Brief introduction:
I'd like to thank everyone for their (continuing) support of the story, despite my two month absense. A special thanks goes out to everyone that has reviewed one or more of the previous chapters. You show me the path to improvement, and I do my best to incorporate your advice.
I had a slight delay on writing this chapter (break-ups kill motivation), so to compensate, this chapter is longer by about 2000 words. That should take care of the reviewer telling me that the chapters were too short, right? ;) Again, if you're worrying, the chapter is about 9,200 words long, not the 11 k or something that the site indicates. I still don't know why the word count jumps up by converting or adding horizontal liners.
Finally, i tried to go for a more balanced mix between short and long paragraphs in this chapter, as there were indeed a lot of odd and unnecessary breaks in the previous one. Please let me know if you think this is an improvement.
Disclamer: I do not own Tales of Vesperia.
Nobility, chapter 4: Knight of the lower quarter (2)
"This… this is…" Estelle stammered.
"…Truly horrible," her friend finished for her. Situated at the top of a downward slope, they had a good view on the town square below, and what they saw was a scene that could have come straight out of a nightmare.
On the outer ring of the square, groups of villagers watched helplessly as a crew of knights, under the direction of a overly well-dressed man, systematically removed crates of food from the warehouse. On the other end, closer to the scene, a band of enraged citizens was protesting rather openly. They were held away from the tax collector only by the strength of another company of knights, who formed a protective ring around the figure and his guards.
Even as they watched, a man, presumably a young one, somehow managed to force himself past the outer barrier and charged directly at the overseer of the operation. He didn't get far, as two knights immediately stopped loading the crates of food into a wagon and intercepted him on the way. Being severely under experienced and underequipped compared to them, he was immediately and forcefully knocked down and arrested.
The way the knights handled him, along with the way they proceeded to unceremoniously throw him into a second wagon, drew cries of rage and indignation from the crowd, including some of the villagers who had been edging away from the knights at first.
"They are afraid now… but eventually they will realize that they outnumber those knights ten to one. It only takes so much anger for them to forget their fear," Gwenn said, trying to sound calm. Estelle noticed the very subtle amount of anxiety hidden in her voice, which was a very unusual finding, as her colleague was exceptionally good at hiding her emotions. The fact that she was openly worried made the situation seem even more desperate to her.
"What are we supposed to do…?" the younger healer asked, never taking her eyes off of the drama beneath them. It looked like the knights and the villagers were growing more aggressive and violent by the moment. This wasn't even close to what she had imagined to encounter before setting off… was there any realistic way to stop this from escalating?
'I… feel so powerless,' she admitted to herself, seeing another person being subdued and arrested. Would they even remotely listen to her if she tried to talk to them, even if it was her right to demand an explanation? Or would she end up like those other citizens who had attempted to get close?
For a fraction of a second, she wondered if Flynn was somewhere among those knights. That was just about the only thing she could immediately think of that would make all of this even worse. Well, if he had kept to his empty and half-hearted promise, he wouldn't be. On second thought, she wouldn't even remotely be surprised to find him down there, attacking defenseless villagers.
"I think you have a chance at getting them to listen," Tom replied, immediately drawing a snort from Gwenn. "No, really!" he continued, "The reason they aren't letting anyone close is because they're acting on Ioder's orders, which they think puts them above the law… but it doesn't, right?"
He turned towards Estelle, who nodded absently. That was right… they were doing this on the prince's orders. But that couldn't be right, could it? 'Ioder…'
"Then they can't refuse to let her parley," The young man explained, pointing towards Estelle. "She knows everything about the law and-"
"Just like the elder that you say was arrested earlier?" Gwenn interrupted harshly. "What makes you think Estelle will not end up just the same? Why are you so anxious to send her into-"
To Estelle, their words were growing vague. The same person she had met a few years ago couldn't possibly have caused the scene in front of her…
It had been a miserable day to many people. Throughout the entire day, rain had poured down on the forward imperial base, basically turning the camp into a large pool of mud. More importantly though, despite the rather poor visibility, there had been another large clash between the forces of the empire and the Guilds, with neither making any headway. The only real productivity of the day was in the large number of mortally wounded soldiers that were coming in, and whom Estelle was tasked to save, or rather, try to save.
Since the number of capable healers had diminished rapidly during the first months of the war, and since they were so hard to replace, she had been called away to serve at this field hospital. The work saddened her; day after day, there were so many wounded, and so many of them couldn't be helped in any way. It was just too late for them. Sure, it was to be expected in a war, and she was sure that she could tend to far more people this way, but she wasn't sure how much more of this she could bear.
What didn't help either were the delirious confessions that the dying tended to make. The last patient she had attempted to treat was now lying dead in front of her, still clutching her hand. For some reason, he thought that she was his mother… and he had wanted to apologize to her for everything. Although the nameless soldier never made it far, it was still painful to listen to. It was the same with many others; they all had a story that had ended here. Each time, out of respect for her fellow knights, she couldn't refuse listening. Maybe she should have been able to shut it all out, but she just couldn't manage it.
Her worst fear, next to losing her sanity, was having to tend to one of her friends in the same way. Most of them were out there, fighting. Every day could bring plenty of opportunities for them to lose their lives… if they hadn't already. How many of them were still alive? Were any of them still alive?
What she really wanted… no, what she really needed was a successful escape from this place, followed by a very long visit to her father. She missed him desperately; she just wanted to talk to him, or even just to anyone she knew…
"You! You're a healer, right? Please, you need to look at-"
The young healer wearily looked up to see who was talking to her. It took her a moment to process what she saw. A young man with blond hair and blue eyes was holding what looked like a bundle of rags, and was speaking to her with a sense of urgency.
