A New Crusade IF
Hello everyone and Welcome to the first story in this series of alternate side stories! Now, a quick explanation on how this is gonna work. I will do these stories by request, so as long as I got a request then there will be a chapter written. So tell me which alternate routes you'd like to see for our Crusader and I'll see what entertaining side story I can create from them. Now then, that's all for the announcements so onto the side story!
A Knight's Pride
The Capital City of Lugnica
It had happened again. The knight, Sir Ulric, had felt death's cold embrace at the hands of a fiendish assassin. And much like before, he once again found himself at the fountain where he'd apparently come back to life. As he walked the city streets, he again noted that events were repeating themselves with the sun hanging in the same place in the sky and people doing the same actions they'd done the last time. Ulric had even had to jump in and save the little girl from getting potentially crushed by a speeding wagon once again.
The Crusader surmised that somehow, events were resetting themselves every time he died. He tried not to think about the possibility that he was actually in hell and that he'd be forced to attempt this task over and over again for eternity, instead choosing to focus on saving the lives he'd seen die before. To that end, the Knight ventured around to the other side of the alley where he'd met a trio of lowlifes before, hoping that his hunch was correct. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the face of Emilia as the white-haired girl came rushing down the alleyway.
Ulric was quick to stop her with a hand on the girl's arm. "You don't want to go that way," said the Knight, "it's a waste of time, trust me."
"And just who are you supposed to be," questioned Emilia as she pulled her arm out of his grasp, "you wear the trappings of a knight but no banner that I'm familiar with."
"You don't remember me," said Ulric, not as surprised as he thought he'd be upon hearing the revelation, "that's unfortunate. I was hoping I'd left some sort of impression."
"I've met many knights," said Emilia with her hands on her hips, "But I can't say I've ever laid eyes on one like you before. But as much as I'd like to continue this chat, I'm afraid I must attend to a very pressing matter."
"You mean chasing down the thief who stole your insignia," said Ulric, "I'm afraid that'll also be a waste of time. She's too fast to catch on foot."
"How do you know about that," said Emilia as she turned back towards him with a look of surprise on her face, "my insignia was stolen hardly an hour ago. Are you spying on me?"
"It's complicated to explain how I know," replied Ulric, "but it's the same way I know the name of that thief and where she's going to be."
"And just how do you know such a thing," interrogated Emilia, "better yet, how do I know you're not trying to lead me into a trap?"
"Because I came to warn you about the assassin who paid to have your insignia stolen," explained Ulric. This worked fairly well in grabbing Emilia's attention. "Her name is Elsa, a woman of demonic speed and strength who will be waiting for you when you go to retrieve your insignia. She won't hesitate to kill you."
The silver-haired girl took a few moments to ponder the new information she'd just been given. "I think we can trust him, Emilia," said the cat spirit Puck as he came floating out from behind her hair, "I don't sense any malice in his words, and I doubt someone trying to lead us into a trap would be warning us about an assassination attempt. Besides, the quicker we get your insignia back, the better and while I don't doubt my abilities in holding off an assassin, it can't hurt to have an extra hand, just in case." Emilia pondered Puck's words for a moment before accepting them and turning back to Ulric.
"Alright," said Emilia, "I'll choose to believe you this time so take me to my insignia. It's rather important that I get it back." Ulric nodded in understanding before turning to lead Emilia to the Loot House. "One more thing. What's your name, Sir Knight?"
"Ah, of course," said Ulric, just now remembering that she didn't currently know his name, "I am often referred to as Sir Ulric, but you can just call me Ulric. And for a short while, my sword shall be yours, miss-?"
"Emilia," answered the white-haired girl, "my name is Emilia, and this is my spirit, Puck." The floating cat gave a wave before flying around to land on her shoulder. Ulric nodded with a small smile as they continued on their way. 'I know,' he thought, 'and this time, I'll make sure you get your insignia back.'
