Chapter 18: Northward Bound

Fizan rubbed his cheek and whined.

Surely, by now, a red hand-shaped mark would have appeared on his face. That slap had not been undeserved, but it had been a little too hard. Besides the physical pain came the shame of losing his pride, having been berated by his…employer.

But he had orders.

"You are to hunt down Armand Metrac," his boss had commanded him. "You are to bring Natsuki Subaru and Nasha Comberth with you."

It was oddly specific, but what really worried him was what his employer said after that, a comment so inconspicuous he might have overlooked it under different circumstances.

"When you hear the code-phrase, you will know that your chase – your mission – has come to a close."

All this secrecy, and for what? Hunting down that Vollachian was the most typical part of this whole job. Even if he had been ordered to assemble a rather colorful band of allies, this was just a routine mission, like all the rest. He would get Metrac, kill him, and then get paid. That was all there was to it.

So what compelled his boss to take such measures? Fizan was no idiot, he hoped that much was obvious, so why was his employer so secretive with him? Was there reason to believe an information leak could jeopardize it all? If so, then who cared? Quite a few of his past targets had known he was coming for them, and it did not stop him in the slightest.

As he strode toward the stables near the slums – or what remained of them – the assassin mumbled angry words at no one in particular. When this was all over, when he got back home and had a nice meal, he was going to exchange some words with his employer. Even mercenary guilds like his had some standards for treating employees…surely he could get away with asking for a little more decency for next time.

He was still muttering when he opened the back door to the stables and peered inside. It was dark, moist, and smelled horrible, but it was the best place to purchase a carriage without ringing any alarm bells at the local city guard garrison. Normally, this place would have a little more supervision, but it was all too easy to scare off any potential customers and guards with just the right words. Most people were, after all, scared of yet another explosion like the one that had just taken place hours earlier.

All he needed to do here was check the carriage his boss had bought, nothing more. It was routine by now. Never trust a merchant to give you something for cheap, and all that. Fizan already had the ground dragons he needed, and this carriage was the final preparation.

And, as the final preparation…it was supposed to go smoothly.

"Seventh on the left," he muttered to himself, stepping into the dark stables. "Seventh…seventh…three, four, five…got it."

The seventh on the left was a dingy little thing, uncomfortable and rickety as hell. It looked like it held together out of spite and willpower alone. All it would take was a single sneeze from one of its passengers to blow it to bits and leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere. Metrac would not even need to spot them, he would hear them coming with such a decrepit thing. They would be rattling the whole way to the Eder Snowfield.

Unfortunately, though, things only got more complicated when Fizan approached the carriage to take a closer look.

Leaning against its door was a much older man, with gray-blue hair and a stubble of a beard. He was well-built, with a physique that indicated he had spent many years fighting, a fact supported by his missing left eye that was hidden by a simple eyepatch with Lugnica's emblem: the Divine Dragon. The man's uniform belonged to those of the royal guard, though his was dirty, stained, and wrinkled everywhere. There were a couple holes in it too. He looked like a drunkard more than a knight.

And yet, Fizan had been warned about this very possibility before, the possibility of encountering this very man.

"Goin' somewhere?" Niko Litwin asked, looking him over with his good eye. "I take it you are, given you're here, in th'se stables."

He bit his lip and shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. "Hello, sir. Might I know what a royal guard wants with my carriage, eh?"

"The carriage's worthless, it won't say anythin'. You, on the other hand…"

"Me!?" the young assassin exclaimed, adding a touch of mock disbelief to his voice. "Sir, I fear you must be severely mistaken. I'm a good-natured, law-abiding citizen, and I have done no wrong as far as I can remember."

The royal guard narrowed his eye. "That so?"

"Of course!" he responded, forcing a chuckle. "I'm just here for my carriage, is all."

That was, in itself, both truth and lie. The perfect combination. Fizan knew Lugnicans, and this was the way to fool them. Besides…there were always some odd fellows around who could "read the wind" or something and find falsehoods in a person's statement. Best to err on the side of caution.

