the suitors intensely to try to guess which ones were guilty of the misfortunes of our Lannet mascot, but to no avail. It seemed as if they were white as doves. On a curious note: probably in an attempt to break the boredom, Shezzard's cousin ordered some Rab in the middle of our noble meal. His peasant origins probably had something to do with it. But after all, why not? The outraged reactions of some of his competitors put a little interest in an otherwise boring evening. The meal ended as little badly as possible and as I write these lines, we all went back to our rooms for a last exciting night during which nothing seems to happen. Another opportunity to keep this journal up to date. --- 18th of March 998 : D-Day has arrived, now it's time for the ball. Ichigo and I decided to prepare ourselves with dignity. After all, Sushi is the first of us to tie the knot. I bought a few accessories, while Ichigo dressed up in a brightly coloured evening gown, after which we had the usual manicures and blow dry. In fact, it is very impractical to hold a pen with fake nails. The ball will start as soon as night falls. 18th of March 998, evening : the ball is over. It took place in a large hall with balconies, more than a hundred people were present. Sushi was immediately invited by Éloïse and the couple danced in the middle of everyone. We could then see how the once common Lannet brat... had not changed that much: his hesitant steps forced the Marquis' daughter to slow down a bit. Always on the lookout, Bragor went upstairs to get a better view of the whole room, while Ichigo was invited to dance. Her bohemian life undoubtedly taught her a sense of rhythm, as she quickly stole the show from the star couple. A little later, it was my turn to be courted and invited for a few dance steps. As the person who made the request had the good taste to take care of his appearance, I ended up accepting, even though dance is not my cup of tea. Shortly afterwards, with no warning, all the lights went out. At first we thought it was an ominous portent, but the truth is that this was the moment Eloise chose to ask her favourite to marry her. And the favourite was - of course - our Sushi. After a few minutes of indecision, Sushi whispered a few suspicious words in Eloise's ear, before getting down on his knees and asking for her hand in marriage to the Marquis' daughter. The Marquis had obviously planned everything, for without waiting, a priest barged into the room and made the union official. The two newly-weds were then invited to return to their room to enjoy the pleasures of married life. It is therefore official, Sushi will come out of Dupois married. If he ever comes out. As a dowry, Sushi will now receive 10 gold coins per day to support him in his travels. It is in his interest to share..."

Anima: Beyond Fantasy