Some Time Later: The Loot House
As before, Emilia became sidetracked upon them discovering a lost little girl. Fortunately, Ulric remembered she was the daughter of the appa merchant which made returning her to her family relatively easy. The two had then proceeded onward to the slums where they knew the thief, Felt, would currently be hiding with Emilia's insignia. It was honestly an odd feeling for the Crusader as they approached the Loot House. Very rarely had a building succeeded in giving him a feeling of trepidation thanks to a couple years of war. But given what had happened here before, this one easily succeeded in doing so.
"Now if we're lucky, we've gotten here early," said Ulric as he moved in front of Emilia to the door. "If all goes well, we can get in, get your insignia and get out with little trouble."
"You mean you don't know for sure if the assassin's in there or not?" Questioned Emilia with a tilt of her head.
"I know roughly when she'll show up, which is likely any time now," replied Ulric, "so the sooner we accomplish our goal, the better!" He punctuated the final part of his sentence by kicking open the door, surprising the very large, dark-skinned old man inside.
"Hey, what's a matter with you?!" Exclaimed Old Man Rom, "can't a man enjoy his afternoon booze in peace?"
"My sincerest apologies for the interruption," said Ulric, his eyes darting around the room for any sign of the dark-haired assassin. But the only other person in the building, thankfully, was the little blonde thief, Felt. "We've simply come for a quick bit of business and then we'll be gone."
"You could've just knocked ya know," said Felt, "and what do you mean when you say 'we'?" Ulric answered by stepping to the side, allowing Emilia to enter the building. "Oh, it's you. Can't you just give up already? Or better yet, why not just outbid my client?"
"I'm afraid that insignia is too important for me to give up on so easily," replied Emilia in a voice that possessed plenty of authority, "Me and Sir Ulric have come here with one simple demand." The half-elf held her hand up and formed six large ice shards which hung in the air, awaiting the command to shoot forward at their target. "Return my insignia and no harm will come to you." Ulric couldn't help the small smirk which formed on his face.
It wasn't that he was joyous about the thieves' current dilemma, but rather he was relieved that things appeared to be in their favor this time. 'I'm glad I decided not to try and kill her after meeting her,' he thought, 'unlike the other so-called wielders of magic back home, this one has actual power.' "I think I'm gonna back down from this fight," said Rom as he settled behind the bar once more.
"What, don't go surrendering just like that!" Exclaimed Felt as her grip tightened around the knife hanging from the back of her waist.
"I'd have no problem going in swingin' if she was an ordinary magic user," said Rom, "but this young lady is an elf, ain't she?" Emilia let out a sigh, obviously not wanting to discuss what she considered a sour subject.
"I'm just a half-elf," Emilia explained after a moment. A look of fear crossed Felt's face as she recalled the description of another infamous half-elf.
"Wait a minute," said Felt as she tried to hide the shaking in her voice, "a white-haired half-elf? You couldn't be-?"
"The resemblance is merely coincidental," said Emilia with a dismissive wave, "it's really quite a bother that I look this way."
"But she's still got more than enough magic to level this place," Ulric said, deciding to lend a little more weight to Emilia's already intimidating display, "so it'd be best for the both of you if you simply returned what you stole. Believe me Felt, you don't want the trouble that thing is going to bring."
"What in the," said Felt as her gaze shifted to Ulric, "how in the world do you know my name?"
"The same way I know-," Ulric started to say before catching a certain movement out of the corner of his eye, "Emilia on your right!" The half-elf hardly had time to turn her head to the threat as an all too familiar woman leapt out of the shadows with her blade drawn. As her blow was about to land, however, a floating ice shield in the shape of a snowflake sprang up between the two, deflecting the blade. This interruption forced the assailant to leap back and wind up in the center of the Loot house.
"That was a bit closer than I meant it to be," said Puck as he appeared next to Emilia with a thumbs up, "thanks for the warning, Sir Knight."
"I'm simply glad my warning helped," replied Ulric as he drew his sword to, from his perspective, face the assassin once again, "I didn't know you could create something like that." 'But I am glad I knew to keep glancing at the door the entire time,' he thought.
"A spirit like me has more tricks than just floating around and looking cute," said Puck as everyone stood ready to face the newcomer.
"Oh my, a spirit," noted Elsa with a wicked smile on her face, "I've never cut open the stomach of a spirit before."
