Chapter Twelve: Seyruun and Prince Philionel's Death
The group soon arrived at Seyruun's gates. The town was as busy as usual, but the palace seemed rather quiet somehow. Also, there were a surprising number of palace guards present. Then, Zelgadiss pointed out that the national flags were flying at half-mast. Since that only happened when a member of royalty passed away, naturally Amelia was shocked. She ran into the palace itself and was greeted by her Uncle Christopher and her cousin Alfred. After being told the bad news about her father's death, Amelia became very depressed. She ran crying to the palace library.
A thunderstorm soon started and the rain came pouring down, giving a gloomy atmosphere to the situation. Lina and Kera exchanged a glance, then they both went to console her. Suddenly, in a flash of lightning, there was a shadow of a large man at the window. Zelgadiss leapt into the room with a Flare Arrow and the mysterious figure soon disappeared.
"What was that all about?" Kera asked, breathing hard from the shock.
"Could it be…" Lina started.
Amelia looked determined. "Whoever it was, he must have something to do with my father's death. Now it is my duty to uphold justice in my father's stead! I shall discover the identity of my father's murderer and destroy him!"
Thunder roared as if in approval. Lina and Kera sweatdropped. "Uh… Amelia," said Lina.
"Never mind… let her do it her way," said Kera softly. "I know how she feels. Maybe it will make her feel better."
Lina glanced at Kera and saw tears forming in her green eyes. Kera had her eyes cast down and her clenched fists were trembling.
"Kera… I…"
"I'm fine, Lina-san," she said, forcing a bitter smile as she quickly wiped off her tears with the back of her hands. "I just recalled some bad memories, that's all."
Zelgadiss glanced at Amelia, then at Kera. Just then, Gourry rushed into the room. "What happened here?" he asked, looking horrified at the shattered window.
Lina and Zelgadiss sweatdropped. "Where were you, huh?" Lina demanded, grabbing Gourry by his collar. "Zel was just in time, but you…! Some bodyguard you are!"
Gourry looked uncomfortable. He scratched his head, smiling sheepishly. "I… er…"
Zelgadiss walked out of the library, past Lina and Gourry. "The only thing we can do now is help Amelia find her father's murderer," he said. "So are you guys coming or not?"
"Zelgadiss-san!" Amelia said, her eyes filling with tears. "Thank you for helping me!"
Kera glanced suspiciously at Amelia and Zel, then shook her head and sighed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Early the next morning, the group set off for the forest where Prince Philionel's royal dagger had been found and started digging for clues. Literally. However, after about one hour, Lina threw down her shovel and shouted, "This is pointless! We're not going to find anything even after spending the whole day here!"
"Where's Xelloss when we need him?" Kera muttered, also putting down her spade. She sat down on the floor and fanned herself with her hand. "So what do you think we should do now, Lina?"
"Why are you asking me? I thought you were the one with all the bright ideas?" Lina snorted irritably.
"Lina, I'm not in the mood for an argument right now, ok?" Kera said, wiping off her perspiration. "Besides, we have company."
Kera stood up, unsheathing her sword. Gourry and Zelgadiss did the same. Amelia took out her father's dagger. Lina looked around the shallow valley, then called out, "Hey, whoever you are, come out! We know you're here!"
A tall figure flashed into view on top of an outcropping of rock. "Mazoku!" Lina gasped. "Don't tell me… Phil's death has something to do with Mazoku?"
"No!! It isn't possible!" Amelia exclaimed. "But why?"
"We'll find out soon enough," said Zelgadiss, narrowing his eyes. "He's going to attack!"
The Mazoku flew towards then, producing several other demons. Suddenly, the black figure from last night appeared on a bare tree. The man spoke in a deep voice, "Cease your evil doings, spawn of darkness! Whenever the light of justice falls, darkness is banished!"
"Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like… Phil?" Lina gasped.
"What?!" Kera exclaimed, giving Lina an incredulous glance. "But isn't he…"
The black-caped person attacked the demons, which fired blue energy bolts at him. One of the bolts grazed his face and tore his mask off. When they saw his face, everyone except Kera gasped. It really was Prince Philionel! Even the Mazoku seemed surprised. "So, he's not dead, is he? Well, I'll fix that soon enough," he muttered.
"And now I'm all confused," shouted Lina, scratching her hair in frustration.
"Why don't we talk about that after we get rid of all these demons?" Kera suggested, preparing to cast an Elmekia Lance.
"No need," said Zelgadiss as he gestured towards Phil. "The prince is doing that for us."
They all watched incredulously as the powerfully built prince destroyed the demons with his bare hands. Amelia watched with stars shining in her eyes. Finally, she couldn't resist it any more and turned to Lina. "Lina-san, please…"
"Me? Why me? Oh… all right," said Lina resignedly. "Diem Wind!"
Amelia was sent flying towards her father and the father-daughter pair defeated the last demon together. By this time, the Mazoku had already disappeared. It almost seemed too easy. Kera glanced suspiciously around them, then shook her head and followed the others back to Seyruun.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Back at the clearing, two low voices were having a serious conversation. "Well, that was rather unexpected."
"Indeed… Now we also have two targets to look out for instead of just one."
"Are they of equal importance to our lord?"
"Perhaps. However, only one is still important to us."
"What about the other?"
"It is rumoured that the other may be of more importance than the one we want. I wonder why that is so."
"Only our lord knows…"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After Prince Phil's triumphant homecoming, he announced that the five travellers were now his personal bodyguards. No one in the kingdom was very surprised. After all, their beloved king had just narrowly escaped death. "I sure hope that Xelloss doesn't turn up now," thought Kera, rolling her eyes as she stood beside Lina and Amelia as Prince Phil made his announcement.