'Flynn? No, I'm imagining things… he's too young… and he isn't a soldier, but a civilian. How did he get in here?'
In the end, that didn't really matter. She was forbidden to help him, so she decided to interrupt him before he got any false hope. "I'm sorry, but this is a military hospital… I can only treat soldiers here. If you are wounded, you'll have to let yourself be tended to by non magical means outside, and then head for the nearest city."
The words were distant and heartless. Even as she said it, it felt distinctly wrong. But it were her orders…
"You could have expected such, your highness," a second, yet familiar voice sounded. "If you had listened to me in the first place, we wouldn't be out here at all. This is far closer to the front than someone such as yourself should be under any circumstances!"
The man turned around, and stood up to the woman behind him defiantly. Estelle couldn't see her as the man was blocking her from view. What she did see however was that the Flynn look-alike wore a beautiful, yet dirty robe, with a large symbol on the back. It seemed familiar in some way…
"My advisors have advised me to come here, to learn about the meaning of war and to raise the morale of the troops. I agreed with them, and still do," he retorted. "As for her, we couldn't leave her there, could we? That act would have been barbaric."
"Forgive me for my language, your highness, but your advisors can kiss my ass, " came the reply, with unquestionable irritation. "My only concern is your safety, and for the first time in my life, I wish you had followed your cousin's example and stayed at the castle! Whatever minor effect your presence here has is not worth the risk, nor is coming even closer to danger for that girl's sake."
He took a few steps to the side, and Estelle made eye contact with the woman behind the man. Recognition was mutual, but is was the younger woman who spoke first. "Instructor Lisa? Why are you here…? Why are you calling him 'your highness?' "
Of course, she could have just assumed that her instructor really was here, escorting one of the remaining young heirs to the throne on some insanely dangerous field trip to the battlefield, but it seemed far more likely that she had really lost her sanity. If she received no answer, she would just ignore the whole thing and triage the next few patients, knowing this wasn't real.
Her instructor's face was filled with a mix of disbelief and deep concern. It might have been a clue that she really was imagining things, as she had never seen her instructor look worried. Not even once. But… she was just as surprised to see her here. Could this actually be real? Then… that man was… oh no, had she really just openly embarrassed one of the legal heirs to the throne?
She glanced around quickly. The few other healers were seemingly too busy to pay any attention to who exactly entered and left the barracks. The soldiers close to them were either unconscious, sleeping, or dead. There wasn't much that indicated the environment was aware of the two people in front of her.
"Estelle? Oh god, are you all right? You look…" the black clad woman hesitantly began.
Not too well, probably, the healer inwardly finished. Apart from not having too much time to spend on her appearance, she felt quite miserable and was sure that at least part of it showed. At best, it was probably a highly unfitting appearance for being in the presence of a prince. It was a bit of childish line of thought, she realized, but this was one of the possible future emperors…
"I'm fine… I'm just a bit overworked." It was a blatant lie; she didn't see what good admitting how she really felt would do to anyone here, even if they were able to deduce it from the way she looked. It would just worry her instructor and her charge, and they weren't able to help her anyway. Neither of them was a part of the normal military.
The lieutenant of the royal guard didn't believe her for a second. "No, you're not fine. How long have you been here? I can't believe they would give someone as young as you this task…"
"Instructor? You're… really here, right?" she asked. Upon hearing this, the swordswoman took a few steps closer to her, and for some reason Estelle felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry… It's… just that you appearing along with an heir to the throne seems so out of place and sudden."
The older woman extended her arm and placed one of her hands on the healer's forehead. "You're not feverish," she sighed out of relief. "Estelle, first, I'm not your instructor anymore. And yes, I'm really here. I'm traveling with the remains of my unit to escort our noble prince on an equally noble suicide mission."
Ignoring the obvious dislike of his protector for this mission, the momentarily forgotten prince decided to try again. "Um, lady Estelle? Could you please look at this girl?" he asked, gesturing towards what she had at first believed to be a bundle of rags. "We found her laying next to the road while we were withdrawing from the front. Our own healer is exhausted."
Despite the situation, she almost had to laugh. Lady Estelle? And did a prince just humbly ask a commoner to do something? The moment passed quickly though, as she realized that he was trying to save a little girl and that she wasn't helping. "I… can look at her, but I can't heal her. Lieutenant Cumore, the commander of this camp in the absence of the colonel, gave strict orders to only tend for soldiers who need medical attention. Anyone who doesn't follows those orders is punished severely."
Her instructor muttered something under her breath. It sounded suspiciously much like 'That would explain multiple things here'.
Ioder immediately nodded. "Thank you. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated."
They laid the girl down on an empty part of one of the couches, and any doubt that Estelle still had about the possibility of this being an illusion immediately disappeared. Next to being very young and severely underfed, the girl was wearing a symbol of the guilds… she belonged to the enemy.
The healer turned to the prince standing beside her. "Why… why are you trying so hard to help her?" It wasn't that she disagreed, but she wanted to know. It was strange that such a high-ranking member of the nobility class was going out of his way to help such a poor girl… and she wasn't even one of his subjects.
"Why wouldn't I? She is just a child… and she is on the verge of death. Have you ever seen a child this weakened before?"
"…Yes, your highness. There are thousands of similar children living in the lower quarter of the capital city," the words were out of her mouth before she knew it. Great, that was the second time she had offended him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, please forgive me for speaking!"
He slowly looked away, his expression unreadable. "No… you are right to remind me. I wasn't thinking clearly. Still, I cannot see why this," he said while motioned towards the girl, "should be some normal occurrence."
