looked at the imposing figure of the magician, who immediately silenced all the whispering of the sisters before he invited him in with a bow.

"Welcome, welcome, sir!", He greeted Ranma, his eyes fixed on the floor, and instructed him with his right hand to take a seat at the table next to his youngest daughter, but was surprised when the wizard gave him his right hand Hand on shoulder, forcing him to stand up while he took off his black hat with his left hand.

"Please do not bow to me, because I am not your master," he admonished gently as he entered the house. "Hello, Akane, and that must be your two sisters Kasumi and Nabiki. I think we already had the pleasure of seeing each other in the village square."

He went to the table with a smile and greeted the oldest, middle and youngest daughter of the house one after the other with an elegant kiss on the hand, so that the three women blushed before he turned to the master of the house, who was still standing at the open door and was waiting.

"Don't you want to close the door?" He asked politely and was about to take off his coat when he heard the unmistakable sound of a rider descending from his horse, followed by clanking steps, and shortly afterwards the massive figure of a man in iron-shod armor with a beaked helmet to recognize a dressed knight who entered the house without being asked and took off his helmet. "What do you want here? I live in the hut by the lake, so if you want to speak to me, come over there tomorrow!""Beware of your tongue, farmer!" Warned the knight, whose head of black hair and young face came out from under the removed helmet. "Is that a way of talking to your liege lord? And why would I want to talk to someone like you?"

"Be quiet!" Breathed the young wizard in his deep voice, which seemed to echo from everywhere and nowhere at the same time from the walls, so that it boomed loudly and powerfully in the little hut, while he was with his counterpart, who was struck with awe outstretched hand and forefinger raised, commanded not to move. "For this one time I will look after your rudeness and ignorance, but should you meet me again with such insolence, then God have mercy on you, knight! Now speak, what are you doing here?"

"Akane", answered a male voice, but it was not the frozen knight who answered his question, but the father of the family, who slowly let the door fall shut. "This is Knight Kuno, he owns many of the lands around our village. He has heard of your incomparable beauty and has decided, if the rumors are true, to raise you to the nobility by marrying him."

Akane turned pale and stared at the young, arrogant knight, eyes wide in shock, her mind racing. She knew that she could not oppose a wedding if he considered it worthy, since it almost never happened that a nobleman took an unfree wife as his wife, and she would not only injure the knight's honor with a reluctant utterance, who would then have to take revenge on her family, but would also tarnish her family's honor. The young woman desperately looked for a way out, but while she was thinking hard, she saw the door fall into the lock and heard the trap snap shut. Pleadingly, she averted her eyes from the grinning knight, and looked over her father, whose hard look would not tolerate contradiction, for her master, who returned her desperate look resolutely.

"Mr. Tendo," the young wizard broke the silence that had formed after the man's announcement, without taking his eyes off his apprentice, "I came to you this evening with the same intention, and I think you will, if you comb through my documents, you will see that I too am of noble origin and that I own significantly more lands than this young knight. "



Phew, new chapter, old story: no comments :(