"Wait a minute, what do you think you're doing?" Questioned Felt who was now even more confused by the situation. "Weren't you just sent here to buy the insignia?"
"I would, but it's impossible for us to negotiate with the owner here trying to get it back," replied Elsa while glancing at her blade, "so I've no choice but to go with the secondary plan, and slaughter everyone here."
"Well you don't have the element of surprise like before," said Ulric, "things aren't going to go like last time. And while chivalry demands I ask the lady to surrender I very much doubt that you will, so instead all I'll say is this: it's time for you to die monster." 'And God willing I can back that up,' he thought, 'we didn't catch her by surprise but we still have a chance if we fight her together.'
"Monster, you say," replied Elsa with a slight laugh, "not at all. I simply enjoy dissecting my prey. And you all look especially exquisite." The woman licked her lips at the thought of cutting open their stomachs. And with the stage set, the battle began. Elsa made the first move by speeding forward with a horizontal slash.
Ulric moved the moment he saw her twitch, recognizing her attack from his last battle with her as he parried the assailant's blade and countered with a strike of his own. Elsa was clever, however, easily dodging around his blade and swinging her own weapon towards his neck. The knight managed to parry this strike too as it quickly became a vicious exchange of slashes between them. But as before, Elsa's speed was overwhelming and before long she was able to find an opening for a horizontal slash at Ulric's stomach.
The knight barely intercepted the blow as the force of it caused him to stagger, allowing Elsa another opening to kick him in the midsection and send him into the front of the bar. The assassin would've advanced then if not for a sudden barrage of ice shards forcing her back. "Sorry to keep ya waiting, Sir Ulric," said Puck, "we needed a moment to gather mana for this little trick." Said trick was a mass of floating ice crystals forming above his and Emilia's heads.
"And as for you, little girl, the name's Puck," said the spirit, "remember it on the way to your grave!" The mass of ice crystals flew at the assassin then, creating an impressive impact that sent dust and shattered ice crystals flying, obstructing everyone's view for a moment.
"Did ya get her?" Asked Rom from behind the bar, clearly amazed at the sight he'd just witnessed. Ulric could hardly believe it himself as he stared at the large formation of ice that had been created near the center of the room. Even more unbelievable, though, was when the ice suddenly shattered, revealing the smiling assassin who'd been shielding herself with her cloak.
"It's always good to be prepared," remarked Elsa as she discarded her cloak which disappeared shortly after, apparently possessing a bit of magic of its own. She lunged at Emilia then who blocked the strike with an ice barrier of her own.
"Don't take a wielder of the spirit arts lightly," warned Emilia as Puck began firing ice shard after ice shard in quick succession at Elsa. The assassin, once again demonstrating her nimble abilities, backflipped several times to avoid the first several shards then began jumping and rolling around the room in a series of acrobatic maneuvers, avoiding every shard fired her way.
"I must say, that's impressive for a girl," complimented Puck, "you're quite accustomed to fighting, aren't you?"
"It's been some time since I've been referred to as a mere girl," commented Elsa as she leapt off one wall and almost seemed to crawl along the others to avoid the continuing onslaught of ice shards. 'I can't find a single opening,' noted Ulric with mild frustration as he watched the battle continue to unfold, 'if I rush out now I'm just as likely to get speared by an ice shard as I am to get my stomach cut open.'
"I'm centuries old," said Puck, still firing ice shards while keeping the conversation going, "most people are infants from my point of view. Though having said that, you're among one of the more skilled humans I've met."
"I suppose I should be honored," said Elsa as she landed and began deflecting some of the shards with her purple kukri weapon, "I've never been praised by a spirit." The exchange continued while Ulric racked his brain on what he should do next. Then he noticed that the sun was going down, quickly. 'Oh no,' Ulric thought as he remembered something crucial, 'Puck can't stay around much longer. If they can't kill this murderous whore soon, we'll be in trouble.'