Niko sighed and pushed himself off the carriage, to which Fizan shrugged with a smug expression. It was always satisfying to resolve a problem without it coming to blows, especially when the authorities were invol-

His thoughts were cut short as the older man punched him square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Despite his age, the royal guard was far from weak. That strike would have knocked out a lesser man in an instant.

Yet, Fizan only felt surprised. His mouth ached numbly, but the pain was distant, almost forgotten. The cold floor beneath him was an annoyance, and yet it was far away. It was as if he existed in a bubble where only his consciousness mattered. So long as he could think, he would be alright.

That was the fool's biggest mistake: not putting him to sleep in one hit. Everyone seemed to think that they could get away with just picking a fight and then scaring him off, but that was never the case.

Fizan saw things through to the end. Always.

He could practically imagine the other man's surprise when he picked himself up in the blink of an eye, bearing a thin smile on his lips. Someone, one of his targets, had once called him a monster for the way he got off the ground when knocked down. He supposed it made sense. His employer had taught him many tricks that would often…push the human body to its limits. Add a little magic to that…and it was as unnatural as it was effective.

Niko, surprisingly enough, looked unimpressed with the trick, and just looked him over quickly before commenting, "You're tougher than ya look."

"Come now, old man," the assassin replied, rubbing his jaw softly. "Don't just count me down and out. Why pick a fight if you don't want to bother with it?"

"I don't get the luxury of pickin' my fights," he responded.

"Ah, right, I should know. After all, you didn't choose to be targeted by that…Spotlight, was it?"

The taunt proved ineffective, as the royal guard showed no reaction to it. His face could have been carved from a weathered rock and he would have appeared more human.

With less expression than a plank of wood, Niko asked, "What's your game, scumbag? Eh? I've got enough problems for a whole year an' more, all in one day, and then ya come along."

"I don't play games, Niko Litwin," was the youngster's reply. "I have a job to do, and I'll see it done. You, too, will one day play a role for my master, and you'll fulfill it with joy…or I'll make you."

"Tell this master o' yours to come 'ere and force me himself."

"Ha…don't you worry. There'll be no need for that. You will bend the knee willingly, Litwin. That much I'd wager."

He paused for a moment to lick his lips. That punch had left him with some blood in his mouth. Nothing more than an irritating little problem for later.

"Besides," he added, spitting the blood to the floor, "you'll be one of the easier ones to convince, I don't doubt. That inventor boy, however…I might've to drag him in kickin' and screamin'."

Finally, his words seemed to actually have an effect on the normally-stoic soldier, as the man shook his head and lowered his hand to the hilt of his sword, which lay hanging on his hip. "You'll do no such thing."

"Ah, so there is something alive within you. I was beginning to think you were deader than that carriage…but I'm happy to see I was wrong. Show a little spirit, Niko, show some pride! No point in acting like you're just a sword…the emotionless ones are the most boring to kill!"

Before his sentence was over, the slender assassin fished out a dagger from his sleeve, a brownish cross-guarded knife he attained as a little "bonus" in his profession. Niko unsheathed his sword in an instant and thrust the blade at his chest, as he leapt backward hurling the dagger in his opponent's direction.

It embedded itself into the carriage's door.

Niko swung his sword, and Fizan unsheathed his own, a majestically-carved purplish weapon with a split blade. The two locked swords, a mistake that Fizan realized only a heartbeat too late.

The royal guard had strength on his side. With a push, he knocked his younger enemy off-balance and thrust again. This time, his sword was coated in a thin layer of ice, which Fizan would not have noticed in the dim lighting if he had not known of his opponent's abilities. Again, he jumped back, but a thin sheet of ice struck his leg as he landed, threatening to sever his shinbone in half.

That was all the distraction Niko needed, as he swung his blade again, calling forth a paper-thin horizontal ice sheet aimed at the assassin's waist. If he had not known better, Fizan would have thought it was wind magic. It did not matter: there was no avoiding it.

He raised his sword, feeling the warmth of mana on his hands. "Koma!"

The ice vanished, reverted to simple mana.

A smile of satisfaction split his face, and he prepared to lunge forward. A counterattack now would throw Niko off-balance and give him the perfect advantage. He just had to-

"What the hell are you doing!?"

Subaru stared in horror at the scene unfolding before him.

