Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter. Special thanks for Angel Wraith, whose critique from this chapter helped me decided on a huge plot thread for Act III.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
The princess turned fugitive feels her heart begin to hammer inside her chest, and it's not because of her overtaxing her magic this time. She knew the disguise of Naofumi and herself would be put to the test before they even reached the border of Melromarc, let alone arriving at Zeltoble. But she didn't expect said test would come this soon, and arguably at the worst people other than someone who intimately know her like the young Consevatie fop.
Judging from the way he acted, Sir Cloud likely already suspected something was wrong when he first met her back outside the Cathedral of Earth. The only reason he didn't act on his suspicion may have been his supposed urgency to travel to Melromarc Castle with the rest of the astral knights under his command.
It's just her luck that words of monster horde coming back to the area near Gallia city reached him and his knights before they went north to the capital. And now… judging from his lack of urgency to immediately depart, there would be nothing stopping him to sate his curiosity on her. Not to mention, he would likely question why a devoted believer of Saint Brimir would travel south, instead of north towards Faubley to complete her pilgrimage. And picking up a companion not seen outside the Gallian cathedral. This… is the worst situation for her to maintain her disguise.
"I believe we met outside the Cathedral of Earth, Miss Pilgrim." The lord commander of astral knights slightly turns his head towards her direction, and Naofumi. His voice was emotionless, sounding almost hollow, as if coming out of a doll rather than a man. "Yet, I believe I haven't learnt your name, or your companion. Unless she isn't with you?"
"Ah, were you, or your friend bad with directions like me?" The blue-haired chevalier turns to look at her. Mein almost expected him to be intentionally obtuse to mock her, except for his completely sincere expression.
Chapter 86: Departure
Of course, one of Vicar Vitorio's most relied men would not miss the little detail that there is an extra body standing besides her now. She gives Naofumi's hand a firm squeeze. Wordlessly telling the Shield Hero to simply follow her lead, despite her booming heart. "Sophia of Totela, my lord. And this is Siesta, one of my childhood friends, also from Totela. I received a letter when visiting the local adventurer's guild that my childhood friend is coming to join me on my pilgrimage, that's why I traveled south to meet her. It's unfortunate we were attacked by the horde of monsters, but fortunately you were here to save us."
Sweat starts to drench her back even if the forest fire she started has already been put out by Lord Commander Cloud and his knights. As an experienced liar, Mein knows the best kind of manipulation is lying through omission, or misdirecting people to the wrong conclusion with half, or whole truth. Lying through fabrication should be the last resort, especially when it's something that can easily be fact checked. But with her backed into a corner, she can only hope that the commander of Adeptus Astartes still need to leave for Melromarc Castle urgently, and can't even be bothered to go to Gallia's adventurer's guild, or send a courier to fact check her claim.
"I see." Lord Commander Cloud nods his head and places a hand over his heart. "I apologize if my question distresses you, miss pilgrim. For I didn't mean any harm to you."
"Perhaps we should bring Miss Sophia and Siesta with us when we link up with Captain Polnareff's men?" The Gallian knight looks over at Naofumi's face and her own. He clearly misinterpreted their foreboding sense of worry. "It wouldn't do if more hordes of monsters found them."
"Of course." The captain of the Astral Knight nods his head as he looks over to them. Despite his words lacking any emotion similar to Kyubey, Vicar Vittorio's pet enhanced super fighter does seem to care about their own feelings more than she expected of someone of his station. "If Miss Pilgrim and her companion would want us to accompany them? I understand most people act with apprehension around enhanced humans like myself, and my knights."
Mein's mind quickly takes a few turns to think over the suggestions. On the one hand, Lord Commander Cloud did give them a convenient excuse to escape the precarious situation they are stuck in. On the other hand, what if it's one more trap to have her out herself? The Astral Knight has clearly noticed her for… something back outside the Cathedral of Earth. Rejecting the chevalier's suggestion might further raise his suspicion, and have Naofumi and herself incarcerated. If she wasn't confident about overpowering a Gallian chevalier before, she's definitely not going to be able to escape Lord Commander Cloud and his knights, especially with Naofumi beside her.
"There is no apprehension, my lord. I didn't want to impose on you. Especially when you want to travel to the capital as soon as possible. But if you are willing to offer us protection, it'll be an honor for a lowly pilgrim like myself." She can feel Naofumi's gaze focused on her back even as she bows down to the commander of the Romalian Astral Knight. But if he is unsure about the arrangement, he doesn't say anything to object to it. "We will be in your care."