Fortunately, Puck hadn't forgotten about his time limit and already had a plan of his own in the works. Just as Elsa was moving around another volley of ice crystals, her foot was suddenly caught in a slab of ice on the floor. "I wasn't just shooting these around at random, ya know," said Puck, "I haven't got a lot of time left so it's best if we wrap this up now." The spirit and his master both raised their hands then to gather the needed mana before firing a large mass of jagged ice at their foe. Yet just as it was about to hit, the assassin somehow leaped out of the way.
"Oh my," said Elsa with her same sadistic smile on her face, "just a second slower and I might've died." Ulric glanced down and noted that she'd escaped the ice slab by not only ripping off her shoe, but the whole layer of skin around her foot as well.
"It seems I may have underestimated her a little bit," said Puck with a sudden yawn.
"Are you able to keep fighting Puck?" Questioned Emilia while keeping her eyes on the assassin.
"I'm afraid my time's up for now," replied the cat spirit, "I have to return to my crystal for the time being. But remember, you can summon me again if things get too tough."
"I should be able to handle things from here," said Emilia, "you get some rest." Puck nodded in understanding before disappearing back into his crystal.
"Ah, done already," said Elsa with a bit of disappointment in her voice while cutting off a shard of ice and pressing her wounded foot against it. "And we were having so much fun, too." Emilia didn't respond, choosing instead to form another floating ice barrier and a large floating shard. But Elsa knew better now than to let her finish forming it, hence why she shot forward with her weapon held over her head. She was stalled, fortunately, by the intervention of Ulric who stepped in between the two and blocked her blade with his sword.
This bought Emilia the precious few seconds she needed to finish forming her ice construct as Elsa maneuvered around the knight and struck her completed ice barrier. Ulric and Emilia stood back to back then as the assassin took to leaping and circling around them, striking at anything she viewed as a possible vulnerability. The knight and half-elf were able to block her attacks repeatedly but it now turned into a contest of endurance as each strike from Elsa came closer and closer to hitting one of them. 'We need to shift the odds back in our favor somehow,' thought Ulric as the assassin's attacks became more and more vicious, 'we can only defend for so long before one of us makes a fatal error.'
The one to make this fatal error, as it turned out, was Emilia when Elsa came in for another strike which turned out to be a feint high strike. When the silver-haired girl raised her barrier high to block the attack, Elsa spun and kicked her in the side, sending her right into the bar. Ulric was able to cover for her, forcing the assassin back with a few swings of his sword. It didn't take long for Elsa to reorient herself for another attack, but that was when Rom finally decided to charge in with his giant club held over his head.
"How rude," quipped Elsa as she flipped out of the way, flowing around Rom's strikes in a manner more akin to a dancer than a vicious killer, "cutting in on someone's dance like this."
"I'll show you some real dancing," Rom shot back as he wound up for a very powerful strike. When he brought his club down, it was with enough force to smash most of the ice that had accumulated at one side of the room. But it wasn't near fast enough to touch someone like Elsa.
"Rom, move away!" Warned Ulric as their opponent was now standing on top of Rom's club.
"My, how strong you are," purred Elsa as she raised her kukri, "to be able to hold me up while I do this!"
"NOOO!" Yelled Felt as she threw her knife, bouncing it off of the assassin's blade. It wasn't enough to stop the strike but it did move it off course enough that the slash to the old man's neck wouldn't be fatal. But fatal or not, the blow was still more than enough to fell the giant man as he collapsed to the floor.
"What a naughty girl," said Elsa as she turned her attention to the one who'd interfered, "I was going to get to you a little later, but since you seem to insist, you're next." She launched herself towards Felt then but was intercepted by Ulric as he once again stopped her attack with his sword.
"Felt," said the Crusader as he started parrying blows from the assassin again, "run and get help. We'll hold her here."
"But I can't just leave you two-," Felt started to say before Elsa skirted around Ulric and rushed towards the little thief. But the Knight had been ready for such a maneuver this time and kicked her in the side. It was enough to make her stumble as Ulric got in front of her again.
"If you don't, we'll all die for sure," for sure said the Crusader as he attacked with a few low swings, forcing Elsa to backflip away from him. The blond girl still looked unsure but finally did as instructed and ran for the open door.
