Thankful Service

Cole’s uniform was ruined.

Little did he know that this would become a reoccurring theme during his stay with The Heroes, but for now all he could think of was washing the dye from himself. That Mayren had gotten him good and while being pranked with a bucket of black dye would make any normal person upset to fury, he was calm. Twas but another occurrence in life.

He managed to clean the dark stains from his skin but unfortunately his long blond hair had taken to the dye and was now stained black. It would be a long while before it would regain its natural color.

Cole sighed as he stepped out of the shower still dripping and looked for a towel.

“…well that’s unfortunate.”

He was staying in a previously unoccupied room of the Tower and as such, furnishings like toiletries, and more importantly towels, were not currently available.

After ringing out the excess water from his hair, he searched the room for anything of use. The room’s bed sheet was his only friend as he covered himself and glanced around.

There wouldn’t be any clothes he could use and wearing his wet stained clothes were out. No, the Knight from Freejia had only one option. Or, well, two actually.

Return to Freejia for a new set of clothes or-

Run around the Tower in nothing but a bed sheet searching for decent clothing.

Needless to say, he returned to Freejia.

Though it was summer, the trees lining the streets were still in bloom, as they always were. Luckily for him, the Freejian Academy, which doubled as his place of residence, was located on the outskirts of the city so avoiding prying eyes was an easy task. It was once inside that his troubles began.

The Academy was medium in size, if you can call a two story mansion with an inner courtyard medium. It even had a place to store Kruks if you were a visitor from western Eurosia. Hopefully there would be no visitors today.

He tightened the towel around his waist and proceeded in.

The large entry hall was nice. Nice furniture, nice high ceiling, nice far window with a view of the inner courtyard… It was nice except for one thing. A woman wearing a tight uniform with thin glasses was standing directly in its center.

She turned, her long green hair flowing behind her as she first flushed red then averted her eyes in disgust. She gave a quick salute, eyes still trained elsewhere. “Sir.”

“Emeraude.” He motioned her to be at ease before flashing an apologetic smile. “I do apologize for this, but believe me, this could have been far worse.” He chuckled at the thought of not having a furnished bed.

Emeraude glanced him over, “Sir, your uniform- Your hair…”

“Ah yes. I have left them outside. I would not wish to stain the floors of this place as well. Do see to it wont you? Thank you again for your continued service.”

She watched him pass down the left hall and up the large stairs leading to the rooms. She bit her lip as she refused to blush at the sight. She turned from him then and headed outside where she appraised his ruined outfit.

Just what the hell had happened at that Tournament to cause such a thing?

After handing the uniform off to a subordinate, she was greeted by a now clothed Cole. Or rather, she followed him out the door. “Sir?”

“I will be staying at the Tower for an indiscernible amount of time.”

“Excuse me?”

“Do continue to watch over the place while I am gone.” He turned to her and smiled, “Thank you again for your continued service.”

She was left alone and speechless.

“W-What am I? Your  maid?!”