"It's not something that can really be prevented, your highness," the royal guard added in, while carefully watching the surroundings for any potential threats. "There will always be rich and poor citizens, and the poor have very little to come by. Having a lot of children to help working is one of the few ways to get more money for the family, regardless of the cost to those children themselves. It could also be that her parents were forced to enlist in the army and that noone could have looked after her… only the wealthier can afford for their children to be cared for."
Ioder shook his head. "I can't accept that… there should be enough money to prevent that from being necessary."
"Only if the rich can be persuaded to pay for it. And they can't, because it's not their problem. Funding the military to protect them from any potential riots is the cheaper and easier thing to do," Lisa answered, still not looking at him directly. "Your cousin would say that it's easier to talk a wolf into being a mouse than convincing the rich to part with their money."
"My cousin thinks I'm a naïve idiot, but I would rather be naïve than having to accept this as something that cannot be changed." The prince looked back to Estelle, who was still busy examining the infant girl. "Can she be saved in some way?"
The girl was weak; her pulse was irregular and faint. Her breathing was slow with an occasional gasp for air. Estelle looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. "I need a distraction, "she said.
"… a very poor way to thank her for saving your wife and baby, child." The tone of Gwenn's voice was so cold and threatening that it forced Estelle out of her daze. She felt slightly panicked at having lost her concentration in a critical situation. Luckily, not much time seemed to have passed.
"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't want to put her in any danger either, but what else could I have done!? I would have gone there myself, but I don't know anything about the law…" Tom sighed remorsefully. "Damn, if only that blasted Ioder hadn't-"
Anger arose deep inside of her. "Ioder is not behind this," Estelle spoke up, with supreme confidence. "Those knights are corrupt; prince Ioder would never, ever order something like this!" Both her companions looked at her as if she had just grown a pair of wings. She continued speaking regardless. "I'm going down there to stop them!"
Perhaps not surprisingly, her colleague was the first to recover. "I don't know what makes you so sure of this, but please consider what is happening. On the same day, we lose both our main water supply and most of our food. I'm afraid that someone powerful is trying to push us into rebelling, and I'm not sure if going there now to stop this will prevent such a thing in the end, if you can even stop them, Estelle."
Although her friend had basically just said what she had been suspecting for a long time, she still felt compelled to try. "I'd rather be naïve and try stopping it than accepting it as something inevitable," she replied, almost directly mimicking Ioder's words.
With that, she left, leaving either of her companions unsure of what to say.
"What just happened…?" Tom asked while looking at the retreating form of the pink haired healer. Next to him, Gwenn sighed. She felt a lot older than she was supposed to be. "It wasn't clear enough, child? She is putting herself in danger for the sake of others, again.Just like you knew she would, which is why you came to get her above anyone else, right?"
Not waiting for the answer, she slowly shook her head. "Far too many people go to Estelle whenever they need help, and she never completely turns anyone away. And I don't think she ever receives anything in return for her efforts."
Although the man really believed that getting Estelle had been the best option, he did feel guilty as he watched her draw closer to the crowd. "I… That's not what I mean. One moment, she was just as doubtful about this as you were. The next moment, she just marches in…"
"There are times I believe that she has a severely defective sense of self-preservation, if that is what you mean. It could also be that she has some superior motivation to act the way she does. Even though I have worked with her for years, there is so much I don't know about her. Sometimes, she is a mystery to me," the healer admitted.
"… Maybe we could help her in some way…" Tom went on after a moment of silence. As he watched the increasingly angry mass of people below them, an idea came to him. "Come with me, I think I know what to do."
The elder woman was skeptical, but followed him down anyway. "I appreciate the sentiment, child, but I do not think that either of us can provide any valuable assistance in this matter."
The young father took out the bundle of money that Estelle had refused to accept the previous night. "No, the two of us probably can't," he admitted, looking around for something. "But if we put this money to good use, we might be able to buy her some time."
He paused and looked around again. This time, he found what he was looking for. A few children were looking at the square from the top of a roof nearby. "Hey, little fellows!" he shouted towards them, waving the bundle of money in their direction. "How would you like to earn some extra gald for your family?"
At first, the children discussed the offer of the unfamiliar man wearily, but the lure of the money was too strong. A few moments later, a more courageous boy climbed down to meet them, though he kept his distance. "Extra gald? Is this a job? Careful if it isn't, my mother told me to 'never take money from strangers!'"
Tom nodded his head in a friendly manner. "Yes, this is a job. I'm hiring you! Do you have a lot of friends?" Gwenn raised an eyebrow, curious as to where this was going. She decided not to remark on the lack of subtlety.
"Yes I do! I'm the leader of Ted's mighty gang: Ted! The scourge of the lower quarter, we are!"
Judging by their leader, they were probably the scourge of any baked pies or breads that were left close to windows, but not much else, the healer inwardly concluded.
"Haha, all right then, crime lord Ted! I need you guys to bring around a message for me…"
Meanwhile, Estelle was coming close to the soldiers. She had slowly managed to push her way through the mass of people, to the point where there were only a few meters between herself and the barrier of side-to-side knights. Now that she was close, she was hit by the realizations of exactly how many knights had to be here. Standing that close together, it would take at least fifty knights to form a ring of that size while simultaneously unloading food from the warehouse.
She realized that it was a suspiciously high number of guards to send along on a routine tax collection, though she didn't have a lot of time to ponder on it. The crowd was progressively moving forward, pushing the knights further and further back. How long would it be until some of them drew their swords? Did they realize that they themselves were the ones directly in trouble now?