"Well then. All's well ends well. Antonio Chevalier, honorary Chevalier in service of His Grace Prince Joseph, at your service. Miss Sophia, Miss Siesta." The blue-haired knight takes off his large brimmed hat and gives them a courteous bow. It takes Mein embarrassingly long time to realize that the blue haired chevalier's family name was Chevalier.
He turns around, about to walk into the newly burnt, flooded forest when the back of his collar is grabbed by Lord Commander Cloud. The leader of the Adeptus Astartes turns him around with force, and points his free arm at the direction to the east. "Captain Polnaeiff's force went that way."
"Ah, I see… Thank you for your corrections. Lord Commander Cloud." The Gallian knight pauses for a brief moment before he turns towards the direction the Astral Knight pointed. He doesn't look anymore, or less indignited about having his mistakes pointed out by a lowly commoner, or an elite knight of the church. Despite his incompetence at reading directions, at least nobody can accuse of the chevalier for any rampant pride.
The two of them follow the direction of the Astral Knights and Sir Antonio, even if they keep a reasonable distance from them. She can hear Naofumi mumbling under his breath. "So, that's 'Cloud'? He looks more like Sephiroth with Cloud's hair color…"
"What are you mumbling about, Siesta?" The princess turned fugitive leans into Naofumi's ears, and emphasizes his fake identity to remind him not to let his guards slip and make everyone realize who they really are. That being said, she is admittedly a bit curious on what he's apparently frustrated on. More inaccurate knowledge about her world, or additional information she should be aware of?
"Oh, nothing. I expected him to look one way when his name was mentioned. That's all. Most other guys are pretty accurate…" The Shield Hero's mumbling becomes quieter and quieter, till she struggles to hear anything even next to him. What was the name he mentioned together with Lord Commander Cloud again? Sephiroth? Another name mentioned in the text from his world, perhaps? She can't think of any well recognized warrior, or mage with such a name.
Perhaps it's someone with great potential, a recruit destined for greatness not yet bloomed into his full capability yet. She makes a mental note to be on the lookout for him, she'll no doubt have great use for someone who is compared with the Lord Commander of the Adeptus Astartes… if she manages to get out of the current mess she found herself in, of course.
The knights, Naofumi, and herself all continue the quiet march, each one of them thinking over things in their head. Not too long after, they are linked with a group of Gallian fighters. The knights' armor are covered by tabard with either a pair of diagonally crossed magical canes, or a cane and a sword. The house emblem of House De Gallia, and their cadet branch Ritellia's family emblem respectively. And despite not recognizing this Captain Polnareff, Mein knew they reached the group Lord Commander Cloud and Sir Antonio were looking for.
"Lord Commander Cloud, you have my thanks for your help keeping the monsters away." The leader of this new group pulls up the visor of his helmet. Unlike the knights of Melromarc whose helmet leaves the face open for better vision, the traditional helmet of Gallia tends to favor protection to the face.
In contrast to his heavy armor, the only weapon on his body is a light epee on his waist. This kind of sword relies mostly on a fighter's agility, and dexterity to deal damage. Usually considered a personal defense weapon similar to a knife, or used in specific duels. It's rare to see a fully armored knight choosing it as their primary weapon, since heavy armor tends to render them ineffective, or slow down the user too much to use it properly.
Granted, the sword itself could have been made with specific material such as mithril to make up for its usual lack of damage at heavily armored opponents. Or maybe the user is so skilled in its mastery, or high leveled enough its usual drawbacks are non-issues. Mein still finds it strange for this knight captain's weapon of choice to be so contradictory to the way he dresses.
Not far behind him, the Ritellia siblings are kneeling side by side around the wounded Gallian soldiers. Maximilian the Red is tying bandages around those who suffered lighter cuts and scrapes, his elder brother watches with bated eyes while passing around vials of potion to those who suffered more severe injuries. The young lords' faces and namesake armors all smeared full of blood. But judging from the way they move around with ease, none of it belongs to them. The fight against the warg horde wasn't easy, but thankfully it doesn't compare to an actual wave battle.
"You have my gratitude for coming to our aid, Lord Commander Cloud." The Gallian captain dips his head lower, not a full bow, but enough to let the Romalian church knights know of his gratitude without compromising his Gallian pride. "I took my men south as soon as I heard the words, but without your help, some of the monsters might have migrated north and harmed the refugees."
