Capitolo Terzo: Conquista (14)

Looking for one of these ‘Crests’ turned out to not be as easy as I would have thought it to be.

Then again, I was trying to look for someone that was purposely hiding compared to Kate’s lack of interest in holding away her unusual appearance. I couldn’t exactly blame the reasoning as people could be foolish enough to paint a troublesome picture out of a ‘bear-woman that can talk’.

Especially in a place where superstitions were still relevant here in China. It wasn’t to say that the entirety of the country was like that, but due to the rural area we were slowly venturing into, it would be a lie to say that all the locals around would be understanding when it came to this sort of situation.

Giorno was staring around, holding tightly on the bundle of sheets where little Ganyu had been left in, two soft eyes peering through the comfy disposition she was entrenched in- both youths admiring with a healthy amount of interest and eagerness the fields all around.

I could tell from a glance that they really wanted to play around but… there were too many people around tending the fields and could see the little Qilin. I really would have helped setting up a nice and comfy space where these two could have played for a while, but I couldn’t risk it.

The same struggle came forth to Hannah when she saw our baby boy give her a begging look. It was frustrating, I could feel the same stress I had to go through now subjecting my own wife into it. We held strong and, eventually, we managed to get proper directions of what we were looking for.

It wasn’t through the ‘bear-woman’ clue we had by the few accounts we heard of, but through the mention of a closed-community in the countryside which was considered among the most prosperous and yet the most humble.

The notion that such a community existed and persisted through centuries was enough to raise a few questions. Especially with how difficult it was to get things right for so long when it really was like winning the lottery every few months.

It may sound a bit awkward and at times unpleasant, but the Chinese economy, especially in this time period, tends to fluctuate a lot between good and bad. Mostly bad because of how backwater it was compared to Western ones. It was improving, but nothing that really could aid most of the poor in their struggles. Time will tell if the reforms were going to happen, and right now my priority was to find out who I was looking for and give them this message.

I had a name, with the map of the sage providing some details. Ambar. And with the last name I got, that would make her Xiong Ambar. Curious name to have in this corner of the world and I guess it would be another reason to hide away from the rest of the populace in the area.

Our presence did get some attention from the locals, but they were more pleased by my quick act of ‘kindness’ when I mercifully brought all the bread available and had each denizen in the market square of Guangdong pick a few for each, depending on how big their families were.

It was an unexpected move, but it laced our presence with good will as we finally had the chance to enter the countryside, delve deep into it and eventually arrived at our destination.

It was a fairly big estate for a standard family of peasants, and I could tell there was some clever planning around when I saw a few watermills, a windmill close nearby and what looked to be a makeshift greenhouse near the large ‘manor-like’ household.

Now, these elements may not sound much, but from the way they looked, wary and in need of some maintenance, I had a feeling they have been around for way longer than these inventions came to be in the Old World.

Another sign that this ‘Crest of Wisdom’ may be living here.

As we walked up to the porch, we were greeted by a fairly big group of guards and a single young man standing right in front of the front gate.

“Halt!” One of the militiamen muttered. “State your businesses or you will be treated as enemies of this household.”

I blinked, surprised by the intensity of such an ultimatum. Could it be that I wasn’t the first individual that tried to do something like this for more malicious reasons. I took a step forward and nodded.

“My name is Lord Dio Joestar, and I ask to meet Xiong Ambar for an urgent conversation regarding her.”

There was some surprise, then some skeptical looks, and finally, as the standoff started to get on everyone’s nerves, the young man in charge of this group sighed and nodded.

“She was expecting… you, Dio Joestar.”

I offered a nod, and the guards withdrew from their defensive posture, allowing us passage as the youth led us inside the household. The first thing that got my attention as we stepped through the gates was the noises of children playing in the large courtyard within the estate.

A quick look confirmed the scene, with dozens of kids playing various games at once, with only a few stopping to stare as we started to wander towards the main building. Giorno stared back and, by the time we reached the front doors of the main building, all the kids had stopped to look at us.