Steeling herself for the coming confrontation, she made her way to the very front, ending up slightly behind a couple of very broad men who were throwing profanities at the knights directly in front of them. Something gave Estelle the impression that this odd pair of knights was nervous. It might have been related to the weapons some of the civilians among the front row were openly displaying or gesturing with, or that men in front of her were twice as long as the shorter one and three times as broad as the longer and slender one, including their armors.
"You pieces of trash! We're the ones toiling to pay your obscene taxes, and get nothing but crap for it!" said the man to her left.
"You're supposed to be knights? You're criminals, stealing food from our families! Why I oughtta-" the man on her right took over, swinging some metallic object in a dangerous arc towards the knight. It hit his shield, and the soldier recoiled slightly.
"I say, you do not have the right to hit me! We're acting on his highness's orders, I said!" the knight cried out in indignation.
"Yeah? Well then you won't mind taking a few more hits for him then, won't you?"
"Yeah! You arrested our elder! If it's violence you want, then me and my bro here got plenty for you! Take this!"
"Ouch! Ah! I don't think they're listening, Adecor!"
"I say, Stand tough Boccos! We of the Schwann brigade shall carry out – Argh, I say, this is not good!"
"Hey, we never agreed that you -Ouch!- could give me orders?!"
This was getting out of hand. Soon the other people at the front would start following their example in attacking the knights directly. Estelle had to stop them. She reached upward to grab the shoulders of the two men… "Wait, stop this!" she shouted, trying to make herself hearable over the rumor of the crowd.
Thankfully, one of the man briefly paused his assault. "Huh? Who… ah, it's you miss Estelle. Please get yourself to safety! Me and my brother will bash a way through here in no time, and then we'll give them a taste of real justice!"
"Right on, bro!"
Weird… they knew her? But… she was sure she had never seen either of them before. "No, you can't! If you do that, the knights will come back to take revenge!"
"Listen to her, I say! Beware the wrath of the imperial - Ouchies! "
"Shut up!" the other man, who was using a leaded pipe, yelled at the thin and mustached knight.
"Our families need to eat, miss Estelle! And we can't stand for them arresting our elder, nor our fellow citizens!"
"Just let me try and talk to them, please!" she yelled.
"You have no right to interrupt the will of -gah!"
This was her opening. The ex-knight looked down at the form of the shorter knight, who was trying to keep most of his body covered by his shield. He was probably her best shot at this. She balled her fist and tried to sound as authoritarian as she possibly could.
"It is not my right? According to section b-101 of the seventh amendment to the first law of civilian rights, it is the right of any law-abiding citizen to inquire about the nature of a confiscation of goods, to be answered directly by the representative of the council on the site. Furthermore, according to act two of the book of criminal justice, those who are in violation to any law of civilian rights are legally punishable for their actions. Lastly, by the first act of the second law of civilian rights, there is no law that allows you to ignore the rights of any person, regardless of who gives the order to do so, whether that person is a member of the nobility class or not."
She stared intently at both the knights in front of her. "By law, you and all the other knights here are openly performing a criminal act towards us!"
If she had been paying more attention, she might have noticed that everyone in her direct vicinity, including some of the other knights further away, was now staring blankly at her. Boccos and Adecor sweatdropped, unsure of themselves for the first time in their military career.
"Hey Adecor, is she correct in…"
"I have to say Boccos, I wasn't aware of…"
"YOU WERE NOT AWARE? YOU LYING SCUM! YOU WILL LET HER PASS, RIGHT NOW!" one of the men bellowed. "THE ONLY REASON IM NOT BASHING YOUR HELMET IN IS BECAUSE SHE ASKED ME NOT TO!"
"Let her pass!"
"Yeah, let her pass!"
"You will let her speak!"
Strangely, the voices were coming from multiple directions. She glanced around. Were these people actually cheering for her?
"All right, all right I say, but only her! Everyone else, stand back, I say again!"
Estelle was afraid that response from the knight would have triggered more aggression, but the people around her did not attack, at least not immediately. Slightly confused by their behavior, she stepped forward and slipped through the barrier.
After her difficult trip through the mass of cramped up people, it was a relief to have some actual space to move around in. Now that she thought of it, it might have helped to give Gwenn and Tom her bag before setting off. Her friends… well, at least they would be relatively safe up there if she failed and this turned into a bloodbath.
Her relief didn't last long, as a pair of uninformed knights immediately charged at her with weapons drawn.
'Do I fight? Do I try to defend myself?'
No, she decided. She just stopped moving and waited for them. They were expecting her to have broken through and to charge at the tax collector. They wouldn't expect her to wait for them, and then they would hear her out, right?
They didn't slow down.
'…Right?'
She reached for her sword and shield instinctively. 'Oh No! They're going to attack anyway!'
Behind her, shouts of warning arose from the crowd. She ignored everything but the two incoming knights. To kill or seriously injure them would end any chances of ending this diplomatically… but they were almost at her. Too close to think it through. She used the first arte that came into her mind.
"Sonic Demon Fang!"
The effect was immediate. Both the knights, not expecting a girl in a dress to be a credible threat, were completely taken by surprise. The force of the thrust and of the ensuing shockwave both launched one of the knights backwards. They crashed into one of the large food crates that were being carried, causing the knights transporting those to drop them in surprise. Neither of the soldiers got back up.
For a moment, everything was silent. The rumor of the crowd subsided. The knights had stopped what they were doing. Everyone was looking at either her or the fallen knights.