"Think nothing of it, Sir Polnareff." The commander of Adeptus Astartes extends out the index and middle finger of his right hand, and slashes them across in front of his face and chest. Once horizontal, once vertical to roughly imitate the shape of the Holy Icon of Four Heroes. "As knights of the Four Heroes' Church, it is our duty to aid anyone we come across. Although I'm afraid I can't take the credit this time, for a pilgrim of Saint Brimir and her friend drew away the attention of the monsters and stopped them from going north even before our arrival."
"Ah, it must be the two fair mademoiselles behind you." The Gallian knight captain turns his attention to Mein and the disguised Shield Hero behind her. For a brief moment, the princess turned fugitive wonders if he is being sarcastic about calling the two of them 'fair' mademoiselles. Herself especially, considering her hideous scar which she isn't trying to hide.
Captain Polnareff takes a few steps towards them, and the fugitive princess wonders if he's going to try to kiss their hands. She hopes Naofumi doesn't get too grossed out by such a gesture, if that's the case. Thankfully, the knight stops about three steps away from them and simply dips his head low once again. "You have our thanks, mademoiselles. I will make sure to pass your contribution to his grace Prince Joseph, if I may learn of your names?"
"We are honored by your gratitude, noble knight. But it isn't needed. It must have been the will of Saint Brimir to let us be at the right place, at the right time to stop a tragedy that would have otherwise befallen the good people of Gallia." Unlike the Gallian knight captain, Mein pitches forward with her back into a full bow to play the part of a humble and pious pilgrim. She can feel Naofumi following her example behind her. "There is really no need to inform his lordship of our insignificant contribution. I nearly set fire to the entire forest in my panic to stop the wargs from killing us. And if it wasn't for the timely arrival of Sir Chevalier and the Adeptus Astartes, we would have been killed."
"Even in such a case, good deeds deserve to be rewarded. And I can't in good conscience allow two young, fair mademoiselles as yourself go on your journey without a proper escort."
"I believe Miss Sophia is someone very important." Before Mein has a chance to further decline Captain Polnareff's 'kindness', the commander of the Astral Knight suddenly takes a step forward and adds his own insight.
"Ah, did you have another one of your visions, Lord Commander Cloud?" The silver armored Gallian knight turns to look at the Lord Commander Cloud. His face shows more understanding than confusion.
"Yes. I sometimes can see glimpses of things. Some from the past, some from the future." Lord Commander Cloud's glowing blue eyes turns to look at Mein, explaining for her benefit. "When I first cast my eyes on you, I see you stand with the revered heroes, as the five of you stand together against the red wave that seems to set the sky aflame, against an endless legion of monsters on fire."
As the first born daughter of Melromarc's red queen and wise king, she always knew she was someone important. But she didn't want her destiny for greatness to be revealed this way when she's trying to stay unremarkable to avoid capture from the Three Heroes' Church! Well… so much for not drawing attention. All the knights, and soldiers are now looking at her with different emotions in their eyes. Reverence, confusion, disbelief, and jealousy just to name a few. At least they are only focused on her, and not on the Shield Hero behind her?
"In that case, we better take Mademoiselle pilgrim's safety seriously. Sir Antonio." Captain Polnareff turns to the blue haired chevalier. "Kindly go collect Sir Oersted and Streibough. You three will act as Miss Sophia… and Miss Siesta's escort."
"As you wish, Captain Polnareff." The Gallian knight bows his head to his superior, before he leaves the group.
Mein can't help but feel a sense of trepidation at this development. Additional manpower specifically tasked for their protection would be good against monsters, especially when they make camp in the wild. But it also increases the risk of the two of them blowing their cover. Especially Naofumi, who likely doesn't have as much practice as herself at pretending to be someone else, disguised as the opposite gender, AND has three balloons hidden in his dress. All it takes is one slip up, and they'll be at the mercy of the Gallian knights.
But at this point, it's not like they can reject the Gallian captain's help without coming off as suspicious either.
"I will entrust their protection to your men, Captain Polnareff." The leader of the Astral Knight gives Mein one last look before he turns back to face the Gallians. "I was delayed long enough, and I feared what would happen in Melromarc Castle with the more fanatical of our three heroes worshiping brothers allowed to run amok."
