Gourry quickly drew his sword, while Lina readied a spell, both of them crouched on opposite sides of the roadway. Lina hoped it was a bandit she could punish. Somebody had to pay for the interruption! She squinted down the road. The sun was behind them, which meant that it would be in the rider's eyes, giving them an advantage. She glanced over at Gourry, but he was also peering intently, trying to catch the first glimpse of the quickly approaching rider. Within moments, the rider came into view. Although Lina was hoping for a bandit, she hadn't actually expected one, since bandits seldom kept, or rode, horses, and this rider was, sadly, not an exception. The horse and the rider both wore the imperial crest of Lyzeille, which meant they were on official business. Lina was too irritated to let that stop her, however, and as soon as they were in range, she stood up, shouting: "Dill Brand!"
As the horse and rider went for a vertical trip through the air, soon to be followed by a much less pleasant return trip to the ground, Gourry jumped up. "Are you crazy?" he shouted. "You just blew up an innocent stranger!"
"He wasn't innocent," Lina returned with heat. "He interrupted us, so he deserved it! He has no business racing a horse on a road from a destroyed city, anyways!"
While Lina was arguing with Gourry, the imperial messenger of the Empire of Lyzeille thudded to the ground. His horse, which had landed a few moments earlier, got up and bolted off in a random direction to find a place where the ground didn't suddenly throw him up into the air.
"Well, look at him," Gourry said. "He's obviously not a bandit, and he was just passing through!"
"Ughh," the imperial messenger groaned.
"I know he's not a bandit! That's still no excuse for nearly trampling us over!"
"Ugghhh," the imperial messenger repeated, a bit louder.
"Look, Lina. I know you're upset, but that's no excuse for taking it out the first person who happens by."
His groans of pain seemed to solicit no reaction from the arguing pair, so the messenger tried a different approach. "Um, excuse me? I could use some help, here."
"His happening by is exactly what's got me so upset!"
"Hello, there," the messenger tried again. Lina glared at him. "Uh . . . never mind," he said quickly.
"You'd better stay out of Lina's way," Gourry advised him, "at least until she's calmed down."
"L-Lina?" The messenger repeated. He took a careful look at Lina, then at her companion. He swallowed hard. "You don't mean Lina Inverse, do you?"
"Yes, I'm Lina Inverse, the beautiful Sorcery Genius," Lina said while striking a pose.
"You mean I've somehow offended the 'Enemy of All Who Live'?" The messenger began to look rather green.
"Hey!" Lina said indignantly.
Gourry stepped over to the messenger and held out his forearm to help him up off the ground. As he pulled him up, he commented quietly, "I'd avoid letting her hear that if I were you, or you really will be dead."
"I heard that, Gourry," Lina said in a dangerous flat tone.
Gourry just looked at her with an innocent expression. Meanwhile, the messenger was cowering, trying to hide behind Gourry.
"Stop that," Lina was getting more annoyed as this situation developed. "I don't bite."
"At least that's one thing you don't have to worry about," Gourry commented.
"Gourry," Lina clenched her hands in fists and started to glow.
"But it's true Lina. You don't bite, but you do kick, and punch, and cast painful spells, and," Gourry ticked each item off on his fingers, "you steal other people's food and money, and . . ."
"I'll cast a painful spell at you, if you don't stop, already," Lina summoned the power for a fireball to her hand.
Gourry yelped. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't say any more!"
Lina let the spell fade, only marginally mollified. Enemy of All Who Live, she thought to herself with an internal groan. I've saved the world from a piece of Ruby-Eyed Shabranigdo himself, but what am I known for? The occasional bit of accidental collateral damage! Still, the exchange had her feeling better than she had in a long time. She got to work off some frustration with her magic, but she had also made a rather startling discovery. She wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but she had been watching Gourry rather carefully when he made those comments, both to her and the messenger, and she had realized that Gourry wasn't trying to insult her, he was teasing her! There had been a glint in his eye, even when she threatened the fireball, that let her know it was all just a game. Somehow, the fact that she had bared her soul to him, that they had almost kissed, hadn't really changed things. For the first time since starting this journey, Lina began to feel like maybe things would turn out after all.
Meanwhile, the imperial messenger continued to cower behind Gourry, occasionally peering around him to see if he would survive this encounter with a sorceress who was as well-known for her temper as for the power of her spells.