'No… did I just start what I came to prevent?' the healer wondered in fear. She looked back, fully expecting to see the crowd bursting forward, goaded into action by this violence. Thus, she was quite surprised when the people suddenly erupted into applause. They were really cheering her on. Either she was very bad in guessing the logical behavior of a mob, or something very strange was happening.
The reaction of the knights was more logical, but not exactly what she had wanted it to be. Every single knight that was not holding back the crowd had his or her weapons out and was ready to advance on her at a moments notice. They were waiting for the call from one of their commanders, who were standing close to the over expensively dressed council member.
They both gave an order at the same time.
"Capture her! Use as much force as you need to!"
"Stay your blades! Do not move unless I say so!!"
The knights didn't act immediately; maybe they were unsure of whom they should listen to. Taking advantage of that moment, one of the commanders stepped forward to meet her. She immediately sheathed her sword, hoping she wouldn't need to use it further, and walked up to the officer.
"My name is Lieutenant Leblanc," he spoke. "Who are you and why are you here? That was a technique that belongs to the knights."
'Belongs to the knights? What? Everyone could use that if they had the skill to do so...'
She ignored the thought and tried to continue the illusion that she was someone of importance. It was probably the better thing to do when she had to make an officer of the knights take her seriously. "I am Estelle Heraussein, a former member of the imperial knights. By the seventh amendment to the first law of civilian rights, I claim my right to know the justification behind all of this!"
Immediately demanding to cease this operation was probably pushing it, so she decided to leave it at this for now. The Lieutenant did not immediately reply, but rather stared at her for a moment, and then did the same towards the noticeable calmer crowd. He must have thought it was better to grant her the request, as he eventually nodded. "I don't like your tone, but I will grant you your request. Come with me."
She blinked, momentarily dropping her composure in surprise. That had been far easier than had expected it to be.
The knights were still watching her wearily as she followed the Lieutenant closer to the tax collector and the other officer. Some of them even moved with her. Were they expecting her to try and take on all of them in an effort to get to the council member?
"That's close enough, Leblanc!" the small official sneered. "And what is the meaning of this intrusion? I… his highness specifically ordered anyone who interfered to be arrested immediately. The order still stands, so why do you bring this piece of trash before us?"
"Not too mention that she aggressively knocked out two of my men," the other officer cut in. "Stand aside, and I'll teach her some proper manners myself!"
It took her only a second to realize that these two were textbook examples of corrupt knights and officials. Both of them wore either extremely expensive clothing or an armor decorated with solid gold, something that wasn't even remotely part of a normal officer's equipment, regardless of his rank. They almost radiated some sense of non-existent supremacy, as though they looked down on everyone else. Anger and revulsion rose up inside her, emotions she felt only rarely. "I'm sorry, but it's not like your men gave me much of a choice!" the healer rebuked, unable to completely contain them.
In response, the officer, and some of the knights surrounding them, reached for their weapons again. This was followed by a burst of protest from the crowd. Estelle inwardly scolded herself… that had been a very bad moment to lose her temper. "Why you- you-" the corrupt knight sputtered.
"This has gone far enough, all of you!" Leblanc shouted. "This civilian has claimed her right to be informed of what gives us the authority to do this. I'm not sure why you are so hesitant to let anyone study the document, but the situation is becoming critical because of it. If you refuse, I see no other option but to withdraw the Schwann brigade from this site."
The tax collector only laughed. "Hahaha… you would abandon his highness's will? By law, that is mutiny, worthy of a demotion, if not death, Leblanc!"
"You are the ones acting in violation of the law! There is nothing that gives you the right to refuse my claim! And there isn't any section that gives you the right to punish someone for demanding to now whether his orders are real!" she added the last part to cover for Lieutenant Leblanc. Apparently, he hadn't had the opportunity or the knowledge to correctly study the legal order beforehand, as strange as that was for an officer.
The small and insidious man sneered at her. "Not anymore: last week, a law was passed that changed all of that. And since I'm a generous person, I'll let the slum's plaything have a look at the order." He took out a piece of parchment from his coat and handed it to her, his face full of disdain.
Estelle snatched the document from him, trying hard to maintain her temper. She quickly read the paper, her incredulity growing more and more as she came closer to the end.
"By the right and sovereignty of the crown, I, prince Ioder, hereby declare that the outstanding taxes on the long since taxed food, sold in the food warehouses of the lower quarter, is to be recovered immediately. In the event that the money, currently totaling around 10.000.000 gald per warehouse, cannot be reclaimed, the tax collector is charged with confiscating as much food as possible in an effort to salvage what he or she can.
Given the extend of the debt, I hereby allow the official the privilege of the recently instated ninth amendment to the first law of civilian rights, which allows for immediate arrest of anyone judges to be a hindrance to the official in place.
Signed on the fifth day of… Councilmen in attention were… The ninth amendment was approved by a committee under the supervision of regent Ragou…"
Estelle could only stare at the paper, trying hard to make any sense of it. Long since taxed food? When did that happen? Ten million gald per warehouse? That was enough to buy entire blocks of the lower quarter! She wasn't even sure if there was that much money in all of the lower quarter combined! And what was this ninth amendment? It was a direct breach of a basic civilian right… how could something like that have ever been passed through the court?
…How could any of these knights carry out these orders? How could these men be allowed to call themselves knights?
Well, there was only one way to find out, and it wasn't a reliable one. It was by trying to get answers out of a lying council member. "Why was the right of these warehouses to sell untaxed food lifted? You are aware that the people living here are unable to pay for those foods with the normal amount of taxation, aren't you? And how long has this been in effect? No one here knew anything about this, yet you claim the warehouses owe you ten million gald each? That is an unbelievable amount of money, something that we could never afford to pay!"