Fizan was fighting to retain his balance a couple steps from the carriage. His left boot was torn just below his knee, and he could see blood surrounding that cut. There was a dagger, no doubt his, embedded into the carriage's door.

Niko, on the other hand, had his sword unsheathed and seemed ready to kill. A faint light blue glow surrounded his blade. Water magic.

For what it was worth, the royal guard had the sense to at least look ashamed as he turned his head and sheathed his sword once again. "He's a Witch Cultist!"

"What!?" Fizan replied, clearly offended by the accusation. "No way! I don't even have a gospel with me! Where'd you get such an idea?"

The one-eyed man nodded to the dagger stuck in the carriage's door. "That dagger's a Cultist's weapon. I should know. I've had my fair share of run-ins with 'em!"

"That old thing? Ha! I got it a while ago, on the job. Perk of being an assassin is, you get to keep your target's possessions. Or, at least, as much as you can carry away!"

"Enough!" Subaru had to yell for both of them to stop pointing fingers and casting the blame on each other. "Fizan, I have a suspicion you're to blame for this."

The teen shrugged. "That's all it is: a suspicion."

"You're pulling me into something I want no part of," he continued, "and I'm only coming along because you're all I got. If I have to be keeping an eye on you the whole time, I'm going to do it, even if I have to treat you like a child."

That earned a shudder from the assassin.

Turning to Niko, Subaru sighed and met his gaze with a faintly hopeful expression. "I see you met my new…ally."

"You've always been one to associate with…the strange ones," the royal guard conceded. "Even so, this one's a whole 'nother story. He's a threat."

"That may be so, but he knows something…very important. And if he's lying, I'll bring him back to you. I promise."

Niko looked at the two of them, as if this was the first time they were ever meeting. "Fine. I'll let this pass…"

"Thank y-"

"...If you tell me what's so important."

Fizan's eyes widened. "No! That's classified, and all that! You can't tell him!"

Subaru took a deep breath. "If anyone deserves the truth, it's Niko."

"No! You cannot! My employer wi-"

"He knows about Emma."

Silence. Niko had no outward reaction to the information, but Fizan threw his hands up in exasperation.

Niko blinked three times before asking, "What exactly does he know?"

"Where…she is."

Another short pause. "I'm coming along."

"That's too much!" Fizan exclaimed, crossing his arms. "I have orders, strict orders, and I already went against them today! It's supposed to be me, Natsuki Subaru, and Nasha Comberth. I don't know why, and I don't care why! All I know is that my boss will kill anyone else who tags along, and then us three. And it won't be slow!"

"Your orders are worthless to me, assassin," was Niko's response.

"They shouldn't be! If I go against them…all of us will wish we were dead! I'm given orders for a reason, and often, that reason is for everyone's own good. If my boss says 'frog,' I jump, because that's how this business is!"

That earned a laugh from the grizzled royal guard. "You seem a bit scared of yer boss, don'tcha?"

There was no spoken response from the assassin.

Subaru turned to Niko, who still retained that stoic look, and frowned. "You don't look very…excited over the news."

"You don't either."

"Oh, no, trust me: if Fizan isn't lying, I'll spend the next three months sobbing happy tears."

He shot the shady teen a sidelong glance.

"Problem is," Subaru continued, "the chances he's not lying are very slim. By the time this is over, I'll be either dead or kidnapped or left penniless in some dark alleyway after getting mugged."

"Yeah, that seems like th' likely thing to happen."

"But…if he's telling the truth…"

Niko's tone turned a bit somber as he finished the thought. "If he's not lyin', then this isn't something we can pass up."

"Niko…not 'we.' I don't trust Fizan one bit, but if he tells me that the only way to do this is to get naked and run into the Holy King's palace, I'll do it in a heartbeat. There's…no other choice. I have to go. Not you. I'm…sorry."

To his credit, Niko did not seem at all affected by the realization that he would be staying behind. "I understand. You try not to get yerself killed, yeah? Someone's gotta be 'ere to welcome the princess back, an'...I always had the feeling you were her favorite."

With that, the royal guard sighed and patted him on the shoulder, then turned to leave.