We didn’t linger as we were soon led inside the building. In there numerous women moved around to catch up with the needs of the house, but also moved through to either assist their husbands in the fields or in their fishing endeavors.

It wasn’t a complete gender-based division when it came to jobs, but it was clear most women here preferred to help around with the chores and only a few went to assist the men with the more tedious jobs. No questions were asked, the entire trip weighing with interesting details worthy of thought but no genuine elaboration.

The young man paused, muttering something about ‘the bear being right’ and then letting us wait as he went to ‘check’ if ‘Honorable Ambar’ was ready to let us in her room. Which was intriguing considering the youth told us how she was expecting us. If she was, then why go through such an unnecessary process. I had a legitimate question to ask just as soon as we could go through and-

“She’s ready to receive you.”

Quite the ominous tone, but I merely nodded and Hannah was extremely calm because she left Giorno and Ganyu with Santana before the two of us slowly walked in that room. Despite the many potential warriors with them, the Pillar Man could have easily dealt with them without giving them the chance of hurting Giorno.

The fairly-large room we were welcomed in was one filled with quite the vast amount of shelves filled with hundreds and hundreds of books. I looked around for some time, but eventually my gaze was fixed at the sole individual in that room beyond us.

The woman behind the curtain. Hannah saw that too, and I tried to imagine what Ambar would look like with what I knew but… some details were missing to draw a complete understanding of who could be waiting on the other side.

“Dio… Joestar,” A voice hummed, feminine and lacking accents. It was flawless English and that surprised me due to how tedious it was for Kate to actually learn it during her first trip around the world. The Crest, Ambar, hummed as she closed the book she had been looking into. “I’ve been expecting you.”

…

“Were you?” I mirthfully inquired, and saw the figure beyond the curtain freeze up in surprise.

“I… yes. Yes, I was.”

I had reasons to feel doubtful about it since I could tell now from her reaction that she wasn’t expecting people to doubt her power. And that hesitation was further opening an opportunity when things got a bit too intense. I just had to hope that would never be used since I didn’t plan to heat things up during this mere exchange.

“Well, you have a message to deliver. Go ahead, I shall listen.”

Nodding to her and myself, I started to deliver the point of this visit. “My visit here is driven by an extremely important circumstance. One tied to your origins, to your peculiar appearance and also to your bond with fellow individuals which have similar powers to you.”

“I was already aware that there were others,” Ambar revealed with ease, surprising me with this detail and yet far from finished talking. “Yet, this isn’t just for that.”

I held a smile back at her for that deduction. “That’s correct. Your brethren here on Earth, together with those hailing from the stars, have a duty that is tied to the natural enemy to your own existence. War will loom upon us, Crest of Wisdom, and it will take the might of all to win through it.”

A hum erupted from beyond the curtains. “Chaos… so that’s what the darkness was. Intriguing indeed, and a fascinating message to be notified with. Others, I knew there were others but… tell me, did you meet any before me?”

“Only one.”

“Oh? So, you know what one of us looks like?” She pressed on, amused and curious. “And tell me, will you find my appearance shocking due to-”

“Fur, tail and animal ears?” I offered calmly, once again stunning the individual behind the curtain. “Once again, I met one and I consider her a sister of mine.”

…

A chuckle, then a giggle, Ambar’s amusement came full force when she crawled through her bed and out of the curtain. Hannah’s eyes widened in surprise and awe, being a bit stunned by the beauty that came through despite that description.

She was a little bit taller than I was, flowing straight red hair descending down to her lower back, her light-brown fur contrasted by a small circular patch around her left eye. Both were half-closed, yet I could see the light shade of blue both were off. She was wearing a classic black Chinese dress that offered an opening to her cleavage and that showed a bit of her legs, covered by long-white legwear.

"It is indeed a surprise, but one I was familiar with already."

She giggled again. "Then please, let me invite you to join us for lunch."

A cordial invitation, the humblest of offers a kind host could offer to wanderers from far away. It sounded like a lovely idea.

And it would have been just that if only someone beyond our expectations hadn’t decided to come and try to ruin this delightful lunch spent together with new friends.