"As if I'd allow you too," said Elsa, reaching for a throwing knife before dodging an ice shard which nearly hit her. The annoyed assassin looked over, noting that Emilia had shaken off her grogginess and was now back on her feet. Her distraction proved to be enough for Felt to escape. "Now look, one's gotten away."
"You won't be killing anyone today," said Emilia resolutely as she fired a few more ice shards at Elsa, who deflected them easily.
"This game has gotten a bit bothersome," said Elsa as the smile left her face slightly, "I think it's time we wrapped this up." She leapt towards the two then, all playfulness gone in her movements as she struck with her most vicious assault yet.
The Fountain Yet Again
"GAAAAAAHHH!" Exclaimed the Crusader as he felt his head. The battle hadn't lasted much longer after Emilia regained her footing, at least not for him. Elsa hadn't been lying when she said she was done playing. Ulric's life ended with her blade buried in his skull. It was better and less painful than a slow death by getting his stomach cut open but a failure was still a failure.
He was fairly certain Emilia would've fallen shortly after him and then Elsa would finish Rom if he hadn't already died by then. The only one who might've wound up living was Felt, assuming she was able to get help from the guards before the monstrous woman caught up to her. "Of course, all of that is meaningless if it was simply wound back," the Crusader thought aloud. It was clear now just how formidable Elsa truly was, and how unfavorable their circumstances were.
"Just another hour of daylight for Puck and we'd be able to deal with her," mused Ulric as he crossed his arms, "but there are also certain events I have to follow to ensure Emilia doesn't freeze me instead of Elsa." It was one of a dozen problems he had at least a partial answer for. Either way, if he intended to save Emilia and the others, he'd need to get moving. 'O Holy Lord,' Ulric prayed before departing, 'if there is a solution to this battle, please reveal it to me.'
Many Deaths Later
To say this was getting ridiculous was an understatement. He'd tried various combinations of approaches to facing Elsa head on in battle and all of them had ended the same, with his death by her blade. Ulric honestly hadn't been keeping a count of his deaths, but if he had to guess he'd say he'd died around thirty or so times now. Each time was painful, frustrating, daunting, and at this point even a little maddening.
He'd tried the direct approach over and over again, learning more and more about how Elsa fought and what her capabilities were. He'd at one point discovered, much to his horror that she couldn't die by impalement. Before long he realized, she was a monster, through and through who was too fast, too strong and far too resilient for him to fight head on. It took a lot for him to admit that given his pride as a knight and Crusader.
But perhaps that was meant to be the lesson: 'Pride cometh before the fall', as was written, or at least paraphrased, in the book of Proverbs. So even if he didn't like it, Ulric decided to use a different approach that involved a bit more trickery. First, he learned where exactly the theft of Emilia's insignia had occurred and made sure he was close by after saving the little girl from the wagon, again. He knew what words to say to convince Emilia and Puck by this point as he stopped her further down the alley and persuaded her to try a different solution for getting her insignia back.
Rather than spend a lot of time chasing a thief around a city she knew like the back of her hand, they simply figure out where she's going and get there first or at least shortly after she arrives at the location. Thanks to Ulric's prior knowledge, they'd quickly solved the case of the lost child of the appa merchant and then used a shortcut the knight had discovered during one of his previous lives to reach the slums. It wouldn't buy them a full hour or anything, but it would buy almost half an hour, precious minutes they could use to come up with a plan. Though one thing that remained constant throughout his repeated lives up to this point, Ulric always kicked in Rom's door.
"Hey, what's your problem?!" Exclaimed Rom in a now all too familiar scene as the knight walked into the Loot House, "can't a man enjoy his afternoon booze in peace?"
"It will be your last if you don't listen to what I have to say very carefully," said Ulric, "the one you intend to give that insignia too, intends to kill you both."
"How do you-er I mean what are you talking about?" Questioned Felt with a hand on her knife.
"No need to feign ignorance, Felt," said Ulric, "While it was mostly accidental, I happened to learn about your deal and your client, including the way she works. Since I've brought the owner of the insignia here, she'll simply decide it's less trouble to kill you both along with the rest of us."
"What are you talking about?" Questioned a now confused Felt before her features quickly twisted into one of annoyance upon Emilia stepping into the Loot House. "Oh it's you, can't you just give up already?"