"Ah… so the actions of Cromwell have already spread, I see. It was rather foolish for the High Confessor of the Three Heroes' Church to accuse one of the heroes of heresy when they didn't have solid evidence." The Gallian knight captain takes off his helmet, revealing a head of dull, almost gray colored blue hair that looks like a bush of tall grass cut down by a horizontal swing of a sharp blade. "Hopefully you can talk some sense into Cromwell, if not, then the Vicars. It would be both a disaster, and a waste of manpower for us to fight the Wave of Catastrophe, and a war at the same time."
"I intend to do my best. And if I know Vicar Vittorio, he is surely making his way north to the capital right now to stop whatever madness that consumed our three heroes worshiping brothers."
Seeing that the knights are no longer paying them much attention, Mein gives Naofumi's hand a quick tag. They walk over to the edge of the logging camp, and sit on some cut lumber. A good number of Gallian knights, and soldiers still glance at them every once in a while, but they sit enough from them, that they can have a quiet conversation without being overheard.
Naofumi's voice is barely a whisper, and Mein can hear some concerted effort to make his voice higher pitch than usual to sound more vaguely feminine. To be honest, it only makes her ear bleed instead. "Is it smart to let those knights protect us? Because… you know?"
"To be honest, I don't know, Siesta. But it's not courteous to refuse these knight's kindness." The princess turned fugitive turns her head and looks at Naofumi and they lock eyes for a brief moment. She gets the sense that Naofumi did understand what she is trying to tell him without spelling it out. "It's… probably better this way. If monster activity really did increase with the Third Wave, we might not survive our trip north by ourselves."
The Shield Hero nods his head, and keeps his face low. "So… there are people who can see the future, huh?"
"Yes. Our divination arts isn't as well developed as the Siltvelt beastmen, but there are people who are born with the gift of seeing the future." The princess looks back at Lord Commander Cloud as he part ways with the Gallian men and mount the filorials with the rest of his astral knights. "Although I didn't know the Lord Commander of the Adeptus Astartes had the gift. The last prophet of Melromarc was Duke Claud Edda, or Bragi bloodline. And he died back in The Great War."
"Claud, you say? Hmm… their names sound very similar." Naofumi raises his face slightly as he turns to look at the retreating forms of the Four Heroes' Church astral knights. He begins to once again quietly mumble some nonsense the princess can't figure out. "Hmm… now that I think about it… Cloud does look like a combination between Cloud and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7. Could it be… You said he died in the Great War? Do you think they are the same person?"
"What makes you think of that? There's no way Lord Cloud would give away his life with his family, or his position as the Vicar of Romallia Four Heroes' Church to fake his own death, and become an enhanced mage knight. Look… just act shy and be quiet in front of them and let me do the talking. You don't want to give your true identity away." While Mein is still feeling indignant about Naofumi's suggestion, she sees Sir Antonio walking towards them with two slightly younger men, and the old priest who were talking with Lord Commander Cloud outside of the Cathedral of Earth. Mein quickly gives Naofumi's hand a squeeze and a tug, indicating that their small talk of fancy is now over. The two of them stand up, and walk towards the people who will act as their armed escort.
Aside from Sir Antonio, the fugitive princess first cast her eyes on the elderly, balding priest of the Four Heroes Church. He is no longer wearing his white, well tailored and regal looking priest robe, but a brown monk robe that's more suited for long travel, and he has weapons other than a wooden, crooked walking staff. The princess knows better than to underestimate this old man, the priests of the church are dangerous with their miracles alone. Naofumi, who is standing beside her is ironically, a sterling example.
Out of the two young men, the one with short, spiky dirty blonde hair is in a suit of earthly shaded breast plate, gauntlet and armored boots over a suit of well worn, deep blue tunic. An equally unremarkable looking arming sword hangs by his waist in its sheath. He has an easy going smile on his face, making his soft features look even more youthful, to the point that one can mistaken him for a teenage boy who stole his father's armor instead of a trained Gallian knight.
The one walking by his side is the polar opposite. The young man has long, straight hair in a deep shade of violet that covers the left side of his face, making the fugitive princess wonder if he is the one who is hiding some hideous scar. He wears a dark, scarlet cloak that reminds Mein of dried blood over a blue satin shirt and a pair white satin pants. He holds an ebony staff with a sun shaped tip, a blue magical crystal sits in the middle of the solar halo. The man's sharp face looks like it's carved out by a saber, and the harsh way he purses his lips make him look almost older than Sir Antonio.
Three saddled filorials follow behind them. It's nice that they don't have to walk north on their own feet, but they are clearly going to have to share their mounts. With the monster activity, and political unrest alluded to by Lord Commander Cloud, it's not hard to realize that mounts are now an important and rationed war resource to any regime worth their salt.
