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I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long while, but I was very busy and still busy so my updates will still be very spars.
I'm really sorry! I did not noticed that I uploaded the wrong chapter. This should be the real one. Hope you enjoy it.
"As soon as we get back to Aradia, I have to warn the commanders to be on guard for Bandit." Jin frowned. He and Hana had been travelling for a while on his horse back on the path Reika directed them to. So far, they had travelled a good distance and Jin estimated that they were at least half way through the journey and stopped for the night.
Hana raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Jin tensed as he understood what Hana was asking nonverbally and clenched his fist. "It is important because the main army camp has at least 20 explosive cannons."
Hana's eyes became wide as she understood the implications of it. "If Bandit gets hold of the cannons, they will be unstoppable."
"Exactly."
Hana narrowed her eyes in thought and glared at him. "Then why would you let an indestructible weapon be used if you know that it can be used against you?"
"They are not 'indestructible', per se. Grandfather had anticipated this and made sure that there is sort of a weakness in the cannons." Jin admitted.
"Sort of?" Hana signed/asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The weakness is on the cannons itself and to render them unusable, we need to get up close to the cannons in order to do so."
Hana facepalmed and leaned back against a tree trunk. "Jin, I don't mean any offence to you…while Yoshimitsu Kaidou is smart enough to create a weakness, he's dumb enough to make it hard to reach. You might as well take out the people handling the cannons to stop them."
Jin let out a snort and leaned back beside her. "I know. I brought it up to him many times and he still insisted that changes will not be necessary because Bandit will not be able to steal them."
"Jin, we have been underestimating Bandit this whole time." Hana signed seriously. This caught Jin's attention and made him pay attention.
"Even when I was in Aidara, we were wrong about how strong Bandit truly is. They have Seredy for a leader and he is extremely cunning and capable of military strategy. And controlling them is Queen Kinako who is highly unpredictable and unstable from what you told me. Think about it. Even without Itan Kyouji, they still have the means to succeed with the right decision and right action."
"You are right." Jin slowly nodded. "Which is more reason why we need to get back as soon as possible." He closed his eyes and pulled Hana closer to him. "Get some sleep. We have a long day of travelling tomorrow."
Hana did not reply but snuggled closer to him, quickly falling asleep. But little did they now that far away from here, Bandit was already raiding the army camps of the Kaidou Empire. Due to the fact that a majority of troops had been recalled back to the palace, the remaining sentries stood no chance against the whole body of Bandit. Not especially since Queen Kinako is joining them on this raid with her personal soldiers as well.
"Move the cannons back to the rendezvous points!" Seredy ordered his men once they were done collecting the weapons and cannons in the army camp close to the borders of Aradia. He was grateful that Queen Kinako had gone to another camp instead but sympathized the Bandits who were currently with her. It was no secret that the queen was actually becoming more psychotic as the days went by. Everyone knew to avoid her as much as possible lest they find themselves executed for no reason at all.
The only one willing to stay by the queen's side was Yuko but even she had mixed feelings about the queen's latest actions.
Over at Wecasta the next day, the entire court was in uproar over the news of the army camps being raided and the possibility of them being used against them. Which led to some serious arguments.
"We must increase our military!"
"We must surrender!"
"No, we have to fight back!"
"But we have no chance against those cannons!"
Queen Renneton could only rub her head in exasperation as the same argument went back and forth. Neither options were favorable to her. She did not want to pull in anymore troops from the civilians and pit them in a war that was not meant for theirs to fight. But at the same time, surrendering was not an option either. Bandit and Queen Kinako will only win and terrorize her people, something she must never allow.
The arguments and debates only came to a halt when Yuusuke had enough and declared a recess to let her think.
"Your highness, neither options presented before us are very favorable to us." Yuusuke said quietly when the throne room was cleared out of the advisors.
"I agree. But we are limited in time and options." She signed and closed her eyes in thought. Thinking through the possibilities, she wondered if there could be a third option they could take. She opened her eyes glanced out of the window. "Junichiro once said that if there is no other option, we have to take the fight to them. Diplomatic actions have proven fruitless with Queen Kinako. And she has already tried to kill one of her children. I do not believe that she is sane anymore. The only thing that she cares about now is war. Her actions were a declaration of it."