"Ah, one last thin'," he added, lifting a finger. "I'll be off on a little errand. Trouble seems to be poppin' up in this country again, and it's bad trouble, the kind that causes huge problems down the line. Don't ya give me that look. Go off on your adventure and get Emerada back…for both of us. I'll make sure she has a kingdom left to rule."

Those words, once uttered, were the last thing he would hear from the royal guard for a long time.

Nasha Comberth was used to surprises.

Before she was a royal guard, she was a city guard in Priestella, and she learned early on in her career to expect the unexpected. The "we didn't see it coming" excuse was moot. Bandits and ruffians had extremely creative ways of causing trouble, and she doubted she would face worse in Innorandum, or wherever in Gusteko they were going.

Honestly, she had not quite realized what the trip entailed. This would be her first time entering another country in earnest, since a few accidental border-crossings in Priestella hardly counted. There was also the matter of Fizan Blum, the young man who recruited her for this task. He showed every sign of having once been a petty criminal, probably a thief or swindler. His slender frame was…ill-suited to dirtier work, so that ruled out most chances of him having been a hired sword or common thug: unless his bones were made of steel, he would probably feel a punch for weeks. Still, that double-bladed sword he carried was fancier than a noble's mansion, and that meant he was either very well-paid or knew how to steal from those worth robbing.

When she was instructed to go meet with him at some super-shady carriage depot, Nasha knew that either she was about to be attacked or offered a completely-illegal job. If things got a lot weirder, she would probably end up finding that the man had either arranged a surprise party for her or was going to offer her black market items. Maybe both. Maybe all four options at once. Maybe none of them.

She was used to surprises, and expected the unexpected, but she was most definitely not ready to see her newfound "recruiter" being scolded by the most famous inventor in the world.

"What were you thinking!?" Natsuki Subaru was yelling when she stepped in. "You can't go and just, just…pick a fight with my…I'm not even sure what Niko is! My father-in-law!?"

"That's not right," came Fizan's reply. "You're not married. Your wife's dead. Besides, he's not related to the princess."

Subaru threw his hands up in exasperation. "I am married, according to you!"

The purple-haired young man opened his mouth to respond, then closed it, thought for a minute, then opened it again and said, "Well…there's…a couple of things to factor in…"

"What 'things'!?" For a moment, it seemed like he was about to grab Fizan by the neck and lift him up, but that passed quickly. "You said-"

"I know what I said, damn! You Lugnicans, getting a~ll prissy with the technicalities! It's easier to argue with Odglass than you louts!" The assassin sighed. "I can understand your hesitation, I really can, but these orders, these details…come from higher up. I'm walking into this mission blind and deaf, doing practically everything my boss said to do. Trust me, getting this out of the way will be a win for everyone involved, myself included."

"How…do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't, but you have no choice, do you? Are you gonna wait around for the royal guard to dig something up? By the time they do, you'll have hair whiter than Gustekan snow, if you have any left at all."

The two men stopped talking and settled for looking in random directions, anything to avoid meeting the other's gaze. Fizan chose to look at the ceiling, while Subaru stared at the floor.

After a couple seconds of extremely-awkward silence, Nasha took a deep breath and raised her foot to step forward.

Immediately, Fizan nodded, yet remained looking away. "Ah, you're here. Earlier than expected, too. Can you walk?"

In response, she put her foot down, hoping she did not seem too startled by the man's uncanny senses. "Yes, I can." Then, she turned to the famous inventor and bowed as she would to a noble. "A pleasure to see you again, sir Natsuki."

"'Again'?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir. We met a long time ago. I was your escort, once. I accompanied your carriage to the Astrea Estate."

"Forgive me. I don't remember meeting you before. Nasha Comberth, was it? I'm sorry."

Fizan interrupted with a bark-like laugh. "You'll have plenty of time to jog your memory on our little road trip. Innorandum's a long, long way away."

"How do you know that?" Subaru asked softly, but it was clear the question was important.

"I…have a map," the other man answered. "What, you make hundreds of holy coins a minute and can't afford a map? Is Alcyone's budget truly so pitiful?"

Subaru's expression hardened as he muttered, "You did it again…"

"Did what?"