The small man in front of her clasped his hands behind his back, his grin never leaving his face. He made no attempt to hide his dislike for her in his tone. "The article had gone into effect exactly two years ago, little girl. It has been on display in the castle for half a year prior to that, to give… people such as yourself the opportunity to object."
"On display in the castle? Citizens of the lower quarter aren't allowed into the royal quarter, let alone the castle!" the healer protested. "How were we supposed to know that law was even there!?"
She really tried to remain calm, but this whole situation was just too big of a mess. There was plenty of reason to be angry. The hard part was not giving in completely and giving the guards an excuse to arrest her right away. "It is the duty of every citizen to be aware of the law, little girl. That you and everyone else here failed to do so is your own concern." The overly pleased way the councilman said it did nothing to make that any easier. "However, we did openly announce the formulation of the law at that time, so there really is no reason to be surprised."
The swordswoman severely doubted that, but there was no way to prove that. It was his word against everyone else's, and he was the one in the government.
'Wait… proof… I know he is lying on prince Ioder's part…'
The slight pause in the conversation was enough for the councilman to believe he had won. "Well then, now that we have settled the legal part, I believe it's time to carry out his highness's will," he said to the officer and the guards. "Arrest her."
Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. She glanced left, noticing that Leblanc didn't know what to say either. She couldn't let herself be arrested; if she were captured, who would go after Rita? But what could she say? Most of these people seemed to be beyond reasoning. Maybe she should have seen this coming… what kind of person would willingly perform these activities in the face of a furious mass of people?
And that's when it hit her. Trying to be diplomatic didn't work, but maybe she had a chance in intimidating them out of doing this. After all, there was a bloodthirsty crowd not too far away. If she did this well, perhaps she could also get something else out of this…
"Stop this!" she shouted at the incoming knights, trying to make herself sound as imposing as possible again. "Do you have any idea what will happen to you if you continue doing this!?"
To her relief, the incoming knights did hesitate. The healer turned away from them to face the mass of lower quarter inhabitants, and gestured towards it with her free hand. "Look at them! Look at where you are! Do you think they will let you leave with the little food that belongs to them!? They-"
"Don't listen to her, men!" the corrupt officer interrupted. "They're just harmless civilians! You are armed with steel. If they get in our way, it will be easy to clear a path!"
Estelle shifted her attention to her officer himself. The notion that a commander of the knights was willing to order his men to attack unarmed civilians took away her last restraint and calm. "Harmless!? You think we are harmless!?" She slowly reached for her sword again, slowly advancing on the officer. "Let me tell you something about us. Of all the people you see there, at least half of them carry a weapon. You know why that is?"
She wasn't really asking; there was no way someone like him could even guess. "It's because at night, or sometimes even at day, many of them are forced to turn on others here, as your high taxes force them to take what isn't theirs, just to survive! Don't think that we don't know how to defend ourselves!"
Although she was slightly exaggerating, none of the knights surrounding her knew any better. They never patrolled here, after all. The same persons who had been dead set on arresting her moments ago took a few uneasy steps backwards. Even the officer in all his overly expensive armor showed signs of nervousness… it was working!
"For every knight you have here, there are at least ten armed civilians in there, with more coming every moment! And they all have one thing in common: their hate for people like you, self-righteous criminals who only care about your own wealth and rank! You have no right to call yourself a knight!" she shouted.
By now, the officer and the councilman were walking backwards, trying to keep the distance between themselves and the now armed Estelle. For the second time in the last ten minutes, the knights on the inner ring were silent. Had they really believed themselves to be safe? If so, they weren't very smart…
Could it be that these men were chosen to do this because they were expendable? No, she couldn't get distracted. "If you want to get out of here alive, you will release the prisoners and leave the food!"
She hoped that would be enough, as she didn't know what else to say. The seconds went by slowly.
"She is right!" Leblanc suddenly burst out. "As an officer, I'm putting the safety of my men first. The captain would have made the same choice! Schwann brigade, prepare to fall back!"
What Estelle wanted to do was let out a deep sigh of relief. It was good to see that at least some knights still had a sense of responsibility… even if they agreed to go on missions without extensively studying the orders.
The tax collector sputtered cries of mutiny, but they were lost among Leblanc's shouted orders. The officer realized they had lost. Without the support of the usually gullible Schwann brigade, they had too few men to continue captain Cumore's operation. He sneered at Estelle one final time. "Don't think that you've heard the last of this! As a knight, it is my duty to remove threats to public order, and you have just made yourself one of those!"
The healer didn't even bother to reply.
Estelle felt oddly detached from the scene as she watched the knights leave in a turtle formation. Unsurprisingly, the council member and the golden-clad officer had positioned themselves at the very center of it, as far away as possible from harm. They were bombarded with numerous projectiles that some angry pursuers threw at them, but she wasn't too worried about that. The knights weren't likely to be wounded in this way, and they had already decided to withdraw. A fight was unlikely.
She felt tired, not physically but mentally. That 'negotiation', if it could be called that, had been very straining on her self-control, and intimidating people into submission was not something she did often. It was probably pure luck that it had worked…
In front of her, cheering people filed out, unloading the crates and breaking open the wagon that contained the prisoners. It seemed that the knights had forgotten to unlock the door in their hurry. Wait… the prisoners! They could be severely injured if they were all captured in the same, rough manner she had seen. She immediately put her sword and shield away and started moving in the direction of the wagon, when she realized that she couldn't reach it. People were surrounding her; some trying to congratulate her, others whispering amongst each other.
"Who is she? Is she an elder?"