The group retreated to the conference room to discuss the reasons behind Phil's faked up death. "For now, the most important thing is to take care of this little problem as soon as possible," said Lina.
"That's right," agreed the prince. "As your temporary posts as my bodyguards, you all will be able to move freely in the palace. I've already informed the other guards about this."
"Once everything has been settled, don't forget to give us the most important thing," said Lina, smiling.
"Of course I won't forget to reward you," said Phil.
"All right, let's discuss the price, then. How about this?" she asked, taking out an abacus and calculating the sum on it.
"WHAT? So much?" Prince Philionel's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Erm… how about this instead?"
"You're so stingy!" complained Lina. "That's— ow! Zel! What was that for?"
"Stop quarrelling already," said Zelgadiss, retrieving his sword, which he had used to hit Lina on the head. "We're here to discuss the important stuff."
"But this is important! I—" A knock on the double-doors interrupted her. Everyone turned to look as Prince Christopher and Alfred came in.
"Oh, my dear brother!" said Christopher. "I'm so glad to see that you're all right."
"Ah, Christopher and Alfred, it's good to see you again," replied Phil. "These are the people who have saved me from death. I believe you've already met them. This red-haired young lady is Lina Inverse and the others are her travelling companions."
Prince Christopher grasped Lina's hands in his and thanked her gratefully for rescuing his brother. Embarrassed, Lina said that it hadn't been much of a problem and that it was her duty to help her friend. "Here in the city of Seyruun, there are plenty of white magic users, but white magic alone cannot deal with such problems effectively," continued Christopher.
"That's true," agreed Phil. "That's why we have to hire powerful black magic mages like yourself, Lina."
"If we ever get a chance, I would like to witness that power myself," came a masculine voice.
Two people entered the room. One was a green-haired man with a cross-shaped scar on his right cheek and the other was a voluptuous crimson haired woman. Sitting beside Gourry, Kera narrowed her eyes and regarded them with suspicion. Lina muttered, "Who are these people?"
"Ah, you're here at last, Kanzeil," said Prince Christopher. "Lina Inverse, I would like you to meet Kanzeil and Mazenda. They're also powerful mages like yourself."
"I never thought that I would be able to meet the famous Lina Inverse," said Mazenda in a dulcet voice. "Your powers are very well known among the mage guilds."
"It's nice to meet you at last, Lina," said Kanzeil, shaking her hand. "I hope that we can learn from each other in the near future."
Lina smiled. "I'm sure that will happen… very soon indeed."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Later, as the group relaxed with iced drinks on an open-air terrace, Amelia grumbled, "Who does that Kanzeil think he is? Barging into a confidential meeting and challenging us like that."
"I suppose they don't have any reason to like us," said Zelgadiss.
"That's true," agreed Lina. "Since they were hired by Prince Christopher and he is the one with the most reason to want Phil dead."
"Not to mention that Kanzeil and Mazenda may not be human at all," added Kera. "Which is very likely, considering the fact that the Mazoku were involved in Prince Philionel's supposed demise."
Lina nodded. "This means that this whole deal is a lot more complicated than it seems. If Prince Christopher is working together with the Mazoku to get rid of Phil, there may be more at stake here than just the throne."
"Since we know so much already, let's go and show them the hand of Justice!" exclaimed Amelia.
"That will not do, Amelia," said Lina. "You don't seem to understand the situation here. What we've discussed so far are only our own conclusions. We don't have any evidence to back them up."
"Then…" Amelia trailed off, her enthusiasm gone.
"Listen, we all know how much you want this problem to be resolved as soon as possible," said Kera, placing a sympathetic hand on Amelia's shoulder. "However, we must go very carefully from now on. We don't want to malign an innocent person."
"Also, we have to ensure Prince Philionel's safety wherever he goes," added Zel. He sighed. "The addition of Mazoku into any situation always makes it worse."
"I couldn't agree more," said Amelia. "That's why we need Justice!"
Lina, Zelgadiss and Kera sweatdropped.
"Excuse me, but is there a Lina Inverse here?" came a voice of a servant girl.
"That would be me," said Lina, getting up from her seat. "What is it?"
"Someone told me to pass this letter to you," she said as she approached them and handed an envelope to Lina.
"Oooooh! Perhaps it's a love letter!" said Amelia.
"That is definitely not possible," said Gourry confidently.
Lina punched him in the stomach. "Shut up!"
Frightened by this show of violence, the servant girl started to retreat towards the doorway. "Wait! Who sent me this letter?" Lina asked.
Unfortunately, she was too late. The servant girl had disappeared over the edge of the terrace. "She's fallen down," remarked Gourry, restating the obvious.
"Never mind," said Lina as she carelessly flung the envelope over her shoulder. "Not that I would even read this."
Kera walked over and picked up the fallen envelope and handed it back to Lina. "Well, at least you could see who it was from."
"Yeah, you shouldn't waste a person's hard work," added Zel.
"Fine, fine," said Lina as she started to open the envelope. As she read the letter, her expression changed. "Oh!"
"What does it say, Lina-san?" Amelia asked eagerly.
"It says… 'I have information on the attempted murder on Prince Philionel. Please go to the mansion at the western edge of the city'," read Lina.
"Who is it from?" asked Kera.
"It's from… Alfred."
~ ~ ~ End of Chapter 12 ~ ~ ~
Stay tuned for Chapter 13. It's coming soon! I promise.
