BELLRAM V02 - Ambivalence of Light and Shadow II

BP003-P04 - Marionette 4

It was quiet in the carriage. Neither Minister Schoppe nor the queen said anything. Meia was tense. As she had just heard from Violet, it was probably more dangerous than she had assumed. Violet had also sounded so serious, very different from when she had spoken to her. She had said that it was just a merchant, but that seemed to be just an assumption. Meia wasn't the only one who was worried. Minister Schoppe was evidently tense too. He gripped the armrest tightly, as if he were afraid.

Meia remembered the attack on Kiras. Had the queen been the target and was that why she had been sent away? Could it be that they were being ambushed here? They were alone in the middle of the forest with only Violet and the masked woman to defend them. That wasn't much. Perhaps it would have been better if they had at least taken a few soldiers with them.

When Meia looked at the queen, she was immediately less worried. The queen yawned with her hand over her mouth. It looked as if it was intentional.

In the wake of the look that followed, Meia was sure the yawn was a statement.

The queen was bored. She wanted someone to talk, which brought Meia back to her earlier dilemma. Was she allowed to say something, should she say something, or should she remain silent?

While Meia was still pondering this, the queen now sighed audibly and shook her head in disappointment. Perhaps Meia should ask a question after all?

"Schoppe, we'll still be driving for hours."

"Mhm, yes, that's very likely."

"Yes... and how's the jurisdiction going? Anything new?"

"No, there are currently no developments worth mentioning."

The queen's left eye twitched. Meia saw her anger rising, but then she swallowed it immediately back down and held her grace.

"How nice... Hmm... Oh, yes! Why don't you tell me about Aoka? I've never been to the city before."

"Of course I can do that if you want me to. Where should I start..." Minister Schoppe looked up at the ceiling as if he was sorting out his thoughts. "The city has a very long history, you must know. It's one of the oldest in the country. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact date it was founded. Mrs. Hanazawa might know. I can only give you an approximate date. The city was founded by the Luna clan as a religious center for the beika religion. So it was probably at a time when this religion had its greatest popularity inland, which was about 1300 years ago. The location was well chosen at that time. The forest was cleared, where most of the rivers and lakes were, until there was enough space to build a settlement, including arable land. At the same time, the material could be used to build the initial settlement and a sufficient protective wall. At that time, the development of this area was a special achievement. Many other cities in the south have grown out of Aoka. Aoka is one of the most important cities in this part of the country. Thanks to its excellent location, the settlement grew quickly and non-followers of the religion migrated to it. Wood could be exchanged for stone. The Vitarium was built as a place of faith and refuge. The first city wall was built around the vitarium. This naturally had a strong symbolic effect, as people sought and found protection in this building. The city wall was technically state-of-the-art and the city never fell in its history. All the cities of the beika religion prospered for centuries, but it was probably this success that was their downfall. After the expulsion of the beika religion from Jena around 600 years ago, Aoka was the last free city in Jena to be deprived of its independence. The king had a second palace built right next to the Vitarium, which was taller than the building itself. It was a sign of the end of religious rule in the old areas of the beika religion, which I think is still relevant today."

"Thank you very much, Schoppe. That was very boring."

"I don't understand? What do you mean?"

"You go there every year and the only thing you can give me is a history book entry? Why don't you tell me something with a little more emotion?"