"I'm afraid that insignia is too important for me to just give up on," said Emilia, "but Sir Ulric here has informed me that it may be possible to come to an arrangement that benefits us all."
"And how do ya plan on doin' that?" Questioned Rom from behind the bar, "if I heard right, the client will want to kill us all because you two happened to find us in the first place."
"The client is a bloodthirsty woman who may simply decide to do so anyway," informed Ulric, "are you familiar with Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter?" Rom's eyes widened upon hearing that title.
"Not the one from Gusteko?" He questioned, "The evil woman who loves cutting open people's stomachs for a living?"
"That very one," said Emilia, "but as said, Sir Ulric has a plan. If you do as we say, not only will you avoid dying, you'll profit from doing so as well." Felt seemed to weigh the options in her head, namely on whether or not she should trust these too. She'd met a lot of liars in her time and while this apparent knight, Sir Ulric, was clearly hiding a few things, he still seemed genuine in wanting to kill this Elsa woman. And if that wasn't enough, it was clear the silver-haired girl wasn't a practiced liar and meant every word she said.
It would be another few moments before Felt gave her answer. "Alright," said the Thief as she took her hand off her knife, "what did you have in mind?"
A Few Minutes Later
'Why did I agree to this again?' thought Felt nervously as she sat at the wooden table sipping at her glass of milk, alone. Rom had naturally been resistant to this part of the plan, at least until Emilia revealed her power as a spirits arts user, and a half-elf. The result, was Felt sitting around waiting for the client to show up which, according to Ulric, would be any minute. 'Sure I've only been sitting here for maybe five minutes, but it feels like forever now that I know who I'm-.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door which nearly made the little thief jump due to her nerves. "Oh, uh, it's open," said Felt as she downed the last of her milk while steeling her nerves. The door opened then to reveal the dark-haired woman with a revealing outfit and large, furred cape that Ulric had mentioned: Elsa Granhiert.
"Oh, it's just you here right now?" Questioned Elsa as she closed the door behind her and took a seat in front of the thief.
"Old man Rom had to make a run for some fresh booze," replied Felt, crossing her arms to hide the mild bit of trembling her body was doing, "and we don't really need him to oversee this anyway. I'm certain you know what the item you seek looks like. So how about we get down to business. I got the insignia, but I need to see the payment first."
"Of course," said Elsa as she produced a bag of gold coins, "and now the insignia, please." Felt nodded before pulling the item out of her pocket and holding it up for Elsa to inspect. "Yes, that does seem to be it," confirmed the woman as she laid the bag of coins on the table and held out her hand. Felt moved to hand it to her before stopping at the last second.
"Just…..one question," said Felt, "were you planning to kill me and Old Man Rom?"
"And what makes you ask such a question out of the blue," said Elsa with an evil smile.
"I heard your full name was, Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter," replied Felt, "are you really her? And if you are, do you really plan on killing us?"
"Well now," said Elsa as she put a hand to her face, "I can't say I was necessarily planning on it. But you should know that witnesses are something of a problem for me. A shame, if you had simply kept that one question to yourself, then you might have lived." Felt could no longer hide her trembling at that point and yet, she smiled.
"Wow, never thought I'd owe a knight after so much thieving," commented Felt. Elsa raised an eyebrow at this before the sound of shattering glass broke the silence. The thief hardly saw what happened until the assassin's body hit the floor with an icicle embedded in the side of her head.
"Best run now!" Exclaimed Puck from the mostly boarded up window as he fired a few more icicles into the woman as the door burst open to let a charging Ulric in with his sword held high.
"DEUS VULT!" Yelled the Crusader as Elsa attempted to swipe at him with her blade. But he stopped short, now being very familiar with her speed before repositioning his sword into a downward stab that impaled Elsa through the heart and went out the other side of her body. Ulric pushed as hard as he could, embedding his sword in the wooden floor.
"Oh my," said Elsa as the icicle fell out of her healing wound, "to attack a woman with such viciousness. That's not very knightly at all. Who might you be?"