Nasha coughed. "Forgive my…interruption but…"

"Yes?" the young man asked, annoyed at her intrusion.

"What is…an uhm…'budget'?"

All the color drained from Fizan's face, and now he looked whiter than Gustekan snow. With disbelief, he glanced at the two of them, then whispered to himself and walked toward the carriage.

"How about we all stop talking for a little while?" he spat, opening the carriage's door and stepping inside.

It was often said money could not buy happiness.

Valena vehemently disagreed. Ask a person what would make them happy, and their answer will always be money-related. She would know better than anyone else, of course. She put her heart and soul into running Alcyone as smoothly as she could. No one would ever surpass Subaru's knowledge, but when it came to executive decisions, he was like an ant when compared to her.

Obviously, she still respected him. It was just that…sometimes, she had to be the voice of reason between the two of them.

Like now.

Between the recent attack that all but wiped out the slums and the fact that it was late in the night, Alcyone's headquarters were basically empty. Only a few select employees - mostly security personnel - remained behind. The rest, she had almost forcefully kicked out after Subaru and that pretty ponytailed bastard came to tell her they were leaving on some sort of super-duper-secret mission and she could not tag along.

That was all fine with her. Let the two of them be as mysterious as they wanted.

She would get her way, in the end.

It was inevitable.

Putting her feet on her desk, she quickly scanned her office. It was far larger than she needed it to be, but that was fine. It meant more space to store decorations and the like.

Her desk, a blocky, L-shaped piece of wood that shone softly, sat on the bottom left of the room, in front of a beautiful window that gazed toward the city's horizons, away from the royal castle. If she took a quick peek, she would see the ruins of what had once been the eastern slums, now practically disintegrated. To her left, hanging on the wall, was a painting of the night sky with a few stars shining brighter than the rest. Subaru had called it the "Pleiades," though he denied any connection existed between it and the mythical Watchtower.

On Valena's desk sat a few odd trinkets, her favorite being a dull-gold circular medallion that depicted a close likeness of the Lugnican royal castle in the center of a bustling city surrounded by water. Her family's sigil.

Then, there were a few stacks of papers and other documents she had to sort out. There was a book, The Crimson Castle, that she was about three-fourths finished with. Finally, there were a few coins stacked into a neat pile, though they amounted to little.

The wall on the other side of the room was covered in shelves, most displaying seemingly-worthless items, like a paper folding - origami, according to Subaru - in the form of the royal castle, or a torn piece of fabric that had once been one of her sleeves. It was tragically lost, along with the entire right half of her outfit, after a metia prototype exploded suddenly.

At last, a soft knock on the door roused her attention. There were always things that needed doing, and reminiscing over old memories was not one of them.

With an almost-inaudible creak, the door opened, and in stepped a towering figure, one that had to bow its head to enter.

A disheveled kimono with an emerald two-headed serpent on its left breast adorned the giant, a demi-human woman with dark green skin and four muscular arms, each not much smaller than an average person's torso. She stood two heads above the businesswoman, a monstrous being that could make even hardened soldiers think twice before messing with her.

Valena greeted her guest with a courteous smile. "Angsild, a thousand greetings. I'd shake your hands, but that'd take the rest of the night."

"Valena, a thousand greetings," the giant's voice boomed in response as she bowed her head again, this time out of respect. "I fear you have contacted me at a bad time. I am, as it is, neck-deep in trouble."

"Fitting, then. I'm practically drowning in it."

"Hmph. Speak your mind, Lugnican."

Valena formed a triangle with her hands. "I need you to send a message directly to Sidonis, as fast as you can."

To her credit, Angsild snorted without disturbing the papers on the desk. "You must live quite an eventful life, if you believe me to be a messenger."

"You have legs the size of fuckin' tree trunks." She raised an eyebrow, then continued, "If you can't put 'em to use, what exactly are you good for? If they're no good, crawl on all…six, like a spider. I don't care if you have to outrun a ground dragon."

"I have trouble already," the demi-human bellowed. "I will not have you adding more."

