Chapter 8: Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!
Lower Wind Month, 11th Day, 600 AGG
"—Clan Vadh pledges itself to you!"
Draudillon understood the ramifications of a mautkshan intellectually, but it was another matter entirely to see an entire group of beastmen bowing before Seph.
"I," Seph turned her eyes away from them with a scowl, blood dripping down her sword and dress. "Not now, alright? I just… I can't do this now."
"Of course," the Bafolk easily agreed with her. "I beg you to forgive this one's presumptuousness, but if your wish is to have us and our comrades to retreat, it would be best to address them sooner rather than later."
"Fine," Seph spat. "Take all of them and get out of here. Leave."
"Wait," Draudillon saw an opportunity here. Negotiations with the Beastman Country had always been fruitless in the past, but having an entire clan at their beck and call was a potential gamechanger. "Inform all of your fellow demihumans in the city that their commander is dead, escort them out, and return to us when you're done. This battle is over."
"Do not presume to command us, human!" the Bafolk raised his head and growled at her. "Leeches that hang off the strong are the most detestable—!"
"『Show your fucking respect.』" Despite the low volume, Seph's voice thrummed with power, and the Bafolk cowered in fear—or was it awe? It was difficult to tell. Draudillon swore her eyes had shone for a second, even brighter than it usually was. "You treat her the same as you'd treat me, or—or I'll figure something out."
"Seph, I don't think I would survive a duel against a warrior who's trained for a lifetime," Draudillon dryly replied. From the little she knew, demihumans were loath to accept the authority of one weaker than them. And from what she saw today, the way they remedied that was violent to say the least.
"O-Oh," Seph's face fell before hardening again. "If any of you hurt her, I'll make all of you wish you were dead."
Even Draudillon involuntarily shuddered at her words. The angel was serious. Unlike her reluctance during the recent duel, there was no hesitation to be sensed here.
Draudillon had the strangest feeling that she was shuddering for the wrong reasons though.
"And do what she told you to do," Seph turned away and clenched her fists. "If any of your fucking friends don't want to leave, you make them leave. I'll have my summons watching you the whole damn time so don't try any shit."
"By your will!" all of the Bafolk bowed again before getting up and quickly dashing off—hopefully to do what they were told—with an eclectic variety of angels in tow..
"Fuck," Seph sighed and leaned against the walls of a nearby building. "I—I killed someone. I actually killed someone."
Draudillon noticed that Uncle had left, granting them a brief moment of privacy. It was a bit surprising for him to show any measure of consideration, but she was grateful for the opportunity.
"And you saved many others," Draudillon gingerly replied as she sat on the ground next to Seph, watching demihumans leave under the threat of angelic retribution while her subjects celebrated, mourned, and began cleanup in equal amounts. "Your deeds today are nothing to be ashamed of."
"People died today because of me. Because I waited so long to do something," Seph's hands trembled in horror as she watched the corpses being picked up from the streets. "I, I have to resurrect them. I have to."
"And many lived because you came in the first place," Draudillon quietly tried to reassure her, not overly surprised by the mention of actual resurrection given everything else she'd seen from Seph. "You're not the one who killed them."
"You don't get it—"
"Seph," Draudillon cut her off in a deadly quiet voice. "The beastmen have been raiding us for years. I've watched my people die and get eaten for years, and I couldn't do anything."
'Liar. You could have done something,' she promptly shoved that voice far, far away and out of her mind.
Draudillon looked away from the angel and towards her subjects who were busy beginning to rebuild in the aftermath of the battle with the aid of Seph's summons.
"So don't you dare say I don't 'get it,'" Draudillon whispered in a still voice.
"I'm sorry," Seph looked down with a shameful face. "I… I didn't mean it."
"I know," Draudillon sighed. "You're overwhelmed after your first battle. I understand."
"I still shouldn't have said it," the angel's lips quivered as her eyes grew watery. "God, I just keep messing everything up today—"
"Seph," Draudillon gently took her hand. "It's okay. Like I said earlier, so many people are still alive thanks to you. Take pride in that."
