Chapter 25 - Algae Bloom

We fought hard. Really hard. Harder than we'd ever fought before really, even against the Dragon so long ago. But I was stronger. We were all stronger. We were able to draw them all away, crazy now that I think about it but the bounty must have been high enough to take their minds off of the caravan, and that's when the fight really started. I… I don't think you'd understand just how crazy it all became. See, the whole desperate fight against the Dragon, it was so long ago by then. We had learned every trick in the book, and then written a new one. We were… I think by that point we could have honestly been the match of a Lillim. Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, but if you were there you would understand. God, my brother, when he really let loose... When he realized that he couldn't hold back anymore for our safety on the battlefield… Have you ever seen ice spontaneously combust? Watched as the ground itself bubbled, and watched lightning itself manifest into a living creature? And my boyfriend. Fiance. Whatever you want to call it. He moved with such speed and strength it was unreal. He split a dragon in half with a single stroke. You know some people think their scales are indestructible, but honestly their durability was pretty much laughable against him. And me? I… I don't know. I know that I killed things. I killed a LOT of things. At least as many as they did. I remember that. But it's still sort of like my part in it is something I never really concentrated on, even though that sounds really weird since I was the one actually fighting and stuff. All I remember are their figures, so powerful, so grand. I don't know why they weren't made heroes. But it didn't really matter. Because more monsters came. And no matter how strong they were, they couldn't fight forever. And so that's when I figured out what was going to need to happen. We couldn't escape. Not so easily. Not surrounded as we were. And not when we were already getting tired. So that's when I made the decision. And that's how my brother and boyfriend got away, and I was taken straight into the heart of the Demon Realm. That's how I was turned into a monster, and never saw my friends and family again. And you know what really made me snap though? What pushed me over the edge? It was the tragedy of it all. Feeling everything get ripped away in an unfair event, two lovers never getting married and being apart forever. It excited me. It made me want to experience that hopelessness and tragedy again.

There was an eerie sort of silence around the Captain of the guard. The kind most would associate with sadness. Depression. Mourning. But if you were to see his face, none of that sort of thing would be visible. Neither was he showing any signs of rage. Nor happiness. His face was more of a blank mask, yet the slight look in his eyes told you that he wasn't trying to hide anything either. It seemed natural on him, despite those who knew him personally probably objecting to this possibility strongly. He would have his times of reclusiveness, mostly when facing times of emotional turmoil, but they would never actually see him be so… empty.

And yet, as he walked along the fortress walls under the blazing noonday sun, his face didn't even twitch despite no one being around to see him. Even the guards that would normally be stationed along the walls nearby had been given a break while he did the little job The Mayor had assigned him away from prying eyes and far out of earshot of any hidden listeners.

He had only just arrived on top, The Mayor explaining what he wanted done a quarter of an hour ago, and he knew that it wouldn't be so easy as it was initially outlined. Or maybe it would. It really depended on his luck. Whatever the case, all his task came down to was his willingness to wait, and the only reason he had really been chosen was that at the moment he really had nothing else to do. It could almost be considered busy work, if it wasn't also highly needed to be done.

The man stopped right in the middle of the walkway, halfway between the two guard towers on either side, and turned to face the vast ocean. It was a beautiful sight. One he had seen often. And now, he felt a sort of peace inside of himself while looking at it. But that wasn't what he was up there for.

He had a job to do. And so he turned around and began leaning against the parapets in a casual stance. He would normally prefer a more military one, but he needed to give off an air of laxity. Appearing too uptight would work against him here. And so, he settled in for the long wait.

"Tell me, you four, why I shouldn't have you executed right here? Right now?"

The Mayor was sitting, once more, on the site of the old courthouse. But by now the ashes had long cooled. In fact, the wind had blown most of it away, and the citizens were taking some of the ruined wood to use for other things. Mostly for house repairs after the invasion, which had caused a large amount of property damage around the dock's entrance area where the vast majority of the fighting had taken place. Unfortunately, the wood wasn't exactly fitted properly so the repairs were all quite basic and the houses that ended up like a ramshackle hut from the combat were either stripped down or simply abandoned. The former residents were forced to either move to one of the empty homes or stay with another family.

But that wasn't the main concern at the moment. What was, was the fact that the four deserters weren't forgotten by the rest of the guards, and they were soon pointed out by the men after they had tried, and failed, to reintegrate themselves with the rest of the soldiers while the chaos of the battle's aftermath was still going strong. If there were more soldiers… it might have worked. However, they were the only ones to come out of the battle relatively unscathed, and so were paid extra attention and were quickly rounded up and brought before The Mayor for his judgement.

At their silence, the city leader continued.