"It may seem that there is no other choice." Yuusuke sighed. While Wecasta was well known for its militia, Queen Renneton only utilized it three times in her entire reign. It was only when Yoshimitsu Kaidou tried to attack Wecasta, fending off pirates in Machila and driving off Bandit from Misora Town. The reason why she never used the militia otherwise is because like her friend Junichiro, she is a pacifist at heart. She chose to never use it for her personal gain but to help and protect others. Now, she may have to use it once again to stop Bandit and Queen Kinako once and for all before they terrorize other kingdoms and her people.
"Yuusuke, call in Ban and Muraku." She told him. "We need to discuss the best course of action."
"Of course." Yuusuke nodded and left to find the two men.
Back at Lambary, Queen Kinako had just returned from the raid and was checking the stored cannons. In order to keep them close to Wecasta without alerting anyone, Bandit had moved them to an empty shed in their hideout. She smirked and ran a hand over one of them as she admired the design. Plans of what to do with them ran through her mind.
"Yoshimitsu Kaidou, I applaud you on designing such powerful weapon. It seems to be the only thing you know how to do properly. But nevertheless, I'm stealing them and using them for myself." She mused with a malicious smirk.
Glancing around, her smirk dropped when she noticed Yuko approaching her. With a scowl, she spun around at her. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone!?"
"Forgive me your majesty." Yuko bowed low. "But I just received news which I believe important to tell you immediately."
"What is it?"
"Yoshimitsu Kaidou is confirmed dead. Jin Kaidou has fully inherited his throne but had left a few days ago without telling anyone where. And there is news from Seredy that Itan Kyouji is missing."
Queen Kinako's scowl dropped a little. "Good."
Yuko looked at her confused. "Good…? I understand about Yoshimitsu Kaidou being dead good to you. But Itan Kyouji…"
"Is one less nuisance." Queen Kinako tossed her head. "Don't think that I don't know the traitorous thoughts that goes through his head. If he is missing, it means that either he ran away or he is dead. I'm leaning more on the latter though."
"I see." Yuko said quietly.
"It doesn't matter anymore." The queen's face twisted into an ugly look. "Soon, I will have the world at my feet."
Yuko tensed at that. "Queen Kinako, I beg of you. Please don't do this. You will have everyone against you and this will lead to more chaos and disorder to what remains of our people!"
Queen Kinako's temper snapped and she backhanded Yuko very hard that she fell down against one of the cannons with a pained gasp.
"I will no longer tolerate your insolence and betrayal!" She shrieked as she hauled Yuko up and threw her across the room. "You went behind my back and told that flute child to steal my children away from me and broke our agreement to keep her away from Lambary! Now you dare oppose me when I will finally get my revenge!?"
Yuko could not answer that as she coughed out blood and winced as her ribs took most of the impact which broke some of them. Queen Kinako casted her a glare and stormed over to the door of the warehouse, not caring if she left Yuko for dead.
"That went well." Yuko mustered out but slummed back against the wall. Moving and speaking hurt a lot so she could only close her eyes and accept the inevitable doom.
'Father, I'm sorry. I failed my duty to protect the royal family.' She thought in despair, thinking that she was going to die there. Unfortunately, an insistent taping on her shoulder made her unable to fall fully unconscious.
"Oh dead." Yuko heard before she felt herself being helped up. She groaned as she realized who it was when she caught a whiff of the signature forest musk smell her red haired apprentice always had.
"About time." She muttered as she felt Reika help her out of the window she snuck in. It still hurt to talk but she could not help it.
"Master Yuko, I couldn't just stay away when you're hurt." Reika managed a smile. Just when she was prepared to head back to Wecasta, she felt the winds telling her something was wrong. Following its guidance, she found herself at the outskirts of Bandit's hideout and hid until she was certain that Queen Kinako was too far away to sense her. And so, that's how she found her mentor left for dead and decided to rescue her.
"When we get back to Wecasta, remind me to never reason with psychopaths." Was the last thing Yuko muttered before Reika transported them back to the Wecasta forest.