"Okay," Seph nodded and clumsily wiped her eyes with her other palm. "I'll try."
"It's been a long day," Draudillon muttered, leaning back against the wall as she looked up into the blue sky. "For everyone. Things will be clearer—better—once we get some rest."
"I want to go back to the castle. Back home," The angel's mumble was barely audible. Draudillon felt a surge of warmth suffuse her body. Hearing the angel call the castle 'home' meant more than she had realized it would.
Her residence in the capital hadn't felt like home in a long, long time. It was surprising how one simple statement could change that so quickly.
"We will," the dragon queen tenderly smiled and reassuringly squeezed Seph's hand. "The moment I get everything sorted out in the city, we'll go back home."
Seph nodded and reluctantly let go of Draudillon's hand. "I'll wait here. Oh! One moment. 『Create High Tier Angel』."
Draudillon watched in awe—though she had to admit she was getting used to the feeling—as a four-winged angel with the head of a lion and a mane of fire came into existence. It was one thing to see them from afar, but another entirely to see them created up close.
"Keep this guy close to you," for some reason, Seph wouldn't meet her eyes. Draudillon resolved to have a longer talk with the angel later. "It's got good senses and should be stronger than anyone here."
"Thank you," Draudillon stood up and sincerely thanked the angel. "I'll be back—soon."
She prepared to make her way to someone who could lead her to the city's mayor before turning around, one last thought on her tongue. "Seph. Take care of yourself. We'll talk more when I get back."
"...okay," the angel responded with a weak smile and waved. "You too."
Draudillon nodded and continued her way to some makeshift fortifications that were in the middle of being dismantled.
'I'll talk to her more,' she promised herself again. 'Once all of this is over.'
"Y-Your Majesty?!" the soldiers saw her approaching along with the angel and quickly dropped what they were doing and snapped to a salute. She wondered how they were still able to recognize her so quickly despite not being in her younger form. Something to ponder later. "It's still dangerous here, so please go somewhere safe!"
"I'm plenty safe," she made a vague gesture towards the summoned angel that silently floated beside her. "How are all of you faring?"
"Yes, erm," the soldier blushed as he briefly glanced at her chest before snapping his eyes back to her face. Draudillon resisted the urge to frown. At the very least, being leered at by ordinary men was leagues better than being leered at by pedophiles. "We're tending to the wounded right now. As for the casualties…"
He grimaced. "They hit us hard and fast, Your Majesty."
"I see," Draudillon expected as much. The clan that seemed to have been in charge of the raid were a step above the average demihuman force. "You won't have to worry about them anymore."
"Truly?" the soldier swallowed thickly. "It's just that… gods, it all feels like a nightmare."
"It'll end," Draudillon reassured him with a strong voice. "As all nightmares must. Take me to the mayor."
"Yes, Your Majesty," he saluted one last time and politely bid her to follow his lead after he saw his Captain acknowledge his departure. "Your Majesty?"
"Hm?"
"Thank you," his voice shook with gratitude. "For saving us and this city."
"It's not me you should be thanking," she serenely replied even as her heart lifted with the recognition that for once, something good was happening yet sank with worry for Seph. "You ought to convey your thanks to Seph—the angel."
"Even still," the man shook his head with a wry smile. "We all saw how they were carrying you, Your Majesty. Just like, like something out of a storybook."
He continued in a more somber tone. "Forgive me for saying this, but I don't think they would've come if it weren't for you."
"They would have," Draudillon snapped back and remained silent for the rest of the way. Civilians and soldiers alike did double-takes as they passed through the city, but otherwise went about their business. Once they arrived, the soldier dipped into a deep bow and apologized.
"Your Majesty, please believe me when I say that I meant no offense"
"No," Draudillon held back a sigh. "It's been a trying time for all of us. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Go in peace, sir…?"
"Ledrig, Your Majesty. And again, thank you for all that you've done."
'How strange,' Draudillon mused. 'To think that being thanked could feel so discomfiting.'