"Pfff, look at her, man! She's too young, not to mention way too hot to…"
"That was awesome! Did you see the way she backed those guys up against a wall?"
"Wow, she must have really told them off!"
"Fled with their tails behind their legs, they did!"
"Isn't that with their tails between their legs, dear?"
"Not even Flynn is that cool!"
"I knew you'd manage it, miss Estelle!" one of the muscular brother from before cried, giving her a friendly knock on the shoulder, which almost caused her knees to buckle.
"Estelle? Is that her name?"
"Wow, you know her?"
"What? Of course I do!"
"Thank you for making them leave, miss Estelle."
"Can we eat now, dad? I'm starving…"
"We need to thank doctor Es-something first, son."
"I want to be like her when I grow up, mom! How do I get pink hair?"
Not really used to receiving this much attention, Estelle blushed slightly and muttered something about having to get to the wounded prisoner, so she wasn't making much progress in pushing herself through the elated mob.
"Give her some space!" Gwenn shouted as she emerged from the crowd. "We are healers, and we need to tend to the injured! Don't just stand there ogling over her, make yourselves useful or something!"
The younger healer was hit with a strange impulse to hug her friend. "Gwenn! What are you doing here? No, never mind that…"
"We'll talk later, Estelle. We need to make sure that the prisoners, and especially the elder, are all right," her colleague replied. "Oh… and good work, by the way. I'm sure your father would be proud of you."
Estelle didn't know what to say to that, so she was silent for the reminder of the path forward. Luckily the people seemed to have listened to her friend, as it was significantly easier to move now. Eventually they reached the prisoners, and Estelle gasped. They weren't just in bad shape; some of them had clearly visible skull fractures. She was about to use her healing artes when her friend stopped her.
"No, let me handle this."
"Are you sure? They have-"
"It's nothing some bandages and some minor gel treatment cannot handle. Besides, maybe a little pain will remind those hotheads of how reckless it was to attack a tax collector surrounded by guards alone!" she said the last part a little louder than was strictly necessary. Some of the wounded men groaned.
"Also," the elder healer continued, glancing somewhere behind Estelle, "I think someone has something to say to you."
Sure enough, behind her, one of the elders had been patiently waiting for them to finish. The woman seemed to be completely unharmed. Perhaps the soldiers had known better than to really harm her; despite her simple brown dress, this woman radiated authority and dignity far better than she herself could probably ever hope to do. She also carried some items of less expensive jewelry, which was already highly uncommon for anyone living in the lower quarter. Thieves knew better than to try stealing from an elder.
"Ah, excuse me, elder Sarah. I wasn't paying attention," she said, bowing her head in respect. Estelle didn't know all the elders, but she did know of the ones that operated close to her home. Not knowing the name of one of the people who were charged with trying to make life in the lower quarter easier for everyone would have been quite embarrassing.
The old woman waved her excuse away. "Nonsense, child. You were acting out of concern for the well-being of others. That is commendable. Raise your eyes."
And so she did. Now that the elder had appeared, the still considerable crowd of onlookers really stayed at a comfortable distance. "I was able to see what had happened from the wagon, and on behalf of the community, I thank you, Estelle Heraussein, for the courage you have shown today," The elder continued.
This was followed by another round of applause and cheering, which promptly stopped when the old woman signaled the spectators to do so. "You have also shown wisdom and foresight in being aware of the real threat, and you deserve praise for being able to prevent the unnecessary loss of life. As such, you deserve a reward. Is there anything within reason that you desire?"
Estelle felt distinctly uncomfortable. Next to receiving far too much praise, everyone's eyes were on her again. "I… do not wish for a reward, Elder, but I do want to ask your permission for something. Could we… talk about this a bit more privately?"
The words were barely out of her mouth before she realized how unrealistic they were. There had to be hundreds of people here. "That is perfectly understandable," the elder replied unexpectedly. "Go back to your work," she continued, addressing the crowd. Slowly, the area around them emptied. Estelle was amazed: it was an impressive display of the power that the elders had over the citizens here.
"Are you sure that you do not want anything, child?" the old woman asked finally.
"Yes, I'm sure. I do not deserve a reward… if one of the officers there hadn't been willing to listen, I don't think a fight could have been avoided. The crowd was also unusually calm for some reason…"
"Perhaps they had faith in you, child," the woman replied with a small smile. To her, the extend of the child's modesty was amusing.
"No they didn't!" a third, unfamiliar voice cried out. Both the woman looked up, surprised to see a crowd of children, and oddly, Tom, approaching them. "It was because of Ted's mighty gang! We were hired by this guy here to pass the message around: someone is coming to deal with them, don't fight and give the pink haired doctor lady a chance to do so!"
The speaker, presumably Ted, spun around to face Tom. "And so we did! Now pay us the eighty copper!"
"Eighty copper!?" Tom asked, slightly baffled. "The deal was forty, two copper for each of your friends!"
"Danger money!" Ted immediately replied. "This is a real job, so you pay us what the grownups get for dangerous things too!"
To that, Estelle had to agree. Sending children into an angry mob wasn't particularly safe for them. Both Estelle and the elder threw Tom a questioning glance. "Hey, I'm sorry! But I wanted to help you somehow," he replied, throwing up his hands.
"While I do not particularly agree with the method, I do have to say that it was quite effective," came the voice of Gwenn. "And yes, I am convinced that the wounded will be fine if they take some rest," she added, cutting off the inevitable question from her colleague.
Estelle turned back to the elder. Apparently this was as much privacy as they were going to get. "Elder Sarah, I would like to ask your permission to leave the city for an unknown period of time."