"Perhaps this lesson went over your muscled head last time, so make an effort to remember it this time," Alcyone's chief executive whispered. "Sidonis may hold your leash in Kararagi, but Lugnica is mine, down to the last miserable speck of dust. You will deliver my message, Angsild, or your replacement will."

There was little reaction from the gigantic woman, aside from her bloodshot eyes widening just a bit. "Hm. Very well. Speak, Valena Av-"

"Tell Sidonis that there's a foreigner meddling in our business. Probably Vollachian or Gustekan, by the look of him. Fizan Blum. Tell him to get me any information about this guy and I'll handle the rest. Oh, and I forgot to ask last time: has the missing shipment been dealt with?"

Angsild bared her teeth. "It has."

"What a damn relief," she muttered. "That's one less loose end, and not a minute too soon. How marvelous. Hm? Ah, why're you still here? Go deliver my message, go."

After a few seconds of silence, the giant bowed her head again and turned.

"There ya go. I'd tell you to break a leg, but snapping a tree in half'd be easier, Angsild. Get going!"

Once the giant stepped out of earshot, Valena relaxed and sighed. So much to do, and so little time to do it.

With exasperation in her voice, she mused, "I need a damn carriage."

The ride out of the capital was quiet.

Fizan had asked to keep quiet for a while, and it seemed no one objected to his request. It was not until they were at the city gates that someone spoke, and even then, Subaru only did so to convince the few guards at the gate to let them pass. There was little to talk about.

Conversation only really struck when they were already outside the city, and after about an hour since they had set out. Nasha was the first to talk, twisting her neck to look at them through a window that connected the driver's seat in the carriage to the…well, carriage.

After she tried to position herself so she could see both the road ahead (though it was completely empty) and her passengers, failed, and promptly returned her gaze to the road, Nasha coughed into her hand and said, "You know, I don't think I asked…but why exactly are you coming along with this, Lord Natsuki?"

"Please, I'm not a lord," he mumbled, before continuing on with a louder voice. "Fizan asked, and I agreed to come along. I suspect he chose you for a reason, like he chose me."

Fizan "sat" opposite to him, laying down sprawled on the uncomfortable seat like he was lounging in his house. "Yep, that's the gi-, the base of it, I'd say. You're both set to do great, great things in the future, and that's that."

A chuckle came from the driver's seat. "Ha! Great things, sure. I'm not sure where you've been living, but that man in front of you changed the world by himself! 'Great things' my ass, how much greater can you get!?"

The young man made a clicking sound. "That's exactly what we're going to find out, isn't it? Can't wait to get my own chapter in the history books. You two can be footnotes in it."

"Given how shady this whole thing is, I think we'll be remembered by our missing posters," Subaru commented, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want my chapter in the history books to end with 'and he was never seen again.'"

"Well, that's tough luck for you," the other man replied. "Just don't go missing. It is so fascinatingly simple, isn't it? Oh, also, shouldn't we stop soon to make camp?"

"'Make camp?'" Nasha asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah, duh. How many inns do you see around us, buckethead? No one's getting a warm meal or a bed till we get to Innorandum."

Subaru shook his head. "No, we're not doing that. We'll keep riding until we get to an inn, then we can all take a break there and keep going later."

"I don't know if you've noticed," Fizan pointed out in a smug tone, "but you're very recognizable. There's only like one other person in the world with black hair."

"I highly doubt that, Fizan."

"Well, not the whole world, idiot. I mean, only one other person important enough to be noticed at an inn. If some innkeeper sees a royal knight, a man in Gustekan clothes, and a black-haired stranger, they're going to think that either Natsuki Subaru went mad or the Holy King went out for a cross-country stroll."

Nasha lowered her voice and asked, "How do you know what the Holy King looks like? Rumor has it he's never left the palace since he took the crown."

There was a pause before the young man responded. "Ah, well…he goes out a lot more than you'd think. As it just so happens, when he does take a nice stroll through the land…there's usually no one left to talk about it."

No one commented on that, and silence set in for a few minutes until Fizan spoke again. "Alright, look, if we're going to ride 'till we find an inn, we'll have to take turns in the driver's seat. Nasha's going to be sore if she sits up there all day and all night. I'm willing to go after her, but you're next, Natsuki."