She vowed to draft a declaration crediting Seph for her deeds as soon as she could. Surely, that was the least she could do, though the angel had seemed averse to receiving gratitude.
'Something I'll have to bring up when we have that talk I promised,' Draudillon gently shifted that thought elsewhere as she stepped up the stairs leading to the mayor's door and knocked.
After a few seconds, one of his guards opened the door for her, keeping a wary eye on the four-winged summon beside her. She couldn't really blame him; the mane of fire, flaming lance, and massive shield were probably a little threatening.
"Bring me Mayor Montoria," she asked without further ado.
The guard nodded and glanced at the angel again. "Does the angel need to come in too, Your Majesty?"
"Yes," Seph would probably get upset if she left it outside, Draudillon warmly thought. "Don't worry. It's only here as protection."
"... I see," the guards stepped out of the way, raising their arms towards the inside of the house to welcome her in. "Please come in, Your Majesty. I'm afraid the mayor is, err, incapable of coming to receive you himself at the moment."
Draudillon walked in and was greeted with the familiar sight of glass bottles scattered all over the floor and furniture of the room. The stench of alcoholic fumes greeted her like a familiar unwanted acquaintance, concentrating around the slumped form of the portly mayor.
'I suppose I would be doing the same if it weren't for Seph,' Draudillon thought self-mockingly as she turned to face the summoned angel. "Could you cast a 『Delay Poison』or something similar?"
The angel silently shook its head. Draudillon clicked her tongue; an alcoholic blackout could potentially take hours or even longer to wake up from, a fact she knew through personal experience.
"Can you find another angel capable of dealing with poison?" she asked the summon. Again, it shook its head, refusing to take any actions that might compromise its primary directive.
"Haah…" Draudillon sighed and pulled out one of the few Antidotes she had from the Bag of Holding she had tied to her waist. "I need to remember to stock up on more later…"
She pushed the mayor's head against the top cushion of the sofa, had the angel hold his jaw open and unceremoniously poured the Antidote down his gullet.
Draudillon smoothly backed away as Mayor Montoria shot forward from his position, coughing violently and spluttering spittle everywhere.
"Your Majesty!" his eyes comically widened as he scrambled to get up from the sofa. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"
"I was in the city and decided to drop by," Draudillon sardonically replied. "No, I'm here to ask about the damages from the recent battle and how that'll affect our agricultural output."
"G-Goodness," Montoria pulled out a handkerchief from one of his pockets and wiped the sweat pouring down his forehead. "We'll need some time to rebuild and survey the damage, Your Majesty. This is just—just too soon!"
"Of course," Draudillon agreed. It would be ridiculous to expect a comprehensive report less than an hour after the attack. "But even an estimate will help with determining how much emergency relief needs to be sent. I'm sure you'd agree that it'll be better to get that out of the way sooner, yes?"
"Ah, of course, of course!" Montoria got up and sloppily patted down his trousers before yelling at one of his guards. "Tell all the diviners to send me as detailed a damaged report they can manage by the end of the day! And you,"
He pointed at another guard. Draudillon noted that both weren't the one who had welcomed her in. "Find me some rangers and commanders! Hurry up! Don't keep her Majesty waiting!"
The guards smartly saluted before hurrying off to fulfill their duties. Draudillon silently approved and took a seat on an adjacent sofa as the mayor plopped back down on his with a sigh.
"I'm surprised you decided to stay."
"I'm no craven, Your Majesty," Montoria's eyes narrowed, his voice heating up as he continued. "How could I run for my life and leave the city to its demise? I may not be a warrior, but I too have a responsibility I can't shirk."
"It's admirable," Draudillon calmly agreed. "But you should value your own life more. Even if the worst possible outcome came to pass, your abilities would still be needed in the kingdom."
"Yet you came here yourself, Your Majesty. Rather hypocritical, no?"
"I—" Draudillon's response was interrupted as the walls of the house shook with muted cheers from outside.
She got up and looked out the doorway, greeted with the sight of angels and humans alike carrying bodies to a massive crowd—the source of the noise she presumed—in the distance.