The old woman raised an eyebrow. "Leave the city? Whatever for, child?"
"I think I know who stole the aqua blastia last night," the healer replied. "I was on my way back home when I saw someone tinker with the fountain. It was very late, so I decided to investigate. She told me she was Rita Mordio, the person elder Hanks hired for the repairs. I assumed she was a genuine blastia mage, and left her there…" She decided to leave out the part of her almost getting killed by Rita beforehand, taking Gwenn's advice.
"I see… this is a very serious matter. Why do you wish to go after her personally? That alone seems to be a poor motivation," the elder replied. Her face fell slightly; did she know she was keeping something from her?
"I feel as if I had a chance to stop her… and failed. I think I'm also one of the very few persons here that knows how to survive outside of the town barrier."
"I do not agree with you on the first part, child. But you are probably correct in the latter," the elder said. "Regardless, I'm not sure if it is in our best interest if you left. I am greatly concerned by this direct provocation by the knights. We may need every capable person we have if something similar occurs in the future."
"Yes, that is why I want to go by the castle before I leave," the young healer answered, taking a crumbled piece of parchment from her belt. "This is the order the tax collector had… I managed to hide it from them while we 'talked'. I know that this is false… and I know someone at the castle who will listen to me if I take it there."
This time, the elder was clearly surprised. "You have the… Are you sure about this? And how are you going to get into the castle? Citizens like ourselves are forbidden from entering the royal quarter, not to mention the castle itself."
"We can help you with that! Ted's mighty gang, at your service!" the enthousiastic youngling cried, followed by a chorus of cheers from his friends.
"Such a gald wolf, you are…" Tom grunted under his breath.
"No way!" Ted cried in protest. "My mommy says never to take money from the pink haired doctor lady!"
"Hmmm… now that I think of it, child," the elder suddenly began, "Hanks told me that Rita Mordio was staying somewhere in the Royal Quarter. If you are lucky, you might be able to catch her there before she leaves the city."
"You will need to act quickly though, Estelle," Gwenn cut in. "If that order is really fake, those knights will be coming after you. It might be better to go to the castle immediately. Assuming Rita is still in the city is a gamble."
Estelle only nodded. "Do I have your permission to leave then, elder?"
"Yes child, and I wish you good luck on your journey. Your property will be taken care off. May you return shortly."
The healer bowed her head, feeling relieved. "Thank you, elder. I promise that I will deliver this order to the right person, and that I will get the aqua blastia back to us."
'But what should I do first…? Try to see if Rita is still there, or delivering the forged order?'
Author's notes:
Up until now, in my mind there has always been one more logical thing for each of the characters to do or say. In this case, both of Estelle's options are defendable. Looking for Rita first is riskier but might prevent her from having to go on a journey out of the city, whereas going to the castle first is safer but gives Rita more time to flee.
The choice has a large impact on the next chapter, which is why I'll leave it to the readers to decide. Without spoiling too much, going for Rita first involves Yuri and Estelle meeting earlier, with a unique opportunity for interaction in which they are both unaware of the other exactly (socially) is. The downside to this is that the meeting is by chance; i.e. more or less like it happens in canon, where the escaping Estelle randomly bumps into the perfect person to accompany her on her journey to warn Flynn. I always found that to be a bit of a weak point in the story.
Going for the castle first takes away that random element and makes for a more amusing scene later in the chapter (Estelle and Yuri meet regardless). It's your call; just let me know what you prefer.
All right, enough about that. Some characters act in an unusual way in this chapter, so I'll go back to characterization of some people with the reasoning.
Estelle: Throughout the last two chapters, there are multiple hints that Estelle is a lot more popular than she expects herself to be. However, when confronted by this, she is so humble that she instinctively rejects the possible and is confused by what is happening or being said. As for the intimidation of the corrupt duo: while it seems to directly contradict Estelle's character, I think that there is a reasonable chance she might do that if she was confronted with polar opposite (purely evil) characters.
Why? That is because Estelle has moments where she seems to consist of strange contradictions. For example, canon Estelle is oblivious to the workings of seduction and probably also of sex itself, but she seems to be greatly offended when Yuri teases her about not being sexy enough (sex-y?). Also, when you get to Aspio for the first time, she is able to trick the guards into revealing whether or not Flynn has been there, something I wouldn't have expected a naïve princess to do.
Finally, for the past (flashback) Estelle, I figured her to be emphatic enough to be severely effected by what was happening there. It wasn't a pretty place to be.
Ioder: Slightly more rebellious than he might be expected to be. Has Yuri been rubbing off on him? Interesting to note that he has let himself be persuaded on a similarly dangerous mission in the past.
Ted: In an effort to continue the realistic slum setting, Ted now has his own gang! I think that if the lower quarter in canon was more realistic/poor, having Yuri as a role model would stop him from joining or creating even a non-serious gang, but he doesn't here :P
Leblanc: While part of the Schwann/comic relief brigade, he seems to be more reliable than the others when pushed into a tight situation. It would probably fit his rank of Lieutenant to generally act as above.
Monetary system: My best explanation as to how someone can carry around values reaching into the millions of gald, is that there have to be coins and/or notes that represent set amounts of it. If there ever was an in-depth explanation of the monetary system, i probably missed it. If that is the case, i'm sorry. Copper pieces seemed to be good contenders for the lowest amount of gald per coin. If you do not like this, however, please let me know. I could also go for a completely vague/nondescript approach to gald which is more in-line with the game.
Well, that's everything. If you read all the way down here through the A/N, you probably deserve a medal. Did I do well? Was something off? Please review to let me know what you think about the chapter!
-kind regards, Dieuwtjin