CHAPTER 206: CHAPTER 206: ANIMA(PART 5)

"It’s nice to meet you all, we’ve been assigned to be your bodyguards for the remainder of your stay in our nation. One of us will accompany those of you who will be attending the conference, and the other two will stay with the rest of you."

"Thank you, we appreciate it," Responded Jules with a smile.

It was the next day, the 8th of June, 1920. It was around midday, almost time for the next conference to begin. Anima had sent three of their S-Ranked Adventurers to guard the group from Persona and Sylph, some of the strongest individuals in the nation’s forces.

"You can rest easy, we’ll make sure no harm comes to any of you, you’re in good hands with us," Smiled one of them, before introducing herself, "My name is Huskie Alsatia, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She had long, light blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail, light blue eyes and a light brown complexion, she had perky dog-like ears, a fluffy blonde tail, sharp teeth and claws, and she was a bit above average height with a strong build and voluptuous chest.

She had a sword strapped diagonally across her back, with the handle peeking over her right shoulder. She wore a sleeveless light purple, leather-armored dress with a black belt around her waist, over a pair of black tights.

"I’m Kora Lykoi, hello," One of the other two spoke up with a slight nod.

She had shoulder-length brown hair that framed her face, sharp yellow eyes and a fair complexion, she had cat-like ears and a tail, sharp teeth and claws, and she was around average height with an attractive, slender figure.

She wore a sleeveless white top, fingerless black gloves and black arm braces that started halfway around her forearms and went halfway up her biceps, with black shorts and knee-high black boots.

"And I’m Antel Elke, a pleasure. I’ll be the one guarding those of you who attend the conference," Added the last of the three, with a graceful bow of his head.

He had medium-length dark brown hair with light brown spots, neatly combed across to the right, with green eyes and a fair complexion, he had deer ears-like, antlers and a tail, and he was quite tall with a strong, sturdy build.

He had a pair of spears with short handles strapped across each other on his back, wearing a leather-armored black vest over a light blue long-sleeved shirt, dark blue trousers and black boots.

"Looks like it’s about time to head out for the conference," Remarked Lyra, as she glanced at a clock in the room.

The entire group was in one of the hotel rooms, they’d gathered there to meet the Adventurers.

"Yes, we should get going. Same as yesterday, Captain Aster and I will accompany the Queen. As for the rest of you, stay put in the hotel, don’t take any unnecessary risks," Jules warned the Knights sternly.

Despite yesterday’s incident, the conference had gone well, the alliance was all but set to proceed. They would be holding a couple more discussions to hash out the details before finalizing the treaty.

"We’ll be doing the same as yesterday as well. Feno, you are to accompany me. Nero, stay here with the others," Instructed Wistari, as she glanced at the other two Elves.

"Understood, Elder Wistari," Responded Feno affirmatively, as Nero nodded.

"Alright, then, allow me to escort you to the conference hall," Remarked Antel, as he opened the door.

"Okay, we’re off, everyone. We’ll see you when we get back," Smiled Lyra, giving them a wave as she began heading out with Jules and Aster.

"Counting on you to hold down the fort, kid," Added Aster, as he glanced at Raven.

"Sure, leave it to me," Nodded Raven, giving him a thumbs up.

As Antel led the way, Lyra stepped out with Jules and Aster on either side of her, followed by Wistari and Feno, who shut the door as they left, leaving the rest of the group in the room with the other two Adventurers.

"So, what should we do? It’ll probably be safer if we all stick together in one room instead of splitting up, so we should do something fun to pass the time," Suggested Akila, looking around at the others.

"Sure, that’s fine, I don’t see why not. Got any suggestions?" Raven asked him.

"Well, I did bring a bunch of board games and card packs with me. Let’s see here...," He muttered as he opened up a portal into his dimensional storage space, "I’ve got snakes and ladders, monopoly, regular playing cards, Uno..."

"You know this isn’t a vacation, right? Why’d you bring so many games?" Responded Lloyd in bemusement.

"I don’t know, I just figured why not?" Akila shrugged with a sheepish smile.

"Th-The Commander will probably lecture you if she finds out," Added Kia with a sigh.

"Well, then I’ll just have to make sure that she doesn’t find out. How about a game of Uno to start with?" Suggested Akila, taking out the card pack.

"Yeah, sounds good. You two can join us too," Remarked Raven, as he glanced at the two Adventurers.

"Sure, I don’t see why not," Responded Huskie with a smile.

"Well, it’s not like I have anything better to do," Chimed in Kora with a shrug.

’I’ve never played this game, what are the rules?’, Nero wrote across the air with his Magic.

"It’s pretty simple, how the game works is...," Began Lloyd, explaining the rules to the Elf as everyone gathered around the coffee table in the room.

"By the way, what was it that you did earlier, when you took the card pack out? Are you one of those Arcane Mages I’ve heard about?" Huskie asked Akila curiously.

"Yeah, I am, though that wasn’t my Magic, it’s a different ability I have. Basically, I can access a small, dimensional storage space," He explained with a smile.

"How does that work? You have an ability that isn’t Magic?"

"Well, I was summoned to this world from another one, I met a God in the process, who gave me this extra ability as a sort of bonus."

"Wait, what?" She responded incredulously, as Akila began shuffling the deck.

He began telling her more about it as he started dealing the cards, before Raven glanced to his right as he felt a gaze on him.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" He inquired, as he caught Kora starring at his arm.

"Huh? No, uh...I was just wondering about those scales. You have a different scent to the other humans too," She replied, averting her gaze awkwardly.

"Yeah, I was used as a test subject in Forbidden Magic and transformed into this. Technically speaking, I’m not really human anymore, biologically at least."

"Uh, sorry, that must have been rough."

"I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t."

"Alright, guys, let’s play! Who wants to start?" Grinned Akila, looking excited, as he thought to himself, "This is awesome, I wonder if this is what going on school trips would be like? The school I went to never did trips, so that’s an experience I never got to have."

"You seem awfully eager, so why don’t you kick things off?" Replied Raven with a wry smile.

"Sure, in that case, I’ll start things off with a bang...plus four, and I’ll set the color to green!" He declared as he set down his card, before adding as he glanced at Kia and Huskie on either side of him, "Wait, we going clockwise or counter?"

"Let’s go clockwise, so me next...is that okay with you?" Huskie asked Kia.

"U-Um...," Stuttered Kia awkwardly, before adding as she glanced at the cards in her hand, "Y-Yes, clockwise works for me."

"Alright, then, I’ll stack a plus two," Smiled Huskie, placing a green plus two on top of Akila’s plus four.

"Seriously? I really wanted to hold on to this, but six cards is way too many to take...I’ll stack on another plus two," Sighed Raven, playing a red plus two.

"Same here," Responded Kora, setting a blue plus two onto the pile.

"Come on, a ten stack? Guess I’ll make it twelve," Muttered Lloyd, playing a green plus two.

’I can play this, right?’, Nero inquired with his shadowy letters, as he played a plus four.

"Yup, you sure can. And you can also change the color, it’s blue right now, you can keep it at blue or change it to one of the other colors," Akila informed him.

’I’ll change it to red’, Nero decided after taking a glance at the cards in his hand.

"W-Wait...this isn’t fair, how did everyone get plus cards except me?" Groaned Kia in dismay.

"That’s, uh...sixteen cards, Kia. Which makes twenty-one total in your hand...remember, twenty-five and you’re out, so be caref-...," Began Akila.

"Yes, I know the rules," Huffed Kia, reluctantly reaching out to draw her sixteen cards.