"Your Majesty, what was that?" Montoria moved closer and curiously asked, keeping an appropriate distance between them.
"The savior of your city, mayor," Draudillon muttered, wondering what Seph—for who else could it be?—had done to elicit such a reaction from the populace.
"Do you know?" she asked the summoned angel beside her with a raised eyebrow, more in jest than out of expectations for an actual answer.
Not surprisingly, the angel shook its head. Not for the first time, Draudillon wondered why the angels were incapable of using verbal communication.
'Or they're just unwilling to,' she mused, closing the door behind her. "Is there anything you'd like to ask while we wait, mayor?"
"O-Oh, then if it's an acceptable question, who is this savior?
"You didn't see them?"
"U-Uh," the Mayor coughed into his fist. "I was… indisposed. Yes, indisposed!"
"Hm," Draudillon hummed. "She's a kind person. Someone who constantly says ridiculous things with no regard for time or place, yet is capable of dealing with difficult situations when the time calls for it. There's still much she needs to learn, but I'm confident she'll pick things up quickly. She looks rather striking, so you'll absolutely know who she is at a glance."
"That was, erm, very detailed, Your Majesty," Montoria looked at her with a complicated expression.
"Ah, was it?" Draudillon was supremely proud that she had managed to avoid stuttering. 'She looks rather striking,' just what in the name of the gods was she saying?! "A-Anyways, I doubt there's anyone else like her in this world."
"If Your Majesty says so, then I'm sure it's true," Montoria was utterly bewildered. Had the queen been charmed? But if that was the case, why would one bother saving the city—and by extension, the kingdom—after magically enthralling the queen? Surely the former would garner significant goodwill by itself and render the latter redundant.
'Or the queen is truly in love,' Montoria felt the sudden urge to get drunk again. This day had been nothing but utter insanity from beginning to end: a beastmen invasion, to an angel literally descending from the heavens to save them, to Draudillon Oriculus falling in love with said angel.
Hell, the day hadn't even ended yet.
'I should've just told her that I would send a report later,' Montoria mournfully cursed his past self. 'I can't deal with this.'
Alas, it was too late, for one of the guards he had sent out chose that moment to return with one of the few diviners that had remained in the city. Montoria assumed the rest had evacuated long before the city proper had been attacked.
"Your Majesty," the diviner bowed before her and turned to the mayor, ignoring the disheveled state of the house and its owner. "Mayor. I was told that a preliminary survey needs to be performed?"
"Yes," Draudillon inspected the mage. Their baggy robes and voice-distorting mask made determining their gender and other aspects of their identity nigh-impossible for all but the most trained. Standard practice, since magic-based information gatherers lacked suitable abilities to defend themselves compared to other spellcaster schools or warrior traditions. "Focus on the state of the walls and general damage to the city's infrastructure."
This way, diviners could still have a relatively normal private life without worrying about retribution from criminals or other unsavory elements.
"As you will, Your Majesty," the diviner lowered their head. "Is there a quiet and clean room in this house?"
Draudillon side-eyed the mayor who immediately got up to lead the diviner into another part of the house. Once they were out of sight, she sighed and leaned her head back until it rested against the top cushion.
'Spells that allow you to skip sleeping are nice, but mental fatigue isn't something that can be dealt with so easily, huh?'
She wasn't complaining though. Being mentally drained was more the default for her than the exception, and it was infinitely preferable to stress over the aftermath of driving off the beastmen than stressing over losing the city.
'I wonder how Seph is doing,' Draudillon covered her eyes with the back of her hand. 'I'm worried about her.'
She must have dozed off, because when she opened her eyes again the skies outside the windows were dark, and a group consisting of the diviner from earlier, the mayor, his guards, a few rangers and guard captains were deep in conversation among each other.
Eventually, one of the rangers noticed that she had awoken. "Oh! Her Majesty is awake."
"None of you decided to wake me up?" Draudillon grumbled as she rubbed her eyes and sat up, surreptitiously wiping her mouth in case she had drooled. Thankfully, her hand came away dry; she would have been beyond mortified if it hadn't.