"The four of you are all guilty of desertion. In fact, some could possibly consider that it was your fault that we have lost so many citizens and guards alike. But I also know that you were scared. And unlike last time, I'm actually interested in what you have to say. So, let's begin the trial. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

One of the men, the second in line, began to speak.

"I… I don't think we can say much. I mean, I was scared. I panicked in the face of danger. And I know we didn't- We shouldn't have done that. Shouldn't have even crossed our minds really You and the Captain trained us to fight, and it's not like we haven't fought the monsters before. It's just that this time, with them right in our faces, coming at us the huge swarm with their grins and their monstrous forms I… I just ran."

The Mayor stayed quiet for a moment before sighing. "And the rest of you? Are you of the same mind?"

"Yes sir."
"Yes."
"Yes."

The Mayor was torn. The men were good men. They were good guards. And they were capable. He didn't want to do it, but he knew he had to. To keep up some semblance of order in the city.

"The defendants have plead guilty to their charges of desertion of duty in the face of an enemy force. The charges are life imprisonment." He held up a hand to stop them as their heads rose to instinctively protest. "However, due to their previous actions in helping keep the city safe from outside forces and for the participation in multiple monster extermination events, I am allowed to lessen the charges slightly. Furthermore, due to the current state of the city, along with the continued crisis situation, I have decided to further reduce the charges."

The men's faces turned thankful. Awe filled even. And it sort of made sense. He was, after all, basically forgiving them of a crime that could conceivably get them executed on the mainland for treason, and had simply named it 'desertion of duty' on top of that.

"And so, you will face imprisonment for two weeks, and after your term ends you will be reinstated as guards of the city. You will be relegated to more dangerous tasks as well. You will no longer be allowed to handle weapons unsupervised. You must also spend any patrols or lookouts with another guard who is not among you. By my power as The Mayor of this city, that is your verdict."

The four guards didn't cry, but it was a close thing, and the other four guards there, all more injured than the deserters, had scowls on their faces.

"Sir," one of them spoke up, "Am I allowed to... Can I dispute your… This isn't fair. They abandoned us!" Around him, the other guards nodded, and the four new convicts winced at the man's words.

And the glares of the citizens around were also present. Unlike the previous trial, which was done with only The Mayor, Captain, Headmaster, and some guards present, this was a different case altogether and as the rules dictated in this situation, they were to allow as many civilians to stand by and watch the proceedings as well. And it wasn't like he could hide it either. Apparently one of the families witnessed the four men fleeing through the streets and away from the fighting, news that spread throughout the city in no time at all after the men had already been caught, and they had to be publicly outed less the citizenry fall into yet another riot at the idea that their protectors weren't, in fact, protecting them as they had believed.

The Mayor sighed at this. He understood why the man was angry. Why the other guards were angry. And why the citizens were angry. And worst of all, in most cases they would be completely in the right to. Even now they were in the right to, and the rapid whispers spreading through the crowd were legitimate. But just because something was right didn't mean it was what needed to happen.

"Please, calm down everyone," The Mayor asked them, "and let me explain myself." To his slight relief, they did so.

"The guards here have committed a crime, yes, but the circumstances are not the same as before."

"Well, how was it different last time?" one of the women in the audience called out. He idly noted that she was one of those married to one of the criminals that were killed so many weeks ago. No wonder she was so angry. She had a stake in this.

"Last time we were not in such dire straights. Last time, we were not facing the possible destruction of the city with their imprisonment."

The crowd seemed to panic slightly before he amended his statement.

"Sorry. Right, I phrased that quite badly. What I meant was that the men and women who had been convicted previously had two different things about their situation, which were the reason why the sentence for these men has been so dramatically different. The first is the fact that we were not so short on citizens. We could afford their imprisonment because we had more people to obtain food. And sec-"

"No, that's not good enough!" the objector called out once again. "We're getting tons of food from the monsters we killed! We have more than enough to spare for them."

"Yes, I understand that, but that point leads into my second point."

"It doesn't matter how they're connected if the first one doesn't work."

"Please, just listen to me would you?"

"My husband didn't do anything nearly as bad as your soldiers did, and the situation was a hell of a lot worse than it is n-"

"MY GOD WOMAN, LET ME SPEAK!" The Mayor finally shouted, his patience completely spent, and the all the citizens and guards alike recoiled at his enhanced voice that blasted out and nearly overwhelmed their ears. A few winced in pain, but at the moment The Mayor didn't really care.

"OKAY. So. The second reason is that, I am loathe to say, but we are low on trained guardsmen. We have only fifteen ready for combat at the moment, and if another incursion occurs we simply won't be able to fight it back. And if we can't kill monsters then that doesn't just mean that we're not going to be able to defend ourselves. It means that we will lose one of the few things that are keeping us fed, since we won't be able to harvest the monsters any longer due to us simply not having enough people capable of actually fighting."