"Miss Sophia, Miss Siesta. The four of us shall be your armed escort unless we are recalled by His Grace Prince Joseph personally, or in the case of us given our all to our duties." The scatterbrained chevalier takes off his large brimmed feather hat and dips his head low. "Sorry for not properly introducing myself. Sir Antonio Chevalier, knight chevalier serving His Grace Prince Joseph De Gallia."
"Uranus, priest of the Gallia branch of Four Heroes' Church." The priest scratches his thick bush of beard and gives both Mein and Naofumi a grandfatherly smile. "I am getting on in my years, but I would still like to serve the Chief God in the best way I could. If it takes the form of protecting someone who is destined to stand besides the four saint heroes, so be it."
"Viktor Oersted, knight of Gallia, at your service." The blonde boy bows his head deep, showing the enthusiasm benefit of his youth.
Oersted… it's a Germanian surname, a well known one at that. A well respected knightly house, some say they trace their origin from a bastard son of Prince Victor of Germania's Avalon dynasty. Others theorize they were descended from the Holy Cumberland order, arguably Medea's first true paladin order. Regardless of their origin, House Oersted was known throughout the ages as a steadfast knightly house that gave birth to the land's finest knights similar to Gallia's House Chevaliar.
"Caesar Streibough, disciple of Lady Sheffield, battle mage of House De Gallia." The mage leans slightly back, and draws his voice out. Almost as if expecting the reputation of his own master would speak enough for himself.
Streibough… the name doesn't ring any bells. With the way he was dressed, Mein half expected him to be the scion, maybe a second or third son of some self-important noble family. Or at least, the son of a wealthy merchant who thinks having a vault full of golden coins make them aristocrats similar to the Schnees. But no, it seems more likely that this young man is something worse: a self-important commoner with no copper to his own name, who thinks having a well established mentor makes himself someone important, and decided to give himself a last name.
An experienced, veteran priest. A pair of knights that's on the younger side, but both from well established knightly houses. And a student of House De Gallia's own royal battle mage. A small, but seemingly competent team of escorts that shouldn't be too draining on Gallia city's own defense. If the elderly member isn't a burden, and the younger members all live up to their expectations, of course. It seems like Captain Polnareff didn't leave the survival of Naofumi and herself to chance.
"The sun is slowly going down the horizon, Miss Sophia, Miss Siesta. Would you like to spend the night in Gallia city and set off tomorrow? I'm sure the church would be more than hospitable enough to provide you with lodging if you don't want to rent an inn." Sir Antonio looks up at the sun, now only slightly above the forest in the distance. His suggestion is clearly out of kindness, but it's also something Mein and Naofumi will definitely not benefit from.
"No! Sloth is one of the worst sins to a pilgrim like myself alongside vanity. Plus, I can't afford to get too comfortable, if I'm to eventually make my way to the destroyed Cathedral of Wind in Siltvelt and complete my pilgrimage." The fugitive princess quickly shoots down Sir Antonio's suggestion, hopefully without coming off as too anxious and raising suspicions.
"I hope you don't expect us to follow you to Siltvelt. Or Faubley, for that matter." Streibough's half visible face twists into a frown as the mage narrows his eye(s). "With the Wave of Catastrophe, the possible crusade, and everything else, there are more important things for us to give our lives for than chaperoning a couple of clueless pilgrims who'll waste their lives away completing the doomed 'Pilgrimage of the Pentagon'."
On the one hand, Mein can't wait for this arrogant commoner to ditch them and go back to Gallia. But the way he smugly talks down to them as if stating a simple fact makes her want to set fire to the side of his face not covered by his long hair.
"Don't be like that, Streibough. I think it's great that the devotees of Saint Brimir haven't given up on completing his pilgrimage yet. In times of strife, we need faithful men and women like Miss Sophia and Miss Siesta, who are willing to risk their lives for something greater than themselves. Maybe the two of them will be the ones who finally complete the pilgrimage and recover the lost knowledge of the Void." Sir Oersted raises his right hand, almost like he's trying to stop Streibough from further antagonizing Mein and Naofumi. He turns to look at them and places his fist on over his heart. "On my knight's vow, I will protect the two of you faithfully with my life. Unless my liege recalls my service for a duty of even greater purpose."
"You would like to add the firsts to complete the Pilgrimage of the Pentagon to your list of achievements, don't you…" Streibough narrows his eyes further and glares at the young knight from the slit that's now his right eye. But he didn't add anything more antagonizing in the end.