"Sir Ulric," replied the Crusader, "and you're right, this isn't the most knightly thing I could do. Though it and what happens next are both minor sacrifices in order to save a few lives." He let go of his sword then and grabbed Elsa's cape, yanking it off before running for the door. "PUCK NOW, BEFORE SHE GETS UP!"
"On it," said the spirit as both he and Emilia released all the mana they'd been storing for the last few minutes. Massive ice crystals formed inside the Loot House, not only encasing the assassin's body but also tearing up the entire section of the house she was in. Ulric could feel the freezing crystals on his heels as he leapt out of the doorway through which he'd entered. By the time the two were done, there was more ice formation than Loot House.
"I still wonder if so much was really necessary for a single woman," said Emilia as she lowered her hands, her breathing labored now from so much exertion.
"I'm not sure if you saw, but she was still moving despite having multiple ice shards in her body," Ulric pointed out, "she wouldn't die even after I stabbed her through the heart. If I'm being honest, I still don't know if that's enough."
"Oh that's right, your sword's in there too, isn't it," recalled Emilia.
"Yes it is," said Felt as she came walking up to the two, "in my and Rom's, TOTALLY DESTROYED HOUSE!"
"It is indeed destroyed," said Ulric before pointing to the coin pouch in her hand, "but if I recall, that was supposed to set you up on a new life. And if I recall further, we also got all of Rom's funds out of there as well. If you wait here I'll go get them." The little thief had managed to swipe the coin pouch and insignia shortly after Ulric had burst through the door. So while Rom's business might be done for, his money was safe and he even had a profit with Felt's acquisition of the gold, at least as soon as he got it back to them.
'Now where was it again,' mused the Knight as his eyes scanned the area behind the Loot House. He hadn't had but a few minutes to hide it all, so he kept it close and tried to ensure there were no prying eyes. According to Puck, those in the slums wouldn't sell out their own but that didn't mean they wouldn't steal from each other if Felt was any indication. 'Ah, here we are.'
He pulled the money out of the barrel he'd hidden them in after brushing some dust and ice bits off of them. As he was pocketing them, however, something strange happened. "Not a bad display," said a male's voice as Ulric turned around with his hand behind his back. In the next moment, three individuals wearing purple robes with pointed cloth masks rose out of the shadows themselves. "We should expect no less from one blessed with the witch's love."
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," said Ulric as he tried to keep his voice even, "who are you and how did you rise from the shadows like that?"
"Those of us blessed by the Witch's love can do many things," explained the man in the middle, the apparent leader, "no doubt you've experienced great power yourself. Only a Sin Archbishop has as much love radiating off of them as you."
"I wonder if this Sin Archbishop is better at answering questions," Said Ulric, "because all you've done is raise more. So I'll ask again, who are you?"
"Ah, of course my apologies," said the leader, "we are members of the Witch's Cult. We, like you, have received blessings of love from the great witch. Tell me, have you received a gospel?" The man held up a small black book that he produced from his robes.
"I have received a gospel," said Ulric, "but it likely differs greatly from yours."
"But of course," said the cult member, "each gospel is for its member and can only be read by the one who receives it. To all others, it will appear as mere gibberish. We assumed you had already received one given that you've already sought out the half-demon girl."
"Half-demon?" Questioned Ulric with a raised eyebrow, "if you mean that assassin, she's buried in ice and, hopefully, dead."
"Oh no, the silver-haired girl," corrected the cultist, "you've done well in gaining her trust. Thanks to your diligence, we may be able to lead her out for the ordeal with little trouble."
"'Ordeal', you say," said Ulric with a hand to his chin, "so you know who hired that assassin then?"
"We do not know about that or what transpired," answered the leader, "but we are grateful that you were there to prevent it. It would be unfortunate if Satella's potential vessel was destroyed before then."
"Yes, I suppose it would be unfortunate," said Ulric, "not that you're in a position to worry about that anymore." He imagined the cultist was raising an eyebrow under his mask, before his eyes widened in surprise as Ulric quickly drew his dagger backhanded and slashed the cultist across the throat. The other two cultists had no time to react as he kicked the lead man into the one on the right before flipping his dagger mid charge and stabbing the man on the left in the stomach. Even despite the knife in his heart, the cultist still tried to stab the knight.