He shrugged. "That's fair. How about we keep talking, though? It'd be bad if the driver fell asleep."

"I agree," came Nasha's voice. "How about we all…tell stories?"

Fizan's eyes widened. "Oh no."

"Oh, yes," Nasha replied. "You could tell us how you know the Holy King."

"Or why you have that dagger," Subaru added.

"Fine! I'll tell you, but Nasha goes first! She's driving now, so it's only fair."

"Fair indeed," the royal guard laughed. "Fine, I'll go first. Hm, what to choose, what to choose…? Ah! Yes, I love this story. This happened when I was back in the Priestellan city guard."

She cleared her throat before continuing, and Fizan sat up in his chair. Subaru leaned a bit toward the window.

"Yes, back then, I was a captain in the city guard." She sat up straighter, and Subaru could practically tell she was smiling proudly despite not being able to see her very well. "Since I'm sure you both know where Priestella is, I'll spare the geography lesson. We had a little problem with a bandit group amassing in the Kararagian border. They were hitting every transport that tried to make it to Priestella, and very few escaped their attacks. It seemed that, every week, we had three or four less carriages than the week prior. Finally, the Council of Ten got fed up that their profits were taking such a hit, and they decided to put an end to the whole show.

"Almost every city guard not busy with other matters was set to stopping this gang, and there were a lot of ideas on how to do it. Of course, we could hardly send an army across the border, or the Border Committee on the other side would have our heads, so we had to get smart. I came up with the idea to send trap carriages across: instead of sweet cargo, they'd be filled to the brim with soldiers or anyone who knew how to swing a sword. For a few days, it worked. Those carriages came back, often carrying the bandits' bodies as proof of their success. The last time it worked, they brought back a really big wolf woman who everyone said had been the gang's leader.

"As it just so happens, that was the worst thing anyone could have done. The next few days were quiet, but then the bandits moved toward Priestella, apparently led by a new bastard who called himself the 'Jade Serpent.' He had the gall to form a ring of bandits around the city and demand an audience with the Ten. They were practically trembling when they heard about it, and they ordered every city guard that could walk or ride to go out there and 'put as many of those filth in the ground as possible,' their words exactly. I don't remember how many of those dimwits we bagged, but in the end, it turned out not a single one of them was from the gang that had been threatening the carriages. They were just sent there by this Serpent guy, only to intimidate us. We never found the other gang again, which is good, I guess."

"Odglass's grace," Fizan whistled. "Priestella's just a damn warzone, then."

Subaru asked, "You never found any of those guys again? Do you think they're in Kararagi?"

"I hope they're in Kararagi," she answered, her sigh hiding a hint of hesitation…or sadness. "Most of those bandits…weren't human. If they're in the Kingdom, they could make a really big mess…which, given the current…climate…"

Surprisingly enough, Fizan nodded wisely, actually seeming mature for once. "Everyone from Glacia to Rupghana knows that Lugnica is ready to tear itself apart, sadly enough."

"'Sadly enough?'"

"Hey, I don't want to see your country split apart at the seams over…you know…such dumb stuff." He straightened his back. "I mean…the whole Demi-Human Alliance, and all that…you can't really take their declarations at face value, right?"

"There has been unrest lately," Subaru said, frowning. "Hopefully, it'll be resolved peacefully. Prince Randohal is on it at the moment, and if anyone can put an end to it, it's him."

Nasha clicked her tongue. "Hail the prince. Now, come on, who wants to take the reins next?"

She slid to one side and turned to look through the window, motioning for them to come sit next to her. As Fizan was standing up to go, though, Subaru raised his hand and stepped to the window, then stepped through.

The driver's seat was very uncomfortable, and a complete downgrade from the definitely-more-luxurious seats within the carriage. Sure, the whole thing was a single cough away from falling apart, but it could at least not hurt his entire lower back.

Nasha smiled at him, surprised, and slid through the window, taking the seat he had been using before.

"So," Fizan chuckled, "what're you gonna talk about? If it's some business story, I don't want to hear it."

Subaru thought about it for a moment, then nodded to himself.

A smile grew on his face as he began to speak.