"Men. Let us be off, if no one has anything more they wish to add." Sir Antonio raises both of his hands and claps them together a couple of times. He looks over to Mein and Naofumi. "Miss Sophia, Miss Siesta. Do you know how to ride a filorial, or do you want to ride behind our back?"
"I would like to ride together with my friend Siesta, if that's agreeable with you, noble knights and clerics of Gallia. She's… shy around people she doesn't know. Men, especially." Streibough's now fully opened eye(s) narrows again, clearly picked up on her snub of feigned neglect. Yes, it's petty of her, but the arrogant commoner really shouldn't act the way he did earlier. "I may be a humble pilgrim now, but my parents managed to save enough money to have me trained as an adventurer. That's the only way for any of us to leave the life of a poor fisherman from my village."
Of course, she's not going to let Naofumi ride behind anyone but herself. The last thing Mein needs right now is for someone to realize Naofumi is hiding some balloon monsters inside his dress, and instantly see through their disguise.
"Great. We shall be off." Sir Antonio leads a white filorial, with some mixed yellow and blue feathers over. Seeing her reminds Mein of their own gluttonous devil bird, even if the color of their feathers are different. "Flonne is the most mild-mannered of our filorial birds. She will serve you two well."
As if to demonstrate his words, the big bird creaks her long neck, and leans into Sir Antonio's head, gently nibbling at his mop of blue hair as if trying to groom him.
"You are returning north to Gallia city, Lord Alexander?" On the other side, Uranus is talking with the green armored Ritellia brothers. Behind him, three carts are fully loaded with logs and branches, clearly meant to be used to build shelter and light campfires for the refugees outside Gallia wall. On top of the logs, sits some of the more badly wounded soldiers and knights.
"Yes, my men are exhausted, and wounded from fighting the waves of wargs. My brother Maximilian and his men will finish taking the rest of the lumber for the refugees." Alexander the Green turns his head over and looks at Sir Oersted. "You are going on the pilgrimage of the Pentagon, Viktor?"
"Not really. I'm only going to protect Miss Sophia and Miss Siesta on their pilgrimage." Oersted leaps atop of a red filorial with black feathers, Streibough wordlessly sits behind his back despite his empty bravado from earlier.
Mein quickly follows his example and gets atop of Flonne, and helps Naofumi sit sideways behind her back. There is no way that he can sit normally on a saddle, with his long dress hiding his balloons. Across from them, Sir Antonio and Uranus get on the last, blue filorial with two antennas like bundles of crest feathers. He swings his body a little, almost as if he's trying to shake his riders off him as he lets out a loud snort.
"Unless you planned to return to Gallia midway, that's not so different from going on the pilgrimage yourself." Lord Alexander shakes his head, looking a bit exasperated from Sir Oersted's lack of awareness. "Aren't you even going to say goodbye to Princess Alethea? If you leave without sending a single word to her, what will Her Highness think?"
Sir Oersted's hand, which was about to pull on the reign of his steed, freezes in midair. He gives a glance towards Mein and Naofumi from the corner of his eyes. His lips quiver a little, as the young knight's sense of duty is clearly fighting against his heart till he finally resolves himself. "No. Miss Sophia is quite adamant to not lose any more time to her pilgrimage. It wouldn't be right for me to delay her for my own selfish desire."
"That's what I thought you'd do… fear not. I have sent my own messenger to Her Highness. It's not the same as you telling her yourself, but at least she wouldn't think you abandoned her." Lord Alexander's shoulders fell, in a way that shows he is fighting back a deep sign. The elder of the Ritellia brothers stands back straight again, and slams his fist over his heart. "Best of luck on your pilgrimage to you all."
"And you, on defending Gallia and her people, Lord Alexander." Sir Antonio gives one last salute back to the green knight of Gallia, as he leads their newly formed group north… east.
Mein is about to open her mouth and tell the directionless knight that he's going the wrong way again, till she manages to catch herself. No, sadly, the chevalier isn't going the wrong way this time. At least going by her own cover up story.
"Shouldn't we go northwest, to Crownland, into Silver Pass and try to catch a boat in Stormwind to get to Zeltoble?" Behind her, Naofumi whispers into her ear through the galloping sound of the birds' claws to cover up their quiet conversation.