The citizens were stunned at first, but him gaining their attention did have the added benefit of forcing them to listen to his words. And thankfully, they seemed to understand, at least in part. However, that didn't mean all of them did.

"I…" the woman from before started, b. The fact that she was willing to continue talking was admirable in and of itself, but it really wasn't what he needed right now. However he still knew that just shutting up anyone who objected to him was a one way route to rebellion and that would just make things worse. "I still can't accept that answer. W-We can fight too! Just have us do it! We can take their place. I know that crossbows aren't that difficult to use."

The Mayor had to held in another agonized groan. The woman was correct. They really could teach more people. They wouldn't be anywhere as good at fighting as the guards were, a glorified citizen's militia essentially but half-trained instead of untrained, but they would still be a help. And he was actually planning to try some recruitment. But that didn't mean that he still needed all the guards he could, since three half-trained soldiers were only worth one fully trained one which counted double when it came to things like aiming a bow or crossbow where the long hours of practice were just as, or even more, important as the drive to fight in the first place.

"I understand what you want, but every trained man is essential. These are not just four random men on the street. These are four guards who have been trained to fight and die for the city. They know the ins and outs of combat far better than we could teach you in just a few short weeks. And I'm sorry, but I've already delivered my verdict. The decision is final."

He turned to the guards with a heavy feeling in his chest. A familiar one really. The feeling of tiredness.

"Guards, take the prisoners away."

And with that, he went down the small steps and began walking back to his tower, ignoring the harsh looks at his back. He knew he'd need to have a different Council member make the announcement.

There was too many harsh feelings between him and the citizens at the moment.

"Hey! You up there! Human!"

The Captain had been leaning against the parapet for about four hours straight, before he finally heard what he was waiting for. The sound of something calling out to him.

"Can you hear me?"

Or more specifically a monster.

He turned around, a smile on his face that seemed more fake than if it were made of plastic. But at the distance they were at, and the fact that monsters couldn't enhance their eyesight as well as a human using Spirit Energy could, it wouldn't be able to tell the difference between fake emotions and real ones. Something the Captain was banking on.

"Of course sweetie," he said in a joyful tone, though the almost motionless movement of his face, head, and body as he said it would instantly betray his deceptive actions if they were up close.

"S-Sweetie? I, uh, I mean… Yeah! Hi! I'm just wondering what you're doing up there!"

"Doing up here? Well to tell you the truth I was actually waiting for one of you guys!"

"Oh really?" it looked a bit skeptical at that, "And how am I supposed to believe that? I heard all about how you guys are holding a bunch of us hostage!"

"Aw, we were, but then we had that whole ship come inside and we talked things out. They really made us see what we were doing wrong. And, you know, we're all really sorry about what we did." As he spoke, the Captain's voice shifted into a more sorrowful and apologetic tone, but his smile didn't disappear for a moment, as if frozen in place.

"Really? You mean they got through to you guys? But I heard that you were-"

"They were very persuasive."

The monster fell silent at the implications of his statement. The implication that the monsters had corrupted the minds, bodies, and very souls of the people on the island.

And it fell for the bait.

"You mean that? My sister was there! Can I talk to her? Oh, can you let the rest of us in then? I mean, we've been stuck out here forever and I can't wait to see what's inside that you guys have been hiding for so long! I mean, it's gotta be amazing and oh man I'm rambling again I'm sorry I do that sometimes and-"

"And it's okay. There were a lot of… mamono who were in that ship. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's busy. But you really gotta understand we can't let you in all at once, right? We gotta let you in a group at a time! You're also so amazing, and we can't just handle so many beauties coming into our little fortress all at once, you know?"

"Beautiful? Really? You think I'm beautiful?" The monster was now blushing. However, the Captain's face didn't change for a moment, though he did almost slip up in his own words.

"Of course I do," he lied, "and I can't wait for you to come inside and join us. So don't worry about anything anyone's been saying about monsters being imprisoned, okay? We're all happy here. We're just having a bit of a difficulty adjusting to so many new… girls here. You know?"

The young monster began quickly nodding in agreement.

"So, how about a pretty little thing like you goes and tells the rest of the monsters to calm down. You don't need to be scared of us, alright? I'd hate to see that expression on a cute face like yours."

He knew that she was probably already going to do what he said and that he didn't need to sprinkle in more compliments, but he also knew that every little bit helped. And with his last line, the monster finally seemed to be able to take no more and quickly fled. Fled to, he hoped, tell the rest of the Demonic scum hiding in the ocean that the humans 'accepted' them. That with the ship entering the fortress it was 'safe' to come in now. A laughable idea, but a single rumor would be all that was needed to draw some more monsters in. And they didn't need to trick them all. Just trick enough.

And so the Captain turned around and began walking away, back to the barracks. He had done his part.

Dinner, for the next few weeks, was served.