But after facing Elsa so many times, fighters like these were downright slow to Ulric as he grabbed the man's wrist, stopping the strike before turning his opponent's body in the path of the other cultist where he was stabbed on accident by his cohort. Ulric left his own dagger in his enemy and seized the cultist's weapon in his hand which he proceeded to stab into the side of his remaining opponent's neck. The man cried out in pain as Ulric pulled his own weapon out and stabbed him in the heart to make sure he inflicted a fatal blow. He then withdrew his weapon before backing up, his dagger held at the ready as he kept an eye on the three.
When they didn't get back up like Elsa had, Ulric finally relaxed before cleaning the blood off his blade and sheathing it. "Know this, worshippers of the satanic, I follow but one gospel, that of the Lord God Almighty. There is no other gospel but his, now or ever. But I will thank you for one thing, I believe I now know why God has sent me here: exterminating all of your blasphemous kind."
He would have said more, but the sound of Emilia calling for him was enough to make him reconsider as he returned, to find her alone. "Ulric," said Emilia, "the knights are here, but one of them took Felt and Rom away."
"What, why?" Questioned the confused Crusader while glancing at the other knights examining the still icy area.
"I don't know," said Emilia, "but the knight Reinhard was one who did it. He's a great fighter and a hero to the people, so I don't think he has anything bad planned for them. He even made sure to give me my insignia back." The silver-haired girl held up said bauble for the Crusader to see.
"Amazing how much trouble was caused by something so small," commented Ulric, "but at least it's finally back where it belongs."
"And I have you to thank for that, Sir Knight," said Emilia, "and since you helped me, it would only be proper that I repay you. Though I don't have any money, so you'd have to wait until I got back to the mansion if that's what you want."
"Mansion?" Questioned the Crusader with a tilt of his head.
"Yes," replied Emilia, "I have currently taken up residence with the lord of the Mathers domain. He's also the premiere wielder of magic in the kingdom, so whatever wish you have in exchange for helping me, I'm certain he can grant it."
"Is…..that so," said Ulric as images of both Elsa and the cultists flashed through his mind, "well ordinarily I'd say it was no trouble and that you don't need to repay me, but I have just recalled that I am somewhat, unemployed. So if this lord you speak of is willing, I suppose I can take you up on your offer."
"That's good," said Emilia with a smile, "I would've insisted that you let me repay you anyway. After all that's what you're supposed to do, right? Be kind to those who are kind to you?"
""Do onto others as you'd have them do to you'," said Ulric with a nod of his head, "Or as the commandment says: 'Love your neighbor as you love thyself.' You had a good teacher."
"I still have a lot to learn," said Emilia, "but that's one lesson that's stuck with me. Now we'd best get going, Sir Knight, before Ram gets worried."
"Ram?" Said Ulric with a raised eyebrow. He'd come to find out that Ram was a rather, direct, individual who made no effort to hide her disdain despite being a maid. The Crusader was grateful she was the driver as he used the time on the carriage ride back to sort out a few things. 'I died many times just to come up with a way to deal with that assassin,' mused the knight, 'it seems I'll need to learn more about how magic works in this world if I'm going to be of any further help here.'
Because if there was one thing he was certain of, Elsa and those cultists were just the beginning. He didn't know why and he didn't know how they'd attack next, but they intended to bring harm to this girl and likely anyone else close to her. And while he might not be in the Holy Land or his homeland anymore, that didn't change the fact that he was a knight, and a knight protected the innocent and preserved order when they weren't at war. So he resolved himself then and there, he would protect this girl and her friends and slay every last one of those cultists!
Whew, and there we have it, the first side story of 'A New Crusade IF'! And for those wondering, the story would pick up and continue in much the same way as the main story from this point on as Ulric isn't obsessed with Emilia and thus didn't lose his mind enough to cause the kind of chaos in the original Pride IF. Regardless, I hope this little deviation was still entertaining for all of you, so feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked. And be sure to let me know which side story you'd like to see next as that will determine the upcoming chapters! 'Til then.