"Yes, that's where we should be going. But they think we are going on the Pilgrimage of the Pentagon. So we are going northeast towards Faubley. They have the two Cathedrals I'm supposed to visit: The Cathedral of Water in Tristan city, and Cathedral of Fire in Faubley city." Mein doesn't dare to turn her eyes away from the two filorials, and their riders in front of her. But she still manages to whisper back to Naofumi behind her back.
"Oh." Comes Naofumi's eloquent reply. "Well… I suppose Faubley isn't the worst place to be? I just hope Yatsuhashi and maybe Eclair keep themselves safe. They are going to think we are going to try and meet them in Zeltoble."
"It's okay. Master Naofumi. Shiltfreeden is deadlocked in a civil war between those supporting the Whip Hero Prince Tact, and the Hammer Hero's Rebel Alliance. We probably won't go straight through the warzone, but with how bad things are getting, we'll have a chance to slip away from them and go towards Zeltoble." The princess turned fugitive tries to convince herself, more than convincing the Shield Hero. Worst comes to worst, she'll try to find a way to get in contact with Cousin Emily, Duchess of Dunwall. Considering how much Cousin Emi was fond of her, it shouldn't be too hard to get help from her Faubley cousin. "We'll be fine, as long as we find a way to sneak our way outside Melromarc."
Her current situation made the first princess of Glorious Melromarc turn to adventure, turned fugitive and realize how much of a failure her life is, now that the best thing left for her to do is essentially self exile.
"Master Uranus. What do you think Lord Commander Cloud's vision means? How do you think Miss Sophia would be important enough to stand amongst the four Saint Heroes?" A short distance ahead of them, Sir Oersted gives a quick glance to his left at the elderly priest before looking straight ahead to the road once again. "No offense meant to you, Miss Sophia. But to stand with the Four Cardinal Heroes as their equals. That's not even an honor easily achieved by the Seven Vassal Heroes."
"No offense taken, kind sir knight. I'm only a humble pilgrim. I do not think any hero would even spare me a glance." Mein quickly accelerated her bird forward to catch up to her escort, trying to divert further attention away from herself.
"You don't have to sugarcoat it, Oersted. She doesn't look like she's going to be stronger than the star heroes, or even the crusaders." Streibough's calm voice paired with his arrogant words makes Mein grind her teeth together once again. "The astral knight could have made a mistake. None of their minds are fully sane, with that much concentrated Mana pumped into their blood."
If she ever reclaims her birthright… she's going to demand Prince Joseph give this pompous little shit to her. Maybe officially change his name to 'Little Shit', if not doing something more severe to him.
"Setting aside the possibility that Lord Commander Cloud's vision was simply wrong. The most likely way for it to become true is for Miss Sophia to become the first devotee of Saint Brimir to complete the Pilgrimage of the Pentagon. And rediscover the secret to the lost element of Void Magic, of course." The old priest speaks without looking back. "There is also the possibility that with her being a devoted pilgrim, Miss Sophia becomes a vassal for some greater power. Like the Holy Spirit."
"Yes. Because everything worked out so well the last time the Holy Spirit supposedly incarnated." Despite the calm way Streibough says his words, the sarcasm rolling off his tongue is tangible enough to trip over their steeds.
"What happened?" Naofumi's voice was probably louder than he meant, as Mein can feel his hands leaving her shoulders, likely covering his own mouth too late from blurting out the words. Mein quickly slows down her bird, to make sure Naofumi doesn't fall off the back and reveal Yuzus hiding under his dress. The two birds controlled by their Gallian escorts quickly skied to stop too, as they turned around and threw incredulous looks towards them.
"You didn't know about the Revolt of Defiant Bay after The Great War?" Streibough's face is once again… you guessed it, twisted with his eyes narrowed.
"Siesta's parents are fishermen, like mine. But she wasn't as lucky as I was. She didn't care too much about what goes on outside of our village, till she heard news of me going on my pilgrimage." The princess can feel cold sweat running down her neck. She's forced to spin more, and bigger lies just to cover for their made up story. How long till she eventually makes a slip, or one of their escorts gets suspicious (she is willing to bet it being Streibough) enough to call her lies out?
"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. Defiant Bay must look as far, and exotic to you as Siltvelt to us." Sir Oersted nods his head, over exaggerated understanding is painted all over his youthful face. "Short version. Shortly after the Great War, a girl from Defiant Bay claims that she was the incarnation of The Holy Spirit. Goddess of protection, and rebirth. She gathered a bunch of zealots believing her lies, and started a revolt trying to overthrow the royal family. Saying the king, and the princess he gave birth to are devils. It didn't take too long for Duke Wales to put down her revolt, but it further hurt Defiant Bay's recovery after The Great War."