"We thought it prudent to allow Your Majesty to rest," a guard captain gruffly responded. He looked like someone had shit in his bed, though that might have just been his normal appearance. "You have already done more than enough today."
'That's not the point,' Draudillon chose to nod instead. At least they did it out of goodwill, misguided as it was. "I trust you all had a fruitful discussion?"
"Yes," Montoria cleared his throat. "Most of the farmers that lived near the city have been displaced or killed. The walls are relatively undamaged, though the eastern gates will need to be replaced. Most of the damage was limited to residences and businesses within the city."
"We can relocate the farmers easily enough," the ranger added. "But we'll need to set up temporary shelters until we can get more repairs done."
"I'll move that up the list then," Draudillon nodded. "And your opinion regarding the general sentiment of the merchants?"
"Surprisingly, they're still willing to keep shop here," Montoria replied. "Though I suppose heavenly intervention is quite reassuring when it comes to business security. The angels recovering most of the things the demihumans looted certainly helped persuade them too."
'Seph…' Draudillon felt another wave of guilt. While she had been dozing off, the angel was busy cleaning up her mess. "Excellent. I'll have the Treasurer send some of his assistants to help with smoothing over any issues that could crop up. I'll see if we can free up any funds for disaster subsidies."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Montoria lowered his head before her. "I'll send a more detailed report like you wanted once it's done. And, um…"
Draudillon noted how all the people in the room were looking away from her with an uncomfortable expression on their faces.
'No. It seems more like… fear?'
"A-And, there's someone waiting for you outside, Y-Y-Your Majesty!" Montoria hurriedly blurted out. "The a-angel wanted to see you."
"I'll get going then," Draudillon immediately shot up off the sofa and headed for the door, her summoned guard following behind. "Thank you for the hard work, all of you."
Without waiting for their responses, Draudillon closed the mayor's door behind her and looked around her, with Seph nowhere in sight.
"Boo," a finger lightly tapped the top of her head. Draudillon snapped her head up and groaned in exasperation. "Were you surprised?"
"Are you feeling better?" Draudillon quietly asked. The prank had felt half-hearted, an observation reinforced by the angel's own apparent lack of enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I'm—" Seph slowly floated down in front of her, keeping her eyes on her own feet. "No. I, I…"
The angel's voice trailed off as they shuffled their feet. "I was waiting for you."
"Seph," Draudillon rebuked gently but firmly. "Please don't change the subject."
"R-Right, right," Seph swallowed thickly. "Can we talk about it, I dunno, somewhere else?"
Draudillon nodded, and Seph delicately picked her up with a mumbled 'excuse me' as they flew up and away to the roof of some random house. Lights of celebration glittered throughout the city alongside the stars up above.
"So," Draudillon patted her skirt beneath her as she sat down. "Go on?"
"Okay, um. So after you went off to your meeting, I thought I would help around. Keeping an eye on the demihumans, using my summons to help out the guards, and…" Seph took a deep, shuddering breath in. "Cleaning up."
Draudillon patiently waited for Seph to continue.
"I-I could resurrect a lot of them," she began mumbling. "Mostly soldiers, but the normal people… I, I—there was a kid. She was, God, she was torn in half, and the bodies near her…"
Seph scratched at her arms. "I tried 『True Resurrection』, but she didn't have enough levels. A lot of them didn't. 『Mass Raise Dead』worked for the soldiers, so I was able to save mana, but I spent most of the time regenerating mana for higher tier resurrection spells for the normal people, but it almost never worked—"
"Seph," Draudillon rubbed soft circles on Seph's back. "Breathe."
The angel leaned forward and dry heaved. "God, t-there were so many bodies just, just missing parts. I don't think they were dead either when they were getting fucking eaten.
"I, I'm just a fraud," Seph's voice trembled as she scratched harder. "A fucking fraud who can't stop kids from getting eaten alive."
"You're not," Draudillon firmly disagreed. "You saved the city, everyone in it, and even resurrected a good number of the dead if I'm understanding correctly. There's no one in heaven and earth who would dare think you're a fraud."