Lina cocked her head and placed a hand on her hip, turning her attention to the imperial messenger. She wasn't sure if she should laugh or be annoyed at the fact that he was hiding behind Gourry. "All right," Lina said. "You can come out, now."
"Is it safe?" the messenger asked Gourry, his voice cracking on the last word.
Annoyance won. "Hey! I'm right here, and there's nothing wrong with my hearing!" Geez, do they all think that a petite body means no hearing? "If you don't come out now, it will definitely not be safe!" Lina raised her hands again, threateningly.
The messenger took a deep breath, and, like a man who was being led to the headsman's block, he squared his shoulders and abandoned the dubious protection of his spot behind the big swordsman.
Lina lowered her hands. "Okay, what's an imperial messenger of Lyzeille doing here?"
"Who's Lizzy?" Gourry asked.
"Ly-zeille," Lina repeated, "is the name of the empire we're walking through right now. Atlas City and Sairaag are both part of the Imperial Kingdom of Lyzeille."
"Oh," Gourry replied in a vague tone.
"Never mind," Lina gave up in disgust and turned her attention back to the messenger. "Well?"
The messenger was starting to hope that he might manage to get through this encounter without adding to the bruises he had acquired from his abrupt introduction with the ground. "As you may have heard, strange things have been occurring recently in the city of Sairaag. After the big explosion that wrecked the city a few years ago, it was largely abandoned."
"Yeah, yeah, we know that part already," Lina waved her hand, trying to encourage him to get on with the story.
"Well," the messenger looked off-balance. He cleared his throat. "Rumors had reached the emperor that the city had been restored, but that Flagoon was no longer there. Naturally, the emperor sent out scouts to verify the rumors."
"Naturally," Lina replied.
"Of course, the scouts returned with news that the city was still mostly destroyed, but," he paused dramatically, "they did confirm that Flagoon was no longer there." The messenger looked as though he expected a shocked reaction at that announcement.
"We know that part already, too." Lina said impatiently. "Why are you here?"
The messenger looked rather crestfallen that they already knew about Flagoon. "Well," he continued, "as you may know, every year the seeds of Flagoon are collected and taken to the other cities of the Empire. Many believe that they have the same power to absorb the miasma of evil that Flagoon possessed, and they are the central relics in each of the temples." Lina nodded. "When he confirmed that Flagoon had somehow been destroyed, the emperor ordered all the seeds to be collected so that Flagoon could be replanted. The priests insist that everything be perfect for the replanting ceremony, so things are taking longer than the emperor had hoped. But, he wants to make sure that nothing else odd happens in Sairaag, so he's sent a small garrison force to guard the site. I'm just delivering the message that all is still well." He smiled, but again his audience wasn't reacting as he expected.
When the messenger had announced that there was a garrison in Sairaag, Lina glanced over at Gourry, wondering how that would affect him and his need to find whatever it was he thought he had lost. Gourry's brow furrowed, and he looked like he was trying to figure something out. "Gourry?" she asked, concerned.
"Where are the troops stationed?" Gourry asked the messenger.
"Huh?"
"Can you tell me where they are in relation to the old city?"
The messenger looked suspicious. "Why do you want to know?"
"We've been hired to retrieve an object from the old city," Lina threw in quickly. "It was left there by someone who used to live there, but left after the first destruction. We thought the city was still deserted, but it would be really helpful if we knew where the garrison is, so we can inform them of our mission." Lina smiled, a sweet little girl smile that usually got her what she wanted.
"Oh, that's okay, then." The messenger seemed reassured. Luckily, he didn't notice Gourry face-faulting behind him. "The garrison isn't actually in Sairaag proper, or anywhere near the old city. They're up on a ridge behind the city, in the old abandoned castle."
Lina chewed her lip thoughtfully. "When is the replanting ceremony supposed to take place?"
"I'm not actually sure," he replied. "The priests are still arguing about when would be most propitious, last I heard."
"No time to waste, then," Lina said. "Thanks for the information!" Her mind was already starting to consider the layout of the new part of Sairaag in relation with the old city and the castle as she and Gourry started walking.
"Hey, wait!" the messenger called out after them.
"Now what?" Lina demanded in irritation.
"Do you think you could help me find my horse?" he asked plaintively.