"Thank you for your explanation, kind sir knight. You need to get more educated on what's going on outside of Totela, Siesta." Mein looks back, and gives a fake chastised look to Naofumi, pretending to be a bit indignant about his supposed ignorance. She notices a tall cloud of dusty smoke kicked up in the distance. With the way it rises high into the sky but fairly thin, it likely belongs to a small company of riders rather than a large group of people on foot.
Sir Antonio and Sir Oersted move their own mount further back, between the incoming riders and Mein. Not too long after, a group of Gallian knights with the tabard of House Gallia appears in front of them. For a brief moment, Mein starts to panic over the possibility of her true identities being discovered, and Prince Joseph sends his own men to capture her to appease the Three Heroes' Church.
Then, she takes a better look at the knights. More specifically, their equipment. Despite being fully armored, they don't carry any lance with them, only their shield and a sword hanging by their waist. They are most definitely not equipped for battle, likely quickly gathered as escorts for the protection of someone important of House De Gallia. Her question is quickly answered when the House De Gallia knights split apart, revealing a woman slightly younger than her among them.
Instead of House De Gallia's blue hair, her hip length, wavy hair is in a shade of light violet. She wears a set of fancy long dresses that's the same color of her own hair, with white fabric for the skirt. A short, curved saber with golden guard and hilt hangs by her waist, likely for the dubious purpose of her own self-protection. Underneath her almost sparkling hair is a face that seems dyed in melancholy that tugs on people's hearts. Princess Alethea, the youngest daughter of Prince Joseph De Gallia.
"Sir Oersted. I heard the news from cousin Alex's messenger. You are going on the Pilgrimage of the Pentagon, which nobody has returned alive from. And you didn't even say goodbye to me?" The eyes of the Gallian princess sparkles, with tears rolling inside of them.
"Princess Alethea, Your Highness! I… I'm sorry. It was very sudden." Oersted nearly falls off the back of his bird. He manages to steady himself, slowly climbs down, walks over to the Gallian princess and kneels in front of her. "Lord Commander Cloud foreseen Miss Sophia, the pilgrim would one day stand amongst the Four Saint Heroes. So her protection is of the utmost importance. I was chosen for the honor, and I…"
He didn't finish his words, as the princess quickly runs forward and kneels down in front of him. The two of them pull each other into a hug. Mein turns her head to the side, not because she can't bear witness the reunion before separation of the two lovers unintentionally caused by her, but because her peripheral catches the ray of glaring daggers. About ten paces away from her on the red filorial, Streibough's face looks calm, but his single visible eye tells a different story.
"I understand. As a brave knight to Gallia, your duty is the most important thing to you." Princess Alethea nuzzles her face into Sir Oersted's shoulder. "But know this. I will wait for you. Always. No matter how many years pass, I shall await your return, Oersted."
End Note:
So... Mein's disguise in a way worked out too well, and it came back to bite her in the behind. Funny how that works sometimes.
And speaking of the big plot point Angel Wraith helped me decide on. Not going to lie, I had no direction on where I'm taking ACT III for a large chunk of the plot. While I DO know what plot I wanted to take my plot TO, I had no idea how I was going to get there in a large part due to a HUGE plot direction change based on feedback from Commissar Gaunt... which happened all the way back since the chapter where Malty had her first major conversation with Eclair back in the hotspring discovered by Naofumi. Even after all this time, I had no idea what to do after me gutting a huge portion of my plan on what would have happened in ACT III (without giving away everything, my original plan was Naofumi, Malty AND Raphtalia escape on Firo's back at the end of 3rd wave battle, not only the two of them made it out).
The big change comes from when I decided to throw in a somewhat obsecure reference to Obsidien's game Pillar of Eternity. Yeah, the whole revolt of the supposed incarnate of The Holy Spirit (those who are more knowledgeable of WN can probably figure out who she is, with me revealing Lautrec's Goddess is more or less based of WN Raphtalia) is basically the whole revolt of Eothas incarnation from PoE.
And then Angel Wraith suggested that it would make sense for Malty to notice connection between The Holy Spirit's revolt and Goddess Raphtalia. Which indirectly give me suggestion on how I'm going to take the end of ACT II, towards the plot beat I planned for in ACT III. Hopefully, it'll be a satisifying journey.