"No, no, no, no," Seph buried her face in a tangled mass of golden hair. "I lied. I lied to you. I'm not an angel. I'm not some hero. I'm just the same—useless girl I've always been!"
The last part came out as a muffled scream, one that the celebrants below would never hear.
"I don't understand, Seph," Draudillon silently waited for the angel's breathing to even out before speaking again. "What do you mean?"
"All this power I have," Seph raised her head and looked into the distance where a multitude of people celebrated her deeds. "I didn't earn any of it. I'm not like you guys. You—all of you—you've worked for what you have. I, I just got lucky."
Seph finally looked her in the eye for the first time since the duel. "And even if I got lucky, what does it matter? I have power, but so what? I'll always be the same useless Yuriko no matter how much power I have. Even getting tossed to a new world couldn't change that."
"I assume you mean that the homeland you mentioned is another world entirely," Draudillon gazed at the stars.
"... You're taking this pretty well."
"Do you want me to panic instead?" Draudillon shrugged. "We live in a world where people command the elements, slay entire armies single handedly, and conjure mind-bending monsters out of thin air. Coming from another world doesn't seem that far-fetched."
"I guess," Seph—or was it Yuriko now?—pulled at a stray strand of hair. "I… I didn't know how to bring it up. Honestly, I still don't think I'm completely ready to talk about, well, everything."
"Could I ask one more question?"
"O-Oh. Um, sure, I guess…"
"Your real name," Draudillon pulled her knees up to her chin. "Is it just Yuriko, or…?"
"E-Eh?"
"Is that question no good? I'll think of something else then—"
"No, no. More like, that's all? Like you don't want to know about the world I came from? Or how I accidentally got this powerful?"
"Hm," Draudillon hummed to herself. "Those would be good questions wouldn't they?"
"Yeah, they would," Sep—Yuriko, this was going to take some time to get used to—nodded. "Like, it's important stuff, y'know?"
"I think you're important stuff," Draudillon softly whispered. "Much more so than your circumstances."
"U-Ugh, you're just saying whatever you want now…" the angel wiped her face, but Draudillon felt her heart soar as she noticed that they were smiling again. She looked a lot more beautiful with a smile.
'Fine, I'll admit it. I… like her. Maybe,' Draudillon conceded to herself.
"My old name, or I guess real name, is Hanami Yuriko," Se—Yuriko—beamed, having recovered her good cheer. "Uh, that is, given name Yuriko, family name Hanami!"
"It's a beautiful name."
"H-Hwah?!" Yuriko blushed and avoided Draudillon's eyes. "U-Um, th-th-thanks?"
In a fleeting moment of immense courage, or foolishness, Draudillon wrapped her arms around Yuriko in a hug.
"Thank you for answering my question," Draudillon murmured into the angel's ear, ignoring her very own reddening face. "And you don't need to rush yourself into telling me everything. Take as long as you need."
"U-Uwaaa…" Yuriko slowly relaxed into the hug as she carefully returned it, her own slender arms clasping themselves around Draudillon like a warm blanket. "I—I'll tell you. As soon as I straighten out everything in my head. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that," Draudillon reluctantly released the hug. "Tell me if you need help with anything or just want to talk, okay?"
"I will," Yuriko promised. "And thanks."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, admiring the lights twinkling in the sky and the ones shining steadily in the city.
'Another world, huh…' Draudillon still felt giddy from the fact that the angel trusted her. It was all she could do to keep a big stupid smile off her face. 'Shouldn't I tell her my own secrets then?'
Draudillon resolved to tell the angel once the war was over. 'It'll be fine. She's strong. She won't be scared of me. She wouldn't.'
"So, er, anyways," Yuriko broke the silence. "Do you have a place to stay for the night? I'm just a little worried you'll get sick outside even with the mantle…"
"Couldn't we 『Gate』back?" Draudillon frowned in confusion.
"I'm, uh, out of mana," Yuriko bashfully scratched the back of her neck. "From the resurrections and stuff, y'know?"
"Ah."